My New Toy Arrived

Got my EPIA ME6000 VIA Motherboard today !
At least, something to keep me occupied. I can start work on my little project.



On the work front, I see more and more things for me to do, yet, I really do not know where to start. If I just follow my boss's instructions and not take initiative, then I am no better.

Ahggg ! Brain not working ! Really at my wits end, no idea how to do it... But of course, not showing it.

Hopefully my brain can wake up after New Year.


Happy Holidays !

Shell-shocked...

My job (formerly called my career).

It is just confirmed.
I had less than 24 hours to decided.

I will be redesignated.
I will be taking on a new portfolio.
I stood no chance,
I was out-smarted, and out-gunned.
My objections and feelings are irrelevant.
I was just a pawn in this game, in his big scheme of things.

I have been moved from my comfort zone into a war zone.

I have much to plan and do ahead.
Despite the holiday season, my mind will most probably not be peaceful.

So no more nice coffee breaks for me.
No more idling and blogging during office hours.


But...

*starts tune*

I will survive, I will survive !
Hey hey !

Obligatory Remarks about Death

After keeping quiet for so long, I guess I need to just speak up a little now.

I do not agree with the Death Penalty. It serves no rehabilitation purposes, and I believe it doesn't deter much.

Murders are not going to increase/decrease with or without the death penalty. Afterall, most murders took place at the heat of the moment - emotionally charged and no time to think about the death penalty. And mostly they think they can claim emotionally incapacitated by not controlling themselves.

For the premeditated ones, all precautions have been taken to avoid being caught - death or no death. I mean, if I really hate someone and wants to kill him/her, I will try all means to hide my identity - even if it is life imprisonment. Aferall, I hope to get on with my life.

For drugs, I believe many of those mules are forced into it - certain death of family member if they were to reject, or possible death by hanging if caught.

Afterall, how many of those who carry drugs drives BMWs and live in landed property ? Those who are really rich from the drugs, are enjoying themselves in large palaces with private army for security.


*~*~*~*~*

From previous famous cases in the press, it seems that in Singapore, I cannot consult legal advise until the police concludes their investigation. (Remember the recent Filipino maid charged for murder of another maid ?) [read : My opinion is that I cannot see my lawyer until I have confessed to the crimes, either by beating it out of me, or by sleep deprivation.]

I have the rights to remain silent, and I still have my rights to an attorney.. Catch is I need to choose just one.

*~*~*~*~*

And I travel via Changi airport frequently, where my lugguage is out of my supervision. What if one day, someone in the chain uses my luggage to carry the drugs, and somehow, missed a satchet in my luggage.

And then I am caught with it...

*shudder*


*~*~*~*~*

Just heard that our executioner, who was identified by Australian press recently, has been fired.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4477012.stm

Bird vs Plane

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Oh my. Wenzeled...

Charlie Wenzel. That is a name that many will remember. And he became famous for all the wrong reasons. But now, I am sure he can make some money from this notoriety.

Google "Charlie Wenzel" and I am sure you get lots of hits.

Just a quick summary of what happened there, because the original forum was closed :

(Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Wenzel)

It all started on October 10th, 2005 on the Off-Roading Website Pirate4x4.com when Charlie, using the screen name "cdubzon40s", attempted to sell a set of "new" Gears he had purchased for his Chevy truck and "decided against" using. The Ad quickly drew attention from a user going by the name "MochaMike". After accepting and cashing a check for the $115 (the $100 asked for the parts and $15 for shipping) Charlie private messaged MochaMike asking for an additional $25 stating that that was what he had intended to ask. Mike Refused and asserted that since the check had been cashed, Charlie had a legal obligation to send the Parts.

On October 26th, Charlie went back to the website and changed the price of the item from $100 to $125 plus $15 shipping. At this point Mike Went public and pointed out to everyone that Charlie had changed the original post to reflect a higher price AFTER Mike had already paid for the gears. Charlie claimed that this was simply a mistake and that he had meant to charge $125.00 + Shipping, instead of the $100.00 + shipping.

In addition, he repeatedly asserted that the part was new, but was eventually cornered into admitting the part had been previously installed on his own truck. The problem is that the part is not just of a lesser value, but of questionable value entirely. People usually do not buy these gears used, due to wearing patterns being specific to the original vehicle. Therefore it turned out that the attempted fraud was actually for the total amount, not just the $25 extra he asked for.

During the whole process, when Charlie probably should have apologized, admitted his wrong doing and walked away, he instead became rude and indignant, attempting to use empty threats of physical violence and or lawsuits and jail time to get people to stop telling him he had done something wrong. He was repeatedly given chances in the first two days to right his wrong, but instead continued with his arrogance.

Soon Charlie's personal info was made available for the world to see. This included:

* His ip address/addresses
* His home address
* His place of work
* His email addresses
* His phone numbers
* His parents address
* His parents phone numbers
* His parents job descriptions and where they work
* His parents photo
* His parents email addresses
* His photo
* His High School Year Book Photos
* Baby Photos
* Various Pictures of Charlie with his truck broken down in the dunes
* His sisters photo
* His truck photos
* Through another link , his banking details
* His past history on other forums
* His ebay records
* His school history
* His true size and weight (he had said he was much larger than the actual numbers)
* His girlfriends photo

I will cut this short. Amazing what can be found on the Intenet about you.

You can also see his tribute on
http://www.wenzeled.com/

Now, excuse me, while I try to see what kind of sensitive information I can find about myself over the net, publicly.

My future road trip in this ?

Should be available early next year....



[click on the photo to see more !]

My Road Trip - In Singapore

Haha. Just spent some time this afternoon on a short road trip - but in Singapore.

Managed to see some unknown part Singapore that I haven't been to. Seems quite nice too, except for the humid air making me all sticky.

(Check out my Flickr Photos, link on the right)

KOP ! Do you recognize this place ?

Eden ! Have you been here ?

My Father Sometimes Scares Me

I was telling my father over the weekend about the events outlined here :

http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1084655


My father's comment ?

These 4 are lucky that the police didn't "plant" someone else into the crowd of 4, pretend to protest with them, and arrest all of them immediately for illegal gathering.

Did my father see it being used too often, or am I glad he is not working with the authorities.

Overhead Conversation

Heard this conversation between my colleagues during lunch today :

Background - P is renovating his house and intends to put a Jaccuzzi in his Balcony.

P : My contractor told me the weight loading of my balcony. So I have to figure out the weight of the f**king jacuzzi plus the f**cking water using the dimensions.. wah lao...

S : Oh you still have to add in your f***king weight...

I was already sniggering... Then I told my other colleague, who also heard the conversation. And his comment ?

C : Yeah, of course have to add in his "f**king" weight. You know, thrusting add on to the loading.

Me : Oh, so not just the normal weight, but literally the f**king weight lah !

Pissed...At Sheng Siong

Was at Sheng Siong (at Ten-Mile Junction) just a while ago. Was trying to see the price of some items, and taking notes of their prices on a small piece of paper.

After a while, a male staff came over to tell me that I am not allowed to copy the prices. That his manager has given instructions. That I can see, compare, but not copy. If I disagree, I will have to see the manager.

WTF !

What are they afraid of ? Competitors ? I am sure their competitors would have better ways to get their prices and more discreet.

And so what if competitors copy their prices ? Ok, so you will want to make it difficult for them to get your prices. I will outline ways (below) to get prices FASTER than one person copying it down.

Are their prices not up for scrutiny ?

I have to depend on my memory ?
Well, I have short memory and cannot remember that what I want is available at Sheng Siong. So next time, I will forget to give my consumer dollar to you and buy somewhere else.

Next time I will :

(1) speak to my buddy, via a pair of 2-way radios, discreetly via earpiece.
- What ? I cannot bring these equipment in ? You will think it is a mobile phone anyway.

(2) speak into my handphone sound recorder as I browse the shelves.
- What ? I can't have my own recording device ? I am not taking photos of your shop ! I am recording my own speech! Cannot ah ? It is not illegal what?!?!

(3) call a friend, using my mobile phone, and check out the prices and read out the prices to my friend.
- What ? I am not the one taking notes. Why ? I cannot compare with my friend now is it ? I cannot ask my friends whether your price is cheaper or not ah ? You wanna ban the use of handphones in your shop ?


Other than the above methods that the competitors can check out the prices, competitors can also deploy the following methods :

(4) get receipts from customers who bought things that I am interested in.

(5) pick up discarded receipts to compile into a list. Computer with simple OCR can do a very fast job.

(6) get someone to wear audio and video bugging devices and just walk along the shelves without even doing anything except transmitting sounds and images to someone with a recording, sitting in a nearby vehicle.


Well, at least the staff was polite and half-smiling.

Sheave ? What is a Sheave ?

What is "Kian" ?

Last night, was waiting for a couple of friends to arrive at a local Duck Rice stall for dinner. I was there first and waited for them.

I was hungry, so I ordered the food first. Duck meat, Toufu, Sambal KangKong, Egg but no Duck Spare-parts.

Then my friend SMS me for "Chicken Kian". Chicken Kian ? What the heck is a Chicken Kian ?
I looked back at the stall banner, and it says Duck Rice & Porridge.

So I messaged back : Chicken ? Are you going to the wrong stall ?

The reply : Sorry. Quack Quack Kian.

And I hesitated in ordering the duck Kian. My friend, R, went and ordered. The Kian arrived.
A few minutes later, my friends, H and P, also arrived. We ate.

I asked what is a Kian. No one could give me a definite answer. Guesses of kidney, liver, lungs, but still no conclusion. After eating it, I still didn't know what it was.

~*~*~*~*~

We finished our dinner and settled in a nearby cafe. Ordered cakes and drinks. After our food and drinks arrived, we are short of a spoon and 2 forks. So I went to the counter to get the missing crockery (no, they are not utensils, as most Singaporeans would have them.)

Me : Excuse me, can I have a spoon and 2 forks please ?

Lady : *stares at me, with mouth ajar* Huuuh ???!!!!

Me : Can I have a spooooon, and *rasies 2 fingers* 2 forrrrkk *fingers makes jabbing motion* ?

Lady : Oh. Ok.

She proceeds to get them for me.

From her stare at me, and her louder than normal "Huh" back at me, I figured she thought she heard me say some swear words at her. Or she thought I was trying to get fresh with her.

So much for speaking good English. I think next time, I will stick to the usual Singlish : "Can I have a spoon and 2 fox, please ?"

~*~*~*~*~

Soon, the conversation turned back to the unsettled Kian.

P : So, what was the Kian ah ? Nice right ?

R : Ee. I don't eat spare parts one. And he was still wondering whether to order or not.

Me : Of course lah ! I don't know what is that. Later don't have, kenna suan. So malu.

P : Huh. You also will be embarrassed one meh ?

H : Of course lah.

Me : Of course lah ! You think I so thick-skinned one meh ? First chicken Kian, then duck Kian. How I know whether duck got Kian or not ?

H : Hello. They are both ducks what...

Me : Huh ? Both are ducks ?

H : No no.. Both are fowls.

Me : Eh. Just because the are both fowls doesn't mean they have the same thing ok.

H : They have the same intestines and organs mah.

Me : Is it ?

H looks at me in a challenging manner. I think for about 20 seconds...

Me : Eh. Chicken have the *put palm vertically on head, fingers pointing up* but the duck don't have mah !

P : *shrieks* hahaha. You mean chicken that part.. the crown.. can eat one meh ?

H & R were laughing

Me : No lah. What I mean is, I don't know what Kian is mah. Maybe only chicken have, but duck don't have leh ? Or even if they have, maybe the duck one is not served as food leh. Like you eat chicken feet, but you don't eat duck feet mah.

H : But got goose webbed-feet being served what.

Me : But that is goose lah. Also, like got duck's tongue, but I don't see chicken's tongue being served. Chicken don't have tongue right ?

H, P and R all laughs loudly. I think the whole cafe is looking at us.

Me : Wait.. ok.. So chicken have tongue, but they are not served as food right ? So that is what I mean, just because duck may have Kian, doesn't mean they are served as food mah. I don't dare to ask wait kenna laughed at by people...

H, P and R continued laughing.

Me : Yeah what. You guys get my point, right ?

~*~*~*~*~

So I have made my point...I think...
And I have tasted the duck Kian, but I still have no idea what it is ...

Give me your contacts !

Hello, my friends who are reading this. If you want access to more of my private flickr photos, please create a flickr account and let me know, I will add you in.

For those that I do not know personally, I am sorry, but you will still not be able to see my face.. *evil laugh* mua ha ha ha ....

My Weekend Trip

Spent the weekend at Club Med, Bintan.

It started off with a slight scare... The Indonesian Immigration officer commented that my passport has no more empty pages ! I told her to stamp on the last 2 pages... She asked her senior at the next counter (in Bahasa) whether they are allowed to stamp there... I guess her senior told her its ok to do it... I was let in.

Time to change a new passport... even though it is supposed to expire in 2008.

It was an enjoyable trip. Lots of things to play with, lots of opportunities to learn new stuff.

Except on the 2nd day, I had a slight headache and diarrhoea, and slept the better half of the day.

Still, I managed to try my hands on archery, the trapeze, swim and had a bit of fun in badminton.
Food was good, but the free-flow of wine was not-so-good, and the entertainment was good too.

[see the photos in my flickr, link on the right]


On the way back to Singapore, I was really surprised that at TMFT, it was a 100% check. Everyone had their luggages go through the x-ray machine and then a physical search. I don't know whether it is like this after the Bali bombings, or some tip-off. But I do not remember such search last year.

Updates of My Mum

My mum has been back home since last Saturday. Seems like she is recovering well. Thanks to all for your concern.

I learnt from this episode that :

1) Blood Platelets are there to clot bleeding

2) If White Blood Cell (WBC) counts go below the normal range (4x10^9/L), it is most likely a Viral infection

3) If WBC counts go above the normal range (10x10^9/L), it is most likely a Bacterial infection
Of course, stress, therapy and trauma can change these counts as well

What the Heck is This ?

Found THIS below my HDB block, just beside the lift.
Same thing at my friend's block. I think these things are popping up all over.

Anyone has any idea what the heck those things are ?

Updated - PIctures of my visits to my Mum

My mum is still quite weak. Rashes has developed and she is feeling itchy. Pain and itch is causing her to lose sleep.

This morning, she was sent to see an eye doctor. Blur vision is an expected symptom of Dengue Fever.

I hope she doesn't suffer much and recover. Nothing much can be done as it depends entirely on her immune system.

~*~*~*~*~

When my mum first went to TTSH on Sunday (2nd October), there was a "research nurse", asking her to sign a paper to allow them to draw blood from her for research purposes.

My father was with her. I guess out of social-mindedness, my father willingly agreed. Since it is only drawing of blood and not testing of any new medication/drugs.

Then they drew 3 big syringes of blood !

And they are the bigger ones, bigger than those that TTSH use when they drew her blood for her regular blood tests.

We were told that in total, they will draw the blood 3 times ! And only after the 3rd time (read : 9 big syringes) they will give a compensation of ....

make a guess ?



*drum roll*



S$30.



What the hell !

At a time like this, when the patient needed their blood the most - for the immune system to fight the virus - they draw so much ! How the heck do they expect the patient to recover faster ??? What happened to the "First do no harm" ethic ?

Oh wait... They are a Singapore research firm. Not medical doctors. They are NOT bound by the Hippocratic Oath...

My mum has always been weak and the Dengue is making her lose appetite and sometimes throwing up. We are going to stop this donation...


And the S$30 is not enough to buy Brands Essence of Chicken or any tonic for 2 weeks (which is the time an average Dengue patient takes to recover).

~*~*~*~*~

First time I ever went to CDC and the new CDC 2. CDC 2 is a new ward. Just beside TTSH A&E Dept, and beside Ren Ci Hospital.

This is how it looks like in the day :

Main Building

Lobby


And this is how it looks like at night :

Main Building

Corridor 1

Corridor 2


Does look like some secret hospital that is researching on some scary illegal stuff..

And since CDC is a place of concentration of highly-contagious diseases, precautions not to spread into the general population is there :

(1) Visitors are required to sign in and given a mask (though it is not a N95 mask)
(2) Disinfectant before leaving the hospital

Mosquitoes...

My mum was hospitalized this afternoon for dengue fever.
She is weak as she couldn't eat a lot. Been having fever since last Thursday.

So, if all goes well, she should be recovering by next Thursday - as it usually takes about 2 weeks to recover.

Now, I don't know when, I got stung 2 times - one on my arm, another on my thigh. I do hope I am not going to get it. Ok, going for a mozzie-hunt after I finish this post.

(No, I do not live with my mum.)

~*~*~*~*~

On the work front, everything (well, almost) is smooth and going ok - at least the major stuff. Next weekend, we are having a company anniversary trip to Bintan Club Med. I heard the place is great. I will see for myself then.

Almost S$500 per person, 5-meals per day provided, free flow of wine and soft drinks during lunch and dinner. Reaching there Friday morning, leaving on Sunday afternoon. I think it is a good deal, if the meals and wines are good.

~*~*~*~*~

2005 is coming to its last quarter, and very soon, I will be doing my own end-of-year stock check. Time to review what I have achieved this year, and where am I in my overall goals, and what I can do better next year.

Or I could just pretend to be ignorant about it. Afterall, Ignorance is Bliss, isn't it ?

I am Back !

I am back !
Flight back from Medan to Jakarta and back to Singapore was uneventful.

Well, I guess it made the news already, that :

(1) The Fuel hike is a whopping 126% - sparking demonstrations and protests all over Indonesia

(2) Bali was bombed again.

~*~*~*~*~

Over the weekend, went out to JB overnight.

It was pretty enjoyable - shopping (like typical Singaporeans in Giant... buy tons of toilet rolls and toiletries) and getting drunk (well, almost).

Only thing that wasn't too enjoyable was the quality of the not-too-expensive hotel and the cold swimming pool, and a short period of bad weather. And, of course, getting occasionally lost and losing to some locals cutting queues in traffic.

Quick Triva :

What is worse that seeing local Malaysian drivers driving recklessly around Singapore vehicles ?

Ans : Facing the kiam-pah faces of some Singaporean drivers with their driving attitudes on the causeway driving back to Singapore.

I guess after all the bitching and complaining about Malaysian drivers treating Singapore cars with the "lets bully the stranger" attitude, meeting ungraceful Singaporean drivers are 10x worse off.

A day of Work in Indonesia

Here I am, sitting in the hotel lobby in Medan (Indonesia), accessing their free Internet service, in my shorts with at least 1 mosquito buzzing around hoping to suck me dry.

Today, in Jakarta, there was a massive demonstration in protest of their government reducing their fuel subsidy, resulting in an expected increase in fuel prices of at least 50% (those whom I spoke to predicted 70-90%).

Last I heard, many public transport were not available, and roads were closed.
Luckily, one colleague I left in Jakarta reached the airport in the morning before all these happened.

I am hoping that tomorrow, my transit flight from Medan-Jakarta-Singapore will not be affected.

Yesteday was one whole day of seminar, today was a busy day going around visiting 5 new potential customers. No chance to visit Lake Toba as it is a 3 hour drive from Medan.

Tomorrow, I will be back home and enjoying my weekend.

Weekend Updates

I am not sure if I should put this up, cos what I am have is definitely not really allowed by the books.

But what the heck - I got myself a pair of Motorola SX700R last week. Managed to find it somewhere near Sim Lim. And a pair of the set, plus a pair of earpeice, costs S$180. That is damn cheap (in my opinion) for something of that power.

Anyway, it is a consumer type, thus, I do not expect to be able to conduct any of my childhood spying dreams (not unless I expect people listening in to laugh at me with my childish acts). It is not able to scramble my voice, or use any digital encryption to prevent eavesdropping. But I guess it is good enough for my uses (now you use your creativity to think what use I could have for it.)

Over the last 2 nights, I have discovered some places in Singapore that I had seldom been to. All in conquests of high location so that I can tune into other people's conversation.

And you will not believe what I have caught in just 2 nights.

First night, 2 civilian convoys - one of about 8-10 Rav4, another of 15-20 Getz. Listening to their movement and their excursions. Too bad didn't catch any of the "action on the road" type of transmissions.

Last night, was listening to a couple of conversations, held by what I believe to be dock workers (due to background noises that I heard) talking about their adventures in red-light districts ; Adventures of the close encounters of the breasts-too-large-to-fit-into-my-palms types.

Conversations in hokkien, peppered with vulgarities usually crack me up. Man, I am now a high-tech voyeur. I hope I do NOT find any cheap night-vision with 12x optical zoom that is less than S$300, else I will have to change jobs.

Next hobby - Mod earpiece outlet of my set to go into an MP3 player for recording. Who knows, maybe I will be posting conversations I have heard over the air here. But then, that will be really evil of me...

Photos of Brisbane Trip

Ok. Was back from Brisbane yesterday. Finally settled everything, and today I am energetic enough to blog again.

I have uploaded some photos (of course, as usual, no photos with faces in them,) and I will give a quick summary of the whole trip :

Day 1 - Kingaroy Wine Tours

Managed to get an earlier than expected start after we picked-up our vehicle. Took a 2 hour trip from Brisbane to Kingaroy area to start our wine tour. Went to Stuart Range, and Cranes (Flower 1, Flower 2 and Vines) before dark. Checked into the hotel and had nice dinner and good rest.

Day 2 - Wine Tours in Morning ; Travel to Hervey Bay

Woke up and hit a few more wineries. Bought some wines to bring home, as well as extra for ourselves to enjoy during the trip. Had to stop at around 3 and start the drive up to Hervey Bay.

Reached the hotel (The Grange) almost 6, bought groceries and made speghetti for dinner. The house we stayed in was wonderful, with 3 levels and a jacuzzi.

Day 3 - Fraser Island Tour

Took a ferry to the Island and boarded a 4WD bus that took us around some parts of the island. Information on Fraser Island can be found here.

Basically it is the world largest island that is formed completely by sand. According to the guide, there are only 4 pieces of rocks on the island. Most of what we see are just compressed sand, or sand with rotting vegetation, etc. So technically, they are not rocks.

And when we were standing near a stream, we couldn't hear the sound of water flowing, because there were no rocks to break the flow of water.

Saw also the The Pinnacle, the Shipwreck and Basin Lake.

The ferry back was also scenic.

Day 4 - Whale Watching Tour ; Travel to Surfer's Paradise

Took a half day tour to watch whales. Saw more than we bargained for. Also saw dolphins and turtles in the ocean joining in the fun.

It was a hot but wonderful trip. Back to mainland about 2.30pm and had to start our 400+ km down from Hervey Bay to Surfer's Paradise.

Day 5 - Movie World

Ok. Enjoyed it but not as great as I expected. Not going to show any photos, as good ones can be found in brochures as well. Ha !

Day 6 - Weekend Markets

Didn't take photos. But just bought some stuff at the weekend market. Not a lot though, and nothing very interesting.

But saw quite a few handcrafts that looked like they are imported from Bali. Now we know why Australians like to go to Bali.

Day 7 - Markets and Shopping

Went to Habour Town for branded goods shopping, and also other shopping malls. Nothing much I have to say.

Day 8 - Dream World

Very enjoyable. Managed to ride all 5 biggest Thrillers and a few others.

Day 9 - Sea World ; Travel to Tangalooma

Spent the morning half at Sea World. Saw cute dolphin shows and other sea animals. Didn't bring camera, so no photos, but you can see the brochure here.

Had to leave after lunch, as we need to catch the 5pm ferry to Tangalooma resort.

Had dinner along the beach and was mesmerized by the wonderful view of the night sky.

Day 10 - Tangalooma Island

Did a Quad-bike tour in the morning and then lazed around the beach. Had fun competing with my friends to see who is the best paper-aeroplane engineer. Also had some archery practise, Robin Hood style (not the high-tech bow that you see during the Olympics. No aiming sights, no arrorw rest.)

Evening, we fed the dolphins. Then took the last ferry back to mainland, and made our way to our to Brisbane.

Day 11 - Picnic and Mount Cootha

Spent the morning and afternoon lazing around the Botanic Gardens and New Farm Park (Rose 1, Rose 2), having our Picnic lunch. Brought along the hotel blanket to be our groundsheet. Grass was soft and dry, the weather was cool under the shade. No sweating even with the sun bathing our skin.

After dinner, made our way up Mount Cootha to see the night view of Brisbane.

The next day, we came back to Singapore on a morning flight.

I will have to say I did really enjoy my trip. Initial estimate of the total expenses should be less than S$2,500. Definitely Worth It !

Midway Update on Brisbane

Been a few days of my Brisbane trip. Not much chance for Internet access. Let me just give a quick summary (no pictures, I am just sending an email to my client and then rushing out to to the beach.)

First 2 days were spent around Kingaroy area, going through the vineyards. Bought 2 crates of wines from various wineries and consuming them in the hotels and will be bringing back some.

Hotel in Kingaroy was so-so, but once we reached Hervey Bay, we checked into a townhouse. It was a 3-storey apartment, with 3 bedrooms, 3 toilets with 1 having a jacuzzi.

First day there was spent on a 4WD bus going around Frasier Island. The largest sand island in the world. The whole island is just sand and amazing rainforest growing on sand. The experience wasn't the best as we spent quite some time in the vehicle and ended the day with sore bums.

Second day was fun ! Took a cruise out for whale watching. So we saw several humpback whales up close and personal (nearest whale surfaced about only 3 meters away from the boat) and dolphins and turtles.

After the cruise we spent the better half of the afternoon driving 400km down to Gold Coast.

So we went to Movie world, the night and weekend markets, the shopping malls and today the beach. Oh what glorious sun and icy cold sea...

Coming up will be Dream world, Sea world and then will be going to Tangalooma for some "touch the dolphins" and will be looking for quad-bike rentals.

Ok. Going to the beach now... Updates later...

48 Hours

48 Hours to my 2 weeks break in Brisbane and Gold Coast.

General itinerary will bring me to watch Whales, feed dolphins, get drunk in wineries, have fun on roller-coasters and of course the sun and the sea.

Taking this trip is going to be another test of my phobia. The history goes something like this :

I took on a new portfolio in late 2001. Being a novice/greenhorn in sales, I took my 2 weeks holiday in New Zealand. In my haste to get everything worked out before I go, I made mistakes. Huge mistakes.

On the day I was going to fly off, I got a call from my colleague that my boss was furious with me. On the 1st day of my trip, I was told that my boss had to retract my commitments to my customers. I decided then that I want to receive no more phone calls and do not want to waste my time & money being sulky and sad in the faraway land.

I managed to enjoy myself and put the troubles behind me for a while, until the day I was sitting in the airport waiting to come home. It was dreadful.

My first day back at work, I was removed from sales and put back into my old position. At least, I didn't lose my job.

So from that experience, I have a phobia for taking extended holidays. I took one in April earlier this year (see my previous entries on my Perth trip) and this will be my second.

The feeling that something might just go wrong during my trip that will cost my job. The feeling that I might have overlooked something in my haste to depart. The feeling that my career will end the moment I touch down in foreign land.

I know it is irrational, that is why it is called "phobia".

Anyway, the last trip was fine. This trip I hope will be the same.

Courses I want to attend...

Finally ! These courses are now open to public without me having to actually buy a BMW car.

Advanced Driver Training
http://www.pml.com.sg/bmw/DT/adt.html
$800 for public.

Intensive Driver Training
http://www.pml.com.sg/bmw/DT/idt.html
$2000 for public.

Well, I get to burn BMW rubber in track and learn new tricks !

Any BMW owners want to join ? I get to save some money too if we go together.. haha..

A Cappella of Nintendo

Combining IT Games with musical and performance art...

http://gprime.net/video.php/nintendothemesacappella

Computer Woes

1 PC had screen distortions. Tried many things but couldn't solve the problem. Finally decided to try returning the motherboard for a new one. The person found nothing wrong. Couldn't see my problem.

Frustrated. But my friend offered to help me troubleshoot, as he had more equipment and more spare components at his place. So I lugged the entire system down.

We tried changing the LCD settings. Changing the VGA properties. Pull power from 2 different wall outlets. Tried updating latest drivers (which was quite updated).

Finally, about to give up, I gave it one last shot - Change the VGA cable. I wanted to try that at home, but I had no spare. All the other monitors had non-removable cables.

My friend had to painfully remove his own VGA cable from his nicely done-up desktop. Plugged into my monitor and viola ! Problem Solved !

*smack forehead*

Today, my other working PC just hung all of a sudden. Had to power off. And then it couldn't boot anymore.

Message about "System32\drivers\ntfs.sys cannot be loaded" or something. Damn. Harddisk corrupted ?

Ok. Try Windows Recovery Console. Booted from my CD ROM. Windows setup was installing the necessary components. Then "setupdd.sys cannot be loaded. Setup couldn't continue"

What the F*#( !!!!!

Tried to power off and waited for a couple of minutes, cursing my bad luck when I thought I had a nice P4 upgrade for a few days.

Tried many times. Boot to Safe Mode, Boot from CD Rom, Boot from Floppy Disk. Basically I just cannot get anything working !

Maybe power supply is too weak. I removed the power to one of the CD ROM, and removed the power to a chassis fan my good friend had given to me.

Still no luck.

I was cursing the motherboard's mother's pungent genitals.

Used another computer to start searching the web, pondering whether it was the CPU that was faulty.

Trying to decide which motherboard to get, whether I should get a new CPU and RAM as well.

Needed to open the CPU to see which P4 Chip I had.

More curses and threatening to send the computer to IT Hell, where all naughty equipment get stuck in endless power-boot cycle for eternity. Where they regret not serving mankind to their best abilties.

I finally plugged in the CPU and decided to try one more time.

Booting from CD Worked ! I rebooted, without reinstalling anything, just to see if Windows will start.

It got past the error and Windows Logo came up. Then it died again.
Tried to boot from CD again. Failed at the same place.

This time, I got an inspiration - RAM !

I took out the 2 strips of 256MB and plugged them in again, making sure everything is held tight.

I powered on - viola ! PC booted up without problems.
Now I am typing this entry.

You see, even equipment needs to be threatened with vulgarity, retrenchment and religion for them to know their rightful place in the food chain.

Finally !

Finally !
My faulty suspension got repaired, engine oil and coolant seepage was rectified.

But on 2 rare occassions, at about 80km/h, I felt the whole front of the vehicle humming and vibrating as if the wheels are not aligned properly. I am not sure if the engine is vibrating or it is really the wheel alignment.

But if it is the latter, it should occur everytime I reach 80-100km/h. That is not so, so I still have not figured out the cause. Most probably will do a high-speed balancing and 4-wheel alignment if I get it again.


Finally !
I have gotten a new upgrade for my computer. Well, not an upgrade but a brand new one... Wait, not brand new, but someone else's problematic PC.

Had 2 apparently faulty ones. Both Pentium 4. One of them had a sick motherboard, the other a sick power supply. Mix and match, got myself a new P4. Wow. Super fast ! (Haha. I know, it is not that great, but when I have been using a Pentium 2 350Mhz for the past 7 or 8 years, a Pentium 4 1.7Ghz is like a jet plane compared to my car.)

Will be buying a new motherboard and a new power supply (plus casing) and I will have another Pentium 4 1.5Ghz up and running. Should cost me less than $300.


Finally !
With the new PC, all must software glitches are gone ! No more problems logging into forums and sites. No more crashing Java refusing me connection to Internet Bank sites. No more intermittent network connection.


Finally !
I am able to blog from home as the last few weeks, my old PC doesn't allow me to do that and I am too busy these days to blog from office.

But, the built-in VGA port doesn't provide good and steady display at resolutions higher than 1024x768. So I have to make do with lesser screen real-estate, and bigger icons. Oh well, I can live with that when I have been compensated by being able to play newer games and not having to lose my adreneline while waiting for the next game mission to load.


Finally !
I would be taking my holiday soon. 2 weeks in Brisbane and Gold Coast. I need the break. Been having workload piled upon me, while my not-up-to-expectation pay raise has not been given yet.


Finally !
I have finished this post and I can go take my beauty sleep... Or maybe, I should be watching my DVDs for the whole night....

Car Servicing

Sent my car for servicing today. Regular servicing, but I wanted them to check out my slightly-noisier-than-usual suspension. At least I suspected it was the suspension because of some creaky noise when I go over humps quickly.

Yeah, I am very sensitive to noise coming from my babe.

This time, instead of using "hello" to post photos, I have decided to use Flickr. Why ? Because of the ability to put comments on various parts of the photos. Looks better.

So here is the start. The rest of the photos are there.

The Beginning.


The Main Culprit.


Also discovered some oil seepage. Need a thorough check up next week, when the parts for the suspension arrives.

Flash Disk - 0 : ET - 1

I am missing my 256MB Flash disk (yes, the one that took a bath in my washing machine)again.

[paragraphs removed to prevent author from being sued for defamation]

Added 25th July 2005 :

Well, it seems to have disappeared from the surface of the earth. So I guess ET must have taken it with him when he went home...

[Ok. At least I don't think ET will sue me... I hope...]

My England very Powderful arh !

English Genius You scored 92% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 86% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 26% on Beginner You scored higher than 51% on Intermediate You scored higher than 74% on Advanced You scored higher than 79% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test

Hua ! First try. Of course, I expected 100%. Correct answers can be found here

Bet with a Friend - Conclusion

THE BET is finally concluded.

I have won a free McDonald's meal.. Muahahahaha.. *evil*

Ok lah.. won by technicalities of "timing" of the market. Another few weeks more, and I would have lost. But then, it is he who called the timing (though it was me who insisted on a timeline. Afterall, if we were to dabble in speculating stocks, timing and price limits are the keys.)

So moral of the story ? Do not try to time the market.
For those who can, all the best and wish you many many earnings.

Oh well, just my school of thoughts. May not be the best.

Justifying the Pay of NKF CEO

Many people are all rage and upset upon learning that Mr TT Durai earns about S$600,000 a year.

I felt equally upset and told myself that luckily I didn't make much donations, just a few bucks here and there.

Then, of course, there are those that defend his pay, by saying that comparing to private companies who manages $200 million fund, Mr Durai's pay is reasonable.

Well, Mr Durai himself said that he is running NKF just like any other business. I guess he is expecting business-type pay package.

Well, I agree to a certain extent. Of course, people who work for these organizations are treating it just like any other full-time job. We can't expect them to be paid "peanuts" just because they are charitable organization.

It is then up to the staff, to donate whatever they feel like. So in terms of work, yeah, I would agree that those workers should be paid market rate. Just like the CEO.

But just like any other business, Financial statements are available for view to the owners, shareholders, investors. Just like any business that takes money from the public (aka Publicly Listed Companies) , audited statements should be made public.

In any other Private Limited companies, audited statement should also be made available to any of the shareholders.

So, NKF takes money from the public, and like any other public business, should make their Financial Statements available to the public !

Ok. Now that is set straight, let's talk about pay.

NKF yearly income is (I estimate) to be in the range of $50-80 million. How do I get that ? Based on 4 shows per year, each show get about $6-8 million, and other public fundings.
Also, based on recent newspaper report on the court case, that NKF spends $60-65 million per year, but the patients pay about $22-24 million in their co-payment scheme. NKF revenue should be $36-$43 million per year to break even.

But in 3 years, they managed to grow their reserves from $187 million to $262 million. Thus their net profit per year should be about $25 million. Add that to their $43 million revenue and you get about $68 million in gross revenue.

So my estimate should be fairly conservative. They might be getting more in terms of annual donations.

So, to put it in business format :

NKF
Revenue = S$ 70 million
Liquid Assets = S$ 262 million
Net Profit = S$ 25 million
CEO Pay = S$ 600,000
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.85%
CEO Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.23%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 2.4%


That doesn't look too high, does it ? Maybe it is average of businesses ? Or below average ?

Hmm....


Microsoft
Revenue = US$ 32,187 million
Liquid Assets = US$ 49,000 million
Net Profit = US$ 9,993 million
CEO Pay = US$ 542,000
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.0017%
CEO Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.0011%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 0.0054%

Check out Bill Gate's Pay Here


Berkshire Hathaway
Revenue = US$ 74,300 million
Liquid Assets = US$ 102,929 million
Net Profit = US$ 7,000 million
CEO Pay = US$ 100,000
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.00013%
CEO Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.000097%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 0.014%

Who is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway ?
Warren Buffett


Ok.. So these people may have share-ownership in their own companies and may not take that high a pay. And they are the top 2 riches man in the world, so they don't need the money.

Something local...

DBS
Revenue = S$ 4,928 million
Total Assets = S$ 175,553 million
Net Profit = S$ 2,435 million
CEO Pay = S$ 5,249,999 (Max. Not Exact)
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.11%
CEO Pay as % of Total Assets = 0.003%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 0.2%

Check DBS out HERE

(in case scrolling up and down is hard for you to see these huuuuge figures, I will copy NKF data below)

NKF
Revenue = S$ 70 million
Liquid Assets = S$ 262 million
Net Profit = S$ 25 million
CEO Pay = S$ 600,000
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.85%
CEO Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.23%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 2.4%

And we all think CEO of DBS is earning big bucks ; but compare it in terms of percentages, is still way below NKF CEO's pay.

Apple to Apple comparison : CEO of DBS is managing funds that is 67,000 times more than NKF, and profits that are 9,740 times higher, but pay is only 8 or 9 times more.

DBS is also in the business of managing funds and money, and trying to make more money.

Also, if you look at our Mutual funds, management fees range from 0.5 to 1.2%. But then, that percentage is not only for the fund manager's pay but for all other expenses as well. And their target profitability performance is quite stressful.

We haven't included NKF's other expenditure and pay of the several hundreds of employees... and Directors' fees...


Hey, how about comparing it to our Prime Minister ! Since his pay is higher than that of the President of USA. Surely, if compared to our PM's pay, Mr Durai's pay should be "peanuts" , right ?

SINGAPORE INC (2004)
Revenue (Taxes Only) = S$ 26,346 million
Liquid Assets (Official National Reserves) = US$ 112,807 million = S$ 186,131 million
Net Profit (Based on Taxes Less Expenditure of S$19,936 million) = S$ 6,410 million
Current Account Balance (I don't know what that is, but I am thinking left over cash) = S$ 47,122 million

PM's Pay = S$ 3,000,000 (We all know is slightly above US$1 million. Too bad I can't find official numbers, so lets take the higher guesstimation of his pay)
PM Pay as % of Revenue = 0.011%
PM Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.0016%
PM Pay as % of Profit = 0.047%
PM Pay as % of Current Account Balance (whatever the hell is that) = 0.013%

So you see, even if we jack up our PM's pay, it is still much lower compared to Mr. Durai's.
And our PM's pay is already pegged to top-end Private Sectors, so as to prevent corruption, etc etc.

So people of Singapore, when our Ministers say that their pay is "peanuts", they really mean it. Our Ministers' pay ARE peanuts, compared to Mr. Durai's.

Damn, I have joined the wrong industry. Charitable Organizations earn much more compared to private and public sector !!!!

Wait.. I can see it coming. Our Ministers' pay are peanuts. We should increase their pay !

Revenge, Sweet Revenge.

I remember reading articles of people being chased and neighbour's dog being bitten by this rottweiler in Bt Timah.

That dog had 2 incidents of hurting people and other animals, and the owners were warned to muzzle the dog, but did the owners car ? NOOOooooooo.

Sweet revenge. To quote someone I heard long time ago , translated from Mandarin : "If the flesh is not yours, of course you will not feel the pain."

Bite other people's dog , never mind lor.
Bite other people, never mind lor.
Even the post-man had to be on "high-alert" everytime he delivers mail to that particular house.

So imagine my "surprise" when today's Straits Times told me that the said dog mauled the owner's 7 (or was it 9) year old son in their own backyard.

Neighbours armed with sticks tried to save the boy. ( Really nice neighbours. I would have locked myself home in case the dog turned crazy.)

When the mother came back and heard the screams, she cried and shouted to the dogs to get away, and she fumbled with her keys to get the gates open.

(I will attach a scan of the newspaper tomorrow)

AVA said that since the incident happened on the owner's property, they have no "authority" to comment. Haha. I wonder whether I will read the news next week that a dead rottweiler is found in a drain nearby. Or that the dog died of "natural causes".

Pissed Off.. Major...

I don't like to bitch about traffic, as I try very hard to be nice and non-chalent and drive defensively and make my day a good one.

2 very recent incidents just pissed me off :

(1) Monday morning. I got in my car, started the engine, and waited a while (take my sunglasses, turned on the air-con, put on seat belt) for the engine to warm up a little.

I looked left, then right. The carpark exit is on my left. On my right, not many vehicles left, and it is one straight road for about another 30 meters before it bends to another block. No vehicles moving, no one in the next few cars beside me. (There were less than 10, I think, parked to my right.)

I looked left, made sure no one coming at me from the exit/entrance. I eased off the brakes, turned to the left. Car inched forward a little. Then it came from my right : Boooooorrrrrrrrp. And stopped right in front of me.

Of course I stopped and immediately waved "sorry" and smiled a bit.

White Nissan Sunny, driven by a bitchy lady, with her daughter (I assume), both looking at me. Daughter was less than 6 years old, no seat belt, no child-seat and face at the window.

I expected the bitch to move off, but NOOOooooooo... She stared/glared at me for 10 seconds. 10 whole seconds !

Yeah, my fault I didn't double check my right again. (Still very used to the look Left-Right-Left then move off. Furthermore, I was moving towards my left.)

Yeah, my fault that she must have driven like 60km/h in a car-park and came right into me.

My foot didn't even touch the accelerator yet.

I have came across situations like this, with me on the opposite side of course. I just honk a warning and once the other vehicle stopped, I moved off. Lets just get on with our lives.

So what did the bitch want ? Me to go and kow-tow to her ?

(2) This evening heading for dinner. Was driving slowly into a carpark. Tight corners and small lanes.

Open-air carpark , with multiple blocks of lots behind different blocks of flats.
Turned in, trying to look for a lot in front of me, slowed down a bit as I didn't want to reverse out if there is no lots in front. No lots, I should turn to my right. I signalled right.

Just as I hit my signal, the car behind honked. I never stopped my car at any time. I turned. He followed closely behind.

I passed one lot, shit. Ok, just passed another lot, so I wanted to reverse into the lot. Moved ahead of the lot and stopped. Looked at my mirror and this guy was right at my tail. Damn.
And he honked. Longer. And passed me on my right. Glared at me. I glared back.

What the heck ? I can't park ? You can't wait 5 seconds for me to park ? Was my turning right just now too slow for you ? Rushing to attend your own funeral at the void deck is it ?

All these drivers driving so fast in carparks. Bloody dangerous. When I got down, I was very very tempted to bash his head in, and smash his face into a pulp.

My 2 minutes walk to the food centre, I acutally visualized myself having a verbal-then-turned-violent-till-he-ended-up-dead-with-my-steering-wheel-lock-lodged-in-his-skull scenario. My heart rate went up, I was breathing quick. short, sharp breaths. Signs of adrenaline.

Now I know where road rage came from.

Wedding in My Family Part 2

Meet-the-parents session dinner 2 weeks ago was cancelled.

Today, my parents told me that my brother said he cancelled the wedding because my parents made this difficult for him.

I have nothing to add on to what I had said in my previous post of Wedding in My Family Part 1

I will just pretend nothing has happened. Afterall it is not my life. I can just don't care... or can I ?

My ...... Died

Hamster.

Got home today and found out that my hamster was dead. Poor thing. I didn't play with him the last few nights.

Knew this would be coming...

Bad News over the Weekend

One of my colleague suffered a mild stroke 2 days ago, paralyzing his left side. He was on business trip, and dropped by our USA branch office on the way back.

Now, he is in hospital, undergoing physio-therapy to regain the use of his left hand.

*~*~*~*~*

The dinner to meet up with my future in-laws didn't take place. My brother didn't say much. Just that they said something like "if no money then don't get married" kind of things.

We are still in the dark. My parents still waiting for him to come home to give details.

Wedding in My Family Part 1

My younger brother is getting married.

Discussions on his wedding plans with our family has been stressful. I don't think I can provide all the details here, but I shall summarize some facts :

(1) My brother wanted a simple one :
- Morning traditional Chinese "pick the bride" ceremony
- Afternoon ROM at Fort Canning
- After ROM, buffet meal
- No Chinese Wedding Dinner

(2) My father told him (though I was not around) about the different types of "wedding" plans, and what are the costs, etc. Asking him how big the place is and how many tables it can accommodate, if they want Wedding Dinner.

(3) My Brother said if there will be a Wedding Dinner, the bride's family wants 10 tables.

(4) My parents were still in the "lets discuss whether to have Dinner or not" mentality, but my brother is in "I don't want dinner, but you say will lose face" mentality

(5) Initial thoughts of having Church wedding is scrapped.

(6) Parents upset that there was no "discussion" or anything, and they were not involved in the decision making process. They maintained they do not insist on having Wedding Dinner if my brother cannot afford it.

Now, they will just let my brother decide everything, otherwise any points raised will just be another opportunity to argue.

(7) Booking deposit for the location has been placed.

(8) Both families have not met each other. My brother asked "So who will pay for the dinner for both families to meet ?"

(9) Last discussion when I was around, ended up with my brother shouting at my father, and me shouting and stomping off because I just cannot stand it.

(10) My brother has been living in his girlfriend's house (sleeping in the living room) for the past 1+ years. Currently, there is no plans to get a house of his own.

(11) My parents feel that he is just accommodating to whatever the girl and their family wants. Not caring about what our parent wants. They felt excluded. That they have "lost a son"



What is my feel on this whole scenario :

(1) My brother has always been not a very detailed planner. Doesn't he take into consideration that if he doesn't want a dinner, he will need some time to talk/convince parents on either/both sides ?

(2) If he just wants to do things, execute without consulting our parents and expect just a "ok, whatever you want to do" from our parents, then his 28 years of knowing our parents basically is nought.

(3) If he wants to do what he wants, he is not "firm" enough, in that he can't say "I have decided. These are my reasons, and please just accept. I will not change". Why ? Because after first round of talking to my parents about it, he starts to "accommodate" and "try to please" my parents.

This goes to show he has not thought through the whole process and cannot handle the "relationship" side of something as important as his wedding.






Tonight our families are meeting for dinner. I promise not to get too involved.
Will update more after the dinner.

Phones and Animal Porn

Got a little bored sometime back, so I was playing around with my phone-camera (as opposed to the widely used term "camera-phone") as I believe it is still a phone first, equipped with a camera as additional feature.

Anyway, got these few photos in my phone...

Sex in Office ? Or ... ?

Went out for lunch just now and saw this on the grass patch.



Damn ! Someone is having great office sex at this moment, in a Business Park !
What have I been missing ?

On second thought, either someone is having great sex, or that someone has done so badly in his/her job and is for the boss to .....

My LS Experiences

I remember one day I was talking to someone about stomachaches and needing to go toilet.

It reminded me of an incident that happened a few years ago. Kind of funny now, but you can be sure I wasn't even smiling at that time.

Warning : This is going to be a long and disgusting story.... Read at your own risk.

It was in the evening, around 6pm. I took a bus from Jurong East on the way home. The bus was crowded (thus I suspect it was a weekend), but I had a seat and it was near the exit.

In the beginning, I felt ill. Stomach upset. I thought I will endure it till I reached home. Another 5 minutes and the bus moves only 3 stops. Bus is full. Traffic is heavy. Pain in my stomach is getting worse. I need to find a restroom very very soon.

5 more minutes. 3 more bus stops. Another 15 to get to my house. Decided to get off near a coffee shop which I know is about 3 bus stops away.

1 more minute. Feeling of involuntary rectal movements. Something is coming down. I know I cannot endure another 3 more bus stops. I will crap in my pants and everyone on the bus will know.

I pressed the bell. I stood up. Squeezed my way to the exit. Bus is waiting at a junction to turn right. Long queue of vehicles. Light just turned red. I stood at the exit, legs crossed. Closed my eyes, focusing all my strength to squeeze my rectum shut, holding everything in.

Am I able to catch a cab and reach home in time ? At most, I embarrass myself in front of one driver only.

Traffic light is toying with me. I swear the people around me noticed me. My eyes opened. Still red light. It felt like 10 minutes.

Bus turned. Stopped at the bus stop. I got down. I looked left, I looked right. No public toilets. All HDB flats. Nobody around as well. I took a gamble. Walked up a few flights of stairs.

If I can't find anyone that can offer me their toilet, I will have to dump it in a secluded corner and run as fast as I can away from the crime scene. How about toilet paper ? No time to think about that. Maybe I can use my handkerchef and throw it away. If it is not enough, I can use my underwear to clean too, and just go home in my jeans.

I saw a Malay boy and girl, wearing school uniforms, sitting around their front door chatting. I ran up. I asked whether I can use their toilet.. no wait. I TOLD them I needed to use their toilet, that I am having stomachache.

The boy and girl (about the age of 14 to 16), looked at me. I squeezed my way past them, into their house and run to the toilet. I saw an only grandma halfway, I think she was in the living room. I told her in simple English "Stomachache. Toilet." I didn't wait for permission. She can call the police for all I care - I will crap all over them ! Literally !

I closed the toilet door. Barely took off my pants, the moment I squatted down (yes, it was the squatting pan type) all Hell broke loose. I can hear the old Grandma walking into the kitchen, saying somethings in Malay. I couldn't understand her questions or demands. I didn't reply.

She came outside the door of the toilet. Then she exclaimed "Alamak. Busuk !". Now THAT I understand. And I agree with her.

I took me 5 minutes to purge whatever it is that is causing my stomach to expel. I cleaned up. Flushed the toilet. And now I am ready to face the music of trespassing. I opened the door. No police.

I walked out. Thanking the grandma in what little Malay I can speak, I thank the boy and girl, and stepped out, put on my shoe and walked. My head held high again.

I took a cab home and rested.

That will forever be in my memory. The pain, the strength needed to keep in an explosion, the expulsion of non-halal food waste in a Muslim toilet, the unseen-but-imaginable twitching of Malay grandma's nose when the stench attacked her all-so-fragile nose and sense of smell, the day I charged into someone's house risking arrest. It will be the day of my most horrendous LS experience.

Why Singaporeans So Lidat One

Last night, was going home. At the lift landing of my block talking and waiting for the lift to arrive.

The door opened, a lady was inside. I stepped back, and offered a smile.
She stared straight ahead, with a "why are you blocking my way" look.

Why... Why like that ? All living in the same block, sharing lifts and common facilities. Why treat others as though they are not fellow human beings ?

*sigh*

My Exhausting Weekend

Started my weekend early. Went to Devil's Bar on Thursday night with a bunch of new friends. The session ended at 3, and I slept at about 4.30am, Friday morning.

Almost couldn't wake up on Friday to get to work. But I did. Lucky for me, my boss was in late and I had some time for my coffee to kick in before I had to face him with regards to some extra work.

Yeah, my boss's "lover-boy" has resigned. I guess he must be having difficulty handling the "stress". I guess this anti-climax ending just isn'f fun anymore.

I know I will have to take over the work, no matter what. Just want to wait for it to be official.

So I had a talk with my boss from about 11am all the way until after lunch.

I still need to put in alot of effort to make sure my primary job scope is up to standard. I just hope I am able to juggle everything well enough. Been having a lot of white hair already. Either I will have more white hair, or just no hair at all.

Where was I ? ... Oh yeah, my weekend....

Friday night, wasn't out too late. After dinner of wonderful local food (Noodles, Oyster, Stingray), went to a friend's house to chat, watch TV and play X-Box games. Back home at about 2am and slept before 3.

Woke up Saturday at noon, went to town to shop for a while. Then had an early dinner with a bunch of friends and their families at No Signboard Seafood Restaurant at Mattar Road. After the delicious crabs, prawns and lobsters, we headed to have Rochor Tao Huay along Geylang Lor. 19. Yum Yum..

Headed back home before 10. Watched DVDs and had some drinks before I fell asleep in drunken stupor.

Felt a little bad, doing all these fun stuff, so just now in the afternoon, went to "walk" up Bt Timah Hill.

"Walk" wasn't the appropriate description. Walk is when you can place one leg in front of the other and move your body forward. Walking is like breathing - it places no stress on your body.

I had to use my hands to help my knees straighten out. I had to stop to take breaths before I can continue the steep ascend. I had to rest my legs when I reached the summit almost rolling down the hill.

Anyway, my father is on his way up to Genting and KL (again) with another friend...

My Forgotten Childhood

Just now, after work, I went to pick up my parents to run some errands. At the end of it all, we went to visit my old nanny. The person who baby-sits me when I was very very young (I think less than 5 years old).

I couldn't even remember her at all. My earliest childhood that I could remember were here in My Childhood Part 1.

We reached her place at about 9pm. The place was dark. We knocked and called out. We guessed she was out. But we tried to call her house phone instead, as there were no door bells.

She woke up from her slumber. Despite being old (about the age of 85) she stills walks well, and can recognize my father. Of course, I needed to be introduced to her. She can remember me.

For 30 minutes, we listened and talked to her. She recounted mostly how naughty I was. She spoke in Hokkien (though with another accent that sounded a bit like Teo-Chew) and I could more or less understand what she was saying.

That I liked to climb up and down everywhere and made her panic many times, afraid that I will fall and meet my doom.

That I once hid behind the toilet door (remember old days, in those 3-room flats, where toilet doors were folded from zinc sheets) and stayed very quiet for hours, while she panic and called for my grandmother to help look for me all over the house.

That I once pee on the other kids who actually made me "piss off". I stood on the table, took out my "water-pistol" and urinated on the kids all around me.

That everytime when my parents bring me into her house for her to baby-sit me, I will automatically stretch out my legs so that she could leash my leg to her sofa.

Somehow, I was given the impression that I was a monster when I was a child, that almost everyone had to leash me up or face heart attack from fear or anger.

Oh well, for someone so naughty, I am really glad I do not have kids, nor intend to. If my kids turn out like me, everyone will agree that it will be retribution to the fullest. Alas, no such luck to all of you ! Neeeh ! :P

Project Done

Ok. Spend the most part of my waking hours today doing up my project - Changing of my ICE (In-Car-Entertainment).

Nothing fancy, just changing of HU (Head Unit). Below is the original HU :



Well. The Challenge is ripping out the silver panel in order to access the screws to remove the HU. Heard that the siver panel is held by clips, no screws. Ok. Here goes nothing...

12.30pm - Removed the glove compartment on the left.
12.40pm - Accessed the right of the silver panel. Tried to push with my finger. Ouch. Pushed Harder, it popped out a little. Used my key-chain tag to pry from below (where the 3 air-con dials are). Prying from left to right.
1.00pm - Ha ha ! Silver panel came out. With a bunch of wires and cables attached. The dials below had cables attached.

This view is from top. What you see on the left side is the driver floormat.



1.10pm - Had to remove the clock wires and the hazard light wires before I can tilt the silver panel down to gain access to the entire ICE. (Yes, it took me 10 minutes to pull out those cables. Limited space and also the connectors all have latches.)

1.15pm - Unscrewed and pulled out the HU. Sorry, in my excitement, I forgot to take pictures of every step. Now trying to remove all the cables attached to the HU.

1.25pm - Totally removed the original HU. Yeah, another 10 minutes and painful fingers. Compared the connectors and they are a match with the JVC that I wanted to install. Pin-outs were matching, as I had compared the manuals last night. However, there is one extra cable - Remote controller. There is no such connector on the JVC. Anyway, I do not have steering-wheel controller. So it doesn't matter.

1.30pm - Connected the JVC set to test it out. It works ! Ensured that the "left" and "right", "front" and "rear" channels are working properly.

1.40pm - Tried to screw the brackets onto the JVC set.

1.55pm - Mounted the new JVC HU in. Too low. Take out and remount the brackets.

2.00pm - Fully mounted the JVC HU in. Connected clock and hazard-light cables. Re-installed silver panel.

2.15pm - After slamming and hitting the panel home, reattached the air-con cables (I had to unplug some of them). Realized that the HU is too far in. The front cover of this HU is smaller than the original HU, thus it left 2 gaping holes on the 2 sides and able to see the screws. Oh shit. The only way is to make it protrude more, hopefully able to cover the hole.

2.20pm - Managed to take out the silver panel again. Lost one of the metal clips somewhere inside. I hope it doesn't rattle or create noise next time. I just can't find it.

2.45pm - Gave up looking for the clip. Adjusted the brackets. Fit HU back in, put silver panel halfway in to see if it covers enough. No.

3.00pm - Re-adjusted the brackets again. This time, it seems good. Mounted silver panel back home. Re-attached all wires, and cables.

3.15pm - Took the glove compartment. All my stuff dropped out. Opps. Reinstalled glove compartment. Put all my stuff back in.

3.25pm - Started engine, test aircon - Working. Test HU - Working. Great ! Mission accomplished. Wanted to wash car, but is drizzling. Remembered that I wanted to take photos, so here are is the new JVC HU installed :

If you look closely, you can see some scratch marks on the yellow panel bordering the silver panel.

This is taken with flash.



This is taken without flash.



Opps, my sexy legs can be seen. Heh heh.

Look at the cool colours. I am now able to play MP3 and WMA CDs ! It sounds better (higher power output than my original HU), more equalizer functions, and more FM channel memories. I am able to customize colours in different modes.

I have to find the software to allow me to download more pictures and animations into the HU. Bet you didn't know that it is possible, well, I didn't... that I can program pictures, burn them into a CD, slot it into the HU and pick the graphics that I want and associate them with various things like start-up graphics, screen-savers etc. This HU is cool.

The only function I find missing from this HU that my original one had - Ability to activate without turning on the vehicle power. Sometimes, when I leave people in the car and I bring my car keys with me (turning off everything in the process,) they now couldn't even listen to the radio.

If I hack the wires such that the HU connects directly to the battery power, then it will not auto-off when I turn off my car. Damn. Just one missing feature. The only thing I can do now without powering on, is to eject the CD.

4.00pm - Finished customizing the radio channels, audio volume, equalizers, etc. Ok. Rain stopped. Cleaned carpet. Cleaned leather seats. Washed my car

5.00pm - Finished washing. Now with my claybar, hunted around for foreign objects still stuck on the paint.

5.30pm - Drove to a brighter and dry area of the MSCP (Multi-storey Car Park) and start to wax. Haven't done it for 2 months.

6.30pm - Done. Ran out of water. Rushed home to drink cold soft-drinks.

Ok. Now you know how I spent the day.

Next Hobby Project : Change Vehicle Head-Unit

Wanted to try to change my Head Unit (The radio & CD player set) in my car to another one that can play MP3. Why DIY ? Because I have an engineering sample for free, thus I do not want to pay to try out and if I do not like it, spend money to change it back. So, DIY !!! Or should I say DIM !

This is one of the most dangerous thing I can do to my car by myself. Why ? Because I had to rip out the console/dashboard of my car before I can access the equipment panel. I had to be sure I do not break any clips/screws that hold them in place. Else I will have to scotch-tape up the interior. Not a very nice thing for a 8-month old car.

And then, I had to hook up the power cables and the speaker cables, all without short-circuiting the entire electrical system in the car ! No melt-down of battery, sparks that causes explosions or melting cables that burns up the whole vehicle. I will be very very sad and very very broke if that happens, because my insurance will not cover that.

Ok. Wait for a couple of week to see if you still hear from me...

My Presentation Today ...

Spent the whole morning doing data analysis in preparation for my defense to my boss. After lunch, the presentation went on for 40 minutes.

He started by asking whether I wanted to learn or not. (And by "learning" he means he ask tough questions.)

I replied that he should decide on his own whether I need "learning" or not.

Well, had to say he didn't ask too many questions that I cannot handle. Of course, I my data defended his "accusations" that I am losing market-share to my competitors. Comparing to last year, I had gain market-share from competitors. Just maybe not as fast as we all wanted it to be.

But hey, if I can wipe out my competitors in a day or two, where will my future growth be ? Just like racing - the fun is the challenge.

Oh well, not all efforts are wasted. At least now I know where I stand in the market.

*~*~*~*~*

As I am blogging this, I can hear a mother caning her child in the next block. She was shouting and scolding the kid. I do not know what it was about so I can't comment.

But the caning, the screaming of the kid - that was really unbearable. I can hear the trashing just going on - "whack" , "whack" , "scream" , "whack" , "whack" , "holler" , "whack"

Obviously she is very angry and she thinks her kid needs to be punished.

I am a supporter of corporal and capital punishment. No matter what arguements you tell me, I will still support that.

But, no matter how naughty or disobedient a young kid (I am sure that kid is no more than 10 years old,) corporal punishment has to be metted out rationally. That is what I believe in too - That the punishment must be proportionate to the offense.

I remember how my father, though strict, always punishes me in a controlled manner.

If I were to do anything that made him really mad. He will scold (of course, who wouldn't) but he will not cane me on the spot. He will tell me to "be careful". For the next few hours, I couldn't do or think of anything other than "What kind of punishment would I get ?"

I used to think that he was just trying to make me more miserable with the anticipation of pain. But as I grew older, I came to realize why he did that.

He gave himself time to cool down, so that he will not commit the mistake that anyone in the heat of anger will do - lose control of himself and risk physical harm to me.

When he feels he is able to punish me, he will summon for me and will usually remind me why what I did was wrong (at least from his point of view) and how many strokes of the cane I will be getting. And that if I attempt to run or hide, the number of strokes will be increased.

He was, in fact, justifying the amount of punishment I will be getting for my "crime" and teaching me to face the consequences of my actions.

My Depression made Worse ?

It was a Friday afternoon. Got an email from my boss. He wanted me to do a presentation on Monday afternoon. He felt that I have lost marketshare to the competitors and wanted me to present on how I intend to recover the situation.

WTF.

Is it on purpose to do it on a Friday ? Wanted me to think about it, and lose sleep over the weekend ?

Can't be bothered. I think I enjoyed by Saturday very much. And today is going to be a good day too. I will do the presentation only Monday morning.

Let's see what he has on his agenda.

*~*~*~*~*

This morning was spent cleaning my car. Yeah, I parked in the open-air carpark at my place while I was overseas. Damn birds and tree berries. They left marks that stained. Soap and water simply cannot do the job. Had to use solvent to clean it. Took me a hour to remove all the shit marks.

Down. Depressed. Whatever.

The past weeks have been a little tough on my emotions. Was feeling a mixture of slight depression, nostalgia and uncertainty.

I think it was brought on by a few things. Lets start looking at it one by one, and hopefully I will know how I can recover from it.

Work. Couple of issues, but nothing unmanageable. Had an episode where I jumped up in the middle of the night, wondering whether I am making enough profits for my company. Didn't rest well this I got back into office the next day.

Other market problems are not insolvable, and I think I will survive. Just need lots of thinking (that is the hard part) and working on it (that requires endurance).

Personal Development. Have been losing energy. Not been reading as much as I wanted. Not magazine, not books, not novels, not annual reports. Just lacking the energy. Everyday, I come hope exhausted and just surf the web blindly. I think it is time I went back to do some physical exercises to recharge, I hope.

Love. Been very good, so far. Hoping I can spend time with my loved one everyday. Wishing I could travel round the world, work some temp jobs to cover the expenses. Maybe go at it for a year or two. Just manual labour that doesn't require me to think, or be very qualified. Yeah, too romantic at heart I guess. Or just plain wishful thinking. I don't know.

Retirement Planning. This is the scary part. Have not been tracking and monitoring myself on this for a while. Was just enjoying whatever I wanted to do. I think I am set back for a while already. But then, for a plan that requires me to work till the age of 77, I guess I am not much worse off, am I ? Still undecided on the emigration portion. Partly due to my lover not totally commited to that. Might need more time and more exploration.

Overall. Been feeling lathergic, slightly depressed and wishing I had a couple of million dollars to buy my troubles away. And who says money can't buy happiness ? And if the money is the root of all evils, I think I would rather deal with the later evil, than to have the current unhappiness.

Time to buy another Toto ticket when I get back to Singapore.

Protection by Discrimination ?

Singapore's HDB racial integration policy set out to integrate the various races into our state. For those who are not sure, it basically sets a quota for the ratio of Chinese, Malay, Indian and other races within each heartland estate. This is to prevent racial riots, I guess, arising from locality. Afterall, you are more likely to go and burn the houses of another race who lives in the next village than to burn their houses that are just few doors away from you.

It looked great on paper. But it created a few problems when people want to sell their house. If, the Chinese quota (the majority) for the estate has been reached, the house can only be sold to one of the minority race. Since they are minority race, demand will be less and many-a-times, closing price will be less too.

So what happens if this person who wants to sell is a Chinese ? No problem, he/she can sell to anyone, since replacement of Chinese does not break the quota, and selling to any of the minority race is not a problem.

The above problem will happen to the minority race. Thus, they are frequently not able to fetch the best price for their house, simply because they cannot sell to Chinese.

So how ironic is this ? The law is to there to protect the minority by physically integrating them into the society as a whole, but it hits them in the pocket.

*~*~*~*~*

So lets look at other laws here. Specifically, I want to look at "Hate Crimes". Laws against crimes committed where the victim is targetted by race, religion, sexuality, etc.

What I do not get is :

(1) Person A attacks and stabs Person B with a knife, because Person A does not like Person B's face

(2) Person A attacks and stabs Person B with a knife, because Person A does not like Person B's skin colour

How is the 2nd case more serious than the first ? Assuming both are equally opportunity-based (that is, not premeditated).

Stabbing someone, regardless of the motive, is equally wrong.

By prosecuting Person A based on the victim's skin colour or sexual orientation, aren't we trying to discriminate by creating groups ? We are "educating" those who did not, in the first place, to segregate by race, to be now more aware of these unequal treatment ?

Isn't the original objective supposed to be trying to integrate these groups into the society ? How does this "discrimination by victim" hopes to achieve it ? Aren't these hate-crime laws just make these distinction more obvious ?

Are we telling people that it is less serious to stab someone of the same skin colour ? What does these hate-crimes hope to achieve ?

*~*~*~*~*

I understand that some laws are needed to protect or help the minority (of anything). But these laws are supposed to be protecting the minority from being out-voted by the majority. Sometimes, it is called minority-interest.

Eg. Legislating a number of handicapped lots.

These are supposed to give benefits. But criminal actions, no matter the victim's attribute, should be punished equally.

Every Day is Fool Day in Singapore

Damn. I really should stop reading our Nation-buiding papers in the toilet. Almost made me constipate again.

Since I can't link to it anymore, let me type the whole thing out here.

*~*~*~*~*

Teach people what to do when disaster looms

I found the earthquake that rocked northern Sumatra disconcerting despite being miles away from the epicentre. The encounter was a first for me and, I am sure, also for many living in Sengkang.

The tremors lasted for some time, allowing me to leave my computer desk, wake four members of my family, and grab my mobile phone and keys.

It was a horrifying four minutes before we rushed down 10 storeys to a piece of vacant land next to our block.

In order to check on the situation, I called several emergency hotlines but to no avail. Eventually, I got through to a neighbourhood police centre and learnt from an officer that the tremors were caused by an earthquake off Sumatra.

When I asked if it was safe for us to return to our flat, he replied; "I'm not sure, but it shouldn't be a problem."

I felt lost after hearing that and finally returned to my flat after an hour.

The officer's response was disappointing and reflected a strong complacency among the majority of Singaporeans that such calamities would not hit us directly, given our good geographical location.

To my knowledge, there is no public education by the authorities on what to do when tremors strike Singapore.

It was only after watchhing broadcasts on the aftermath of the tremors that I learnt what actions to take should tremors recur in the future.

I am not a kiasu citizen but having read in the newspapers about the unexpected dloss of lives I could not take it for granted that Singapore is forever safe and that disasters would never strike us.

I therefore urge the authorities to put in place guidlines on what to do should a calamity occur so that Singaporeans can be well-prepared when the need arises.

Patrick Sim Sze Howe

*~*~*~*~*

My dear Patrick,

I do not know how old you are, but seeing how this is the first time you see/hear/read of such tremors happening in Singapore, I would say you most probably would be no more than 3-years-old.

If you are only bothered to find out things after they happen to you, I really think you will forever be 3-years-old.

I do hope you didn't go down 10 storeys by taking the lift.

I am sure the authorities have not gone through a real earthquake and really doesn't know how to educate Singaporeans like you how to deal with earthquakes. So please forgive them.

Since you were using your computer at the time of the tremors, I am sure 30 seconds is all you need to use google to find how to deal with shaking buildings.

Let's see, maybe the authorities should give public education to Singaporeans on :

(1) What to do when the building you are in collapse [New World Hotel]
(2) What to do when the road you are travelling on collapse [Nicoll Highway]
(3) What to do when a bank robber enters the bank when you are in it
(4) What to do when you get car-jacked/robbed/road-raged while driving a Singapore registered car in Malaysia
(5) What to do when you ingested food laced with poison
(6) What to do when your kid ingested food cooked improperly
(7) What to do when tsunami hits
(8) What to do when Volcano errupts
(9) What to do when hiring murderous maids
(10) What to do when investing in funds using your CPF
(11) What to do when buying HDB flats
(12) What to do to ensure that you have enough money for old age

I think I have said enough. It is up to you - yes, you yourself - to find out things that matter in your life and not depend on the authorities to tell you what to do.

Let this be a lesson to you. It is time for you to start your own education campaign to you family members.

CalamariForThought

Photos of Car Factories - Wow !

In my mind, car factories are oily, with workers who wears overalls that has patches of oil and dirt.

Looking at the pictures certainly proved me wrong.

Mercedes Benz

VolksWagon

And BMW Port Hueneme Distribution Centre

I am sure you can find more from the net, but I guess it is enough wowing for the day.