Well its time to say goodbye to the past 4 months at Alpha Biofuels. I can't say I've had the greatest time there, but hey, there's bound to be ups and downs everywhere. I'm sure I not many people know what I've been up to since February, so now I shall dedicate this post to my short stint there.

So when I first started work, there wasn't very much to do, other than handling some banner designing stuff and manning the pump whenever customers came to pump biodiesel. I was still a noob, not really used to working since it was my first job (and internship). I spent lots of time reading up on biodiesel and its properties as well as production. I can say I learnt most during those first few days. I did my first lab-scale production of biodiesel as well.

Then our driver Siva fell while cycling home and fractured his elbow, so yours truly, armed with a driving license, became the substitute driver. For the whole of Feb, I was driving all over Singapore, collecting waste cooking oil as well as delivering biodiesel to our customers, together with partner-in-crime Wootien. This was the most fun period of my internship I guess; we got to meet lots of people, chat with the aunties and uncles who provide us with oil, explore unknown parts of the island as well as the unseen parts of shopping centres, travel around looking for good food to eat, all while rushing to get back to office by 6pm.

March came, and so did the official opening ceremony of ABF. It was kinda hectic to prepare for that day, though thankfully I wasn't much involved other than figuring out parking space and cleaning up. The day finally came, and it was quite a success. Everyone had a good time, and there was a sense of achievement that we managed to pull it off.

Once the euphoria died down though, work finally piled up. I was called to do some marketing campaigns in Eunos and Simei, by foot and armed with flyers and namecards, to spread the news about 2 new retail stations. I talked to loads of people, mostly the bosses of small workshops located within the vicinity. It was a good experience I guess, though I ended each day with sore feet. Thereafter was a sudden explosion of demand for biodiesel, driven primarily by a retail station in Simei, run by a very ambitious (and demanding!) customer. It was also the place where we managed to get a steady stream of taxis to run on biodiesel.

As a result things got pretty crazy in the factory, with everyone struggling to churn out biodiesel to meet demand. I was assigned a new title - Blender, which was basically to polish biodiesel and package for delivery. Also since me and Wootien were the ones who setup most of the retail stations, we were often called up to fix leaks, perform on-site maintenance and what not, as well as deal with unhappy bosses. We were the self-named Repair crew, and proud of it. As WT put it, by the last week of my internship we could deduce the source of the problem just by listening to customer's vague descriptions, bring along the right tools, and rectify them in record time.

April and May were pretty much the same thing, except that we welcomed new guys to the place, so we had to teach them from scratch and hand over our duties. There was a lot of restructuring and changes going around as well as back breaking work so there were a few conflicts here and there. But at the end of every day, I guess everyone went home without hard feelings.

I guess some memorable events which I joined in, aside from the opening ceremony, included the lab courses that we conducted at JJC and TJC, as well as Earth Hour. Although I was just helping out at the 2 JCs, it was quite fun being back in school again, seeing the students go about doing their lab stuff, explaining and guiding them in biodiesel making. I was a student too, listening to Mr. Tan give his lectures and learning at the same time. Earth Hour was fun and relaxed, we were basically just manning the ABF booth, fooling around with the bosses and fellow interns, talking to random people who passed by and enjoying the atmosphere (and free Starbucks, Coke and Old Chang Kee!).

I've also come to understand the feelings and cultures of the foreign workers who keep our economy humming along. I've made friends with Siva, an Indian national who wishes to obtain a PR and bring his family over someday, as well as Xiao Li, a PRC who came from Shandong to a unfamiliar and foreign land, hoping to earn as much as he can to support his family. Its quite humbling to watch them work with little complaints, scrimping and saving to feed their loved ones back home, and yet maintain a cheerful attitude towards work.

And so 4 months have come to an end. No more travelling insane distances to work, lorry driving or dirty work (someone suggested we have our own Dirty Jobs documentary). Its been quite a journey.

I didn't get a chance to say this yesterday so I guess I'll type it here.

Thanks to Woots for being my best buddy in ABF, guiding me from the start, joking together and creating lots of funny moments to make life at work bearable.

Thanks to Lynette and Jaimie for treating me as Xiao Di and putting up with our nonsense.

Thanks to the new guys who formed the Ground Crew, its been great working and goofing around with you guys.

All the best to everyone at ABF, hope it will eventually become a huge success in the local biodiesel scene.

Time to come out of the depression that befell all fans of the Red Devils...

And that's after watching the Premier League Review twice (i.e watching my team lift the BPL trophy twice).

I'll be finishing my internship/attachment/cheap labour job in 2 days! Its been a very interesting experience, guess I'll blog more in detail in the following post.

Just a little "Tweet" to keep this blog somewhat active =x

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Just replaced my music player Jaangle with Songbird, an open source music player that aims to be to iTunes what Firefox is to IE. In other words, highly customisable, with lots of add-ons to enhance that listening experience (heck, it has a built in web browser!) and a cool, iTunes-like interface.

Can expect many more improvements since its only version 1.1, but already you can feel its a finished product. My only grouse is the memory hogging - it eats up 100+ mb of memory while playing songs, which is probably due to the many functions and visual candy available. Definitely not for slow PCs. Slow to start-up as well as to play that first song (sounds familiar, Firefox users? Trade-offs, trade-offs...)

Check it out here - http://getsongbird.com/

In case you're wondering about the deluge of soccer-related posts, then obviously you're not a football crazy fanatic.

TOMORROW IS THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL !!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited, I've already run 2 simulations using FIFA 09 (with yours truly controlling Man Utd). The results so far? 3-1 and 2-0 in Man U's favour, both including a wonderful free-kick goal scored by Ronaldo. A sign perhaps?

The results are obviously very biased.

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I discovered 2 very interesting websites this week, thanks to Lifehacker.com and the How-to-Geek.

1) www.nintendo8.com

Play 100% authentic, classic N64/Gameboy/Sega games at this site! The games are powered by Java, so I doubt you can save that Pokemon game. I've been playing Super Mario Bros, Dig Dug and Megaman =)

2) www.socwall.com

Absolutely stunning wallpapers from every genre possible, a godsend if you love changing wallpapers everytime you boot up your PC.

I know this is somewhat belated but...

Manchester United are BPL Champions! Again!

But I bet we all knew that was gonna happen last Sunday. Save for those rabid Liverpool fans hoping for the impossible *cue evil laugh*

Looking forward to the Champions League final against Barcelona. Probably gonna go to work late just to catch it =) Dunno why UEFA must schedule on a weekday; half of the world's economy will probably freeze that following morning or something.

... end soccer ramble.

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Can't wait to get my NTU matriculation card. No not because I can't wait to start school, I just wanna throw away my Singtel mobile plan and jump ship to the green side. Unlimited SMS student plan ftw! Together with Maxonline and cable I'd get the Hubber discount too!

And I hope to get a new phone too, mine's becoming chui-er by the day. An E63 or something with a QWERTY keyboard, I'm tired of trying to type out long SMSes using predictive texting that isn't so predictive. No touch screen phones though! Surprised right? For all my techieness touch screen is one technology I'll never embrace wholeheartedly.

Yes I'm an anti-fingerprint, anti-smudge freak. If you've ever seen my laptop, you'll know why. Its almost 3 years old, made of cheap, easy-to-smudge glossy black plastic and I have friends who say it looks new. Ritualistic cleaning ftw! If I had an iPhone I'll probably wear out the screen from too much rubbing .

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To hall or not to hall, that is the question?

2 weeks before first infection...

No this is not about Left 4 Dead...



If you've been reading the comics page every Sunday in the Sunday Times, you'll be familiar with Lio and his quirky imagination.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hyqTxJlWHlv1yLyo-yETVjbOFroQ

Not too far from reality though eh? But its just speculation of course.

Haven't posted anything geeky in awhile, so here's a tidbit for you to nibble on =)


Top 10 Free Apps Installed on my PC/Laptop (in no particular order)

1) AVG Free Edition 8.5 (http://free.avg.com/)

2) Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" (Ok fine its an OS but hey, it comes with hell lots of excellent free open-source apps, some of which are listed below)

- Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/)
- Pidgin messenger (http://www.pidgin.im/)
- Banshee music player (http://banshee-project.org/) *Linux and Mac OS X only*
- VLC player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/)

http://www.ubuntu.com/

3) CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/)

4) Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/personal.html)

5) Mozilla Thunderbird (http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/)

6) Jaangle (http://www.jaangle.com/)

7) GIMP 2 (http://www.gimp.org)

8) Comodo Firewall Pro (http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/)

9) Media Player Classic (http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/)

10) Super Anti-Spyware (http://www.superantispyware.com/)

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Random musing of the day:

Can anyone remember Marshmallow Man, proton packs, ghost traps and ectoplasmic activity?

"Who ya gonna call?"

I bet that rings a bell. I used to love the cartoon back then.

"Ghostbusters!"

Saturday came and went.

For those who came, thanks for coming! Hope you guys enjoyed the food and company! I had a great time =)

(Especially after watching ManU beat Tottenham 5-2 muahahahaha!)

Best birthday present ever.

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In other news,

I have been promoted!

To lab tech. HAHA.

Anyway I've been busying myself doing stuff in the lab these few days, never knew it was that fun to conduct experiments and keep track of the results, especially if you don't know whether it'll succeed or not. SPA was horrible back then.

Driver -> Factory worker -> Lab tech. Upgrade! *ding ding*

twenty-one.

What's the big deal with turning 21, I wonder?

Besides being able to watch R21 movies. And besides, you could probably download R21 movies, watch PG shows without "guidance", NC16 shows by acting "mature" and M18 movies with your older brother's IC, all when you were just 12. Did I mention you could just download them all/watch online?


An excuse to hold a huge party that you never had?

A reason to finally go out there and have some fun (and use the excuse "But I'm 21 liao!")?

A coming-of-age when you finally get to "Be a Man!" (and do the right thing)?

Or just another milestone reached in life? I don't suppose many people go around shouting "Hey! I survived to see my 21st birthday!"

Which is quite sobering considering those who don't make it.


I don't feel that old.

FMA 2 : Brotherhood

Yes you read it right!

For all you anime fans who've got enough of Bleach and Naruto (you mean they're still running? @.@), this is one reason to rejoice!

Edward Elric is back!

Especially so since the 1st series ended like 4 years ago =,=

The story is supposed to be totally different from the previous one, and an adaptation of the manga, so I guess we can expect more interesting content! Something to satisfy the hunger for FMA while waiting for the next installment of the manga (its taking ages for it to get published)

Only grouse so far (as commented by various people) is the change of voice-actors (seiyuu), although the brothers still remain the same.

Plus the opening song pwns! "again" by YUI.

Its been ages since I last watched anime. Time to relive old days again!

I want to have my Okonomiyaki (and eat it, too!)

And so he flew away, towards a land full of opportunities, experiences and thrills.

Last Wednesday, I rushed to the airport together with the rest of BTT14 to send Kevin off to Japan where he'll study for the next 5 years.

I couldn't help but watch in envy as he walked through those gates. Another one to live the dream. A dream that I once shared (and I still linger upon), of living on my own in a country which has influenced and enthralled me so much.

And yet I know my place is here.

Perhaps that dream will remain a dream. A dream that I would love to fulfill one day, if only for a few months, and keep it forever in my memories. Heck, I haven't even got the motivation to pick up the language, even though I've always wanted to.

In the meantime, my place is here.

Reading blogs and Facebook updates, looking at pictures of far away, yet remotely familiar places, and genuinely wishing that I was there.

Just for that few, fleeting, online minutes.

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Ok I've said it, I will start to learn (basic!) Japanese by the end of this year.

Friends who are reading this, you be my witness. And if you too are interested, drop me a message! Because its so hard to learn something on my own without anyone to practise with.

Hong Yi wa ganbarimasu!

(I hope that was the correct way of expressing it =x)

Blackout Drill!

Its been ages since I've done guard duty (HAHAHA YESSS ORD LO!!!)
but I still remember the infamous blackout drill.

Anyway, I'm referring to the 1 hour blackout all over the world to celebrate (?) Earth Hour, in case it wasn't already supremely obvious.

So while the world poised their fingers on their light switches, I was milling about Esplanade Park where Alpha Biofuels had their booth, fooling around and generally not making myself very useful except to entertain some foreign kids with McD french fries. And a particularly shy Spiderman-bag carrying kid (boss's nephew). What were we doing there? The generator was running on Biodiesel of course!

Oh, and filling my stomach with free Old Chang Kee, Coke Zero and Starbucks (diluted) coffee. Like a particularly greedy person said, our booth was in a very nice position (next to Starbucks).

It was a rather small scale event, with a few booths (including some no-link brands like POLAR and Chipster) and a small stage. There was a surprising large crowd at the event, though the proportion of foreigners was high. It says a lot about their environmental consciousness. Like one of them mentioned, "We have Biodiesel in Europe too!". Nothing much happened before lights out except a few cultural performances. I can understand the percussion troupe using recycled bins, but a lion dance?!? Maybe the lion was made up of recycled newspapers or something =x

I met up with XJ for dinner just in time to catch the lights out at Marina Square foodcourt. It wasn't very concerted, but visually stunning all the same. First went Maybank and their nice decorative strips of light. Then slowly the tall office buildings in the CBD turned off their lights, followed by the Esplanade's twin domes. Even the Fullerton and Merlion went dark. The only cold water pourers were the IR constructions sites. Their spotlights totally spoilt the whole scene. Once the blackout was completed, the party started, with bands taking to the stage (yes, in darkness!) and picnickers lighting up their candles.

So for that 1 hour, it was just about sitting on the grass, listening to music, staring at the relatively dark cityline, enjoying the light of the candles, the company of friends and contemplating our impact on the environment. Ok the last point was probably the last thing on everyone's mind, but still I'm sure the message got across.

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In retrospect I think the candle burning probably released more CO2 than leaving the lights on, but what the heck.

At least it wasn't about 1 hour of non-stop lights ablazing, amplifiers blasting, all-over-the-world rock concerts.

OFF ALL YOUR LIGHTS!

Yes, even that tiny one that you keep on at night because you're afraid to wake up to a pitch dark room.

The one you turn on to read the newspaper.

The one you turn on to pee without missing the target.

The one you turn on to eat dinner.

The one you turn on to... see the switches to turn on other lights.

I think its a ridiculous idea personally. People are going to end up being frightened to death, spoiling their eyes, soiling their toilets, getting food poisoning because didn't see the fly that landed, and fumbling over the light switches and tripping and falling and getting injured.

So don't be a dumbass and obsessively observe the Earth Hour thingy. Its not like its some new government thingy telling you to speak more Mandarin.

Come to think of it, even Shan from 98.7FM is learning Mandarin from 93.3's Peifen. Hmmmmm.....

Anyway back to the topic - imagine if LTA/CAAS were to support Earth Hour. I wouldn't want to be on the roads/landing at Changi from 8.30pm onwards man.

.
.
.
Seriously, I hope this event will spread more awareness of the environmental challenges we face. Its not just about wasted lights or light pollution. Its about getting the world to sit up and wake up and do something, even if it means turning off the lights at 8.30pm for 1 hour every year.

Earth Hour. Our Earth.


Note to readers: Above comments are made in good humour and are not meant to critise the event in any way. The author supports Earth Hour, really. He pledges to reduce his carbon footprint by turning off the lights on his mp3 player. And he sincerely hopes that every hour can be Earth Hour.

DIY for greenies!

DIY green tip #2

Did you know? The amount of water needed to flush down your solid waste is actually around 75-80% of the full flush. And for the liquid waste, its even lesser.

What to do if your home doesn't have a half-flush toilet bowl? For the really motivated a few scoops of used washing machine water will do the trick. But of course how many of us would actually go to such lengths to save water? Plus the solids probably require a whole pail.

For those who would really like the convenience of pressing a button, here's a DIY thing you can do.

Zng my Toilet Bowl

You'll need: A couple of small 250ml water bottles. Depending on the size of your cistern, you might want to try even smaller containers (Chicken essence bottles, hair gel containers etc)

1) Fill the bottles with water.

2) Open up the top of the cistern and throw them in. Try to arrange them neatly.

3) 3 - 5 bottles should be enough. If you're worried about the... stuff not going down when u flush, keep it at 4

4) Assuming a full tank of 8-9 litres, you'll be saving around 0.75 to 1.25 L of water per flush! Which is around 10-20%.

5) Test it out. If your... erm... stuff doesn't go down, reduce by 1 bottle. If it goes down nicely, you might want to raise that bar and throw in another bottle.

Rationale:

Since the cistern operates via displacement, once you throw the filled bottles in, the capacity of the cistern is reduced by that amount. Simple!

Plus you get to recycle those bottles! And save on the utilities bill!

Man, PUB should really hire me.

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Quote of the week:

Konfusius say, "Man who run after bus, will be exhausted!"

Saturday Bloody Saturday....

I never thought I'd ever experience being taunted by my Liverpool loving friends.

For the past 4 years through JC and NS, it was always US, the Red Devils, not the Reds, doing all the taunting and suan-ing. When Ferdinand scored with a volley, we laughed at them (a defender scoring against Liverpool! With his FOOT to boot!). When O'Shea scored in the dying minutes, we chuckled at the cruelty of it all. When we drew square, we always believed that our superior team had an off day.

Somehow 2008/2009 has been a different season.

When Torres scored, we cringed at the untimely stumble by Vidic.
When Evra hacked down Gerrard, we shouted our disbelief, until the replay confirmed our fears. When Gerrard subsequently slammed home the penalty, we cried at the near miss of Van der Sar's diving hands.
When Giggs, Scholes and Berbatov were subbed in, we prayed and hoped.
When Vidic pulled down Gerrard, we hid our eyes, hoping the card would be a nice shade of yellow.
When the red was shown, we slumped in our seats, all hope lost.
When Aurelio curled in the free kick, we hid our faces, embarrassed by the keeper's immobility.
When Dossena chipped Van der Sar, we laughed, not at all in mirth. At his staring, hapless figure as the ball bounced slow-mo into the net.

It has been a bloody Saturday in Manchester.

4 weeks after infection...

(Note! Numerous references to Left 4 Dead, non-gamers alert)

Besides going to work and sleeping, I'm left with 3-4 hours every night to do my own thing.

I'd usually fire up Left 4 Dead to start another zombie killing spree but I guess tonight will be different. Maybe its got something to do with being overwhelmed in the final scenario of Blood Harvest 5 times on expert mode.

I haven't been following the news recently, other than scanning the pages of Today every morning while I munch on breakfast (its really just a routine I go through, the real objective is to get to the sports page). One article in the Sunday Times really got my attention - regarding the recent suicide case and the possible influence of video games and WoW. Not an overriding factor but probably part of a box of tinder waiting for a spark.

Another red mark for us gamers. Its too tedious to delve into another discussion on the effects of excessive gaming on gamers but I do know there are a few (ok, maybe not just a few) gamers out there spending loads of time on their Maplestories and WoWs and L4Ds and DoTAs. Frankly speaking if I wasn't working I think I'd be joining that group =x. In a way I'm glad I'm not glued to the computer chair although sometimes I wish I was, just to blast away a few Boomers and watch them explode in glee.

A great stressbuster, Boomers are.

So if you think the world is 2D side-scrolling, have a night elven girlfriend and zombies as neighbours, get a life! Get a... job.

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Today a new worker from China joined the company. I really gotta start brushing up on my Mandarin proper, somehow English words keep slipping through the gaps whenever I attempted to communicate with him. Probably explains the D7 I got for Higher Chinese for my O levels.

Still, translating is hard work, especially when you have an Indian and a Chinese worker working together. Hand signals usually do the job.

To end off this post I shall start posting tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint, in our Singaporean context =) Gotta justify the green in my blog title or I'd get reported for greenwashing.

Carbon tip #1

For all you broadband users (you, yes YOU!), turn off your modem and wireless router at night before you sleep. Yes I know its UNLIMITED broadband but surely you don't need to be all typical kiasu Singaporean and keep it on 24/7 just to make full use of the UNLIMITED access, even when you sleep?

So if you're not downloading anything, turn it off. Prevents the neighbours from leeching, too. You don't want to be giving free suppers to possible Bleach downloaders, lest you receive the dreaded xedo letter.

Today I was searching around for Firefox tweaks when I found this skin to make Firefox 3 look like Google Chrome, the all-new open-source browser by Google.

Feeling abit tempted to compare the 2, I searched "Firefox 3 vs Chrome" and the first comparison I found was hilarious.

From http://www.piggynap.com/google/google-chrome-vs-firefox/



I've always thought that the Google Chrome logo looked really familiar but I never really realised it until today.

Logo FAIL.

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Anyway for some laughs, check out this place:

http://failblog.org/

especially for those who love "FAIL" jokes like me XD

Death of the CD?

Poll: Does my blog load really slowly? Please post your opinion in the chatbox =)

After a night of scouring the Internet for new music (Japanese indie bands ftw!), I realised that I would never have known all this should CDs be the traditional choice for music distribution. Online music is blazing a path forward, bridging cultures and connecting musicians to fans all over the world! Heck, your neighbour could be a fan of a Ukranian punk band, who knows?

Saw this in the Jpop news:


Yes, that is a USB thumbdrive, uploaded with Ayumi Hamasaki's soon-to-be-released 10th album, [Next Level]. It will be the first album sold in Japan to take this format. Debunk the ugly rectangular stick of memory perception - that thumbdrive looks absolutely gorgeous. Does it signal the beginning of the end for the humble CD?

The signs are showing:

1) People are downloading more music online than ever before (legally or not)
2) CD sales are slipping down
3) When was the last time you saw a Discman?
4) When was the last time you saw an Ipod? (it probably sits on your table right now)
5) Sandisk is pushing for albums to be sold on SD memory cards
6) Artistes are releasing albums for download (remember Radiohead?)
7) Flash memory prices are dropping

It all points to a near future of downloadable releases and memory sticks filled to the brim with songs.

Still, I can't bear to see the CD die off just like that.

- Wonderfully designed CD covers and lyrics booklets!
- The feeling you get from ripping open the plastic wrapping
- Superior sound quality
- The sheer physicality of it (ever felt proud of your CD collection)
- Browsing in CD stores (and the free gifts like posters and stuff)
- Indie musicians still rely on the trusty old CD to earn the cash

Will the CD go the way of the prehistoric record? VHS and LDs are already extinct, VCDs are endangered while DVDs are threatened. What will the future entail? Music being confined to megabytes of data flying around cyberspace and residing in flash drives? Or Blu-Ray HD music cum video albums, anyone?

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Random nugget of information:

Did you know that bush fires can actually be good? In some temperate forests a fire can provide fertile material for the next generation of vegetation to grow, while eliminating the problem of insufficient sunlight reaching the forest floor. In such cases fire is actually essential for the forest to regenerate!

Still, don't go out there and start one. Fire = bad.

Me, the default lorry driver.

I think I've driven more in these 2 weeks than the past 6 months since I got my license. Its fun though, going to far flung and familiar places all at one go and trying out crazy stunts, all guided by a street directory.

Anyway, its been some time since I last made a decent post.

Valentine's day - We decided to do something different and went to the Science Centre! Both to catch an Omni-Theatre show and to see what's new there. I think the last time I went was 3 years ago, bringing a group of kids around for CIP or something. And so we embarked on a Journey to the West. Nothing much has changed, except that whole new areas have sprouted up (I noticed a new Climate Change and Alternative Energy section, yay!). The old exhibits were rotting though, with pieces falling apart and some not even working. One exhibit which went missing was the immensely fun mirror maze; I remember the crazy times I spent running around and getting lost. And who could forget the number counting wheel? I once had an ambition to stand there turning the wheel non-stop until the number reached 9999 or something XD

Then we roamed around the West and went to Jurong Hilltop restaurant next to Birdpark. The Japanese teppanyaki was not bad, but the fumes (some would say fragrances) were overpowering. Not much of an atmosphere either, with the whole place packed with families. The view was nice though, even if we could only see Jurong Island and lots of containers. Headed out to West Coast Park for a walk (surprisingly it was rather crowded, like the ECP of the West. Hmm.) and watched the container ships go about their businesses.

So ended our Journey to the West.

I think I'm getting the hang of things in the west side of Singapore. Anyway it'll probably be my new hangout place once I step into NTU. I'm still proud to be an Eastie (my friend coined the word) though, we've got more places with nice food =) And the roads aren't filled with container trucks. I've been dodging them everyday.

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Scholes and Giggs are phenomenal. They should be thinking of taking off their boots and relaxing at home now, not spraying 30m long passes, slamming home 25m volleys, curling crosses, dribbling past defenders and flicking through balls over defences.

Respect.

http://www.ubuntupocketguide.com/download2.html

This is a really useful guide if you're new to Linux and Ubuntu, even I'm discovering new stuff by reading it =)

So if you've just installed Ubuntu, wanted to install Ubuntu but don't know how, secretly wanting to install Ubuntu but not daring to take the plunge, been using Ubuntu for some time or just someone intrigued by something different from Windows and OSX, download it! It makes quite an interesting read =)

Credits to Ubuntu Geek for this.

de de de de de de de de de de de de de

And so my first week as an intern has ended.

In case you're wondering, I'm currently interning at Alpha Biofuels in Jurong (horrors!). Yes its a stand-all-the-way trip Journey to the West every morning and back. Feet killer, our MRT system is. Especially when you're past Tanjong Pagar and you realise the guy in front of you sleeping peacefully is probably going all the way to Boon Lay. I guess thats the only downside to this job, apart from the delicious peanut butter allowance and the prompt bang kang timing of 6pm + service charge + GST, no less.

Seems like a dream job eh? So why in the world did I decide to take it up? For one its related to my course of study (Enviro Engi), and secondly its an SME, which means I'll get to learn much more than if I were to join say XXXMobile or seaShell. Who knows, I might draw on this when setting up my own company in the future. Plus its producing renewable energy!

And so far, it seems that my decision has been justified. In a span of a week I've been involved in marketing, project trials, delivery, collection, DIY furnishing and retailing. Stained jeans, oily hands, slicky shoes, all deja vu from the past 1 year. I can't say I've been looking forward to work everyday, but just by being there beats sitting in an office the whole day chatting on MSN and Facebooking. And for the first time I drove a lorry! Through the roads of NUS and Singapore Poly no less.

Not to mention the friendly atmosphere there - thanks to the 5 other interns running the show. As a colleague mentioned, we're all peons there. "hurh? Yes warchief... work work..."

Money vs experience?

Hong Yi has gained a level! *cue FF victory chime*

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Random nugget of information - Did you know that the MRT door closing chime has 13 beeps?

25 thingies u may not know about me.

Sigh. Its hard to avoid being arrowed even after ORD. Anyway this will be rather random and lighthearted =) since this blog is linked to Facebook, I hope you're satisfied.

1) I have powerful eyes. i.e 1000 megawatts of eye power. Cyclops would pale in comparison.

2) I woke up in the middle of the night to satisfy a craving for Warcraft III once.

3) I got spooked by my own battery operated Lego set.

4) I haven't had a single memorable dream ever since Primary school. My brain is already jaded with reality.

5) I have a large collection of Pokemon cards and figurines, Star Wars cards, Lego sets and other figments of my childhood.

6) I was fat. My sister says I still am. By her standards, a skeleton would be ideal.

7) I'm afraid of bees, wasps and any flying thing that stings.

8) I find moths cute. And I used to be crazy about creepy crawlies.

9) I'm really a nature lover. Too bad I love the great indoors.

10) My very first computer ran primarily on DOS and Monopoly was the only decent game installed.

11) I spoilt my own SEGA machine because I was too excited and pulled the controller, console and all. It crashed spectacularly.

12) I've been wearing contacts since Pri 4.

13) And spectacles since Pri 1.

14) I sleep with 3 bolsters every night - 1 big, 2 small. The latter because the cases were sewn by my late grandma.

15) I hate vegetables. I am unstrictly carnivorous.

16) Oranges, apples and bananas are the fruit I usually (i.e almost always) eat.

17) I love porridge.

18) I had a crush on a girl for 6 years.

19) I have an English name, though rarely used. Ken/Kenneth is just a name my parents call me at home.

20) I was a rabid fan of Ayumi Hamasaki. Was. Is still. But no more rabid. More languid.

21) I joined the Chinese Orchestra really because I wanted to get out of NCC Land. And I originally wanted to play the ruan.

22) I have a fear of tuning my liuqin.

23) The reason why I learnt the guitar was because of Yoshio, Ayumi's guitarist. Yes, that was back when I was rabid.

24) I fall sick easily. No its got nothing to do with point 15. The weather affects me.

25) I always thought that boys doing NS was fair because all girls have to go through pregnancy. Until I discovered the existence of contraception.

hello world, i'm back

and so it ends here.

Feels like being airlifted from the rooftop of Mercy Hospital while a horde of zombies rush towards you, outstretched claws barely inches from your face.

Feels like the end of the last exam paper of the A levels, when the invigilator tells you to put down your pens, no more writing.

Feels like when the tester ticks and writes the word "pass" on your driving test slip.

Feels like scoring the winning goal against an imba team during soccer.

Feels like... nothing special really.

7 weeks of fear, awkwardness, fatigue, fun, brotherhood and comradeship.

3 months of learning, friendship, expression and laughter.

2 months of unfamiliarity, mistakes and relearning.

14 months of work, routine, boredom and the occasional lighthearted moment.

2 weeks of India.

1 month of adrenaline rushes, satisfaction and happiness.

1 month of relaxation, waiting and anticipation.

1 day of mixed feelings.

ORD lo!

tomorrow, I shall walk away a free man.

double O

Remember this?

http://not-so-geeky.blogspot.com/2008/03/olivia-ong-esplanade.html

That was about 10 months ago.

Since then, she's got a best album in addition to her 3 mini-albums and 4 full albums (those crazy Japanese labels!), been travelling all over Singapore doing mini-concerts and lives, and of course the highlight of 2008 - doing the theme song for the crazily popular "The Little Nonya" . Even though I didn't catch the show, I sure did take notice of the theme song. I can safely argue that it was this song "Ru Yan" that catapulted her into the radar of many Singaporeans.

Wanna bet her albums are flying off the shelves?

I think she recently signed with HIM records, the same record company as S.H.E. I suppose we can expect more mandarin songs? Still, I find her chinese pronunciation kinda awkward, but we can't fault her for that can we? If you've been living in Japan for the past 6 years saying "ohayo gosaimasu" instead of "zhao an", you'll find it tough too.

Saying all that, I hope she does an album filled with jazzy, self-penned tunes. That would take the cake!

Not sure if you can get it here in Singapore, so here: Yesasia.com

Olivia Ong, the next Stefanie Sun? Maybe she'll even get invited to sing during National Day LOL

"Don't worry, I'll protect you"

When the opening screen shows blue with a huge Totoro and the words "Studio Ghibli" written on it, you know you're in for a visual treat.

Yup, I just watched "Ponyo on the cliff by the sea" yesterday. I've been a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's works ever since I watched "Spirited Away" so I was rather excited when Ponyo was released. My first reactions when I saw the trailer was: "Wa, so cute, sure alot of girls wanna watch". Incidentally, the cinema hall in which I watched the show was nearly 80% filled with girls =.=

Anyway back to the movie. Right from the start of the movie I was captivated by the stunning visuals and artwork. And the details! The opening scene showing Ponyo's daddy standing on his submarine was one of the most memorable ones, showing the ocean's best, what with crabs of all kinds and sizes, technicolour fish zipping around, menacing looking eels, bouncing jellyfish, octopuses and squids, all wonderfully drawn and animated. You know the old type of anime, where only 1 or 2 actions are being animated in the foreground at any one time? Well in this underwater scene, EVERYTHING was moving in its own natural way.

Amazing once you realise everything is fully hand-drawn!

Even the quaint seaside town and the sea was beautifully rendered. Check this out:



Looks familiar? Miyazaki-san based the town on this little Japanese port town Tomonoura. I can almost imagine Lisa's tiny pink car zooming along the coastal roads.

Like XJ said after the movie, it all seemed a little strange to be watching the 2D film. In this age of CG technology and 3D movies, its charming to see one of the best animators of all time sticking to his traditional hand-drawn medium, film after film. Another reason why the next generation of kids should watch Ponyo (if they haven't already). We grew up with 2D, and we only have Miyazaki-san to thank for keeping it alive with brilliance.

Although the storyline wasn't too deep (its meant for the kids really), you can spot some subtle references to themes that are prevalent in Miyazaki's works. The scene where a trawler dregs up muck from the ocean floor gently reminds us of our environmental impact, and it hammers home the message when Ponyo gets stuck in a discarded jar. Later in the movie when the sea turns a violent rage, it references to old Japanese folklore as well as their obsession with the ocean and its power. Imagination is the key here, with waves turning into giant fish slapping against the shore, a submarine powered by flapping flippers, sorcery and sea godesses, and a flood which submerges the world into prehistoric waters.

In the eyes of a child, the world is filled with endless possibilities.

For 2 hours last evening, I was a child once again.

happy new year (the irony)

The first week of 2009!

And from the looks of it, pretty lousy too.
Been a pretty uppy and downy few days...

Hit with a fever on New Year's eve (boo!), before meeting the XJ for Bedtime Stories, Brewerkz and fireworks watching (cheer!).

Fever gone on New Year's day (yay!), but in comes a sore throat (aww)

Back to camp on Friday (sian) with a sore throat (double sian), but went out with the guys for ramen and supper (cool!) but the ramen tasted bland because of a blocked nose (damn!).

Played soccer on Saturday (whee!) but too many people turned up (dang).

Slacked on Sunday (ahhh~) but then came a killer cough (cough cough cough ><)

Finally, my voice gave way on Monday. Now I sound like a demented killer.

Hoping to land my "dream" job for these 6 months after ORD.

The Top Five List of Top 10 Lists of 2008

Its that time of the year where top ten lists of 2008 start appearing in magazines, newspapers, on television yadayada. So I thought I'd do a lil' half spoof of it =)

Why 5? Because 10 would entail much mindless scrolling down.

Well as you can fathom from the title this is going to be one loooong and quite pointless post, but I'll just go ahead for the heck of it.

Note: All lists are purely of my personal opinion.

Top Ten Geeky Things That Happened to me

1) Deciding to take the plunge into Linux (Ubuntu) and discovering a brand new world
2) Trying to learn how to use the terminal to improve my Linux experience (and failing)
3) Zhnging my Compaq laptop so it dual-boots with Mac OS X and Ubuntu. Which is really Windows XP zhnged to look like Mac OS X.
4) Upgrading my Compaq laptop to 2 GB RAM with a cheaply bought used 1GB RAM module
5) Upgrading my monitor to a 22 inch LG one
6) Researching for days for a new printer and ended up buying one totally different from the initial selection
7) Starting this blog afresh
8) Ordering DVDs online from Amazon.jp and Yesasia.com
9) Printed T-shirts for an online forum
10) Eagerly devouring Digital Life (the newspaper add-on) every Wednesday
11) Surviving 2 weeks without touching a computer in India

Top Ten Green Things That Happened to me

1) Sleeping without air-conditioning since who-knows-when
2) Cycling at every possible opportunity as long as destination is within 5km.
3) Walking home from the MRT station in the wee hours of the morning just for fun
4) Turning of power socket switches at home with rabid obsession
5) Constantly adjusting office air-conditioning temperature higher, even as others turn it down
6) Recycling and sorting garbage if bins are in sight and trash is at hand
7) Declining plastic bags whenever possible. Even returning them
8) Tried to reduce toilet paper used when attempting bombing runs and found it to be near impossible
9) Starting this blog afresh
10) Watching "An Inconvenient Truth" at home instead of a movie theatre
11) Getting my license to drive

Top Ten Video Games that I've played

1) Far Cry 2
2) Fallout 3
3) Team Fortress 2
4) Portal
5) Red Alert 3
6) Crysis Warhead
7) Fifa 09
8) GTA San Andreas
9) The Frozen Throne (Battlenet)
10) Assassin's Creed
11) Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, 3

Top Ten Artistes (Albums/Singles) that I've heard
I've discovered lots of Japanese artistes this year, so lots of unfamiliar names =)

1) Chatmonchy (Miminari + Seimeiryoku + Somaru Yo)
2) Asian Kung-Fu Generation (World World World + Mada Minu Ashita Ni)
3) Tokyo Jihen (Kyouiku + Adult + Variety)
4) YUI (I Loved Yesterday + My Short Stories)
5) FREENOTE (Shuuden Master + Introducing the popline + Otonoha Triangle)
6) Mika Nakashima (Voice)
7) Ayumi Hamasaki (Guilty + Mirrorcle World + Days/Green)
8) Kimura Kaela (+1, SCRATCH)
9) Olivia Ong (A Girl Meets Bossanova + AGMB 2 + Fall in Love With)
10) Coldplay (Viva La Vida)
11) Money No Enough 2 Soundtrack

Top Ten Things That Happened that affected me in a big way

1) QUIS
2) Barack Obama = President
3) Overseas Exercise in India + Mumbai Bombings
4) The economic meltdown
5) Japan trip in April
6) Beijing Olympics 2008 (In particular, Team Singapore)
7) Manchester United being crowned Champions in England and Europe
8) Facebook
9) Passing my driving test
10) AHM
11) ORDDDD!!!

Goodbye 2008, a year of top tens

AHM (A "Hiong" Marathon)

And so I completed my first ever (and probably last) marathon. Oh all right it was a HALF marathon, if u wanna be picky. It was one hell of a marathon. And it wasn't because of the impeccable timing of the date (doors closing soon!).

I reached Padang on a wonderful Sunday morning with a lil' drizzle, around 5.30AM. Wonderful if you're still in bed, snug and comfortable with the blanket drawn over your heads. My first step into Padang was welcomed with a very satisfying *splat*.

That's right, the Padang had turned into Pa-dung overnight. Great way to start a Sunday eh? It was pretty dark (it WAS 5.30am) so I wandered around like a lost child before I finally found a bunch of people wearing the same singlet as mine. Met Ben and JH, before we started to hunt for a place to dump our bags. Funnily enough, all the bag deposits refused to let us deposit our bags (even the paying ones!). After running around like a bunch of confused chickens, we found some familiar faces and put all our bags together.

Thereafter was the start of the 21km run, which yours truly took part in. The run itself wasn't that bad. Hmm. Typo. The run wasn't that bad until I crossed the halfway 10km point. Up till then I was still sane, listening to my mp3 player, mouthing lyrics, looking at all the interesting people running past me, overtaking the slackers who were walking even before the first water point, and in general feeling rather good.

Once I turned the 10km corner in ECP, my left ankle screamed out "dude! this is the furthest I'll go!". My brain failed to heed its warning and told my legs to keep running. After awhile the pain dissolved into plain numbness, as I tried to concentrate on the music. Then around the 12km mark civilisation turned into wilderness as we wound through the forested area that is Marina Bay. Suddenly marathon wasn't an approprate term for the run anymore, x-country more likely. Mud! Uneven tracks! More mud! Potholes! Everyone slowed down during this segment. I think I went crazy and just overtook as many people as I could. Maybe it was the fresh air coming from the forest.

After crossing the Marina Barrage (around 15km), my knees started to complain. 16km. Thump thump thump. 17km. First sign of cramping. Ok, slow down, chill, don't use the calf muscles. 18km. ARGHHAGFHG where the hell is 19. 19km. OMFG finally 2km more. CRAMP. Ouch wtf. Ok lets walk then. walk walk walk. damn everyone is overtaking me. 20km. oooh yeah. F*** it just run. Run run run. 20.9km. AHA I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE! *drools rabidly*. Run run run. 20.98km. CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP. Why are my legs dragging? wtf not now. hobble hobble hobble. Beep. Hmm I crossed the line? cool. am I supposed to feel euphoric?

That sums up the run. And I'm still having chui legs, ankles and knees.

ping and pong.

I haven't been blogging a lot, have I? I've had to dust away several dead spiders and their webs before I could find the "NEW POST" button.

Ok suddenly global warming stopped for a second.

Anyway! Today our born-in-China-play-for-Singapore table tennis mercenaries will fight for their own personal glory, and ours, for the flag that goes up has white instead of yellow stars. If you ask me I'll say it'll be easier for the 3 of them since the burden of winning for the team and our first medal has been lifted.

People have been playing down the significance of the silver they won last Sunday mostly based on their birthplace. But hey, weren't we all from the same 'ol China (if you're Chinese, that is)? Sure, Chinese Chinese talk like machine guns (or rather, we're the ones who maul the language), but deep down inside, the blood, the DNA, the roots, the culture, its all the same. Its the same phenomenon that happened way back after a certain ang moh spoke cheem English to our Tunku, made him sign some dodgy documents and declared that Singapore was open. And in rushed all those kiasu (mostly Chinese) immigrants, our great great great grandparents, queueing up since the previous morning, wanting to grab the best bargains of the Singapore Dream.

Its the same thing, only faster (LOTS faster). We go where the money is. We're all Boba Fett at heart. Boss pays good, we do it. And if we do that something really well to make Boss really happy, why not?

So erase that niggling thought (yes I know you have it nestled in your brain cells somewhere) that the efforts of Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei (even Tao Li) will be lesser than if they were to be replaced by "pure" Singaporeans.

The medals are for all of us.

NDP weekend!

Singapore celebrated her 43rd birthday last Saturday (damn!)
somehow this year feels like the previous year's one, with all that water stunts, floating balloons and stuff.

Anyway, me and XJ celebrated our 3rd year together with Singapore. 3 years seems long huh? Time flies real quickly...

Somehow I managed to get hold of cheap SG Flyer tickets, only to find out they could only be used before 6pm. There went the chance of catch the fireworks.
Once there (in some ulu part of marina bay, on a plot of land obscured by ECP), I was reminded of the purpose of the Flyer as a tourist magnet (money changer, check. expensive souvenier store, check. luxury stores, check). Nice atmosphere though, with live music and a tropical garden. The viewing deck was crowded with people waiting to watch the fireworks (it was only 6pm!).

We got into the same cabin as a bunch of tourists (Bangla, Japanese, Ang Moh, Indo, maybe Chinese). I felt like a tourist in my own country.



We could see the parachute segment, tiny dots spiralling down to the floating platform, the water performance segment, followed by the 25 pounder guns lined up below (the guns kept in my camp garage!) and the gunners from Charlie (the battery I'm attached to!). Never saw NDP upclose before until now (unless u count P5).

Then we headed off to Lau Pa Sat for some zhi char BBQ seafood! yum yum. Standard hotplate tofu, cereal prawns and pepper crabs!



not bad at all! though the crabs were kinda messy, my brand new shirt kena black splats. We missed the fireworks though, and had to make do with distorted reflections off the glass surfaced buildings and lots of booms.

Caught a late night movie after that. Our plan was to catch the 9pm Mummy show, but we missed it so we "sneaked" in at 9.40 with legit tickets (only wrong time LOL) to make the most of the 8 bucks. In the end had to settle for Money no enough 2 front row seats.

Good show! Cheesy laughs at the beginning, serious heartwarming and teary stuff near the end. Predictable plot, good acting (from the Ah Ma), usual jibes at the government, and issues close to our hearts.

Feeling rather lazy today. Bummed around the house sweating it out in this crazy hot weather (another sign of global warming!! al gore +1)

Just realised my last post was 2 weeks ago, which is quite pathetic. Since then I've done lots of stuff (which probably explains my neglected blog lol)

1) Watched the Dark Knight

Really good, dark movie. The Joker (I know, all that hype surrounding him) was portrayed really well, considering the skeptical view I took while watching the movie. Sadistic, insane, cunning, ugly. Now the phrase "Why so serious?" is popping up everywhere, even on my TF2 games. Looks like everyone feels the same way. Too bad Two-Face died though, I was expecting him to be the baddie in Batman 3 or something. I couldn't understand some parts probably due to the twisted storyline, involving Batman vs Mafia, then Joker vs Mafia, then Joker + Mafia vs Batman, then everyone vs Batman. The ferry scene was the best IMO, I would have been terrified to be in those people's shoes.

2) Stayed over in camp

Can't say much about it, except it involved a really cold night. Brrr. And some noisy rats/lizards.

3) Got burnt by ash

Friday was the first day of the Chinese Seventh Month and so we burnt some incense in camp for safety and protection. I had hot ash fall repeatedly on my finger while trying to stick the incense into the pot, which hurt like hell (pardon the pun). I hope it didn't mean anything else.

4) Ate Muthu's Curry for the second time + Bought a new pair of ear phones

Went with XJ to eat Muthu's at Suntec on Saturday. The naan and briyani were delicious, though the main courses were so-so. The mutton curry in particular didn't agree with my stomach, I felt uncomfortable the whole day. Pappadums! *crackle*

We both went to Creative and got a pair of in-ear earphones each. I've been wanting to get one for ages, and I aimed for Audio Technica, until I learnt of their prices. My Creative one cost only $45 (ok, 45 may seem abit expensive, but its the real deal). It works like a charm - I couldn't hear a thing outside while plugged in (except baby screeches which I don't think even the best ear plugs could block). I even fell asleep on the bus without noticing it. And it keeps sounding better and better the longer I use it. No wonder my recently failed Hyundai mp3 player earphones sound sooooo good despite being 4 years old. Quite sad to throw it away T.T

1 week to NDP! And boom (7% GST!) boom (so many ERP!) boom (Public transport fee increase!)

Whew.

After 1 and a half weeks of tinkering, configuration and troubleshooting, I've finally enabled a near-perfect Ubuntu cum Windows XP dual boot on my laptop. Lots of problems cropped up initially - No wireless, no sound (which was took the longest to solve), no youtube, no video, songs with screwed up ID tags.

Now its complete! The only buggy thing left is the viewing of certain videos with dodgy encoding. I was surprised that I could almost do the same things I normally do in XP, from using MSN to viewing Guitar Pro tabs, even more. The only thing I haven't tried is installing the games which reside on the XP half of my hard drive. At the very least I'll boot XP if I ever feel the urge to play Sonic or Starcraft =)

On the downside, I think I lost many hours of gaming time while trying to solve the linux problems. Its time to catch up LOL.

In other news -

I've passed my driving practical test! Finally I've got that coveted license-to-pollute-and-contribute-to-global-warming. I'll stick to my personal preference of driving only when absolutely necessary. I still relish the feeling of sitting comfortably (if I get a seat) on a bus or MRT with my Zen plugged in and just dozing off, waking up just before I arrive at my stop.

Now do that in a car and I'll prolly wake up in CGH, or even Mandai Crematorium. Touchwood.

Ubuntu for fun!

Weekends fly by so quickly, they barely even registered on my calendar before they're gone. Well I suppose I can attribute this to a well-spent weekend?

Saturday was spent in usual fashion, playing soccer in the morning (albeit with still-aching legs from the weekly dose of 10km runs at East Coast). Then I came home, intending to chill in front of the computer when Kheng Yong popped up with an offer of free tickets to Hellboy II. Hell, who can resist an offer like that? So I headed down with Wenyang and KY to Suntec for the movie. Free popcorns and drinks to boot lol. The movie was average, not as much action as I would have expected, but it was compensated for by the free-ness of it all LOL.

Then we headed to Marina Sq food court for dinner where we saw the fireworks for the NDP rehearsals. With each explosion goes our higher ERP charges. When the actual day comes our transport fares will probably end up having the same fate, as well as any surplus from that 7% GST.

Milled around the place before I went to meet XJ at her Yoguru workplace in Raffles City. We had supper/dinner at Brewerkz in Kallang (nice ribs man! tender, juicy and bbqy!). Then we sat along the Kallang river and had a nice long chat. Really nice place to hang out, away from all the noise and crowds of the city.

And when I woke up late on Sunday morning, I suddenly had this urge to either fix up my spoilt PC or condemn it to the scrap heap. So I stripped it up, randomly plugged components in and out until I reached a conclusion - the motherboard's fried. Then I had another urge - to install Linux in the old 20gig hard drive!

So I slotted in the otherwise-condemned hard drive into my other not-so-old Compaq PC.

After several hours of backing up and research and configuration and troubleshooting and installation, here I am, typing this post on Ubuntu Linux!



Cool right? Only problem is, its not compatible with a whole host of (Windows) programmes. The font is also kinda woozy (they don't support any "commercial fonts" like Arial). Right now I'm contemplating converting my laptop to Ubuntu, which would be a drastic move. Maybe once I've gotten the hang of Linux.

But damn, its so cool! With this I have reached another level of geekdom. *cue Final Fantasy Fanfare*

I. Have. Hydraulic. Oil. In. My. Hair.

And I can't get it to wash off completely even after 5 shampoos. ARGH. Just another non-typical day at work.

Oh well, guess I'll have to make do with perma-wax for the next 2 days. Hey, at least my hair looks spiky now.

the fat green pipe is getting clogged

Torrent + TF2 + video streaming + peak hour

and you get this - 900ms ping on Team Fortress 2.

I die a second before I actually see it. Doors take 1 second to open. My screen flies everywhere during intense battles. I can actually miss a pointblank because the guy already moved when I clicked.

12mbps? more like 12microbytespersecond.

Too many greenies in my block man.

I've just ran 10km at East Coast today as part of AHM (army half marathon) training. In slightly more than an hour, which is not too bad considering I've never ran any distance more than 6km, much less 10km.

Strangely running at ECP seems to take away muscle fatigue or something, I felt as if I could just go on and on (yes, my pace was rather slow, so it could be that). Maybe its the wind, the fresh air, the change of scenery (compared to boring army camps), and maybe another kind of scenery for some LOL.

Anyways my legs feel like agar agar right now.

These past few days were spent discovering some great new (and not so new) funky music from Japan! After much delay I finally decided to listen to Tokyo Jihen and Kimura Kaela, 2 very different and talented artistes with distinct styles of music. Jazzfunkrock for TJ, quirkyrockpop for KK. Can't get TJ's "Ringo no uta" and "OSCA", and Kaela's "Yellow" out of my mind for the whole of today.

At the same time thanks to some good people at a chatmonchy forum I unearthed some pretty solid indie J-rock bands and other musicians who didn't make it commercially, but really sound good! Bugy Craxone, FREENOTE and lots lots more.

"get over myself, so get over myself, so get over myself, so 1, 2, 3, 4"

Been some time since I blogged eh?

Don't feel like doing a long post now, so...

In the past week I...

- went outfield for exercise for the second time
- slept in a tonner
- did flag marshalling for AHM training at ECP
- despaired when Germany beat Portugal
- played soccer until sunblack
- finally bought and downloaded Team Fortress 2
- played bowling and had highly fluctuating forms
- almost fainted when Holland lost to Russia
- went for combat shoot and had loads of IAs
- passed combat shoot despite the IAs thanks to my buddies
- had a niggling bad throat

That's it.

Lots of stuff happened this past week. Lets see which had most impact on me...

The 2 NSFs who died while training.

I can't say much about this piece of news, except that its sad that 2 guys my age died for no apparent reason. Especially when it could have been anyone, even me. That's the scary thing about this whole sudden cardiac arrest thingy. Already I'm a bit paranoid walking in open spaces when there's heavy rain =x I don't know how the SAF is gonna come up with a "solution" or whatnot, people are still gonna die of this, no matter how thorough the medical checkup is. Kinda reminds me of "Deathnote".

The PC Show 08.

The sole reason why I'm going to brave the crowd later on is to grab that LG 22 inch widescreen LCD monitor for $359. Hopefully, today being the last day, it'll cost even less.

Euro 08.

Its a great feeling when both your favourite teams, the Portugese and the Dutch (strange, weren't the 2 fighting for control over the colonisation of Southeast Asia?) are doing so well in the tournament. Finals - Portugal vs Holland!

An update of what I've been up to:

Playing Sonic the Hedgehog!



Remember this? My childhood was spent playing this great game! Feeling nostalgic all over again =) I even have Sonic 2, 3 and Sonic and Knuckles! Now if only I can find that aeroplane game...

And so it ends... But its just the beginning for us!

We didn't win anything yesterday, but at least we walked away with something much more valuable - experience and advice! Plus we had (or at least I had) a great time on stage.

By the time we got up on stage (we were the first band, quite stressed), I think most of us had the mentality "ah heck it, finals liao, just whack ah." And whack we did. I wouldn't say it was our best performance musically, but image wise I think we did our best to work on our showmanship (we were practically jumping around).

Seeing other bands play on stage was quite enlightening , and it really showed the many ways in which we have yet to improve and work on. The top band Xcalibur totally owned everyone with their technically sound skills and crazy showmanship. They had the real classic "rock band" vibe that you don't see much nowadays. Supernova were not spectacular, but what impressed me was that they looked good on stage, the so-called "tai fong" or stage presence. Although the songs they played were relatively simple, they were tight and in tune with each other. The 3rd band Hidama was the usual Tokyo Jihen funk style, unique and refreshing (though I still can't appreciate the vocals lol). To be fair she had that natural, "look-at-me!!" singing style.

The other band which didn't win, Xbred, was quite a surprise actually since I thought they'd at least get something. But their guitarist was quite right, without a vocalist they already had a disadvantage from the start. Still the stuff they did was crazy! I've still got a long way to go before I even touch the tip of their iceberg.

We were disappointed of course. But like Joe the soundman said, there are many opportunities out there for us. Really gotta thank him for all his advice and comments since the Jrock festival 2 weeks ago. Hopefully we'll get a chance to work with him again. And thanks to everyone who was there to support us!

For now I think let my Cort take a lil' break and give my accoustic some attention. Been ages since I touched it =.=

Something random, tagged by XJ =)

#1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
eh. be damn sad and move on. no guts to whack the other guy (maybe knock into him when he waiting for train, den drop onto the tracks LOL sadistic)

#2. If you can have a dream come true, what would it be?
for the earth to be clean, free of all pollutants, no global warming, all life living in perfect equilibrium. and the widespread adoption of green technology.

#3. What will your dream wedding be like?
hmm. somewhere cozy without much hype, with a jazz band playing, no sharks fin!

#4. Are you confused as to what lies ahead of you?
not really. ORD!!!!!! that goal is very clear in my mind LOL. go uni, get that degree, work in some green company, save the environment, get married have kids, get a green house with a green car, live like a greenie (with the only sin of having a super ultimate powerful gaming machine). I'm green da ba dee da ba da...

5. What's your ideal lover like?
interesting, outgoing yet knows when to stop, smart dresser (not too outrageous), attentive and fun!

#6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone ?
the latter. the former is hard when that someone doesn't reciprocate.

#7. How long do you intend to wait for someone u really love?
not very long? dont wanna remain single for too long den become some 40yr old virgin.

#8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
find someone else to secretly like.

#9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
hmm. disappointed at not winning anything yesterday, but rather short-lived. camp politics.

#10. What do you want most in life?
personally, just have a comfortable life, nice family, rather normal. no need to be rich or famous or what. although I sometimes dream of being a rock star.

#11. Is being tagged fun?
well, sometimes. when the questions are interesting (and no need to spill too much brain juice to answer)

#12. How do you see yourself in ten years time?
married, possibly with children. with a comfortable career. godly guitar skills. (LOL) inventor of some radical new green technology.

#13. Who is the current most important person to you?
everyone who is close to me.

#14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
one heck of a girl =)

#15. Would you rather be single & rich or married but poor?
too extreme sia. married but average ok anot? i know everyone wants to be rich, but i don't. (too much) money is evil.

#16. If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be?
parrot. den i can train it to answer my calls.

#17. What are one of those things which you would prefer not to do?
sai kang.

#18. What kind of person do u think u are?
normal, unassuming, slack, relaxed

#19. What do you define as a bad day?
when everything that can go wrong goes wrong.

20. If you have to choose between love (as in boy-girl relationships) and friendship, what would it be?
love. not that i'll throw my friends aside. its all relative.


The 8 lucky people to be tagged are
???????? i dunno who reads my blog so if u feel like doing this just do la

we're in.

FINALS @ PLAZA SINGAPURA, SUNDAY 7PM!!!!

whirlwind!

Pretty interesting weekend!

Met up with XJ at Central on Friday after work for a Japanese dinner :) The restaurant we wanted to go (Ma Maison) initially had a waiting list of 45mins, others like Waraku had uber long queues and the only choice left was this curry udon restaurant Wakashachiya, which was relatively "empty". Not surprising, considering that Japanese curry + udon makes a strange combination. I ordered the standard Tonkatsu curry udon while she had the salmon. It tasted pretty good at first, but after awhile the sourness of the curry overpowered everything. Looks like mee rubus too lol. Not bad, but for the price it wasn't that worth it. Went for a nice walk along Clarke Quay :)

Saturday was the big day (sort of). Went jamming in the afternoon before heading down to Orchard Cineleisure for the SSF WOW! band competition qualifying rounds. Just before we headed out to *scape youth park for the sound check it POURED. Had to chiong across 2 roads, getting totally soaked as a result. Luckily our instruments weren't affected by the rain, though I had to walk around in wet shoes ><. Thankfully the rain stopped which allowed us to grab a quick dinner before the actual competition. I was quite impressed with 2 bands, the first one which had a charismatic vocalist, and the one before us which did a wicked sick instrumental (the guitarists pwned all of us LOL). Hidama did a pretty good cover of Tokyo Jihen songs, though I can't appreciate the vocals. Then it was our turn. We did Big Machine by Goo Goo Dolls, followed by Stay Away. It was all over in a flash. I can't really remember what happened heh. Anyway the big news is - we got in!!!

Semi - finals @ Plaza Singapura, this Friday (6th June), 7pm!


Met up with atheon from Malaysia on Sunday with some Singaporean YLs for lunch at Ma Maison (this time the waiting was 15mins lol).



Yup that's the fabled "It's happy line" single! Finally got a chance to see it (thanks to Danny).

The food was good, although rather expensive considering the portions were quite little. I ordered the beef stroganoff omurice set. Man the omelette covering the rice was damn good! I think I finished the plate in 10mins. benzwong had the strangest item on the menu, squid ink spaghetti! It tasted like char kway tiao haha. Although not exactly Japanese food, I think 80% of the customers (and even the staff) are Japanese, which definitely says something about its fame.

After that we started our guitar shop tour, first to Peninsular shopping centre, followed by Swee Lee at Bras Basah complex. I didn't realise there was a new guitar shop called Blackwood Guitars, they sell rare guitars! Imagine the entire shop selling stuff you can find only in the special room in Swee Lee! It also sells stomp boxes (besides the usual BOSS) and amps of never-seen-before brands.

I was pretty tired after walking around the whole day. Sigh. Lately I've been feeling rather sleepy when I wake up in the morning, I probably need to start sleeping early again zzz. Its tough especially since you wanna make the most of your time out of camp.

Tokyo! (part 8) - END

About time I concluded my Japan trip lol.

Headed out to Harajuku station for the 2nd time on Saturday morning, to show my sis around the place. Since it was still rather early, we decided to visit the Meiji-jingu shrine just behind the station! It took a good 15mins before we finally reached the shrine. Along the way we ran into a large group of elderly Japanese tourists who were excitedly making their way to the shrine. Quite an amusing sight =)



The huge torii gates! The wood for the 2 pillars came from a tree on a mountain in Taiwan. The largest torii in Tokyo I think?

And... we were in luck! I counted at least 2 couples getting married in traditional ceremonies!





The first couple!



A pair of huge, beautiful trees connected by a rope.



The actual shrine itself, built in memory of Emperor Meiji.





The 2nd couple!

It was my first time seeing this so it was quite exciting for me, and for the other tourists that were busy snapping away. I suppose the bride and groom felt as if they were celebrities or something. And those kimonos! They looked so exquisite and elaborate! If I were a Japanese girl I'd probably want to wear one of those XD

After that we walked a short distance to take a picture of the Yoyogi National Stadium, where Ayumi Hamasaki always holds her finale and countdown concerts =) I could hear a street band performing in nearby Yoyogi Park but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to investigate.



Shibuya AX is located behind the stadium, where the likes of YUI and AKFG have performed before ^^.



Harajuku's Meiji-dori street. Not many of those gothic dressers walking around, probably because it was still early in the morning. I could spot several groups of normally dressed youths pulling luggages <- filled with their extravagant clothings!



The crepes! This time I ate a simple one - vanilla and blueberry. Delicious! And cooling too, on a sunny day despite the time of the year.

We walked all the way to Shibuya from Harajuku , where we headed back to the hotel to get ready to visit my dad's old colleague and friend from Hitachi, Fujita-san!

We took a long train ride all the way to Mobara station in Chiba (about 2 hours, even on an express), where Fujita-san met us with his nephew-in-law, Yuichi-san. Really nice to see them again after 5 years, with that same wide smile. Unlike the last time we had some time to spare before dinner so they showed us around their quiet hometown.



Fujita-san and us.



Yuichi-san (don't you think he looks like the guy who acted in the Trick series?)

We followed them around Mobara park, where we walked to a Buddhist temple surrounded by cemeteries (contrary to the obvious it was quite tranquil instead of scary). Then they brought us to Fujita-san's sister's house/salon for a drink and some snacks. Small and cozy place! Exactly the same as I remembered 5 years ago. I didn't get a haircut though XD. Met a couple of high school boys getting their hair styled in the salon. Yuichi-san then brought us to the old Hitachi factory where my dad used to work at.

Once it was time we headed off to this cozy little Italian restaurant for dinner, where the entire extended family turned up!



Everyone was quite delighted that we were there, including Fujita-san's daughter Aya-san and niece Soko-san who bombarded my sis and me with questions about life in Singapore and other random stuff. Quite amusing when trying to understand their English while at the same time phrasing the answers so that they'd understand. Tried my hand at speaking some Japanese (and failed, sadly) although Soko-san said I was very good XD. Then we had this lively discussion about kanji vs chinese characters and names. They were quite intrigued by our chinese names, and were very amused when we translated their Japanese names into (rather bad-sounding) Chinese ones. Too bad we had to leave relatively early to catch the last train going back to Tokyo.

The next morning on Sunday, me and my dad headed down to Akihabara to take a quick look around before we flew back to Singapore. It was drizzling slightly so there wasn't much activity outside the station (I missed the cosplayers and street performers! T.T).

It's really a geek heaven! Huge buildings filled to the brim with electronics, computers, consoles and games, anime, figurines and many other random (geeky) stuff. Too bad I didn't step into the famed Maid Cafes (I didn't know what to expect, especially with my dad around =x) and that 7 floor building filled with porn mentioned by depyon XD



And the ultimate geek nostalgia:



I haven't seen one of those in ages! Ever since I stopped playing my SEGA console I thought cartridge game consoles were dead (minus the Gameboy). Apparently someone resurrected the Nintendo 64 and its available for sale! If it wasn't for the high prices of the cartridges I'd have bought one for old time's sake =)

After that half-satisfactory visit to Akihabara we bade farewell to Japan, back to Singapore.

Somehow I get the feeling that I'll want to go back again. Someday, when I have the money XD

ROCKKKK!!!!

And so the day of reckoning finally arrived on Sunday, after weeks of practice and preparation.

We had a short run-thru before heading down to Suntec City, where all the action was. I was actually expecting the Cosplay and Jrock event to take up the entire atrium, so I was kinda disappointed when I saw the Sony exhibition area XD. Anyways, there was a crowd which grew slowly, including those in the upper levels, so it wasn't bad at all.

There were a few bands playing before us, one in particular obviously loved Shiina Ringo. Pretty impressive, especially since Tokyo Jihen songs aren't the easiest. Another had a female vocalist singing male vocals which was kinda weird. Couldn't make out the lyrics for most of Luna Sea's Rosier since the song was pretty low. LOTS of cosplayers walking around, decked out in maid costumes, frilly dresses, anime characters (I saw Naruto, Bleach, Ragnarok Online, Ryuk from Deathnote) and other fancy gothic outfits. I liked Ryuk the most heheh. Too bad he didn't have an apple on hand to much on.

Soon it was our turn to go onstage. A bit nervous while setting up, but after awhile during the sound check (Sweet child 'o mine, baby!) it sort of melted away. We started with Rewrite by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, then ALONES by Aqua Timez, Driver's High and Stay Away by Larc and finally Storm by Luna Sea. Quite hard to describe how I felt, it just felt so good to stand on stage and blast on my guitar. It was fun, despite dropping my pick and stepping on the wrong pedals ^^. A pity the audience wasn't that enthusiastic, although I could tell most of them enjoyed the more popular songs (ALONES, Driver's High and Storm). Somehow Luna Sea has a lot of fans in Singapore?

Some photos and videos, credits to Helixius from YL.com =)



ALONES
Driver's High

Really high after the whole thing. Hot and tired. Sweaty. Hungry. But satisfied.

confetti

Manchester United: Champions of England, Champions of Europe!


update: the performance timing for tomorrow has been changed to 6.45 instead of 6.15!

Hot right?

That's global warming for you. Go on, keep that air-conditioner turned on.

I'll be waiting for the rains to fall.




In another note, I've not read a serious book in a loooong time. Kite runner was probably the last one I read (which was a few months ago). My brains are rottinggggg.

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Tokyo! (part 7)

Early on Friday morning we went to the outlet mall in Makuhari located in the Chiba prefecture for some bargain shopping XD Took a loooong train ride which took us past Tokyo Disneyland. Really brought back memories of my first ever trip to Japan.

The whole Makuhari station area was surrounded by huge suburban malls, including the outlet mall which housed brands like Nike, Aasics, Adidas, Columbia, several girlish clothing brands, and strangely, Triumph and Wacoal lingerie stores.

Bought a new pair of sneakers at the Nike store for only 2999yen!! That's only about 40SGD!

I grew tired of shopping so I took a long walk through the town park and surprise!



Unknowingly, I had walked all the way until I reached the beach! Great view of Tokyo Bay =)

After lunch I rushed back to Tokyo to meet depyon, a fellow Singaporean who had just started studying in Waseda University. He showed me around the Takadanobaba area before leading me to the SILS faculty of Waseda. Really diverse place! There were foreign students as well as Japanese who had studied overseas, and most of them could speak really good English! I was equally impressed by the modules they could take as part of the course - A wide range of languages, sports, music and even community service! Makes me wanna study at Waseda for a semester or 2 as an exchange programme XD

We met up with a few Singaporean Waseda students before heading off to Harajuku where we met another group from Todai.



Harajuku Station.

We walked up and down Takeshita dori as well as Omotesando Hills.



The entire Omotesando Hills shopping mall is built on a slope, which explains the unique sloping design of its floors!

Sadly I forgot to take any more photos as the company was simply too interesting XD Heard lots of stories and jokes about their experiences of living and studying in Japan, including dates, girls, drinking, keitais, weird characters and whatnot ^^. There was a mix of the newbies, the (relatively) old birds, the and the outsider - me. You might say I was slightly envious of them =) We had such a long chat even after a long and filling dinner of ramen that we went back to the Ma-cu-Do-nal-do at Harajuku for supper and more chatting. That was where I saw my first McPork (or Ma-cu-Po-ku). I can dare say McDonald's would close down if they ever introduced that here in Singapore.

Soon the curfew times for those staying in hostels beckoned and everyone took the train back, which was still packed like hell (it was already 11pm!).
The whole experience was kinda surreal - I never expected to speak Singlish so openly and with so many fellow Singaporeans my age in Japan, of all places! It was a refreshing way to relax and just talk loads of cock especially after a long and somewhat quiet tour.

I learnt a lot about university life in Japan that night! Not to mention the life of a Singaporean student in Japan... Will definitely consider going for an exchange program in Japan in the future!

Champions!!

This picture says it all.

Tokyo! (part 6)

First thing on Thursday morning we took the subway to Tsukiji Fish market. However we made a very big mistake - rush hour!!!

The Ikeuburo train station was packed! People were squeezing and pushing to get past the barriers, as well as into the trains. We were lucky to get into one, although the relief lasted only a second as people continued to pour into the carriages. I finally experienced how it felt to be a sardine squashed in a tiny can - wedged between 2 towering salarymen in black coats. To make matters worse there was an accident in the Oedo subway line, so our train was stuck for a good 10minutes.

When we finally reached Tsukiji at around 11, it started to drizzle. Since we arrived too late, we missed out on the actual fish market and decided to just take a walk among the narrow alleys filled with lots and lots of stalls selling fresh seafood!





We had a hearty brunch of ramen and beef bowl!!







My dad was feeling partically peckish so we started to hunt for this stall which sold freshly grilled shellfish -



I saw lots of weird shellfish, including this box of "uni" or sea urchin. My parents absolutely loved it (I just don't get the idea of eating the meat of a spiky ball thingy)



A visit to Tsukiji wasn't complete without a taste of its fresh sushi! So we entered this sushi shop, and I was rather surprised to see a female sushi chef! You don't see many of those around.





A fishmonger slicing up a huge piece of tuna meat.

After that rather filling visit to Tsukiji we went to Kamakura, a few stops away from Yokohama, to visit the famous Daibutsu, or Giant Buddha.



The bus ride from the station to the temple.



Daibutsu! According to history a huge tsunami swept into Kamakura, killing lots of people and destroying nearly everything - everything except the Daibutsu. Even the temple that housed it was swept away.



A cute map probably drawn by one of the locals, as we walked down the sloping and winding streets of Kamakura towards the beach. On the way I was lucky to see this



A train crossing!

After a long walk we finally found Yuigahama beach! The song by AKFG Yuigahama Kite was probably named after this beach, considering their Yokohama roots.



We took the small train in the above picture back to the station and to Yokohama! By the time we reached Yokohama the sky had already turned dark and the rain was super heavy! Not the best weather to go walking about in the streets but we did anyway. My shoes were soaked ><

After a 15min walk we reached our destination - Chinatown!



Thanks to the weather there wasn't much activity in Chinatown, though most of the shops were still open and brightly lighted up. Saw a number of stalls selling GIANT BAOs. And those buns were really huge! Even bigger than the da bao you can get here in Singapore.

We went into this Chinese restaurant (there were plenty of those, they practically lined the streets) for some comfort food. Though the food tasted less salty than what I was used to, they were quite good! Ate supaiku (sweet sour pork), fried rice, fish and some dimsum. The staff could speak very good Mandarin, and the manager even spoke in Cantonese! Not sure if they were Japanese though =x

More coming in part 7!