2006 week 1 = New Year + Yan Jun Bday + 15th sc Chalet

Indeed, the first week of 2006 was one of the busiest one for me.


Let me start with the first day of the year. I had never spent a night outside doing count down before, so with the recommandation of derrick, me him and dom had a small small outing by going to ECP to watch fireworks -- both the one from town, and those shot off by ships on the sea (some maritime tradition of shooting the SOS flare on midnight)

...And we miss out the entire thing. There're delays in public transport (derrick and dom was coming from suntec), When i finally got to pick them up and we rushed down to ECP area, it was already 15mins to Midnight... And after all the jams along ECP service road and highway (great minds think alike, the world was there for fireworks at last minute too) we missed out the fireworks... sigh. No wonder the crowd was coming out as we was walking in.

But still, we still have our another "main dish" -- that's the fire sticks contributed by derrick. Of coz we had a fun time playing with them and taking photos....felt like a kid again.. haha... enjoy the pix below... they better describe the fun.


look closely... it's in an order of "0" and "6"


lighting them up carefully..


...and the joy filled child... ^-^


....Oooo...


.. trying to "write" 0 6 ..



(more at Yahoo album : NY 06 Fireworks)

p/s: When we completed and went ECP mac for a seat, Jinie came and joined us awhile too (She was hanging around outside with her friend, and just dont want to retreat home early) Ah, she's still as crappy in the new 2006.

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The very next day, it's Yan Jun 21st birthday celebration at her house.

She is a very fortunate girl... so fortunate that i can only say "wow" and "wow" at her birthday... why? First, perhaps as it's a 21st birthday, they did a Catering at her house (landed property, fyi) and invited many of her relatives and friends.

And it was pretty grand...the type of catering tells it all. Not only there's the row of tasty food (hey i like tat fried prawn) and a big Turkey sitting at a corner, there's this BBQ pit where the food are been cooked by the staff on the spot...

And of cos, that Chocolate Fountain.....whose thick chocolate smell tempts you from afar and makes you drool infront of it.... argg... Sinful sinful.. haha. So tempting that her dad was actually happy to repeat his demostration on "how-to-dip-a-strawberry-or-marshmallow-into-chocolate" repeatedly for us...haha...


.. fountain and turkey...yummy yummy..


*chocolate makes you happy*


Not forgetting the part on birthday song/cake too... As by that time we (friends) was in her "KTV room" singing with her, we was only been called out with her when everything was ready outside. And imagine, as she stepped out there's was chapping and cheering and the entire big crowd was just there right infront of her, gathered and to welcome her to her cake... OMG.... she's certainly like a Star that night...cheers for her ^-^



Happy 21st Birthday!!


(more at Yahoo album : Bday-Yan Jun 21st)

p/s: This is a small world. Yan Jun is shufang's JC first 3 months classmate (And a good friend since).. So i know her when thru shufang when she called her out one day. Then i realised Jinie is her current SIM school mate and Secondary school friend too (so of 'cos the entire group of kenneth, ling ling etc comes into the pix) And at this birthday, i ran into my Primary School-mate, Simon, Who was actually Yan jun NYJC classmate. Power.


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For the next few days (before the chalet) it was busy and busy... with work, and also me trying to find a car. Been browsing online and making phone calls during free time, until i found one..(more details later)

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Friday came along and it's my department's annual dinner. This year it's at Inter-continental hotel and with a very special theme "LIVE @ the studio".. So for the daring, you can dress up like any TV character from the name of the show that you had named your table. Thus, We saw some very interesting table theme, like the Shanghai Beach, CSI, God Father, Kong Fu Hustle, a Flintstone couple, and an entire table of pirates...haha... so animated.

Guess this year my Maritime section was also very luckily... Quite of number of us actually won the lucky draw prizes, especially our very own colleague who won the first prize of an overseas trip worth $700...And me too, hehe...12th prize, an Adidas Watch.. ^-^

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Finally, the day of came. 7th Jan 2006, 15th SC Chalet ...A long day it was.


First thing in the morning was to go to SIM and apply for my degree course, with shufang. Well, since i had gotten a car, as might well i utilise her fully, hence the trip down to clementi road. Finding the way down there wasnt hard, and after doing all the admin stuff and queuing for payment, the application was all done.

Spent some time exploring my hopeful-future school. A nice place i have to say, with a garden in the centre of the Building...and a big study area in the library too...foresee that i will be spending my time there to do work (if i got in)


Next, preparation for the chalet begins. Now the time flies from here onwards.. Once me and shufang pick up dom and weiting, we went to the supermarket to do our purchase, after which to Marine Parade pick up Derrick, then to Kembangan to pick the Satay/Otah, and to the chalet (Aloha loyang)

Poor dom, she was actually sick for the day, but yet not only she came out, she even did the purchase and stuff... And despite her hunger, she wasnt requesting to eat, until we (esp weiting) forced her to buy some food along the way (we paused at Siglap Shell Kiosk) ...After taking the food and the medicine in car, only then she rested for the moment..

Finally we reached Aloha Loyang (Garden Terrace D). As shufang settled the check in procedures, i dropped them and all the stuff, and off i went again, to Heartland to pick Kathy jinie and kent (and his bee hoon) ...No problem here, only that the smell of Bee Hoon was filling up the entire car and making the hungry us hungry-er.. haha..

Reached the chalet (again) and shortly, we started the fire....and soon, it rained.. Emergency plan was excuted: few of us to lift the trash bag to act as a shelter while the other continued to start fire...haha...although we were wet, alot of fun comments/things happened too... ^-^

Gradually more people came and more food was ready, and people settled down... This was the time that i'm really so heart-warmed to see more than half of 15th SC back together and interacting with one another...Not forgetting when Mr Ong and Ms ong arrived...i still can feel the small "cheers" as they came in.


Beginning of BBQ


...middle of BBQ...still quite wet.


Group photo before IZ got to leave us


derrick, me and ms ong!


the staller owner and 2 tv host..haa...


And quickly time passed....to the time when some of us have to leave. Another big group photo, and a strong "Yam Seng" concluded the first half of the chalet...


all together, once more


...yam seng!...


As i have to make a trip back sengkang and home, when i came back they had already wrapped up on the BBQ and settled in the house. Finally a time to relax..hee. For this 2nd half we had a great time playing all sort of stuff.. from the Daidee that i had created a big joke out of it (*shh...*) to the hiliarous "7-level pig" to all the funny shots we took....


...can win or not?


...this what you do at 530am...


...and at 530am jay is normal...


...gals power!


...charlie angels??


...and all of us, with a Big Smile


arh, until the time i lied down then i realised it was already 6.30am..

Shut my eyes, and in a short while it's morning, shufang had came back. Time to pack up and leave. And realised that for the time we slept the entire MRT exercise had taken place and finished..,haha...that's how fast it was.

Went for breakfast and sent some of them back home...Wah, on the way to shufang hostel i nearly fall asleep on the wheel... luckily i can get some rest at her hall...



This is the Chalet.. looked so forward to it but yet so short. hmmm...




p/s:

Thank you to...

DOM, kent and IZ... for planning together with me..

Shufang... for your many help in booking and checking in and out and the running of it..

Weiting and Dom.. for active purchase of items at boon keng, esp when dom is sick too.

Kent.... (or rather sorry) for that incident we had

Ben Jinie Soon Leong.... You guys was cooking continuously non-stop

Patrick.....for asking around and collection of money from everyone

Rui... for helping to drive to tampines after you saw my low petrol level

Alvyn...for your sms... please take care!

All of you..... that had came to support this chalet

...And anyone that i had left out..



(more at Yahoo album : Aloha chalet Jan06 (15th SC) )



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sideline

This time round i have to get a car as it just happened that we had some overseas relatives coming on the same weekend also. So i got this Mazda 323 1.6M for the weekend... but sigh, i shouldnt have done so...

...'cos now i missed the comfortable leather seats, that gearshift, all those electronics, that 10 CD changer...It too made my dad's van felt so powerless on expressway, a Corolla's handling so muted, and the previous Civic's steering so light... And that great service from the friendly owner really tempted me to get from him again...

argh. sorry ah shufang, i sort of like that car leh, after together for 249.1 km...haha...





ok la, it's just a car ok...


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1st Jan 2006 -- 8th Jan 2006

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Merry Christmas

well, once again my computer is down. So many thanks to shufang, for her kind loan of her laptop to me for the week, again... thanks sf.

I came to realise this... it's actually not a bad thing to celebrate christmas without a big gathering and any special event. Something small and simple is nice too..

This is how i spent my 25th dec. Me, derrick and dom went cycling at East Coast Park in the afternoon.

It was very nice, coz it was out of city area and away from the crowds... and i enjoyed the peaceful times when you are on the bike, with the sense of speed and the cool breeze on you...

And certainly the time the 3 of us spent on the Bedok Jetty... it was really such a long time since that we last had a nice chat and enjoying each other company.. not forgetting all the fun we had playing with the camera (photos to be uploaded at online album)

Dinner? A simple one at Parkway's Pasta Mania. 3 Pasta with 1 Pizza.... doesnt it sounds like what we all had during our old council days with all the other people, after school?

We walked around parkway after dinner.. And settled down at Mac again, for a nice chat again (a long one too, this time. So long that i caught one of the last few trains home.... ;p)

Wah, so tired when i touched home... but it doesnt matter, coz i had a really nice day.

(belated) Merry Christmas.

just 10 seconds too late

Tired tired tired..that's what i'm telling myself now.

My legs are aching... my brain is lagging... my knee hurts.

and i'm very sian too.

What happened?

i took an IPPT this morning, only.

And? Only 10sec slower on 2.4 run, and i will have to go back to the academy again for a full retest.

And and? As it's shifting end of the year, the next time when i'm going it would be all the way at chua chu kang...

argh.


haiz. nevermind lar. When i receive the email then i start to bother about the location again.


oh my lovely bed. you are so lovely when legs are aching.

p/s: sf, dont jealous ah.

.

sensible or timid?

thought of this after been with my colleagues for > 1 year..

Say when something doesnt goes in the way you expect, and you realised you had been "short-changed" by the management,

Eg: Pay scheme wasnt fair, thus you got slightly lesser money for the first month.

Would you :

1) Keep quiet, take note of the scheme and dont repeat the mistake next month?

2) Or complain and argue with the top/pay department, more for the principle rather than the money?


Thus,

Are those people who choose (1) are sensible people who knows that it's useless to fight with the top for something that's been in place for so long, and rather not to be "marked" by the top after arguing;

or simply timid people who would always be taken advantage of?

And, are those people who choose (2) are people with principles in life and would always speak up for themselves for what they deserve;

or simply people who have not seen the corporate world and think that the world is really so democratic?

(this is a different story from someone who fights as a customer/cilent.)


Well, after thinking, i still cant find an answer to this question in my mind...


And anyway, if you are curious, i'm the person who choose (1). so am i sensible or timid?

the power of termites

My office. Although is more than 30 years of age, but it's still a nice peaceful place, next to the sea and have a good city view.

Except that it does suffer from flood last time (i heard) during high tides period;

and now, termites. (maybe the humidity)

In this recent wave of attacks, wasted items are a new cabinet, a paper cutting board, and a game board. And not forgetting the time when they started to spray pesticide desperately, causing everyone having to move outside 'cos we really cant breathe inside..


Here are the 3 items:

The "hole" was all done by them.

and take a look at the amount of "dust"...

the cutting board:

Take note, the entire interior was empty. Had been all eaten up.

The drawer...

which was from this new cabinet.

now just sitting there to collect dust.

Even the thick door wasnt spared too:


Scary huh? Moral of story... must know how to keep our home pest free...

Luckily we are all changing to new furnitures when we are shifting to the new office in 3 months time... If we have to shift them and bring the pest over too.... argh. Cant imagine.

what a year, what a day...

Things really could be soo unexpected.

Just realised that i had visited 4 different hospital this year... First SGH for my colleague, then TTSH for my grandmother (that long post below), last week Changi hospital for a friend, and now, Derrick at KKH..

Initially the plan for last friday was to go back SR to visit the OGL camp. As i was about to set off from my house to pick up derrick from Pasir ris park, his mum called and informed that he had hospitalised, due to his fits attack.

Thus, after the visit at SR we went down to see derrick. Although he was very much stablised, i could tell that he looked plain and was very tired... my heart really sank..

Still quite worried, i visited him again on the next evening (sat) with Dom & IZ, and on sunday again, with shufang. The good thing is that he was getting better on each visit after another. Especially for sun, he was more energetic after he got off the bed and started walking around... Guess he could have lied down too much too..

Thankfully, he was discharged on monday, and currently is resting at home. Please take good care, derrick, and rest more!

----------

Sigh....from this i really how unexpected life can get. Someone could be ok this moment but something might just happen at the next. We really cannot take the people around us for granted and must cherish every time spent...

Further more, i felt for the parents too. For derrick's case, i can really tell how tired his parents are... all the rushing to and fro house & hospital and the worries... Further more, this is not the first time over the years too... Hope that they take care too...

And oh yes, how would i not forget his repeated "thanks for visiting" whenever we are there...If i'm not wrong he even went off to buy buns for us on sun....regrettedly i have to leave before he comes back 'cos i need to fetch my mum from work..

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

On lighter note, during the visit on sat Jasmine came down too, with her boyfriend. Certainly they brought joy along, from the humourous dialogs between she and dom; She even brought along a Kola Bear to keep Derrick company.. haha.. .And yes, they bought too 3,4 magazines for derrick, in case he's bored... From health to tv guide to automobile, all genres are covered..haha.

Jasmine ah, nice to see your boy oh... yandao eh.. hahah...

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p/s:
Regards the OGL camp we visited, what i can say is that the 18th council are very good. Not only all of them made it through their promo exams, spirit wise they are high for it too. Many actually remembered us (esp. dom and pearlyn) Respects to the president Isa too... Not only he was cool and stable (and definitely a good PR spokesmen) , his leadership and organisation skills lead the council well....despite that times are harder now with more activities to organise and to even take care of both council and the Student leaders team (something new) as well. Kudos to him.

Indeed it' was heartwarming to see the 18th. Reminded me alot of those days when we were the 15th council...

damn, i feel old.

this blog had just been "facelifted"

since i have some time today at home, i decided to give my blog a "new" face.

so, went online to check out the blog skins available.... dont seem to find any i like yet,

thus DIY again.

And was reminded of why i dont quite like computing last time.... alot alot of bugs~!!

haha... so finally... settled it more or less..

Hence, hope u guys like this new little facelift!!

Once again, if you see any problem or it appear very weirdly on your scree, drop me a email and i'll attend to it.

thanks~~!!

@ Orchard: it's a squeeze here + Xmas lightings

If you was listening to Power 98 FM on sat, you would had heard about the "latest" competition in town -- the super squeeze. And yup, i happened to be at orchard with shufang, and it's pretty interesting.

For the benefit of those in doubt, "Super Squeeze" is another squeeze-as-much-people-you-can-into-the-car-and-you-win competition, and in this case it's a very huge family car (Ssangyong Stavic, 9-seater) and $10,000 cash.

The team which i "watched" is Team number 3.. No. 1 had just completed, and No.2 had given up...coz no.1 had already done 43. wow.

Anyway please enjoy the pictures. Really envy these youngsters... First they could gather soo much friends for one occassion (40 over of them ok) and did it with soo much spirit n enthusiasm.. hhaah... and it''s not a great time inside too mind you... as i could see from the film of moisture that was "foaming" up on the windscreen, due to all the heat and sweat...haha..what a sight.





When the team was done and trying to come out, the staff was even needed to help to carry them out...


looks like carrying a body out of a crash..hee. ^_^"

and...this team squeezed in 46 person, 2 more than the previous team. Impressive... Anyway, told you the car was huge, too... haha..

hmm...if this team won, each person could take home $217.39... not too bad for all the sweat.


By the way if you are curious, this is the car:




They set up a roadshow next to it too, to promote this new model. Although, yes, it's sort of ugly (as quoted from a UK magazine: "massively ugly") but it's a really big car. Interior was made up of 4 rows of seats, and they seem to me to be like sofa seats...you get the picture.

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As night comes in, the christmas lights on Orchard road lit up. And this year's is pretty nice.

hmmm... really been such a long time since i walked along Orchard road with the Christmas lightings at night.

And don't know why, i was quite happy and delighted to see all the lights. Guess there's a kid in me..?

cheers.

the surprising journey of the LCD screen purchase

...a purchase of one LCD monitor would gimmie soo much "surprises".... 0_0

As the plan to buy the screen was fixed on sunday, saturday night was the only time left for me to surf the net and do all the necessary "research" (my usual practise), especially when i do not know almost everything about this technology (my knowledge was outdated...) So, with a self conducted crash course done, armed with all specifications, the model was fixed : the Samsung 713N seems to be the best choice, on paper.

On the next day, to Funan Mall, with shufang. Finding that model was easy, 'cos it was one of the most available model around.
First surprise : Price discounted to $439 and giving away a free gamer mouse worth $60. A country wide promotion bought to you by samsung, only for 19th & 20th Nov. Sweet.

Ok, i shall look around to confirm my choice. Everywhere is having the same promotion. And as i was about to buy, this poster strikes me... It's comparsion chart, which (surprise) shows LG and Philps screens lifespan are both 50,000hrs, while Samsung's is only 20,000hrs.. A huge difference mind you...while the LG is cheaper and Philips cost slightly more but have in-built USB point and Speakers.. Only that both contrast and brightness are lesser than Samsung. Off i went, to look around for the Philips to find it's spec and sample...

Until we realised this simple sum..:
Assuming we use the screen for 8 hours everyday (which is alot),
8 X 365 = 2920 hours for a year.
Therefore 20,000 / 2920 = 6.85 years.

....That's a nearly 7 years! Even if the thing wouldnt break by the 6th year i guess we would have upgraded it by then.... So i was nearly tricked by marketing gimmick again.. haha....

Thus, i bought the Samsung.

I chose this particular shop 'cos it was the only one that is selling at $429 for the black coloured model. A $10 discount, but in return that uncle doesnt seem to know about the product, or even the free mouse promotion. Hence i was really feeling insecured when he gave me the warranty card separately after he got to know that i have to present the warranty card at the redemption shop to collect the mouse. So i thought "that's means i wouldnt get the card if i didnt ask la?" Luckily...

Now the mouse. As the funan's redemption shop is closed, we went over to the Sim Lim Square's. When we finally found the shop, i have to actually look twice to be sure... it's a Photo developing Shop (surprise surprise)....huh? Didnt see any mouses around....only until i saw the promotion flyers on the counter which tells me i got the right place. Was explained by the lady that the mouse would be delivered to my house within a week, and the warranty card would be collected then too. ....Hmm... sounds new. But anyway, i just pen down my name and address... Since it's something from Samsung and even Challenger store have this promotion, guess it's should be safe...

I have watched too many Channel U current affairs shows... Had gotten too cautious to commercial stuff, i guess.

+ = + = + = + = + = + = + + = + = + = + = + = + = +

Later at home.
As i unpacked the monitor, then i realised that the warranty card is, first, not exactly for my this LCD model, and, i'm supposed to register online. hahaha.... So i guess that uncle is really not sure and i'm been scaring myself perhaps? ^-^.

And today at office.
My colleague heard from this wife (who works for Singtel Marketing dept) that for the upcoming Singtel roadshow at Orchard, they are using BLACK Samsung 713N LCDs too....and after this 2 days roadshow, they would be selling them off at $330.....arrggh.....that's $110 off! Totally surprised.....and, by the way, now she's tempted to buy one too.

+ = + = + = + = + = + = + + = + = + = + = + = + = +

Nevertheless, i'm enjoying the benefit of a LCD now ^-^
Easy on the eye, saving electricity, nice colour outputs, resolution of 1280x1024 gives me such a big windows desktop space, 8ms reaction speed gives me smooth and clear DVD videos..

and, of cos, the reduce on mess and increase of space on my table!!

yea...

how coincident can stuff gets? ;)

history:
My previous NEC 17" monitor had gave me a loyal service of 5 years, before it burnt out and call it a day, last year. As the ideal replacement was a LCD and un-ideally i'm short of cash, we got a 2nd hand monitor to pull on first.

fact:
and, Wednesday, after few months of usage, this monitor burnt out (again)

Grr...

So now, i really have to go to buy a LCD monitor.


So if you are wondering now: "then how am i typing this blog now?",

Coincidently, last sunday i helped shufang to drive her laptop back, 'cos on tuesday after her test, she would be moving back to sengkang for the holiday.

Now, plugging in my USB modem, her laptop became me and my sister's access to internet, temporarily.

This is really so conincident and lucky...heez. Especially right at the time when my sister's online orders are coming in, requiring her to do some online transactions..

and conveniently too, for me to do the mini research on LCDs on the web now.

Thanks ah, shufang ;)

motoring = marketing?

One night as me and my dad drove down ubi and passed by the Chevrolet showroom, he asked "ai? the brand came back? It was very common in singapore when i was young (1960s) ..! " Only after i told him that they were re-faced Daewoos, then he realise that they are not the chevys he used to know. In fact, most of them didnt even came from the US soil.

If you need a lesson on Marketing, General Motors (GM) would be a good company to learn from. After Daewoo folded and the president ran off, it was bought over by GM, the whole largest car maker. Brands under GM are: Chevrolet, Saab, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, hummer, Pontiac, Saturn, and a certain percentage of Subaru, Isuzu and suzuki. Immediately, GM rebadged all Daewoos in the world to be Chevrolets (except for Korea and Vietnam) and made chevolet to "re-enter" the asian pacific markets again.

This certainly had made the cars more "branded" immediately and got more comsumers interested. But despite all the advertising works and promotions, the cars still look so korean. In fact, most of them are still made in Korea. Better still, for the Optra sedan: Designed in Italy and made in Thailand. Doubt u could feel any Americian from it at all... So much for talking so much about the heritage, when the product itself was done totally by some one else.


Aveo was one of the cars that were made in Korea and shipped to US. Optra on the right

Anyway, this wasnt the first time. We have the Opel Astra for the entire Europe and Asia, but it was known as the Vauxhall Astra in UK and Holden Astra in Australia and New Zealand. Applies for other cars in the Opel range too. And when they lack this certain type of vehicle in the range, they took some other's and simply rebadged it... For instance, in UK, the city car Vauxhall Agila was actually the Suzuki Wagon R.. And at US, the Saab 9-2X is a Subaru Impreza Wagon. Saab, which was always famous for their safe cars and scored no less than full 5 stars for NCAP crash tests, scored 3 stars for the 9-2X. They really need a good reason to answer the press.


Critics favourite name for this car: Saabaru

It's not impossible to prevent all these, just that more time are needed, perhaps? Volkswagen Group, another major car company, have 2 brand groups under it : the Audi brand group, comprises the Audi, SEAT and Lamborghini brands, and the Volkswagen brand group, having Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Škoda, Bentley and Bugatti brands. They shared all the major components, including engines and chassis, but the cars never looks or feels alike to each other. For instance, the VW Golf actually gives birth to the Audi A3, Skoda Octivia, and Seat Altea. The Audi is accepted as the luxury hatchback, while the Altea attracts people looking for a car with a more striking design (at a lower price), and the Golf is still the car for everyone (at least in Europe).


they are all brothers...Clockwise: Golf, Octivia, Altea, A3

On the other hand, i must admit this. Althought the chassis is done up, it still takes time and money to develop the rest of the car. Hence to re-badge a car could be one of the most cost efficient and quick method. Especially for the case of Daewoo, when it's important to turn around the company whose name was already in the drain. At least many jobs are saved, and the factory escaped from being closed down. Time was indeed important for Rover, one of the last surviving brand from UK. It's bread-and-butter car, 45, is ageing, and it's replacement model had been repeatedly delayed. The company was losing money, and in the end, with some other factors, it collasped on April this year. Their Longbridge factory, which used to be the biggest in Europe, closed it's gates to their thousands of workers.

Alright, just for the start. But if this is still been practised in the long run, the soul of the brand and heritage will be lost. And by then, what that was done would really just be some business-marketing tactics, only. Buy a car, any car. They would be all the same.

Nissan Road show + My p-plate

Yesterday, me derrick and iz met up at suntec/marina square for a quick dinner.. As recommended by derrick, we tried the Changing Appetites (CA).. Quite not bad, a pretty cozy cafe with their sofa seats and settings... and interesting menu too. And the drinks are huge! IZ seems so full after finish his cup.. haa..

Anyway, we went to the Nissan Road show too, at Suntec Tower 4.. Well, as u guys know by now, me and derrick always like to go to roadshows to try out the interior of cars...but for this Nissan's this time, it felt more special..,Maybe coz there are too much KIA's roadshow around always, or maybe coz the "super" car is there... Introducing the 350z fairlady.



*drool....*

Even better, we are allowed to take a seat inside


*double drool....*

What else can i say? The supportive (and fully electronic adjustable) sports seat, the sports steering, white dials, BOZE sound system, metal pedals, Punchy but firm gearshift and nice clutch... sadly the some plastic parts make it feels cheap, and the rear-view is quite bad...but oh well, despite that, if i get to hear the engine my heart will still melt... haaha.

Meanwhile, there are 2 guys from this certain JC who are talking to the Sale exec (SE) next to the car... As they seem pretty interested, i thought initially that they are some rich kids.. until i was told later that one of them was actually telling the SE his dad have 25 rolls royces.....according to LTA, there's only 5 RR registed in 2004, and none from 1998 til 2003. Wonder what does the SE thinks.


Back to topic. Not forgetting derrick favourite Cefiro too.. In fact, i think that car have one of the most unique (and nicest) cabin around.. Inspirated by furniture designs, the wood on the dashboard certainly looks as if it came from ikea. And nice cozy seats behind too ;)


Mr executive derrick

We spent some time in the Lasfesta and Presage MPV too...exploring the Auto-sliding door...haa. Not only from the handles on the door, u can control via a button on the grip and from the dashboard... cool. Great for school-runs (lots of kids) and when your hands are full of bags. Finally a competitor to the Toyota Estima.

ah.. after trying all the other cars (and SUVs), guess we had spent around 1.5 hours? paisei ah iz, hope u wasnt too bored.. heez ;p

- + - + - + - + - + - + - + -


And... On 1st Nov, finally my driving licence Probation period is over! Less scary now, since i had 24 penalty points now instead of the risky 12 points during P-plate. And... no more "plaster" (that triangle sign) on the windscreen!


doesnt it looks cleaner now?

it's initial purpose is to allow other drivers to know and give way... but well, since most of the time we always had not been given way...guess also no difference la, with or without the "plaster"? haha...

accident on paya lebar road

(New model mazda MX 5 crashed onto a BMW during test drive, sales exec killed, driver survived)

Another accident again, this time this seems to be causing alot of discussion, as from what i saw from Sgforum (Cars)... 2 threads headings and more than 13000 views in juz around 2 days. While many was angry at the driver, many felt sad for the poor sales girl.

Until this moment, people are still arguing online... While many pushed to blame to driver and refer him as reckless and speeding, there's also his friend who posted that his lane was been cut by a car, hence forcing he to serwe and lost control. Also some other people commented everyone was jumping into conclusion and it could not be the driver fault...and all the cursing and arguement continues..

actually to me, as very much i'm pretty concerned with this news, but i sort of dont understand why some of the forum readers online could get "agitated" over it, such that they are actually arguing about whether the guy was speeding....

What if the families read all these? would they gotten more sad? the girl is dead, and that is a sure fact. And that young guy is living in guilt too...gods know would he ever be able to have the courage to drive again in future.

Anyway, this also shows how much the responsibiltiy one have, while behind the wheel. Anything wrong it would cause lives, especially when perhaps his skills wasnt that "matured" yet, and the road was slippery with the metal plate instead of tarmac (LTA construction going on), and the speed.

What i learnt came into my mind : always anticipate the dangers on the road...

and talking about skills, what we all have might not be enough... so i really hope for a track to be built in SG, so Defensive driving courses could be conducted locally... The feeling of cornering at 40kmh during L-plates days is totally different when you did it at 70,80kmh...and what to do when grip is lost? Even me could not master that right after my short advance course... Need a proper one again in future...

For now, bless those affected.

(p/s: for me as a petrol-head, i was also quite "sad" too to see the first local pictures of the new MX 5 in a disfigured form, before the launch.... wasted for such a great car. Hope it doesnt affect the sales (....but it certainly will.) )

my 20th birthday!

Alright, to me, birthdays arent just birthday... for friends that doesnt see them everyday, it's more than a chance for gatherings. At least it's something other than chinese new yr or xmas that would get people back again for a reason...

So for mine, it seems good, coz being near to jinie's, at least i can tell myself "hey the next gathering is soon" when jinie's ended that day. Indeed, just one week later, another fun day which i look forwarded to.

Hence, here we go... Last sat, 22th October 2005, we went to Sentosa. Although there's only derrick dom iz and me, hey, we had fun!

From just taking photos at the colourful Siloso... (and having some cold sweat for iz, in fear of his head-impact if he slides off)



...to the happening kayak session...



oh my... first me and dom started by figuring out how to turn...2 newbies here...until derrick gave us his guidance from far, from his single seat kayah.

then we changed, with me kayaking with the "pro" iz, whom brought me to the limits,

and lastly to "partner" with derrick, which then, the waves became strong suddenly, and the both of us was just kept been swept back shore as we tried to get on to the kayak and move off... i used all my powers and derrick's leg was bruised from the knockings... Most "jialiak" one was IZ, who fought with the waves bravely with his single seater and.....got swept over....and donated his specs to the Sea God. And lived without specs for the rest of the day.

Kayaking is very relaxing too... As me and derrick move on slowly, we covered the whole area til the next lagoon (yeah). He even tried lying down behind...as quoted from him, "it felt better than osim message chair"... i believe it, coz when i went right side off course and need help in paddling back to the left, there's no response....he-was-asleep-for-the-moment....hahaa...


....to the time on the sand...

A relaxing time to sit down and chat, enjoy the place, and sun tan (for dom and iz)

as dom chose the "traditional" way to tan, IZ did the more "extreme" way... Bury in sand.



yup this is the the first one... as we found it too shallow, we dig a deeper hole nearer to the sea, and tala, a good place for him to lie in.



see the happy faces? haha..

another fun thing... u guys notice before there are some hooks on the shelter's pillars for you to hang your clothes? Hang a camera there instead and take a group photo...and u get a nice angle ^-^



...to the chairlift + luge!!...

If u recalled my previous post (last trip to sentosa) i did mention about this b4... and so, now we tried it! (cheers!) The chairlift part up is the same, even the views are the same, but just that it's faster this time (coz there's no stoppings along e way this time)

And finally the luge....Although it seems simple in design (just a flat thing with a bar, pull back to brake) , but hell, it could go very fast downwards! As just we left the starting point, the "pro" IZ zoommmed off... and i didnt see his shadow for the rest of the journey... ok lo, i just release the brakes later than him mah.. haha..

anyway, it's really fun. The straights were wide, and the hairpins are steep...finally a place for me to put what i had learnt about Apex/cornering in practise...haha! a few turns, i see the brown colour fences and cones... damn, it's approaching the end... so short?? no wonder they gave packages that even have 4 trips in one go...argh.


happy faces (2)...


...the cause of excitment ;)

....to taking photos with sunset!....

something calm after the exciting ride. By now it's already time, just nice for sunset... Took some nice pictures:


My personal favourite....tricks with flash...heehe.


After Sentosa, time to meet the rest of people for dinner, at Cartel Plaza Singapura.
Nice to see also jinie, kent, kelly, benji, and Zhichao! Was a great meal with many chats around... and very worth it too for the item we shared, was so full after it!



Not forgetting zhi hao and angela too... they were having their class gathering nearby and the 2 came over to send me their wishes.. thanks! Good to see our zhi hao to be still as cheerful.. hee.

and the cake came ^-^


...a long wish...

fyi, the cake was very tasty too! The pieces really melts in your mouth...yummy!

The cake was so nice... as nice as everyone who came and spent the day with me. thank you.

- + - + - + - + - + -

23th October, actually day of birthday ...who else can i celebrate it with? of coz shufang! hehe.... Really great to see her, especially after not see-ing her for the past 2 weeks due to her projects. Nevertheless, we had a great day shopping around at bugis/suntec, and had dinner at Mache....yummy! Especially the crepez that she ordered....wah, the berries fillings felt so good in the mouth! Think i got her cravings for ice-creams and crepez back again.. hahah!~

(paisei, no pix for this! Camera down.)

24th October...took a day leave, best way to avoid monday blues and had a good time resting at home, after 2 happening weekends ;) sleeping is shiok! heez.

- + - + - + - + - + -

Thank you IZ for the 2 events that u had planned! hard on you! very much appreciated. Have a good rest this week.
Also, thanks to u and derrick for my gift!~! Really nice for u all to remember my "messenger" bag... ;)

Thank you for everyone who came down on sat. Appreciated! Especially to Dom...despite your busy work and tiriness... take care friend!!!

Soon leong, it's really ok! felt bad instead if u were hurt on the way. Take good CARE!

lastly, Shufang! Thanks alot alot for your gift!! really like it... will take good care of it!~!


That's all, my 20th birthday (^-^)

Juz 4 a laugh (^-^)

(from my email at work, fyi.)

Does your Department have a problem in recruiting the right person for
the
right Job? If yes, try this simple experiment :

Put around 100 bricks in some particular order in a closed room with an
open window. Then send 2-3 candidates into the room and close it from
outside.

Leave them alone and come back after 6 hours, and then analyze the
situation:

If they are counting and recounting the number of bricks - PUT THEM IN
ACCOUNTS DEPT.

If they have messed up the whole place with the bricks - PUT THEM IN
ENGINEERING

If they are arranging the bricks in some other order - PUT THEM IN
PLANNING.

If they are throwing the bricks at each other - PUT THEM IN OPERATIONS.

If they are sleeping - PUT THEM IN SECURITY.

If they have broken the bricks into pieces - PUT THEM IN INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY.

If they are sitting idle - PUT THEM IN HUMAN RESOURCE DEPT.

If they have thrown the b ricks out of the window - PUT THEM IN THE
MATERIALS DEPT.

If they are clinging onto the bricks - PUT THEM IN TREASURY.

If they say they have tried different combinations, yet not a brick has
moved - PUT THEM IN SALES.

If they have already left for the day - PUT THEM IN MARKETING.

If they are staring out of the window - PUT THEM IN STRATEGIC PLANNING

AND last but not least....

If they are talking to each other and not a single brick has been moved
-
PUT THEM IN TOP MANAGEMENT.

Johor + Jinie Bday + my work

3 posts in 1. Here we go.


15/10/2005 Saturday

I havent been to malaysia for more than 10years. And i havent been overseas for 4 years. So when i was asked to go to Johor, i agreed immediately. And yea, saturday i made a trip across the causeway.

We visited City Square shopping centre, which is only a > 5 mins walk from the custom... and surprise... once we stepped in the place felt so like Singapore! Much better than what i expect. It's very modern and BIG...On the 4th or 5th storey there's a whole area similiar to Heerens Annex.. a shopper paradise.. And at the top floor there's Cinema and KTV...and surprise again, the KTV is Neway..Famous Hong Kong's K-box. wow.

And the time we spent in Neway is simply great. In every single way, it much better than KBox. The room is big and cozy, the system is user friendly and good and stable, there's alot of NEW songs, and the Lunch package...Not some delifrance pie or microwave chicken rice, but....a big plate of Chicken Chop Rice with sauce, Chicken Cream soup, salad, watermelon and drinks... all these at RM 14... after tax it's juz less than S$8 per person! And with a much much much more better customer service.

And ya, back to the "Annex" area, there are alot stuff and and shops too, while they are all not cramped up together...the corridoor is wide, so its not crowded & lots of space to move. Lots to see, and i bought shirt for myself...heez. There's a small cafe too, when u r tired in the "annex", similiar to Heerens'..

For the other shops in the mall, many are all the familiar brands we get here... You would realli feel as if you r in Singapore. A point though, there seems to be many Bridal shops too around too..haha..

Wanna make a trip there again!

1 day KTV + shopping at Johor, anyone?


16/10/2005 Sunday

happy birthday to jinie~~!!!


Thanks to our organiser issac, this is the first of the 2 events that we would be having for this 2 weekends. For this jinie's bday, we gathered at K-Box Marina Square and everyone sung their hearts out... shiok!


Yup this is the big room we got. From the right, you see Soon leong, Benji, Derrick, remy, IZ, kent, jinie, kathy, me, and Dom (who's taking this photo)




As we sang, our bday girl got an idea and we started a singing competition... haa... Every single one of us would choose a song of our choice and sing, after which would be judged for the 5 prizes... namely, best courage, best action, best gentlemen, best dressed, and the best of best. haha...



Trust me, i was actually quite anxious...it felt so different between when u sang seated and standing... heez.


Then, here comes the cake! Nice part of the plan again, this was a surprise i guess? Our dear birthday girl was so delighted.




ah, and the cake really tasted very nice ;)


Lastly, here goes the "prize" presentation... here are our following winners... hahaa..

and the group photo:



After the KTV, we went Marina Bay for steamboat. The rain did made the place wet, but it made it very cooling too... Very nice. And thanks to iz, it was since such a long time i ate soooo much prawns... haaha...

yummy!

With this, we ended the day... we had soo much fun... ;)



17/10/2005 Monday, onwards

After a happening weekend, it was back to work again. The monday was still as usual, same amount of faults again and the same bases to go again to tend to faults...

Until the time when the sms comes in to my colleague. Yup, it's not a rumour anymore, i'm offically going over to another section the next day. In short, change of job.

Well, this is both a good and bad news. After 1 year and 4 months at the Site Response Team, i had gotten really used to all the stuff and enjoyed all the time travelling outside. And i have a "boss" too (The regular who i'm attached to assist since day 1) too... But recently things had gotten tougher and more complicated, and well, over familiarised = sian. Soo...it's good for a change now, time to learnt new stuff and new challenges. Anyway, my partner is leaving the team too, for another section, later this year. He's much more "sian" than anyone else.. he's already been in site response for 5 years.

Anyway, i'm going over to the comms and computers team... handling accounts and comms. Yup, it gonna be busy, but well, i'm left with 6months of service... so it's alright.

And Tuesday i started my "learnings".... so far so good, pretty ok... but really quite alot to learn... and the style is really very different... This job requires much more customer service skills than what i used to do... And there are much more procedures to know. woh.

But finally, i will be getting my own table... hehe.... Coz since the start til now what i had been using is a shared computer (SLC, self learning centre.. just a point where everyone can surf internet in office) ...so at times pretty hard to do work... have to shift around oftenly... not anymore in future ;)

nevertheless, jiayou to myself! May this sat come quickly oh.....

.

oh children.

i wondered was it that always had been so, or i havent been noticing that until recently,

but... i realise, are children nowadays getting more and more hard to control or teach?

Crying/infants childrens on board trains should be pretty normal and common... but how about one that cries and screams (yes, with a glass breaking pitch) throughout the 30 mins ride? and the parents are doing nothing to ease off the child, while passengers rub their ears...

Crying childrens in shopping centres are very common too, especially for those who had not gotten what they wanted. But previously at Taka, i saw this father pulling along his crying son... and he gotten soo fed up that he just let go of his hands and the child just fell onto the floor, screaming even louder. Ouch.

Some other kids run around. It's normal again, but not when this little girl i saw was running towards the LRT tracks, with no signs of slowing down...The father couldnt hold her on time earlier when she slipped off, but luckily the mother was able to push the pram to block her from infront... phew.

Then, we have children hitting their own parents... In a train again, i saw this young indian boy (5 years?) refusing to sit still on the seat, and keep on hitting his mother , running his palm over her face and pulling her hair. While the grandmother kept nagging at the kid, the mother seems not to do anything drastic... oh my.

Similiarily, there's another boy (6 years?) who kept kicking and "punching" his father, on the LRT platform. As he kicks, he does as if he is the hero killing the dragon and kept entertaining himself with the "dialog"... obviously too much influence from TV... Despite warnings from the father, he still doesnt stops... and it continues all the way on the LRT... sigh, where's the respect..?

And touching on influence of media... i have my last example here... and i guess, the most shocking one...: Outside Cold Storage, a 4 or 5 year old boy hugging and kissing his younger brother...on the lips.... Aghh... i wonder does the mother saw this or not..???

It really takes alot to bring up a child properly...

hmm..

suddenly recalled that i was also quite a naughty child last time... oh no... would what i had done get back to me in future, when it's my turn as the father???


(-_-"")