blog.dk.sg now!!!" />

Monday, April 30, 2007

I dance for Linden

Feeling bored, I decided to remove the dust on my Second Life and start playing again. I didn't really play much on SL before that. Still quite newbie.

I went around to try find a way to earn money. How can a guy walk around SL with 0 Linden (SL currency) in his pocket? I thought I can find those chair where they pay you for sitting in it. But guess what I've found? A dancing pad that pays you for dancing on it.



They are paying me 2 Linden for every 10 minutes I dance. Cheap labour leh. Oh well.... I should find other methods to earn more Linden at a faster rate. Or maybe I should leave it on when I sleep. Haha.

Come find me if you are in Second Life. My second life name is Darryl Kappler.

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Sunday, April 29, 2007

BRAND NEW N80 Internet Edition for sale

I have a brand new Black Nokia N80 Internet Edition for sale.
Never been used before (Screen still covered with sticker). Standard package, everything in box.
Warranty card unfilled.
Comes with 512mb miniSD card.



Selling at SGD$600 $550
Email me at eloz99@hotmail.com for fast deal. (Oh ya. Singapore only hor)

Updates: SOLD on 5 May 07.

Ping.sg Ad Hoc meetup

Just came back from ping.sg ad hoc meetup with Uzyn and Estee. Here is a picture I've taken. Enjoy.


Uzyn treat us to Jack Daniel. :)






Too bad the rest didn't come. Maybe next time.

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Tag Tag Tag

Ganna tagged by Sylv because I tagged her previously. Ok... here goes...

---------------------------

RULES: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 idiosyncrasies as well as clearly state this rule. After stating your 6 weirdness you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names at the bottom of the entry. Don’t forget to leave a comment on their tagboards that says “you’re tagged!” and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

Main Entry: id·i·o·syn·cra·sy

Pronunciation: “i-dE-&-’si[ng]-kr&-sE

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural -sies

Etymology: Greek idiosynkrasia, from idio- + synkerannynai to blend, from syn- + kerannynai to mingle, mix — more at CRATER

1 a : a peculiarity of constitution or temperament : an individualizing characteristic or quality b : individual hypersensitiveness (as to a drug or food)
2 : characteristic peculiarity (as of temperament); broadly : ECCENTRICITY


1. The first software that I open on my office PC is Outlook. I make sure that the outlook is always on the most left on my taskbar. If I accidently closed my outlook, I'll close all my programs and turn on outlook again so that it will stay at the most left.

2. I don't like to sit on those green sests on bus and the most corner seats on MRT. Those are seats reserved for people who need the seat. I usually don't sit on those seats because I don't want to be forever be on lookout for people who need the seat more than I do.

3. I like to push things to last minute. I am most productive when the deadline is closer. If the deadline is still far away, I'll most likely be sitting on it.

4. I eat my fries plain. Usually don't dip into any sauce unless it is Tar Tar sauce or Mayonese.

5. I used to eat alot of ricola blackcurrant at office. Can finish 3 boxes in a week. Now I cut down on Ricola and have a mixture of tibits.

6. I don't like to throw things away. That why I kept a lot of junks in my room which are useless.

**I actually fell asleep while doing this tag. Haha... No lah. Not because it is boring, but I'm too tired and trying very hard to think of the last 2 points.**

Tag 6 person?
Aiya, anyone wants to do this just do lah. OK? :P

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Saturday, April 28, 2007

Singaporean dancing on youtube

I must admit that it's rather entertaining even though the dancing isn't that good.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=kinkyexorcist

Maybe its the.... ahem... *cough* you know....

8 hours in Hong Kong Tea House

You won't believe that we actually stayed inside Hong Kong Tea House for 8 hours. Yes, 8 hours! That's the number of hours I work a day!!

I took half day off yesterday. Had that odd half day leave that was left over from the previous contract. Need to clear them before everyone forgotten completely about it. Headed down to Hong Kong Cafe to meet Chio Chio De Aunty aka East Coast life and her son aka Jaymes for lunch, teabreak and dinner. My colleague told me it would take more than 1 hour to reach there by bus. No lor, it took just 30 minutes. So I hanged around parkway parade. Haven't been there for the longest time.

Hong Kong Tea House is a nice place. We got the sofa seats next to the window. Shoik. It started to rain shortly after I arrived. Lucky for me. There is no shelter, so if it rains, you better pray you got umbrella. For us, we don't really mind. Can stay there whole day if we want.

The food there is nice. I ordered a chicken chop baked rice (add extra cheese!).



There is a choice of sauce for the baked rice. I only remember curry and black pepper. Can't remember the other 2 options. Anyway, I got black pepper. Quite good. I also ordered the red bean drink. Love it. Very refreshing. In fact, it is so nice that I ordered another glass in the evening. :)



I drank quite a lot of water at the teahouse. CCDA and I were chatting non-stop. Needed more water to replenish the saliva that went flying all over the place when I was talking. I ordered their mango jelly with mango juice and ice milk tea. The mango juice was nice, but too sweet. More for desert I guess. I'm not a fan of tea, so I don't want to comment too much about the tea. Just thought that I should try out their tea. Oh well... I should had exchanged that ice tea for another glass of red bean.

Jaymes left when the rain stopped. He must be bored by our chatting. ECL and I stayed and continued chatting and chatting and chatting. I don't know if there is any WIFI network or not. I did scanned and found their WIFI, but it was secured. Hhhhmmm.... then how did Jaymes surf the net when we were chatting?

Its fun and interesting chatting with ECL. She shared alot of her life story with me. Wow.... can actually write story book leh. Memoirs of East Coast Life. What do you think? :P

The boss of the place came over and had a short chat with ECL. She is from Hong Kong. I heard that she bought 14 chef from Hong Kong to work here. Wow. They are expanding. The right side of the tea house used to be a function room. They are converting it to be an extention of the tea house. Oh... did I say that this place is open for 24 hours?

Anyway, Chio Chio De Aunty's husband boyfriend aka Ham Ham De Uncle) came to join us after his work and we had our dinner there. I wasn't really hungry because we just had teabreak few hours ago. Some fruit spring rolls and *I forgot what is that* roll. Quite nice... forgot to take some pictures of it. Busy talking.

I ordered their egg and bacon sandwich for dinner. Taste normal, but smell great. haha. And we ordered 2 more basket of xiao long bao. The xiao long bao is rather cheap and taste great. Confirm beat Ding Tai Feng and Crystal Jade.



It requires lots of skill to pick up the xiao long bao using chopsticks without breaking it and losing the soup inside. I broke one completely and bust a small hole on the other. Wasn't able to master the art like HHDU. He is very skillful and could pick up the xiao long bao without any breakages. I bet he must have trained for years to master this skill.

We left at around 10pm. Spend 8 hours at the cafe. Really enjoyed myself at the Hong Kong Tea House. It's fun to hang out with ECL. Looking forward to the next session. But hor, my backside feeling abit numb after sitting for 8 hours. Ouch.... nobody is there to massage my ass.

Oh ya... here is the address of Hong Kong Tea House if you are interested.

Technological Terror



Don't be a galactic nuisance.

Friday, April 27, 2007

When You Love Someone

Few days ago, while I was sending shanshan home after prata session, she asked me about my current "love status" and if I got any new target.

I told her that I don't have any targets currently. It has been a long time since I have such a feeling. In the past, even when I'm not attached, I would at least have a gal that I'm interested in chasing. But now, I have none. No, I haven't turn gay. It's just that there isn't any gals that I'm currently interested in.

Have you ever wonder, how much you are willing to give for the person you truely love? I believe that I'll give her everything I got, and I won't even think twice.

So until I found that person, I think I'll remain single.......

--------------------------

Bryan Adams - When You Love Someone



When you love someone - you'll do anything
you'll do all the crazy things that you can't explain
you'll shoot the moon - put out the sun
when you love someone

you'll deny the truth - believe a lie
there'll be times that you'll believe you can really fly
but your lonely nights - have just begun
when you love someone

when you love someone - you'll feel it deep inside
and nothin else can ever change your mind
when you want someone - when you need someone
when you need someone...

when you love someone - you'll sacrifice
you'd give it everything you got and you won't think twice
you'd risk it all - no matter what may come
when you love someone
you'll shoot the moon - put out the sun
when you love someone

Thursday, April 26, 2007

AssignmentSG

Ideas are funny little things. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you can never find them. Then when you lost hope and stop finding them, they will suddenly come and find you by themselves.

I don't know if this will work, but I'll give it a try. Anyway, even if it fails, I'm just going to lose a couple of hours and a few bucks. No big deal. It the process that is more important. Hope to learn something from it and have some fun. I've decided to call it AssignmentSG. Yes, I do assignment until crazy liao.

Starting a little teaser on AssignmentSG. The teaser is not a marketing gimmick lah. Just that I haven't got the time to work out the details yet. Hey, I just got this idea 4 hours ago while walking home from work. Haha...

Stay tune.... it should be fun. :)

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The 5 Minute Management Course

Notice that I've been posting some heavy topics on my blog lately. So to ease the tension, I'll post a joke that I got from email not long ago. :) Very meaningful too actually.

Lesson 1:
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you $800 to drop that towel." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, "Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbor," she replies. "Great," the husband says, "did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?"

Moral of the story:
If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2:
A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest apologized "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak." Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory."

Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3:
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish." "Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Puff! She's gone. "Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life." Puff! He's gone. "OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."

Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 5
A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:
BullShit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Lesson 6
A little bird was flying south for the Winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Virginia Tech..... 1 week later.

I didn't write anything about the VT shooting. Not because I wasn't concern by the cold heartless murder. But I don't know what to say about the whole incident. My heart goes out to the families and friends of the victims.

But at the same time, I was also reading news about Iraq. Perhaps one of the biggest reason why I didn't write anything about the VT shooting until now is because of the extensive reporting by the media around the world. And they seem to have forgotten that Iraq is experiencing the same massacre on an almost daily basis.

Perhaps, the best way to convey my feelings about the whole incident is via this comic that I've found on the Sunday newspaper.



If you feel sorry for the victims in the Virginia Tech killing, I'm sure you will also feel sorry for the people living in Iraq now. The killer at VT is dead. The killers in Iraq are still alive and plotting to take more lives.

Powerless....

I almost cried while listening to these parliament speech by our opposition party member of parliament. Everyone is against this unpopular move by the government. Yet we are powerless. We can't stop them from doing it. Nobody can.

The 3 opposition member are only a small whisper in parliament. What can they do? They did tried to fight and block the minister pay hike. But they are not strong enough to stop it. We didn't give them enough power.







Why bother to do hip hop at chingay? You think you can really connect with the youth merely by dancing? Even if you did managed to connect with the youth, your pay hike just disconnected yourself from the rest of Singapore. Completely.....



Remind myself to bring up this post when the next election comes.....

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Buffalo wings at Buckaroo

Went Buckaroo with the JR gang today. Brian last minute fly aeroplane. Don't know assamble what cupboard lah. Wah Piang.



Buckaroo is located at the corner of Sembawang part, along Andrew Ave. It is one hell ulu place. Near impossible to get there if you don't drive. I always told people that you don't need good location in Singapore. If your food is good, the crowd will go to you. Buckaroo is an great example. It was crowded when we get there.

We ordered a dozen escargot. The escargot comes in a pan with a little bit of mash potato at the bottom. Nothing special about the escargot actually. Just like any escargot that I've tried before.


We also have some deep fried mushroom. The mushroom were huge.


Regretted ordering the pizza. Not nice at all. I ordered it because I was afraid that we would still be hungry. But I was wrong.

Anyway, the 'main course' is the Buffalo wings. This is not wings of buffalo. Buffalo doesn't have any wings... in case you don't know. It is call buffalo wings because it originated from Buffalo, New York.



Buckaroo serves excellent Buffalo Wings. They come in 10 level of spicyness. But level one is already enough to make you sweat. There is a reason why they placed a box of tissue paper on every table. Most people order up to level 3 only.

We ordered 1/2 dozen level 1 and 1/2 dozen level 2. The level 2 buffalo wings are shoik. It really excite my taste bud. I was sweating while eating it. But the feeling was great... so great that it makes me sing "I will survive" while eating.



I really survived after eating that. Shoik.
We should go again and try some level 3. Level 10 is so out of the way.

Village Talk - "My One Wish For The Future"

I think I should be attending this Village Talk - "My One Wish For The Future".

The goal of the event is really to provide a collaborative platform for people from across industries, backgrounds, classes to speak about what their concerns about the future is or why they do what they do.


Which set me into thinking.... What is my one wish for the future?
I don't want to rush into replying this. Will post later when I got all my thoughts sorted out.

Mark your calender/PDA.
Date : 25th May 2007
Time : 6.30pm to 9.30pm
Venue : Video Conferencing Room, Research Technoplaza, Nanyang Technological University

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Internet banking Security vs Convenience

Sometimes I wonder.... Have we placed too many security features into our online banking system to a state where it hinders convenience. I know security and convenience doesn't go hand in hand. But the fundamental principle behind the creation of online banking is convenience. The ability to conduct banking at the comfort of your home or office. Yet with the increase in security features, sometimes you feel that it would be better if you just get your ass out of your house and queue up at the bank.

I wanted to transfer $5000 from one bank to another bank using internet banking last sunday evening. But I discovered that the daily transfer limit between banks is set at $1000. If I want to increase the limit, I will have to download a form, fill it in and mail to the bank. *Horror* Isn't online banking suppose to do away with all those forms already?

In order to transfer money from one bank account to another, I need to add bank account payee first. The system will send me a SMS with password for me to activate that account payee. Without the activation password from my handphone, the fund transfer cannot take place. So rightfully, all the accounts in my transfer payee should already be authorised by me. Right? Then why still the $1000 limit? And why do I have to submit a form and wait a few working days if I want to increase the transfer limit?

So either I can transfer $1000 everyday for 5 days or I can just go down to the bank on my non-working day (which is Saturday), withdraw $5000 and deposit into the other bank. I choose the latter. Surprisingly, the queue was rather short for both banks.

OK, I know I'll get flame for this post. I've already been flamed for the 2FA post that I did several months back. But seriously, I think we have overly secured our internet banking to a state where it is no longer convenience to use.

Let me walk you thru the steps to make a online banking money transfer:-
Login internet banking with user id and password (Security #1)
Enter 2FA password (Security #2)
Create bank transfer payee.
Authorise transfer payee with SMS password send by system (Security #3)
All IP address are logged (Security #4)

Isn't there already enough security features to prevent hackers? A hacker needs to know my login id, password, have my 2FA token and my handphone to successfully transfer money from 1 bank to another. All all these while, his IP address will be logged and we will know which account he transfer the money too. Why the need to limit the daily transfer limit when it's already so secured? And why the need for physcal forms and why need to wait a few working days if I want to change the daily transfer limit? Why can't I use my 2FA code or SMS password to change the limit?

Is it time for us to rethink about our internet banking security policy and how it hinder convenience? I know internet security is important. But there is a need to balance the security and convenience before everyone find it a hassle to use internet banking and start queuing at the banks again.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

The day Murphy come

WARNING: Full of technical terms.

Or rather, I tried to reduce the technical terms. But I seems like instead of making it easier to understand, I made it harder to understand. Oh well.... Just take it as another DK's ranting.

-----------------------------

There was a major error in office today.

Usually, it is ok for us to omit certain field in our SQL selection. That field is not really required if we run the sql script in the correct server. Keyword "IF".

So what happen on Thursday was that someone raised a datapatch and omit that field. And the coordinator made an error and run the script on the wrong server, thus causing wrong rolls to be updated.

Before you start point your finger at PITA, I would like to say is, this is not done by PITA. He did have some involvement actually. He suggested adding an additional field in the SQL query. And by chance, that field actually reduced the number of roll that are wrongly updated. The thing I was wondering is... why didn't he advice them to add another field which will totally prevent error from happening even if someone run in the wrong server. Oh well.... whatever.

Can't really blame whose fault. Everyone's action, if by itself, will not cause an error. It is only when everything combine together and all the conditions are right will it cause an error. I blame Murphy for visiting us. I'm still amazed by how everything fit into the puzzle so nicely that it causes an error. Rightfully it shouldn't cause an error at all. It seems that all the condition are just nice to create this error.

I guess we all have to be more careful. Murphy will strike anywhere, anytime....

---------------

I was rushing to fix the error. To speed up my job, I asked a colleague from another team to help me do an extraction. I gave her 20,000 number and ask her to help extract the records. But she only came back with 1000plus records found. One look and I know something is wrong.

If she gave me 19,000plus records, I can still understand cause not all the numbers will have a record in the database. But 1000 plus is confirm wrong. So I took a look at her SQL query...... HOW the heck did that query run in the first place? She put all the 20k number in a single 'in' statement!!

I can't remember is it oracle can only support 1000 rows in a 'in' statement or the performance of the SQL will drop if exceed 1000 rows. But confirm her method won't work. And I wonder how she managed to get 1000 plus records returned.

Put all 20,000 number in 1 'in' statement? If so easy, I would have done it myself lor.

Instead of asking her to re-do, I did the extraction myself. Insert the 20,000 numbers in a temp table first and use the in statement to refer to the temp table. I guess it would be faster than asking her to re-do the extraction.

Oh, and it is not PITA this time.

The irony about the whole thing is, she just went for a SQL performance tuning course last week. What a waste of money. Should send me to that course instead.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

"Face on table" Meme

I don't know why so many people interested in my "face on table" picture in my blog profile. I even have to put my face on the table during meetup to proof to them that I'm really DK. Haha.

Just some background info about that picture. It was taken in my school library. I was doing my revision for my exams. And I was so bored that that started playing with my handphone camera. And there you have it, the famous DK's "Face on table" picture. :D

Anyway, Rinaz did a "face on table" on her tumblr today. Hendri followed by posting a "face on table" shot in his flickr. Hmmm.... am I starting a cult here?

-------------------

OK, I've decided to start a "face on table" Meme. It's very simple.
Post a picture of your face on the table and tag another 5 people to do it. Be creative. Try different pose.

Here is my classic "face on table" picture.



I tag:-
East Coast Life
Iris
Paddy
Cobalt Paladin
Uzyn

Wait.... I should tag more people since I'm the Meme starter. So I also tag
tstar
ridz
nicole
Izel
ntt

And anyone who wants to play can also do this meme. :D
Lets have fun putting our face on the table.

UPDATE: I've decided to issue a health warning.



MORE UPDATES: OK, I know face on table is quite boring and limited. So some of you guys suggested "face on anything". Well, go ahead. Let your creativity juice flow. :)

Nicole did a great "Face on *Insert object name*" picture. :)

I've started a thread in ping.sg forum for everyone to post their picture. :)

I can't list everyone's name here. I hope everyone will come have some fun and do this meme. Come come... Join in this meme..... Don't shy. :D

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打小人

This is fun. 打小人. Very useful when PITA do his stuff again.



I say first hor, don't beat me lah.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Who is reading my blog?

I always wonder... who is reading my blog?

I know its impossible to keep my blog a secret. I got up to 100 plus hit per day. Bound to have someone I know who bump into my blog. OK, maybe some might not recongise me since my face is on the table. But bound to have some who know its me by reading the things I write. I won't be surprised.

I'm actually fine with people who know me personally reading my blog. But then, I always wished that they would tell me that they are reading my blog, rather than secretly reading it behind.

Just got to know that one of my colleague also know my blog URL. She said someone emailed to her last time, but she forgotten who is it. Hmmm.....

Anyway, I would really hope those who know me personally will let me know if they are reading my blog. Well, at least I'll control myself and not write bad things about them in my blog. :P

I'm back

Hello running route. Long time no see.



It's good to be back. Now I need to get my momentum going.

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Taggie

Ganna tagged by the hottest mama-san in Singapore. Some say JB and Batam also.
Well.... here goes....

Layer One:On The Outside
Name : DK
Birth Date : 3 Oct 1980
Current status : Tired of life
Eye Colour : Can't see. Should be black.
Hair Colour : Black, although more and more grey coming out
Righty or Lefty : Right

Layer Two :On The Inside
Your Heritage : Chinese
Your Fears : embarrassing myself
Your Weakness : gal crying infront of me
Your Perfect Pizza : Anything, as long as a lot of cheese can liao.

Layer Three :Yesterday, Today , Tomorrow
Your Thoughts First thing when I wake up : Where is the snooze button?
Your Bedtime : 2am
Your Most Missed Memory : Her

Layer Four : Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke : Coke (easier to say)
McDonald’s or Burger King : Of cos the king lah. Why go for the clown?
Single or Group Dates : I don't mind group if I'm the only guy. Else I'll stick to single date.
Adidas or Nike : No difference to me.
Tea or Nestea : None. Prefer coffee.
Chocolate or Vanilla : Chocolate. No need to ask.
Cappucino or Coffee : Can Mocha? Okok.... coffee then.

Layer Five : Do You..
Smoke : Last times when I go chiong
Curse: That is my second language.
Take a shower : Of cos.
Have a crush : Who doesn't?
Think you’ve been in love: Who doesn't? Can don't ask obvious questions or not?
Go to school : Yes, still going now. Part time sucks.
Want to get married : If I can find the right gal.
Believe in yourself : Don't believe myself then believe who?
Think you’re a health freak : Impossible.

Layer Six : In The Past Month
Drank alcohol : Yes
Gone to the mall : Big one, small one all been to.
Been on stage : Nope.
Eaten sushi : Yes, in fact, 4 hours ago
Dyed your hair : Nope. Never dye before.

Layer Seven : Have You Ever..
Played A Stripping Game : Nope. Looking for female kakis to play together. :)
Changed Who You Were To Fit In : Don't remind me.

Layer Eight : Age
You’re Hoping To Be Married : When I find the right gal first then decide.

Layer Nine : In a Girl/Guy
Best Eye Colour : Black (doesn't really matter)
Best Hair Colour : Black or with highlight
Short Hair or Long Hair : Long. I like gals with long rebond hair.

Layer Ten : What Were You Doing
1 Min Ago : This is a stupid question. Everyone's reply to this will be "Doing this tag"
1 Hour Ago : Surfing blogs
4.5 Hours Ago : Eating sushi
1 Month Ago : OT in office
1 Year Ago: In a sweet embrace

Layer Eleven : Finish The Sentence
I Love : chio bu
I Feel : tired
I Hate : my job
I Hide : secrets
I Need : direction

Layer Twelve : Tag five people..
tstar
ridz
nicole
hendri
ntt

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Die at sgblogs

Remember sgblogs? I bump into this site somewhere in Feb. Since then, I'll pop by every now and then to check it out. Quite a nice page too, although I prefer ping.sg more.

One thing about sgblogs is, they don't use your profile picture as avatar. Their script will grab the latest picture you posted on your blog. And guess what is my latest picture now.



Die lah....

Blogout

The Digital Movement (The same guys who brought us Nexus 07) is organising a BlogOut somewhere end May. Its going to be a small gathering of various communities and pockets of bloggers to get to know each other better.

Sounds cool, and I'm invited. Thx Estee.

Well, at least something to look forward to after my exams.

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Oops!... He Did It Again

Yes, he did it again.

Remember my colleague was saying he changed the password? Those password are for the development and staging servers. Not production servers. You see, the development servers' user id and password is being shared among many teams, although our team is the owner of the id. So when he changed the password, he only inform our team. And unknown to him, some of the jobs in development server are using that user id and password. So the jobs in development server failed, and everyone got to change the password in their program. Testing was delayed.

In the first place, why did he change the password? That password hasn't been changed since day one when I join the company. That is 4 years already! It is a development server. Everyone knows the user id and password. Why need to change the password? Security purpose? Why would anyone want to gain illegal access into the development server? This is not production server where all the real customer data are in. This is development server. All the data inside are fake and for testing purpose. So what if someone managed to steal the password?

Another thing I don't understand. After changing the password, he email everyone in our team and also our director. Why would our director want to know the password for our team's user id? He has his own user id with super user privilege. Why would he want to use our id which has limited privilege?

One of the job in production fail on Sunday. The job requires to login to the staging server. But the password has been changed by our good friend. So the job failed and some codes aren't promoted.

I'm surprised that nobody is holding him responsible for this mess he created. In the first place, why did you hand itchy go change the password? For what?

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Sunday, April 15, 2007

Mentos & Diet Coke explained

I'm sure you've seen the Mentos & Diet Coke video. Ever wonder what causes it?

The Myth Busters investigates what causes the fountain.



And they tried making a rocket out of it.



But failed to take off. Oh well. Myth Busters is always fun to watch.

Regarding the word 'Bomb'

I know this is a very old news. But I was trying to find words to describe them.

A CASUAL mention of the word "bomb", and apparent over-zealousness of the part of airport security officers, grounded a family of four's holiday plans earlier this month.

On March 9, after checking in their luggage at about 7.15pm, Mdm Tan and her daughter proceeded to the security gantry to have their hand luggage and bodies scanned.

Then her 13-year-old daughter asked casually: "Mummy, why do you have to remove your shoes?"

Mdm Tan, 33, told her it was because the officers were "afraid that we might keep bombs in our shoes".

Overhearing this, a male security officer asked Mdm Tan to repeat what she had said, which she did. According to Mdm Tan, he then told her that she would be reported as she had said the word "bomb" twice.


A lot of people are slamming the security officer for following the rules without thinking. But have you ever wonder, what is wrong with saying the word 'Bomb' twice in the airport? Would a terrorist say the word bomb twice before bombing a place? In fact, if I'm a terrorist, the last word I would want to say is the word 'bomb'. So who is the smart alex who came up with the rule that anyone who said the word 'bomb' will be arrested? Was there any studies that shows that bomber would say the word 'bomb' before bombing a place?

Are we barking at the wrong tree?

The same goes for police and army carrying rifles and patroling installation like airport, jurong island and orchard road. What are they expecting? Terrorist using AK47 and ambush them? Fighting In Built-Up Area (FIBUA)? Wake up lah. There will not be any face to face confrontation. You all carry rifle also no use.

Sometimes you wonder what do the scholar at national security department eat.

Caffeinated or Decaffeinated

I've been drinking quite a lot of decaf coffee lately. One on Wednesday and one on Saturday. If I were to drink caffeinated coffee, I would not be able to sleep at night. Caffeine still have effects on me. And I usually take decaf at night unless I can afford to sleep late. But nowadays, I don't have the luxury of sleeping late. That's why I keep drinking decaf.

If you drink coffee often, you can actually taste the difference between Caffeinated and Decaffeinated. Somehow, caffeinated coffee tasted better. Perhaps the decaffeination processes took away some of the taste. But still, drinking decaf is better than not drinking coffee at all.

I think I'll still drink decaf coffee for the time being. Enjoy the rich aroma of coffee, and not the commitment of sleeplessness at night. It may not be as good as caffeinated coffee, but its better than nothing.

Carl's Jr.


Only the Americans can invent such sinful food. I really need to start jogging again.

Ping.sg meetup #2 - Essential Brew

We had our ping.sg 2nd meetup today yesterday at Essential Brew. It was a great meetup session.



Just like the Nexus meet up, everyone was late. Haha. Not a good habbit leh. NTT was the earliest, follow by me and Uzyn. We did had a good chat before the rest arrived. We WIFI-ed using the free wireless@sg network, which strangely doesn't requires us to login. Hmmmm.... wonder why.



We ordered Dragonwell tea (龙井). Essential brew is not a place to be in for a coffee lover. There is ONLY ONE coffee drink there. JUST ONE! I almost died of coffee deprivation. Yes, I know essential brew is a tea place, but at least give us more coffee choices mah. Maybe add latte and mocha lah. PLEASEEEEEeee......

Kevin came around 7pm and was shocked that there was only 3 of us. We suppose to meet at 6pm. Well, everyone is super late. Oh well. The 4 of us started ordering dinner when Ridzuan came.... in army uniform!!!

You see, Ridz said he is will put on camo if tstar come. But he later discovered that he doesn't have camo cream at home. So he came in army uniform. *Faint* Everyone (except me) thought he was joking when he posted on twitter. And he didn't bring along another set of clothles to change. You guys should see tstar's reaction when she arrives and saw ridz in uniform. Too bad nobody got it down on video. Wasted.

Clapping tree and rinaz arrives shortly. The dinner was so-so. I had smoke salmon pasta. I should had ordered fish n chips. It look much better and the portion is bigger. We had a good chat during dinner. Ebie, the 1/5 owner of Essential brew and also a ping.sg user came over and had a chat with us. He was rather busy that day with the place full house and a birthday party going on.

kevin and ntt left at around 830pm. If they stayed for another 10 minutes or so, they would have met the chio chio de aunty and her 'boyfriend'. It was great meeting them. Funny thing is, some of the pingster thought that I've met CCDA before. But in actual fact, today was the first time I met her.

Ebie was nice to bring out some desert for us to try. On the house. :)



Can't remember what is this call. Panna Cotta or something? Anyway, I also don't know what is it. But it tasted good.



I think this is call Plateau Serenade ice cream bombe. Very nice. Like it a lot. There is even chocolate flowing out when you cut it open. WAH. But hor, 1 plate 8 people share. NOT ENOUGH. Nevermind, I'll go essential brew myself to try this again. Their blog says it will be out of stock by June 07. OMG. I must go back quick before it is gone.

We left at around 10:30pm. Thank Ebie for the great desert! Love it. (And I think I'll need to go for a jog tomorrow because of that. haha.) Most of the guys left after that, but uzyn, ridz and I pop over to the starbucks next door for a cup of coffee before heading home.

It was a great evening. Had lots of funs and laughters. Great meeting each and everyone of you. Hope to meet up more often. :D

Frm left to right: Ebie, Uzyn, clapping tree, rinaz, tstar, Sgt Ridz, chio chio de aunty, some decaying object


Wait.... where is Estee huh? Thought she say she is coming? :P

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Saturday, April 14, 2007

Will it blend, will it return?

Remember the iPod blended post back in Dec? Well, the guys at blendtec didn't stop at iPod. They been blending all sorts of things like baseball, magnets, lightstick and alot more. (The lightstick video was fun, check it out)

And here is another one where they blend a video camera, with the video cam recording its last moment. Funny stuff.



And after that, they tried to return it at the store.



Will it blend? Yes.
Will it return? Never.

Someone ganna hacked

East Coast Life husband's boyfriend's website was hacked today.


This reminds me of the April Fool joke that I did few weeks back.



Looked similar right? No wonder so many people fell for the trick. :P

bullshit

Every now and then, my assignment will include some questions that requires you to do some self reflections.

One of the question in the latest project assignment is:-

"What are the skill that you feel you will need in order to see this project through to completion. Explain why."


I heard from my tutor that UK University like to ask this kind of questions. And Singaporeans always fail badly on this sort of question because there is no way to study for it and no 10 years series.

Which is quite true actually. Cause I'm also struggling to answer this question. Not because I don't know what to write, but I don't know if I should write the truth.

You see, if you ask me what skill is important, I would say bullshit skill is most important for me during this project.

Why? Because I have to cook up all the requirements for this project. Thinking of scenarios that don't exist in real life, but look nice on paper. Bullshit this and that.

Bullshit skill is really the most important skill.

But.... how to write this in my assignment?

I'll have to stick with time management, communications skill and stuff..... haiz.

Friday, April 13, 2007

While I was on leave...

Saw this on my colleague’s blog today.

To DK

Why is it that whenever u are on leave, i sure kena something one huh? Maybe we shld take leave together leh. Really!! This is the 3rd time liao lor. Haiz..

From: xxx


Sorry lah. Not I want 1. But you know lah, when you take leave, it just means that you don’t need to come to office. But work will still continue to pile up. I already cleared most of the things on hand before going for leave. But I can’t stop more issue from coming in when I go on leave. Some things can wait for me to come back then do, some things cannot. And some things actually can wait for me to come back one, but the person handling it is a Gan Jiong Spider, so no choice lor.

No prize for guessing who that Gan Jiong Spider is.

-------------

Another thing she wrote on her blog made me laugh loudly in office just now.

Ur best friend today very funny lor.
Say the database password very long liao need to change. Ask me got suggestion not.
So current pw say is this: apple123
Then i suggest: apple456
and he say why not change to orange456. Then i say also can lor.
In the end he change to apple456orange.
For what? Why change till so mafan. Stupid leh. Think he very free lor!!!!


Once again, no prize for guessing who this guy is. Yes yes... it’s always him. Nobody else lah.

I want to say first hor, he is NOT MY BEST FRIEND. Don’t anyhow say. I don’t know him one.

PS: I should really create a label just for him. Thinking of using PITA. (Pain In The Ass)

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死字不会写

This is just a short blog to remind myself how to write the word die in chinese.



DK ah DK.... This is how you write the word 'Die' in chinese.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Real life scenario

Keep having flash back of what happen during my Poly's FYP. This is really bad. Sometimes I wonder if the problem lies with me or am I just plan unlucky to always get bad tutors for my project.

During the first meeting, we left the class having strange feeling. Somehow, the tutor make everything seem to easy. She keep stressing that we shouldn't make things too complicated. And from the sample she gave us, it seems to be a simple project. But it turn out to be otherwise. My first proposal was somewhat similar to her sample in terms of difficulities. I thought I would had nailed it, but I was so wrong. The marks were so low that I could almost see Titanic beside it.

It was during the second meet up when I understand roughly what the scope should be. Either it was a miscommunication during the first meetup, or she gave us the wrong information. Nevermind, we will put it aside and move on.

Another thing is that she keep stressing that we should get a real life client for this project. This is to ensure that we got someone to get the user requirements from and don't have to think about the requirements ourselves. That statement seems quite fine in the beginning because we all thought the scope she is expecting from us is quite simple. When I finally realise the actual scope she wanted, I was wondering.... How the hell am I going to find a real life client for this?

You see, we are still students. We can only find startups and SME for our project. Big companies would most likely ignore us. But most startups and SME don't require such a complicated system. And those who requires such a complicated system would most likely had employed someone to do it for them. Would anyone dare to put such an important system in the hands of a student? I doubt so.

And lets face it. In real life, you will not see such complicated scenarios. This is unlike school projects when they give you a textbook case study that covers every feature of the programming language you have learnt in the module. I always admire the case study in our textbook and project. The scenario is so perfect that it requires you to use every single feature that you've learn. And everything fits in so nicely. But you will never ever get such textbook scenarios in real life. Never.

And in real life, it is always best to keep things as simple as possible. Yes, there are many fanciful modules and features. But as much as possible, avoid using them unless absolutely necessary.

Its not that I don't want to find a real client for my project, but if I were to find a real client, I would not be able to display my knowledge of the subject. Because real client most likely wouldn't need all the features. In the end, I cook up a nice story to submit to my tutor. A scenario which look so perfect on paper, but deep down inside, you know such scenario will not happen in real life. My tutor feel that this client and his requirements are good enough for the project and he gave me the go ahead.

I guess I managed to fool him into thinking that there is really such a company that requires such a complicated system with such perfect requirements that involves almost every feature that we have learnt in the module AND they dare to put everything in the hands of a student.

Sometimes I wonder if my tutor has working experience outside or not.....

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Server room tour

Went back to office last friday morning because they shut down the building power supply on Thursday night for maintenance and I need to press the power on button for the Servers. We can schedule shutdown or remote shutdown, but we can schedule or remote power on. Need someone to physically press the button.

Oh well. There was some cockups. The power wasn't restored for some of the powerpoints. So I called the building management people and they came up and did some checking. Feeling bored while waiting, I start snapping a few pictures in the server room.

Most people in my office doesn't have access to the server room. I'm one of the few 'lucky people' who have access into the room. hee hee. But that is because I'm the part time LAN admin.



Actually, there isn't much things in the server room. Only racks and computers. There are 3 rows of racks filled with computers.



Well, not all the racks are filled with servers. Some of the racks are just filled with PC acting as servers. Or in my own words, server wannnabes. Haha. These are actually PC used by some of the teams as file servers or other purpose.



There is 1 central monitor and keyboard (with trackball) to control all the PC. You just click on the printscreen to switch between PC. I like the keyboard and monitor a lot. When not in use, we can actually fold it down and push it aside. But we LAN admin are lazy people. We seldom fold it away. :P



This is the most important server in the room. The main file server that every team is using. Look like just 1 big black box right? We have to run backup on this server everyday. Heard that we will be upgrading this server mid this year.



Other than computers and servers, we also have switches on the racks. In fact, 2 racks filled with switches and wires. The wires are well labeled. Each wire have a number which you can find the corresponding number on the office table. This is for easy tracing of which wire go to which office table.

All I need is to find the table number of that chio bu in my office, go to the switch and pull out that wire..... and she will be coming to find me for help in less than 5 minutes time. *Evil laugh*

早知结果如此何必当初曾相逢

Last week, my PDA reminded me that today is our first anniversary. Damn myself. I should had deleted that reminder that I set one year ago. This reminder is useless now.

It's amazing how time flies. It seems like just yesterday when we walk along bedok jetty. I can still remember how nervous I was when I ask you that question. I can still remember how I slowly inched closer towards you while the sea breeze is blowing towards us. It was one of the happiest moment in my life.

But fastforward 5 months down the road, everything changed completely. Quarrels, arguments, disagreements and disappointment. We've seen it all. And at the end, you decided to give up when I was still desperately trying to close the gap. I guess I was being naive to think that I could close up that big gap between us. There are too many issues left unsolved since day one. Perhaps you are right, breakup is the best solution.

I still remember that night during the phone conversation. I asked if we can still be friends. You said yes. You said that we have one common interest, that is to go around Singapore for good food. And maybe we will still carry on doing it. But we didn't.

Somehow, we just slowly drift further and further apart. Although we often bump into each other, there is nothing for us to talk about. And now it seems like we have become strangers. You even blocked my on your MSN.

Please don't misunderstood me. I'm no longer in love with you like the way I used to be back then. But I just wish that we could be still friends after breakup. I know it is hard but I really wish we could put down the past and remain as friends. I miss those days when we were just friends.

早知结果如此何必当初曾相逢

If I knew that this would happen in the end, I wouldn't had ask for your hands that night. I would rather remain as friends than strangers like we are now.

I don't know if you are still reading my blog. It has been quite some time since I last dedicate a song to you on the 11th day of the month. I guess this will be the last song I delicate to you.

------------------



伍佰 - 爱情的尽头

早知结果如此何必当初曾相逢
相逢之后何须再问分手的理由
没有月的星空是我自己的星空
我飞也可以跳也可以
不感到寂寞有流星陪伴我

当然也许你会感到一丝丝愧疚
诺言本身不会后悔出口的理由
没有你的影踪有我自己的影踪
我哭也可以笑也可以
天长或地久
是爱情的尽头

下着雨的夜晚最美
将所有景物抛在半空之间
有你的笑我无法成眠(无法成眠)
怎又回到了起点
快让我没有力气
快让我没有力气去想念你
让我可以随着落在窗外的小雨
消失在茫茫大地

让我飞 让我飞在夜空
夜空里才会让我的心和懦弱那头离的比较远
飞翔时伤悲是一种奢侈的行为
我怎么突然有一种莫名的喜悦
当我穿梭在黑暗里面

让我飞 让我飞在夜空
夜空里才会让我的心和懦弱那头离的比较远
飞翔时伤悲是一种奢侈的行为
我变成一朵放纵的轻烟和小雨
缠绵在冷冷北风里面

让我飞 让我飞在夜空
才有那种熟悉的沉默将往事都上了锁
时间它永远是一种逃避的借口
飘浮在半空之中可以去面对正在进行的坠落

当然也许你会感到一丝丝愧疚
诺言本身不会后悔出口的理由
没有你的影踪有我自己的影踪
我哭也可以笑也可以
天长或地久
是爱情的尽头
是爱情的尽头
是爱情的尽头
是爱情的尽头

----------------

Hope we can still be friends.....

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Leave

Taking another day leave on Thursday to do my assignment. Still clearing my leftover leaves from last contract. Left with 1/2 day. Don't know when to clear.

Curse myself for taking a 1/2 day leave last Sept. Now I don't know when to take the remaining 1/2 day. I hate taking half day leave. You still need to travel to office and stay in office for half a day. And most of the time, you will not have the mood to work as you are going on leave shortly.

Oh well... Maybe take a half day on a Friday afternoon to go shopping.

---------------

Just got an Email from HR. There is a change in policy for contract staff like us. In the past, we only have annual leave. No family leave, childcare leave or study leave like the perm staff. But after recent company survey, they decide to allow contract staff to apply these leaves too. YIPPIE.

I'm going to apply study leave in May to study for my exams. :)

Monday, April 09, 2007

Govt pay hike - No laughing matter

There was an important debate in Parliament today. Actually, there wasn't actually a debate. The bill has to be pass down no matter what. It concern the progress of the nation. No arguement can block this bill from passing down. We are talking about the Government pay hike.

It is important that we pay our government well. If we don't pay them well, the country collapse and we will go from first world to third overnight. Our gals will become maids and guys will become construction workers. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?

This is no laughing matter. It is a serious matter. Even the asiaone website is telling us that the government pay hike is no laughing matter.


This is the banner on the website in the afternoon.


Apparently, they changed the banner in the evening. This is the latest banner on the site.


See, I told you its no laughing matter. Don't laugh lah!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Where Do You Want To Go Next?

Ganna tag by the chio chio de aunty. (Some say she is the hottest mama-san in nightclub. Don't know how true. Heehee)

But this is not a normal meme leh. Very chim. Need 3 paragraph and at least 200 words. Wah sai, machim like writing GP paper like that. And worst is, I'm a person who doesn't really like to travel. ok ok... I give it a try.

------------

Actually, I'm more of a beach resort person. I don't really like to go to those big city or places of interest for tour. My idea vacation will be staying in a beach resort for a few days. Everyday laze around the beach. At night maybe go bar and have a few beer. That is my kind of vacation.

And the place that I want to go is Bora Bora. WAIT. Got people wrote about Bora Bora already. Nevermind, my 2nd choice for vacation is Maldives. WAIT... also got someone write already. Wah piang, why the places that I want to go so popular one? Like that how? Hey.... but the rules never say I cannot write about places that people wrote about right? hee hee.... then I'll write about Bora Bora. :D

Why Bora Bora? Because it has the most beautiful beach in the world with crystal clear water.





Look at the pictures. Need I say more?

Bora Bora is part of the French Polynesia. It is in the southern pacific ocean, somewhere towards the east of Australia. The island mainly depend on tourism and have seven high end resort built on small islands surrounding the lagoon



Beautiful right? Makes me feel like taking a long holiday and go there straight away. Away from work, school and this life.

Over there, you can do water sports like scuba diving, sailing, snorkeling, surfing, jetskiing and many more. You can also tour the island's World War II cannons and bunkers.

Then when the evening come, just take a stroll along beach and watch the sun set. Then sit by the beach and enjoy a bottle of red wine with the sea breeze blowing on your face. Away from the busy life back in Singapore. Ah... that is life. Shoik.

(298 words)

-------------------

Wah, really like write essay.
OK, time to tag 5 people. *evil laugh*

Tag
----------
Veron
Paddy
Zhen Zhen
Estee
Uzyn

(Last time got people say I only tag gals when I got tag 1 guy. So this time, I tag 2 guys and 3 gals. So don't say I chee hong again hor.)

———START COPYING———
Title : Where Next ?

Proposition : Where do you want to go Next, OUTSIDE OF YOUR COUNTRY, for tourism, work , study, whatever.

Requirements: Find some info about the place, itinerary etc, pics if possible so you get MORE Traffic coming in, and maybe some people can find somewhere to go to. Excludes your NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOUR, ie Singapore,Malaysia,Brunei, a country that borders yours.You must register for MyBloglog so we can blogwalk ah…..get it?

Quantity : FIVE PEOPLE.

Tag Mode : Chain Link. 15 of them.
You leave 15 people and their DEEP LINK of their Blog Name and TAGGED POST and hit out for five more.

This Singaporean Melayu in Europe aka Azrin going LANSING MICHIGAN. This is a Counter Summon Tag!

Shoppingmum to Europe

Angeleyes off to Bora-Bora

Giddy Tiger snorkelling in The Maldives

Jess to Europe

Mybabybay wants to go Round The World

Samm will go to Japan

Bernard dreams of New Zealand

eastcoastlife of Singapore yearns to go Switzerland.

DK wants to decay at Bora Bora.




[ADD YOUR ENTRY ABOVE THIS]
**Add in the blog you got the tag from and tagged post.** (In this case, for example, you should add “ DK wants to decay at Bora Bora“).

Extra Rules: you cannot Tag another person who has performed the Tagging Rights to Travel. Check yr commentators.

Exercise effectiveness: You get about at least 100 back links directly to a max of a few Trillion Multi Linked people Track Backing and tagging at ya. That sure will pull yr alexa and Technorati down alot! (it’s 15 times of 5 to the power of 13). It is sure a way to pull down the numbers as I mentioned earlier.

You MUST PASS this tag within 7 days of receiving it , or loose a days worth of Blog Revenue or $10 to charity. Can?Makes it interesting anyway.So no Lazy Tags running about, and yeah, eventually, there will be less than a 1:3 chance you can’t tag that someone. And pay those people in the list a visit, you never know if you can pinch / recycle some ideas for your next entry!


[Started 25th Mar 2007.Do Not Modify this Line.Originated by Geeks Lair SEO Engineering 101 Project ]

REMEMBER: YOU CANNOT TAG SOMEONE WHO HAS ALREADY DONE IT.No Cheating.

LAST EXTRA SET OF RULES:
YOU MUST VISIT EVERYONE ON THE LIST!

Your post must have 3 PARAGRAPHS with at least 200 words. FUN eh?
This is to boost everyone’s ALEXA,PageRank and Technorati.

—————-END————

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麻坡的華語 Muar Chinese

Very Stylo. Cool. Do visit his blog too.



要看得起自己
要对得起良心
不要害怕自己的文化
没有定义


If only Singaporeans are also proud of our own Singlish.

Super inflation downstairs

Went to visit my Grandma and Mum's grave today. It the Qing Ming and according to tradition, we have to go sweep the tomb. Well, not with broom lah.

Actually, there isn't much cleanup required. The grass has been nicely maintained and the area is quite clean. We do have to pay the person $40 per year to maintain the grass. Heard from my uncle that every year the govt told us not to pay those people money. Ya, we don't pay them money, who maintain the grass on the tomb? Govt ah? Go eat shit lah. So long as the grass is well maintained, what wrong with paying them the money? They did a good job and deserved to be paid.

Anyway, they are going to make us remove the tomb soon. New govt law, only can bury for 15 years, after that have to dig out for exhumation. My Grandma's tomb has already passed 15 years, but I think they still clearing backlog. So I guess it will be a few more years before they start moving my Grandma's tomb for cremation. What to do? Singapore not enough land already. (But got land to build golf course). OK lah, the good thing is, after cremation, the ashes will be placed inside a crematorium. At least we won't get sunburn during Qing Ming.

We didn't burn paper house or any fancy stuff during Qing Ming. Just the usual joss paper and some items like clothings, accessories and gold bar. There is even a passport. Errr... passport to go where huh? And their passport only valid 1 year, unlike Singapore's passport valid for 5 years. Oh ya, there is even a credit card. Gold card somemore. Wondering if they have rewards points down there or not.

As we are burning the joss paper, I looked at the number of zero printed on the hell bank notes with great interest. I lost count of the number of zero actually. I think 1 piece of paper is actually 1 billion dollar. And we burning a lot of them. Not only us, but everyone burning lots of joss paper with incredible dollar values.

Sometimes I wonder how is the inflation downstair. How much does a plate of chicken rice cost downstair? 1 million? 10 million? Or even more?

Aiyo... better burn more....

Shirlyn's Newfound Jealousy

Ok, let me say this.... 12 hours ago, I have no idea who Shirlyn Tan is. It was only when someone mentioned The unXpected when I know its the band that plays at wala wala. I heard about them but haven't got the chance to listen to them live.

So I went for this impromptu ping.sg gathering with uzyn and his brother to watch Shirlyn's album launch concert at the Esplanade outdoor theater. Ridz said he will be joining us too, but he was late. So late that the performance end before he arrived. Well, at least we did meet up for coffee after the performance.



The performance was great. You have to be there to experience it. I fell in love for her music on the spot. And I bought the CD on the spot. Its selling at $15. That's very cheap for a CD even though its local production.



The CD case is very simple. Its like an envelope with the CD and few pieces of paper with the lyrics. Kinda like the design.



The only thing I don't like about the cover is that it cannot be closed. There is nothing to hold down the cover. I'm left with no choice but to use a pen knife to cut a line so that it can hold down the cover. Ouch.



Convert the CD to MP3 as soon as I turn on my laptop. Then I transfered the songs to my K800i so that I can listen to it on the go. No, I'm not sending the MP3 to others. Come on, the CD is just $15, go buy it yourself and support local artist.

So far, my fave song is Snow (Track 4). I remember Shirlyn saying that song was written for someone during the performance, but I couldn't catch the name of the person. Oh well...

Somewhere in the crowd I heard him calling me
Somewhere in the crowd I heard him calling me
Somewhere in the crowd I heard him calling me


Go get the CD. Great voice, nice song.

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Saturday, April 07, 2007

No U-turn syndrome

I went back to office yesterday to do some LAN admin stuff. Yes, good friday morning. Sianz.

Anyway, I drove my dad's car to office since he is not working. Reach office around 9am in the morning. I didn't want to drive to the underground carpark since it would cost me 50 cent per 1/2 hour. Instead. I turn my car to the pick up shelter infront of the lift lobby where there are 6 parking lots.

Those parking lots are meant for cars waiting to pick up people. But since its a public holiday morning, I suppose you won't have any cars coming in to pickup people.

After parking my car, I walk towards the lift lobby. One of the security guard walk towards me and told me not to park my car there. I ask why, she just say she will get into trouble if someone see it. Then she told me to park my car at the back of the building, at the loading and unloading goods area.

The pick up point is easily visible from the main gate. The loading and unloading area is behind the building, so nobody can see it. But the question is, what trouble will she get if I park my car at the pickup point?

There are 6 parking lot there. Un-used and will not be used for the whole day since its a public holiday. Why can't I park my car there? I'm not blocking the way or anything. And who will come inspect the area on a public holiday morning?

I tried asking the security what trouble she will get, and from who. She didn't reply, just told me to move my car to the loading area. Seeing that there is no point arguing with her, I move the car to the loading and unloading area and walked a longer distance to the lift lobby. Deep down inside, I was thinking about this No U-turn syndrome mentioned by Sim Wong Hoo.

How will Singapore progress if everyone have this No U-turn syndrome drilled into their head? Inventions are created by crazy people who dare to dream. We dare to dream, but nobody dare to be crazy.

Its early morning on a public holiday. There will most likely be nobody else coming to office. And even if they do, there are 5 other lots for them to wait. And nobody will come and inspect you on a morning like this. So why scare? Why worry?

Why must we only make a U-turn when someone say you can?

And to add on to that, I would also like to say that if it is the CEO or some big shot, the security guard would let him park anywhere he like. EVEN if it is blocking the road.

Just like what Chow Yun Fat said.... "Welcome to Singapore"

Casey Serin - iamfacingforeclosure.com

I'm not sure if you heard of Casey Serin before. I bump into a video about him on youtube and did a google on him. Found a wikipedia page on him
and his story. Wow 2.2 million debt.... 1 hell of a mess.

Anyway, here is the video that introduced me to him. Quite an interesting video, many lesson to take home from it. Do watch if you have 45 minutes.



Oh ya, do check out his blog. I believe this guy will make a comeback fast and strong....

Friday, April 06, 2007

Mistake

I know there is nothing I can do or say to make up for this error. I have no excuse for making such a foolish mistake.

All I can say is.... Sorry.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

NZD fixed deposit earning

It has been 1 year since I started my New Zealand currency fixed deposit account with UOB. I just got my second payment of interest earned.

I started the NZD fixed deposit with SGD$6055.20, which convert to NZD is $6000. The exchange rate between SGD and NZD has been rising slowly and steadily for the past one year. Even the recent global market flu didn’t do much damage.

I got my first interest payment in Oct 06. The interest back then was SGD $200. This time round, I got SGD $220 as interest. This is because of the higher exchange rate and higher interest.

So for 1 year, I made a total of $420 as interest. That is almost 7% interest rate. Try finding a fixed deposit that does that!

And on top of that, the exchange rate is also higher now. When I started the NZD fixed deposit, the exchange rate is at a low 1.0092. The exchange rate now is 1.077. I know the difference is less than $0.06. But multiply that by $6000 and you get around $400. Meaning if I withdraw the money now and convert it back to SGD, I’ll make another $400 earning on exchange rate.

Therefore, I made around $820 using $6055 in just one year without doing anything. That is 13.5%!!! This is certainly much better than leaving my money in savings account or SGD fixed deposit. And this is less risky than shares and funds.

But I’m not withdrawing the money now to get that $400 profit in exchange rate. The bank is currently giving me a 7.1% interest. I think I’ll hold this NZD fixed deposit for a few years.

Yes, there are risks involved. In fact, I have another USD fixed deposit which is making losses currently. Thinking if I should withdraw it to cut the losses or hold it and pray that USD will become stronger. Will wait for my first interest in May before making decision.

Kenny G - Forever In Love

Forever in love by Kenny G. I think this is the first song by Kenny G that I've heard. And I fell forever in love with his music after that.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Negative attitude

Someone commented that I have a very negative attitude lately. I was very puzzled by his comment. Me negative attitude?

Well, what happen is that there are quite a few unfair things happening at work place lately, and I've been making a joke out of it. I mean, its beyond my control. And since it is so unfair, why not just make a joke out of it, laugh and let it pass. But the person feels that I'm having a negative attitude about the event because I keep bringing up the issue. But I bring up the issue as a joke.

Well... in the first place, what is wrong with having negative attitude towards the event? It is so unfair to us. Why can't we be unhappy over it?

And I'm not being unhappy over it. I'm just making a joke out of it and having a good laugh over it. If someone can make a joke out of the whole issue, is his attitude towards it still negative?

I am puzzled. Anyway, will not make a joke out of it anymore. Else wait people say I negative attitude again.

Kenny G - Silhouette

Suddenly recalled how much I enjoyed Kenny G's music in the past. Here is another one of my fave.

Something telling me it might be you

Been formatting PC for the whole day in office.

Like I mentioned, it's really a no brainer job. Just time consuming as there are quite a number of steps to do.

Everything went on smoothly until one of the PC prompt me for password when I turn on the power. Argh. Someone set the bootup password and never remove it.

The problem is, I didn't label the PC when they return it to me. So I don't know exactly which PC belongs to who. Most people in my company don't put a bootup password cause we already need a login password in order to login to the company network domain. I do know a few colleagues who set bootup password. But they removed it before giving the PC to me for formatting. They knew that I can't format the PC if there is a bootup password. So they auto remove it by themselves. Everyone did that except one fellow.

Damn... I should had made them label their PC. Now I need to hunt for the owner of that PC. Maybe I should just ask the 20 person 1 by 1 to see who has bootup password which they forgot to disable.

Suddenly for no reason, a song came into my mind.... it goes something like this....

Something's telling me it might be you
Yeah, it's telling me it must be you
And I'm feeling it'll just be you


And yeap... it's really you.....

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