Tuesday 27 December 2005

Christmas 2005



Click for bigger pic
Kudos to Jeff, we'd a blast this year!

Catch phrase of 2005: Rotten Apples.

We're getting married too... =)

Hi guys... havent seen you all in a while, sorry me and Wendy were unable to attend the christmas party at Jeff's place as my close friend's dad just passed away on christmas eve so we went to accompany him during the wake the following day =(

At any rate we'd like to you all know we'll be finally tying the knot after 7 years of running and hiding (kidding =) on Feb 25th next year.

It'll be at Life Bible-Presbyterian Church, 9A Gilstead Road at about 5pm, so do drop by if you can...

There will be dinner after that at a hotel we've booked, so let me know directly if you're coming so i can prepare the summons, ermm... i mean invites!

Hope to catch up with u all soon,

Sam & Wendy

Monday 12 December 2005

Super Mario World by Jazzy Marching Trombones

Click below for video!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7871234421362265231

Wednesday 26 October 2005

Bye Sandy

While she's off to Vietnam, do visit her blog for updates.

So when we visiting her huh??

Tuesday 11 October 2005

Every now and then...especially after my submissions, I would surf around and read everyone's blogs. ..yes, Tsush, I am one of the bo liao people that read your blogs...and also Ivan..Darren...Ben...Daniel...Edmund..anyone I know that i can get my hands on...that's my pathetic architectural student life for you..


Well, I think this is my second post here. The first one was when I joined the blog which was last year. Time really flies. One of the reasons why I don't post is I keep forgetting my password to the blogs and how do you get photos up here...it's such a process! Of course, there is the other side of me who doesn't want to confront my inner voice. ..they should stay inside..when you verbalise your thoughts espeacially your fears...they sometimes become real and an obsession.Wonder what would hubby think if he knew I was writing blogs....hehe...who says you have to tell your partner everything...of course, if that came from him, I wouldn't be too amused...

Anyway, I still can't believed that I did tie the knot after these 3 months. Actually to tell you the truth, during the soleminisation, we were supposed to sign some papers. Under the scrutiny of so many relatives, especially my newly acquired ones, I just signed it. And so, I always joke with hubby..." You know, I don't really know what I signed that day. Hope it was something good. I should have read the papers before I signed them, huh?"

Seriously, marriage has been so far lovely. I think we are still at the blissful stage coz we don't have mortgage and screaming babies yet...Well, eventually we'll train the babies not to scream in the future...hehe..but I think I'll still enjoy enjoy it years down the road. The events of July was very surreal. I do take out my marriage certificate which I brought to Australia and read it....hmm....my name and his name....just to be sure it actually happened. That's what happen when you stay apart too long. ..every few months, you have to say goodbyes...you start thinking your life back home was an imagination. Anyway, I think this year will be the last time staying apart..

That brings me to....one final examination/presentation before I get my Bachelor of Architecture. I think it's a very daunting affair with all the independent examiners involved. Everyone's quite stressed and intimidated. However, I think I manage to find something that I can be commited to and love for the last 6 years. And I did learn a lot in this few years compared to my college days. Haven't been doing too badly for the final year either (considering all the sideshows that I performed!), I really hope I'll make it through rather scarred free. Wish me luck, okay? Oh yes, I can't build a house for you...although I can give you free unofficial architectural advice if you trust me enough...:)

I am looking forward to December...will miss Hari Raya for the first time since I haven't finish exams.( It' s the fasting month now!)...looking forward to attend my first Lunar New Year...although hubby was whining...."Hmm...can we skip it?"..and I responded, " Come on, give me a break...I am trying to show solidarity with you here..." So I hope tis year will end up nicely...

Well, think I wrote enough...hope everyone is well.till then, see you another year? well, maybe sooner:)...

Monday 12 September 2005

iPod Flea

Yo!

Been a long time since i posted here.. dunno how old is this clip.. but it's hilarious! Here's an excerpt from the link.

"This week, David Pogue has arranged for a special guest video artist: Scott Kelby, Photoshop maven. Last week, as he keynoted his own Mac Design conference, he played a hilarious Apple ad spoof for something called the iPod Flea, which I'm pleased to offer in its Web debut." - NYT

Click any part of this line to see the video!

-Cal-

p.s hey Ivy! Can repost ur msg to get rid of spam comments? Thanx!
p.p.s Ben, Ed, any ideas how we can curb spam comments? It can get dangerous. KIV yah?

Wednesday 7 September 2005

What are you doing now?

Time check: 3.00pm

Location: Office desk

Feeling: Bored.

Drink on hand: Suntory Cafe Mocha bottle can

Reading material: Japanese Language Notes Chapter48 Causative Verbs

Things to do: Learn Jap, Read Forum, Surf Net, Watch Stocks.

End of Work: 5:15pm Tokyo Time.

Typhoon: Strong gust of wind n rain. Umbrellas are useless.

Earthquakes: none.

After work activities: KFC/Macs/SGusto Dinner followed by volunteer Jap lang class.
then. personal Jap class. Me teacher today.

wat about you?

p.s. yea i know this should go to my personal blog...but hey..no one is writing anything...hehe
need to read something fresh.

Sunday 28 August 2005

Missing my student life!

Apparently, this is a glimpse into how Singaporeans hold house-warming parties over in America.
http://ia300810.eu.archive.org/3/items/KevinFlorenceHouseWarming/florencewarming.mov

Bleh, it's quite a big place I must say, for a 1-bedroom? But ugh, she can do with better interior designing. Can't blame her for missing out on those "home makeover" shows, since she JUST got her cable.

Arrrgh...I wanna get cable back in aus!!!

BTW, is it just me, or does the girl right at the beginning of the clip remind you of Evelyn from kids central?

Thursday 25 August 2005

Google Talk

If you don't have one yet, it's time to get a Gmail a/c, coz Google's IM service is out!

Monday 8 August 2005

Chee Soon Juan Podcasts?


Off SDP website:
The Singapore Democrats have launched RadioSDP, the first political podcast in Singapore (see announcement on the Home page). SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan has given the inaugural address, in which he highlighted the Party's manifesto as well as raise issues regarding transparency and accountability (or the lack of it), NKF, ministers' pay, minimum wage, foreign talent, etc.


Some ppl said...

Tuesday 2 August 2005

Slammed


3rd Time Lucky?


This fella's account about being slammed into during an accident.

Friday 29 July 2005

Anyone want to go for Real Run?

Anyone want to go for Real run?

Thursday 28 July 2005

got this from one of my friends on Lj

http://dash.notsniw.net/unbelievable.wmv

wonder if there's some camera trick involved...but I dunno...what really puts me off is those Jap girls squealing 'EEEeeeeee' with excitement and stupification...and I was thinking of going Japan to study......hahaha

Trigger Happy



BBC News (UK Magazine) "Developing world". An interesting article from BBC about the phenomenon of the ubiquitous digicam.

Wednesday 27 July 2005

HR Talk - Would you hire a fool or a jerk?


From HBS: Fool vs. Jerk: Whom Would You Hire?

Suddenly I start to categorize colleagues into fools/jerks.

Wednesday 20 July 2005

Only today...

FREE SkyeOut MINs!
Call somebody today!

Tuesday 12 July 2005

New Apple iPod

I'm quite sold on getting Apple's new iPod!
http://www.layersmagazine.com/features/feature_cs2/flea.htm

Thursday 30 June 2005

Summer Weekend



Summer's here! But the singaporean in me ain't getting too excited.
Spot me if you can.

What about photos from Singapore?! Post post!
(Its very easy to post pictures now! no need anymore!)

*End of the day, at Onjuku Beach, Chiba*

Tuesday 28 June 2005

Pocky Lover?


Took this pic on my ski trip..erm..yup...1 season ago.

Yeap. Miss the snow n cool weather.
Japan is freaking like Singapore now. HOT!!!
So hot my thermometer broke! serious!
(Of course i am not going to tell you i dropped it by accident.)

P.S. Willing to trade Japanese products for Char Kway Teow.

誰もは 日本語を 話せますか?
(Who also can speak Japanese?)

Another totally nonsensical post. (Been too quiet.)

Saturday 11 June 2005

MSN wif Webcam



For the benefit for those whom don't understand Korean (which I also don't).

1st sentence: Hey, whose is the person behind?
2nd sentence: oh dear, hey, hey, cannot do that!!
3rd sentence: nok..nok…(expressing shocked, loss of words)
4th sentence: ah….

Meanwhile the final box says: “Interesting, isn’t it? Send to ur fren with webcam now…”

Tuesday 31 May 2005

Roadcasting



Roadcasting, the next big thing after Podcasting. From Wired.com: "Stuck in traffic and sick of Howard Stern, you may soon be able to tune in to the music collection of the person in the car in front of you. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing an ad hoc networking system for cars that would allow any driver to broadcast music to any other vehicle within a 30-mile radius..."

Increadibly Scae-ree!

[Post has been retracted]

Most distrubing...

Lemming recently searched for Ivan Lim using MSN Search, and wanted to share the results with you:
http://www.mymsnsearch.com/results.aspx?q=Ivan+Lim&FORM=KoDjI3SfnIHf

If anybody's going to be shopping for a computer, here's some diagrams to pore over
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv4.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=596745&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=162693&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=333133&bmUID=1116459925734

Thursday 26 May 2005

Grocery Store Wars



Check out the movie!

My fav character? Chewbrocoli.

Wednesday 25 May 2005

This is Life?

This is Life?


And how to avoid having one...
http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/manifesto.html

And how to understand it...
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2005/05/23/hscout525874.html

Saturday 14 May 2005

Bush & iPod



SO President George W. Bush listens to an iPod, it was learned recently. How uncool is that?

Friday 13 May 2005

Hamster Mastercard

Consultation for hamster with a tumour: $ 25.

Removing the tumour: $ 152.

Getting rabies trying to feed the hamster its medicine: Priceless.*


*The f***er actually bit the hand that fed it for the past year!! HE WILL PAY!!! I've decided to make hamster sandwiches.. I'm passing him off as a furry frog though.. a rare delicacy or sorts. So, just between you guys and me huh? Ha! The bas****.

p.s I didn't get rabies btw.. it was only an exaggeration. I think. *Foam*

-Cal-

Friday 6 May 2005

Blogging for Small Biz


SFGate.com: The Business of Blogging

SYF 2005 JC

Results [Somebody update this pls]

    ACJC - Gold

    NJC - Gold with Honours

    PJC - Gold with Honours

    RJC - Gold

    SAJC - Gold with Honours

    TJC - Gold with Honours

    YJC - Bronze



Pop on by to read a junior's take on it! Leave some encouragements if you can.
http://sasenaide.blogspot.com/2005/05/syf-2005-junior-college-category.html

Tuesday 3 May 2005

One can certainly dream...

The Time Traveler Convention
May 7, 2005, 10:00pm EDT (08 May 2005 02:00:00 UTC)
East Campus Courtyard, MIT
42:21:36.025°N, 71:05:16.332°W
(42.360007,-071.087870 in decimal degrees)

Yes of course we all know about the temporal prime directive, if people from the future actually visit, will they be able to reveal themselves, to change history/affect our timeline. Maybe temporal science has become so advanced that the intangibles in our present time have negligible effect with the invention of [insert favourite geek technogarble]. One can only dream....

So, be there or be square?!

[Edit: Was thinking, the co-ords are 2D, what if the visits are made on another dimension? 3D? 4D?. Apparently anyway, it's already been done: Destination Day. No sure for cancer yet...]

Friday 29 April 2005

3 Shots of Poison

Found some short films that are worth watching, well except the last one, it's a little iffy since it was made using a gaming engine, I'm playing LSL:Magan cum Laude, and it's a total waste of my time I know, one of those [said with Simpson's comic guy voice] "worst ever title to grace the Leisure Suit Larry series" but what the heck, you take it where you can get it...bleh!

Goto http://www.allnewv50.com/ and click on the "Gala Premeir Screening Winners" ticket top-middle to view them.

Oh, like the car too =P

Thursday 28 April 2005

BitTorrent & The Info Wave



Read misweb.com: Catching an information wave - an opinion about the utility of P2P software beyond illegal file-sharing.

Go on, ride the P2P wave... if you aren't already.

Tuesday 26 April 2005

Capture the Flag

Anybody playing or interested in BZFlag?
It's quite old school...

BZFlag is a free multiplayer multiplatform 3D tank battle game. The name stands for Battle Zone capture Flag. It runs on Irix, Linux, *BSD, Windows, Mac OS X and other platforms.

Wednesday 20 April 2005

The Perfect Wedding

Tuesday 19 April 2005

Singapore on Satellite

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=1.625977,103.474731&spn=2.817993,4.053955&t=k&hl=en

Saturday 16 April 2005

Gold with Honours

Secondary School Central Judging results are out!

The top 3 bands are
Anglo-Chinese (Independent) School
Dunman High School
St. Andrew's School

Shalln't comment much about the results (or about the competition), I'll leave it to disjecta, our resident music guru! Suffice to say, things have changed a lot since our heydays...

Next up, JCs!

Friday 15 April 2005

Advance Notice to the Death of a HDD.

Hallelujah.

Yes, my IBM Deskstar 60GXP 40GB HDD (Read: Suckiest HDD series in the history of IBM storage solutions!!!) is dying.

Well, as it goes, it was a fairly normal Friday afternoon for me, what with breakfast at 1:30pm (yes, u read right.), followed by a bath and finally, proceeding with my "prepping procedures" for my anime marathon watching session. This included copying burned anime from CD-Rs to the HDD (It essentially streamlines my watching experience as my CD/DVD-rom buffers aren't too effective to allow me to watch from the drive directly.).

So happily dee doo! Everything goes fine, hmm, I have time to spare, so I check out online till what episode I should watch to not get stuck in the middle of a story arc. Whoa, I have a few episodes missing! Ok, it's all right, I noe where to get them! Up you go Azureus! Hmm.. ok, run run run... it's only 2 episodes I'm short off till the end of the arc, that's around a 400 MB download only! Shouldn't take too long. Perhaps an hour+ (yes, I do not have optic fibres or insanely reliable connections like the pple overseas!), if I have enough seeds and peers. Right, let's go check out the TV!

Tick tock tick tock... 45 mins pass. Bleh, nothing on TV, mom watching some recorded TVBS drama serial again! What kind of a serial has the name "BLADE HEART"?!? Not to mention, it's starring a HK oldbie! Adam Cheng! Wasn't this guy famous during Lydia Sum's time?? Wait, I think I remember, he is Lydia Sum's ex-husband! Hmm.. or are they still married? Bleh, doesn't matter to me. Better go check my downloads!

Hmm... ok, 50% complete.. not bad! But, damn it! What's that clicking noise?! Oh crap, it's the HDD! /on *PANIC MODE*.

All right, let's compose ourselves men!! We will not falter in the face of danger!!! ARRGH, my data!! ARRRGHHH!! Thank goodness, I backed up my mp3s and photos already! But but but, there's still E-mail and ICQ history! No problems! Shut down Azureus! Shut down ICQ! Shut down MSN! Reboot? NO! Not a good idea, it might just die on me! Okok, pop in CD-R! Open Nero! Find E-mail and ICQ data backups! Done! BURN BURN BURN damn it!!! ARRRGHH, stop that clicking!!! 10%.... 30%... 60%.... 100% "Burn completed successfully!" WOOT! Okok, check back-ups! Anything missing? Nope! Wait... ANIME!!! ANIME!!! Arrgh.. my incomplete series!! "Gundam SEED Destiny", "Samurai Champloo" (Just 1 episode more!). No fear! BURN!

20 mins pass.. phew!! Damn it, still clicking! Time to do a HDD check now. Ahhh.. IBM website... damn you all! Hmm.. what's this? Now hitachi is handling all RMAs and warranties? No time to read the press release! On to hitachi!

Hmm.. this looks familiar... Disk Fitness Test (DFT)! Ok, let's run this! Need floppy disk? Check! Great, DFT now on floppy! REBOOT! Check Check! Quick Test!

OMG. "0x73 (Device Failure. Excessive Shock)"

Hallelujah. (again)

I will not relent!!! Let's do the advance test!!

Hmm... IT LIVES!!! "0x00 (Device is free of errors)"

This can't be! Hmm... let's do a quick test again!

Hmm... "0x00 (Device is free of errors)". Ok, now what?

Ok, let's get out of DOS mode and back to windows! ARRGHH!! The clicking is still there!

I guess, there is only one conclusion then. My HDD has gone symptomatic. It's dying. No doubt. No cure. /off *Panic Mode*

Thus, I sit here now, with the clicking still going on.. pondering my next move. Typing this out. Looks like it's SLS (Sim Lim Square) time! Sigh.

Initialy, I wanted to format... but looking at the first error, it seems to be a hardware failure... ie. formatting wun do much good. Better if I just go with a Western Digital or Seagate I guess. Bleh.

So, end of the day, this is a note to all of you out there! Refrain from buying IBM desktop HDDs and always backup often.

-Cal-

p.s Jeff, you sueh chui ah!!! Ask me go SLS yesterday, today I kenah this liao! Arrgh! >:(

p.p.s For the technically less inclined... I'm sorry if you can't understand much of this. Just read the last sentence! :)

p.p.p.s This would be the 2nd time I would need to replace this IBM HDD, the first being in late 2002.

Edit: Added a link at the top (sukiest HDD blah blah blah...) I'm not alone! Class Action Lawsuit! Woot! does this mean I can get money for this? Woo!

UPDATE (16th Apr 2005 @5pm): Miraculously, the clicking has stopped! But, like a dormant cancer, the problem is probably still there... it's only a matter of time now.. -_-

Thursday 14 April 2005

Big Boned

HBS: Great Managers Understand Their People


Read article.

Monday 11 April 2005

My New Alarm Clock

I've always put my handphone on vibration mode to wake me up. But at 7.25am (J-Time) this morning, it did the unthinkable. I know sometimes, actually only during the holidays, i dun wake up to the phone. But surely it doesnt have to shake the whole freaking room.

Earthquake. One of the latest hit of the newspaper blockbuster.

Honestly, it was a little scary, cuz, i have yet to clear my stock of walchester sauces under the table. Let alone, putting supplies under the table. (urm, you know how it is when you just wake up. Too lazy to run under the table. Had a terrible night too with all the crows calling on to their mates or something.) What will i do if its the big one. Of course, its only the 7th floor, with the evacuation stairs just 2 rooms away. hmm. Maybe some ropes and a vertical walk down my building would do just fine.

Anyway, just to say HI. Getting pretty bored at work ya know. Work started 30 minutes ago in this rainy day. Hows yours?

*update* Since i am at it, another one at 1545 Jtime. Felt like being in a car running over bumpy road, and after that, swaying side by side. Wasn't THAT strong, so no worries. This time, the collegues went "woh.."...talked abit about it, then went back to work. Not much of an excitement. heh.

Tuesday 5 April 2005

Another shameless plug

http://dementedlemming.blogspot.com/2005/04/remembering-simant.html

But so I don't feel so guilty,
http://everybodylovesedmund.blogspot.com/2005/03/kena-lovebyte-kekeke.html forgive me ed =(

Sunday 3 April 2005

Farewell

Wednesday 30 March 2005

Not-So-Famous Creatures of Japan

Tokyo Tower Mascot

Tokyo Tower Mascot

Didn't know they had a mascot. Pretty amusing looking one. =P

My overall opinion of the TT: Not really a must go. Its more romantic OUTSIDE the tower. I'll write more next time, department head just came over to check me out.

Snow Man From Kanazawa.

Snow Man from Kanazawa

A little one we made ourselves with a glove on top. Plays snowballs for a living.
Found melted by a passerby during summer. Leaving a written message "Looking for an apartment with a fridge."

How corny can i get.

Tuesday 29 March 2005

The End is VERY Nigh

Huge quake hits Indonesian coast [again...]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4388579.stm

TREMOR IN SINGAPORE

INFORMATION ON SOURCE EARTHQUAKE
http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/article.asp?pid=1198

Time to batten down the hatches pple!

Monday 28 March 2005

If you're thinking of a Mac mini...

Mac Mini: The Emperor's New Computer
http://www.divisiontwo.com/articles/MacMini2.html

Viva the Mac revolution!
http://www.business2.com/b2/web/photoessay/0,21937,1039453,00.html

Sunday 27 March 2005

The Pink Panther Movie

Friday 25 March 2005

Happy Easter


Wikipedia.org:
"Good Friday is a holy day celebrated by Christians on the Friday before Easter or Pascha. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. Special prayer services are often held on this day with readings from the Gospel accounts of the events leading up to the crucifixion. Mainstream Christian churches view Christ's crucifixion as a voluntary and vicarious act, and one by which, along with his resurrection on the third day, death itself was conquered."
"Easter (also called Pascha) is generally accounted as one of the most important holidays of the Christian year - perhaps the most important - observed in March or April each year to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead after his death by crucifixion (see Good Friday), which Christians believe happened at about this time of year around AD 30-33. (Easter can also refer to the season of the church year, lasting for nearly two months, which follows this holiday and ends around Pentecost."

Sunday 20 March 2005

iPod Therefore iAm



Tech Central Station: iPod Therefore iAm

Ordinary people narrowcast; always have, always will. It's human nature to want to surround ourselves with like-minded people, familiar music, comfortable art, and unchallenging surroundings. Who can be surprised that our technology reflects this basic impulse?

Tuesday 15 March 2005

Mind Your Blog

CNETAsia: The blog of Anne Frank?

Success?

Read CIO.com: Why You're Not Happy.

Friday 11 March 2005

Good News Everyone!

Singapore Surpasses U.S. As Top Tech Nation
Singapore has displaced the United States as the top economy in information technology competitiveness, according to the World Economic Forum's latest annual Global Information Technology Report released today.


Ok, so not good news to everyone, just good news for me? Well, just hope that I'll be gainfully employed when I graduate!

Industry Insider: Sony Sinking


Sony is in deep trouble. If it hadn’t been obvious to you over the last year it sure is obvious now with their elevating a foreigner to CEO, Howard Stringer. Now having worked for and with Japanese companies, hiring a non-Japanese to do anything with a lot of responsibility is rare, but to run the whole company? Almost unheard of.

http://www.thetechlounge.com/article.php?directory=industry_insider_030805

Do the guys in nippon have any comments?

Wednesday 9 March 2005

Site summary for 04 March 2005

I've been receiving tons of these, and just decided to post it as an entry. These aren't the interesting stats though, you should head to the link below, and click on "organizations". Pretty interesting to know who visits our little site.

Life after ACSWO
(s11acswo)

-- Site Summary ---
Visits

Total ........................ 2,370
Average per Day ................. 13
Average Visit Length .......... 1:08
This Week ....................... 92

Page Views

Total ........................ 3,844
Average per Day ................. 18
Average per Visit .............. 1.4
This Week ...................... 127

http://s11.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s11acswo

Monday 7 March 2005

Useless Facts...



Short index finger shows men are as hard as nails

Tuesday 1 March 2005

Careful now, blogging might cost you your job



Read ComputerWorld: Fired Google blogger reflects, moves on

Monday 28 February 2005

Gasp! More spyware?



CNET: Spyware Infiltrates Blogs... incl. Blogspot

P.S. I like the pic

Friday 25 February 2005

Cartoon Blogs

Not sure when these started, but these cartoon blogs are rather quaint and in my opinion, are a truly individualistic form of self-expression.


Natalie Dee: Huffing It Up, Every Weekday



Toothpaste for Dinner

Monday 21 February 2005

Tiny URLs

Our TinyURL is...
http://tinyurl.com/69rfa

Wednesday 16 February 2005

Earth Movement

It was 4.46am in the morning. As usual, i was half awake thanks to a very active mind. i was half dreaming of *censored*.

Then, the room shook. The first thing i thought about is not to run, but Jared's waterbed post. I felt like sleeping on a slab of jelly. 19 people reportedly got lightly injured in Tokyo area. Some apparently fell out of bed. hmm. but they had magnitude 5 out of 7. so can't blame them.

It wasn't violent. My Gundam Seed figurine still stood up, but my BB gun almost dropped to the floor. a mild 3 out of a scale of 7. They use a different scale called the "shindo", which is what people feel at that particular location, as compared to the richter scale.



Then i thought. Dang. If it was a big one, i would have to survive on 2 litres of coke, a few packets of caramel popcorn and lots of chocolates. (in the cupboard..heh) Oh. My Kueh Bankit and pineapple tarts are on the table. But i do have to hide UNDER the table, which housed 2 litre bottles of walster sauce, 1 litre bottle of soy sauce, a dustbin and a keyboard. So much for survival. I think its about time to re-org my little bomb shelter.
Anyway, went back to my dream since no one (the japanese) bothered to run.

The next aftershock today was in the office. The 2nd-in-charge looked at me and i looked at him. No sparks or chemistry flew between us. Thank goodness. A small one.

Well, i finally felt it. After 3 months of "missing out". But that is enough for me for this Japan trip.

Monday 14 February 2005

It pays to be an IBM customer!

Here I am, enjoying M&Ms from the minibar when I really shouldn't be eating chocolates at all, and am having a capucino from the drinks machine too. All for free!

Woot!!!

Well, actually I had to drive myself all the way over here to Changi, so might as well enjoy as many complimentary food stuff as I can =P

If anybody's interested, I'm flying off tomorrow....

Saturday 12 February 2005

Rooster, Meet H5N1



So much for ushering in the Year of the Rooster - read ST: Vaccine alone won't do.

BTW some renowned geomancy expert recommended carrying 88 grains of rice around this entire lunar year because the year of the rooster is not auspicious or something.

Thursday 10 February 2005

恭喜发财 - Happy Chinese New Year!

Hi Guys! How your new year?? I want my ang paoz!

steamboat

Steamboat Reunion Dinner Japanese-style with Tsu Tsen and gang.

yusheng

Yusheng ..er..Japanese Style...Secret ingredients added...only can be found in Japan..the green thingy...guess wat it is..hehehe

Ah..no time to write more...i want to do my report liaoz...working on the first and second day of CNY...boo.

Tuesday 8 February 2005

Earthquake Alert

11.29am GMT +900 Japan time.
A small earthquake struck somewhere called 茨城県南部 richter scale 4.
Tremours could be felt at Kawasaki Solid Square and surrounding buildings.

"did you feel the earthquake? it was like shaking a little here and there."
- co-worker 1

"yea i did, a little bit like last time, when there was an earthquake at Niigata" - co-worker 2

"Huh? Got meh?" - me, coming back from the toilet cubicle.

Source KNS.

Wednesday 2 February 2005

Confessions of a Speed Demonn

I am, unfortunately, one of those victims mentioned by Ed.
Well.... actually not me, but my dad.

I believe that in the UK, people have sucessfully petitioned for visible warnings signs to be put up where speed traps have been deployed, and I do strongly feel that it should be the same case here. Yes, including the petitioning part...


All cameras (whether fixed or mobile) must be highly visible. This includes painting camera housings yellow and ensuring they are not hidden behind trees, signs or bushes. Mobile camera operators must wear reflective clothing and use specially marked vehicles. In all cases, signs must be placed before the site and signs may only be placed in areas where cameras are present. The precise locations of all speed cameras will be published.


The fine has not only scared my dad into driving at the antagonizing speed limit, but it's also made him extremely paranoid when he sees a flash, spots any suspicious persons standing at the sides of the road, or passes any white parked car along the expressways. The allevated level of stress of constantly glancing down at the speedometer is also definately not healthy for his heart.

I keep telling him it was an isolated year-end/Christmas TP blitz, but he refuses to heed my advice since infringing on the precious laws of our state would cost him a hefty fine, something that the family can certainly do without.

He also contests the fine itself, since he sees himself as a safe driver and could not believe he was going 84km/h along alexandra rd. There seems however, no avenues for people in his situation or seeing some kinda proof or viewing the picure that was snapped.

In Australia, it has already been proven that the speed cameras are inaccurate, flawed and thus unreliable! Could that be the case in Singapore too?


MICK BUNWORTH: Vanessa Bridges was one of the first to challenge the accuracy of fixed speed cameras on Melbourne's Western Ring Road six months ago.

Vanessa's car was clocked at 158km/h by a fixed camera - a speed she knew was well beyond the 4-cylinder Datsun 120Y which has been putting along for close to 30 years.

After unsuccessfully querying the fine, Vanessa faced a mandatory loss of licence, but rather than trusting the technology she sought another opinion.

VANESSA BRIDGES: We got the car tested not only for the maximum speed it could go, which we found out it could only be 117km/h, but we also did a test on the actual speedometer and we found that when the needle was on 100 the car was actually only doing 90.


Without a way of retriving any form of irrefutable proof, one can never know.

A very good article on the pros and cons of using speed cameras can be found at http://www.debatabase.org/details_print.asp?topicID=252

Is this the transparency that our gahmen has been harping about? Vapourware I say...

Tuesday 1 February 2005

Speeding in Singapore

Among the recent bout of complaints about the Traffic Police's hidden speed traps, two common ones are that the hidden speed traps are sneaky and they put undue stress on drivers who now have to adhere to speed limits not knowing where the speed traps are. One man even wrote in to the ST Forum to complain that after 2 incidents, now he drives slowly - so slow that other drivers freely express their irritation at him. Not too smart eh?

A friend of mine asked me to help vet a letter intended to be submitted to the One Motoring forum and I was surprised at the gripes listed. While the loaded language was uncalled for, my friend did have some questions that appear valid, such as publicly warning drivers about speed cameras and why this method of punitive deterrence is being utilized over others. Accordingly, the number of traffic offences has risen drastically in the past few years, but without any contextual information, it's difficult to ascertain the real cause.

My friend went so far as to suggest that hidden speed traps are the practices of authoritarian states, but we know that the police in America uses these along highways. Besides, Singapore's political climate is another topic, altogether.

So I pondered long and hard before deciding that the main issue is that these drivers are disgruntled because they want to be at liberty to speed at certain locations, such as a straight road, or times of day, such as early morning or late night. A certain degree of enforcement is tolerable as long as the methods are respectable, i.e. publicly known.

When drivers complain about hidden speed traps, aren't they actually contesting the speed limit? After all, legally offenders are fined only because they've exceeded the speed limit which was determined by the traffic police to be a safe speed. Are they questioning the rationalization behind?

A discussion with a colleague made me realized that visible speed cameras with warning signs may actually be hazardous. Some drivers blissfully speed along the highway till they realize a speed camera's ahead and slow down unexpectedly or unreasonably. Worse still, kan cheong drivers nearing junctions with traffic lights slam the brakes without first checking for vehicles behind.

At the end of day, I remember that I haven't received any tickets for speeding. This is probably because my car's only 1000cc and I'm a safe driver :) Officially the speed limit along main roads is 60-70kmh, I've definitely gone up to 80kmh but still no ticket. What does this say?

Speeding in Singapore

Among the recent bout of complaints about the Traffic Police's hidden speed traps, two common ones are that the hidden speed traps are sneaky and they put undue stress on drivers who now have to adhere to speed limits not knowing where the speed traps are. One man even wrote in to the ST Forum to complain that after 2 incidents, now he drives slowly - so slow that other drivers freely express their irritation at him. Not too smart eh?

A friend of mine asked me to help vet a letter intended to be submitted to the One Motoring forum and I was surprised at the gripes listed. While the loaded language was uncalled for, my friend did have some questions that appear valid, such as publicly warning drivers about speed cameras and why this method of punitive deterrence is being utilized over others. Accordingly, the number of traffic offences has risen drastically in the past few years, but without any contextual information, it's difficult to ascertain the real cause.

My friend went so far as to suggest that hidden speed traps are the practices of authoritarian states, but we know that the police in America uses these along highways. Besides, Singapore's political climate is another topic, altogether.

So I pondered long and hard before deciding that the main issue is that these drivers are disgruntled because they want to be at liberty to speed at certain locations, such as a straight road, or times of day, such as early morning or late night. A certain degree of enforcement is tolerable as long as the methods are respectable, i.e. publicly known.

When drivers complain about hidden speed traps, aren't they actually contesting the speed limit? After all, legally offenders are fined only because they've exceeded the speed limit which was determined by the traffic police to be a safe speed. Are they questioning the rationalization behind?

A discussion with a colleague made me realized that visible speed cameras with warning signs may actually be hazardous. Some drivers blissfully speed along the highway till they realize a speed camera's ahead and slow down unexpectedly or unreasonably. Worse still, kan cheong drivers nearing junctions with traffic lights slam the brakes without first checking for vehicles behind.

At the end of day, I remember that I haven't received any tickets for speeding. This is probably because my car's only 1000cc and I'm a safe driver :) Officially the speed limit along main roads is 60-70kmh, I've definitely gone up to 80kmh but still no ticket. What does this say?

Weekly Dose of Today's Crap

Mr Brown of TodayOnline: Excuse me, your cup doth runneth over

Wednesday 26 January 2005

Fondue Fun



Jeff: "Me! Me! I want ice-cream too!"

Rowf: "Tastes like cough syrup!"

Des: "Mine! All mine! I only want sorbet!"

Lemm: "Help me take a picture to spite Juli."

Ed: "How romantic, fondue for 5."

Sunday 23 January 2005

Fond Memories of Harmless Fun?

Read ST: Bonding Rituals Thrill or Torture?.

Remember Taupok (nothing to do with Taufik)? Or the flagpole? Guess most of us missed out on the soggy biscuit too huh?

Seriously, call me a kill-joy parent-to-be, but I wouldn't want my children partaking in any of these. I definitely don't want a bout of seemingly harmless fun severing the Ng lineage.

Saturday 22 January 2005

Disco of the Year

It's amazing what you manage to find when you're packing your room...

Emma Yong?

Anybody interested??

Late Nite @ Esplanade:
From Bjork to Broadway with Emma Yong
Accompanied by John Lee on piano
Singapore
When: 28 Jan 2005 (Fri), 9.30 PM at the Recital Studio

She has pulled heartstrings as Cinderella, played a drama mama in Dim Sum Dollies and soared high as a sexy flight attendant in Boeing Boeing. She has lit up both the stage and small screen with her enormous talent. Now meet the real Emma Yong as she returns to her first true love - singing.

In her first solo concert, be prepared to be seduced by Emma's angelic yet power-packed vocals as she traverses different genres, from silky-smooth bossa nova to soul-rousing show tunes and contemporary pop. This is an Emma you've never seen before - one-on-one in a very personal concert of songs. Sexy, smoky and sophisticated, she delivers every mood where it counts in all her favourite tunes, from Bjork to Broadway.

Accompanying Emma is John Lee on piano, a talented musician,singer and vocal coach. John has always had music in his life, and has been performing with his brother Dick Lee since young.

Join Emma and John, together for the first time, for an intimate evening of soul-baring songs.

60mins with no intermission.

Wednesday 19 January 2005

Burned

Monday 17 January 2005

Boring Becomes Elektra


Wired.com Movie Review: Boring Becomes Elektra

Friday 14 January 2005

SMB

Very nicely done transcription of everyone's favourite Nintendo theme

http://gprime.net/images/mariopiano/

Sunday 9 January 2005

Ixus is back!!

Yay!! My camera is back in my arms again!! the nice Japanese lady sent it back to me by post.
It was very very nicely wrapped i must say!
Need i say more?

Thank you very much Risako Oya さん!
=)

Friday 7 January 2005

Eyebrows

THESE are funny eyebrows:

Thursday 6 January 2005

Never Tell Woman She's Fat

Research has revealed that when men & women react differently to comments about their body image - men, cognitively and women, emotionally. What's new?

Tuesday 4 January 2005

Don’t Shoot The Instant Messengers

78 % of employees say instant messaging boosts productivity according to latest Siemens Business Services survey.

MSN any1?