kaizen

Previously learnt from HRM about KaiZen, Japanese for continuous improvement. Used as a model in organisations, for the pursuit of continuous improvements in all aspect, via staff suggestion or other schemes, so as to increase efficiency and ulimately cost saving...

All of these came to my mind, as i came across this packaging while at supermart with family. This is the pack of Snack Bar we had bought:



Which comes with a surprising long and huge Bar Code.

KaiZen? Staff suggestion that Bar Code should be made easy for scanning? Interesting.

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Finally, that DVD recorder is back at home.

No more missing of favourite tellie shows and/or rushing back to catch them. Stuff 'em all in, and declare tomorrow (Sat) afternoon as television day.... to watch one week worth of shows.

Thankful of such invention....as long as it dont break down again ;(

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One Choc cake, 6 candles (of various length), some bench in school, and several loud friends, and you got a Birthday Cake cutting celebration for Kelvin birthday, on Thursday.

Simple, yet unforgettable. & so damn exciting when he is still miles away and the candle are burning out fast (cos the kiasu us lighted way too early) And he still ran into some friends along the way also, according to our informant.

Thankfully he arrives back on time, to blow 'em out before you got choc-wax.

Surprises, surprises. 就是不一样.


cheers..~

PHOTO Journal of the bday cake, HERE.

same place, different person

To pass IPPT. How hard can it be for others, always very hard for me.

Nevertheless, today IPPT had bought me back to the old Academy at Thomson road. It had been >2years since i had last set my foot there, and god, it's all memories the minutes you step in.

Yes, the place is so much different now; After they had shifted the training of new NS boys to the new Academy, they renovated and upgraded some parts, specially the new area delicated for IPPT. Cleaner, better equiped, more first aid and welfare, and even a delicated running track for 2.4km with electronic time logging..

And more importantly, the way you walk in also. No more previous trainee style of marching-with-your-boots; people dragged their feets in in slippers/flip-flops with no issues at all.. No more panic-looking NS boys guarding the gate, all season'd old salary-paid guards now.

But still, how would you ever forget the times you march/punished/ran on that same old tarmac, the stretch of pavement where you almost got into trouble by fighting, that old guard house where you draw the oily rifle, and that grass field patch which you had been psycho'd not to ever cut-across-the-grass-or-you-kana-palms-down..


IPPT finishes, and I save the 71cents by walking to Toa Payoh, using the same exact route that i used to take on every book-out days.

On this route across HDB flats, unlike the academy, nothing had changed. Every sights are still the same as before, the same path under PIE, the same void deck, playground, coffee shops, every single details remains. Rather, coupled with the old memories that was engaged just freshly in mind, it had a constrast on my current state of mind..

You see, back then as i/we walked, in mind would be always the desire for time to speed up; NS to end faster, we are unexcited by the mundane routines and is so ever ready to face new challenges... Now? Time. please slow down. School-life has only lifespan of few months left; After it are Really challenges already. You cant stop it, the journey, just like this route to Toa payoh, has to, and will, end soon.

Same place revisited, different mind.


..Let's take it as it comes.

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IF you have time to kill, consider visiting this:

Facebook album, on my small photo journal of the SG motorshow '08 i visited last sat 28sept.. photos of what we did other than car browsing. ^-^


.

Discovery.

ONE.


Monday. We wanted to run after School, and surprising the nearby running tracks options are out or not available. So by chance, we set foot on Bukit Gombak Stadium.

& what a surprise. Nicely located at the foot of the bukit batok natural hill and park, it was an escape from the concrete world the minute you step in thru the gate. Although only opening from 630pm on weekdays for evening (which means we, apon our 530pm arrival, have to come back again later) what we got in the end was a very cooling sun-set run.

Which I havent felt so good before during running, since i start this 'healther' activity recently. Perhaps it was already 7pm, but the air was so chilling; especially at that portion which was parallel to the Woods, where by every inhale rejuvenates. Breezes kept on flowing down from the hill, just like a natural air-conditional blowing on to you as you run by the foot of hill. So crisp, so fresh. That before i knew, i completed the run without any dragging of feet or what.


Stadiums always gave me a cold and harsh feelings. Perhaps because many are old concrete block, or perhaps it was always at Stadiums where i was proven to be the Weakest of the lot, or it was where i always fails.

But here is different. The freshness of air pumps all negative thoughts out of mind, the hilly scenery distracts me from the bad thoughts, and made me forget what is failing. ...Just run and enjoy.


When opportunity arises, i will pay a visit back there again.



Pardon this grainy picture, taken with Phone after sun had set.


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TWO.


If you had always flip thru European motor publications, you would have heard before one of the best things in the world (for car-enthu) is to drive some Ferrari or Lambo thru those long mountain-pass Tunnels, wind down the window, rev the engine and enjoy the Italian engine noise amplified via the wall of the tunnel.

That was rarely encountered by me in this Sunny Island before, not until the KPE was opened on Saturday, featured a 12km long Tunnel. Which i tried on Sunday.


What was going to be a boring drive (due to the strict speed limit) was shaken off, when i was woken up by that special noise of the V8 engine & that bright headlights coming from behind. Definatly something special, and i grabbed my camera, which gave you that pic you see below.


Indeed it was a Ferrari F430. In normal conditions it sounds good, and all of that are further enchanced when it echos in the Tunnel. The amplified sound inspirits and captivates your senses, triggering the nerves as it roars past. It shouts when it approaches, and that voice still lingers around even when it had travelled past to far ahead at the front of the pack... Dominates the entire tunnel to be it's own.


And now i understand the wonders of what the journos were describing always, after this fortunate encounter.


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Derrick & T3: The send off story.

Setting: Airport Terminal 3, Popeyes. 17th Sept '08.

As i was munching onto the famous biscuits, & pondering over how "Popeyes" is pronounced, Dom was saying that she have been here numerious times this year, sending friends off. But this time round it was really different, 'coz as you see, derrick's flight is 11.59pm, and now is 9.35 and yet there's no sight/news of him yet.


10.19PM: Idling at Departure lobby, and he calls in. Horror, he's still at home. Finishing with packing and all the admin stuff, and is rushing to leave house now.

Shock but not that surprising...this poor guy been running up and down for weeks in preparation of this Big Trip and Exchange programme, stress'd up and really busy he is...but well, now he's going to be really late. Thankful he lives at Marine Parade.


Almost 40 minutes later at 10.57pm, he arrives. with friends awaits with trolley by the Cab. With efficiently the luggages are dug out of the cab, swiftly we move onto the now queue-less Row 3 for check in procedures.

From then on it was a sense of mixed feelings. It was sort of relieve to see him arrive almost on time, but that was on a price that he havent eaten lunch/dinner, his poor parents worried and panic, and him sort of overwhelmed with all the stuff that needs to be done. So much that you see (at the photo album) most of the photos are taken from behind, not his face, neither a group photo or what.


So after all the trying-to-squeeze-last-min-items-into-the-bag, sorting and labelling, pad-locking of zip, cards issue, tying of jackets over his neck, paparazzi style photo snapping, a brief good-bye & he's in. ...and still a 20 row length of the airport hall to run to his gate at the left-most, 'A-1'. Time, 11.30pm exact.


Only as he disappears via the glass door and us saying good bye to his parents, then that bit of emo comes in. I wonder how he would be over there? Would his 5 other uni peers in this same program know his 'pattern'? Hopeful, after that 10 over hours of sleep in the cozy SQ flight overnight, he will be recharged, alert and ready to see the First world that awaits him... Better enjoy this exchange trip, else, i thought, all the effort he puts in will be wasted..


With that, we left, and out to ECP carls jr to chill... and froze our brains with that three mind killing quiz jinie gave us.. (which explains all the serious faces you see in the photo album, at the end)

**
The photo journal of what happened that night: CLICK to facebook album ^-^
**

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one of many.

Recently the magazine-reading me had went back to novel. "The time traveller's wife", by Nifffenegger, to be exact. It was a book i pick up to flip by chance, and end up on my desk at home by accident. Nevertheless once i start i didnt stop reading, amazed by the depth of thought and the abundant of details.

Now just only halfway (still) into the book, here just a portion i would like to share; it was a dialog between Henry, the time traveller, to his wife, with regards the past:

"It's a reminder that the moment i belonged to is dead, and not just dead, but forgotten. (...) That's why I get excited when i see little kids pretending to be punk, because i dont want all to just disappear. (...) Even when I get to do something cool (to travel back in time to the past), like say go to see a concert I missed the first time round, maybe a band that's broken up or somebody that died, it's sad watching them as I know what's going to happen."


This was one of the part that strike me, cos it did resemble what i felt at times. Especially when you had a dream a night, dreaming of the stuff you used to do, or the wonderful gatherings you used to had, and woke up feeling sad cos you know in real time all no longer exist anymore. Or looking at some other younger ones doing stuff that you used to do, and it was all these type of reminders that made you feel glad for the moment.

But eventually, what had passed by means that it is in the past, and soon forgotten. Regardless of how successful or how much Magic you had done, when you left the school/organisation all that is left is just perhaps a name or even nothing.


And well, perhaps that why it's useless to keep looking back at the past. Use the magic you had performed before to push for even more in future..


...As for the book, this small little segment definatly does not conclude about the story, 'cos there are far more themes and other inspirations inside. Just that i have to finish reading it first. 289 pages more to go.


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After 5 years of absent, I'm back on P. Ubin again, on Bicycle. That was last Sunday, the 7th Sept. And greeted by a huge rain that soaked us all, within 10 mins of the start of the cycling.

Then as we are dried by Mother nature, we abandoned the tarmac road for the beaten path, where you get to slide on gravel, splash on pool of water and navigate the bike up the puddle of wet mud.

Which was great fun, in my opinion. A big contrast from the beautifully tarmac'd and long and straight path of East Coast Park, cycling at Ubin is such an Adventure. Endless curves and uphill downhills, different sort of terrains, all the crest and teeth-jarring rocks, and never ending routes to explore to get to the different beaches and sights.

And after you conquered each upslopes, you will be rewarded with that fast sweeping down-hill ride. Effortless and yet 'shiok'. & it puts all your apex cornering and braking knowledge to practical use, on 2 wheels.

No wonder, when the sun sets, the weather-wornt and mud-spattered me still feels as enthuastic as before.
...It was only the thought of waking up early next day for work that kills the spirit.


*See the place we covered. Thanks to Sebas Ray Lala lihui & julian for making it possible:
Click to see the gallery of selected photos


** Note:
Seen on papers fews day later (this week) about an accident that took place at ubin on the same day as our visit; Not forgetting also the small injuries our friend suffered as she slipped off the bike at mid-way. Cycling at the terrain of ubin can be risky too..Perhaps we have to be reminded to slow down when approaching corners at all times, and be familiar with the proper braking of the bike.


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Ever since entering the household in Dec 07, my dear little DVD recorder seems to suffer from some major illness and shown to us how her health was weaken over the months, to eventually a death after my attempted surgery on her failed.

That is how she is now spending nights at the Agent's serving centre, and me and my sister to miss 2 weeks of Tellie Sitcoms and Variety shows.

As only my dad will be free to send it down, and certainly he is not at best explaining the fault, here's the description i wrote to whoever-that-is-going-to-revive-this-piece-of-dead-machine.




Which after writing, i really seems as if i'm doing a slow and painful description of her route to failure. ;p


..............

No break, you break.

2 years 2 month, 70000 km clocked. Our van is indeed a piece of hard-worked machinery. Day in day out, from sun rise to sun set, shuttling everyone to work, and covering all parts of the island for my dad’s work, there’s no one day that she is allowed to “sleep” for long. No time for servicing.

No wonder, some time later, she starts to felt sluggish & heavy footed. Response is slower, and even that air-con doesn’t like to blow you cool air anymore.

And one day finally my dad brought it to the well over due servicing session. Blackish oil changed, air filter dumped for a clean sparking one. And it was as if she was given a new leash of life.

Just driven it, now every gear change comes with a surge of power; Lane change, no problem, power comes even from 80kmh. Moves with a light-foot, seems ever enthusiastic to take up the new task for today…

…which, I can’t help relating it to humans. You see, when we don’t give ourselves enough rest, isn’t we will start to response poorly, “blur” about things, lose interest, poor management of crisis/problems, and even don’t feel like working anymore?

For a moment I was so, just recently. So much stuff to handle, so much responsibility to take, and so much weekend burnt. Insufficient sleep is one thing, a mind that cant switch off is another thing that made it worse. In the end I kept forgetting things and was careless about some stuff.

Which is getting to be similar like my boss, which is a extended version and a more serious case of what that was mentioned above. So serious that he been working 12 hours everyday, having panics when crisis comes, and perhaps, even affecting his family.

Only until a day off like today, whereby that long sufficient sleep is just like a nice servicing performed on you, after which you would felt better all over again. Mind cleared, ready to take up new task again. Just like the vehicle that had just done servicing.

And a nice tour will be like an overhaul instead. An escape from the familiar city to else where which is in a slower paced, think of nothing that is bothering you but just focus on all the new sights and do what you like… Hopefully refreshes all your senses after the trip, making you ready for new challenges…

This is why, another reason for me to look forward to the Batam trip: A chance to forget any worries or news, and be ready to face the new challenges of new school year, regardless good or bad results.

Trip aside, guess it also a reminder to all to take leave and break when you got too much on hands...whenever possible of course. Derrick you hear me? ^-^



Now who says cars is not like human? If humans don’t take a break, they will break too.

And no wonder, that time after my boss boost that he haven’t taken leave or MC for a year, he fell sick for 2 days there after.

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the brown touch + bdays round the corner

After the comp was fixed (or rather, changed totally), my sist went back to her usual feed of the Mr brown show.

And we found, even our small-little-ulu-forgotten town of Punggol had received the touch by Mr brown too...

punggol-21-plus-plus/


If this is not that funny, try out the others below. Seems that he really likes to sing recently....

2 many 2 count erp drift
-- as the title suggest'd...

blame it on somebody
-- the mas issue..

Fare game
-- "i dont have bus to change!"


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So as i loggon onto facebook, trying to upload Kent's bday photo (which are taken one month ago) onto the album, to find i've been tagged on WenLing's bday before i uploaded her bday photos, only to be reminded that Dom's bday is coming soon, which means more photos to upload soon.

Ah. This is not a bad thing. Like what i always felt, birthdays are the best time for gathering; the once-in-a-year thing will really ensure pple to gather back again despite how busy we all are. Not that significant for now perhaps, but definately important when we all finish school and starts to work.

And Kudos to that inventor of Digital Camera. Just b'cos photos taking becomes so easy and "unlimited" thanks to the digital storage media, it allows for all sorts of candid and crap photos to be taken at such events.... and dont discard these crappy photos...candid shot is where, i think, the most natural self of one is displayed, and is definatly as memoriable....every pix indeed tells a thousand words.

So there you go...download my pix at birthdays or any gathering..and enjoy 'em for a long time to come ;)

It's 2am, and i'm just done with back-up -ing this Desktop PC, whose life will be terminated in 2days time. These recent days are so madly busy (cos of my really "fulfilling" internship) til my sleeping hours are so messed up, so it explains why i'm still typing this at this hour.

Anyway, the main point of this portion is to share this: A pix i found some where in the Comp.




Yes, done by my dear sister, 2 years back....After she had explored and learnt totally by herself how to use Photoshop, she did this that same night (til 5am or so)

2 years back i was so damn pissed with her. Especially when she placed it as the windows desktop pix and surprised me next day.


But 2 years later when i chanced apon it again, it was rather funny...and actually, i find it quite well done eh.

Hmm... people do change?


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And it's still 2am, and i'm done with the above post, and i'm still not sleeping yet. Guess even when i sleep my brain dont really rest, coz i do have dreams... The recent theme of my dreams seem to be travelling; That night after i watch'd telle on Norway's Northern Cape of the midnight sun rise, I dreamt of that place that night. And last night, it was Toyko, after an Ep of Top gear,,,

The Tokyo one was rather nasty, coz i lost my way and figured out how to take the public bus all by myself. which was irritating coz the feeling of loneliness was so realistic that it was really not that nice and i kept wondering why am i on a ah-hoc holiday to Tokyo, alone (in the dreams)

Which, when i woke, really made me think about two things. One, how did some people manage to survive alone in a totally foreign land (and risk getting lost all by themselves) and Two, i will never want to travel alone.


And that how, when i'm inspired to travel to (and enjoy the journey towards) destinations such as OZ great ocean road, Norway Northern Cape, etc etc, i do hope i'll be with the best partner and buddies. And the best partner and buddies will always be around in the life-journey.


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service yourself first

Nothing works tonight. My LG dvd recorder screws up on my once again, wasting the 3 hours of effort last night, and now yousendit is down, delaying all my photos to be sent out. Faced with such frustration, one could simply complaint and yell at any customer service that one can find, but did any one thought before this: What's the point?


Right now, having involved in customer service, i got the opportunity to experience first hand how is it like to sit at the "frontline" counter, thus getting a new insight in the ever "wonderful" human nature, and how pointless somethings can be:


- People demands info from the wrong department:

Percetage of it happening: to a high extent. Most of the time walk in customers will ask you issues that is not under your department. And then they demand you to find it out for them. You see, how would that be better, when (ONE) the info will pass through so many hands, taking the risk of been mis-translated (think of the Pass-the-message Game we played at OGL camp) (TWO) Your case/issue/question will be again mis-interpreted coz the person asking is not the person in question, risking the question being distorted, and (THREE) isnt it is faster if you ask the correct place directly, and no risk of mis-interpretation?


- People gumble or shout and yell or scolds the service officers

Ok, i accept the fact that the person will be displaying such an extreme behaviour due to stress or etc, but other than venting out his frustration, does it solve the issue he has? Bearing in mind, especially for the case of system flaws etc, the service person is not responsible for that, so why should the poor person take all the blame and be shouted at or nasty treated? As if they are the slave or servant, owning the customer in their past lives.

So what happens in the end is that in order to pacify the situation, the service person will keep on apologising (for something they never done). And that another thing; what is the point of an apology that is said for the point of saying? In the first place the scold shld not have taken place; how much can the service officer do? Re-programme the system himself/herself? Re-build the building? Change a policy ownself without management approval?


- People complaints and complaints about anything they dont like

And many times it is not constructive: Ie: throw something at you and say "i dont care, i dont like the way it is now". Right, so what you do suggest it should be? "I dont care, it is your job" . See my point?

Better still is those who creeps behind you, and directly shoots a complaint to the top top HQ, leaving behind only a brief description, a surname and NO contact number. Ok, if it is real flaw, the organisation can change. But what the point of that when you are not allowing further contact for follow up actions, so as to get a better understanding of the complaint and areas to improve on?


- People challenge the service personalle on issues that are fixed (ie: Policies, design of online booking system)

Similiar to earlier point, i didnt understand this part too. Ok, from the perspective of a customer you do feel frustrated when the service personal tells you "this is the limitation, nothing can be done" But when one continue to argue on with the classic statement "it's not about money", what can you get from it? The low low level service person have no ability to do anything. Even if you are the best debator in the world you are just channelling your abilities to the wrong person. In cases, it still ended off with the customer walking off with nothing in return. Worth the saliva to argue there and ruin the poor service guy/girl day?



....
Pardon me for the last time, but at times it did appear to me that those who complaint might to be seen as ignorant..... Rather, the perhaps smarter one will just get the neccessary info and seek help from the correct place, be it getting info or giving constructive feedback... And now, i found myself especially appreciative of those are willingly to seek help themselves, and even more patience to other service personal out there...it is really a tough job.


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bubble dream

Saturday noon, sat down infront of telly, watched watever that is screening. And CNA is showing the repeated docm on the "boy in the bubble", and after glued to watching it for half an hour, i really got to say my heart sank as i watch the entire account of the boy's 12 years of life in the bubble.

Doctor's narrow minded? too optimistic? or short sighted? Was the boy really happily living for 12 years or it was full of fear? No doubt he contributed significantly to medical research, but the change from a happy jumping kid to a older boy with not much expression makes me feel sorry for it.

When i'm have more time think i'll go read more about this online.. meanwhile, if you are free surfing around, perhaps you want to check it out at wiki or pbs.org (as indicated thru-out the 30min program) .....maybe this incident may inspires you think about many things around us.


wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Vetter
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Dont prefer to be perfect, even for prefects.

For the benefit of any who are not aware, my 2,3 weeks of absent in updating is because I'm doing my internship now, and for god, it's so tiring...Having depleted of energy after every day and using coffee to perk me up during the day, it was until now then i have the juice to create this post. Which of cos, created also after sufficient inspiration was gathered.

And no prize for forcasting it before you read on, yes, it's gonna be about work life.

So what's does the ever-reflective evoxiang.blogspot.com tells you tonight?
Being Perfect might not be ideal.


How does this idea comes about? It was after i had settled down on my your-job-scope-is-almost-everything-and-you-got-to-multitask-and-do-things-fast-and-be-polite-despite-all-odds job, and started to observe...

..It appears that those who always finish all their task and make leave on time or take time off are seen as slack. For instance, i got a guy here, married with kids, but always not frequently in office. People always seem to ask around has he done his stuff when he's not around, especially when i first entered and not seen him yet, that dont do too good in contributing my impression score of him.

On the other hand, i got another guy, also married with kids. Now this is the first few person i met when i entered, and that moment it got one big word "BUSY" stamped all on him. Always running around, having a room that have piles of document on every usage or non-usage space, having so many things thru his mind, staying back late after work, etc etc...and scaring the shit out of the intern on his first day, thinking that he landed in a very very busy department (it's is really, but not that bad)

As it turns out? Guy number 1 came back from his leave, and now it looks different. When i thought he some one that will avoid job, he didnt. In fact he offers to help when needed... His task was as completed, despite the shorter time he stays in office. As for person number 2, i slowly realise that he has slight signs of a kan-jong spider, have too much things going thru his mind, time management skills is not ideal, and tends take breaks during working time when he has unfinished stuff...

A disclaimer, not that i am now saying person number 2 is bad, but just that sometimes you cant help wondering this: If his time management is better then maybe he wont stay back that late; or even have so much work pile'd up.. He is commitment for sure, his job is tough no doubt, but it can actually not be as bad as it seems right?

Which reminds me of what i learnt in HR.. of a sign known as "presenteem". Studies shown that those who stayed late in office received higher appraisal scores, as compared to those who leave on time, if else kept constant. This also contributes to a culture whereby people feels guilty when leaving early... Bearing in mind, appraisal rating can be contributed not only by real performance but impression scores too.

Implications? Perfect might not do good; Having some imperfections might help you instead.


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car.

"Car" is a funny thing. Something that i fell in love since birth, for an unknown reason. The moment i came to my senses in 4 or 5 years old, i knew where my vision aims at. And fast forward to today, it's still, to me many other enthusiasts, something alive and multi-dimensional, while it can be simply a tool to the layman.

How much i like it? Look around this blog; the hobby list has it, many posts contains it, the title picture above has it, and even this address came from a car name. So much that sometimes, i'm concern that did i drive away people not interested in car on first sight of this page..

So why i like it that much? Frankly, the true reason is unknown, as mentioned earlier. But i do guess i attribute it to that fact that i can be a sense of freedom...It's something complicated; designed, engineered and manufactured after a long and complex process just for a simple and short brief: to move people.

Move people from places where other mode of transport cant bring you to. Move people faster and easier than other type of land transport. And Move people (who appreciate it) emotionally, from the design that spark feelings (think Fiat 500 or the MINI) or that sense of excitment from the way it moves throughout the journey...

And this excitment part is how some are not just a tool...it's something which you can feel. Your palms tells you how the steering react in turns, your butt tells how it rolls over surfaces, your ears tells how it sounds when you revv thru a tunnel, and your entire body feels how the car body follows through the cornering and thrust with acceleration. In the more focus'd cars you will not be devote of the above but be rewarded with this multi-dimensional sensation, with everything working in harmony to achieve it. And that excites.

Freedom, also in way of the ability to have control of it. Going to exactly where you want to go, pointing it in the direction you want. Freedom, also as in terms of expressing who you are with the car you drive. A form of self-expression, as learnt in sociology. And a society, in macro sense, it also represented by the cars on the street...A developed, individualist western nation you see sophisticated cars reflecting drivers' personality, while in a developing collective asian nation you see rational and reliable vans that seats 8 (Think toyota avanza/kijang)

And this why, relating to the last point above, that i always think that are no bad cars; each has their own purpose. Just that as i care about the journey as much as the destination, i want something that feels. And perhaps this is how the enthusiasts are differentiated from the rest..

This how this "tool" will always be different in my eyes, and i not stop lovin' it. The complex and dynamic auto industry will be where i'll (try to) belong; The sophisticated machinery will be what i'll appreciated; & Driving sensation will be my getaway from this messy society.


What's yours?


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


The other day, i got a chance to lay my hands on this Suzuki Swift, 1.3 auto. And there is it, one of better steering i had tried. Meaty, with feedback on the tarmac as you turn. A neat looking car, it does feel very conti with the solid shapes it has. Interior is very spacious, generous headroom. And fortunately as the "XG" spec, it got all the niceties like digital air con, fuel economy meter, motorised foldable mirrors, etc etc. Nimble car, it is.

Sadly, the 1.3 really struggles under acceleration and uphills; you can feel the auto gear desperately shifting down to get more torque...Guess the 1.5 version will be better. Some perceived quality can be better too, like that powered windows.. And how i wish the car can be slightly more rigid and slightly more stable at high speed...

So would i buy it for my journeys (in future when i got income)? Yes, if it is the 1.5 manual version and if i cant afford the mazda2. And if i can look pass those bit of quality niggles...

the lil' cottage chalet

Fork n Spoon wrapped in red napkins, freshly cooked spagetti accompanied with tasty roasted chicken on the table, big pot of warm soup waiting to warm our stomach and lighted candles behind on the doorway warm up the heart. With this and big group gathered for dinner, it does reminds you of christmas isnt it?

Only that X'mas is half a year away...This is the OG gathering dinner, not forgetting Stella belated birthday.

Concepted weeks before amid exams, and put together in days right after the last paper, 5th of june was the day we saw the fruit of our labour. Looking at everyone happily gathered at the table for a homely dinner is the reward, and the belated birthday girl smile is the bonus. That's what that makes it worthwhile.

And the best feeling of all is knowing that you got a great team with you to make it happen. Alone you cant have brillant concepts on the theme and decoration & to actually do the deco, the knowledge of food to buy and the actual purchase and cooking, the idea on the gift and the actual making of it, and of cos, the actual clearing up and washing. And, those who willing to come down all way to the ulu ulu changi resort to make the "gathering" really like a "gathering".

The soup warms the stomach, but is the thought of all these that really warms you up. Thank you guys and girls!



(1)...the feast... (2)....the belated one.... (3)....believe it, camera was on a inverted paper cup... (4)..the wishes "enlighted".



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WISHing for the taxi?

Yes, here is the ever-present-evoxiang.blogspot-talks-about-the-car-he-drove time again.

This time, it's a toyota Wish. No intention to be a family man with a MPV; The toyota rush i booked couldnt be delivered on time in the last minute, so a discount was given for the Wish. That's what they say, unpredictability is risk but opportunity too.

And i'm glad i got the keys to it. Not only it saves the day when i got 7 passengers in the end, it was a comfortable car to cover great miles in ease. The supportive seats holds the driver in comfort, and 170Nm of torque makes expressway speed and overtaking really effortless. Not to forget that smooth and decisive 4spd auto gear. The gear stick itself, like the rest of the interior, is solid and well made in a typical toyota manner...built to last.

The car is heavy (1600kg), making it stable even at slightly above legal motorway speed. But heaviness also makes it very not nimble too; You know the acceleration is 'cos the engine got power but not 'cos the car is light. The steering is not as sharp as what we like too.

Low sitting position makes you forget you are in a 7-seater MPV, but visibility suffers; many times i have to sit up straight when driving thru tight places. A bigger side mirror is prefered, but guess that spoils the styling. 3rd row seats are not too hard to access and not too nasty to sit in, but passengers there sweated and cursed for the absent of cooling air there.

Worth a mention is that i broke my 24hours driving distance again; this time round is 340km (i slept for 1 hour only, within the 24 hr) Thankfully, the car returns 12.2km/l, which is really really good...considering that it is a MPV and 3 rows are occupied, and is a 1.8litre Automatic.

Now i understand why it was, at one time, the best selling parallel imported car in singapore...til the authorised toyota dealership cried.


But, if the fiat punto is a passion lover, then the Wish is the trustworthy business partner...When its time to say goodbye, you would hope to work with the reliable partner again but, you dont exactly miss him and feel sad.


340km...from sunset to sunrise...never felt like a Taxi as much as this before;^)

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Discovery channel

Discovering Monkeys

I was fascinated when my dad, while watching the news, told me how in the 60's, merchants brought Monkeys out from Indonesia to Singapore, to be sold to Americans.

At the time when Apollo had a taste of Moon's crust, yup, sold to them for space research.

How true? I dont really know.

But how interesting it will be, next time if you come across those pictures showing how they used to experiment with monkey in space suits, and thinking that, well, that the monkey used to breath the same air as you. ;p


Discover Mcdonalds

Was studying in a mac the other day, and focus point came onto the McDelivery person.

To think of it, this is quite a brilliant idea by them... You recruit people to make trips with their own bike, thus, unlike the other food chain, you save on the asset purchase cost and depreciation of own fleet of bikes, and also the logistic trouble to management the fleet (dont forget, bike insurance more tricky than 4-wheels)

And yet, you dont lose your own corporate identity. While competitor put logo'd boxes onto the bike, you simply custom made Backpacks for the riders. Backpack is big and red with the yellow arc, miles away you knew it is mcdelivery. Identity retained, without customing their bike. And flexible too, having able to carry the entire thing upstairs, and also slot directly onto that waist level height counter for food to be inserted.

Numerical flexibility, check. Nicely thought and executed plan, check. A strong brand and service extension, check. ....only if they can make the fries less soggy after the journey...


Discover Airport

Here you are, at Airport terminal 1, bus terminal (no punning intended) . You just reached and saw the bus moving off, missed it by a margin. You knew that the next bus will take forever to come. You also knew that it has to pass through another security check at Terminal 2 entrance, and will stop at T2 for some time cos driver taking toilet break and checking in at office. Would you run over via sky train to T2?

There we are, after a tiring day of studying at airport, in the above mentioned situation. Within the split second, we decided, to make the run to T2.

So we did. Rushing up the escalator, squeezing into the front of sky train, wheaving through the crowd along the passage way, we reached T2 in minutes.....


And here's a quick Evoxiang.blogspot test of the day. If you missed a bus at T1 and attempted to catch up on foot at T2,


dont bother. you'll still miss it, miles apart.



(The worst yet to come.
Within minutes of waiting and panting at the T2 bus bay,
.....the second one came.)


Discover myself

After the conclusion of my second year of exams, i seem to notice a trend.

Those essay paper which i'm confident, i dont do well. Those i'm scared, i did better.

Last year I was anticipating to use great examples for IBM, and i crash thru it. I was worried for sociology, it end up as one of the better done pieces.

This year, I slept well before marketing, and it was a nightmare. I was prepared for a thunderstorm for HRM, in the end it was, not that bad as i thought, like a windy day only.

So with this logic, shouldnt i be scared about everything in life to do well?

"Low confidence is the key to obtain results".... eh, that not suggested in Human resource theories eh.


maybe i think too much bah. -_-"


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hot day + hot marketing + hotter bus

Last sunday, few more days to the first paper, intensive studying.

The heat is rising in us, and true enough, singapore was very heated too. In the sense of the humid hot day.



Yes you saw it right. Outside temp: 36.5 C !! As warm as our body!

(Alright, the car manual claims that while travelling at low speed, the temp shown is slightly higher than the real one outside, so the actual can be around 35+ C... which is still damn high.)

Oh, that study area at UniSIM was not air con-ed.



So you got to get the fan to work. Believe me, when someone screws the settings it can take delicate fingers and lots of patience to get all 4 to spin.



Some frustrated, some tired but still smile, and some, falls asleep.


And when motion sensor cant detect us amd switch off fans & lights?



The magic arm saves the day, to get the fan back again.

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thanks to wl, got to try out her mazda2 for 15min. (That sunday night, same day at above)

What to say? Really great to drive, handling is as true as what's tested by the Australian mag.

Very responsive throttle,
Engine have mid-range gut which is good for over taking, (despite having 4 pax onboard)
smooth and rapid auto gear change,
nice weighted steering,
Balanced turn in and rigid body that flows with you...as nimble as your limps.
'cos of the weight saving high strength steel?

But how i wish the leather seat can be more gripper. Seems thicker than the non-leather one i sat in roadshow.
And there's no lummination on the auto gear at night, which led to me, the manual gear regular, ashamely forgot the order of PRNDS and was lost for a short moment. Only at HUD they show you which gear you are in now...

& Sadly, when it's good value at Aussie, this wl's Auto Spec-R example cost at much as a base Mazda3 1.6 auto. So hard to argue.

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HOT marketing...

OK, when the real time comes for the real exam paper to be taken, you dont exactly feel hot. Some get cold feet, you get what i mean. Me, having really read through many materials, and having known which is my strength, i'm guess i'm still ok...despite not having a good feeling after i woke up... 6th sense, 6th sense.

Which....my ok was put to an abrupt halt once the paper starts. Just 15mins into it, i was lost. What was thought to be the examiner's favourite topic and what gave me confidence...was not there, at all. I do know the rest i guess, but to think of it now, at that point of time the unsettled me cant think straight and chain of thoughts and writing was not smooth anymore...

15mins, and half the battle was lost.
Never felt so bad in a paper, like trying to crawl through mud.


What to do? That's the limitation of such courses.

No matter how brilliant or how bad you are in the past 1 year,
you screw that 3hours of essay paper, you are screwed.


Once the pen was ordered to be placed on table, it seems to be many people around me look troubled. True enough, friends complained the same problem.. "Cannot finish", "unsure what to write", "Q too general", etc etc.


Seems like the last line of hope now is moderation.

Other than that, Move on.
.....no more "if"s. Just "see how lor."


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How hard can it be, to move to the rear?

This is a really funny thing it observe always, while on bus. What really amuse me is that, abundants of seats (not standing space, but seats) are available at the rear, yet these people just like to crowd around the alighting door.

OK lor, you crowd there, new passengers who board follows/dont bother/too shy to squeeze past, newer passengers stack up to the front door, and even newer passengers cant board the bus at the stop, cos there's no space to enter. When the rear is empty. I repeat, empty with seats.

And what's even more amusing is that from my random observation of samples, 70% of the time such person fits the profile of School girls in uniform with a very big backpack (school bag). Dont ask me why, but it's always so.

The best part is, while some adults who does this did it with that type of attitude that "it's my right to stand here", these girls do rather troubled when they realised that they are blocking passengers who are alighting, and will try to shift quickly for them to alight. After which, move back to the same point at the door, when they still have several more stops to alight.

Why? why dont you just take that seat there, so you wont have to block others?

Oh, our bus companies have those new Euro4 buses that have even more standing place right? At times, it seems worse on them. 'Cos a seat is defined as 1 seat, while place to stand for one pax...well, have no defined area. So MORE crowding occurs. MORE standing nearer to the driver...while, i repeat, there are seats behind....


This not a new issue it seems, 'cos i heard from my dad that at those good old days in the 70's, people do also crowd around in front. But back then, bus drivers would shout out loud in hokkien along the line of:
"Move back lar! Behind got ghost arh?!"

Today? In the era when bus drivers had been given a punch by passengers, you think that is possible again?


Maybe they should get promoter to give free Red Bull at the rear of buses. Or paste at the rear 4 lucky digits for Wed, Sat and Sun.


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council memoir + WQ bday photos is up

That day, as I was transferring photos to some friends, I open the video file which i havent watched for a real long time.

Yup, it's the video for the council invest. File modified date: 18 july 2003.

More than 5 years ago. Surprising I look young. Everyone look so young too. Full of energy, and fun.

And fun is the key word. Although the term is only a short 12months, to think of it we had done so much so much, creating much memories.....Every scene, every image in the video, i remembered something about, recalled the stories behind them. It was so overwhelming for that 10mins.

5 years later at now, I realised, or rather, thought of a possible reason for it. Back then, we were all so highly motivated. Breaking free of all guidelines from the senior of previous batches, every event was given the freedom to develop. Plus as council, many big or small event of the school had our involvement, so the range was pretty wide...

So one after one we did it, with the motivation, spirit and creativity, creating stuff in events that had never been done before. All those games in orientation with unthinkable logistic, that fire ball that slided down to ablaze the camp fire, that one and only Amazing race around Singapore, that trip to recce Pulau Ubin and the amazing junior's training camp which was held there eventually...

Myself also, the first ever i get to shoot vid with derrick and make short clips, that was compiled into a full length VCD...

In short, nothing was pretty much impossible. Whatever idea generated, it was executed. Sky was the limit, that why possibly it could be the first time some of us had achieved so much. Very rewarding, very fulfilling, very special, and satisfying. And where i found my confidence back..

All in 12 months...Bonding was there, everyday you would just look forward to go that sofa in council room to chill with the guys, whom had travelled with you thru the difficult times and created so much exciting achievements with you....


....Quickly it came, quickly it was over. Exams came, and it was enlistment.

After it was all over, everyone moved on in life. Now while some guys are moving on towards higher achievement (SL made it to America), some other carried on with a mundane working/schooling life.


I tried to find back the feeling again in the club in my current uni now, but it was totally different. No such bonding, no such sense of achievement. Just carried out the event to make it pass.

....which was a good thing isnt it? At least it shows that the great memories are irreplaceable.


...

The day after i watched the vid, there was a notification on my facebook account, inviting to join the SR council group. Thank you to the person or group who created it. This is really very nice.
...very nice to remind yourself of the great times of the past so you can continue to motivate yourself to move on and to greater heights.


This blog is called "learning to reach top of my world", isnt it?


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Wan Qi 21st Birthday pix are all uploaded to facebook!


Ah, this is seriously overdue. No choice, cant send my yousendit cos my current month bandwidth is reaching the limit soon. And with almost 200 shots and clips, it cant fit.

So perhaps next month then i send out the video clip. Now, you can browse thru these galleries first ;)


Facebook photo album -- Wan qi 21st bday
part 1 -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24351&l=c4820&id=645531772
part 2 -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24352&l=2ebe1&id=645531772
part 3 -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24353&l=53a25&id=645531772

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calculative calculator.

the truth is out.


Now we know the real reason behind the banning of our beloved scientific calculator..


Today, we had an unique, but rather nice maths lecture. Instead of just keep showing the answer of the practice paper, the overseas lecturer spent a portion of the time on the approach to the theory and questions. And some other time talking how him, if in shoes of a student now, rather failing this subject and learn how to use Excel spreadsheet...

Which is pretty true. How much of these maths methods will be tested in our work life, while how much more relevant will be the use of spreadsheet and etc will be? For something that we have to punch into the calculator for 10 mins and draw a big big table to compute, the Forcasting can be done in seconds with a spreadsheet.

That leads to this point: He shared our disbelief regarding the decision by uk side on "use-only-basic-calculator". Simply because, the real reasons behind their rational was that:

...they felt students in some parts of the world may be in a disadvantaged position as they could not afford a scientific calculator...


Right.

When all students around the world paid around 300pounds just for examination fees (not inclusive of other registration fees)，

is it possible that they cannot afford a scientific calculator, that cost 10, 15 pounds (S$30) ??


As quoted from this lecturer, we are all "progressing backwards", so might as well we are told "to use strings with beans" for calculations.


oh, how i love the way they speak.


.

zai... (steady, good)

Convocation. How weird.

Last thursday, Jinie had her convo, finally. 9 months after she finished her last paper, and 7 after her grad.

So the atrium was converted again, with warm carpet rolled over the cold marble floor and warmed up by the even warmer buffet food. Definately a warmth and happy moment for every grad there with their family, that thunderstorm outside not damping any of the happy mood...

Of cos, considering how hard is it to survive this 3 years (or more) course.

And I do felt happy for my good old pal Jinie too, see-ing her back again, with her achievements.
Happily she went around, taking photos of everything. Yes, LTs, lounge, the gate, and even that new-to-her escalator.

Not everyday you see people taking photos of everything in school I guess. What always seem as a normal sight to you will suddenly be very beautiful on the day of convo. That level 1 area with the backdrop of the 4 storey high corridoors now look very significant. Or is it the rain?

And that green gate on that suppose-to-be main entrance, which few people walk through daily. Untouched and out of sight normally...This normal piece of fitting became a great photo view on the convo day where many took their shots against. Some guy even pull it out more to take more of it.

Through out her family followed along everywhere for the photos. Especially her dad, who was always known to be fierce. Not very approachable, we heard. But that day, he was in high spirited mood, smiling always and kept on suggesting possible shooting angle, and cracking that occasional joke. Very proud of his daughter. Which is a very great sight.

Happy time indeed, but in mind was in sort of a different tune.
Her mind was feeling "how great it was to be schooling, not working..."
while mine was "how great it was not to be schooling, but working..."

How weird. Only at Conovaction.







Nevertheless, Jinie, glad you made it!! Jia you on your career..

When's mine?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Unexpectedly, I made a trip down to bukit batok the day before, via bus.

Yes, bus. Alone.

Which really inspired something out of me... I do really like the feeling of exploration on foot.

Indeed, the place was really like a foreign land to me. Having lived in the North East region for my life, and only been to major West side landmarks, this neighbourhood was the few unventured portion of singapore.

Yet when having to travel down there alone and arriving on a totally unfamiliar place, it wasnt fear or confusion that struck me. Instead, what overwhelmed me was the sense of fascination. It is the desire to explore every inch of a new place.

Journey on bus to the interchange was interesting enough. Where else can you see one big block of hill immedately next to a HDB block of flat, neighbourhood and schools built on a slightly contoured hilly land, with woods everywhere? The town look distinct to be called its own.

And the interchange. A departure from the norm SBStransits ones we always see in our region. Contrasted to the dark Bishan interchange, this one is brightly lit up with that 80's style rounded lamps hanging on that airy tall ceiling. And leading onto the above of the tail ceiling are those tall climbing stairs which looks as those bwlow the platform of Kallang stadium...

Perhaps all these small details fascinates me, that how i get excited. And perhaps that's why I desire exploring new places or taking that untried route, 'cos i will always have new sights.

That's how we conquered Hong Kong 2 years back, walked all the way down Kowloon on our own. And only armed with a MTR map, we even ventured into the less tourist-ly but more residence New Territories...

....Jet Star flies to Melborne @ $58 (w/o tax)....now my eyes really lit up.


Pardon the lousy angle, but here you can see bits of the description i made...