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


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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!

sick

friday, 28 december 2007

sorry, it actually began on thursday, 27 december 2007, lunch. and dinner. i had fishball noodle for lunch and mixed vegetarian rice for dinner. after lunch, visited the latrine and defecated twice. after dinner, before i could have the packet of mixed vegetarian rice, i defecated again. right after i had dinner, again, i defecated. met bud for a game of pool and defecated. reached home at about half past eleven and defecated for another two more (long) rounds. by then, i almost fainted. got no choice, informed dear i had diarrhoea and called bud. i needed someone to take me to the doctor.

bud came to my rescue. he got me a pack of ultracarbon pills, took 2 pills and sent me back home after we couldn't find any clinic which operate round the clock. yes, we got one at ang mo kio but consultation fee starts at $72! decided not to go but headed back home, but i couldn't sleep peacefully. i defecated for the next 10 times! and i got fever at 38.4 degrees in the wee hours (4am).

came friday, i was on MC. dear came to my rescue. she accompanied me to the doctor and got the appropriate medication.

sun, 30 december 2007

as of now, i am well. but my dear fell ill. she went down with a stomach flu (probably due to food poisoning like what had happened to me). luckily, i had my medication with me. yeah, i carried it around where ever i go just in case 'it' returns. been attending to her (and blogging) for the day. she is well now.

i am just utterly disgusted with the way some of the food sellers handle their food. they are just being ignorant about hygiene of the food. hey, nea, what's the use of the grading for the stall holders when most of the time, i see cases where food being served are contaminated? i once found a dead cockroach in a plate of lasi lemak which i had ordered. it was a full-size bug in its entirety! and when i displayed it on my table (i sat in front of the stall), the stall owners simply acted as if nothing was there.

i have a word of caution to you guys who frequent bukit merah central for meals. avoid those above-mentioned stalls at all cost! i am sorry i couldn't name names. however, on request, i could check it out for you since i am working around that area.

disgusted.

i have a gem

i have a gem
a gem so precious i would hold it to my grave
it lightens my mind
it brightens my life
its inner beauty incomparable to anyone's
it always smile brightly
it always touch me
it is always here with me
i treasure it for it is my one and only gem
i take it with me forever
for it is my life

(dedicated to my dearest)

Pre-Christmas shopping

exams are over! finally i can catch a breathe. catch a breathe, i must, and shopping is the best form of breather. had a hair cut at dear's aunt's salon. then we went to town for pre christmas shopping and i got myself a polo, a belt and a pair of jeans. dear got two dresses, a belt and a sling bag. damage? two hundred and seventy two bucks. satisfaction? priceless. don't get it wrong, we planned for it. it's supposed to be my treat to dear. each of us would be allocated a hundred bucks to shop for whatever we want. does it hurt? well, not at all. *smile* ladies would reckon.

merry christmas! ho! ho! ho!

mini review of toyota corolla axio

this is japan's top car maker. it makes cars just as fast as you would drink a glass of water. many of it's cars earned top accolades. it is none other than TOYOTA. and this is its latest creation. it spans ten generations and over its past glories, it is still TOYOTA's best selling model. it is the COROLLA. and in this life, it has been given a revitalized name "AXIO".

here it is:






i am no fan of toyota, honestly. i marvel at their engineering ingenuity of creating quality cars with good performance. basically, that's it. this car, without doubts, carries on the tradition of TOYOTA. having driven this car, i give my honest opinion:

1. handling
this a big car with a relatively small engine. weighing about 1.1 ton and propelling forward by a 1.5-litre engine, engaging corners tends to be a little harsh. oversteer is apparent, most probably due to the car's small set of wheels. the wheels are only R14. steering is sharp but not as precise as i had expected. one qualm i had while driving this car is its ultra-light steering. it makes me feel insecure

2. ride comfort
cabin is quiet and wind noise is minimal. engine note is noticeably harsh when push to around 2 to 3 thousand mark. as there is no technometer, i couldn't tell the exact rpm

3. engine
you can't go wrong with TOYOTA's patented VVTi engines. it's main strength is fuel-saving. at about 14km/l, it is one of the most frugal oil sipper around. its engine capacity also attributed to the figure. performance wise, it is not unsatisfactory. it has 110 horses pushing it forward and 140 newton metre of torque getting it up from stand-still.

4. looks
as with the previous generation COROLLA (G9), the body is tall and wide. although the AXIO is now more streamlined, it is still wide, in my opinion. i feel the same difficulty in driving the car because forward view is neither of SUV-typed nor a van-typed i.e. high sitting position resulting in better frontal viewing. in short, the views in front are rather obstructed. as with all TOYOTA cars, it does not score well in this department. however, i admit it still look better than the its predecessor. and with a set of body kit (there i go again), it will definitely look even better.

what i like about the car is its ride comfort. it performs well under various conditions.

what i don't like about this car of my sis's is the lack of technometer, small rims and as i had just found out, the use of electric-powered radiator fan! oh, not forgetting the use of plastic dip-stick! my dad would second that too!

overall, i would give a rating of 7/10.

well, ultimately, this is a good car (because it is a TOYOTA).

Ah Mei Concert

yo! been away for quite some time.. ya, i know, i know... it's always about work, study and the usual stuff (if you know what i mean). anyway, zhang hui mei's concert is fantastic! it's worth every cent spent. i tell you, it's good. very good. ok, that's it. will be posting about ah mei's concert in detail soon. got to go now. work @ 830 later.. ciaoz.

mini review of lg kg270

today, i am reviewing a lg's low-end mobile phone. it's the kg270.

lg kg270

backlight on

here are the screen shots of the menus.

i've been using the kg270 mobile phone for over a month now. the only reason that made me buy this phone is its price and also becaue i need a non-camera mobile phone. i got it for sixty-eight bucks without mobile plan contract. not a bad deal, actually. however, usability is a big problem.

1) messaging

it has t9 and messaging feels very much like nokia's. i.e. pressing the '0' inputs a space. we all know nokia has the best messaging implementation and that is mostly attributed to t9 and the arrangement of the keys. i'm sure all lg mobile phones have the same implementations as nokia's. however, i feel lg's is not as refine or its software is buggy.

i'll illustrate,. supposedly, you need to type the time '12.30'. on this lg, you would press, on the keypad, '1' -> navi pad 'up' to get to '1' first. then, you press '2' and press 'up' to get '2'. after that, you press '*' to select '.' from the symbols menu or just hit '1' to get '.'. for '0', you first have to change the input type to numbers before pressing '0' on the keypad to get '0'.

annoying? i bet.

on a well-implemented messaging system like nokia's and sonyericsson's, all you need to do to input the time is to press and hold the number keypads to get the numbers. unfortunately, it's not the case here with the lg.

2) phone calls

basically, calls got dropped and receiving parties usually could not hear properly from the caller. it's reminiscent of conversing using signal sets.

3) stiff buttons

as this is a budget phone, the materials used in the construction of the phone are usually of low quality. messaging on the lg270 can be a daunting task. the buttons are simply too stiff and unresponsive.

of course, the lg270 has its plus points. at least it has a radio function which pretty comes standard with a budget phone. secondly, it functions well without any hardware glitches.

honestly, i would not recommend this phone. there are better budget phones like the nokia 6030. lg is just does not work for me. i call it "lousy gadget" ("life's good")...