Japan: The Northern Alps #1

Very late blog post, I know XD

The Europeans have their Alps, the South Americans have their Andes, and of course the Nepalese have their Himalayas. But what about the Japanese? Everyone knows about Mt. Fuji, but few outside the country know that just north of Tokyo, straddling 3 prefectures of Toyama, Nagano and Gifu, lies the Hida Mountains, also known as the "Northern Alps" of Japan.

And so with this in mind, my dad planned a trip to visit the region, with the main aim of traversing the famous "Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route". We planned to visit Nagano - famed for its hot springs and snow monkeys, scoot over to Matsumoto, conquer the Hida Mountains to reach Toyama and make a round trip back to Karuizawa and Tokyo.

15/6 Day 0: Arriving in Tokyo

Our flight arrived at Haneda at 11pm, so we hastily took a train out to nearby Shinagawa to stay for the night. I had the best meal of the trip that night - a hearty supper of gyu-don prepared by an elderly chef in a tiny little hole-in-the-wall.

16/6 Day 1: Nagano City


Took a Shinkansen from Tokyo station to Nagano - the ASAMA 515. Had a bit of a screw up really, because I tried to speak to the ticketing guy at the counter and bought reserved seats instead - which were only available for a train 2 hours later D:

For the uninitiated - express trains and Shinkansen trains have reserved (more expensive) and unreserved seats (cheaper). Unreserved tickets allow you to just hop onto any train that comes, provided there are seats available - hence the name. Reserved tickets assure you of a seat at a certain timing, which is useful if you need to reach your destination at a specific time.


After realising the error, we went to get a refund and converted to unreserved tickets so we could catch the next train.

First attempt at communication in Japanese: FAILED.

Soba stand at Nagano station *slurrrp*

Nagano, host of the 1998 Winter Olympics

We reached Nagano after about 90mins, and the first thing we did in the land of the soba was to - you guessed it - eat soba! And not just within the station, soba shops were everywhere in Nagano - from small little counters to high end restaurants all serving hand-made soba made from buckwheat grown in the highlands with crystal clear water from the mountains.

My meal of hot soba with tempura :D

With our stomachs filled we checked into the Metropolitan hotel just next to the station (super convenient! great service, spacious rooms and very very affordable) and headed to the main attraction in Nagano city via a feeder bus - the 1400 year old Zenkoji Temple, which sits atop a small hill in the middle of town. 

The customary shopping street leading to the temple

Rokujizo, statues of six Bodhisattvas

The Sanmon gate

Zenkoji Hondo, or Main Hall

 It was pretty dark inside the main hall, and photography wasn't allowed, so no pictures of the interior :/ There was a very interesting statue at the entrance of the main hall:

The temple contains a statue of Binzuru, a physician who was said to be Buddha's follower. Visitors to the temple touch the statue in order to cure their ailments - Wikipedia

People were mainly rubbing his bald head, probably to cure their headaches. I rubbed his knee, thinking of my injured-and-recovered left knee, but realised afterwards that I rubbed his right knee instead -.-

More interesting nuggets from Wikipedia (this ain't a formal report so imma cite Wiki for all its worth):

The main Buddhist image is a hibutsu (secret Buddha), a hidden Buddha statue, not shown to the public. This hibutsu is rumored to be the first Buddha statue to ever be brought to Japan. The commandments of the temple require the absolute secrecy of the statue, prohibiting it to be shown to anyone, including the chief priest of the temple.

No wonder I didn't see any Buddha statue inside the main hall. After visiting the main hall, we took a little stroll around the temple grounds, taking in the weekend, family-friendly atmosphere. Unlike Sensoji, another famous temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, tourists were rare (I spotted maybe 2 local tour groups?), and families were everywhere, kids in tow. The temple grounds might even double up as a park.

Beautiful bonsai

Young and old spotted 

Mom and son sketching the temple buildings

One for the girls XD

 On the way out we stopped by several of the shops along the street for souvenirs and snacks. I saw this bun-like snack being sold at a few places so I decided to try one - Oyaki. I later discovered that Nagano Prefecture was famous for its oyaki, in addition to its soba. Not surprisingly, oyaki is also made using buckwheat flour, stuffed with vegetables or red bean paste.

Oji-san pan-frying up some oyaki

 It tasted pretty much like a tough and sticky red bean bun. Not my kind of thing, but apparently very popular with the Japanese!

We had some time to kill so we strolled around and chanced upon this river running along the edge of town. Hungry after the long walk, we ate at a nearby "fast-food" restaurant where I had a hearty bowl of curry rice with beef. Cheap and tasty! It soon filled up with families - guess we found out where they bring their kids on those lazy-to-cook days :p

Curry + beef bowl rice!

So that sums up Day 1 in Nagano city. The next day, we headed off to Matsumoto, which was to be our starting point for the main attractions of the trip!

ASUS RT-N15U "Black Diamond" Router

*UPDATE*
I've just flashed the custom firmware Tomato USB for this router and its been working fine. Best of all, I get the ability to overclock the Broadcom chip and boost the transmit power for increased range. QoS takes a little to get used to though (not as idiot proof as the original ASUS firmware).

This is a good blog detailing the steps required to flash one yourself: http://moonlightknighthk.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/install-tomato-firmware-on-asus-router/

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June is always the period of time when I start to feel the urge of getting some new gadget to fool around with. Why June? Well for one its usually the school holiday period, meaning I suddenly have lots of time to think about buying new toys, and secondly there's also the PC Show. Most of the time I resist the urge (haven't bought anything major since 3 years ago, when I upgraded my desktop), although there was an exception earlier this year when I bought my second-hand Toshiba laptop.

So anyway, every tech purchase has to have a reason behind it (my personal motto). I don't go around "hooting" stuff because its a blazing new technology, because everyone has one, or because its cheap/on offer. For one, I don't have the moolah to be able to do that (the reason why I call this blog "thebudgetgeek"). And of course, the most important thing - if you have a good reason to buy something, you'll make the most out of it (and reduce unnecessary wastage of money and resources).

The reason this time? My sis was complaining that the Wi-Fi signal kept getting dropped, and I had instances where my connection was dropped during Starcraft 2 games (rageeee!!). The problem could very well be on Starhub's side, but I then realised that the number of connected devices at home was mind-boggling -  desktop, 4 laptops (usually only 2 being used at a time), 3 iPhones, 1 Desire S (mine), and 1 iPad 2.

Its amazing how we survived on our old Linksys WRT54G. To be fair, it was working fine throughout, but I wanted to get a Wireless N router to cater to all those devices with N capability (all except 2 older laptops), and to prepare for a future fibre broadband network.

So I headed down to the PC Show on Thursday with a single target in mind - the ASUS RT-N15U "Black Diamond" router. There were other candidates from D-Link and Linksys with similar specs, but I chose the ASUS in the end for its lower price point. The main draw this time was of course, Wireless N, and the ability to connect a USB device direct to the router for sharing (printer, hard drive etc.)

The beautiful design on the router face

Features

Wall-mounting
Wireless N networking up to 300mbps, supports older standards
4 Gigabit LAN ports, 1 WAN port, 1 USB port
Printer sharing
FTP file sharing
UPnP media streaming
QoS, Firewall
Multiple SSID
3 networking modes - Router, Repeater and Access Point modes

Setting up

I must praise ASUS for this - the router was a cinch to setup. Normally the thought of setting up a secured wireless network would give me the shudders, but the RT-N15U surprised me. No installation CDs, no step-by-step procedures to follow - plug in the cables, open up a browser, fill up the SSID and Network Key, and you're ready to go!

Advanced settings can be tweaked using the webpage UI and is really quite foolproof (although the UI felt a little kiddish). I managed to setup MAC address filtering and QoS (quality of service) in a few clicks.

On the other hand, printer setup took a little more effort. I couldn't connect to the printer for a good 1 hour, despite running the printer setup utility and reinstalling the printer drivers. Eventually I gave up, left the house, and when I came back 2 hours later, it magically worked. /shrugs

Performance

Arguably the most important factor that everyone looks at. I wanted to take full advantage of the wireless N network adaptors in my Toshiba Portege and my sis's Sony Vaio. The smartphones and iPads all come with this standard so they'd benefit from the potential increase in speeds.

I was disappointed though. Firstly, I had to run my router on "Auto" mode instead of "N only", which means it could support wireless G devices (the 2 ageing laptops). This would cut down any potential speed improvements if both N and G devices were operating at the same time.

And secondly, even without the 2 old laptops connected, the wireless speeds weren't THAT impressive.

My desktop (Gigabit LAN) speedtest results:

Desktop YouTube test results (10:29 1080p HD video):

10 minutes of cheerful Irish music

My laptop (Wireless N, in my room 2 walls away) speedtest results:

Laptop YouTube test results:

Upload speeds were consistently low (Starhub -.-), but the download speed dropped drastically on Wi-Fi. Of course, these were just numbers, so to simulate a real-time test I loaded a 1080p YouTube video and waited for it to load (the grey bar). Surprisingly, not much of a difference! Of course, this could be due to the QoS settings of the router which prioritised online video streaming, which in this case proved extremely useful.

Looks

Not an important factor when it comes to routers, but this is one seriously sexy looking router.  It helps if the router is located on top my desktop PC with the exact same colour scheme - black with blue LEDs. Linksys first made the router sleek with its E series, but ASUS does it in a way that appeals to the inner tech "beng". If my earlier photo didn't do it justice, here's the official picture:

Sexy black with blue LEDs

Overall

In terms of functionality and value for money, this router is definitely the top choice among the budget-conscious. Almost all modern routers are now wireless N capable, so that isn't much of a deal-breaker; the ability to connect a printer or a hard disk for sharing/streaming certainly is. Linksys routers have the brand name behind them, and I don't doubt their quality, but that comes with a premium ($$$). I was torn between   this and a similarly priced D-link, but who could resist the looks of this "Dark Knight"?

Slightly disappointed with the speedtest results, but at least I'll be able to print wirelessly now :)
Hopefully with the arrival of fibre broadband over the horizon, the full potential of this router will be realised.

Would I recommend it?

If you're living with ancient Wi-Fi technology and thinking of an upgrade, this would definitely be a viable option - just don't expect too much in terms of performance.

Last day at PUB

Disclaimer: This post is not endorsed by PUB, nor is it part of my Industrial Attachment requirement. I might have quoted some information from my final report, but thats about it :)

And so 22 weeks of Industrial Attachment have blown by. While others were celebrating the end of exams 1 month ago, we were waking up at 7am daily to go to work (of course, I probably deserved it for emphasizing my lack of exams). Now, our turn has finally come; unless of course you're one of those who extended your attachment period.

Its been an interesting 22 weeks at PUB, and certainly an eye-opening experience for me in terms of having a taste of working life in the public sector as compared to my previous experience with a local SME. While work in Alpha Biofuels three years ago was characterised by its informality, the sheer variety of tasks and the groundwork involved, life in PUB has been very much different. Here's where you probably start listing down your stereotypes of a job in the public service:

1) Stuffy, boring
2) Nine to five
3) Formal
4) Old fashioned
5) Bureaucratic

I won't exactly say they're wrong, but its definitely not that bad (it helps if you're attached to an interesting department).

I was attached to the Catchment and Waterways department, which deals with our reservoirs and drains. Not too interesting, you'd think? Here's the catch - I was also attached to the ABC Waters division within that department. For those unacquainted with the promotional efforts of PUB (how could you not know Water Wally?!), ABC stands for Active, Beautiful, Clean.

Water Wally! So cute :3

Water Wally even has its own cartoon

Anyway, in a nutshell, the ABC Waters Programme aims to beautify our waterways (i.e boring, dreary concrete drains and canals) by integrating with the green landscape and  bringing people closer to water in the hope that they would take ownership and not contribute to pollution. While this all sounds all rosy and double rainbowish, what has my work got to do with any of this? Well for the past 22 weeks I've been involved in the more technical aspects of this Programme.

PUB is implementing what it calls "ABC Waters Design Features" in various areas around Singapore, and is also encouraging private developers to do the same. For new buyers of those expensive HDB projects along the edge of Punggol Waterway, your houses will have these features, look out for them :)

What exactly are "Design Features"? Known in other parts of the world as Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), these "Design Features" aim to change the way we approach storm water drainage - which traditionally involves concrete drains, concrete canals and more concrete. For the uninitiated, too much storm water run-off is bad, bad, and did I mention bad? If you recall the previous Orchard Road floodings and the flooded drain that swept an Indonesian kid away, that's what too much run-off can do.

The root cause of it? Urbanisation. The problem with too much concrete is, it prevents rainwater from entering the ground; instead it flows over our roofs, our roads, our footpaths and into our drains, too fast too furiously. That's good you say, so it won't flood. True, but only if you're located near the start of the drainage system. For the people downstream though, this surge of water from further upstream quickly overwhelms their stretch of the drains (as was the case in Orchard Road, with the Stamford canal flooded beyond its capacity).

The "Design Features" are essentially natural drainage systems that mimic nature's way of controlling storm water run-off - by using plants. Rain gardens, bioretention swales and constructed wetlands all fall under this category and their main function is simple - to slow down the flow while removing pollutants, utilising the soil, bacteria and plants to filter out sediments and nutrients that might pollute our rivers. The benefits? Less floods, cleaner rivers and less strain on our treatment plants that treat the water which eventually comes out of our taps.

The interesting characters I run into during the course of my job

Before I start to sound like a PUB spokesperson, lets just say that from the day I started reading up about all these during my first day at work, I was sold. Replacing concrete drains with soil and plants? Hell yeah. Slowing down the flow and getting rid of nasty stuff so the poor folks downstream don't get flooded with polluted water?

I didn't sign up to be an Environmental Engineer for nothing. As you might expect, I loved going down to site. You would too, despite the hot weather and all, if your site looked like this:

The transformed Bishan Park

If I had any IA regrets at all, it would be me being the only intern in the department (and on a separate floor to boot). It got a little lonely and boring at times especially on those long, desk-bound days. Guess nothing can compare to the crazy things me and the other interns did back in those Alpha days XD

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So, its the end of my Industrial Attachment. I did feel a bit guilty that I didn't request to extend, considering that my colleagues will be very busy with the upcoming Singapore International Water Week (SIWW). But hey, I'll be heading to Japan with my parents in a week's time (more in a later post) and I'll finally have time to sit down and study for my JLPT N4 test ^^;. I did volunteer to help out for the SIWW though, hopefully I'll be able to attend :D

May The 4th Be With You

The opening score still gives me goosebumps

So, yesterday was the unofficial, fan-created Star Wars Day. I admit, I only found out about it in the past week or so, via the Star Wars Facebook page here. In true geek style, this post will be dedicated to my (past) obsession with everything Star Wars. Non-fans, you might want to stay away from this.

I discovered Star Wars way back when I was in Primary school, around the impressionable ages of 10-12. If you back-calculate, that was around the time The Phantom Menace was released (1998-1999). Caught up in the hype, my mum came back from work one day brandishing 3 VCDs (of dubious origins) and passed them to me. Mind you, those was the times when such discs were everywhere, and you had these awesome shops selling PC games with the goods displayed openly hanging by hooks on the walls. /ifyouknowwhatImean

As you might have guessed, those 3 VCDs were titled - Star Wars Episode IV, V and VI (Special Editions). My parents had probably watched them way back in the 70s, so it was a form of catching up to them before Phantom Menace was screened.

That was my first brush with the science fiction genre, and before I knew it I became a Star Wars fanboy - all at the tender age of 12. Maybe it was the Light vs Dark theme, maybe it was the cool star ships shooting funky lights at each other, maybe it was the awesome lightsaber battles, maybe it was the mystical Force, or even the hair buns of Princess Leia that sucked me into the Star Wars universe. I watched and re-watched those 3 movies, and when Phantom Menace came out on VCD, I bought it and re-watched that too.

My favourite lightsaber duel of all time - do you agree?

Not satisfied with just movies, the book-loving me discovered that the library held a treasure trove of Star Wars novels - the X-Wing series, the Thrawn trilogy, the New Jedi order and so many others - these accompanied me throughout my teens. When I had finished what the library had to offer, I turned to rental bookstores, always looking forward to the latest releases. I followed Han and Leia through their courtship, saw their children Jacen and Jaina grow into young Jedi Knights, survived the hellish Yuuzhan Vong invasion, watched Luke rebuild the Jedi Academy, and felt their anguish when Jacen turned into Darth Caedus.

First book of the Thrawn Trilogy

Books weren't enough to satisfy my cravings for more Star Wars though - I began to dive into Star Wars video games like Racer, Jedi Knight II (one of the best!), Rebellion, Force Commander, Empire At War, Republic Commando etc. Needless to say, they took up a huge chunk of my time in Secondary school, decapitating Stormtroopers, piloting podracers and entangling AT-ATs. I also started playing and collecting the Star Wars Trading Card Game with a good friend in class who also happened to stay above me.

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

When I was young I loved to play with LEGO, building fantasy worlds out of bright coloured bricks and yellow-faced people. Naturally, I was the happiest kid alive when they decided to release LEGO Star Wars sets. During that fanatical period of childhood, every Christmas present, every birthday present, heck, every gift for every possible occasion was LEGO Star Wars. The pride of my collection still sits high above a display cabinet full of LEGO - the Millennium Falcon.

My humble collection. I've always wanted an AT-AT

Today is already the 5th of May. Star Wars Day may be over, but there's always time and space for Revenge of the 5ith XD

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Star Wars fans, how did you spend 4/5/2012? Well, I decided to join in the fun and did this: 

"You have failed me for the last time"

When Hard Drives fail...

And so I've gotten meself a "new" laptop to replace the ageing (or rather, aged) Compaq V3000 notebook I received from Starhub for signing up with their broadband plan 5 years ago. There wasn't any particular reason why I needed a replacement, and indeed I would have continued using the Compaq if its CMOS battery didn't start conking out on me. Sure I could simply swop out the battery, but couple that with the fact that PUB, the place where I'm currently interning at, loaned me a spanking new HP Elitebook 2560p to play around with, it was inevitable that NAS hit me. (If you know what GAS means, you'll know what NAS refers to.) *GAS refers to Gear Acquisition Syndrome

My old Compaq (with the Apple logo)
 and the new Toshiba 

I bought a second hand Toshiba Portege R830 for about half the stated retail price from a vendor in Sim Lim Square with about 8 months of warranty left. I won't say its second hand really, since its never been turned on, but I wouldn't call it sparkling new either. It came free with the M1 fibre promotion which probably contributed to the bargain price. 

Either way, I've had my eye on the R830 for a long time after doing copious amounts of research - 9 hour-long battery life, 13" matte screen, Intel Core i5, 6GB RAM, DVD player, HDMI, VGA and Ethernet ports, USB 3.0, SD card slot - how did Toshiba manage to squeeze all that into a slim frame weighing only 1.4kg? The R830 was released before the era of the ultraboook (2011), yet I'm sure this business grade laptop will slot in with the new crowd perfectly fine. The only fault I could find was the average integrated graphics card and the whiny cooling fan. Check out the Cnet Review.

The Portege R830 (left) vs the Elitebook 2560p(right)

Anyway, I wasn't surprised or worried when the new notebook started giving me problems - random blue screens, slowdowns and crashes - since it was still under warranty. While I couldn't tell what was wrong from the blue screen error codes (yes, even Google failed me), the sounds coming from the hard disk though hinted to me what it was - a dying hard disk drive.

First thing I did was to run Check Disk and it passed the test. I wasn't entirely convinced though, and another blue screen spurred me to try SeaTools. My suspicions were confirmed when it failed the long test. Just for good measure, I downloaded the bootable Hitachi Drive Fitness Test which also confirmed that the hard disk was bad.

Luckily for me, the laptop was still usable so I immediately did a backup before bringing it down to the Toshiba Service Centre in Kallang. After only 2 days of waiting (not counting the weekend), I got back my notebook with a brand new hard disk installed! After all those horror stories of people's experiences with warranty claims and the RMA process, I was pleasantly surprised that Toshiba did everything efficiently and did not give me any problems at all.

I just hope this new hard disk works fine: My sister's Sony Vaio laptop had to be sent back twice for the same problem when it was still new.

I didn't intend to do a review on my new purchase, but what the heck:

Toshiba Portege R830

PROS:
- Slim and incredibly light
- Full featured business notebook (not nerfed with ultra-low voltage chips)
- Tons of connectivity options
- Soild build-quality
- Robust battery life

CONS:
- Expensive, compared to newer ultrabooks in the market
- Mediocre graphics
- Noisy fan when things get hot
- Tiny speakers, bad sound

Clearly not a laptop for entertainment junkies or gamers, but its a winner when it comes to portability and battery life. Few laptops out there can match its lack of weight other than the lightest of ultrabooks (and its newer cousin, the Z830). It won't handle high-end games but it certainly runs Starcraft 2 fine at the lowest possible setting. HD videos run smoothly as well, though external speakers/headphones are a must for videos and music.

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Have you had any horror stories when doing a warranty claim? Looking back, I guess the reason why I was expecting the worst was probably due to people's tendency to rant and complain if they've had a bad experience - few would do the opposite for a good experience.

How about a pleasant experience?

World Water Day 2012

Tomorrow, 22nd March is World Water Day!

How is it "celebrated" in your stretch of the river?

From the WWD website:

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.

This year, the theme focuses on Food and Water Security:

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres.

When a billion people in the world already live in chronic hunger and water resources are under pressure we cannot pretend the problem is ‘elsewhere’. Coping with population growth and ensuring access to nutritious food to everyone call for a series of actions we can all help with:

• follow a healthier, sustainable diet;

• consume less water-intensive products;

• reduce the scandalous food wastage: 30% of the food produced worldwide is never eaten and the water used to produce it is definitively lost!

• produce more food, of better quality, with

• less water.

I hate to say this, but I'm probably the most guilty person when it comes to this issue of  food and water security. I love my meat - chicken, pork, beef, fish, you name it. And I hate my greens. I suppose my water footprint just from sticking to my usual diet would be huge, based on this graphic alone:
http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/downloads/WWD2012_VW_FRIEZE.pdf

Interesting ain't it? And I bet you thought drinking a cup of tea used up only the amount of water needed to brew it. For more interesting (and sobering) information, videos and other materials can be found here:
http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/campaign.html

In my defence I'd like to mention that I'm not a particularly big fan of steak - the production of beef being the largest consumers of agricultural water.

How large is your water footprint?

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In Singapore, we're celebrating WWD by, well, gathering a bunch of people close to a body of water and have fun and games, while at the same time reminding everyone of the importance of keeping the waters clean.

http://www.singaporeworldwaterday.com/

Where will you be on WWD?

忘れないで「２０１１年３月３日」

1 year ago, on this very day, March 11th 2011, an earthquake struck off the Eastern coast of Japan.

I was in school at the time, and I remember the horrible, sinking feeling of standing alongside my classmates, eyes glued on the TV screens that were broadcasting the terrible scenes of destruction.

1 year on, while rebuilding and recovery has been slow, the people of Tohoku have been resilient and endured the hardships of this past year, despite losing loved ones, homes and livelihoods.  It's been a difficult year for the Japanese people.

In memory of those lost, and in tribute to those who are fighting back...

Never forget - 11/03/2011

The Kindle Revolution

And so I decided to delve into the realm of the Amazon Kindle.

Actually, it was something totally unexpected. I never thought that I would join the growing ranks of ebook readers, considering the fact that I've been reading lesser and had hardly picked up a book last year. I've even stopped following mangas, mainly because the Full Metal Alchemist series had ended, and Chuangyi had stopped publication of the Negima series (for whatever reason, I don't know). The last book I read was probably the final Harry Potter book for a quick refresh before catching part 2 of the Deathly Hallows movie.

I never considered picking up a book to read, mainly because there were so many other alternative (and arguably more alluring) entertainment options out there (games, movies, dramas etc.). The rigors of undergraduate life also meant that the only reading I could get done were lecture notes and newspapers. Even the monthly National Geographic magazine which I've always looked forward too suffered some form of neglect. I did enjoy the occasional tome now and then though, mainly pinched from my sis' library (Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns).

            

VS

Guess who won?

Why the sudden return to reading?

Well, it was nearing the end of December 2011, that time of the year when one starts worrying about gifts and stuff like that. I was racking my brains for a practical, meaningful gift that didn't end up in the sewers or the rubbish chute for my girlfriend. Since she'd been complaining of doing nothing but watching dramas and movies on her laptop the whole holiday (and contributing to eye fatigue), I figured a book would make a nice gift.

This led to that, and I thought to myself, why get one single book, when you can get an ebook reader that can read (and store) thousands of ebooks for a fraction of the price?

The Kindle Touch 

And so I got myself a couple of Kindle Touches, for only USD$99 each from Amazon.com, excluding shipping of course. Amazon doesn't ship the Kindle to our sunny shores of Singapore (I wonder why, considering there's a huge demand for them over here), so I had to go the long way by using Vpost.

Thankfully both Kindles arrived safely here within a couple of weeks. Needless to say, she was absolutely enthralled by this thin, little 6 inch device. I loaded in a couple of Nicholas Sparks' novels and she was glued to it for nights on end.

What is it about Nicholas Sparks that draws ladies like sugar to ants?

That aside, I've been using it for almost a month now and I can safely say that I'm ready to give up reading physical books (yes, I'm one of those people that are contributing to the downfall of Borders, PageOne and other bookshops). Its just so simple to use and pleasing on the eye - if you've ever tried to read an e-book on your computer screen or even an iPad/tablet, you'd be rubbing your eyes after a couple of hours. Not so with an e-ink reader like the Kindle Touch.

The text rendered by the e-ink screen is absolutely gorgeous. Nothing else can match it when it comes to rendering pure, black text. I've used it for a few hours at a stretch and the only strain I get is a backache from sitting too long. Tapping the screen flips the page in an instant (after a software update 5.0.3), while long pressing a word brings up dictionary definitions. Highlighting and annotations are also possible, if you're into that sort of thing. Font and font sizes are customisable as well.

All's nice and rosy for the Kindle Touch right? Not so, especially when it comes to actually buying e-books to read with the Kindle Touch.

To cut the long story short - Amazon doesn't accept Singapore-issued credit cards when buying e-books from their online store. And this is the part that turns most people off - I almost gave up the idea of ordering the Touch thanks to this. There is a workaround, thankfully, as described by this blog, which gives a rather comprehensive guide to getting a Kindle and e-books here:

http://jeffyen.blogspot.com/2011/11/amazon-kindle-touch-in-singapore.html

The steps are tedious and complicated at first, but once you get used to the idea (of using gift cards), it'll become second nature to order e-books from Amazon.

But wait! There's more!

After even more research I realised that you can actually buy books from other online stores and convert it to a format supported by the Kindle (MOBI format). The software to do this is Calibre, a free software which acts like a e-book library organiser as well as a converter.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

In other words, you don't have to be chained to a single e-book retailer like Amazon (which is actually what they want, to earn even more, just like printers and ink). You can borrow e-books from our local libraries (NLB), or buy from Skoob, a local  e-book online store launched by Singtel. Prices are competitive and I must say cheaper than those offered by Amazon (due to the exchange rate). Note that the e-books sold by Skoob can't be read by the Kindle directly due to DRM, however this restriction can be removed (which I shall not mention here).

So, if you're considering getting an e-ink e-book reader, you might want to consider the Kindle Touch!

PROS:
- Affordable price (USD$99)
- Attractive, slim form factor
- E-ink display is excellent
- Interface is simple to use and master
- Page turning and refreshes are fast (after software update)
- Month-long battery life

CONS:
- Cannot read under low-light conditions (all e-ink readers suffer this)
- 3G and Whispernet (which syncs your books and bookmarks online) only works in the US.
- Difficulty in getting e-books from Amazon
- $99 version comes with ads, which are actually quite tastefully done IMO

If you're not a fan of touchscreen interfaces (which shouldn't be really, considering everything is going all touchy), you might want to consider the cheaper Kindle 4 (USD$79) that uses good ol' buttons for navigation.

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In true Budget Geek fashion, if you're looking to save some moolah on books over the long term, I'd recommend getting an e-book reader. E-book prices are typically 20-30% cheaper than their physical cousins, and older ones can cost up to 50-70% cheaper. Free e-books can be found in abundance as well, not just from the libraries (even in the Amazon store), so you'll definitely save in the long run.

And lastly, if you, like me, have been neglecting your books in favour of the LCD/LED backlit screens of your computer, you'll rediscover your love for reading with an e-book reader.

*My parents asked me a question when I told them I bought the Kindles: "Why not get an iPad? You can watch videos, play games, do so many things!"
I replied: "Because all I wanna do is to start reading again." /likeaboss

Spring Cleaning

It will be the Lunar New Year in a couple of days' time, and, contrary to what a certain smartass has been spouting all over the Internet, Chinese New Year isn't a copy of the Western New Year. It's like saying bak chor mee (minced meat noodles) is a copy of linguine bolognese done aglio olio style.

They're not the same, ok? For one, bak chor mee uses minced pork, bolognese sauce uses minced beef. It's like saying pig copy cow! (ok, we're running away from the topic here)


Anyway!

A tradition in many Chinese households is to conduct a "spring cleaning" of the entire house - that is to say, throwing out old junk that has been accumulating dust and ススワタリ (soot sprites, from My Neighbor Totoro) over the past year.

susuwatari (soot sprite). isn't he adorable?

 Aside from just your physical belongings though, one thing many people overlook is the amount of junk that can accumulate inside your PC/laptop. And I'm not just referring to physical dust, I'm referring to junk inside the little rectangular block of metal that is called a hard disk drive. If you're wondering why your PC/laptop is slowing down, you can thank those junk for it. And yourself, for not doing regular maintenance :p

So here I will give a little guide on how to Spring Clean your HDD, for all the non-geeks and computer idiots out there (Windows only, sorry). Note: You might want to leave plenty of time to complete all these.


Level: Noobcake 

First, do the easiest (and most tedious) part. Go through your files and delete whatever you think you don't need - old pictures, videos, Word documents, Powerpoint presentations, whatnot. Uninstall old programs and games that you've finished playing. Mind you, confine your rummaging to files and programs that you recognize and know, don't go around deleting files from Program Files or Windows/system32 or something horrendous like that.

Oh and do remember to empty your recycle bin after everything.

Run a virus scan. If your antivirus is out of date, or the subscription ran out, or basically is named Norton or McAfee, get a free one like Microsoft Security Essentials (Free download). Make sure to update it before running.


Level: Not bad

Tools required: CCleaner (Free Download)

 Now on to the more serious stuff. You do know that temporary files accumulate after every Internet browsing session right? And that they are the main reason behind the slowing down of your computer? Right? .....right?

After downloading and installing CCleaner, run it. Chances are, it will have removed a few hundred MB worth of temp files. Do note that doing so will delete any cookies as well, which means that your highly convenient "keep me signed in" for Facebook and email and other login sites will be gone. Don't worry though, we'll sort it out later.

Click the next tab "Registry". Do a scan, and click "Fix selected issues". CCleaner will prompt you to make a backup of your registry items. Click Yes, save it somewhere accessible, and carry on with the fixing.

Next head on to "Tools". You will notice an Uninstall manager similar to the one found in the Control Panel. Select the "Startup" tab. This will show you a list of programs that will run the first thing when Windows loads. Disable those programs you don't need at startup. As with the earlier rule, only disable programs that you recognise. Don't worry if something breaks the next time you start your computer, you can easily re-enable it here.

Click "System Restore". Remove all entries EXCEPT the most recent one (and maybe the 2nd most recent one). Chances are, if your computer was working perfectly fine on those dates, you won't have any problems. Restore points are some of the largest space-wasting files you can find, so don't be surprised to find that your HDD free space has increased. Ignore the last option "Drive Wiper".

Now head on to "Options" -> Cookies. Put the sites that you frequently access (and need that auto-sign in) on the right under "cookies to keep". That's it! The next time you go to Facebook, you might need sign in again, but subsequently you won't have to.


Level: F-yeah

Tools required: Time. Lots of it.

Now that your hard disk is all clean and Edward-sparkly, its time to re-organise all that's left to fill up those holes that have been left by your furious deleting. Yes its that phrase we all love to hate - its time to defragment your hard disk!

Go to Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Defragment your hard drive. Start the task. And wait. And wait some more. You might want to do something else while waiting.

Now for the final step - Do a backup of the entire system. Now this is entirely up to you, as I'm not entirely sure what's the normal backup routine for you guys. How often do you do a backup? Post in the comments if you can :)

One thing's for sure, backups can be very, very useful. They can save you from lots of hassle in the event of a (touch wood!) system crash or a lightning strike. In my case, I try to do a system backup once every 6 months. For important files and other documents I try to backup whenever I make changes to them.

For all of us Windows users, there's always the built-in System Restore. Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Backup and Restore Centre. Choose "Create a Restore Point", and you're done!

Unfortunately restore points don't always work (I've experienced it myself), so the best would be to make a full system backup. You can get some suggestions for software that will do the job here: Best Free Backup Program 

Different people have different backup options. I personally use a 3rd party program and save my backups in a separate external HDD that I protect from the elements. Some prefer to burn to CDs and DVDs, but its difficult to keep track of them.


And that's it! Spring Cleaning isn't that hard, eh?


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To keep your computer running smoothly I'd recommend running CCleaner once every few days to prevent those temp files from accumulating. I run it every time before I shutdown my PC as a habit.


Enjoy the Lunar New Year holidays everyone! 新年快乐!

Hisashiburi!

Whoa, has it been 6 months since my last post? It's been too long. To all my friends, 久しぶり(long time no see)!

Why the long absence from this place? Frankly, after coming back from 6 weeks in Hong Kong, I kept wanting to create a long post describing all the stuff that happened over there, but the evil person called Mr. Procrastinate kept pulling me back. Eventually I forgot about it and there you go - 6 months have flown by. I guess last semester was a pretty busy one, and together with my growing usage of Twitter, I've neglected this place :/

Video killed the radio star? No, Twitter (or for some, Tumblr) killed the Blogger!

So let's see, what have I missed out for these past 6 months... you know how shows like The Walking Dead like to do a recap of the previous episode? "Last time, on the Walking Dead..."

1) YUI HHITS Live in HK

Words cannot describe how I felt during my very first (and last) YUI performance

2) 6 weeks GSS in HK

Food, food and more food :D

3) Got meself an Android - HTC Desire S

Its an excellent phone. Sleek, compact and very usable

4) Back with the band

For the UK Bound bash

5) SCANDAL Asia Tour in SG

Tomomi!

6) Genting

Nope, didn't win money

And of course, back to the daily grind of school, lectures, tutorials and examinations. Had a really enjoyable holiday in December as well, so I can't complain.

So thats it - 2011 was a very eventful year. Lets hope for a equally eventful 2012 (in a good way, of course). As Ueda in Trick puts it - 「どんと来い！」　"Bring it on!"

Anyway, if you've noticed (or tried to access this place by typing the old address), I've changed the title as well as the blog address. Why "The Budget Geek (thebudgetgeek.blogspot.com)"? Well, for one it'll be easier to type without all those goddamnned dashes. And secondly, I realised I'm not a conventional, at-the-forefront-of-technology kind of geek. I'm more of a if-you-don't-need-it-don't-get-it kind of geek.

I hope to post up budget (or value) suggestions for tech buys in the future, so watch this space.

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In other news, Adele's album 21 is the best selling album of 2011. Thank god, real music is still being appreciated. Not trash like *cough* Baby *cough* Friday *cough*

香港へ行きましょう！#YUI

I will be heading off to Hong Kong in about 15 hours' time for GSS (Global Summer Studies) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong! Which can only mean one thing - 6 weeks of awesomely good food! (which is probably the only reason why I go there 8D)

Last time I was in Hong Kong in 2010, (here and here), it was to attend SCANDAL's very first one-man show overseas...

This time, by a stroke of insanely good fortune, I will be attending YUI's very first live outside Japan!!



How fortunate was I?

Her concert will start tomorrow, 26th June, at 8pm. Guess when I will be arriving in Hong Kong?

...26th June, at 10am

MIND-BLOWING! *boom*

Although I won't be at the airport to welcome her (by now she'd have touched down in Hong Kong, as well as touched several of fellow fans' hands D:), being able to attend her live is an incredible lucky coincidence.

I will cherish it.

Enjoy it to the very last second.

YUIさんとYUI-LOVERSの皆さん、一緒に最後までお楽しましょう！

I heart Japan

Its been 2 weeks since the earthquake and the resulting tsunamis struck Japan, and its been on the front pages of newspapers ever since.

While there have been equally devastating earthquakes in the past (Haiti, Sichuan), I must admit I have paid much more attention to the situation in Japan, mainly because of my interest in Japanese pop culture, language and of course the music. While most of the news have been focused on the unfolding nuclear disaster in Fukushima, what shook me was watching an online video showing the tsunamis sweeping aside whole residential areas - the extent of the destruction wasn't that apparent to me until that video.

1 thing really struck me during this whole ordeal - the rise of social media (Twitter) as a tool for information dissemination as well as communication where traditional means failed, and the rising power of the Internet over traditional media. While I was safe in Singapore, I could feel the collective spirit of the Japanese people from various first-person recounts, as well as the non-stop twitter feed of the many Japanese celebrities I "follow" on Twitter. One particular tweet that caught my eye was something that went along the lines of "If you need help, please tweet your location with the hashtag #helpme #jishin".

(hashtags enable people to categorically search for tweets. "jishin" is Japanese for earthquake.)
Another thing that really left a deep impression on me was the ability of the Japanese people to cope with the disaster. When most people would have gone into a state of panic or despair, they remained calm and stoic, despite losing homes, family members and much of their livelihood. Elsewhere in less affected parts, most tried to go about their lives as normal even as blackouts brought down the transport system. I was particularly impressed by a report of thousands of workers walking several kilometers home from work on the day of the earthquake (the trains were stopped) with shops and businesses along the way offering their amenities to them. Orderly queuing for limited trains, voluntarily cutting back on electricity use, buying only what is required (although there were cases of panic buying) - to them, its all about helping one another despite inconveniences to one's self. Their collective resilience and endurance in the face of difficulty really deserve a lot of respect from the rest of the world.

And what can we do, as outsiders, other than dig deep into our pockets for donations?

Well for one we'd do well to stop believing all that bullcrap about radiation reaching Singapore. If you've been talking on your handphone for the past 30minutes you've probably received more radiation than any potential dust that floats our way anyway. And if you've panic-bought iodine tablets to swallow in case radiation poisoning, I can safely say that you've wasted your money.

The same applies to Japanese produce - if it gets past our scanners, its probably safe to eat. All that news about tainted vegetables, milk and water only serves to increase unnecessary fear. Read it yes, but for goodness' sake don't overreact and avoid everything Japanese totally. Paranoia doesn't help anything - if the Japanese economy were to recover, we should do our part to help. On that same note, don't stop eating Japanese food, or buying Japanese products. (This should give me a reason to order a couple of SCANDAL DVDs online :p). There's really no reason to give up all that delicious sushi, sashimi, ramen, seafood and Meiji chocolates just because of some exaggerated news reporting.

On the bright side, I stepped into Isetan's basement market in Shaw House this afternoon and saw a healthy crowd inside. I did buy a nice haul of mini taiyaki to munch on the way home from Japanese class. おいしかったです!

And if you have a Japanese friend or relatives and friends in Japan, do give them friendly words of encouragement instead of pestering them to leave the country. Most of the people I know connected to Japan would love to stay there and help out in some way.

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50% of this blog post was concocted on an aging Nokia E63 phone, due to me switching off everything that requires a power socket for Earth Hour.

Did you turn off your lights? Fortunately for us, its a voluntary thing. For the Japanese in the areas affected by rolling blackouts, Earth Hour happens every few hours.

Something to mull about as we grope around in the darkness.

First geek post of 2011

Since I'm at home on a school day (just went to the doc and he said I'm finally free from crutches!), I decided to write a long-overdue post. And a geeky one at that.

and here it is - the updated list of free, useful apps that currently reside on my machines.

1) Microsoft Security Essentials http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/



I abandoned AVG Internet Security for this, mainly because AVG 2o11 refused to co-exist with my COMODO firewall, something I couldn't sacrifice for the sake of an updated AVG version. So I went searching for an alternative, and MSE popped up with very good reviews. One review in particular caused me to go ahead with MSE "...these guys at MSE are working to protect their own product (Windows)..."

Made sense to me. Low on resources, unobtrusive, regular updates, scanning is fast, and according to many websites has a fairly good detection rate. And its free!

2) COMODO Firewall (and Anti-virus) http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/



I've been using this for many years now, and it hasn't disappointed me yet. It usually detects malicious stuff way before my anti-virus could even sniff at it, which says a lot about its monitoring ability. Excellent replacement for the Windows Firewall.

It has a setting called Defense+ that prevents unauthorised installations, but isn't for the faint hearted - programme updates and innocent installations usually cause it to raise the alarm, something I've learnt to live with. Besides, it does let me know what's happening behind my back in my computer.

3) VLC Player http://www.videolan.org/vlc/



If you've heard of it, no surprises there. It is THE open source video player that can play almost every video format out there, and has replaced the player I've been using for years (Media Player Classic). Its fast and has no problem playing HD videos, although I've had a few problems with subtitles.

4) MusicBee http://www.getmusicbee.com/



For those who don't own iPhones/iPods or are not using Macs and are craving an iTunes-like experience this player is for you. I was looking for a replacement for my old SongBird, which was crashing and starting to lag, when I chanced upon MusicBee. Amazingly it looks almost like SongBird, minus the lag and the crashes. It scrobbles to Last.fm flawlessly, and playback is smooth, with the songs almost starting immediately once you click "play". One drawback is that it doesn't show up on my Windows Live Messenger, which might be just me.

5) Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/

This little tool was introduced to me by a friend, and its amazingly useful! It works like an online storage box of sorts, and you can sync its contents across all your computers and devices. And its as simple as dragging and dropping into the Dropbox folder in one computer, and voila! You can access it anywhere with an Internet connection! You can also share files with friends who have Dropbox accounts as well.

6) Dekisoft Monitor Off http://www.dekisoft.com/mou.php

This little gadget turns off your monitor with a click of the mouse or by pressing a hotkey on the keyboard. Extremely useful for laptops and can help save battery life as well. I use it whenever I transform my laptop into a music player.

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



Free Photoshop anyone? Does almost everything that Photoshop can do, and is an incredibly powerful image editing software. I don't like its floating interface though, which can be changed via downloadable skins (something which I haven't gotten round to doing)

8) Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/



If you ever need a free relatively basic audio editor, Audacity works just fine. It has tonnes of editing options that I haven't fully explored yet, aside from the usual cut and paste, equalising, pitching and normalising.

9) 7zip http://www.7-zip.org/

Annoyed by WinRAR telling you to purchase the product because your 30 days trial is up? 7zip unrars those .rar files (something Window's native unzipper doesn't), as well as many other compressed formats. And it doesn't annoy you because its FREE. It doesn't pack into .rar though.

There you have it. I have others, like CCleaner, but those have been mentioned far too many times (and underlining their importance).