Calamari For Thought

My Childhood - Part 8

2010-12-24T15:11:00.002+11:00

When I was younger in Primary school, I used to have tuition in the PAP Kindergarten below my block of flats.
A tutor would have access to one of the classrooms in the evening. She's not the day-time teacher of the said kindergarten.

I remembered once, after doing my assignments, I simply took a stroll across to the other classrooms (separated by partitions that are not locked) to explore. Opened drawers and cabinets, etc.

Then one day, I struck gold. Well, not gold but close enough. There, in a cabinet, was a box of blackboard-chalks. Or so I thought. I opened it and there were money in there. Looking back, that's probably the temporary petty cash box a teacher used to put school fees in, before handing them to administration.

I took a coupe of dollars and some coins, I hoped it was not enough to make the person-in-charge immediately detect my theft.

After the class, I went to buy some candies... yeah !

After that, almost every week, I would make myself some pocket money....until about 2 months later, the box was gone ! How could they.. how could they deprive me of my hard earned candies... :(

My LS Experience, Again...

2010-12-05T12:30:00.001+11:00

Hmm.. it's been a while since I had to do things like this

But recently, it happened again. :(

I was on a road trip around the regional countryside for work. And by countryside, I mean roads that are, well, windy and up and down mountains and basically 1 lane each way. Well, for some part of it.

So the morning before I set off, I had a McDonalds breakfast - Latte and Ham & Cheese croissant. Not sure if that's the culprit. Then it is a 4 hour drive across a mountain range to another coastal town. It was raining for the week as well.

1 hour into the drive, my stomach was churning a little. But the mountainous road didn't have as many rest stops as the usual highways. The pain came and gone. I thought I could last a little longer. I don't fancy going to those toilets along the highway.

Another 30 minutes and it started to hurt again, this time more churning. I am starting to look out for rest stops but there weren't any. And I was in the middle of winding road passing through the state forest.

5 more minutes and I had a trickling sensation near my anus, and I thought, "I still had it under control ??!!. It couldn't have leaked out !" I resigned myself to fate and decided to look for a good place by the roadside to stop my vehicle.

I soon found a small clearing by the road side that goes downhill. So I could stop my vehicle safely and I can be out of view of passing traffic. I stopped, got out, grabbed an umbrella as it was still drizzling all so lightly. Grabbed my box of tissues and a pack of wet wipes and headed down slope.

15 metres away, I couldn't see my car or the road, and I saw a place with some logs that I could take a dump. And so I did, wishing very hard that it doesn't come out all in one blast and splatter all over my shoes and pants. Luckily, it didn't - it was like brown yogurt... (haha.. I don't eat yogurt, thank goodness.) And the tickling sensation must have been my sweat, cos I checked my undies and I hadn't leaked anything at all. *phew*

Since I was already there, I wanted to be sure I emptied everything before I am on my way again. Squatting behind the logs, under my umbrella, the rain picked up. And I had all memories of my army days coming back to me for a while. Damn, it's been a looooong time since I had to do this. I hope my bums don't get bitten by anything. And I hurriedly looked around to make sure there weren't any snakes or insects that are creeping up me.

10 minutes later, I was sure I am in the clear, cleaned myself and walked back to my car - yes, it was still there of course. Continued my journey, all relieved.

500 metres down the road, there I see it - a sign and 100 metres further a rest stop with a small tinny toilet shed....

My Childhood - Part 7

2010-12-04T16:06:00.001+11:00

Ok, it's almost a year now.... Gosh.

So here's my promised instalment of part of my childhood.

I can't remember when this happened, but I must have been no older than 10. Of course, my parents do not buy as much sweets and candies as I would like. I wanted more, always.

Then one day, I was wearing a shirt that my grandma made for me. It was from floral textile, with a collar, and 2 pockets along the lower hem near my waist. I guess she thought it would be a good idea. It was really a design that I haven't seen before, as most shirts had breast pockets.

And the size of the 2 pockets (left and right), I swear, were the right size for a pack of 3-tube mentos. Same width, same height. I was sure my grandma made this shirt for my next endeavor - putting 1 pack in each pocket and strolling out from the supermarket.

And that's what I did. All it took for me to hide them was to wear baggy pants/shorts and tuck my shirt in like a good boy...

I did it a couple of times and stopped. I can't remember why, honestly. Maybe I got caught, maybe I just knew I shouldn't do it too often.

Ok.. next episode - how I stole money...

New Toy

2009-12-13T23:13:00.001+11:00

Heh... I bought myself an early xmas present. Was eyeing the Garmin Nuvi 1390T for a while. Then recently got an email from a local retailer with special offer and free delivery. I got it ! :)

View Details Here.

5 days after that, a local giant retail chain offered the same thing, cheaper. :(

At least, the retailer that I bought from (a small family-run local business) gave further discount to try to reduce the gap, and gave me a partial refund. Not too bad.

How is this different from my previous set ? It has a bigger screen, black sleek look, Lane-assist with Junction-View, updated map, and lifetime subscription for FM Traffic receiver.

My Childhood - Part 6

2009-10-21T00:05:00.000+11:00

Let me go back to some parts of my childhood that I can remember.

When I was in Primary School, I was mostly in the morning session. And as my parents work, I usually have the afternoon available to play. My grandmother doesn't know much about my homework. I just need to do them and I can go downstairs to play with the neighbourhood kids.

There was this little convenience store that is on a standalone hut near my place. The store sells sweets, snacks, papers, magazines and cigarettes. The store owner is a middle-aged Indian. There are usually a few kids hanging around to read the comics without buying them. I think the owner knows he can't chase all the kids away, so he lets us read as long as we don't damage or steal them. But steal them I did.

At first, I remembered I tried tucking them under my shirt. But of course, got found out. Then one day, I found an ingenious way. You see, beside the stall, there was always planks and other stuff. I would, when nobody is looking, drop a comic book into the stack of 'rubbish' and quickly pick up another copy of the same comic and pretend to read. Then after a while, put it down when the owner was looking at me and proceed to walk away.

Later at night when the owner locked up and left, I proceeded to the pile of junk and retrieved the comic book and stashed it in another location - rooftop of a rubbish collection centre. Had to climb the walls to get up there. No one else goes there and my stuff are safe. I can't bring them back home, cos my dad will notice it.

And so this was the beginning of my stealing days. I am sure almost everyone steals as a kid.. don't you ? ;p

Next instalment - how I steal sweets from supermarkets.

My Work in Australia

2009-10-08T22:44:00.000+11:00

My work is in a technical consultant role. It involves traveling around more than half the time meeting customers and all. I also work closely with the sales team, a little like my previous job role in Singapore.

Though I am not involved personally in office politics at the moment (and I hope not ever), I still do hear quite a lot. Friction within the sales team (fighting for accounts, etc), between departments (Product vs Sales), and also office affairs.

Let me talk about the friction within the sales team- its not uncommon in any organization. Everyone fights to earn commissions. Teamwork can only be seen when one person goes on leave and another sales person help out with the account even though she/he is not getting a commission.

Management also plays a part. If the manager doesn't make it clear who owns what accounts, or how accounts should be split, you will have overlaps. The sales team is divided mainly by industries, or so-called verticals. Everyone has a job to develop new customers from within the industry assigned to them.

What happens when a customer can belong to multiple industries ? How then ? Or the dealer (who belongs to one of the sales) happens to get a deal that is in a different industry (which belongs to another sales) ?

If the sales person is tasked to develop a new market segment, what about his/her old accounts that he has taken time to develop ?

All these are probably common in many sales structure. Managing the team well is the job of the manager and I probably have to say in this case, the manager isn't doing a very good job. Worse if she/he is seen to practice favoritism and hides like an ostrich, not solving problems that are brought to her/his attention.

Blatant backstabbing and spreading false accusations about colleagues to management is something that I dislike very much. One person's off my friend-list now.

And what about the problem between product team and sales team ? The sales team wants more information and sell anything that is easy to sell. The product team withholds information from the sales team, because sales team is stupid and cannot be trusted with precious information. Knowledge is king and holding on to information is asserting authority, I guess.

Office affairs ? Haha, I didn't see anything. But a couple is seen coming to office together, etc. Girl's single and available. Boy's having family problems, not sure of his actual marital status.

So there you have it. Nothing as juicy as my previous work environment, but it's getting there...

Our Credible News

2009-09-18T13:38:00.002+10:00

Am sitting at Perth domestic airport lounge and reading through Singapore news.

First one is this :

First, take note of the headline.

Then, notice the 3rd paragraph, how it says "This also shows an increase from March 31, 2009, when Temasek's portfolio value stood at $130 billion by market value, which is up from $90 billion five years ago."

Now look at this :

See how this article says "Its portfolio value for the financial year to March 2009 fell 30 per cent on-year to S$130 billion. This means the portfolio has shrunk back to levels seen three years ago when its value was worth S$129 billion. "

Haven't had time to see what other international journalist wrote, because I am boarding the plane soon..

I will attempt to compare my own (now inactive) investment portfolio to their performance.

Updated

2009-09-15T22:18:00.000+10:00

I have updated my blog templates.

It is now easier to navigate and look through my history. I would bring myself to add more soon. Very soon.

Hello...

2009-09-02T12:24:00.004+10:00

Hi, its me.. :) Long time no see eh ?

Let's see what's new in my life...

Been getting lots of stuff (big and small) for my new house.. so spending lots of moolah..

I have done my first body checkup here. The usual - fasted the night before, went early to see the doctor, had 4 viles of my blood drawn for testing. All these for free.. Well, not exactly free, just paid for, 100%, by MediCare.

Work has been pretty good. Kept me busy, supporting different sales people. Travelling around different states as well. Just been to Melbourne and back few weeks ago.

Even though its busy with lots of projects and reports to complete, I never once felt "stressed". Maybe it helps that I spend 60-70% of my time away from the office and have more time to myself and more time to rest.

Financially, ok. No money to dabble in stock here for now or anything else. But getting along just fine. Wait till I save enough dough. Going to get myself a tax accountant/adviser to try to minimize my taxes. No details here of course, but it will probably be a well-spent $150 (or around there.)

Ford launched their new 2009 Mondeo, Titanium version (with all the gizmos like voice activated air-con and stereo, bluetooth to phone, auto-everything-from-headlights-to-wipers, heated leather seats, adaptive cruise control with collision avoidance/warning, 2.3L engine with 6-speed auto gears, 18" sports alloy wheels, etc) starting out from $41k. Probably will be changing my car to a new and bigger one, maybe in the next financial year.

Socially, getting to know a couple of friends outside work, and on ok terms with my neighbours. Not so much partying. Dinners with colleagues, drinks with ex-colleagues, etc. Increasing slowly and steadily.

Didn't see much things on the roads to comment about. Not much road rage, or weird drivers, etc.. So yeah, a bit boring at the moment and thus nothing much to blog about. I am sure I am not going to make this into a "Dear Diary" thing.

Till the next post..

Coincidence & Power of the Internet

2009-06-26T20:48:00.003+10:00

Few months ago, I was shopping for grocery and saw someone that looked like an old friend of mine - my junior in Uni, who was Malaysian, that I got to know in hostel.

I looked at him, but he didn't seem to see me. Sounded like him too, but I didn't dare approach as I thought it would be highly unlikely that I would meet someone there.

Fast forward to 3 days ago.

I finished work at about 5.30pm and was crossing the road to my car. The same guy was crossing the road the other way. We saw each other in the middle. I looked at him and he looked at me. But he didn't show visible signs of recognition.

The next morning at work, I received an email that he has added me to his network. Yes, the person I thought I recognized. So I was right afterall !

What a small world, to be working 2 buildings away. He has migrated to Sydney too, a few months earlier than I. He told his wife about seeing me and his wife thought he was mistaken too.

And he found me through a social networking site, even without my photo shown on that site.

Interesting how we meet old acquaintances and the ways to get in touch with someone.

Long awaited...

2009-05-21T11:44:00.003+10:00

Long awaited updates for you all... :)

Let's see what has happened in the last few months...

My work is getting busier with more projects and and stuff.. I am travelling to Perth monthly, which is nice for me meeting my friends and all, and good for my frequent flyer points. Heh heh.

The weather has turned cold here. Winter started earlier it seems. Luckily, we do not get that much rainfall and flood like in parts of Queensland.

And I have bought a new 3-bedroom, 194sqm townhouse to live in. With that, I got $24k of government grant (and free stamp duty worth $16k) and I only pay $200 per month more than my previous rental (of a 2-bedroom towhouse).

I have also gotten $900 of the stimulus package from the government without needing to do anything. No need to top up CPF, or login to register, etc. They just send put the money into my bank account.

But of course, with the new house and all, more money has been spent on furniture, deocorations, etc. I sure helped the economy.. haha..

A couple of close friends came to stay for a week, and we went out to enjoy Hunter Valley and Blue Mountains. And I also got to visit Taronga Zoo as well. It's a nice place, but I personally think that the Singapore Zoo is still slightly better.

Hmmm.. What else do you wanna know ?

Maybe I can make this more interactive (no, not trying to emulate twitter) and maybe I'll have more things to write about.. and you'll have more articles to read.

Weather and blood pressure

2009-02-17T23:05:00.003+11:00

Sydney is now cold due to rain. Its still summer now and temperatures of below 30 in the day and 19 at night.. It feels like autumn is here earlier.

I was just back from Perth last week, and it was still hot out there. Day temperatures of near 40.

Parts of Queensland is flooded.

Parts of Victoria is burning.

And what has this gotta to do with blood pressure ?
Nothing.

At least until I went to the doctor's yesterday for my cough, and ask the doctor to check my blood pressure due to the fainting I had a couple of months back.

Turns out, my pressure is a little low. She said 90/60. Nothing else feels bad (except my cough now) so she told me to increase my salt intake slightly.

At least I know it is blood pressure and not brain tumour...

Thankful and more...

2009-02-08T23:01:00.004+11:00

I made a trip back to Singapore during CNY. Caught up with lots of friends and some relatives. However, there are still quite a number of friends that I didn't have time to catch up with. Next trip I will stay longer to catch up with everyone.

Sleeping back at my parent's place during the CNY, I learnt that even though my current place in Sydney seems noisy at night, it is definitely so much more peaceful and quiet compared to the city I lived in.

Every night, I had to ignore loud inconsiderate motorists (loud cars and loud motorbikes) travelling around residential areas.

Every morning I wake up to the sound of hydraulics doors of buses and LRT trains opening and closing.

So what is the sound of occasional resident returning home, or the distant hum of the motorway that is 500 metres away from my sydney rental place that I cannot live with ?

*~*~*~*~*

Near the end of my stay in Singapore during the CNY, I developed a bit of flu. That lead to a sore throat and now I have cough. Hope I will recover quickly

*~*~*~*~*

I am sure almost everyone heard about the recent bush fires in Australia, especially the recent tragedy of the Victorian fires that killed many people and are still raging on.

Fires around parks and bushes in Australia is common during summers. Temperature as hot as mid 40s (in Celsius) are common. Nationally occuring fires are already unavoidable. Add the fact that there will always be careless people (cigarette butts, etc), fire-fighting resources are already stretched to the limits.

And somehow, every year there will always be arsonists who liked setting things on fires and somehow killing people or destroying properties. It is just sad and everyone is resigned to the fact that somehow, there will always be people like that, just like there will always be robbers or murderers.

Bad start for the year - Episode 2

2009-01-11T20:26:00.002+11:00

Yesterday, while out looking at properties, I stopped outside the garage of a house that I viewed. I parked sideways so as not to block the small road. As I was about to drive out, I didn't recall nor notice that a short brick parapet was right in front of my car. I remembered the curb, and thought I could turn out without a problem.

So moved out and then I heard a loud crack.

Damn. It was loud enough for the property agent who was in the house to come out to take a look. No damage to the brick of course, as I wasn't going fast.

The corner of the brick parapet hit the bumper where the foglight was. Foglight casing was cracked, bumper was scratched, and plastic molding panel for the foglight dropped out.

This afternoon, I tried to repair the damage. Not sure how much it would cost me to replace it, but I am quite sure they will charge me for a SET of lights instead of just one.

Used duct-tape to wrap around the light holder to make sure its water-proof. Pushed it back into the bumper (the holding ears were obviously broken so it can't be screwed back on) and then put the plastic molding panel back on. Some of the clips were broken and the screw broke as well, but it still held on ok. I used a few double-sided tape to ensure it doesn't drop off. That will hold the light in as well.

The light still works, just a bit unfocused and I am sure I can't turn it on for long, as I am worried that the duct-tape might not take the heat very well. But I hardly use my foglights anyway.

Oh bummer.. At least cosmetic-wise, it doesn't look too bad.

Bad start for the year

2009-01-05T20:34:00.002+11:00

Few days ago, I had a bad start to the new year. I fainted and knocked my head.

I had woken up and walked to turn off the alarm. Then all I remembered was I felt faint. Next thing I knew, my housemate was trying to wake me up.

I woke up but I could feel a small lump on my head.. I must have bumped my head on the wall or the floor.

Must have been lack of sleep... or I just jumped out of bed too quickly...

I guess I just have to be careful from now on...

And no, this bump on the head didn't win me the top prize of the $30million lottery here... Oh well, better luck next time...

New Year - 2009

2009-01-01T00:52:00.000+11:00

Yes, looking back at my blog, this post is obligatory.

I haven't been a person who writes resolutions, and I am worse at following them. So I will just probably review what I have and haven't done for 2008 and what I hope to achieve in 2009.

What I have done in 2008 :
- Uprooted myself and finally moved to Australia smoothly
- Got myself working in a job that I liked doing more and get appreciated
- Bought myself a new digital camera and a few toys
- Read a few novels

What I haven't done in 2008 :
- Continued my stock investment homework. Seems like I made a few mistakes again in buying shares without proper evaluation again and lost some money. Not huge, but enough to wipe out a couple of years of dividend payouts.
- Picked up more healthy activities like jogging or sports regularly
- Read more non-fiction and expand my general knowledge
- Blog more regularly about intellectual stuff
- Complete my Command & Conquer game series

What I hope to achieve in 2009 :
- Continue my investment with due diligence
- Pick up my golf again
- Add more healthy exercises into my routine
- Learn how to be a better cook

2009 will bring lots of opportunities for investments, if only I am prepared. I am not getting younger and I have to start exercising both my brains and my muscles. I think I shall just focus on these few things for the coming year. I hope the rest will fall in place soon after.

Anyway, I wish everyone all the best for 2009 as well !

End of Work Year 2008

2008-12-24T00:29:00.004+11:00

Today is officially my last day at work. Our office is closed except for some skeleton crew for services. Our office will open on January 5, 2009.

I have about 2 weeks of free time, part of which I will use to complete some work related stuff (like some project proposals that are urgent.)

Still wondering if I should take a short trip, or spend most of my days playing computer games that have been waiting for me for so long... Hahaha..

Oh well, I would have some time to blog too, and write longer ones...

And here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year !

More TV to watch

2008-12-16T21:03:00.002+11:00

Finally got my system set up for my ISP's free IPTV trial.

I now can watch CNA (International version), Bloomberg, CCTV, Phoenix and a whole lot of other channels from other countries, most of which I can't understand anyway.. Hahaha..

Come 2009, Free-to-air TV in Australia is going to have at 15 Channels, half of which are in HD, to choose from compared to the current 8.

So many programmes, so little time.. hahaha

First Christmas in Australia

2008-12-14T22:50:00.004+11:00

Soon, I will be spending my first Christmas in Sydney. I will be having a week plus of holidays, as my company will be closed from Christmas day till 2nd Jan 2009.

Its forced leave, but ok. I just do not know what to do yet, except try to catch the fireworks...

Will be having our office Christmas Party next Friday, but I don't have much after that. Anyone wanna invite me to their parties ? Hahaha..

More on Medical and Insurance

2008-12-05T21:49:00.003+11:00

I have recently gotten myself Private Health Insurance (PHI). I have gotten hospital and extras cover.

The reason is mainly 2 folds - (a) Reduce taxation (b) Get extras that cover part of my dental expenses.

First of all, I am above an income bracket where I will have an additional 1% tax on my income to suppliment the govt's free Medicare if I do not have PHI.

Furthermore, govt will subsidise 30% of the PHI premium. Well, one can say that in most sense, this doesn't make much difference as almost everyone is entitled to get that 30% discount. Thus they are calculated into the premiums already.

The most important part is, I have additional benefits above Medicare. Now Medicare already covers all doctor's fees (Read my previous encounter) and that's true even for hospital. But for some operations, especially elective, public healthcare doesn't cover for them, or one had to wait in a waiting list for a long time to get it free.

With PHI, I am entitled to be treated as private patient in public hospital for everything and my PHI will cover the gap (additional fees). That means I can choose my specialist, get faster attention (for non-emergency treatment), stay in better wards, etc.

Also, with PHI, for some operations (depending on level of cover), I can choose a private hospital and choose a doctor and still have everything covered - 100%, less the excess amount. And the excess is capped per year.

Second type of cover included is what we called 'extras'. That is something above the normal hospital cover. It include things like dental, optical (glasses, contacts, etc), massages, therapies, etc.

Now, as everyone knows, dental expenses are higher in Australia compared to Singapore, I estimate at least 50% more expensive. For example, filling for a large tooth here (they measure by type of filling and number of surfaces the fillilng covers) cost me about $150, whereas I can get it filled in my neighbourhood dental clinic back in Singapore for about $70-80.

I bought the basic level of cover, which means I am entitled to claim 65% of my dental expenses, limited to $500 per calendar year. I am also entitled to claim up to $200 for glasses prescription, up to $300 or so for various types of massages (foot reflexology, oil massage, etc, by licensed practitioners), $300 or so for therapies (aromatherapy, physiotherapies, etc, again must be by licensed practitioners) every calendar year.

My premium for the extra's portion is about $200+ per year. I can claim back about $500 per year - its already an advantage to me. Also, I can claim 100% of 2 x dental cleaning and scaling per year, and 100% of 1 x flouride treatment per year.

Since I have bad dental history and weak teeth, I would have to use the dental services in Australia sooner or later. Based on history, I spend a few hundred buck a year anyway, back in Singapore. Here, with the claims, my out-of-pocket and premiums, it works out to be slightly more per year (about 30% more) but I can now regularly visit the dentist to repair and also, hopefully, to prevent more problems.

Not too bad a deal, especially when I need to get PHI anyway to save on tax. The amount I save on tax is more than my premiums in the first place !

In future, I can increase my cover, PHI will even include heart operations, joint replacements, and up to 95% of my expenses on dental, etc (and the cap per year will increase too, not just $500).

So in summary, with the govt's Medicare and my PHI, I am covered for all medical expenses (I pay only $500 excess) if I am involved in accident, or develop any cyst or tumour, appendicitis, requires minor eye surgery, or any joint reconstructive surgey, or even to repair a slipped disc.

My Name in Chinese

2008-11-17T17:06:00.003+11:00

Haha...

Happen to try out google's translation service.

Take a look at this...

So Calamari For Thought is translated as 汽车工业的思考... Hahaha..

Oh but it has my name correct.

Name: Singapore Calamari
名称：新加坡鱿鱼

Melbourne Cup...

2008-11-04T20:27:00.002+11:00

Yeah. Never heard of it ?

Neither have I until recently. Today is Melbourne Cup.

It is touted as the event that stops Australia.

Many companies close after lunch. For those who are still open, more than half are glued to TVs and not really working.

Me, I was working at a school today. Was walking around a high school and at about 2-3pm and noticed some interesting things.

There were a few classes where the teachers showed races at the cup, while having lessons.

And there was one teacher who was trying to conduct a class while showing the race on the project - How does she expect the kids to pay attention to her ?

Anyway, I am not a horse racing punter - Hope I have better luck in winning the lotteries...

Appreciated

2008-10-28T21:19:00.002+11:00

Just today, I was given a $50 shopping voucher by a salesperson that I was supporting quite a lot the last few months.

He didn't need to as I was just doing my job well and I don't see any reason that he had to suck up to me. Thus it is a geniune gesture of appreciation which I am grateful for.

Its nice to be appreciated.

There is cold and there is cold...

2008-10-23T22:02:00.002+11:00

The weather has been cold for the last few days. And it was announced that last night (or was it the night before...) was the coldest night in October for the last 14 years.

And tonight is cold as well. Cold enough that I needed the heater again, which I haven't used for a few weeks already.

It has been raining frequently the last few days. And yesterday, I had to drive a long journey from Sydney to Wollongong. Along the entire way, I could really feel the car being rocked by gusts of wind. It really was an entirely new experience driving at 110km/h with suddenly jerks by the winds.

Something that I didn't even experience while driving on the Malaysian NS highway.

*~*~*~*~*

Last weekend, I went to view a house for sale.

Its in a nearby suburb, not exactly near train stations but not too far (my current place isn't near one either.) 2 Level townhouse in a secured complex without facilities like pools, courts, etc.

Its just a few years old , so things are all new. The taps are all what I liked (that is not those 2 taps where one is hot and one is cold.)

More than adequate front and back yards. Though the house is just beside a main road, the master bedroom has double-pane windows to keep the noise out.

It has walk-in wardrobe, 3 bedrooms in all, 2 toilets, and 2 carpark in secured underground parking.

And it costs below $490k which means I can get all the grants and benefits of first time home owner.

But think about the amount I have to pay as deposit, and the loan and interest, I feel cold...

So, does anyone want to help me out and loan me money as investment ? (Either as fixed interest, or partial ownership of the property, can be arranged.)

Back to Reality

2008-10-11T21:30:00.007+11:00

My friends have all gone back home.

It was a lovely holiday for me. Its been a long time since I have met them.

Didn't feel like writing a lot, but just a few pictures to give a summary of what my holidays involve :

Blue Mountains :

Port Stephens

And Hunter Valley

I will not show you the amount of wine that I have bought. Haha...

Next week, its back to work then.

Holiday

2008-10-01T18:57:00.001+10:00

Finally, I have taken my first holiday after I moved here.

My friends came from Singapore and Perth. So in the next week plus, I will be relaxing, going to the beaches, going to Blue Mountain, Port Stephen and Hunter Valley.

Relaxing ! Yeah !

Spring is here...

2008-09-20T21:31:00.000+10:00

Its spring !
Weather has changed quite quickly. Now its warm in the afternoon and the wind is not so cold anymore.

Well, the past 2 weeks has been hectic for me.

Exploring remote country side for the better portion of last week. This week was busy as well. But luckily some work things got canceled and I had a breather.

Today I had to work as well.

And tomorrow I will be flying off to Taiwan for a week.

At least, when I am back from Taiwan, a few friends will be here for holidays and I can also take some leave and go on road trip !

Planned to do touristy stuff. Haha.. Well, I have just been here for half a year, I am still entitled to be a tourist.

Battery Life Update

2008-09-07T23:00:00.001+10:00

I have been able to use my E71 for 2 days only with one full charge. Claims and many people who say they can go 3 to 4 days on one charge made me investigate more - Do I have a faulty battery or a faulty phone ?

First of all, I noticed that 8 hours in the office, and it doesn't even drop a single bar. Not that I noticed.

Then when I get home at 6 and by 10 or 11, I noticed it dropped 2 bars. (E71 has 7 Bars for battery indicator.)

I have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on the same setting all the time. And I do have an AP that it connects to at work. My VoIP is enabled on Wi-Fi all the time too. And I get more push mail during office hours.

So, it should drop more when I am in the office. Why does it seem to use more juice when I am at home ?
I downloaded Nokia's Energy Profiler to monitor power usage.

So far, on average during standby, it is consuming about 0.10 to 0.12 W. With everything ON ! This seems reasonable. Battery indicator says that with this kind of average, I can get 50+ hours on a full charge. That's about 2 days, which is what I am getting.

1500mAH battery, 3.7V rated (4.07V when fully charged, 3.8V when half power) - 0.029A drawn at 0.11W usage => 51.724 hrs

However, on active usage (check mails, SMS, Synchronize via Bluetooth) for 3 mins, the average is 0.25W => 0.066A => 22 hrs.

So if on average, 70% of the time it is on standby, 30% active => Average power = 0.15W => 0.04A => 37.5 hours. Roughly there I guess.

So last night, I left the software on to collect information. This is what it shows at various times.

Midnight :

Average of about 0.02 Watts. That's good. I don't know what the regular 30 minutes interval spike of 0.3W, nor do I know what the 2-hour interval spikes of 1.3W.

My only guess is that it has to be Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GSM related.

Early Morning :

Now the scale is changed.

At 9am, the SEVEN push mail client is supposed to connected to the Server. And I think there were a couple of emails pushed down. They used about 1.5W.

From then on, there is a regular 5-min interval spike to 0.6W. I really do not know what is set at 5 min interval.

I woke up about 9.45 to check on the phone. Thus the backlight was active and had some activities. And I regularly check on the phone to see the data-capture, thus irregular spikes of 1.4W.

Then I sent and SMS at 10:40am, and received SMS a couple of mins after that.
And at 12:05pm I sent SMS and had received missed calls. (Repeated in next chart.)

Noon :

The said SMSes and Missed Calls, using about 3W for Ringtone, Vibrator and lights.

Still the regular 5-min spikes of 0.6W that is unknown.
Between 12:25 to 2pm, I was at the same location for lunch, thus it was just that and my checking on the phone (about 1.2W spikes).

Afternoon :

You can see that I am checking on the phone quite often (1.2W spikes)
Probably a couple of emails that came in as well, which I can't remember when.

Parts of high usage (3:19-3:21 and 3:23-3:24) which I don't know what, cos I was shopping around that time. Maybe the phone was in my pocket and it had bad GSM signal and trying to connect ?

3:53pm onwards, I am probably on the road, from what I can remember.

Evening :

Spikes of about 1.5W, probably due to phone roaming while I was driving. Reached home at 4+. I turned on the AP about 4:30pm.

So you can see that when it detects the AP (I set WLAN scanning interval to 10-min.) it starts logging on and connecting my VoIP.

From then on, you can see the base-line has shifted up. From 0.02W to about 0.05W.

The 5-min spikes of 0.6W (now obviously 0.65W) is still there. So it is not WLAN scanning.. Wonder what it is...

I remembered a couple of emails got pushed down as well, just not sure when.

When the log was downloaded, the Average power usage was 0.06W and the estimated runtime for a full battery was 100+ hours. Wonderful !

Well, its been turned on for 36 hours now and there is 4/7 bars left. Looks like it might last another 24 hours. Hmmm.. just when I am investigating the battery, it looks like its starting to behave...

For the past 2 hours, I logged it with Wi-Fi connected, VoIP connected and some emails arriving. Average power consumption was 0.09W and at this constant usage, full Battery is estimated to last 62+ hours...

My Camera

2008-09-07T20:47:00.002+10:00

I have been using an IP Camera at home to monitor my front gate.
D-Link DCS-2120.

I have turned on Motion detection and in event of detection, to email me snapshots as attachments.

Now, I thought when I turn off my internet connection, I would miss those detections.
But it seems like I was wrong.

I left my router off since last night. Now, it seems like the camera made use of its in-built memory to store the snapshots and sent them all at once when internet connection is re-established.

However, it wasn't in chronological order, but then all the attachments dated (via filename) back to last night. Wow.

My New Toy - Nokia E71

2008-09-01T20:45:00.003+10:00

I have had the Nokia E71 for a week. No payments, just sign a 24-mth contract. Which I am paying the same amount anyway, and is all reimbursed by my company. So its FREE !

The picture is not my phone - just downloaded it off the net somewhere.

Playing with it about a week, I have got almost everything I wanted and I think I can write some reviews about it.

I won't touch on the technical reviews of specs, as there are many sites that have that already. I will touch on my experiences, and it is all subjective. I will go in the following order - Calls ; SMS ; PDA ; Mails ; Web ; GPS ; Others ; Features that I didn't use ; Features I would like to have.

And since this will be a long article, parts of it are written using my E71.

(1) Calls

Using it as a normal phone is easy enough. As I have used Nokia before, it is no different from the Sony Ericsson that I have used as well.

Quality of the calls are good. No complaints about coverage issues at the moment.

I have also used the built-in SIP for Internet calls (using Pfingo). I have 2 Wi-Fi connection profiles programmed - Home and Office. So whenever it is in range of these 2, it automatically connects and registers with the SIP server and I get to receive and make VoIP calls easily.

I can just press the phone number in the main screen and choose Option -> Call -> Internet Calls.
Or I can find a contact, choose Voice Call or Internet Call or Send text msg. or Send e-mail.

Its that simple !

Answering VoIP calls is just like a normal phone call.

Now the only 'glitch' is the Wi-Fi Scanning selection - I have to leave it ON so that it connects automatically. If I turn it off, I have to manually connect whenever I reach home or the office. Now if I leave the scanning on, obviously it is going to use more battery, as Wi-Fi is more power hungry.

I might also try out Fring next time, though there is no pressing need to use it at the moment.

(2) SMS

SMS is ok. Simple to use as well. The built-in app allows easy switching between reading SMS, to reading your MMS, your email inboxes, Windows Live.

It comes complete with auto-complete, predictive text, etc.

One feature that is lacking here, is threaded view of SMSes. SMS is listed like all previous mobile phones that I have used. So this is not difficult for me, but I guess for those Treo or Blackberry users, this is something that disappointing.

Nokia provided a freeware called Conversation to address this. But this Conversation app only switches between SMS, Windows Live, and Address Book. Thus I can't use this to totally replace the built-in app when I am viewing emails.

So I am using the built-in app most of the time. If I need to show someone the entire SMS conversation between myself and someone else, I will activate the Conversations app.

(3) PDA

I have been using PDA for a long time. Mainly for appointments, contact information, notes, To-Dos, reminders and games.

In that area, the E71 is definitely not lacking in anything. I have been a Palm user all these while. Thus my basis of comparison is with MS Outlook on my PC and the Palm software on my PDA.

In terms of calendar, everything is there. Appointments, reminders, recurring events, day view, week view, month view, etc...

The look-and-feel is slightly different and one can easily navigate and adapt to it almost within a few minutes.

In terms of Contacts, everything is available too. The only complication I had was that I didn't use the Birthday field in my first ever Handspring Visor PDA, as there isn't any and couldn't sync with my old outlook's Birthday field. I had to use a user-defined field to map it and that practice carried over.

So now, my user-defined field goes into "Internet Phone" field of the Nokia. I probably have to covert all my birthdays back into the proper field in Outlook.

In terms of Notes, its there. It syched with my Outlook Notes. One feature it lacks, compared to my Palm Notes, is security. In Palm, I can password-protect some notes. This is not available in Outlook and not available in Notes here.

An additional application E71 has is Active Notes. It has the capabilities of a MS Word Document. Not just taking notes, it's able to add pictures, sound clips, files, objects, etc. It can even link the note to a contact so that when in a call with that particular contact, the note is shown on the screen.

To-Dos and Reminders are integrated into Calender application.

So yeah, I would say all the requirements of mine are fulfilled very well with the E71's full integration with my MS Outlook.

And Games. of course there are games to keep me occupied.

(4) Mails

I'd never used my mobile or PDA for emails before. Thus this is new to me. And maybe my expectations aren't realistic.

First of all, I used the built-in application - Messaging.

Reading and writing emails are quite easy. Nothing much to get used to except small qwerty keyboard. But its definitely better than pecking on-screen keyboard on touch screen PDAs.

The part that the built-in apps didn't fulfill is the push-mail portion. Now, my company doesn't have push mail server, but I guess lots of other companies have them and E71 can't be used to replace their Blackberry as Nokia has removed support for Blackberry Connect.

The built-in app is pull mail and the flexibility is actually, on hindsight, good enough for me. I have Nokia Mail-for-Exchange installed to ready my office mail. I can specify when the peak hours and work days are, and how often it checks for email during peak and off-peak hours - 15 Mins and 4 hours respectively.

It does the same for my private mails using GMail. Scheduled pulls from the server peak and off-peak.

Now, that's 'good enough' but not 'perfect'. Being the perfectionist, I wanted real PUSH, so that I can save on data charges and batteries.

So I tried SEVEN.

Now SEVEN can provide real-time PUSH for GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and such, using IMAP. But not my office mail, as it is accessed with POP and is polled by the SEVEN server periodically. So that is not real PUSH but I can live with that.

I can set when the PUSH service is on and when it is off. Once off, no alerts whatsoever.

Now the customization of the PUSH is not what I want. Email alerts are immediate. Now when I get an audible alert, I have the tendency to read the mail immeidately. Something that is just compelling to me and is difficult to curb.

I can't tell the PUSH servers to, say, give me alerts every half hour after office hours, so that I am not always 'on call'. I would like to be alerted, but not IMMEDIATELY. Yeah, I know, that defeats the purpose of a PUSH service...

But I want PUSH service during office hours, and automatically switches to be a pull service after that, giving me alerts at longer intervals such that it doesn't interrupt my life so frequently. And there just doesn't seem to have any software that can fit that... Am I asking for too much ?

Oh and one other glitch with SEVEN's PUSH service. If I get an email alert on my mobile and I used my PC to download the mail, the alert stays on my mobile for another 30-45 minutes or so. According to SEVEN's support forum, only 'new mail' alerts are high priority and are sent to SEVEN's servers. Alerts like mail deleted, or mail read, are not sent and only recognized when SEVEN server polls.

Not sure if that is the same for Blackberry, but I probably just have to live with that and see if its ok with me.

So now it is just deciding if I will continue with SEVEN's PUSH service or the built-in PULL application.

(5) Web

Web browsing on a small screen always takes getting used to. But the default web application is fast and easy to use. I can view normal web pages.

Some users have recommended Opera, but I haven't tried it yet. Maybe I will.

Mobile bookmarks can be sync'ed into my Firefox or IE.

And I haven't been using feeds or any such features regularly, so can't comment here.

(6) GPS

I haven't tried the Nokia Maps much, so I can't comment whether the maps are accurate, or whether it has enough POIs, or whether the routing is good.

The maps are free to download, install and use. But navigation guidance requires purchases of license, that's why. 7-days of free trial is not attractive to me. Looks nice on screen though.

I am used to Garmin, and I have license Garmin Maps already. So I have installed Garmin Mobile XT and have all the maps I need installed.
It works great ! And it is even more flexible to use than my Nuvi. But it doesn't have TTS.

And the screen is a little bit small.

This is where it would be good to have a touch screen rather than navigate by buttons.
And the zooming in and out is mapped to buttons "1" and "3", presumably for other mobile phones without qwerty keyboards. But that means I have to activate the number keypad before I can zoom.

But I might not need to do that when routing, cos it has auto-zoom feature for turn-by-turn instructions, so it might not be that difficult to use.

I didn't use the A-GPS feature and the lock-on time is quick. But then, I have always gotten fast TTFL in Australia - clear view of open skies is the main reason.

(7) Others

Battery - Currently, as I am installing, testing, playing with GPS, bluetooth transfers, etc many times a day, one full charge can last me about 2 days+. Will update as time goes by.

Bluetooth - I am using bluetooth to hook onto my earpiece, sync with my PCs (Home PC - Contacts, Calendar, Notes ; Office PC - Calendar.) SEVEN and Mail-for-Exchange can sync contacts and calendar, but I don't wanna waste data charges for that.

Camera - The camera is a bit of a disappointment though. The colours look faded. I am hoping that a firmware can fix that. But then, luckily the camera is not an important feature. Just something for the 'just in case' kind of situation.

Windows Live - Used that to login to MSN Messenger when I need to be on the road. Not a real necessity, but nice nonetheless.

Active Home Screen - This is where you can turn it on to show today's appointments, email alerts, missed calls, Wireless connection status, etc. This is useful and the only few complaints I have is :
- allow more application shortcuts. Currently, only 6
- allow for more than 2 email notifications.

WorldMate - Provided Free. This is very useful for travelling, currency converter, etc. And this version has Weather and I have set it to announce audibly the weather for the day. At 8.30am and 12.30pm. Sounds kinda cool. And now, the currency rates are auotmatically updated. If Pro version is needed, you will have to purchase it.

Quick Office - I use it to store work documents like price lists, etc. Also some datasheet in PDF as it has a PDF reader. Useful, but the bundled version doesn't support Office 2007 documents. Need to purchase Version 5.0, which is A$46.

Total Recall - This is a phone conversation recorder with indexing feature. 3rd party software that costs about US$13.50. Trying the 14-day trial. And older version of this software cannot be installed on the E71 because the phone says it is 'not supported'. I am guessing that Symbian or Nokia has marked these apps as something undesirable.
* Update : It is because of expired certificate. My Mistake. See Comment *

(8) Features that I didn't use

Switch Mode - This is for switching between 2 "modes" of operations. I guess one for "Work" and the other for "Off Work". You can customize themes in each, the shortcuts and the alerts to different email accounts.

Honestly, its really useless to me. I still want to be notified of my work email after work. Just not so frequently (as I said above). Thus I leave it in one mode all the time.

Security - I have only used phone and SIM locks. I didn't turn on the encryption, as I believe it will slow down the phone a bit. But E71 packs great security mechanisms, including one for remotely locking the phone and memory card should you lose it.

Some other Sync services, Wireless Presenter, PTT, Podcast etc are not used. I guess they aren't commonly used for normal consumer and are only there to support corporate servers, etc..

Advanced Call Manager - This is a fantastic application that filters your call based on Whitelist and Blacklist. If you are in a meeting, you can reject all calls except those in your Whitelist. It will do so in the background and you will not even notice unless you see the quick blink of the screen as the software rejects the call before the phone even rings.

Might use it next time, but at the moment it is not needed.

(9) Features I would like to have

Chinese language support ! Damn, why don't they have it natively in the phone ? The Australia version only has English, Melayu and Philipino ! Now I have to it somewhere....

Touch screen - I know, it sounds stupid, but some applications are better with touch screen. Garmin MXT as I mentioned above, for example. Or even navigation on the main menu. It would be best to have both touch screen AND qwerty keyboard. But I am guessing I am the only few people who wants that.

More flexibility in Profile configs -
So that I can tell the phone to scan for Wi-Fi only from 5pm to midnight, to save battery
So that I can tell the phone to only alert me for emails after dinner and to stop alerts after I sleep.

Ability to use the camera flash LED as a temporary torchlight.

----

I was originally thinking of getting the iPhone as there aren't any other interesting phone already, until I came across this. And I have to say, this beats the iPhone anytime - Not that I have used the iPhone to be fair.

Based on some interesting read here and here, I think I made the right choice.

And if you need more info on E71, this is where I frequently get tips and tricks for.

My First Deal with Medicare

2008-08-30T23:11:00.002+10:00

Time for me to talk about my first experience with Australian Healthcare.

A few days ago, I had to see a doctor about an infected eye. So I went to a nearby medical centre.
Registered at the counter and showed my driving license and medicare card.

The first thing that I saw was the sign that says if you wish to get a faster consultation with a doctor, you can opt for 'Private Appointment' and pay A$55 first, and claim a $35 refund from Medicare.

I am guessing that is to 'skip queue' to go to a 'VIP Queue'.

Of course, I opted for the free one. So I waited. The place was crowded as it was located at a high-traffic area. There are at least 20 other people there.
And so I waited.

25 minutes later, the doctor came and called my name. I went in. Told the doctor the problem with my eye. And it has been recurring on the same eye. He dripped an orange dye and used UV light to see if there are any growth in my eye. He can't find anything. And he told me that since it has been recurring, he would recommend to see a specialist.

He asked if I want to go to a nearby private specialist centre, where they are good and the fees is about a couple of hundred dollars. Or I can go to the Sydney Eye Hospital in the city, where it is free. Of course, I opted for the free one.

So I left my car in the garage, and took a train down to the city after my lunch.

I reached the hospital at 3pm. Went to the reception, created a file with the triage - medical details, allergies, etc. Then I was told to sit and wait.

10 minutes later, I was called by a sweet lady to go for an eye-sight test. After which, I get to sit at the waiting area again.

15 minutes later, I was called by another sweet lady. She's the doctor. Did more eye examinations, more dye, more lights in the eye, etc. She called another senior doctor to examine me. Explained more things to me. Final conclusion, not too big a deal, just need to take more care of my sensitive eyes.

Gave me a prescription for an eye-drop. Now that is the only one that costs me money during the whole day. A$25.

Busy...

2008-08-18T22:43:00.003+10:00

Yeah, I know I have been slacking of late..
I have been taking my time to rest a little, not using my brains much.

Just probably an update, I will be overseas for my first working trip next month - To Taiwan.

Not that it is my first time there, just my first time flying from Australia. Its going to be a looooong flight...

Lots more TV programmes to keep me occupied almost every night.

Finished 2 novels that I brought over.

Weather's not so cold now, or I have gotten used to it already. Either way, spring is coming in a months time. Guess that would mean I have more opportunities to try my photography skills again.

And while I am contemplating getting my own house and working out how much I can afford, I read this news : Russia billionaire buys world's most expensive villa

*sigh*

Anyway, I promise to be more active in blogging soon... very soon.. :)

NDP 2008

2008-08-09T20:05:00.003+10:00

This is my first time watching NDP outside Singapore. And I guess it won't be the last.

I am sitting alone in my living room (my laptop connected to my TV) and viewing the NDP via webcast. Not fantastic quality, but better than nothing. Maybe I will be able to enjoy it more after I get my own satellite dish...

Since my laptop is in front of me, I thought I might as well blog something about it while waiting for the exciting parts to start.

How does it feel ? Am I filled with patriotism and miss being in Singapore ? - No.

I have nothing against the country of course, but I don't feel much too. Maybe remembering the 2 years that I got involved in the NDP because I was still in the army. Other than that, it has just been a reason to get together with friends, and watch the parade together while eating unhealthy snacks and getting drunk.

So here I am, alone at home, eating unhealthy snacks and getting somewhat drunk too.. haha

Anyhow, have a happy holiday !

3 Months and holding

2008-07-27T17:10:00.002+10:00

Its been just over 3 months since I came over. Haven't been out to many social events. But still I guess I would like to comment on what I felt so far, and see how my opinion change over time.

(1) Work Culture

Most of the guys here are quite ok. I think its about the same most places. But most of the people leave on the dot. Except for some guys/gals who probably don't want to waste time in the traffic.

(2) Social Issues

Not much to talk about yet, as I wouldn't consider myself immersed into it at the moment. However, based on current affairs programs on TV and the news, recent events stand out :
- Rising cost of living,
- Rising costs of petrol (and the subsequent cut in petrol tax to help a little),
- Pensioners trying to cope with rising cost of rental and living,
- Rising property prices and mortgage rates,
- Putting paedophiles away in jail for life,
- Over-reaction to people taking photographs of children (worrying that the photos will be used by paedophiles)

And if any campaigns were to be used to gauge what is the latest issues, it would be :
- Speeding and Drink Driving
- Pedestrians not using proper railway crossings

(3) TV/Radio/IT

Internet here is not as cheap as Singapore, definitely. And they all have a monthly limit. Even those plans where I don't have to pay extra, anything over the limit most probably will be throttled.

I am probably not one for very heavy downloading. So far, I haven't been really able to exceed the 150GB per month that I have been allocated. Even the 40GB during peak hours (anytime except 3am to 9am) is just about fully utilised.

Free-to-air TV programs are about the same quality as in Singapore. Though it is all DVB and almost all channels have an HD counterpart.

All programs carry a rating warning, and more adult-themed ads and TV shows are late at night (like after 9pm).

TV and Radio programs have openly gay hosts and it is not the end of the world...

(4) Traffic

Peak hour traffic is bad on major roads. Probably not as bad as in Singapore. But comparing peak hour traffic at my previous workplace in Singapore and my current work place, it looks the same - faster to walk out of the business park.

Though Sydney is probably the most expensive in tolls compared to the rest of Australia.

And yeah, the roads are not as well maintained as Singapore roads during the IMF/World Bank Conference 2006.

(5) Neighbourhood

Very quiet. Probably if you visited the city and lived in hotels in the city, it would be more lively. But out in the suburbs, anytime of the day it is usually quiet. How quiet ?

On average, I meet 3 cars per week on my way in and out of my garage and the main service road outside my house.

On the average, I get to say 'hi' to ALL my neighbours (not just the next door) in the whole area once or twice every weekend.

(6) Finances

Interest rates are high, good for savings. Since income tax are withheld at source, don't really feel the pinch other than reading payslips. What I get in my bank is what I can spend.

It's probably too early to estimate yet, but probably I can achieve the same savings at the moment.

Total amount I spend on food is about the same, in real dollars, as I had spent in Singapore. Of course, I get to make my own food more, but I think I am eating a more healthy diet. More juice, milk and veges.

Oh, and I will probably be getting some amount back every year on tax rebates. Just have to pay a little more attention to these details.

(7) Medical

Can't say, as I haven't used any of the medical services yet. But I think I will still pay a bit more for private health insurance.

According to colleagues, some went through things like child-birth and cancer treatments for their relatives - all on public health. Free and not too bad. But of course, that also means you are not able to find the best of the specialist if you want.

Some would prefer taking up the private option, so that they can have elective surgeries done by the doctors of their choice and at a date of their choice, instead of waiting in queue.

Of course, there are horror stories in public hospitals but isn't it the same in Singapore ?

(8) Overall

Overall, I would say it might have been better if I came over earlier. Been hearing comparisons by various people on how they are glad they bought their houses years ago.

As early as 5 years ago, a house probably costs a third of what they costs now. Even with mortgage rates of 18% pa, its much better off than it is today. Mortgage servicing takes up less share of their take home pay.

As global inflation/recession is on the horizon, there's no escaping. I think I wouldn't live in Sydney forever. But for now, I think I am not too much better off (yet) , but I am no worse off either.

Yeah, had to spend a lot initially, but I think that will last me quite a while.

At least, I can still see my net-worth chart (in my MS Money) growing the last few months.

Enjoyable Weekend

2008-07-24T21:02:00.003+10:00

Last Friday morning, I had to fly to Gold Coast for work. So I had to wake up real early in the morning (like 4am), take budget flight to Gold Coast.

The work portion wasn't that tough, and I even enjoyed my dinners. Especially on Saturday night where we were the only group of people who were allowed to enter DreamWorld.

Yeah, our dinner was held there. They had the tiger show, and opened a ride just for us. After we had our fun, the sit-down dinner began. It was basically fantastic, to be walking around DreamWorld alone, at night, AND to be taking rides on the Tower of Terror for 2 consecutive times without getting out of the seats. See if you can do that at normal time ! Ha ! Some of my dinner companions rode the ride 10 times !

Anyway, we were there for dinner and drinks and chatted until almost 12 mid-night before we left and went back to the hotel bar for more drinks and chat...

In the face of the MC Ad :

Return Air Ticket from Sydney to Gold Coast - $220
Return Taxi Fares from both Airports - $390
Screaming "ONE MORE TIME !" while being strapped to a roller-coaster, AND GETTING IT - PRICELESS !

Dark...

2008-07-10T23:01:00.003+10:00

The days are short. This is what the sky looks like just before 5pm :

I usually leave like 10 or 15 mins after 5, and it is dark.

And another scary realization - mortgage rates here are just too high for me to buy a house. On the flip side, the savings interest rates are high too, which I am enjoying.

Now if only I can have low interest rates from nice lenders in Singapore... Anyone ? :)

Cold Weekend

2008-06-28T20:47:00.002+10:00

This weekend was cold. Anyway, just had a nice lobster and steak dinner at a local rugby club. Didn't know that its for 'members' only. But at least the security was nice to ask and then let us in 'just this once'.

Went in, sat in the bistro. Immediately, felt out of place. Yes, all the ang mohs and their family and friends. I think we were the only Asians there. Haha. Ate dinner and left. Quite full and not very expensive.. Well, not expensive in Australian terms I guess.

Bought ice-cream and ate some while sitting on my balcony, enjoying cold ice-cream in the cold 12-degrees night. Haha.

Oh, also been going to open houses, looking at the various properties for sale. Looking out I suppose.

Its all the same...

2008-06-20T10:11:00.002+10:00

Seen on the morning show that there are talks on public display of affection and how much is too much, etc.

Just brings back the memories that not too long ago, there was a period in the Singapore media and public about the very same topic.

And here I am, hearing from Australians that holding hands and quick pecks on the cheeks and short kisses are ok, but anything more makes many uncomfortable.

And I recall that the 'conservative' Singaporeans saying that they are still Asian and asking youngsters not to be too influenced by 'western' values, etc. Makes me think, why is it that it is always the decadent west ? There are conservative people all over the world !

Ok ok, so technically, Australia is not the west but the east... But you get what I mean ?

I've done it.

2008-06-05T21:37:00.002+10:00

And I also bought 2 dozens of Krispy Kreme so that I can play and eat at the same time. Hahaha !

My First Wii Party

2008-06-04T20:57:00.003+10:00

It was last night. After work, a few of us went over to one of my colleagues house for dinner (home made, thanks to his wife), chatted, drank a little, and then party !

Well, other than saying it is my 2nd time playing the Wii, I have to say I was impressed by his huge mansion... at least to me.

Its a 4 bed-room, 2 level bungalow, with new and modern facade, large garden area, double lock-up garage that looks like THIS

Its HUGE ! His lounge (aka living room) is the size of my current living room + dining room + kitchen ! I estimate its about 10 metre by 10 metres.

Told me it cost 2Mil.

Anyway, the Wii was really fun, and we worked up a bit of a sweat. I might really consider getting my very first game console...

My First Hangover in OZ...

2008-05-27T19:20:00.002+10:00

Simplyjen posted a comment in my previous post about beer.

Well, last night, our company had a BBQ after work (And my friends, that is the 4th BBQ I have attended since I started work... be envious ! hahaha.). So had meat and of course beer.

Well, it was getting colder as the night went on and I had my fourth or fifth bottle of light beer. And then the beer ran out. Was still chatting with my colleagues from all over A/NZ, took some white wine.

I left around 9+.

Boy, did I get into big trouble... Bad idea to mix I guess. It hit me after I showered and was watching some TV.

Slept all the way and had a hard time waking up this morning. Had my 2nd worse hang-over in my life so far. Felt like puking, headache, shivering, etc. Still went to work and only cleared up around noon.

Cold...

2008-05-25T21:48:00.002+10:00

Visited a nearby town fair, for a charity fund-raising. It was small and half the stalls were selling food. Anyway, had a sausage bun that tasted quite nice... maybe because I was hungry.

Anyway, its been almost 2 months since I reached Sydney. This is the longest period I have stayed in a cold place. Previously, it has just been a week or 2, holiday to cold places like New Zealand.

The nights are about 10 degrees and the day is probably about 20 or 21. But it does feel colder if the wind blows, even if I am under the sun.

Need to put more moisturizers and lip balm to prevent cracking of various skins.

Spent money on buying heaters and energy bills heating the room.

After every shower, I come out shivering before it becomes comfortable again, no matter what kind of heater I use.

After washing dishes without using warm water, my hands are so cold that I can't touch any other part of my body or I will shiver.

First 5 minutes in bed is always cold.

This is Autumn in NSW. Winter will be another 5 degrees or so colder.
Still, wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Enjoying HD

2008-05-17T22:47:00.003+10:00

Its the weekend now. Enjoying free-to-air HD TV programmes here...

Been a busy week, with a day trip to Canberra (4 hours away). And the coming week will be busy with CeBIT and next week another exhibition out of town where I will be staying in a hotel for 2 nights.

Anyway, posting while watching TV... so its a short one.. haha..

Oh, also, remember the LED bulb that I bought for my MagLite ?

For many days, it couldn't turn on.. Or it would turn on for a while and then turn off. Thought it was the cold weather, switch contacts, etc..

Screwed in the old incandescent bulb, it works fine. Put back the LED bulb, it flashes once and stays dark...

Finally, on a hunch, I swap to new batteries... It worked fine !

I guess I have to change the mindset that LED bulbs behave like normal bulbs... that the light output will dim as the battery goes low. Good LEDs are regulated to give constant power and just cuts off if insufficient.

Lawn Bowling

2008-05-11T16:03:00.002+10:00

Had my first experience on Friday afternoon.

Went out with sales to meet customers. Instead of yachting (which was supposed to be the plan until something happened to the yacht) it was changed to an afternoon at a local bowling club.

Probably like golf, except everyone can hang around and interact more, as compared to just 4 per flight at golf.

Was my first time and it was quite fun with all the guys and the gals. In the blazing sun for the whole afternoon, had BBQ lunch and beer while bowling and yet not getting wet under the armpits and sweaty all over is definitely a nice feeling.

Hope that I can go yachting the next round.

What's in a name ?

2008-05-05T09:15:00.005+10:00

Was watching the news this morning about a report of a cyclone in Burma...

Wait, I thought they are called Myanmar ? I have been using and hearing that name for a long time now. I thought they had changed it eons ago...

So I checked this morning. According to Wikipedia :

On 18 June 1989, the military junta passed the 'Adaptation of Expressions Law' that officially changed the English version of the country's name from Burma to Myanmar, and changed the English versions of many place names in the country along with it, such as its former capital city from Rangoon to Yangon (which represents its pronunciation more accurately in Burmese though not in Arakanese). This prompted one scholar to coin the term 'Myanmarification' to refer to the top-down programme of political and cultural reform that led to and followed in the wake of this renaming.[6] This decision has, however, not been subject to independent legislation and no national referendum was held to decide this change by the people.[1] The official name of the country in the Burmese language was Myanmar, and the official name of the country in English was Burma ever since the country gained independence from Britain in 1948. Within the Burmese language, Myanmar is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama or Bamar (from which "Burma" derives) is the oral, colloquial name. In spoken Burmese, the distinction is less clear than the English transliteration suggests.

The renaming proved to be politically controversial.[7] Opposition groups continue to use the name "Burma," since they do not recognize the legitimacy of the ruling military government nor its authority to rename the country in English. This name change was recognized by the United Nations, China, India, Singapore, Thailand, Lao, Vietnam, Bangladesh, ASEAN, and Russia. However it was not recognized by many western governments such as the United States, Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom, which continue to use "Burma," while the European Union uses "Burma/Myanmar" as an alternative.

And according to CIA Factbook :

Country name:
conventional long form: Union of Burma
conventional short form: Burma
local long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar)
local short form: Myanma Naingngandaw
former: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
note: since 1989 the military authorities in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state; this decision was not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma, and the US Government did not adopt the name, which is a derivative of the Burmese short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw

So what does it show when you see this :

And this :

Can't see the subtle difference ?

Hint : Note the country name and the city name...

2 Weeks and More

2008-04-18T11:54:00.001+10:00

Ok, I missed my 2nd weekend update, so I will give a longer one today.

First of all, I am still staying in the motel. Will be until next weekend, then it is the big move.

I have started working, 3rd day at work today. As I am not really a 'newbie', I guess I am not exactly entitled to my honeymoon period. :)

So taking up things pretty quickly and will be out to face-the-world next week : By conducting a training session.

Things in this office is pretty systematic. At least I would say the new staff orientation and admin work is pretty thorough. I came in my first day with my desk ready with stationery, my phone has been programmed and my name shows on it. Internal phone list has been updated with my mobile and everything. Brand new 17" monitor laptop is all installed and ready to be used.

Getting my bank accounts and all admin work finalized. Now I just lack a credit card.

Have been to Bondi Beach and a smaller Dee Why Beach the last 2 weekends. Been raining recently, so was just there for a while to soak in the mild sun (hidden behind clouds), enjoy the sea breeze and eating seafood basket (how apt).

Not sure what I will be doing this coming weekend. If it rains, I may spend more time shopping for furniture in the malls. Next weekend, is definitely the big move. And I am looking forward to it.

Blogging in office now, so not much photographs to add. I will be putting photos of my new place once I move it.

In the mean time, it is down to work...

1st Week in OZ. Updates

2008-04-07T12:13:00.002+10:00

First week was sort of stressful. Especially in the rental section.

Paperwork in Australia is almost quite unwelcoming for newcomers. Most of the paperwork seems like a catch-22 situation. For example, you need a residential address to apply for a driving licence, bank accounts, etc. And I can't get a rental unless a bank statement is attached to the rental application.

Definitely need local assistance to start off.

Rentals are all taken up, and prices are higher than I anticipated. Tight supply and lots of demand in Sydney. Had to activate my 'backup plan' and rent from a close friend.

So definitely had a few bad night sleep due to this stress.

Haven't had time to do any sightseeing.

On the plus side, I bought a new car. Ford Focus Ghia Sedan for about A$28k. Nice, comfortable with all the bells and whistles. Going to pay in full and getting it in a couple of days time. In time for me to get around, get my stuff, and get to work.

Once my new place is ready, I will have to spend another bomb on furnishings. Beds, Sofas, TV, Dining Table & Chairs...

Oh and I already have my NSW driving licence. Talk about efficiency. I filled in the form, queued up, have my photo taken by their computer, and have my credit-card sized licence issued all within the hour (including queue time). Lets see how fast you get your licence in oh-so-efficient Singapore.

Anyway, am now in my new office for a couple of hours, just to get to know the people and the place, and to download emails on my PC.... :)

Guess the next update will be another weeks time, when I start working.

Quick Updates

2008-04-01T21:48:00.002+11:00

Ok.. Been in Sydney for a few days.

Still running around trying to secure a living place. That is the critical point before I can settle most of my other stuff.

Without a proper residential address, I can't apply for lots of things.

Wish me luck...

Look what just arrived...

2008-03-25T19:53:00.001+11:00

I ordered this late last week. Was hoping it would arrive before I fly off.

Haha.. will be playing with it tonight and see how it goes...

Total Cost of Car Ownership

2008-03-25T06:09:00.002+11:00

Ok. I have done the sums.

Period of Ownership : August 2004 to March 2008 (3 years and 8 months)

Total Payment made for car loan : $47,585.80
Total Accessories : $1,452.65
Total Cash Card (mostly Parking and some ERP) : $1,590
Total Insurance : $3,992.25
Total Maintenance : $3,474.09
Total Parking (Home & Office & Parking Coupons) : $7,449.40
Total Petrol : $12,994.50
Total Road Tax : $3,348.50
Total Others : $1,292.37

Grand Total : $83,179.56

Expected Refunds (Insurance, Season Parking, etc) : $400

Total cost $82,779.56
Average Expenditure Per Month (44 Months in Total) = $1,881.35
Average Cost Per Year = $22,576.24

Goodbye, my first...

2008-03-24T15:08:00.002+11:00

car.

Just handed it over to the dealer just now.

The feeling was a little tinge of sadness. I will soon work out how much I spent on it these 3 years 7 months and 12 days.

So it is public transport from now on.

Nostalgia ... here and here

Updates and happenings

2008-03-16T23:05:00.005+11:00

Ok. Have some time for updates.

Finally purchased my Olympus SP-570UZ with a whopping 20x Optical zoom, and 26mm wide angle.

Very nice, at a very nice price too. much less than what they are selling for at the recent IT show. But of course, no freebies (which I don't need anyway.)

Been busy with gatherings and dinners with various groups of friends, before my departure from Singapore. Finally almost packed and ready to go.

Now I can take nice pictures and post them here.. haha..

Happy Lunar New Year !

2008-02-12T12:58:00.000+11:00

Heh. A little late. But wishing all a Happy Lunar New Year !
May the year of the Rat brings everyone health and wealth !

Not really in the mood for blogging much now, as I am busy with lots of my personal stuff in preparation to moving.

So the next time you hear from me, is probably going to be a few minutes before I fly off from Singapore...

2 New Bright Toys

2008-02-01T02:06:00.000+11:00

Haha.. I was at first looking at a Surefire M6-CB, but it is too expensive. And I already have a MagLite 2D in my car (which pales a lot in comparison), so I do not need another huge light.

I need a small, portable one.

So I got the Fenix L1T (Version 2.0) which has a max output of 90 Lumens. Good thing is that this is small and uses a single AA battery.

I also got a more powerful Fenix P3D, also a newer version that has a max output of 215 Lumens. This one uses 2xCR123 battery though. A little expensive, but the light is much more impressive.

Just played with them in a dark industrial area. My MagLite now seems like a child's toy. On its website, it is rated 36 Lumens only.

It is not just the amount of light (Lumens) that it is important, it is also the beam-form.

And to those motorist who pisses me off, watch out for a 215-Lumen White LED light hitting your eyes. Hahahaha...

Oh, and if you must know, I spent less than S$150 for both lights. Quite worth it I must say. So now I shall see how durable it is...

Burst Tyre

2008-01-27T02:51:00.001+11:00

This morning, while travelling on the expressway (fastest lane), I felt some vibrations on the road. Before I can decide whether it was the road surface, or something wrong with my tyres, the whole car started shaking up and down, while I was travelling at about 90km/h.

Knowing I probably had a flat tyre, I quickly filtered to the road shoulder, put on my lights and the hazard sign plate, and discovered I had a rear flat, on the driver side.

Took out my spare, jacked up the car and changed. All in about 10+ minutes. Surprising, this was my first time changing a tyre and I didn't panic, and know how to use all my tools for the first time. Haha.. All without my morning coffee. *Proud*

When I took down my flat tyre, I didn't expect to see this :

Of course, this picture was taken after I am in somewhere safe. Looks like a burst somewhere and due to the speed I am travelling, it continued to rip half the tyre apart. If there were more cars on the road (luckily it was a Saturday morning), I might have the whole rubber tyre gone and my rims grinding the road. That would be really bad.

I attribute this to the old tyre (being 1.5 yrs old already, and travelled about 60,000+ km) and my recent incident ( Read : Not-so-good End to 2007)

So I replaced all my tyres to a spanking Bridgestone GR-80. This is much quieter and comfortable. Luckily, it was just shy of $600.

And I was just thinking a while ago, that I hadn't had much "drama" with my car. No crashes, no breakdowns, no tyre punctures... and today I have to experience it at the most inappropriate moment. I had a "safety vest" in my car, just for emergency usage, and I forgot to use it !

And one stupid huge truck had to come very close to me and my car for comfort. Lets just say, about another feet or 2, and I might be on the papers... Sometimes, I really wonder how these people drive and hit things on the road shoulder. I was well clear of the first lane.

This is a WTF Moment....

2008-01-25T22:11:00.001+11:00

Complaints that Traffic Police, while setting up speed cameras, are hiding on bridges.

See Stomp Here.

I really do not understand the rationale. Yes, the purpose of putting warnings is to "force" motorists to slow down and prevent accident, rather than issue a speeding ticket.

But come on, this is like a drug dealer complaining about an under-cover police. CNB officers should all wear uniform, so that drug dealers will see them around and not commit crimes...

Oh, some might say that drug dealing is a serious crime, it hurts people, etc, and thus warrants a stronger policing tactic.

So a speedster thinking he is superman doesn't hurt anyone when his car crashes ?

Put in another way, drug dealers only sell to "willing victims". Someone gives you heroin, you can say "No, sorry. I don't do drugs."

When a speedster crashes into YOU, you can't say "No. Sorry, I don't speed."

Concept, Ideas, but Laziness rules

2008-01-22T11:58:00.000+11:00

They did it in the USA. An idea that myself and KOP once thought of. Slightly different, as wi-fi wasn't that common few years ago. But I am sure we would have thought of using it as a supplement.

What am I talking about ? Using Cell-phones signals to triagulate locations for commercial purposes. The technology has been used by police and telcos - but they all rely on telcos to PROVIDE the location via their own reverse-triangulation method (using multiple base stations find where the phone is).

We weren't depending on Telcos to provide such information, but to war-drive out there to collect such data.

Now its commercially available in USA - SkyHook

I heard another company is doing the same for Singapore and Malaysia. Tapping on end users with GPS-enabled phones. Download application that records GPS locations + GSM + Wi-Fi Signals. Sends the data back to them and they compile into a database. Of course, users are paid for such data - Navizon.

Oh well, ideas are just ideas until you have the capability, time and money to make it a reality...

Eewww. Horrigible Things...

2008-01-20T14:57:00.000+11:00

Ok, this is not the most poisonous, or most deadly, or what.. but sure as hell quite yucky...

5 Most Horrifying Bugs in the World

Yeah.. Happy New Year !

2008-01-16T01:14:00.000+11:00

Haha.. no, this is not my greetings. It's late, I know.

Just bought a new watch for myself :

(Photo taken from Seiko Site)

Definitely sub-thousand, I am not rich. Got it at a pretty good price. Now I am going to wait for the Lunar New Year to start wearing it... heh heh..

Also quite nice to know that ocassionally, new readers pop in and leave their footprints. I thank you all. :)

Not-so-good End to 2007

2007-12-31T14:46:00.001+11:00

Today is the last day of 2007.

And it can be spoilt by a small yawn...

Well, not really spoilt because it wasn't major and I am not going to lose sleep over it. But really made me slap myself on my forehead and go "duh"...

Was driving into office with little sleep last night. Came home way past mid-night and all.

So I was driving into my office basement carpark. Just to describe a little :

Right after entering the gate, I can either turn left 90-degrees to park at B1, or I can turn to go down a ramp to B2 (which is where I usually park.)

But the downward ramp is not straight ahead.. it is about 5 meters to the right and parrallel to way I came in through the gate. So I had to turn right like 60 degress, move a bit, the turn back so that I go straight down the ramp, and there is a concrete divider to separate up and down traffic. (And going down is on the left, so the divider is on the right side of the car.)

And since the ramp is below my horizon (as it is going downwards), and the divider is only about 10 cm high, you can imagine that drivers can't actually SEE the divider once the car is at the edge of the slope. You can see the divider while at the gate, and you can see the divider when the whole car is pointing downards. But not in between.

I am sure many people has either turned too much and hit the divider, or didn't turn enough and the LEFT side hits the curb (luckily there is a curb, otherwise cars will be scraping the wall.) Cos I can see damages in the concrete.

Now, I have been going up and down this slope with NOT A SINGLE TOUCH on either curb nor divider for the past 3 years. I am not new to this thing. It's an everyday event for me.

And today, just as I am rounding my steering and going over the edge of the slope, I had to yawn. And just for that half a second, I didn't turn my steering back fast enough.

Bang. My front right wheel hit the divider. Damn. I didn't go over the divider or anything.. Just that the divider "pushed" my wheels and my car back on track.

When I got down and inspected the wheel (hoping there was no leak or anything), I saw DEEP and wide gashes on the rims. It was quite a hard hit I can say. I can use my keys to scrap off lots of pieces of not-so-thin flakes.

*Sigh*. Well, part and parcel of driving I guess. No, I am not the type who will now go and change the rims. I will leave it as it is. Its just a car for transport. As long as it is still safe, secure, clean, comfortable and all-functions intact, I will leave comestic damages as they are.

A Receipient of Malaysia Healthcare

2007-12-31T12:06:00.000+11:00

Went to Malaysia to visit a family friend yesterday. He is a middle class man of about 77 years of age. Children grow up, running businesses and some working in Singapore. Living in a 2-level house built on a land that they own, in a middle class section of some parts of Johor.

Went up to visit him cos my father heard that he was involved in a motorcycle accident a while back..

I shall skip the details and come to the crux of this post. Basically fell off his bike and landed in a deep drain. Sent to a govt hospital.

Hospitalized for 3 days. In that 3 days, he had x-ray or MRI (he don't know what it was but he had to lie down for like half an hour for them to "scan" his head injuries) and then sat down and took what was most likely an x-ray for his kneecap.

Total bill for the entire episode - RM$15.

They took deposit of RM$30 at the beginning and when he was discharged, refunded RM$15.

We even asked again - EVERYTHING ? Including all the x-rays and stuff ? He said yes.
I am assuming all the medication, glucosamine, etc that he has to take AFTER being discharged as a separate payment. Even then, it is pretty surprising.

Recovering and moving on...

2007-12-21T01:44:00.000+11:00

Thanks for all the concerns. I am recovering, almost fully now. Still a little bit of lump somewhere, but the fever is gone 1 day after the extraction and at least my face is back to normal.

I am beginning to start chewing on that side now.

So Hari Raya is over... Looking forward to Christmas holidays. Well, this has always been the time of the year where most people are feeling happy and enjoying the holidays.

Work has been ok I guess. Not that there is much to do, since my replacement is supposed to have taken over everything from me, something that my boss re-iterated a couple of days ago. More like I am just sitting there, nothing to do except advise my replacement should he ask for it.

So I am now going to focus my time and energy in making myself happy, finish my mapping exercise and plan for my eventual move over. Something that will require a lot of planning.

This has probably been the biggest decision in my life so far, as I am not married. It's even bigger than quitting jobs or deciding what course to study in Uni.

My Tooth...

2007-12-14T22:20:00.000+11:00

Woke up in the middle to this morning , feeling very cold. This is probably one of the highest fever have ever felt. I had to take 2 panadols and I still feel cold.

Tried to sleep. Then I woke up at about 7, and took a cab to Alexandra Hospital A&E. I figured, after all, with high fever and such, it probably requires some medical attention and not just from dentists.

The A&E doctor referred me to the dental centre. It only opens at 8.30. But I guess my timing was just nice. Walked into the dental centre, and waited for about 15 mins before being seen by the dentist, who called in another specialist.

The specialist told me that chances of saving that tooth is very slim, so I decided to just extract it. It's obvious that the infection is getting worse by the day. I looked like this in the morning :

The Specialist gave me another 2 rounds of anti-biotics and told me to take them first, before going for the extraction at 2pm.

I went to the canteen, ate a bowl of tau-huay and a cup of soya bean drink. Took the pills and not knowing where to go, went back to the dental clinic to wait for the time.

The nice extraction surgeon (another dentist) saw me sitting there about 11+ and asked the nurse who I was, as he couldn't tally his dockets with the number of patients.

When he knows I am waiting for the 2pm appointment, he said he will extract for me once he is ready. So I got my tooth extracted at about 12+.

Nice guy, who manages to pull out my tooth in a couple of minutes :

He was saying things like "Oh my, that is a lot of pus" , "Wow, a lot of pus is flowing out"... Goes to show how infected I was.

Total bill was $80++.

So now, my face is still swollen, but at least I think my fever is not coming back. So probably will need to wait for my body to clear the swelling.

Now my whole body is aching, and still very tired. And not to mention I still have to wait for my gums to heal, and wait for the extraction wound to heal.

There goes my weekend. :(

Terrible Toothache

2007-12-13T23:20:00.000+11:00

My lower left 2nd Molar was crowned for a few years. Few days ago, it developed some pain but the dentist's was full.

Yesterday, I couldn't take the pain any longer and walked in. He managed to see me, but he can't do anything as my gums were inflamed. Gave me anti-biotics and pain-killers. Book appointment to follow up in 2 weeks.

Today, the pain got worse. My right eye swelled in the morning. I thought it was an allergic reaction to the medications. But it subsided in about 2 hours. Then after lunch, my lower lips were a bit numb.

By the time I rushed to see my dentist again, my left eye swelled again. Told me to go see a specialist in hospital.

Damn, I hope it is nothing too serious. But the pain is still pretty irritating. Plus the numbness. I hope they don't have to saw away my jaw or something... Ewww..

Tax and Tax Cuts

2007-12-11T14:21:00.000+11:00

Ok. Found this circulating the Internet :

Sometimes politicians, journalists and the liberal left exclaim; "It's just a tax cut for the rich!" and it is just accepted to be fact. But what does that really mean? Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, I hope the following will help. Please read it carefully. Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

a.. The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
b.. The fifth would pay $1.
c.. The sixth would pay $3.
d.. The seventh would pay $7.
e.. The eighth would pay $12.
f.. The ninth would pay $18.
g.. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20." Dinner for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. The first four would still eat for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to eat their meal. So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

a.. The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
b.. The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
c.. The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
d.. The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
e.. The tenth (the richest) now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Interesting. And I guess that is probably the truth.

The question I always ask myself is, which man am I ?

And the question that will haunt me, at least for the next few years is :whether I will be better off (financially,) in Singapore or in Australia.

Obviously it has to be balanced by other non-financial aspects of life. But I guess being in Singapore for so long, money is all I can think about right now.. :)

Writing Blocks

2007-12-05T23:54:00.001+11:00

Ok. I have tried my very best not to make this into a "Today I brushed my teeth" kind of blog.

Of late, I really do not have much to write about. Nothing funny in my life. Nothing interesting. Nothing much even about work.

Gosh, is my life really that boring ?

Wanted to make this blog about intellectual things. But seems like I am not thinking about much these days.

Or maybe my life is now hinging on the turning point sometime early next year, and thus everything pales in comparison ?

I wish I can start writing again... Or I might as well close this blog.

My New Toy !

2007-12-02T01:19:00.000+11:00

Just bought these.. And feeling a bit under the weather today. Will have a good night sleep and I hope tomorrow morning I will feel well enough to assemble my new toy.

Old one is a tad too slow and couldn't get it to play newer games...

Motherboard, Graphics Card, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Power Supply.
Total cost of less than S$700. :)

Ok.. time to sleep...

Another Appeal

2007-11-26T18:19:00.000+11:00

I know my readership isn't that big. But I guess this is just a little bit of effort that I cannot spare.

Please read this : http://newlifeoutreach.blogspot.com/

The person who is writing this blog is a personal friend of mine. I know trust is not transitive, but whatever amount you guys are willing to contribute, please do not hesitate.

If you have no paypal accounts, please let me know. I am willing to collect money personally and pass it over.

You can also help me spread the word far and wide.

Thank you.

My Mapping Update

2007-11-11T03:43:00.000+11:00

Remember this ?

Well, update. I have finished drawing all the roads for my section.
Now to build up the Points of Interests, marking more drains, ponds, lakes, gardens, condos, Industrial buildings, etc...

All the yellow and green dots are just connections.. It show which junctions are connected, etc...

Happy Deepavali, or so I thought.

2007-11-08T16:45:00.000+11:00

Today is Deepavali and is a public holiday. At least in Singapore.

Festival of light. I do need lots of light in my life right now. It's no big secret that I am intending to move over to Australia soon. Some time early next year.

And this has caused me anxiety and apprehension at the most inappropriate times. Sleepless nights, waking in the middle of the night, days when I suddenly question myself if I am doing the right thing.

But I guess at the end of it all, it is not all about money. We sometimes have to fulfil our other desires as well.

And recently, this issue has caused me other problems at work too - my boss.

(Haha.. Yes, I know some of my colleagues are reading this, but I guess I don't care anymore...)

You see, it is not secret among my colleagues that I am planning to move over. And when my boss asked me about it almost a year ago, I thought the best thing is not to lie about it (lest he heard from someone and I was caught lying to him.)

But all along I have been consistent and telling him that the earliest I would leave is March next year. And most probably by June.

Recently, my big boss (my boss' boss) has pushed me to go over earlier, trying to help me with getting a job in our branch office in Australia. He even mentioned, that since my replacement is already hired, I can go earlier.

But I can't, on personal levels. So I told my big boss that I could push it a little earlier and leave after Chinese New Year next year (which is going to be early Feb.)

Lo and behold, since I didn't update my boss about the "After CNY" thingie, and he has to hear about the news from his boss, he got angry with me.

I mean, WTF. After CNY and March - What is the few days difference ? Afterall, my boss hired my replacement since almost 2 months ago... I guess it is not the "time" that he is angry with, but the fact that I didn't tell HIM myself, and that he has to hear it from someone else.

So he is upset that I do not "trust" him ? That I am leaving him in the dark ? Afterall, it was just a few days after he came back from an overseas trip and I didn't have opportunity to chat with him.. Not like I would knock his door and just update him on this piece of "news"... I had other more pressing work to do.

So being angry with me, he doesn't want to talk to me. Must like school kids who "I don't friend you anymore" kinda attitude...

Anyway, end of the day, I now regret telling anyone in my office about it... I should have just kept my bloody mouth shut and just leave suddenly... That would probably show how much "trust" I have in him (my boss). Maybe he'd like that better ?

Dreamy Nights

2007-11-01T13:01:00.000+11:00

For the past 2 nights, I don't know why I have been having many dreams. These dreams have been causing me to wake up at inapproriate times of the night, causing me to be tired in the day.

One dream was that I was involved in a war, a long one I might add. And it ended up as being a joint exercise between I-dunno which armies. It felt like I dreamt the whole night.

Are they signs of something ? Or am I just too stressed ?

Ad on Radio...

2007-10-23T10:58:00.000+10:00

I am not sure if I am the only one who noticed this radio ad... (I heard it on Class 95)...

It is by HP Printer division I assume.. The ad goes like this (Not in order, and not verbatim) :

Woman A (Called Kim) : See, this is Jessie on her first birthday...
Woman B : Ah.... eh ?
Kim : And this is Jessie on the roller coaster ride...
Woman B : Huh ?
Kim : And this is Jessie (blah blah, I can't remember)..
Woman B : Kim ! I can't see Jessie.. Well, just a little, your photos are all faded !

And the ad ends with say "Don't let your memories fade away," and urge the audience to use original HP Ink and things like that...

First thing that came to my mind was : If I am printing my own photos on HP Printer, wouldn't I be having a soft copy of the photo ? So how can the memories fade ? If the photo faded, I just print another one !!!

????

** Edit : Its by Canon, not HP.. My apologies...

Typical Millionaire of Singapore

2007-10-22T12:57:00.000+10:00

Yes, its here : http://www.salary.sg/2007/typical-millionaire/

The report went on to estimate that in 2006 “approximately 19,000 HNWIs of Indonesian origin resided in Singapore and held approximately US$93 billion in financial wealth.”

In other words, close to 30% of the high net worth wealth here belong to Indonesians. I’m sure many of us are not surprised.

Wow. I know rich Indonesians come here.. and park their money here.. But.. 30%...

Adapting back to Singapore

2007-10-21T00:38:00.000+10:00

Ok.. Been back for a few days.

First thing that I miss, is the nice weather.. and nice sun.. gave me a good tan.. :)
Then it is the quiet nights that makes sleeping more peaceful.

Work-wise, I have lost more passion. I am going to work just to make it easier for my dept. But then, do I make a difference ?

Found another thing to do. Probably take photos to sell on the Internet... Make my hobby pay for some of my bills ?

Perth Day 7 to 12

2007-10-15T01:55:00.000+10:00

Been away to Margaret River, so no internet access. Now that I am back in Perth city, here are the updates. A lot to update and it is late, so this will be brief. Summary of what I did the last few days.

(1) Kings Park :

Yes, that was breakfast - Apple Strudel

This is new. Didn't see this elevated walk 2 years ago. Almost like a tree-top walk.

(2) Busselton Jetty :

The longest jetty in the southern hemisphere. Now if only someone can tell me which one is the longest jetty in the northern hemisphere...

Yes, we walked to the end. About a 2km walk, cold wind too.

Caught sunset again...

(3) Margaret River :

This is the cottage we stayed while in Margaret River. Of course, did 2 days of wine tour and many things too (See Capes and Cave below.)

We did a OZ Style BBQ for dinner. Complete with wood too, instead of the usual charcoal. (Yes, we chopped our own firewood.)

Then it got dark and cold very quickly. Haha... Now we know why Ozzies BBQ in the afternoon.

The owner's doggie, looking at us for food I guess.

(4) Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse :

This is the place where Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean.

(5) Jewel Cave :

(6) Cape Naturaliste :

This was where we managed to catch some whales too, though they were quite far out.

Oh speaking of which, we went for a whale watching tour departing from Fremantle. Not a great tour I would say. Rough waters, caught only a few whales. Not as great as the one I went from Brisbane.

Ok.. very tired. All the climbing and walking and drinking... haha.. 2 more days before going back.

Perth - Day 6

2007-10-09T01:42:00.000+10:00

Today was raining. Wanted to go for picnic at King's Park but the rain washed those plans away.
Instead, we just shopped around the city centre and had Japanese lunch. I will have to say they are not nice and expensive. Oh well.

The weather cleared up in the evening and we went to Cottesloe Beach for sunset.
You can see my old photos of the same beach sunset in my old blog entry (Jan & Feb 2005) here.

This was what greeted us when we arrived. Thanks to the wet weather and sunshine :

Sun setting. Too bad there were lots of clouds :

But at least, we can see nice colours on the clouds :

We were cold. But that didn't stop these 2 blokes from surfing :

Then we went back home. This was what we bought at Fremantle Market yesterday. Grilled it for dinner just now :

It is so big that we just ate this for dinner...

Ha ha. Obviously not. Had other nice food cooked by D - Salmon, Chicken and Pasta.

Ok. Time to sleep and go to King's Park again tomorrow !

Perth - Day 4 & 5

2007-10-08T00:51:00.000+10:00

Ok. One amendment. The "parakeets" that I mentioned in my previous entry, are actually called Rainbow Lorikeets. :)

Day 4 - Saturday. Went to the Perth Royal Show. They have games, plants, animals, racing and of course fireworks. Very tired. Not going to say much so here are some of the photos from the show : (Remember, you can always click on them to see bigger, higher-resolution images.)

Games :

Flowers :

Look at all the edible cakes ! :

And many types of animal shows :

And other stunts and performances :

And today, ate dim-sum for brunch, just walked around Fremantle and had dinner at Cicerello's with more friends :

Perth Trip - Day 2 & 3

2007-10-06T00:11:00.000+10:00

Ok. Almost settled all the things that I needed to. And went to visit the city and did some simple shopping.

In the meantime, here are some sights :

My Breakfast this morning :

Was at Perth Mint yesterday evening, and a nice white rose :

And then was walking along the Swan River. Near the Swam Bells, I heard loud and noisy chirping. It came from here :

See the 2 Parakeets ? No ? Zoomed in, 18X :

And this evening, was at Mills Point. We were trying to catch the sunset at Cottesloe beach, but couldn't make it on time. So had this instead :

I don't know. I just think the seagulls look cute, though they are considered as irritating as crows back in Singapore.

Ok. Tomorrow is the weekend. Will be visiting the Perth Royal Show, and Freo.

Perth Trip - Day 1

2007-10-04T16:33:00.000+10:00

Took the morning flight to Perth yesterday.

While at Changi, I bought some liqour. They were sealed in this bag :

And this is what happens after I open the seal to take out the bottle :

See the word "Tampered Bag" ?

I went on-board. Wow, it was FULL !
Qantas lunch wasn't nice at all. :-(
Watched about 2 movies and a TV show. Slept a little, though it was really uncomfortable to sleep.

After I touched down, sat down at the airport to have some snacks while waiting for my friends to pick me up. Tried out the camera's awesome zoom lens :

Using Wide Angle (28mm) :

Zoomed to the normal 3X that a usual pocket-sized digi-cam :

And Zoomed to the Max of 18X :

This camera is starting to look good... Except on some occasion, without flash, I felt the photos were a bit over-exposed...

Relaxed...

2007-10-03T00:39:00.000+10:00

Tomorrow, I will be flying to Perth in the morning. For 2 weeks ! YEAH !

My long break this year.

Oh, and I borrowed my colleague's new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18. Heheh.. Looking forward to taking some great shots ! (Thanks !)

So, do keep a look out here. I will post some updates along the way.

Oh, and I also just bought "In My Time" comic, by Mr Miyagi. Hope to finish reading it by tonight. Haha... Local product. Support support a bit... :P

The night I was molested...and almost blinded

2007-09-29T16:22:00.000+10:00

Went to St James Power Station club last night with my colleagues. It was my first time there. Looks quite interesting. But I think I still prefer MOS. Haha..

Movida's music was good. Then I went to get a drink. On my way back from the bar counter to where my colleagues were, that is where I was violated.

I was carrying a glass of drink in my hand. The other hand was used to weave my way through the crowd. While walking near some tables, there was this couple who were slightly high and dancing.

The guy was behind the girl and I think he was sort of hugging/dancing with her to the music. I walked in front of them. That area happened to be just a bit sparse and while I was walking towards them, the girl was grooving to the music and saw me coming.

Just as I was walking past her, she reached out and pulled my my shirt, caressing my stomach. I was surprised as I thought her hands were just part of her dance. In that instant that I realized it, I sucked in my stomach (well, I am already quite flabby) trying to impress her... Hahaha..

Then I saw the look of disappointment in her face as she removed her hands and continued dancing while I walked past. All without missing a step nor losing my stride.

Ha ha.. Never thought I would still get such attention. Or maybe she was too drunk ? Too bad I didn't get a closer look at her boyfriend to see if there is any reason for her to be molesting other guys...

:)

P/S : Yes, it is "To walk past", not "To walk passed".

Oh and yes, nearly blinded. Was just squeezing through the crowd and this girl (I thought is a she) with spikey hair was moving her head about while I was squeezing behind her.

Yes, her hair poked into my right eye. I thought I was going to be blind...

I am learning ...

2007-09-26T01:09:00.000+10:00

Cartography.

Well, at least, only the creation of maps, specifically for use on Garmin systems.

A bunch of hobbyist started a project to learn how to create maps. It was a combined effort, so each of us took a small section of Singapore to map out.

Yes, redundant, cos Singapore is already well mapped out. But then this is more about learning. And since we are in Singapore, it is easier than mapping out Timbaktu...

So we have bulk purchased the mapping software. Quite cool I have to say. Features include imposing Google Earth satellite images so that it is easier to draw.

This is how it looks like up close :

Learning to draw different types of roads, landscape, etc.

This is the section that I am doing. Needs a combination of collecting tracks of the roads, aligning the satellite images accurately, then tracing out the rest of the roads :

After this, will need lots of refinements, like putting POIs (Points of Interest), Turning Restructions, etc... Lots of things to learn from the experts. Anyway, its a hobby, so the most important thing is not to get too stressed over it.

Good and Bad

2007-09-23T23:54:00.000+10:00

Had an enjoyable weekend. Went to a chalet organized by some colleagues. BBQ , nice food. Caught up with old friends, chatted with new. That's the good.

The bad, is that I think I sprained/strained my back, after carrying not-too-heavy cooler box by myself. There weren't any sharp pain while I was carrying it, but probably due to the large physical size, I had used some parts of my back muscles that were seldom used.

I felt my back starting to get sore during the BBQ.. and as the night progressed, it got worse.
By the wee hours of Sunday morning, it is already painful to walk and move about.

Probably will be seeing the doctor again. Hope nothing major...

I owe, I owe, so off to work I go...

2007-09-22T15:16:00.000+10:00

Work recently hasn't been that great. I am basically quite over-dosed with the feeling of being made redundant (and all the implications that comes with that.)

Positively regretted letting ppl (especially my boss) know about my plans. Again, my dear friend KOP proved to be right again that keeping these sort of things quiet should be the way to go, no matter how good a relationship I might have with my boss.

My boss is on a training spree for my subordinates, and my replacement has been hired.

Somehow, the impression that I am "mood" because I am leaving soon, seems to have taken roots, even though it might not be case.

Once the impression is set, every little thing can be viewed as a "proof" that the impression is right. I am starting to feel that I might as well just go with the flow...

Terrible End to my ICT

2007-09-17T23:47:00.000+10:00

Saturday was a good day for me... Ended by eating a lot of ice-cream and milk shake.

And yesterday was a terrible weekend. I had diarrhoea for the whole day, accompanied by mild fever and major loss of appetite.

Damn. Must be the over-eating.

At least for today, more or less recovered. But feel very dehydrated.

Tomorrow I will be back in office. I don't know why, but I am feeling that I prefer the army life than work...

English learnt from Army

2007-09-11T22:17:00.000+10:00

Haha.. Ok. Don't get me started on the English used in our Singapore Army. There already are many articles and forum discussions on them.

But it is rare that I had to learn new meaning on words used in the Military.

Yesterday, we were told to "impregnate" our uniforms with some chemicals to keep mosquitoes at bay. I thought that was a strange way to use the word. Won't a simple "soak" do ?

Then I took the chemical (Permethrin) and this is on the label (I have removed it out of the box) :

And I came back to check the dictionary (my favourite www.dictionary.com) :

im·preg·nate [v. im-preg-neyt, im-preg-neyt; adj. im-preg-nit, -neyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, -nat·ed, -nat·ing, adjective –verb (used with object)

1.	to make pregnant; get with child or young.

2.	to fertilize.

3.	to cause to be infused or permeated throughout, as with a substance; saturate: to impregnate a handkerchief with cheap perfume.

4.	to fill interstices with a substance.

5.	to furnish with some actuating or modifying element infused or introduced; imbue, infect; tincture.

–adjective

6.	impregnated.

Ok. I think tomorrow, my uniform will be impregnated with my perspiration. Ha ha.

My Terrible Week

2007-09-02T13:52:00.000+10:00

This past week was hectic and miserable.

My boss was in an enthusiatic high of imparting his knowledge to everyone. And I mean EVERYONE. Last minute meetings were called, where his "just 5 to 10 minutes" lasted for 1.5 hours - causing me to break my daily routine of clearing my bowels in time for lunch.

His usual antics of "in 30 minutes time, everyone is to do a presentation on this topic" happened, and he promised it will continue to be like this for the next year or 2. His gift to us : To train us and for us to learn.

Everyone is stressed enough with so many things to do ; These add-ons doesn't make things easier as the things we all had to do had fixed deadlines.

And near the end of the week, one of my staff had to make a boo-boo that potentially can result in lawsuit. I do hope nothing will happen, otherwise, it will just make things difficult for me. (Where part of a manager's job is to take shit like this and shield the staff from upper management without affecting my own assessment.)

This coming weeks doesn't even being to look good either...

Now I know where the money came from...

2007-08-24T11:31:00.000+10:00

Oh, I almost wanted to rejoice on the additional 1% I am going to get from my CPF accounts.
1% more, for the first 20k in my Ordinary Account.
1% more, for my Special Account & Medisave Account. I figure up to first 40k, since I already have 20k in my OA.

Then I read that instead of having a fixed 4% interest rate for SA and MA as it is right now. It will be "re-pegged to an appropriate long-term bond rate".

According to a news report :
Private sector economists said the rates could be pegged to government-issued bonds.

"If we peg it to a SGS bond, it will definitely be below the target 4 percent rate. Our thoughts are that, they might be looking at a bond issued by say, Temasek, which has typically in previous years averaged returns more than 4 percent. So we can probably enjoy higher returns in that way," said Alvin Liew, economist at UOB Treasury Research.

So, if the govt decides to peg to SGS bond, I will not be getting the 5% in my SA & MA as I thought. It will be lower...

Oh and last night, the news came out. ERP rates increased. More ERP Gantries.

Damn, I knew there isn't going to be free money....

Again, I should practise what I preach...

2007-08-22T20:13:00.000+10:00

My usual investment strategy... If you are happy with a product or service, check the company that produces it. Might be a good investment opportunity.

Remember last year, I bought a new toy ? (Hint)

Well, I should have taken my own advise. Missed an opportunity :

I would have a neat 90% growth if I had bought it in August/September 2006.

Maybe I should study the company more to see if it is still worth investing...

Two down... more to go...

2007-08-19T15:29:00.000+10:00

Remember this : http://calamariforthought.blogspot.com/2007/07/one-down-another-to-go.html

That's down. And my colleague got this for me from Margaret River :

That was very nice. Doing some beer and I have more...

Like this :

and this :

and this :

and this :

and all these :

For me to do something meaningful...

2007-08-13T20:05:00.000+10:00

Contributions of money here and there to charities are not really that meaningful to me anymore.

A friend is now deeply involved in helping the Hmong refugee camps in Thailand.
http://newlifeoutreach.blogspot.com/

I am now asking for all your assistance. As individuals, I think I am not in any power to change the situation.

But I can contribute a little to their living and making it more comfortable : Winter is coming soon. And many will die in the refugee camp.

If you have any blankets and winter clothes to donate, please let me know.
If you feel like making monetary donations, please let me know too.
Or you can contact the site author directly.

This is going to be totally trust-based, though I am sure the author (my friend) will do his utmost to ensure that donations and trusts are not abused. But we have to know, he has no money to hire accountants.

A Week of Fun...

2007-08-08T17:29:00.000+10:00

Last week, I was overseas in Bangkok, in part a retreat to celebrate my birthday. It was enjoyable to say the least.

Weekend trip to BKK, relax and shopping aint bad. Though I am not really a good shopper.

The only interesting thing that happened was in the Hotel room. Shan't say which hotel it was, but it wasn't any 5-star ones.

Seems decent at first. Then at night, while laying on the bed to watch TV, I spotting a small black dot on the white bedsheet... It moved... *eyes wide*

It looked like a bed bug. Then I looked around, hoping that I was wrong about it. Then I found one more, under a pillow. Then another one. That's it.

Changed room. Haha.. Ok, that was my first encounter with a bed bug. Should have taken a photo.

The only other 2 memorable encounters were in Philippines : A cockroach at my night-stand when I woke up one morning ; A small and cute mouse in my 3-bedroom suite which took 4 guys to kill and get rid of.

*~*~*~*~*

The day after I returned from my holiday, I went on a company anniversary holiday :

A 2-day-2-night cruise to :

My first time on a cruise. It was ok. The cabins are a bit small though, and no fridge. Not sure if it is smaller than First World Hotel in Genting , hahaha.

Won about $150 on my virgin try at roulette. Took the money and ran. So whatever I spent on this trip is free, wahahaha....

Lots of Swenson ice-creams, free food, spent $100 credits (Balcony class) on drinks...

*~*~*~*~*

Ok. A week of fun. My holiday tomorrow will probably be quite tame.. And time to get back to work... *headache*

Traffic Accidents and being 'Kaypoh'...

2007-07-23T13:40:00.000+10:00

I have been stuck in traffic jams, especially those caused by traffic accidents.

And the usual complaints are always "People slow down to gawk", causing the traffic to be slow even AFTER the vehicles were moved away.

Though I would usually grumble when I am stuck in such jams, I know sometimes, things just happen in this manner. With everyone thinking for themselves and reacting to situations which will feed itself.. Self-organized events, I think..

http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200404/backpage.cfm

Sometimes, even without and accident, one person in a dense traffic flow, not paying attention to the road will cause a jam too..

Just imagine.. all around, everyone is travelling at 90km/h. One guy decides to jam brake, for 2 seconds.. Either not paying attention to a slowing vehicle in front, or a piece of debris falling in front of his path.. And then accelerated back to 90km/h after that brief 2 seconds..

The guy behind him hits the brakes hard too, but this time, he will take more than 2 seconds.. maybe 3 or 4 seconds.. cos of shock.. and he has to make sure that the first guy did accelerate before he will press his accelerator again..

Imagine the guy behind THIS guy, will take another 1 or 2 seconds longer than HIM. And it goes on.. and about 10 minutes later.. that stretch of road has slowed to a crawl to 30km/h...

Oh, and how about accident vehicles ? Is it that bad to take a look ? Why not ? Let those who drive recklessly take a close look and hope they do not do that.. Let the kids who just got their license know how their cars will look like should they decide to test the laws of physics..

But then those who will heed such "warnings" will not need to SEE these accidents.. looking at newspaper photos will be sufficient.. Those die-hard racers and people who think they are immortal, no amount of gore is going to scare them.

So perhaps being kaypoh is good, perhaps it is useless too.. I will never know..

Another step in becoming a seasoned traveller...

2007-07-21T01:10:00.000+10:00

I have been travelling, for work and for holiday, for the past 10 years.

Yesterday, I have another point to clock into my season traveller mileage - I missed my first flight.

I arrived at Taoyuan International Airport on time. I checked in with almost 2 hours to spare. I proceeded past immigration, where I had to consume all my drinks.

(I couldn't remember whether they had another layer of security check at the gate and have taken the decision to go in rather than stay outside. I tried to finish my can of coke, a bottle of H2O and a bottle of mineral water. I can't and had to dump whatever I couldn't finish.)

In I went, then up to the next level and settled for a cup of latte and a croissant for lunch. Light, since I will be having another round of late lunch on the flight.

Then I took out my laptop to play my game (no points for guessing what game I was playing, ha ha.)

I didn't double check my flight time. I kept on thinking it was 2.40pm. So I played until about 2.25, turned it off, and proceeded to the gate. I know SQ closed the gate 10 min before departure. I could make it on time.

As I was walking into the gate, I looked at the signboard and it said the flight time was 2.20pm! I ran down. Nobody was sitting at any of the chairs. One of the staff saw me walking down and apparently know my name. Wow ! How did he know ?

So the plane had just left the gate, and my luggage was in it.

Anyway, to cut the long story short, they arranged me to get on the next flight. Gave me my boarding pass and I have another 4 hours to kill. This time, I found a comfy sofa, sat down and read my novel.

When I arrived in Singapore, my luggage was sitting on a trolley waiting for me already. Nice SQ service.

*~*~*~*~*

So, I have had close-call connections where I had ran from one end of the airport to the other. I have had flight delayed for hours due to weather (though it wasn't snow nor typhoon). I have had stand-by for 4 days at the airport waiting for empty seats on full flight season. I have had incredible flood that didn't stop me from getting back home on time.

Now I missed my flight trying conquer the world in a chair... :)

Only experiences left that I haven't had are lost luggages, missed connections, air accidents and hijacks. I really hope I will never have to live through any of it. Missing a flight is enough excitement. Excitement that did no harm except my kill my time and my mood.

*yawn*... tired... had a whole week of work and late night partying. Going to sleep early so that I can enjoy my weekend.

Conquer the World !

2007-07-16T00:46:00.000+10:00

Ok. All done with Theme Hospital.

Just bought Command & Conquer : The First Decade.

Remembering the good old times of Win 95, Win 98, playing games with loud-speaker in hostel room...

So far, all seems to load and run well in Vista.

Starting from the very first episode too.. Weird, playing 640x480 on my 15.4" Wide screen laptop. Not to mention the window size havoc it makes whenever it changes resolution with open windows in the background.

Also, when my screen-saver kicks in it screws up the video colours... But nothing I can't deal with.. hahahaha

Ok, I guess my $60 of C&C:TFD is going to keep me occupied for the rest of the year.

One down.. another to go...

2007-07-14T00:15:00.000+10:00

Clearing out my stash.. No point keeping them...

So this is one down :

And dealing with this now :

My Books are in hot demand...

2007-07-04T11:32:00.000+10:00

For those who already know, I have given out a list via email to my close friends.

This morning, I sent out the remaining list to my whole office (about 65).
Lo and behold, 20 out of 26 books were taken up within an hour ! Some books even had multiple bookings.

Haha. Was joking with one of my colleagues that if only my work-related emails get such fast and good response. He mentioned that it was my title "Knowledge to be shared" and the list of good books that attracted such reactions.

Of course, things like A-Level physics had no takers.

So good, I don't have to make a trip to sell at 2nd hand bookstores..

I want to be Hospital Adminstrator...

2007-06-27T17:05:00.001+10:00

I said I was playing with Command & Conquer , right ?

Being the fickle minded me, 2 days ago I was packing my software and games collection and I installed this game in my Vista - Theme Hospital.

Pretty funny and interesting. Hooked on to it now.. Damn...

Found Home ... Don't Go...

2007-06-23T15:22:00.000+10:00

Finding new home for my old pets

2007-06-19T19:13:00.001+10:00

Find new home for pets - a dog and a bear.