Gosh... I am so dead beat today. Suppose to post this thoughts last night, but came home had my dinner n took a nap. Next time I knew, it's already almost 12 midnight. So here I am, unable to sleep, waiting for the live telecast of the UEFA Champions League final, posting this.

Our work project is running out of time. Hence to save some time, I have to be at the production line at 6.30am, which is the time the line starts, to do a quick programming of the 2nd prototype units to ensure everything is working fine. Hence I have to wake up at 5am to get to office. I left my place at 6am with the sky still dark and the streets quiet. It reminds me my secondary school n poly days when I woke up early in the morning to be in school as early as possible. I really like this type of atmosphere. I like the dark, the silence, the serenity. That's why I like to stay up late if possible. Last time when I was staying with my family in Jurong, I will go downstairs in the middle of the time to the 7-11 store to buy a snack n a drink. Even though it might be dangerous, I will still go cause I am really love the atmosphere. It is so quiet, so peaceful. Walking in the dark gave me a sense of bravery and the serenity give me a peaceful mind, where I can forget all the problems I have in my mind. U know what can make this better, listening to really smooth songs, 过敏 by 杨丞林 is my favourite in this class at this momemt... Yeah, i sound crazy but sometimes we really this to escape from our hectic life.

Will the Real Guy Kewney Please Stand Up?

To think that even BBC, the famous news network, can make such a mistake. The news channel mistaken a cab driver waiting at the reception as a IT expert, invited for a live broadcast interview. Video of the interview can be found on YouTube

Read more about it:
Daily Mail
Timesonline

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

This is one of the funniest parody I have seen. Made using the movie "The Ten Commandments". Well done 2 the people who did this. Hahahaa



And the first video done by the same people - Must Watch Jaws. Haha

阿雅的最后一次主持<我猜>

So sad, 阿雅 is leaving <我猜> to go US for further studies. It's been ten years since she started hosting this popular variety show in Taiwan. Gonna miss her funny antics in the show. The show will never be the same without her. Below is her hosting the show for the final time.

Happy Mother's Day, Mum...

Today's is Mother's Day. My wife and me together with my sisters went to pay mum a visit. How time flies... Mum has passed away for more almost half a year. Usually this time of the year, we will go out as family to have a meal to celebrate Mother's Day for her. This time, it is totally different. We still misses her very much. Happy Mother's Day, Mum....

Up... up.... and away.....

Have been planning to take my wife to try this this ever since I saw the advertisement in Bugis around 2 months ago. Finally did it today. It is a great experience. The balloon goes up to a height around 40 stories high or 150m. The view up there is fantastic. The feeling up there is as if you are floating. But most of the time, I am worrying that my camera will drop off (killer litter :p) My fear of heights does not help too especially when the strong wind cause the cage to wobbly, whereby my legs dully follows :p. Click on the photo on the right to see more pictures.

All in all it is wonderful ride. It cost $23 per adult but thanks to my colleague, Kavitha, who gave me a 30% coupon, it cost $16.10 each for us. The coupon and brochure can be found below. Take note the coupon only valid till end of May.

A video of the view up there

Writing this post in office. Getting restless working here. I dun feel any satisfaction working here. Although our job title is software engineer, all we did are liasing with dfferent groups/teams, testing and integration work. Everything is just a process, tasks are completed by following a set of procedures. We hardly do any development work as those are restricted to the engineers in India and US. The worse thing is my job role is factory support engineer. hence other than when there is a factory production coming up, most of the time, I am just sitting here waiting for something to happen. To others, this is very good for them. But for me, I feel very guilty and useless seeing my colleagues slugging away at their work. To some, this is a very easy job, but not for me. I am more like a techincal guy, I prefer to do real work like programming, debugging and technical stuff. Anyway, i have told my wife I will try to stay here for one year and see how things goes. After that, if I still feel the same way, I think it is better that I moved on.

Did Americans made the right choice?

Anyone remember Al Gore? He was the Vice President to President Clinton and an active environmentalist. He was suppose to be the next US President until he lost the US presidental election to George Bush by the slimmest of votes. And everyone knows what happen next... 911 and the war on terrorism. Well now Al Gore, who still champaign on environmental issues, has just release a documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. The documentary report the truth on the damages we are doing to our planet and the consequences we are either facing or gonna face. After seeing the trailer, I wonder did Americans made the right choice in electing Bush as their president. I dun like tat guy at all. Look what he has done to our world! He is acting like a gung-ho american cowboy, going round picking up fights with anyone who are a bit threatening to the US. In the process, everybody have forgotten the real issue at hand; Our lovely planet is dying! This documentary is a definite must watch everyone to get ourselves focus on the the real task at hand.


The trailer can oso be seen at Youtube and Quicktime (Need quicktime to view)

Oh btw, lately I also saw the documentary, Loose Change. It is a conspiracy theory documentary which explore the truth behind 911. After seeing it, I develop a naggy suspicion that 911 is a plan by the Bush administration to gather the support it needed to justify its follow-up actions watever that may be, oil, world dominations... For them, the ends justify the means... If anyone remember, there's tis movie, The Long Kiss Goodnight, whereby CIA perform a terrorist act by planning a bomb, in order to get more fundings from the US congress. Talk about life mimicking art. Scary though indeed.

Here's comes challenger

Our ward is being contested for the upcoming Singapore Elections. So gotta go 2 the voting station on 6th May 2006. Tat's all I have to say cos we are not allowed to blog, podcast or publish anything that promotes a certain political view. Hence just to be safe, it is better not to write anything regarding to the election for the time being. Like Mr Brown say, "Remember, there is no broadband in prison".

Oh one side note, for my Singaporean friends who dunno, Polling Day is considered to be a public holiday. And as it is a Saturday, under Employment Act, we are entitled one day off regardless whether you are working or not (See point 3 here). So dun get con by your employer. ;)

My wife treat me at Stonegrill yesterday nite to celebrate my birthday. :D. Really enjoy the meal. I had the prime of the land (a large piece of beef) while my wife had the ocean's feast. We shared a portobello mushroom set. The food taste great and healthy as it is all cook in its own juices without any added fats or oils and completely in its natural favour. The service there is also very polite and helpful that they will advise you on cooking methods if you are a first timer. We also had a dessert, the big apple, which is apple strudel. It is not very sweet and light on the tummy. Plus two cups of lemon barley, the total damage is oni $66. :p One thing I need to comment is the portion is quite small but enough to just fill the tummy. :)

Finally.... 5 years in the making, i have finally completed the PC game, Red Alert 2. Yes I heard some of u out there complaining that this is a very old game. But u must understand that I have no choice. With work, dating and marriage commitments plus the occassional PC breakdown, I have delayed the completion of this game for too long. I glad I finally found enough time to finish it for both opposing sides in the game. Now shall I play the expansion game, Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge or move on to the next game on my long games-to-complete list? Hehehe...

Oh... Happy Birthday to me ;)

The silly things my dog can do

Woke up early in the morning at 7am to accompany my wife to work. Came back n guess what my silly dog did? He likes to bite magazines and newspaper whenever he's alone at home or nobody around. Never thought he is so bold today. The best part is when he saw me came back, he wanted to bark yet reluctant to open his mouth n let go of the paper. Click on picture to see a bigger n clearer photo...

Sometimes it's good to be bad

Happen to come across this video at You Tube. Done using video captures from one of my favourite n greatest game ever created, Halo. Totally rocks for me.
WARNING: Video contains vulgar languages. Hehehe

Traffic In India

Saw this posted on Mr Brown. Everybody is driving as if they have the right of way. Now I can fully appreciate my Indian friend, Iqbal's words when he say "If you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere in the world..." :D

P.S. Watch out for the white car coming out of the side road at the top right halfway thru the video.

Watch where u step

The weather getting chilly for the pass few weeks and snails starts to appear at my flat void deck area especially around the walkway. Everytime my wife n I walk along the walkway, we will make sure we dun step on any of the poor snails. These snails are so poor thing. Walk soooo slow across the path and when they are about to reach there, they are sqush by some blind idiots who step on them. Hence, nowadays whenever my wife n I walk along the walkway, we will pick up the snails n put them at the side of the walkway in the direction they are heading. I advise all my friends to do the same. It won't take u much time to just help a harmless animal. Be considerate to the animals/plants around us. After all they are part of the eco-system, which we depends on. It's not like we own this planet.

So... i'm back from outer space....

I love that song esp after hearing it sung by the alien pug dog in Men In Black 2. Hehehe. So i'm back from my Taiwan trip. Got tons of photos and stories to tell but very busy with work right now. Open my office email and there are so many problems popping up. Doing firefighting now. A quick post here before I dive right back to fighting fire. ;)

Finally upload my photos. But it is still not completed yet as there are somemore on my sister's digital camera. Click on the pic below to see

All Packed and Ready to Go

Woo Hoo, ready to go Taipei liao. This will be my first free and easy trip and the first that is planned by yours truly. My 2 sisters and father have went there as advance party yesterday to check the place out (More like they have leaves to burn while I can afford 5 days only). It will going to be a 5 days, shopping and eating and shopping mania. Well not almost, added some sight seeing for the sake of my father. Hehe. Well, below is my planned itinerary for the next 5 days. Watch out for my updates with photos when I get back.

Taipei Trip Itinerary
06/11 (thurs)
- Check In
- Go to Shilin Night Market. Take MRT from Ximen Station, change train at Taipei Main Station and get off at Jiantan Station (buy 500NT transit value card)

07/11 (fri)
Morning:
- Walk around Ximenting (XMT): Things to eat: Beef Noodle at Laodong, 三兄弟desert shop, Ah Zhong Mee Sua

Afternoon:
- Go to Zhongxiao dong road. Take MRT from Ximen and drop off at Zhongxiao Xinsheng). Walk along zhongxiao dong road.
- Can go to ZhongXiao DunHua MRT walk out at Exit 4 and eat at Jacky Wu’s Desert Shop – Tang Chao

Evening:
- Me arrive
- Walk to Huaxi NM. Take MRT to Shilin night market again. Things to eat: pepper buns, Ha Da Da Ji Pa. Smelly bean curds. Ice Monster type deserts

08/11 (sat)
Morning:
- Breakfast around XMT area.
- Go to LongShan Temple. Take MRT from Ximen to LongShan Station
- Go to CKS memorial hall see changing of guards (before 9pm and every hour). Take MRT to CKS Memorial Hall station via Taipei Main Station
- Go to SYS Memorial Hall. Take MRT to SYS Memorial Hall Station via Taipei Main Station

Afternoon:
- Take MRT to Taipei City Hall Station. Visit Taipei 101, New York New York, Warner Village and Shih Kong Mitsukoshi. Take free shuttle bus near the Taipei City Hall Station to Taipei101.

Evening
- Shop at Wufenpu (五分埔) wholesale area. After Singkong Mitsukoshi in Xinyi, Cross the road to Warner Village Bus Stop and take Bus 611 or 284 (184?) to Wufenpu about 7 mins away. You dont have to go to MRT (waste of time and a long walk). Wufenpu is good on weekends avoid going on a Monday.
- Walk to RaoHe Night Market
- Take train back from Songshan Railway Station after Raohe St NM to Taipei Main Station.

09/11 (sun)
Morning
- Walk around XMT as it is Sunday. Happening siah

Afternoon
- Go to Beitou for hotspring. Take MRT to Xinbeitou station via Taipei Main Station.
- Go Danshui. Take MRT to Danshui station. Visit YuReMaTou, Lover’s bridge and Fort Domingo. Things to eat: Ah Ma Tie Dan. Seafood

Evening
- Go to Taipei 101 to see night scene.
- Miramar Ferris Wheel
- Go back hotel then walk around XMT

10/11 (mon)
Morning:
- Set off at 8am
- Go to Shifen see waterfall. Go to Taipei Main Station. Take the train to Shifen and walk about 15-20 mins along the track and it will lead you to the waterfalls
- (九份) Take a train to Ruifang railway station. Go across the road and take bus 825 Ji Long Ke Yun toward Jinguashi (2.30pm slot to look for gold) direction and drop off at Jiufen. Things to eat: Tai Yang Bing
- Walk around Jiufeng and Ruifang- Talk bus back to Ruifang. Take Keelung bus to Keelung

Evening
- Go Keelung (基隆). MiaoKou (庙口) Night Market. Take bus back to Ruifang. Either take bus (GuoGuang) or Train back to Taipei
- If still have time, go shilin night market

11/11 (tue)
- Last minute shopping
- Walk around XMT.
- Go Zhongxiao dong road, go Taipei Main Station underground shopping.
- Go Bade road see PC stuff?
- Go longshan shopping area

Evening
- fly back to Singapore at 6pm

Juve knock out of Champions League

Sianz, read the news and found out Juventus is knock out of the Champions league by Arsenal. What the hell is wrong with Juventus? Every year they have the squad and the form to win the Champions League, yet they will falter at the knock-out stages. Is this some kind of curse to them? At the start of every season, they will show how good they are by steam rolling every opposition they meet and at the end of every season, they will be knock out of the Champions League competition NOT by a better team but by they own hands. This team should have won this quite a number of times over the past 10 years, but they only have two to show for. Worse still is the last time they won it is in 1995/1996 season through penalty kicks. Everytime when they have a chance they will stumble. Three finals i remember they have gone to and all three finals they failed to live up to their expectations.

1996/97: Juventus vs Borrussia Dortmund 1:3

Overwhelming favourite boasting Vieri, Del Piero and Zidane. What they do? The defence went to sleep that day and lost horribly.

1997/98: Juventus vs Real Madrid 0:1

Third consecutive final! Boasting Del Piero, Pippo Inzahgi, Zidane n Edgar Davids. Lost again. Real's Heirro on super form today but Juve's attack is like a mosquito bite. They attack n attack the whole nite n loss to a sucker punch from Real.

2002/03: Juventus vs AC Milan

Even without inspirational playmaker, Nedved, they have the guile n flair to beat AC Milan. Afterall, they play so well to beat Real Madrid's galaticos. Instead they play such boring football that day, that they themselves fell asleep during the resulting penalty shootout.

I just wish they will finally pull their socks up n win this years Italian League n do something about it next year. GO THE OLD LADY!

The last time Juve won the Champions League. It's been 10 years since.

Busy with work and planning the itinerary for my taipei trip. Feeling moody and tired for the past 2 days. Dun know what the heck is wrong with me. Just feel very tired and dun feel like doing anything. Sianz... feel like sleeping.

A friend email me this. I must say this is one heck of a resume...