Interesting Videos

Found this circulating in Facebook. It is soooooo cool!

 

Music using ONLY sounds from Windows XP and 98!

 

  

 

 

This video demostrate how the spirit of Web 2.0 can be applied to real life.  

 

Haircut2.0 - Get a Free New Hairstyle

 

  

 

 (Facebook is the most impressive site that applied the idea of Web 2.0, that is why I am so impressed with it.)

 

Btw the recent 2 podcasts from mrbrownshow.com are damn funny! Go take a look! =)

 

 

 

 

 

Olympic Thoughts

Olympics.

 

Superhuman speed. Unbelievable reaction. Tremendous Strength.

 

Strategies. Tactics. Psychology battle. Mental contest.

 

Struggle. Stress. Tension. Concentration. Relax.

 

Unpredictability. Unexpectedness. Surprises.

 

Hope. Anticipation. Luck.

 

Skill. Form. Movement. Rhythm. Beauty.

 

Cheering. Support. Love for Nation.

 

Excitment. Exultant. Jubilant. Release. Emotions.

 

 

Ain't those the essential characteristics of a good story?

 

 

Anwz, my new idol, Table Tennis World's Women No.1, Zhang Yi Ning :

 

 

Too Fast. Too Furious. Too Unpredictable.  =)

 

 

Interesthings from the Web (Cut and Paste)

An Unfortunate Accident

Status: Undetermined
This news clipping has been doing the rounds:

 

 

Is it true? It does have urban-legend qualities to it, but a search of LexisNexis reveals that it was widely reported in April 2002. English-language papers credited the story to the Danish newspaper BT. The surgeon was identified as Jorn Kristensen. The Sun had this line:

Surgeon Jorn Kristensen said of the chain reaction: "No-one considered the possibility."

 

So, given the specific details, I'm going to say that it appears to be true my hunch is that it's true, but I'll list it as undetermined.

 

~Museum of Hoaxes

 

P.S. "No one considered the possibility." ?!? Hahahahaha! ~iw

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Killer Whale vs. Penguin

 

Killer whales do eat penguins, but I'd say this has been photoshopped. For a start, if you look closely it appears that the killer whale already has something in its mouth.

 

I have no information about who created the photo or where the original images came from.

 

~Museum of Hoaxes

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

$1000 iPhone App Does Nothing

 

Customers at Apple's online iPhone store recently had the opportunity to buy a program called "I Am Rich." True to its name, it cost $999.99.

 

The program, created by Armin Heinrich, a German software developer, displayed a large red ruby on the iPhone's screen. And that's it. Nothing else. The product description read:

 

"The red icon on your iPhone always reminds you (and others when you show it to them) that you were able to afford this. It's a work of art with no hidden function at all."

Eight people actually purchased the program before Apple removed it from the site. One of them complained that he bought it thinking it was a joke, only to discover a charge for $999.99 on his credit card.

 

This program walks the fine line between a prank and a scam. The concept is kind of funny, but Heinrich is apparently keeping the money that people paid. I wouldn't find that funny if it was my money.

 

~Museum of Hoaxes

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

mini rickshaw in beijing

~ Design Boom

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 nike (burguer) air max 90 by olle hemmendorff

 

 

~ Design Boom

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

'all of this is melting away' at royal/t

 

 

 

~ Design Boom

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

shelter & cart for junk collectors

 

 

 

 

~ Design Boom

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

masks by kepa rasmussen

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Magic Trick With Google

 

 http://triplebirch.com/google/

 

This should be quite fun! Haha!

 

 

 

The Mystery of the Missing OG - Part 2

I went to see a hypnotherapist today.

 

Why do I remember something that all other don't? My sixth sense tells me that the answer to that is locked within the depth of my subconscious. Hypnosis is the key . I have no choice. I have to try.

 

The room was bright and sunny. Breeze blew in through the windows, lifting the white curtains. It was quiet and peaceful. The therapist was a beautiful lady in her late twenties, Miss Lee. 

 

"Are we ready?"  I nodded.

 

"Imagine you are sitting on a comfortable chair on a beautiful beach. You can see the golden that surrounds you... and the waves as they crash on the shore. You can hear the gentle and rhythmic sounds they make. You can feel a moist sea breeze waft over you body. You can feel the soft morning sun on your skin. All your thoughts seem to quiet down as you concentrate the sun's warmth on your face... your body...and your legs..."

 

I don't know what happened next. I guess I fell into a trance .....

 

. . . . . . .

 

Suddenly, I was shocked into awareness by a ear piercing scream! I looked around, and to my surprise, Miss Lee was trembling on the floor, face completely white, eyes wide in fear, mumbling nonstop to herself. 

 

"... impossible... no... no... dark... too dark... please... no..." 

 

She soon calmed down and fell asleep. The originally peaceful room now seemed abit too quiet.

 

Eerily quiet. 

 

After I carried her to her bed, I walked around the room and found a tape recorder. I rewinded and played the tape.

 

 

Her voice: "... Now, tell me what happened that night?"

 

My voice: *Sleepily* "...I was sick in the day and went back home... but I felt much better at night... so I went back hall for the finale of FOC... I rejoined my OG... for the Fright Night... The Fright Night was scary... very scary... I remember... we walked along this corridor outside the physics lab... then we saw........."

 

*A long while of static followed by Miss Lee's scream*

 

 

I quickly stopped the tape recorder.

 

So I went for the Fright Night! Why can't I remember?! What happened at the fright night?? What frightened Miss Lee until she lay trembling on the floor? Fright night... Imaginary ghost turns real? Fake cult ritual summoned true demons? I got possessed by the devil, Lucifer, himself?!?

 

NO! There must be some logical explanations. Let me reorganise my thoughts. Before I can know what happened at the Fright Night, I need to know what was supposed to happen FIRST. To know that, I need to find the...

 

...script.    

 

(printed from a blog entry, dated 13 Aug 2004)

 

 

<< Previous entry

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Today I was quite bored on the MRT on my way to work, so I did some daydreaming and attempted to solve the mystery of the missing og. It was quite fruitful. I got a partial solution which I quickly keyed into my handphone as message draft before I can forget. Anw the offer still stands. Anyone who can guess what happen next will get a treat from me. (I have put a subtle clue in the story... =)

 

Btw I got the hypnosis script from a website.

 

 

7 Deadly Sins

From Singying...

 

Your Sins are Revealed, Your Fate is Sealed

Your sin has been measured. You have committed many sins, but Greed is the mortal sin that has done you in. Just below, discover your full sinful breakdown and learn what it is about you that codemns you to hell.

 

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Medium
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

Discover Your Sins - Click Here

 

Now all of you know my true colours... Hahahahaha!

 

But wait! Sloth is the shortest?? There are only 2 interpretation:

 

1) Either I am under the illusion that I am damn slack, when I am NOT.  Or

2) I am even worse in other aspects!

 

No wonder I have no girlfriend... T_T

 

 

Answers, magic, tarot card, future, signs, meaning of life... Random

There are only 3 things I pursue in life.

 

Happiness. Fulfillment. Answers.

 

Happiness I have I talk about before. Fulfillment I will talk about in the future. Today I will talk about Answers. How I like pursue Answers to all kinds of Questions.

 

What happened 100,000 years ago? How is the universe created? Does God exists? What is the meaning of life? What will happen in the future? How does the economy works? How to buy stocks? What make a good story? Who will be my girl friend next time? How to write computer codes? How to catch the legendary pokemons? How does this magic works? How all things and people are connected together?

 

There are some Answers I want to know more than others - Answers that little or no people know, Answers you can't find on the net. Secrets. 

 

Magic is one of them.

 

I read somewhere that "Magic is the cheat code of the world." I once thought that if I can learn the secrets to do the impossible things that magicians do, I can do anything! So, I spent maybe even over a thousand over the years to learn the secrets of many different magic tricks. But when I stripped the mysterious veil, that is all it is, just tricks. Trickery and showmanship.

 

(I know the tricks, but I don't have the showmanship, that is why I very seldom do magic tricks these days. But I DO have a few tricks up my sleeves.

 

Actually I am disgusted by salesmen who sell tricks just for money or people who do magic without showmanship. Where is wonder and amazement that should come with magic??)

 

But at least I satisfied my curiosity. This is not the real magic that can give me the Answers.

 

Then I gave up and went to find methods and ways to peer into the Future. I went into Tarot Cards. It gave me answers to some questions, but I will never be sure whether they were correct or not. Again, I found that arcane arts isn't the Answer I am seeking. But in the process, I learnt something new. That is the important thing.

 

(One thing I learnt in the process is that if you can look out for certain signs, it can give you some glimpse into the immediate future. For example, if you want to predict, to the second, when the pedestrians traffic light will turn green, you look out for when vehicle traffic light turn red. It gives you a few seconds of advantage over other people when crossing the road. Same thing can apply to economy, stocks prices and most other thing.

 

Look out for Signs.)

 

 

Maybe I will find the Answers one day. Maybe not. But I have already found the Meaning to my Life. (Part of it.)

 

The Mystery of the Missing OG

Do you think there were always four Orientation Groups in the history of Hall XI's FOC?

 

You are WRONG.  

 

Before the incident that happened 4 years ago, there were always FIVE. 

 

Four years ago, I participated in the FOC as a freshie. At that time, for the first four days, me and my OG had lots of fun, together with the other four OGs. Strong bonds were built between each member within our OG. Even now, I still miss the time we had together during FOC.

 

However, on the fifth day, I fell sick and went back home. In the end, I missed the highlight of FOC - The Fright Night.

 

Then, something strange happened.

 

When I went back hall on the following Sunday night, I tried to find my OG mates, but I can't. Puzzled, I asked some seniors I knew who happened to be around. They said they never heard of my OG or knew any of my OG mates. In fact, they had never seen me before. 

 

It was as if my OG had disappeared overnight and everyone had forgotten about us!!! 

 

Despite what happened, I still stayed in hall, pretended nothing happened, and reforged friendships with fellow hallmates. However, since then, Hall XI FOC has only 4 OGs.

 

And their Fright Night had been renamed Mystery Walk ever since.  

 

This incident had left a question mark in my mind that won't disappear no matter how hard I tried to brush it away. I suspect I am mentally ill, but I seriously doubt so. I couldn't have hallucinated the 4 days I spent together with my OG.

 

Could I?

 

The truth is out there. I am going to find out what happened during that friday night, by hook or by crook.

 

(printed from a blog entry, dated 06 Aug 2004)

 

 

Next entry >>

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

The above is a Mystery Walk idea which was inspired from a dream. (In the dream, there are 2 additional OGs, Black/Demons? and White/Angels?, but invisible to everyone in the FOC.) The dream itself was inspired by a conversation with Singying, who commented that every year's Mystery Walk revolves around boyfriend killing girlfriend or vice versa. The tagline 'The truth is out there', is inspired by X Files of course. =P

 

What do you think is / should be the ending to the above 'mystery'? Who can guess how will the story continue and what ending I had in mind will get a dinner treat from me. =)

 

 

Freshmen Orientation Camp

This year's Hall FOC I only went back for 3 nights - Sunday's precamp, Tuesday and Friday night. On the precamp day itself, at marina, is where my hall and uni life finish a complete cycle -taking convo photoshoot on the day when exactly 4 years ago I was a freshman about to step into the hall and uni stage of my life. Thinking back, I was just as cock as how some of the most cock freshies I saw in this camp last time. Actually, I am still as cock now, just that most in hall don't dare to say cos I am older than most of them. Ha!

 

Talking about FOC, I never liked 50% of the games I played during FOC. Who in their right mind will like to play games that are disgusting, muddy, wet and last until 4+ am into the night?? I especially hated Ixnitiation when I was a freshie. Does it remind anyone of the 'Good Cop Bad Cop' routine used to bend the prisoners to police's will? Most of these FOC games are basically designed to satisfy the sickening minds of seniors (who, too, suffered in the hands in their seniors), all in the name of "tradition".

 

I started to love FOC when I was in Year 2.

 

And I had gone for all the FOCs (unlike some of the lao rens), and made alot of good friends since then... starting with Weiling, Veena's batch, followed by Weichen, Alvin, Zhengxi, Singying's batch, followed by Angela, Yanli, Yizhen, Kelvin's batch... watching them all turned into psychotic-freshies-torturing-seniors over a period of 3 years. I can hardly believe my eyes and ears when the AGL this year told a blindfolded freshie to do a hundred squats and starjumps during Ixnitiation night! (She told him to stop when he had done 20 la... I was about to intervene already.) Oh well, the tradition had been passed down good. I remembered I was told to do army drills blindfolded during this night. Haha!

 

It really feels good during the Ixnitiation night, where you see seniors and juniors from different generations all back in the one place where we all once stayed together, while witnessing the freshies going through the same old shit you went through years ago.

 

This year is a bit different from the previous years though. Originally I didn't plan to mingle with the freshies, since I knew I was only coming for a few nights. And I didn't, until I saw the poor blindfolded, bored freshies going to fall asleep waiting for their turn at some stupid station. And this was where my 'kind-and-caring-senior' instinct kicked in. (I am always the 'Good Cop'. Haha!) I went to entertain them by chit chating with a few of them. One simply refused to respond the 'button' on her nose that I 'programmed' (For those who don't know, a 'button' is something you draw on the freshie using marker, where, when pressed, the freshie is supposed to shout or do something.) She want me to shout first, then she shout. This is the first time I tried to be a Bad Cop and I failed so miserably. Down ah! =( 

 

Then there was one is a MAE guy who was a commando. Quite friendly and nice to talk to. The one I chat with the longest is called Trixie, from ADM, Pan OG, Animator. She kept trying to guess who am I when I already told her repeatedly that she never saw me before. I told her that to her, I will always be 'The Mysterious Senior Who Talked To You During Ixnitiation Whose Identity Will Remain A Mystery Forever'.

 

At that point I realised that this batch would made very good friends and juniors, just like the previous 3 batches, and it is a little bit sad that I missed the chance to made friends with them. Then I told myself that it is time to move on to the next stage of life. I guess maybe I will go back for hall FOC for maybe one or two more years, and, when no one I know is left in hall, then I can finally leave Hall 11 behind for good physically.

 

And rest it in my memories... just like my beloved jc.

 

 

Convocation 2008

Memories...

 

 http://widget-8f.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf

 

 

 

Play

Did you play Lego when you were young?

 

I did. Piecing seemingly unrelated blocks together to form a police station, an airport, a castle, a hospital etc etc. When I was older, I played with Jigsaw Puzzle. Piecing pieces together to form a picture of a Water Bearer, an ocean etc. In uni, I played with Gundam, piecing small parts together to form a Gundam model.

 

After I graduated...

 

I played with an Aircraft Simulator (well, sort of...). Modifying and writing pieces of codes and join them together to form a software module, then integrating my modules with other software modules from my colleagues to form the software for the Simulator, and finally link the software and the hardware together to form a complete Aircraft Simulator (for others to play).

 

The best part is, I get paid (a little) for it. Haha!

 

Hmmm... of course I don't only play with the Aircraft Simulator. I am playing with a hell lot of other things, eg. Pokemon Pearl. I LOVE to play! 

 

When is the last time you play? =)

 

  <<< My fav Pokemon - Psyduck =P 

 

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

I saw this at Shirong's blog. I LOVE it! Maybe you will like it too. =)

 

 

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97. Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience...
I will dispense this advice now

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh,
nevermind, you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself
and recall in a way you can't grasp now, how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that
worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by
chewing bubblegum.
The real toubles in life are apt to be things that never
crossed your worried mind;
the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.
Don't put up with people who are reckless with your's.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're
ahead, sometimes you're behind.
The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults.
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives;
some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll divorce at 40.
Maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either - your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can... don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it... it's the greatest instrument
you'll ever own.

Dance... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines they will only make you feel UGLY.

CHORUS
Brother and sister together we'll make it through.
Someday your spirit will take you and guide you there.
I know you've been hurting, but I've been waiting to be there for you.
And I'll be there just helping you out whenever I can.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they might be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they're your best link to your
past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should
hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the
older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths. Prices will rise,
Politicians will philander, you too will get old.
And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse;
but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly
parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

CHORUS

Everybody's free. Everybody's free.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

If you love it, and you are a Star War fan, you HAVE to listen to...

 

"Everybody Free to Be a Jedi Is" (hahahahaha!)

 

http://www.yodajeff.com/multimedia/sounds/nonvideo/everybodys-free.mp3

 

(Right click and save as if it doesn't play when you click on it.)

 

Movie reviews

RED CLIFF (Warning: Spoilers)

 

 

 

The Good

- Tony Leung and Takeshi (Woo!)

 

- The Ba Gua Zhen fighting scene

 

- Whenever Tony Leung and Takeshi appears

 

- Humourous lines

 

 

The Not So Good

-Zhaoyun's heroic saving Liu Bei's child scene.

 

(Why is it not so good?

1. The Zhaoyun looks too old. 

2. It has little to do with the Battle of Red Cliff - not to the point, making the film unnecessarily long.

3. The scene has been depicted much better in Three Kingdom - Resurrection of Dragon by Andy Lau.)

 

 

- Zhangfei fight enemy soldiers alone and weaponless in Ba Gua Zhen scene.

 

(Why is it not so good?

 

1. It is one thing to fight through the enemies alone when one is behind the enemy line, eg. Zhaoyun save A-Dou. But it is another thing for one to fight through the enemies alone when the enemies is behind one's line. And it was the pinnacle of stupidity for one to fight empty-handed in this kind of situation, no matter how 'invincible' the person is. What is the director trying to show???

 

I suspect John Woo played too much Dynasty Warrior...

 

2. Zhangfei was famous for wielding the Snake Spear. Why the hell did he want to fight empty handed?)

 

 

- The 10 mins Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang playing gu zhen scene.

 

(Why is it not so good?

 

1. I personally love most kinds of art form, including Chinese Music.

 

(In fact, the next time if I have a chance to write a script for a play, I planned to have a scene in which the actor will write a very meaningful poem about The Importance of Having Peace in Life in Chinese Calligraphy before live audience for a full 30 minutes.)

 

However, it just happens that I am not prepared to appreciate chinese music for that long in an action war film, after work.

 

2. The Zhou Yu here seems too nice to Zhuge Liang compared to what is depicted in the novel. There is nothing wrong... I am just not too used to it. Haha!)

 

 

- Lord of the Rings' never-ending army scene

 

(Why is it not so good?

 

1. Erm... it is not bad la... but it is not good either... Ever since Lord of the Rings, every single films and even TV shows with an army in it will use the same computer graphics to achieve the never-ending effect. It shows serious lack of creativity... and makes it looks like Chinese version of Lord of the Rings.

 

I understand that John Woo is trying hard to make it an epic la... But he tried too hard.)

 

 

- After an agonising 2.5 hours, only 2,000 out of Cao Cao's 800,000 men was defeated - that was less than 0.3% of Cao Cao's army! 

 

(Why is it not so good?

 

1. It is a little unproportional for a 2-episode movie. One may wonder maybe they should just watch the 2nd episode. Afterall it is where 99.7% of the action is.

 

2. I felt cheated. Haha!)

 

 

Conclusion

 

We can obviously seen from the movie that the director originally meant Red Cliff to be a Block Buster Lord-of-the-Ring-like Epic movie with lots of big casts. However, perhaps due to budget constraint, or perhaps due to alot of big stars fly aeroplane, in the end only Tony Leung and Takeshi were left.

 

And the story is scripted in such a way that a lot of the plot were focus on secondary actors - Zhaoyun, Guanyu, Zhangfei, Liu Bei (who are those actors anw???), Xiaoqiao and Sun Shang Xiang (WTH has Sun Shang Xiang gotta do with Red Cliff?????). As a result, Tony Leung and Takeshi cannot really shine in the movie.

 

As a Block Buster Epic film, Red Cliff, having so many Not-So-Good points, has failed completely. Instead it became a 'B' grade movie that is a tad too longwinded. Even though it is still an average 'B' grade movie, I am very disappointed that it isn't the 'A' grade Epic that it should have been. 

 

...Perhaps those big stars quit after reading the script?

 

 

Hancock (no spoilers)

 

 

In stark contrast compared to Red Cliff, Hancock is only 1.5 hours long. I went to watch with ZERO knowledge of it and its plot except that it was acted by Will Smith, one of my favourite actors. What I got was one surprise after another. Halfway through, the plot twisted in such a way that leave me absolutely flabbagasted. Though the ending is a Ten-Years-Series cliche ending, I left the cinema satisfied and happy.

 

Hmmm for those who don't know anything about Hancock's story (like me last time), if you want to know, I shall give a one sentence sypnosis that will reveal the first surprise (at least for me) below. Read on if you want to know:

 

 

Hancock (Will Smith) is a powerful superhero that had saved lifes and done a lot of good deeds. However, THE PUBLIC HATES HIM.  Why? What will he becomes? Where did he come from?

 

 

Very highly recommended. An 'A' grade action movie. 

 

Comics, Animaes and Games.

Currently reading... YU-GI-OH!

 

Currently playing... YU-GI-OH too!

 

It may seems childish, but when a story contains elements of 'Card Game', 'Technology', 'Magic' and a very smart main character... with dark side somemore... I will become a sucker for it. Finally found something for my PSP to do, and also some excitement in my otherwise uneventful life. Haha!

 

 

I am an addict for intellectual stimulations... *sniff sniff* What is next after Yu-Gi-Oh? Hmmm... Pokemon?? I love cute animals too. Haha! Going to exchange my PSP for DS soon!

 

 

Btw if you love intellectual stimulation... and a story containing elements of 'What Future is Like' (realistically), 'Action', 'Solution to World Peace', 'Prediction', 'Philosophy', 'Cool Graphics', watch Gundam 00! Very strongly recommended! It captured the essence of the classic story, The Foundation by Issac Asimov; applied it to modern fuel shortage and polical problems; then adapted it to classic Gundam's 'STOP ALL WARS' theme; and lastly give it the coolest graphics I have ever seen in animation series. One of the few futuristic intellectual animations with depth besides Ghost in the Shell.

 

Gundam 00. 

 

 

199 or 179 faster?

If you want to go Boon Lay Interchange from Canteen A, which bus, 199 or 179, will reach there first?

 

Being Hall 11 resident for 4 years, the number of times I went home from Canteen A can be calculate with 2 hands. Hence pardon me for my ignorance despite being an ex-NTU student. I guess most of NTU students also don't give this matter much thought though. However, now that with no exams and homework in my mind when I'm going home, I had a little extra mental capacity to do a little experiment with my colleagues.

 

Basically how we did the experiment is very simple. The two buses coincidentally arrived at the same time. So the 2 groups of us each boarded the 2 different buses and sent a sms to each other the moment we reached the interchange.  

 

 

Anwz here is the result:

 

179 is faster... by 3 minutes.

 

So, given that frequency of 179 is higher than 199, you should normally take 179. However, if you are good at running, you can station at the overhead bridge and rush to board whichever bus that arrive first, since both 179 and 199 take about the same time to reach the interchange.

 

 

~ Another friendly NTU survival tip from fengyanfengyu.

 

 

Drivers I dislike

I always get very bad tempered when I drive. Cos I always encounter drivers whom I dislike alot. Basically they are divided into 2 types:

 

 

A) They drive at below 80 km/h on the Center Lane (lane 2) on a Three-Lane 90km/h Speed Limit Expressway, maintain a 100-cars-length safety distance, and are in front of me (need not be directly in front).

 

B) They drive at below 90 km/h on the Overtaking Lane (lane 1) on a Three-Lane 90km/h Speed Limit Expressway, maintain a 100-cars-length safety distance, and are in front of me (need not be directly in front).

 

 

Type A drivers, for goodness sake, don't think you are safer just because you drive slooowwww. Not only you are slowing down the entire traffic, actually it is also very dangerous when you drive slow in the middle of the road.

 

You may be rammed by irritated drivers behind you.

 

 

Type B drivers, please try to understand what is the meaning of 'Overtaking' as in 'Overtaking Lane'. If you don't, please check dictionary. Don't try to occupy moral high ground by forcibly making all the drivers behind you drive at below speed limit.

 

You may be rammed by irritated drivers behind you, too.

 

 

Musings

Short + Sweet Singapore 2008 Gala Final is DAMN good !

 

Imagine a man who walked into a incredibly posh restaurant with an extremely friendly waiter that provide suicide services. Why did he want to die?

 

Imagine a guy in formal kept staring at an old building in front (and oblivious) of a female shoe polisher. What is the guy thinking about? What will the shoe polisher do?

 

Imagine your girlfriend want you to LOVE her by HURTING (raping) her. Can you do it?

 

Imagine you are a talented composer in love with and loved by 2 women, one as peaceful as the Sea, one as blissful as the Sky. How will you choose?

 

Imagine you are an Indian contruction worker in love with Chinese office girl and in need of money. Will you kiss her, steal her money... or both?

 

Imagine while you are sitting on a bench in a park, a woman flirts with you by acting while dressing as a muslim, catholic, 15 years old student, prositude, mechanic. How will you react?

 

Imagine that you are a balloon in a birthday party. What is the meaning of your existence?

 

Imagine you were once a great cook but now you suffer a stroke and can't move and talk properly and wheelchair-ridden. Your daughter fed you sweet potato porriage everyday and you want to eat Sesame Oil Chicken badly. What will u do?

 

Imagine you were jailed for 3 years for a mistake your friend made. You were released and you saw your friend again. Will you take revenge?

 

Imagine you were a mentally crazy old woman in an old folks home.

 

 

10 powerful stories, 10 windows to different lifes, sorted in order of how I ranked them. Let see how accurate I am once the results are out.

 

Oh btw, after watching 10 short plays in one shot, I analysed my choice of the best and worst shows:

 

 

The last 2 are the last 2 because they are not funny.

 

The top 3 are the top 3 because of they are the funniest. All things (acting, creativity, shock factor, twist, depth, mystery etc) equal or even roughly equal, shows with the best humour are better.

 

When the plays are equally funny, stories with a tint of darkness and slightly twisted (a bit crazy) are the best. 

 

 

I wonder if anyone will agree with me?? Hmmm... 

 

P.S. I checked the names of the actors in the play that I ranked first. One of them, Daniel Jenkins, is one of the professional actors who acted in Pillowman, my favourite play.  

 

  

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Next time my passport expires, I noe wad to do... (No need renew, LOL!)

 

 

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一位有五年工作经验的同事对我说了这一段话：

 

 

“你是新人，工作态度非常重要, 一定要学会怎样做工。Hmmm 要不然，你可以走另一条路，就是...

 

...一定要学会怎样做人。"

 

 

Haha!

 

虽然，我不是很会做工，但是我跟不会做人。看来我还是老老实实的学做工算了。

 

你们如果会做人的话，还是会做人比较轻松。=)

 

 

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I always prefered writing to talking. I LOVE writing letters. We used to exchanged letters wth Angels, Mortals and friends during JC days. Til now, I still kept the all the letters I received.

 

Stacked together, they are about 3cm thick.

 

Now, there ain't anymore friends for me to write to. But I am still writing, this time writing to computers. Surprisingly, they will respond! Most of the time with messages like:

 

"Cpp1.exe - 65 error(s), 1 warning(s)"

 

 

#$&*$%#&*^$*&^%!!!

 

But I still prefer writing to talking. =)

 

P.S. These particular 65 errors can be solved easily by putting a semicolon at the right place. Comps are much less complex than human... sometimes.

 

 

NTU Food Guide - last update 12/8/08

Funny that I never did this before during my 4 years in NTU. Only until when I started working in NTU then I started searching around for good food together with colleagues during lunch time. I guess this is the fundamental difference between students and working class -

 

When asked, "Why do you study?", people reply, "Exams lor."

 

When asked, "Why do you work?", people reply, "Eat lor."

 

Different priorities in difference stages of life. LOL!

 

Anwz over the past 3 weeks the bunch of us had been going to different canteens in NTU. I will hereby attempt to compile a list of best, good, bad, worst and special food in NTU. Note that the compiling process is still on going, to check back for updates now and then. Also, any recommendations are HIGHLY welcomed. I will personally go and investigate before I publish the results. Haha! Also, any Disagreements or Confirmations of the food reviews here are also welcomed.

 

Here is the half completed guide:

 

 

  

====  NTU  FOOD  GUIDE  ====

~ Students need to eat good food , too! ~

 

(For locations of the different eateries in NTU, click here. )

 

 

UPDATES

 

12/8/08

 

Canteen 9: "Do not eat 凉皮. I repeat, DO NOT eat 凉皮, it is tasteless! You can try tomato egg soup noodle though. The soup taste not bad. Not fantastic, but I guess it is one of the specialities of Canteen 9 (other than its ice blended)."  ~iw

 

18/7/08

 

Canteen 1: "Canteen 1's Western not bad." (Pending investigation) ~Yanli

 

Canteen 2: "Canteen 2's Beef Stall's tomato fried egg noodle  番茄煎蛋面 also quite good!" (Pending investigation) ~Yanli

 

Canteen 2: "Canteen 2's Beef Stall's Fish Slice soup dammmmnnnn chui! The meat is old and not 'sweet', while the soup is totally tasteless. DO NOT BUY! In fact, it is highly recommended that you do NOT try any soup base items there, eg soup beehoon, soup mee etc. Just try the Hong Men Niu Rou. It is the BEST!  " ~iw

 

The Palette Western Food Cafe: "Price around the same as Quad ($5+), enviroment slightly better than Quad (in terms of tables, and you can GUARANTEE find a seat there), food slightly lousier than Quad (average only), and it only sell western if I am not wrong. Conclusion: If Quad no seats, come here. Haha!" ~iw

 

 

15/7/08

 

Canteen 9: "Canteen 9's 凉皮 not bad." ~Shea Li (凉皮 is a China dish... it is a kind of Kway Tiao. Pending investigation.)

 

 

12/7/08

 

Executive Cafe: "I personally think that Executive Cafe is not as bad as Max says. Well it is not fantastic, certainly not cheap, but it is fairly decent. If you had a sudden craving for dim sum and is feeling rich, feel free to eat at the cafe. We spent $17 per person, quite filling. Btw, I think they don't charge GST and service charge. What you see is what you get. (I'm not sure cos this meal is paid for by my boss, hee.)" ~iw 

 

 

8/7/08 

 

NIE Canteen: Western food standard (grill fish) dropped alot, alot... =( ~iw

 

Canteen 16: "Condemned. Tables too small, zi cha (ku3 gua1 niu2 rou4 rice) not good." (pending investigation) ~Shea Li

 

Canteen 16: "Indian food (zha chai rice) not bad." (pending investigation) ~Jiang Feng

 

 

3/7/08

 

Canteen 1: "Can 1 has the worst Teh Bing" (pending investigation) ~Singying

 

Canteen A:  "I made the mistake of eating spaghetti at a pizza place, namely Canadian Pizza. Never make that mistake." ~iw

 

 

1/7/08

 

Canteen A:  "I like the Vegetarian Stall's daily specials, especially Fish Slice Bee Hoon, Vegetarian Prawn Noodle Soup and Laksa. The Kway Chup not so good." ~Miaoting (vegetarian)

 

Canteen 4: "The Black Pepper Fish from the Zi Char is REALLY REALLY nice! The sauce is quite special and the favour went into the meat of the fish, which is very tender. Must try!" ~ iw

 

 

30/6/08

 

Executive Cafe: "the Executive Cafe is not good at all! overprice for its little substance..please do not eat there unless u have the money n wanna try out how unfilling the food is..." ~Max

 

 

27/6/08 

 

Coffee Club Express: "The Scone there is damn nice!" ~Apple  (Erm... I don't know what is 'Scone' la... so anyone can try le then tell me?? Haha!)

 

Canteen 1: "Can 1 i think porridge really not bad.. lol!"  (pending investigation) ~Singying

 

Canteen 4: "The Black Pepper Fish from the Zi Char is REALLY nice!" (pending investigation) ~ Apple

 

 

26/6/08

 

Canteen A: "Tried the Indonesian Stall grill chicken & fish fillet set today. Not fantasitic... but well, not bad either. Something different la, can try." ~iw 

 

Canteen A: "The BBQ Drumstick Rice not bad. (pending investigation) "~KC

 

 

25/6/08

 

Canteen A: "The Indonesian Stall grill chicken not bad." (pending investigation) ~Max

 

NIE Canteen: "The Chicken Rice and Western there not bad." (pending investigation) ~Jiahong

 

Canteen 2: "The name of the dessert stall is called '夏日霜' ". ~Max  

 

Canteen 11: "Ah!! I suddenly remember! The 面线 from stall 1 damn good! "~iw

 

Canteen 12: "The Jumbo Sausage meal consist of one gigantic sausage and on normal size sausage, with melted cheese on top and the rest of the plate filled with fries. Average tasting, but DAMN SINFUL!!! Try it if u dare! Next time I will try its pizza. My colleagues love the Korean food there so much that they go there once a week... zzz... "~iw

 

 

24/6/08

 

Canteen 2: "The Fish Soup there (Noodle aka Beef Stall) is also superb!" (pending investigation) ~Meiyu 

 

 

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MAIN ARTICLE

 

Canteen 1

Never try before. An ancient website says porriage good. Haha!

 

 

Canteen 2

Woohoo! The best canteen! Hong2 men1 niu2 rou1 (Beef Meat Trapped in Red Sauce) is a must try! Sorry for the bad translation. Haha! =P Then there is this dessert store that sells favoured shaved ice. I forgot its name, but it is NOT ice kachang. Very special! The texture damn soft. I tried the mango one... Damn nice!

 

The Western is over-hyped. So so only. Tried Fish and Chips and Chicken Chop. Nothing much.

  

 

Canteen 4

Zi Char which won the Channel U Campus Yummy Hunt. Probably the best zi char in NTU. I tried the Hor Fen, quite good, better than many other stalls, but otherwise nothing special... just an above average Hor Fen. Can try.

 

 

Canteen 5

Only went there once recently during exam period. They got sell different types of ready made soups in bowls. Tried the Lotus Soup. Better don't try the Lotus Soup. Haha!  

 

 

Canteen 9

DON'T eat the laksa! Tasteless. Don't know what else is good. But I like the Mocha Freeze there. Only place in NTU that sell freezes?

 

 

Canteen 11

Erm... Never stepped into can 11 since I start work. Really don't know how to tell my colleagues what is nice there... But the Beijing streamboat is something special la. Ah, and the sausage plata! Yum yum! But too bad lunch no sell. =(

 

 

Canteen 13

Famous for its Korean food which also won the Channel U Campus Yummy Hunt. Hmmm the 'Rice and Meat in Stone' (don't know what it is called, chinese they say 拌饭 - mix rice) is quite special. They put rice and meat and vege into a very hot Stone Bowl, then you are supposed to mix them up together. A bit like Pepper Lunch. Not bad, something you don't eat everyday.

 

Tip: Colleague say that MUST mix in the special Korean red sauce from the sauce bottle. And not only MUST, must also put A LOT. I mean A LOT.

 

Erm btw they say don't buy the Korean noodles, cos it taste like maggi mee. Well, I never tried their mee, so I don't. One colleague also said that the Jumbo Sausage Meal from their Western also not bad. I'm going to try it if got chance. =)

 

 

Canteen 15

Over hyped Western.

 

 

Canteen 16

Never try before.

 

  

Canteen A

Sigh. Best known for MacDonalds and Subway?? I heard Jap standard drop le (not that it is very high in the first place), but well I guess it is still the best Jap Food in NTU.

 

 

Canteen B

Best Vegetarian stall in NTU. I also love the sugar cane juice there... and also the extremely short queue for the Western there. Haha!

 

 

Executive Cafe (near Can A)

Soonguan's friend said there dim sum not bad.

 

 

The Palette Western Food Cafe (near Can A)

Who ate there before? How is it?? I never tried.

 

 

Cafe by the Quad

Bake rice sucks. But I personally think the beef spaghetti there quite good. Covered with melted cheese, alot of meat also. Damn gao3. Did some research online before I write this guide. Got people say the $3.50 Chicken Rice quite good also. Erm... if you peeps try le nice can tell me. Personally I won't spend $3.50 to eat Chicken Rice. Haha!

 

 

NIE Canteen

I LOVEEEE the Fish and Chip Spaghetti there! To me NIE Canteen have the best Western in NTU. Hee. Ah... and overhyped Fishball Noodles.

 

 

Coffee Club Express (outside auditorium)

I always only drink Mocha Frappe. Not bad.

 

 

Mayflower Resturant (at staff club)

I am curious who the hell will eat there???

 

 

========================

 

 

This list is by no means exhaustive. If you think there is any food that is really good or really bad, or if there is any place i left out, help me expand this guide by leaving me a comment! Thanks alot! =P

 

 

Plays are drugs

Stage plays are like drugs. Their intellectual, emotional, visual and sometimes even aural stimulations are EXTREMELY addictive. I had never looked back ever since I watched 《暗恋桃花源》.  Just curious, play lovers out there, which play made you visit Sistic average at least once a month?

 

Anw this coming weekend got one "Short + Sweet Gala Night", which consists of the Top 10 short plays (9 English 1 Chinese) out of 40 plays. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

 

Why?

 

Cos I watched all the 10 plays where the 1 Chinese play was chosen from yesterday! There was one I watched le feel damn tulan (WTF is with this play?!? Never seen a worse play than this in my life!)... but lucky it was only 10 mins.There was 2 or 3 that were boring. Another 2 or 3 that were average. But there were FOUR that were EXTREMELY entertaining! 

 

If the quality of the English plays are as good as the Chinese ones, then the quality of the remaining 9 English plays (3 out of every set of 10 for English plays) should also be VERY good.

 

Anw, the 4 short plays yesterday made me feel that addiction once again. Looking forward to this coming Saturday!

 

*Sniff... sniff*

 

 

Oh btw, did I mention there is a Toy and Comic Convention in Suntec this coming Saturday and Sunday?       

 

 

 

Random

I noticed something interesting: If I google my REAL name on Google and press the 'I'm feeling lucky' button, I come straight to my blog!!! Whose else's blog can do that?? Hahaha!

 

I remember one of my Web Application Design exam questions asked about how search engines work. At that time, I don't know. So just now, out of curiosity, I googled about how Google works.

 

It says that Google uses a technology called PageRank which 

 

"relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves 'important' weigh more heavily and help to make other pages 'important'."

 

I realise that up til now, I STILL don't know how it works. Argh, forget it.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

After I started working, I realised that with a steady income, possibilities that were not possible before start to open up. I have a medium term plan. After about half or one year at work, I may want to take up some art related courses, eg. drawing, painting, designing, animation etc. If possible, I may even want to get a diploma or something. Is there anyone who is also interested?? =D

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

These days MrBrownShow is back to its old standard.  The recent 3 podcast are quite funny! Got time go listen and have a good laugh. Haha!

 

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From Wanting's blog:

 

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/qYMsD6kF6QY/

 

困在人生中会有许多种的解释，或困难，或困惑，抑或窘境。《易经》困卦曰：“泽无水，困，君子以遂命致远。”意思是指人在困顿中不应放弃追求，因该好好反思。即使是祸不单行，天灾人祸，或是自寻弊端。人都应坦然的去面对，只要内心坚持中道，纯正而有主见，就会有意想不到的收获。《困》中的男女一直想离开那个房间，却总是无法摆脱一个个困难，当男人在砸落盘时，终于参透了一切，从心中流出一滴血泪。

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Anyone interested in watching Angel-ism in August's Singapore Theatre Festival? My friend say good.

 

http://www.singaporetheatrefestival.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=88&Itemid=123

 

 

 

 

2nd week

Been through the 2nd week at work. Things are looking up. Getting to integrate more into their circle.

 

BUT

 

I haven't finished the learning beginner programming exercise I was supposed to finish last Friday! And I have been tasked to do REAL work next week. HOW???

 

Argh. Worry about that on Monday. Have a feeling I will be doing OTs next week...

 

Anwz last week has been a good week. Met up with lots of old friends. Had lots of good food: Crystal Jade Palace, Swensons, Pasta Mania, Korean Crusine at Can 13, Vietnamese Crusine at Suntec Food Republic, I had even been to Singapore Flyer! But we didn't sit in it. $29.50 for a scenic view of Singapore. I can't afford it, yet. (But most probably, not ever.) There is nothing much there beside the ferris wheel, but my friend and I had a good chat while strolling to, in, and back from Singapore Flyer.

 

 

 

$$$ depleting fast and soon! 2 more weeks to top up!

 

明天会更好！