A-mei A*Star Concert

back from concert! oh man, it was really an enjoyable concert. once again, a-mei proved to be the undisputed queen of the mandarin pop scene. she was absolutely fantastic! we all know she is that good. i'm two-time thrilled! she's definitely my idol for now. *yeah*

time to sleep. good night!

Back!

no more lectures! no more projects! no more school! it's all over! words just can't describe my feeling now. i just want to relax and enjoy myself now. to start it off, i've changed my blog name to "schlep-act.blogspot.com". although it seems odd to give the name "schlep", i kind of like it. by the way, schlep, as a noun, refers to an ineffectual person or to drag oneself to do things. if you think about it, do you really enjoy going to work everyday, five to six days a week typically? i bet you don't! you are basically dragging yourself out of bed to go to work!

feeling light now. off to dinner!

about the new suzuki swift

this year, the swift got its mid-life face-lift. it now comes with a roof spoiler, side-mirror signal indicator, a GPS navigation system, as well as keyless door entry. champions motors did a wonderful job of sustaining the buyer interests by packaging it with these premium goodies, especially the GPS.


Suzuki

i've driven the old swift while i was still serving national service. it was a borrowed car from one of my army friend. that was a no-frill, i-will-get-you-from-point-A-to-point-B car, has adequate power and came in a hatch or a sedan/saloon (the americans call it the former while the brits like the latter) version. i could still remember squeezing 6 full-size adults into the car and it still managed to climb up a road bending at 30-degree. and the best part is, its engine capacity was only about 1000cc... not bad. really. for a period of about 10 years, champion motors's business was all swift, swift, and swift. it was a good car. suzuki makes good car although their motorcycles are even better. the name haiyabusa says it all.


Side


Front


An angled view


The almighty GPS!

today, the swift is still the car that turns the company around. if i haven't remember wrongly, before this model of the swift was release, champion motors has a hard time selling suzuki branded cars. suzuki globally didn't have a world car. they borrowed the cars from daewoo and rebadged them and sold as suzukis (GM is an expert at this, imo). anyway, enough of history, i got the key to this white swift. it's time to take it on and see what it has got.

engine performance

ok. globally, car manufacturers have started to upsize cars and fit them with small displacement engines. the move is touted as a way to save on r&d cost for the makers and to help consumer save on petrol costs. of course, the challenge here is to make fuel efficient cars. the new swift retains the same 1500cc DOHC in-line 4 gasoline engines that puts out roughly about 101 bhp and 133 nm of torque. that is more than adequate for singapore's driving conditions. it also has VVT or Variable Valve Timing which is a must-have. the engine is lively, making the car eager to sprint. although i may be a little exaggerated, getting it to sprint from 0 to 50 is really really very easy on an auto transmission. i do not know on paper the exact rpm for the maximum torque but this new swift which i've tested, i could feel a jet-lag when stepping hard on the accelerator and revving it all the way up to the 2500 mark. no bad. i can assure you, last minute overtaking won't be a problem. oh, highway overtaking is also a breeze. i attributed the engine liveliness to the expertise of suzuki on making super motorcycles. the new swift also has a variants of engines: the 1200cc and the 1300cc. the 1200cc is imported by the parallel importers and comes with CVT. a word of caution to potential buyers: please do not opt for this engine specification because it will make the car sluggish. the 1300cc ones are carried in by champion motors as well. personally, i feel getting the 1500cc one would be the best choice although the car body weighs only about a ton.

handling

the steering is accurate but heavy. it feels heavy because of the use of hydraulic gears i guess. compared to the axio, which is electronically operated and ultra light, the new swift steers like those mitsubishi canter trucks.

sound insulation

well, i thought the new swift has a relative quiet cabin. the only noise pollution i could think of is the road noise.

conclusion

i like the swift for its lively engine which is attributed to its very good power-to-weight ratio and its compact size for easy manuever in all kinds of situations. thumbs up for suzuki!

feverish week

the past week started fast and ended short: 2 working days and 3 days of MC. doc said the cause of persistent fever was viral infection although dengue fever would be the prime suspect as i had just completed ict last saturday. oh well, i hope i can get well fast.

yeah! i've done it!

the results for this semester has been released.



it's a little unexpected because i thought i very badly for the papers. thank goodness i made it. now, the one thing left is the group project. clear it and i'm getting my degree on schedule.

happy for now.

4th ict: 30 jun - 5 jul

damn. in-camp again. but it came in at the right time. no doubt it will be a very unenjoyable week, still, nothing beats having to face the nerds right now...

a day (everyday) in office

can be described as, say, as quiet as a mouse. let me break it down for ya.

0830: well, usually not on the dot. toilet break, a mouthful of water and switch on computer. eyes straight on screen. slience.
0900: eyes on screen. silence.
0930: eyes on screen. silence.
1000: eyes on screen. silence.
1030: eyes on screen. silence.
1100: eyes on screen. silence.
1130: eyes on screen. silence.
1200: eyes off screen. lunch. occasionally with s.t. used to be with soo. he's coming back mid-july. good.
1230: eyes on screen. silence.
1300: eyes on screen. silence.
1330: eyes on screen. silence.
1400: eyes on screen. silence.
1430: eyes on screen. silence.
1500: eyes on screen. silence.
1530: eyes on screen. silence.
1600: eyes on screen. silence.
1630: eyes on screen. silence.
1700: eyes on screen. silence.
1730: eyes off screen. log off computer. silence. head for the gate.

this is my recent work routine. i think you can visualize how dead the environment is. it is dead silent. no talk, well except for e occasional discussion (very short one), there's only silence. you can really hear a pin drop. it wasn't like that in the past. until recently, with the movement of staff to some moe projects (flop), a day in the office is like a prison cell with no cell mate.

humans are social animals. we talk to survive (a day), else we wouldn't have such highly developed brains. we think and express our emotion, ideas and actions through interactions with one another. true, people working in this industry (in dtt precisely) tends to talk less and do more although i dislike being labelled as one of them because think more (not necessarily fast and all in the name of logic) makes one a dull person. recently, my office has been given the green light to shift upstairs. things weren't properly set up for us to shift as the computer ports weren't up yet. so we sort of had to test the ports. my computer was chosen for the test. here's the dialogue:

kk: (to cw) i've tested the ports, mine isn't working, so are the rest except for steven's.
cw: ok. use steven's computer to test the computer port then.
kk: steven, off your computer. i need to use it for testing. (wth, what's d**a doing? been a year since we were told to move..)
me: ? only need the cpu?
kk: yes, because there is a monitor upstair.
me: why don't move the monitor up as well?
kk: no need. only for testing purpose.
me: but you are not bringing down the cpu, are you?
kk: no. leave it there. (hell, how am i suppose to work if i don't have the cpu?)

10 minutes later, kk came back without the cpu

kk: (to cw) tested, steven's computer port is working fine. (damn, you want me to stare at a blank (black screen) screen for the next 2 hours?)
cw: ok, all the ports should be up by next week.
kk: yes. should be.

silence

me: (to kk) why not just move up the monitor? are you afraid somebody might steal it?
kk: it's for testing purpose only.
me: but everything's gonna be moved up eventually, why not just shift them up now since i'll be away for ict the whole of next week, it will save you some hassle.
kk: it's for testing purpose only, no need the monitor. it's ok what. i've no problem with helping to shift your stuff.
me: (cw) why don't shift up the monitor as well?
cw: i'm afraid someone might steal it.
me: that's what i said just now but i don't see as a concern because there are already 2 new computer set up there. nobody would want to steal an old monitor..
cw: ok. move up then.

end

i was pissed. really pissed with the words that came out from their (eq deficient people) mouths. should i say they are a selfish bunch of people? they've never spare a thought for me. see, if i move my stuff up, when i come back from ict, i wouldn't have to first make t trip to my office to get my personal stuff before making my way to the new office. one trip to the new office, that's it. simple. thing is, who would want to 'steal' anything in such a heavily guarded place like dtt? also, isn't more work is done by making an extra trip back to get the monitor? come on, you can write bomb proof codes, yet you can't even handle situation?

i don't know, this could be a good example of the book smart versus the street smart. i hate nerds. i don't how much longer i can endure working in that kind of environment or even working with them. i do not have much problem with writing codes. i can deliver but not as well as kk, i admit because i'm no nerd.

winter's (almost) over...

i'm out of hibernation! i thank many blog friends who have been reading my blog. having said that, i'll try my best to post as frequently as i can.

for the past four months, i've been busy myself with school work (and of course, work responsibilities). those assignments, tasks as well as preparations for the exams have really taken its toll on me (falling sick, got well and fell sick again many many times...). it's freakingly, insanely tiring! but thank goodness, this semester is officially over as of today! rejoice! now that exams are over, the next big thing is the final-year-project. sigh, it's a big hurdle. man, although this degree course is only a year, i feel like a soccer player dreaming of lifting up the world cup trophy already... oh well, moving forward is the only way to go.

actually, i've got lots more to share but i'll have to go now. durians, here i come!

short review of creative zen

on the same day my dear got her flowers, her dad got his birthday present. we bought him a creative zen.

after playing for a almost a day, i must say creative has done quite a good job at making it a very user friendly and feature-rich product.

you can see all the functions of the zen in this short video:



if you wish to know more about the specification of the zen, please click here to go to creative product information site.

and do take note that you must use the supplied software for transferring video files. i had tried to play a video file after transferring it into the zen using windows explorer but it gave me an error. so i had to use the supplied software to do a conversion to the converted video file once more before zen is able to play the video. i quite troublesome but i guess you have to do everything using the zen media explorer in order to get things working. it's pretty much like itune.

i would definitely recommend zen if you are looking for a portable player that is small and light and easy to use. a similar product would be the ipod touch. it can do more but comes with a heavy price tag.


promotional package for $229 at harvey norman. package consists of creative ep630 in-ear headphones, zen 4gb and 3-pin socket adapter


front


back

v-day 08

valentine's day is the most romantic day of the year of 365 days. flowers are a must-have for ladies. hence, i got a bouquet of red roses for her.

it's sitting on her bed right now; waiting to surprise her with a gift of chocolates as rehearsed. ha.

she didn't receive it on the most romantic day due to my busy schedule. *sorry dear* nevertheless, i hope she will like it.

enjoying the moment

ever heard the phrase 'you have to enjoy what you do, even if things are going tough. you will feel better'?

i just witnessed it came true about fifteen minutes ago. it happened in a cab and the subject is the cabby.

he's an old malay uncle, with white hair covering his head and telling out loud his age. that probably makes him a 'happy-go-lucky' person. he's just like another other cabby who drives to make a living.

he was telling me about being happy, which he thinks matter most. he's enjoying his life (as a cabby). he said, 'for one hour, i have not had any single passenger. once i saw you flagging, i am happy.' indeed, he greeted me with a joke when i boarded his cab ('u want me to take the faster route or the slow one? i still ask despite knowing the answer is pretty obvious').

that's nice.

then he asked 'what does ERP stand for?'

'Electronic Road Pricing', i answered.

'that's the serious way of saying. a lighter way of saying "Everyday Rob People". true or not?'

i though that was good. i reciprocated with a laughter.

'GST does not really make sense. in fact, they were going to name it GCT. however, they didn't. know why?', he continued.

'nope'

'GCT stands for Goods Consumer Tax. if you buy a fridge, it's considered a good, not a service. you don't tax service for goods, right? but GCT also stands for Goh Cheok Tong, the then PM. so, they dropped the name!', the cabby explained.

i thought that was really funny. we chatted about other things like chinese new year, fast cars, cheap cars, ugly cars, etc in the span of thirty minutes.

i feel cabbies should not feel like everyone is making their lives tough, if not, tougher. as passenger, we feel the pinch as well. i see from him the importance of staying happy and not always crying over spilled beans.

'i've booked a bbq pit and i will be enjoying the bbq session while you guys go for the chinese new year holidays', mentioned the cabby

how often do you get such light moment while taking a cab home? i don't know about you, i know i haven't had one for a long time.

coffeeshoptalk

"if you shop in macau or hong kong and ask for discount, please use english instead of mandarin. that's because the macau citizens simply dislike the chinese. for example, if you ask how much? in mandarin, you will get $450. now ask in english and you will get $250."

that was the advice given by jh who recently went on holiday in macau.

are the chinese (prc) so detestable?

not so long ago, there was a report about the readiness of the beijing citizens in hosting the olympic. being ready means they have to provide, among other things, a world-standard infrastructure in transport, building and environment. that also means the locals have to be able to converse in the international language (english) too.

anyway, the reporter tried to ask for direction (in english) to the forbidden city on the streets of beijing. unsurprisingly, nine out of ten being asked were unable to either speak english, understand or speak proper english. i thought she would never be able to get to anywhere by asking for direction. then the reporter tried to get off a bus. all the other passengers did not give way but stood at their spot like the statue of michael jordan in front of united center. she had to muscle her way down the bus. it took her 10 minutes. the reporter also observed people cutting queues and forcing their way up the buses, and almost resulting in fights.

what she reported is a way of life of the beijing citizens. over here, i have seen a fair share of what most of us would reckon as an ugly sight demonstrated by the chinese prc.

just a few days ago, while having lunch with a colleague at a food centre, two chinese prc naturally sat on the unoccupied seats of our table! they didn't even ask whether or not the seats had been taken by somebody else. they were simply rude! i was infuriated. "if they were in shirt and pants, their action were simply rude. but they look uneducated, so just ignore them. furthermore, they weren't irritating us", said soo. soo had a point. still, i felt a person should have basic, no-brainer courtesy.

i detest the behaviour of the chinese prc. so many times i have seen them behaving rudely and so many times i got upset over what i had seen.

i think i have answered the question myself.

jay chou concert

i have joined the dark side. i am the critic for now. i am going to give my honest opinion about jay's concert which ended at about 2230h.

overall, i feel it was a disappointing performance. well, it was alright at the beginning. but towards the middle, jay's performance somehow started to show some cracks and then came the ending which sealed my thought that his concert was not meant for someone who truly appreciates (his) music.

i agree that jay is a very talented artiste. there is no doubt making music is his inborn skill. i like his music and buy his cd albums. however, this concert of his just made him an ordinary 'commonfolk' singer. anyone who frequent the ktv and only sings his song can one day sings like him. he made several mistakes which i feel a singer shouldn't make. i'm not into music so can't speak the music jargons. i just feel, as an audience, i wasn't entertained. all the whistle and applauses come from fans. my applauses go to his performance too, except for his vocal.

a concert, i feel, is simply a visual enhancement to listening music on a cd player. hence, i see no reasons for a singer to alter the songs' rhythm, meaning and lyrics. take a-mei's recent concert for example. i have high praise for that. it was damn good. i hear the songs in their originality and also there were some added instruments to 'restyle' the songs. that made the songs special (heard in concert only). however, the vocal is still as strong and powerful to convey the meaning of the songs.

ok, stab me with that question "can you even sing?". honestly, i can't. "can jay do php?" he can't. say i'm old fashion or even shoot me with a pistol. i say jay still has a long way to go with his stage performance, in terms of vocal.

a short story

i heard about a short story over the radio (958FM). i couldn't quite remember it all but here's it:

***

john and steven are good friends. john never keeps his job. he is determined to get the job that would give him the highest salary he could ask for. steven believes otherwise. one day, while on the street, the gentlemen saw a coin on the ground. almost instantaneously, steven picked up the coin. he thought [referring to john]: 'a person who does not reap what he sows will never make it big'. john thought: 'a person who picks up coin will never make it big. it is so shameless. i wouldn't care about a few coins'. a few years later, steven had a stable career because he stayed with his job. john, on the other hand, had no stable career and was still switching jobs.

***

i guess the moral of the story is clear. jobs are plenty, but it's your career goals that determine what you will achieve. right?

just to share.

coffeeshoptalk

画中有话

ambiguity at work.

for those who don't get it (because of language barrier), it literally means 'go die'.

for the are-you-referring-to-me, it means nothing.

interesting, i find. haha.

coffeeshoptalk

another year, another statistical report. i'm talking about the makes of car singaporeans purchase the past year. here is the top 10 car sales list for 2007:


source: the straits times

let me give you a run down of the result.

first off, the top seller, toyota. the management over at borneo motors are smiling away. this is the fifth consecutive year that toyota has kept the crown. in my opinion, the success of borneo motors is attributed to singapore's aging population. the more uncles there are, the more sales for borneo motors. why? because toyota is a uncle-only car!

onto the second spot. honda. i am disappointed once again. honda is still at number 2. however, their sales have been steady over the years. i guess that could be due to fact that more young punks are buying honda. just look at the number of fit/jazz on the roads. also, let's not forget about their civic hybrid. demand for it (uncles included) has seen kah motors taking in a 160% increased in sales! *clap* anyway, my favourite is still the honda civic type r (jdm). i personally feel honda is more technologically advanced than toyota so i hope to see them do pretty well this year. my first car could very well be a honda. *wink*

third is the old boring nissan. i reckon it's 'the' other uncle's car. it got this spot simply because many uncles are buying their froggy-looking latio (please, it's not 'la-ti-o' but 'la-xio'). tan chong is generous at giving freebies for its latio. so i guess that has helped it clinch the third spot. enough said, i never like nissan.

fourth is mitsubishi. this is one of c&c's bread-and-butter make, especially with the lancer. the latest generation (ex) is, in my opinion, not visually appealing. it is derived from the concept x which i think it looks absolutely stunning. however, the production model is a let down. its predecessor is a good car though, except for its poorly implemented cvt. i guess most of its sales come from the sixth generation lancer which c&c sells at a heavily discounted price. other models include the i, evolution (ix & x) and colt also helped push its sales.

hyundai comes in at number 5. i guess the only money-making model is the avante. komocco motors should be satisfied with the result after considering that their rival, kia, isn't on the list. consipracy, maybe? since its avante shares the same engine as the kia cerato variant 2? 'let the consumers decide, we just split the earnings. it's a win-win situation, doesn't it?'

mazda earned the sixth spot. from my observation, mazda's marketing strategy is simple. ads and more ads. you'll see ads (mostly on mazda 3 sp) on buses, newspapers, magazines etc. i guess it has paid off. with so many mazda 3 on the roads, it is fast becoming a contender to toyota corolla as the 'uncle favourite'.

suzuki comes in next at number seven. if you look closely at the rankings, mazda only outsell 20 cars more than suzuki. maybe those 20 cars are mazda 2? anyway, suzuki is an expert with compact cars. swift is their best selling model worldwide. same here. seems like champions motors will have to bring in other models of suzuki. maybe the lapin (PI)? *haha* really, the swift lacks the boot space. so i guess majority of buyers are from the fairer sex or male bachelors who buy the sport to enhance their appeal. *haha*

mercedes takes the eighth spot. not surprising as demand for a benz has dropped due to the fact that no new models are out (the new c-class has just been introduced). oh, not forgetting there are merc cabs around. enough said.

bmw, mercedes's arch rival, is number nine. same fate as mercedes but no bmw cabs yet. maybe in another year or two? *shrugged*

lastly, subaru. i guess there are still inspired boy-racers around. lots of my surrounding friends are driving a subaru impreza or the rexes (sti included). since becoming a child of tan chong, subaru has been enjoying healthy sales. the subaru challenge gets everyone talking and not forgetting the radio ads on the s204, which i feel is superbly choreographed. now subaru is under the charge of toyota, i am sure there will be more buyers.

that's it. till another edition of coffeeshoptalk, so long!

o'ring

i knew i lost you the moment i didn't feel you
i knew i feel terrible the moment i realized you are no longer around
i felt frustrated, regretted and sad
i'll remember this day, the eighth
i'm sorry
i'm sorry
i'm sorry

a new year!

happy 2008! i wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!