The Good and Bad in Singapore Sporting History

A Salute to All Our Paralympians
Thank you for showing us that we can do itin the recently concluded Beijing Paralympics Games. Not by buying our way to the medals unlike some ping pong team that we bought. To me, you are the true Singaporean winners in this Olympic year.

Congratulations to Yip Pin Yu for winning one gold and one silver medal, while setting a world record in the another event. Congratulations to Laurentina for winning two bronze in the Equestrian event.

You all show show that even with their disabilities, you can achieve greatness if you work hard. RESPECT...


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Singapore F1 Trophy Revealed
The Singapore F1 grand prix is less than one week away and the winner's trophy is revealed today. My first reaction (actually... it's almost everyone's reaction) when we saw the Singapore F1 trophy is...

"WTF IS THAT!!!!"

That's the ugliest trophy I ever seen. Are you sure it is not a safety hazard? Guess the winner of the race will say this when he sees it.

"I'll take the win, thank you. But you can keep the trophy..." -_-"

We will be the laughing stock of the world. Once again, our "elite" government in their feeble attempt to "impress" the foreigners, have made us the joke of the town... again.... I can't imagine what will happen at the race in a fortnight time. Oh... let's not get me started on the race queens. Ouch....

Power of The Sun In Your Hands

What kind of sick mind would think of such gadgets?

Wicked Lasers have a torchlight that is so bright and powerful that it cause some serious burns if you are not careful. The user must be f@#king blind to need such a powerful torchlight.
[from NO BUNS NO LIFE]

Will It Ever Go Down?

Shucks man... public transport fare is going up again next month. This has become some sort like a yearly affair. The last time they raise it, they claim it is for the raising fuel cost. Now that fuel prices are starting to come down, shouldn't they lower fare price?

Noo.... if you ask that, you are not a Singaporean. Here, prices only goes up and never down. In this case, they come up with another crap excuse to raise it again. I wonder why they still called public transport when it seems like it is serving the interest of the shareholders than the public itself.

Whenever news that transport company is requesting a new fare increase to the Public Transport Council (PTC), it is a confirmed issue. People have started to learn that all these are just wayang action.

What Will Happen to Our Money?

The US market will wake up on Monday morning and walk into a financial nightmare. Two of its biggest financial firms have vanished.

The 158-year-old Lehman Brothers, the 4th largest US investment firm, has filed for bankruptcy. This is followed by news that Bank of America is buying Merril Lynch.

Merril Lynch? Hmm....Doesn't that sounds familiar, you might ask. Oh yes, isn't that the same bank that our beloved Temasek Holdings, who dump in US$4.4 billion in December last year and another US$3.4 billion in July citing, quote, "strong growth potential in the firm"? So, where's the FUCKING potential growth now?

With the buyover, we will not known what fate lies in store for Temasek's investment. Dun ask Temasek as it seems they themselves also unsure about it.

But one thing we know is with these latest news, the future of the world economy looks bleak. First, it's the fall of Bear Stearns, follow by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae early this month. This week is Lehman Brothers and Merril Lynch. Who knows whose next? When you see banks and financial institutions going bankrupt or being sold off, it means the shit has hit the fan.

All those economy slowdowns we are hearing/feeling are just the gentle breeze. The killer hurricane has just step in...

No Time to Game

Even though you see me rave about the latest games here, a check on my computer will surprise you. There is not a single game installed in it. No RTS, FPS or MMORPG (actually I dun play MMORPG).

Funny right?

Actually, it has nothing to do with my computer. Its hardware configuration can handle most of the games out there. The problem lies with the owner. My sisters will be shocked if they heard this but seems I have lost interest in playing games. I am used to be such a hardcore gamer. I used to stay up till early morning just to complete that extra one level.

I duno when this started. After I reach home from work, I have my dinner, shower, chat with Angie, it is already 10pm. I on the computer, do some web surfing and it's 11pm plus. Where got time to play game?

Really admire my colleagues, who have time to game as well as do their work. Where did they find all those time? Don’t tell me about time management. As I mentioned before, shit always happens whenever I've got a plan. How to play game like this?

Thai PM Selfpwned Himself

Wow, I'm on a roll, my third post today!

All the demonstrations, protests, riots and even a declaration of emergency can't get the Thai PM to step down. In the end, the guy is done in by his own cooking show.

Talk about selfpwned...

Geek's Talk
Selfpwned - To make a fool of oneself.

Another Reason to Stop Eating Fast Food.

Saw this posted at Sheylara's blog. At first, I took it with a pinch of salt. You know lah, there are so many urban legend hoax flying around these days, it is difficult to differentiate the real ones from the fakes...

That's is until I saw the pictures posted on EDMW... Eeyuuu...

Ok, another reason not to have fast food... Carl's Junior, anyone?

End of The World

Hurray! We are still alive. The powering up of the LHC did not destroy the world... Weee.....

Argh.... shucks.... now I have to go back to do my work...

P.S. For those who dun know what's going on (or suffering insomnia :P), read link below to know more
LHC is most definitely a ticking time bomb, or not
Totally Fictional Doomsday

Mooncakes

The mooncake festival is here again. Vendors have started to deliver mooncakes to my office as a good gesture (aka bribing :P) To avoid being seen as being cheapo, the vendors usually give out mooncakes from high class restaurant or hotels.

Although it is not the first time we have mooncakes, but they seems to be very tasty and makes you crave for more. I think either it is because they are good quality stuff or just that we have not had mooncakes for a long time since the last time we had mooncakes is... ah this time last year... -_-"

Anyway, my senses tells me it’s the latter.

A Special Cake for A Special Someone

It's Angie's Birthday tomorrow. I actually had a plan on how to celebrate her birthday tonight. But as I mention in the earlier post, things start to go wrong whenever I have a plan. So I have to improvise. Luckily though I have given her presents (Yes, plural) to her early this week.

It’s not that I wanted to give them to her so early. The presents are ordered online and meant to be a surprise. She just happens to see my email order in my Outlook. *Reminder to self: Never use Outlook to plan surprises...

She loved the ring and is ok with the earrings. I am just glad that she loved the presents.

Other than the gift, I have also order a cake for her to be delivered to our home. This is no any ordinary cake, but an UDON CAKE! I quietly collect the cake while she is in the bedroom and brought it before her. Imagine the surprise look on her face...

Ok, the udon looks more like maggi mee, which is one of the reasons why I select this design. Angie like to eat maggi mee too ;) Ya, I kinda damage the side of the “bowl” while bringing it in the room. Clumsy me... ^_^

Oh, we haven't try the cake. Angie dun want to destroy it so fast. She want to cut it on her actual birthday.

Planning for Failure

Ok, that’s it, I never gonna plan for anything ever again. Every time I do that, fate will conjure up something to fuck screw it all up. Getting real piss off with it. Is this some kind of sick joke someone up there is playing on me?

I dun understand. People keep saying we need to plan and manage ourselves to make the most out of our time. And how can I achieve that when the plan keeps getting ruin by some last minute incident?

Funny, things work out better if things are done randomly or on impulse. Argh....

A Visit to The Dentist

I have a dentist appointment today. Year end approaching, better claim my dental benefits first. *evil grin* I don’t want to lose my benefit because I can’t get a dental appointment like last year.

As usual, dental appointments are never on time. I waited for 45 mins from 7pm for my turn. I hate going to the dentist. The screeching sound of the dentist tool really drives me nuts. The thought of it now makes my whole body twitch.

Robocop Getting his Teeth Check

While sitting on the dentist chair having my teeth cleaned, this came to my mind. Why does one become a dentist? Everyday, you are face with smelly breath and see all those dirty teeth. Yucks...

I had a terrible time in office today. I keep looking at the clock wishing it would end quickly. Not that there are many things to do or tons of screwups pouring in. On the contrary, it is just like any normal day. Just feel very moody. Feel like everything is not going my way. Feel so sick n tired of the way my life is going. The assignment I am working on is a big headache and is making thing worse for me. Shit man, I hate this feeling. Why can't this be just a bad dream? Bleah....

My Eldest Sister is a Graduate Liao

Should have posted this last Friday but I am busy/lazy, depending on how u c it. ;)

Last Friday is my sister's convocation at SIM. As the convocation is in the morning and I am only able to take half-day leave, I only able to meet up with them after the ceremony. Anyway, there are only two tickets, so Jasmine and Father attend the convocation. Mum would be proud to see that my sis wearing the graduation gown.

After taking some photos around the campus, we went back to Jurong where Angie and I went for our weekly regular TCM consultation. Thankfully, the queue is not as crazy as Saturday. Still, we need to wait for slightly more than half an hour for our turn. As I did not bring the PSP, we pass time by taking silly photos of ourselves using my handphone frame feature. The patients must have thought that we are mad... ^_^

Later in the evening, the whole family went to Jurong Point for dinner at Ichiban Sushi. The way my father grab the sushi plates from the sushi converory belt is damn funny. He is so kan cheong like the sushi will run away like that... LOL It's a nice family dinner and I am so full that night. Burp....

COMEX is here.

The third round of the the Great Singapore IT Pasar Malam is here (The other 3 are Sitex, PC Show (-_-") and IT Show (-_-" x 2), we are so "creative" in naming IT exhibitions). This round is known as Comex. As usual it is going to held in Suntec Convention Centre, so expect Suntec to be cramp with people and pamphlets litter everywhere this weekend. Unless I need to get something, avoid that area if you can. I won't go to these shows during weekends. I rather forsake the discounts and price slash during the weekends having to shuffle and push my way around the crowd. The situation is not help when there are inconsiderate people pushing their baby pram in the limited space. Worse still, they along bring their wife, children, grandma and maid. MAID!!! WTF! What do they think this is? A family picnic?

But on second thought, this IS an IT pasar malam, and when words like "Sale" and "Free Gift" comes together, there are sure to be a lot of Singaporeans. Comparing with other tech shows in other countries, ours is a warehouse sale. Take Taipei's Computex, it showcase the latest products from leading tech companies, whereas ours are dominated by Sim Lim shops featuring staff standing on top of counters, yelling at the top of their voice on some gadget currently on sale now. It looks more like a fish market than an IT show. Even the most basic necessity for an IT show, we also failed badly. Yes, I am talking about the booth babes. Other than the Sony booth babes, others are so-so nia. So much so that some of the promoters are prettier than the so-called babes itself.

P.S. LL, need to go down to COMEX this weekend to get a thumb drive for my sister. Most probably will go right after the exhibition starts. my strategy: Go in, grab item, pay and get out....

一百万 (Ji Ba Ban)

In this times of economy downtime, this has become my favourite song especially after watching Money Not Enough 2

Woke up this morning at 7am but go back to sleep. End up waking up at 9am. Bad mistake! It is a mad dash to get myself ready and rush to work. No choice but to take a cab to work (ouch!). Luckily, by the time I got on the cab, it is 9.30am and I avoid having to pay the extra peak hour 30% surcharge. But still I have to spend $7 for the cab fare. By the time, I got into the office, it is 9.45am liao. Got to stay back today to make up the time. :( A bit of advice, never go back to sleep once you woke up and got out of bed. You will end up even more tired than before

Singapore Flyer + Fireworks

A friend of mine gave me 2 tickets to the Singapore Flyer for today. So Angie and I went there and have a ride up. We board the ride at around 7.45pm. The entire ride takes around 30 minutes and it provide a beautiful night view of the Singapore Central Business District. The view would be even nicer if it wasn't raining that day and the rain drops and condensation spoil the scenery. After the ride, we have a quick meal for dinner before we watch the fireworks display from the Singapore Flyer area.

Look! I'm On Singapore Daily!

Just did a quick check on Singapore Daily to see if there are any interesting blog entries to read before I go to bed and I spot something familiar in one of those in the list. Isn't that MY blog? Gee... how did I got up there? I always thought all those who appear on Singapore Daily are those well-known or active bloggers. But me??? Wow... it definitely caught me by surprise. No wonder there are so many comments in my Buying Our Own Olympic Medal post. Ok, I am a bit swah koo but just a screen capture for memories. Hehehe

It's a moody day for me. Just found out that another one of my colleague is leaving the company. Including him, a total of 8 people have left the company for the pastone year since I join. These do not include the ones being posted to medical department. The office nowadays is so quiet. I wonder is it that I am cursed. Wherever I go, the company surely will start to go downhill. Just when I thought I found a place with good team spirit and working environment, this has to happen. Sigh....

Mickey

Buying Our Own Olympic Medal

So, we won a silver medal at the Olympics after 48 years. Yes, I feel proud that "our" women table tennis team has put a mark in our sporting history. However, I would be even more proud have the success been achieved by a locally born, of Singapore parents Singaporean. The fact remains that almost the entire women table tennis team comprises of China-born naturalized players and the final looks like a match between China and its reserved team. It's one thing employing people of other nationalities to coach your national team; it's another in importing players wholesale from other countries to represent your country. I have nothing against the players and never once did I doubt their passion. It is the way our government over abuse the Foreign Sport Talent Scheme to achieve their goal of sporting excellence that disgust me.

That's the problem with our government policies. Always seeking the easy way out to success, thinking everything can be solve with money or numbers. Economy not good, raises the GST! Traffic jam, raise ERP prices! Not enough babies provide more bonuses. Population low, import more foreigners! Rather spending time and effort in finding and solving the root of the problem, all they can think of is to dump in more money and crunch more numbers. So now, we have relied on the system so much that we no longer put in any effort in developing our local sport scene. All money and efforts is channel in finding the next gold medal potential that is actually train and develop by other countries. So even if that sports person wins you something, it is actually success bought with money not develop by your own.

Updated: Thanks for all the comments posted. I am glad there are people out there who share my feelings. Only our thick-skin government have the ass in boasting the achievement. And to all those who keep comparing the players with our forefathers from China. Let me straighten this out, our ancestors are forced to come here to work and seek a better living for their family back in China. They are NOT invited nor paid to come here and definitely not here to represent Singapore to play table tennis. Furthermore, as I pointed in the post above, I have nothing against the players. Like the person who wrote the letter below, I just feel ashamed that our country have to stoop so low as to buy athletics to help us win medals.

China team No. 1 v China team No. 2? Too true

Mickey is Home

Finally Mickey came home. He must be scared stiff since he never leave the house without us. The people at the pet cremation center is kind enough to delivery his urn to us as soon as it is ready. His obituary is up.

We have started to experience life without him wandering around in the flat. Yesterday, when I came home, my first reaction is to look for him. It's only when I'm about to call out his name then I realize that he is no longer around.

Today, I am the last one to leave for office. Normally before I go out, I will give Mickey a pat on his head and he will sit near the door and watch me leave. No sad face to see me out today. Still miss the cute little baby a lot...

Mickey is such a loyal and wonderful dog. When he left us, he still leave a gift for us. Too bad we are too grieve to take note.

My father-in-law ask for Mickey's dog tag number (099233) to buy 4D for this weekend draw. Then he check for Wednesday's draw result and realize it has already open. Hmm....

亲爱的Mickey怎么不在我身边

"我的亲爱的
你怎么不在我身边
一个人过一天 像过一年
海的那一边
乌云一整片
我很想为了你快乐一点
可是亲爱的
你怎么 不在身边"
亲爱的你怎么不在我身边 - 江美琪

I look around everything still the same

Must be my mind playing me games
Inside the room where you usually sleeps
Staring the space, I gently weeps
Sounds of your footsteps are no longer there

Met with a silence that echoes in the air
I ask myself if we did the right thing
Consider the pain you're in, it's best for you we think
Knowing that you won't suffer anymore
Enter a place where you'll be happier than before
You will be missed and always be in our heart, boy....

Goodbye Mickey.....

Our beloved Mickey have left us. Last night, the vet has confirmed that Mickey has contracted cancer. Chances of recovery with treatment are low. He did not eat anything these days. He is so weak that he can hardly stand up. Within this few days, he has gone down from 5kg to a mere 3.8kg. Seeing him in so much suffering really hurt us all. So we reluctantly decided to put him to sleep to ease all his suffering. We all have a hard time sleeping last night knowing what will happen today. Even though we tried to put up a brave front, deep down inside we are filled with sadness and sorrow. The little fellow has been with Angie's family since he is a puppy. He is going to be 15 this coming November. He is an intricate part of the family. Now suddenly he is no longer here. When we come home, there will be no one wagging his tail to greet us. When we eat fruits, there will be no one staring at us. Even though his smell still lingers, The spots where he sleeps are empty. Thank you Mickey for all the wonderful memories and laughter you have given us. We will miss you greatly...

V for Vendetta

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people" V in V for Vendetta 2005)

Finally found the time to watch the movie "V for Vendetta" without skipping through it. There is a sense of familiarity from the movie. The movie is about a totalitarian government in control of England. Everything that deem as a threat to the government power are either removed or ban. Everyone is expected to be absolute obedient to what the government breaches. And fear is a tool the government use to keep the citizens in line. (Hmm... sounds familiar)

Happy National Day?

It's National Day today, let's play a game. Look at the picture. How many Singapore flag can you spot?

The answer is a pathetic one. This is actually a photo of my block and this scene does not occur only at my place but everywhere in Singapore. Even though it is our country's birthday, not many bother to hang their flags (me included). Reason being? People are getting frustrated with the raising cost of everything. The people are getting sick and piss off that we are often the ones who have to sacrifice in the name of globalization and world recognition. Not that we dun love our country and are not patriots. It is just that with the tough laws on protest and demonstrations, this is our only avenue to voice our displeasure on the situation the government has put us in today. But I doubt our leaders will notice it anyway since they are too farsighted to see the problems in the people.

My friend working in town council told me that they are "kind" enough to hang the flags "on behalf of the residence" especially for those blocks along main roads. That's the problem with our country and government attitude. They only want to see the polished image on the surface, covering the problems and frustrations beneath it.

Mickey just came back from the vet. The vet diagnose that the lumps on his body may be cancerous. It can only be confirmed when the biopsy test is back. If it really is cancer, he may have to go through dog chemotherapy (Dun laugh! This is serious!). According to the vet, if it is really cancer, from the looks of the lumps, it is in the 4th of 5 stages. This is really worrying for us. We are debating whether to let him go through the treatment if test result is not good. I for one will object it after seeing my Pomeranian, Jesse, die from surgery because we listen to the vet in going through the treatment. Furthermore, the vet says the probability of him recovery is 20% and most of the time, the cancer will relapse a few months after recovery. I thought then what’s the point in making him go through all the suffering and end up back at square one. Might as well show him more concern and keep him happy by feeding all the food he likes to eat. In the meantime, we try to let him eat more meat and vegetables to help him regain his strength. He looks so sad and weak lately especially today when he look at me leaving for work. The poor old prince...

Imagine A Football Match Without The Referee

The English Football Association (FA) new respect for referee's campaign video.

Truth Be Told <<真相>>

Just watch this local production on Central. Saw the interview on TV on 早安您好 last year and wonder when and where it would be shown. I didn't even know it was shown in theaters somewhere in October last year. As usual, since it is a local production (not from a certain Jack), it lasted barely for a month in the theaters.

It was a pretty nice show fill with mystery. Another nice aspect of the show is it is film in the old Bukit Ho Swee estate, where many elderly folks stay in 1 or 2 rooms flats. It tells the social issue of how our society, like the female lead, in the pursuit of fame and wealth, have forgotten and left behind the older generations. To us, these old folks are just a bunch of smelly, dirty and unwanted part of our society that is best to be left alone. The dark corridors really reflect the elderly folks' loneliness as they walk down the final part of their life journey. A really nice show I must say.

P.S. Kudos to Louis Lim for his role of a civil servant. Really spot on in his
portrayal.

Review

Teaser


Trailer

Went to fetch Angie from work today ended up having a fight with her because of some miscommunications on where to pick her up. I really cannot control my anger and every time Angie have to be the one who have to face it. I feel very bad and guilty for my behavior. Must learn to control it. Sorry darling...

Creative Translation

Went with my friend, Alex, to watch The Dark Knight last Tuesday. Solid show with a great story line. There's this scene where the Joker is talking to the mafia bosses saying, "Did your balls drop off?". And the chinese subtitle read, "你们的LP掉了吗?" Nuff said...

《钱不够用2》 - 请关掉电话 Please switch off your mobile

A funny reminder for the inconsiderate people out there. Still, I believe some will not listen...

Dedicated to Angie

Temasak Holding Sells Merril Lynch Shares

I seldom rants about the Singapore government these day. It doesn't mean that I am afraid of getting arrested. Just that I have grow tired of their nonsense and have totally given up on them. That is until I saw this on the web today. My first reaction is "WTF! We told you so, didn’t we?" Well done, Temasek Holding. Just like that, $1.48 billions gone. Billions leh, not millions... And selling the shares 6 months buying them is not my idea of the supposed "long term" investment the government proclaims at that time. So whose fault is it now? Will we get to see a certain PM's wife head roll for this? I doubt so...

Edited: Ok, my mistake on this one. The news have affected my judgment. Level 13 Financial claims that there are doubts about the truth in this news.

"Before you come to the conclusion that Temasek has made a lousy investment decision which has resulted in losses, it seems like nobody can verify on the accuracy of this news. According to the Mutual Fund Facts website, they have sold off 50% of their stake. That means at the start, Temasek should own about 174 million shares. However, I am inclined to think that this piece of news is untrue. The numbers simply do not add up. I did a simple search online and found the following:

On 3rd Jan 2008, in a 13G filing on Merrill Lynch, Temasek Holdings disclosed that they hold a 9.4% stake, or 91,666,666 shares, in the investment bank. In December, Merrill, hit with massive write-downs due to the submprime debacle, said they would raise up to $6.2 billion in a deal with Temasek Holdings and Davis Selected Advisors. Under the plan, Temasek Holdings was to invest $4.4 billion in Merrill Lynch common stock, with an option to purchase an additional $600 million of Merrill Lynch common stock by March 28, 2008. Under the deal, Temasek's ownership position will at all times be less than 10% of Merrill Lynch's outstanding shares. Temasek made the initial investment of $4.4 billion at $48 per share (91,666,666 shares). Temasek has an option to buy an additional 12,500,000 shares, also at $48.

Currently, Merrill Lynch's share price is hovering at around US$34. So assuming Temasek exercises the option to increase its stake, the extra $600 million will net another 19 million shares. Taking into consideration that Temasek has bought an additional 12.5 million shares at US$48, the total amount of shares it is holding should be in the region of 123.5 million (92+19+12.5).

How did Mutual Fund Facts website get 174 million??????? Never take news report at face value. Always double check."

The State of Our Society

Sometimes I am totally disgrace by the behavior of my fellow countrymen. Took the train home the other night. The train is quite crowded and most of the seats are taken. But then I notice there is an empty seat among the crowd. There are 2 persons standing in front of the seat but they dun seem to be interested in it. So I walk up to the seat and realize that there are a few drops of dirty water on it. Other than that, the seat and its surrounding area look perfectly fine. At that point of time, my first thoughts are Singaporeans are so selfish and lazy. Just because this seat is a bit dirty, people rather stand than bother to clean it. So I took out a tissue to wipe away the water, keep the dirty tissue in my bag and sit down. All these while, everyone on the train is looking at what I am doing with curiosity. I dun understand what is the big deal in this? Everyone only knows how to complain when they see something they dun like or things are inconvenient to them. But do they do anything about it? This entire episode reminds me of The Stone in the Road story. All this is how our society is becoming; A bunch of whining, lazy and selfish people who thought only of themselves, expecting everything to be prepared swee-swee for them.

Electronics Nightmare Part II

Shit... my bad luck with computers continues. My home computer got some funny behavior last nite. The desktop keeps flashing on and off. Turns out that it kenna virus. Wah liao, first time my home computer kenna virus. A super virus some more that ordinary anti-virus won't able to detect, let alone clean it. Have to download a special program to do it. Hope it will fix the problem. I don't want to reformat my hard disk again so soon...

Electronics Nightmare

Damn sway these days with electronics stuff. It started with my hand phone by freezing up for no reason. The only way to resolve this is to remove the battery, but after a while it will hang again. I realize the hang issue is due to the memory card. Every time the hand phone tries to access some files on the memory card will cause it to hang. So my hand phone now does not have a memory card to store my music and photos.

Next up is my home PC. The bugger all of the sudden decide to reset itself occasionally. It became so irritating that I have to reformat and reinstall the entire Windows. In the end, the problem still persists but not as often.

And just when you thought it is safe, the office PC got corrupt when I used it to test on my project. The performance slows down till it a Pentium 3 also work faster than it. So I have no choice but to reformat (again...) the PC. As if the nightmare is not over yet, my damn IT admin call up and say I can't reformat my PC and sign to the company network like this. Did something to the PC and remove my administrator rights. Now I can't install new software, move/delete files as I like and even backup my hard disk without invoking the administrator rights needed dialog box! How the hell am I supposed to work with so much restriction? Stupid IT people. I am thinking of reformatting the PC again without letting them know about it. I swear if I get the chance to reinstall my PC ever again, I won't let the IT people anywhere near it.

Updated: Manage to get the IT people to enable a local admin account on my office PC. Now I can activate the recovery software to reformat/reinstall everything. *evil grin*

Monday Blues

Sigh... It's another start of the new week again. The weekend came and left so fast, as if it didn't happen at all. More feature requests from our customer to implement into their project. Have to continue installing software into my office PC as I somehow corrupt the system last week and have to reformat the hard disk. My colleague's wedding coming up this Saturday and I have to attend (Argh... red bomb!). So many things on my mind now. To make matter worse, stupid damn itch bother me so much last night that I did not have a good night sleep. Sigh... Monday only and I am so lethargic already. Yawn...

Duck Tours

Redeem my OCBC credit card points for 2 adult Duck Tours the other day and gave Angie a surprise by bringing her there today. As our trip starts at 3pm, we went for lunch at Hotpot Culture. We had porridge buffet and one hotpot set. The porridge buffet is not bad with a wide variety of dishes to select. Price wise, it was quite reasonable and a nice place for gatherings

After our lunch, we shop around Marina Square to digest our lunch before heading for the duck tour gathering area. The tour is quite fun but due to the National Day Parade rehearsal in the evening, the boat trip part is changed and we are not allowed to enter the Marina Bay area, which is a disappointment for us. The trip is an eye-opener as we get to know more about Singapore heritage, learning something new about our country's history. The trip is quite entertaining for us, but an hour pass by quickly

After we got of the tour, we actually wanted to catch a movie. Sadly, Angie is a bit tired and afraid that she may fall asleep in the cinema, so we skip the idea. We wonder around Suntec before ending up having steamboat buffet (Again??!!) at the Suntec Convention Hall there. (Having steamboat is Angie's idea, she is a steamboat junkie :P)

Upcoming Games Seen @ E3

Well, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), the annual trade show where the computer and video games industry show off their latest and hottest games is here again. Here are some that caught my eye.

Fatal Frame 4
Yes, the grandmaster of horror games is back for the 4th time. FEAR and Doom3 (I completed both, play most of the time at night) is nothing compared to this. Man, I once play the Fatal Frame 1 at my friend place on the PS2 IN THE DAY. I tell you, I quit after playing for 15 mins. The music and the eeriness really gets into you. In addition, the force feedback vibration on the game pad whenever a ghost is about to appear will multiply the fear. When you want horror, no one does it better than the Japanese.



Gears of War 2
"I have a rendezvous with death, and I shall not fail that rendezvous."
Been waiting for the sequel of this game ever since I completed the first one on the PC, and it doesn't disappoint. Only letdown is it will be release on Xbox360 first. When it will be release on the PC (or will it?) is unknown. :(



Dead Space
Big space ship floating in space with unknown horrors lurking in it. Reminds me of Alien/Event Horizon. *tremble*


Other worthy mention: Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3

No idea what 4D number to buy this weekend?

Visit Huat.sg

More Accidents Thanks to ERP

"The most dreadful thing a driver can see on a Singapore road these days is not an accident." - Traxtoratore

For the past few months, the number of accident along the CTE especially near Braddel Road exit there (Read: ERP Gantry) has increased. Most of the reason being that drivers emergency brake their vehicle to insert their cash card into their In-Vehicle Unit (IU) when they realize as they approached the ERP gantry that it is in operation. I don't understand the mentality of these people. They rather risk their life, the lives of others as well as damages to their vehicle just to save on the fine ($8 IIRC) when passing thru the gantry with no cash card in the IU. The cost of damages in case of a pile up is much more than the fine. To these people, their lives are cheaper than the fine. The most frustrating thing is most of the thing, the culprit who jams his brake to insert cash card will get away with it. It's the ones behind that kenna all the collisions. Some still can insist that it is not their fault. These people really need to be cane for their actions since deducting points and fines will not deter them.

A Trip Down Memory Lane: Kallang Roar

Saw a Milo ad at the bus stop promoting the Kallang Roar. I thought to myself, what Kallang Roar? The Kallang stadium is going to be demolished and even if it is still there, Singaporeans are no longer interested in the national football team. I still remember my secondary school days when I follow the national team (not the actual national team since there are 3 foreigners in it, but the rest of the team is more or less the national team members) matches in the Malaysia Cup. The entire nation follows the team exploits, how we wept when we lost to Kedah in 1990 and how we rejoice when we won the League and Cup Double in 1994. Even now, I still remember the names of every player in the first team. What about the team now? I hardly recognize any player in the team. Like the Singapore society and our table tennis team, the current national team is slowly filled with foreign talents, neutralize as Singaporeans. Even though the current team did win major titles like the regional Asean Championship, it did not garner the same amount of support as the 1994 team. The team no longer has the same Lions spirit and respect as the 90s team. With the lack of interest and excitement in the S-League, Singaporeans starts to move away from supporting local football and the Kallang Roar, once feared in South East Asian, has becomes nothing more than a kitten meow nowadays.

The 1994 Singapore Team
David Lim - GK
Kadir Yahaya - LB
Borhan Abu Sama - RB
Lim Tong Hai - CB (Who can forget his 2 famous own goals)
Jang Jung - CB

Malek Awab - CM
Nazri Nasir - CM
Lee Man Hon - LM
Sundramorthy - Winger (Our Ryan Giggs?)

Fandi Ahmad - S (This one cannot miss)
Abbas Saad - Fwd (Singapore's Cantona)

Subs
Steven Tan (Singapore's Ole Gunnar Solskjær)
Saswadimata Dasuki
Rafi Ali
V Selveraj

Problems at Man Utd...

Wah liao, it seems like wining the EPL and European Cup double is putting a curse on Manchester United. Firstly, Ronaldo is hitting at wanting to leave to join Real Madrid (no thanks to Real dirty tactics in using the media to tempt the player). Now, our assistant manager, Carlos Queiroz has left the club to manage the Portugal National Team. IMO, losing Carlos is a big blow to Man Utd. He is the man who masterminds the tactics and the contact for bringing in Nani and Anderson last year. With him gone, I worried will we able to retain both our titles especially with the fate of Ronaldo still undecided. Let's hope Sir Alex will bring in a capable replacement, no Brian McClair please...

An ex-GES colleague of mine went back to GES. It then strike me that I have been in Venture for more than 1 year. Surprisingly is that it's my first job since leaving GES that I have stay for more than a year. For reasons beyond my control, the positions I took up are all shortlived.

After leaving GES, I join Flextronics and they closed down my department after 6 months. Motorola steps in and took in most of the retracted Flextronics staff. Thought my career will be laid out in Moto and turns out that the work they do there are really not suitable for me. After 11 months there, I jump ship when an ex-colleague of mine persuaded me to join him at Intrinsyc.

Thought I made a step up, good pay, good working hours and wonderful colleagues but good times dun last long. 3 months later, Intrinsyc decided to close down the Singapore office and move to Taipei. As I dun want to move to another country, I end up at Venture.

Flowers For My Baby

Bought a bouquet of flowers for Angie today. Thought to myself, it's been some time since I bought flowers for her plus she is a bit down lately. So I thought I give her a surprise and cheer her up.

Empty Promises

So the leaders of the group of 8 major powers have agreed on reducing the global carbon emissions by half by 2050. But read closely and you will realize another round of empty promises and as an environmentalist puts it "flowery words". What the leaders promise is that they "share a vision", as in they agreed something have to be done, but doing it is another matter. Furthermore, look at the date. 2050. At the rate we are destroying our environment; I dun even think we can reach 2030 let alone 2050. All these NATO (No Action Talk Only) is just to make them look good. Being green is the in-style statement now; people just want to be "IN". Whether they really help in saving our environment is another matter.

Seats or Sleepy Armpits?

One thing I like my current workplace is that it is not in the town area. Thank god I dun have to squeeze like a sardine every morning smelling other's armpits to work. For all their claims being world class, our public transport especially the SMRT is no where near that. Today SBS Bus service introduce a new peak-hour bus service that runs along the southbound section of the North-South-East-West MRT line. Their reasons is that it will help to ease the train passenger load. I dunno which idiot came out with this idea, but what makes you think it will achieve that. Even though the cost of the ride is same as an MRT ride, the entire ride take, read this, AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES!!!! So in order to avoid squeezing with the crowd n have a seat of my own, I have to wake up earlier to catch the bus so that I won't be late for work plus risk getting a splitting headache from the long bus ride? Are they mad? Given a choice, I would rather sleep later and take my chances with the sleepy armpits...

And Here We Go!

Wow, it's been more than 3 months since I last updated my blog. Some people must be wondering what happen to me after my HK trip? (as if a lot of people read my blog :P) Well, I got lazy, dun have the mood nor drive to do anything. Put off a lot of things that I wanted to do. Then I started thinking, tell myself not to be like this. Just need to take the first step. Now finally I have taken my first step, hope it gave me the momentum to continue moving forward. C'est Parti!

Family Shanghai / Jiangnan Trip

Together with my uncle and my family, we went for a 8 days Shanghai / Jiangnan trip from 8th - 15th June. Too many things happen to even write them here. Just show some photos taken while we are there

Damn, realize my favorite map search website www.can.com.sg has changed. Oh well, time to find another, their bus stops data also din update at all after repeat complaining. Nope, I never like StreetDirectory.com. Found one in Singapore Land Authority (SLA) Map Service