Farewell~

I have not been posting on this blog and the first post that I want to make after a long hiatus is a sad one.

Michael Crichton passed away yesterday! I love his books and that is because he always manages to infuse science and story-telling into one big pot of excitement.

Too bad he is gone now. And at least there is an excuse for me to buy his last book. At least his legacy lives on...

Updates

It has been a while since I last updated my blog...but I really have nothing much to blog about. Most of my time has now being diverted either to the stupid symfony or CS or Band of brothers.

But at least I get more now.

And I still have a leg in the old.

Hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew.

Choking can be bad for health I think.

Absence makes the heart fonder...

I think the Idiom is true - It made me do the above.

BBQ at East Coast

Ah, no pictures but....

have to thank stella ( i know you are reading my blog from time to time!) and huiping for going through the trouble of organizing this little get-together. It was really great, considering that all of those you invited came!

Time flies. Some are already married and some are planning to get married. 3 years. So much has transcended in this 3 years. It makes one wonder when would be the next time when we can all meet again. But at least we had the opportunity of this night to catch up with each other and sharing stories of the past 3 years.

Food is great too. But it's the company that makes the food sumptuous.

Till we all meet again....

National Day...

I remember when I was young, blocks were "painted" in a sea of red and white as almost, if not all of the residence will hang up their Singapore flag proudly. I liked that. It shows that the people of Singapore "having a sense of belonging and pride" in the country they call home to.

Now fast forward 10 years. Singapore have had undergone rapid changes in a short period of time, including the fact that no one hang their flags up anymore.

Zilch.

If widespread unhappiness is the result of our progress, i rather we not have drastic progress at the expense of unhappiness, resentment, anger and the lost of a sense of belonging to this place which people used to call "my country, my home".

What's good 2 casinos, a horde of FTs and tons of money in a country when patriotism is gone? It makes the National Day parade sounds like a whole lot of bang with no soul.

The VW Touareg V10 TDI experience

On an early saturday morning, we had the opportunity to be the first few to test drive the new VW Touareg. Now, this Touareg is not your usual run-of-the-mill SUV. This Touareg has the letters "TDI" attached to it.

And these are some very special words. So special that any petrolhead will go jelly in the knees when they hear them.

Allow me to explain. The "TDI" stands for Turbocharged Direct Injection and is VW's acronym for all their turbocharged diesel engine. Yes....this monster is a diesel. Now, for those of you who know enough to differentiate between a car and a truck, you will immediately know that diesel-based cars have more low-end torque compared to their petrol counterparts. But this increase comes with the sacrifice of high-end power, noted by the 4.5k rev-limit on diesel engines.

What makes this Touareg so special is that it doesn't sacrifice on high-end power and that is why petrolheads will go weak in their knees. This Toureg has all the benefits of a diesel and none of it's drawbacks. The R50 contains a 5-litre, V10 turbocharged engine giving 850NM at a low 2000rpm and 350bhp at 3500rpm which will power the behemoth from 0-100km in 6.7 seconds and all the way to the 235km/h limit. All it takes is for you to floor the accelerator and you will be in warp speed the very next moment. Or a hefty speeding fine.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury of testing the car extensively but from the short 10-min drive, it was enough for me to peg the $298,000 asking price as emotionally worthwhile. You just have to listen to the engine note and exhaust burble. Nothing like the clittery-clap of diesels!

It is not often that you can have so much power in your hands. Or in something this huge.

A wierd dream

I had a...nightmare this morning...it seems. I'm unsure because even though the dream was eerie, it didn't really make me few scared...just spooked.

The background of the dream was in some island resort (like Tioman) and a group of us (I can't remember who was in it but I do remember familar faces like ZJ and others which I obviously do not know who they are, but they are my friends in the dream). We were in a resort where electricty, water, food are provided by push carts but some how as the dream developed, there was the saying that an evil is arriving and all the push carts start to leave the island, leaving us without food, water or electrocity.

IT was a beginning of evil and the group of us hudled together in this tall tower above the resort looking pass calm blue seas and tall volcanic islands a distance away while someone in our group was fending off some evil creature with a circular shield. Then the dream shifted back to the group on the ground, this time with some girl which was suppose to be evil but in the end, she was helping us by leading us into the resort rooms to hide from the evil creatures. While that happened, me and my another friend had a need to pee but since there was no light, we decided to pee in the open so that no evil creatures could catch us while being vulnerable. The dream ended when the girl said "dun pee there" because people can see us from across the resort block.


Wierd like hell, I say.

The wonders of TV

For those of you who managed to catch me on TV, well, do not believe that all-was-ok in that few seconds of clip; in fact, there was widespread panic and furor off-screen as we tried to piece the film together - Things that you should know:

1. There were a handful of retakes because I was trying hard not to squint while reading the script
2. kudos to the producers for being able to NOT portray me as a stuttering idiot who do not know how to speak chinese, which in fact, was the case in some of the takes
3. Last but not least, a VERY BIG THANKS to damsie for helping me script the text. Without it, I think i would have literally died (a.k.a looking like an idiot on TV)

Also, don't ask me about the clip because when it aired, I was millions of meters away in Malaysia trying to find food.

And to those who do not know what i'm talking about, well, nevermind =)

ANd no, I have some strange resentment in watching myself on TV, so I did not record a single thing.

Hello....

您好，上次遇见您的时候，已经有好几个月前的事情了，但我那时跟你所说过的话，我没忘记。但是，没想到，我还是没有你哪莫的了解她. 我已经尽量了,但是试种还是没有彻底的了解和体会到她的心. 我绝得好失败...



I'll be there

You and I must make a pact
We must bring salvation back
Where there is love
I'll be there

I'll reach out my hand to you
I'll have faith in all you do
Just call my name
And I'll be there

I'll be there to comfort you
Build my world of dreams around you
I'm so glad that I found you
I'll be there with a love that's strong
I'll be your strength I'll keep holding on

Let me fill your heart with joy and laughter
Togetherness is all I'm after
Just call my name And I'll be there

I'll be there to protect you
With an unselfish love I'll respect you
Just call my name And I'll be there

I'll be there to comfort you
Build my world of dreams around you
I'm so glad that I found you
I'll be there with a love so strong
I'll be your strength
I'll keep holding on

If you should ever find someone new
I know he'd better be good to you
'Cause if he doesn't I'll be there

I'll be there
I'll be there
Just call my name
I'll be there
I'll be there
I'll be there
Whenever you need me I'll be there

Singaporeans are happy?

On a CNA tickertape, I saw a news snippet that exclaims that most Singaporeans are "happy". On a scale of 1 to 10, Singaporeans rate themselves 6.6 on average (out of 10) in a survey done by some Japanese Pharma. company.

I have a question.

If 1 is not happy and 10 is very happy. That means 5 is neutral. Therefore, a rating of 6.6 should mean that Singaporeans are somewhere between feeling neutral and a little bit happy isn't it? If that is the case, that means the survey conclusion should be: "Singaporeans are a-little-bit happy only " and not "Singaporeans are generally happy", right?

Also hor, no one survey me leh. What are the profiles of the 750 people surveyed? What is the measurement of the happiness factor based on? Never say leh. I wonder if they got interview the old auntie who collect cans or the blind uncle who sells tissue or not.

The article also say people working in the airline, automobile and transportation sectors are the happiest people.

This one interesting. Maybe the survey only interview airline pilots, Porsche salesman and taxi drivers (Taxi drivers is because they finally get to drive new cars instead of the boring Toyota Crown which have been around since Policemen wore shorts.)

Latest: I also found a survey (http://www.happyplanetindex.org/map.htm) that concludes that Singapore is ranked 131 out of 178 in terms of happiness but that was dated 2006. So that means Singaporeans must have become happier in the past 2 years ah.

=======================
From CNA:

A survey shows Singaporeans are generally happy, scoring 6.6 on an index of 1 to 10.

43.5 percent of 750 Singaporeans surveyed said family was the most important contributor to overall happiness, followed by friends and good health.

On jobs, the survey showed that those in the airline, automobile and transportation sectors are the happiest people in Singapore, while those in the arts and entertainment scene scored the lowest on the SOYJOY Index.

The survey, conducted via face-to-face random interviews, also found that Singaporeans are generally cheered up by simple things like eating good food, playing with kids, and listening to music.

The findings of the survey, conducted by a Japanese pharmaceutical company, were released on Wednesday.

A pillar of humanity

While overlooking the city lights on the top of the hill, locked in an embrace of warmth in the cold windy night, the question of "what is love" was brought up.

An interesting philosophical question for a night like this, considering the question is probably as old as mankind itself and yet man had failed for centuries to get a firm grasp on one of the underlying pillars of humanity.

So what is love? A search on Google churned out a list of suggestive explanations; All of which can be summed up by the definition, "a feeling of deep positive emotion for something/someone". However, it does not make the person reading any closer in understanding more about this elusive four letter word. It is akin to saying a Durian is a fruit, while not offering much about what exactly IS a Durian.

While the purpose of the rest of this article is NOT to offer a detail explanation on what exactly love is or what it does, what I hope this article will achieve is to for you, as a reader, to think about what you think love is. Because that is all that matters. Really.

Imagine that you have an apple that is red and crunchy. You like this apple because it is crunchy. Another person likes the apple because it is red. Both of you like the apple, but for completely different reasons. This is similar to what love is.

The difficulty lies in knowing yourself and the type of love that you are looking for and whether you are able to find it. Some are contented with that they have; Others hop from relationship to relationship to find the right love. Some are so swept away at first sight that they felt they got the right love.

Which ever the case, it is you who give yourself a definition to love. And it is only you, who can give yourself the reason not to love.

The past, haunting

Sometimes, just sometimes when an innocent decision made could create repercussions that propagate throughout a lifetime and leave deep and profound impact in you as you grow.

The most that you could do is to push the regret aside, especially if you are unable to correct the decision made. The least you could do, is nothing, and let it consume you, leaving you feeling utterly helpless - akin to watching a train bearing down on you when you lay shackled on the tracks.

Yet sometimes, even when you have pushed the regret aside, the past still comes back to haunt you, and make you remember the decisions that you have made that led to this. And you cringe. But there is nothing that you can do.

And again.

And again.

It is as if time is the spit-fire on which you roast on your regret.

Don't give up, You are loved

Dedicated to the one. You know who you are.

Lost

I. Am. Lost.

Movies are not entertainment

If you flip through the newspaper, more often than not, movie reviews are classified under the entertainment section. A fair deal, considering that movies are created to entertain people, to whisk them into a make-believe world where good always triumphs over evil, where bad guys finish last and happy endings are always the order of the day.

You would then have to agree with me when I say that movies are created as a form of escape, a mental sanctuary from the harsh and cruel world for 180 minutes. Which also set you back $8.50.

Then, why should movies be labeled as entertainment?

I think they should be called cocoons instead.

Movies are the cocoons for the mind, to shield them against the realities of the world and immerse them in the perfect fantasy world. The movie experience is not only about the story but also about the removal from reality the movie-goer can experience when they are engrossed in the story.

And with that, it gives the movie-goer a renewed sense of hope and purpose, that everything will be ok with this world. Just like false hopes.

The truth is, nothing is fair in this world.

And movies are the heroin to fix it.

Photo Essay

Keppel by the Bay - It's just an awful waste of space, for now.














Unique!











Budding supermodel















Yishun Ave 1. - I think...














Foodie!

Haunting Thoughts

Do you have a greatest fear?

I do.

I don't want to be last.

And all the Ls related to last.

Highlights of Cameron, Part 1

Robinson's Fall, Tanah Rata
























Lettuce produced, Healthy Strawberry Farm, Brinchang
























Strawberry Flower, KHM Strawberry farm, Tanah Rata













Bee on a flower, Mardi, Tanah Rata



















Lilies, Mardi, Tanah Rata




















Summit, Gunang Brinchang

Wobbling with Puddy

The little lamb have been wobbling with the puddy for one sunnie and 2 moonies already. All in all, we had our fun times, our very fun times and our extremely fun times. But of course, we have had our dark times - alone - because we fear to burden the other silly one.

Skepticism and wariness was the order of the day when the journey first started. The puddy was bent on throwing pies while the silly lamb was trying to eat them as fast as puddy can throw. Yet. throughout it all, the lamb saw how sweet the puddy is (even though she IS a bitter-sweet dessert) and decided that there is no one as special as this blob of choco fudge (including all the bitter parts that is).

And through it all, this little puddy always make little sacrifices for the mehz just to make that lamb happy. Without expecting anything in return. And because of that, this little lamb tried his best - as fast as his little totters can move - to try to make this little puddy happy too.

Now, the time has come, for this little lamb to tell the whole world on what the lamb have to do next....

Close your eyes and listen....

But before you do, let me share with you a little background on this piece of music.

Jay Chattaway composed this music for the Star Trek episode "The Inner Light", which he later expanded this piece into a six-minute orchestral suite that is available on "The Best of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary Special" soundtrack CD.

This episode won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.The episode is considered by many fans to be the most touching of the series' episodes.This episode won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

The brass Ressikan flute (which Picard used in the film) was one of the items up for bid at the Christie's official studio auction of Star Trek memorabilia, which took place on October 5-7, 2006. The flute, which cannot actually be played, was originally estimated to have a sale price of $300. Auction directors admitted that their estimates for many items did not "factor in that emotional fury generated around this kind of material." The estimate was later raised to $800-$1200 on Christie's website.

In the days leading up to the auction, Denise Okuda, former Trek scenic artist and video supervisor as well as co-writer of the auction catalog, stated that "That's the item people say they really have to have, because it's so iconic to a much-beloved episode." The final bid for the flute at the auction was $40,000. Including the additional 20% fee Christie's collected on all items from the winning bidder, the total price for the flute was $48,000(S$67,200).