Thursday, July 31, 2008

the water at Pasir Ris

SINGAPORE: Based on a new international water quality guideline by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pasir Ris Beach has been identified as one where swimming would not be recommended. However, activities like canoeing and kayaking can continue.

The beach scored a fair grading because it contains an abnormal level of a type of bacteria traditionally found in human faeces and warm-blooded animals.

And for the first time, advisory signages against swimming have been erected along the 3.3-kilometre beach. They point to the high level of bacteria in the water, which could cause illnesses affecting the stomach, and eyes, like conjunctivitis.

S Satish Appoo, Director, Environmental Health Department, National Environment Agency, said: "I'd like to stress that the water quality has not deteriorated. It's because the standards have become more stringent, so it's just a question of not being to meet the higher grade.

"One of the factors could be that after heavy rains, the dirt, litter and other things that you find on the ground, could get washed eventually into the beaches and beach fronts, thereby affecting its water quality."

Among the other five beaches, Sentosa Island scored a "Very Good" grading, while East Coast Park and Changi were rated "Good". Beaches at Seletar Island, Sembawang Park also got a "Good" rating.

The six fresh water reservoirs in Singapore like Bedok, MacRitchie and Lower Seletar reservoirs all meet the new WHO guidelines.

In addition, they are not affected by the new standards because swimming is not allowed in the reservoirs in the first place. Only activities like wakeboarding, skiiing and dragon boating are permitted.

Authorities will conduct annual reviews on the quality of the water at the six recreational beaches and reservoirs.

Compared to other beaches in the Eastern part of Singapore like Changi or East Coast, Pasir Ris Beach is not as popular among Singaporeans. Those who frequent the Pasir Ris beach said that over the weekends, fewer than 50 people would be swimming inside these waters.

The National Environment Agency, which monitors the water quality on a weekly basis, will take necessary actions for Pasir Ris Beach after a year-long study.

The new WHO water quality guidelines apply to all water bodies which are open for recreational use. - CNA/vm

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

kayak? I think not very safe also, Kayakers will know.

now, the water quality at the Straits of Johor is confirmed to be a problem. I would agree with wq, that the main problem lies with the causeway. The reluctance by our government to have a suspension bridge to replace the causeway is now affecting our water quality. Imagine the water moving back and forth the Johor Straits during high and low tide, but its not fully replaced by fresher water. I don't know how Sembawang and Seletar Beach passed the tests.

maybe they are not worried, since our Newater can remove whatever dirt, faeces, urine or what not in the water. The demolition of the causeway will definitely remove the water quality problem, however it means ships are able to pass. It is a big threat to our ports. They wouldn't be concerned with our people swimming in the waters, because the numbers are small. Just erect some signs to warn people. If they go in, not the government's fault.

who are the biggest victims? Marine life?

if we continue neglecting our waters with reclamation and 'oversight' by authorities, i'm worried even Chek Jawa will be gone one day.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

farewell lunch

there are some changes happening to the stable of support personnel, thus a working lunch for

- eric, leaving for greener pastures. If you are wondering who, he sports a crew cut hair and is around my height.

- melissa, leaving for further studies. She has been 'parked' at the helpdesk, so there's no problem identifying her.

- melvin (chan), incoming colleague. I found out someone in my group of friends knows him, just now.

actually, there are more outgoing colleagues, the 2 senior ones originally from EI are also leaving soon. EI peeps should know them.

2 colleagues didn't attend, one due to compassionate factors and the other was simply too busy. I guess so, because there is a problem since Eric is leaving, or rather has left since he has leave to clear.

hope the renewal is positive for the dept in the long run. I'm taking my leave after my exams in december, but may stay around until i find a suitable job.

Started eating too soon. Remembered my camera only at this moment...


went to pick up my new specs too, later in the noon.

The box


Why they must call the colour brown tortoise...


The hard casing. Nice.

no pictures of the actual stuff. When you see me you'll see it too =)

fishing trip #2

Found this photo in my cam. Maybe my bro took it...


this time better, no need for mobile toilet. *grin*

to ensure i have no dehydration problems, brought a big cup of ILT onboard.

only got a fish - it's called sergeant major, because of the stripes. Wq said it's a coral sergeant major, so voila - CSM! Where's RSM?? The hook wasn't strong, so CSM brushed against an area near my knee cap. I thought it was just abrasion, but rashes appeared. Didn't really care about it lah, anyway.

Gy is the best of all 4. The moment he put his stick in, he snagged up a fish. I think he got 5 or 6 in total. But we will have better luck next time!

had dinner at AMK. But the effects of the seasick pill was quite strong, was so drowsy that i had to close my eyes. After the meal, it was better.

The waiting area


Steering cable damaged, but uncle replaced it


Blackwater


Prawn shopping again


We were nearby Ubin jetty again


Look at his 3rd catch!


Aiyo, poor CSM...


It will be closed for reno soon

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

a lousy night shift

the day started off quite alright, before work.

i know i shouldn't take my temper to those who are not in the situation. But somehow people will approach me at the wrong moment - text messages when i put helpdesk as my msn location, FREAKING busy as my status message. Do i need to be so explicit to say don't message me? I'm sorry if i hurt anyone, but a little sensitivity on your side goes a long way.

anyway, why i'm so upset. I had to cover my colleague's work (close 9 more labs), but it's alright, just a little more stress towards the end. He had an emergency to attend to. But another incident happened much earlier, at the particular period where night classes start. Around 6.30 to 7.00pm. When classes start, it means 2 things. Either no sos request, or if there is an sos request the problem must be quite severe.

let me announce my actors/actresses.

- VIP: the biggest honcho in the school
- M: my indirect honcho
- L: one lecturer
- S1 and S2: 2 students

L had a problem - his instructor workstation crashed. So of course, this means he couldn't load his slides, etc. In my mind, i probably had to do a swap. A student in his class wanted me to do a repair installation with the windows disc. Realistically, that idea was impossible. Maybe that student was thinking of repairing his home computer. Anyway, i did the necessary using my judgement.

just oh so nice, another sos rang. It was M, she told me to help S1 and S2 open a protected access door. Since my priority was on L, i told her i'll be down in 5 minutes.

in about 5 minutes, L's problem was solved. M rang again - this time she said VIP was waiting for me with the students. Now i knew why she called again; someone was impatient.

when i went down, i saw VIP. He was quite cool about it, asking me to escort S1 and S2 into their room to retrieve some files. So i did. I observed the surroundings - 2 development staff peering over to see the 'show', some students i know looking in my direction, as though something big happened. I told S1 and S2 that they were so lucky (yeah).

after VIP plus S1 and S2 left, i asked YH. He said VIP appeared to be upset, raising his voice on the phone, thus attracting the attention of everyone in the area.

the problem now is - i don't see why he should be upset. There is only one support staff present in the whole building after 5.00pm. Maybe he wasn't aware i had to attend to a poor lecturer who couldn't start his class on time, but he could have been more understanding. Assuming my assumptions are right, why must he raise his voice at M?

even military commanders are turning away from such authoritarian styles. My former superior, a Brigadier General, closes his door to reprimand his subordinate. The latter is 43 years old, educated overseas and commanded the respect of his entire division, from his Chief of Staff to ground troops, even if he doesn't raise his voice. So why can't VIP be another respected boss?

he has spoilt M's night and mine. Is it worth my effort to serve my alma mater this well, given such an environment? This is an ethical question, but as far as work is concerned i believe in being professional. So far i am, thus i'm not afraid of posting this up.

Monday, July 28, 2008

a good day out

we skipped chek jawa because i wasn't really prepared for it. Plus the rough sea ride plus transport to the conservation area, i think not.

went to my optical shop at Bt Panjang to try out new specs. I wanted to try on the Levi's ones, then found that the full thick plastic frames kinda made me look even more techy. So odd! The frameless ones weren't too suitable - the dark rings around my eyes appeared.

So turned to the Oakley cupboard again. Didn't want to look for another wire because my intention was to have a change. I think i tried a few - Dictate 2.0, Candidate, Rachet and Yardstick 1.1. Selected the last one because of the frame, which looked like a tiger's skin. 1.1 is a specialized version for Asian people.

Looks something like this

the damage was the same as my Straight Line. Horrific...

wanted to watch a movie, but Sentosa appeared in my mind. So off we went, had a long but light dinner before taking the monorail over. Finally saw for myself what Songs of the Sea is about. Sentosa itself changed a great deal since the last i visited. My last visit only had the Emerald and Sapphire Pavilion around the current Siloso Beach. Now, food joints etc. Such a mountain tortoise i am lah.

a happy day, a happy man, a happy girl...

Saturday, July 26, 2008

men's day

let's KISS - keep it short and simple

1. work

2. kayak - my arms ached. I said the water was moving inwards kallang basin, kay said the water was too still. But water still or not, we found ourselves paddling too hard today. Shag...

3. tech stuff - sls is evil, when i don't go alone.

4. eat - my favourite you-know-what

5. shop - i want my new wallet, bag, berms, shirts, ........

6. sleep - that's what i'm going to do now. Dead tired!

another bus broke down

this time in the afternoon, just after i was done with blogging and ready to get out of my house.

instead of breaking down at the bus stop, the engine failed while the driver was making a turn from Marsiling Lane into Marsiling Drive. So the bus was in an awkward position, occupying slightly more than a lane. Heard the driver restarting the engine a few times, then trying to move. But the engine only roared, like revving in neutral mode.

went near to have a look, and saw Uncle Boo at the driver's cabin. So i stayed around to chat with him while he was waiting for the mechanics to come. He had to direct the next few buses to pass with care, since there wasn't much clearance for heavy vehicles.

4D!


The traditional Mercedes Benz bus dashboard.
The battery and fire hazard indicators were lit with beeping sounds.


the mechanics came, checked the gearbox oil and what not. Then using some Fluke and electronic meters they adjusted some stuff at the articulated section. The bus was movable after that, but had to be driven back to the depot. So we bid goodbye and uncle followed the mechanic's van back.


something is terribly wrong this semester at work. There are many viral outbreaks, already 4 as of this week (15). Luckily, the semester is ending soon.

normally, once i found out the root cause, i'll obtain a hashed value of the executable and pass it to P for blocking at domain wide level (entire SIT and affiliated domains). But the latest discovery caused mayhem - tests had to be postponed as the computers were effectively made useless. Plus the executable file varied in date/time and size, so the hashing method was useless. Command prompt was deleted too, so no way to delete off the bugger. I suspect there's another one undetected, so i'm tracing it down when i go back on sat.

at this rate, we will be busy catching worms and wearing bio suits in the lab. Instead of working on more technical and pressing issues.

Friday, July 25, 2008

a series of meetings + marutama ramen

i met so many people yesterday.

saw GH at cwp. Actually he saw me walking briskly to the foodcourt. Normally i walk very fast along that stretch, because i'm hungry. Since he had extra time, we sat down, i had my lunch and we chatted. Talked about girls as usual (what more can guys think of). Gave him some updates which i didn't blog about.

then i went funan, since it was nearby my dining venue. Saw lots of stuff - chic looking USB hubs, pocket SDHC card readers and nice laptops. Went online while sitting around at mac, and found drew was nearby. So he is working at Aldephi. He had to go after a while, and i too made my way out.

had ramen at this Marutama at Central Mall. I think Miharu is nicer, in terms of ambience and the ramen itself. But the topping/ala carte is better.

the damage was astronomical. $60 for 3 bowls of noodles, each topped up with a braised tamago plus a plate of "rou ding". But not far away from Miharu actually.

Free flow of cold water


Only 3 main courses - clean selection


This refill is unique. I tried it, it really filled my stomach


Their kakuni tasted like the canned "rou ding". But nice


Dave's $15 (nutty stock) Aka ramen


My $12 spicy Nama (sounds crude) ramen. HK took the plain one.


Ya kun for post dinner tea-break


got home and prepared my tools. WB offered to drive me over to his place, thanks. Kompressors are damn comfy to sit in, btw.

spent an hour plus tidying up his new computer, spanking new C2D E8500, Asus 9800GTX, Corsair DHX 4GBs, etc. Then we discovered a problem - the Samsung DVD reader just wouldn't load his Vista Home Premium media. So he had to go back to sls for an exchange.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

centrino 2 - how it affects you

from the coming Comex 2008 (28-31 Aug @ Suntec), we will see laptops on the new Centrino 2 platform (Wintel and Mactel inclusive).

i think a chronological look below the marketing labels will be appropriate -

- 1Q 2003: Centrino (Carmel platform, CPU codenamed Banias)

- 3Q 2004: Centrino update (Carmel platform, CPU codenamed Dothan). Dothan has a larger cache plus a heap of fixes

the Carmel platform typically used the Intel PRO Wireless 2200B and BG adapters.

- 1Q 2005: Centrino second-generation (Sonoma platform, CPU codenamed Dothan)

what came with this update was another refresh in the wireless department, the 2200BG and then 2915ABG adapters. Plus DDR2 memory and PCI express graphics, etc.

then, the performance of the Dothan CPUs were owning the desktop counterparts, the Pentium 4s. In that year, to take advantage of the speedy performance, i actually changed my motherboards in my 3 home PCs to be Dothan-capable.

- 1Q 2006: Centrino third-generation (Napa platform, CPU codenamed Yonah and Merom)

with a refresh update, dual core processing entered the market here. We saw processors with marketing numbers such as T2300, L2300, etc. As you can see by now, the chipset and wireless components are also updated.

- 2Q 2007: Centrino fourth-generation (Santa Rosa platform, CPU codenamed Merom and Penryn)

this is the current platform most people are buying today. A prominent update was to the wireless, which features Wireless-N (draft) support. The CPU marketing numbers hover around T7100 to T7700. There was another refresh update, which brought in faster processors, such as the T8100, T8300, T9300 and T9500 (all odd numbered).

- 3Q 2008: Centrino fifth-generation (Montevina platform, CPU codenamed Penryn 2nd generation)

fresh from the stove, this fifth-generation Centrino will be called Centrino 2. It's armed with an arsenal of new processors such as P8400, P8600, P9500, T9400, T9600 and X9100 plus DDR-3 support and another wireless-N update. There will be small form factor chips available for niche products, such as Macbook Air - U3300, SU9x00, SL9x00 and SP9x00 series of processors.

what this new platform means to the general consumers? In short -

- Lower power consumption. The P series has a thermal design power of 25W, 10W lower than Santa Rosa counterparts.

- New GM45 chipset that can switch between integrated graphics or discrete graphics via hardware or software. Supports DDR2 and DDR3 memories.

- Upgraded wireless adapters. From the older 4965, we have now 5100 and 5300. The difference between the latter 2 is the number of transmit antennas (therefore the cost).

- Refreshed models by notebook makers. If you're buying one now, be sure to get a Montevina based notebook. Look out for them in the coming sale fairs.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

my first fishing

another first! lolz...

anyway i wasn't mentally prepared to be holding the rod and fish. But my brother said i must fish. Ok, there started my experience of the day. After meeting Johnathan, wq's fishing partner plus offloading of fishing accessories, we waited for the boatman at the beach outside PA Pasir Ris.

it's 2 years 1 month since i last visited the same holiday chalets. Last visit was because of the school's orientation camp, Chiarimento 2006. Time flies; gonna graduate real soon.

so we loaded up the boatman's speedboat and off we went. Before going off to the 1st exploratory spot, we went to a fish farm for live prawns. $10 worth. Then stopped at a spot between Ubin jetty and Changi creek. In all we changed spots at least 3-4 times. Spots are secret, because good spots cannot be shared =x

wq helped me with the rod, hook etc beforehand. So i had the luxury of just putting on the dead prawn bait and fish. Thanks my brother. I caught 4 small fishes. Ok lah, i don't find it bad. Heard Miss Tan did better. A lady's charm, maybe. Can't remember the names, but i know of 5:

- ang gor li
- leng chiam (grouper?)
- chal see (sounds like Chelsea). lol...
- snapper: gold and yellow
- johnson. Sounds like a human name. The mouth is damn big when caught.

had a hell of an experience onboard, because i had a tummyache. Shan't go into the specifics here, because the process was not really nice. I think it was due to the seasickness, but i had no giddiness. Besides the tummyache, there was a post-effect - headache.

Prawn shopping


Our vehicle for fishing


Cheap! I think quite lah.


Two of our fishing spots were around here. Apparently rocky and muddy


His prized catch


Me and this fish X


Me and another fish Y


Johnathan's catch and the biggest - fish Z


Some of our combined catches


Uncle's fish farm (Johnathan in foreground)


Reminds me of Fish n Co's mussels.

the experience? 5 stars. It's something money cannot buy. Shall look forward to another trip with more familiar kakis coming in.

saw this posting on google, very nicely done up. Do have a look.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

my first facial

i thought my good friend and his girl were going to do it with me. Nope, they didn't, and i was left to handle the experience myself. Jolly well good lah, since the facial was full of ouches anyway.

vic said my face may turn red after that. It's true, because the ladies tried very hard to pick all my blackheads. They said i had lots of them, which i'm very inclined to believe.

the picking process was damn painful. Tears just automatically came off from my eyes. Had small talk with the assistant from China too. After the picking was another round of picking by the lady boss herself. Ouch.

then did the nice cool face mask plus some cream for the redness.

all in all, not too bad. Except the pain.

oh yes, the place is at Yishun 748. A very small beauty shop called Susan Tia de Beaute.

Friday, July 18, 2008

the singing trains

was surfing Singapore Trains forum at SGforums. Came across an interesting train.

if you do not drive locally, you know that we have a few train designs/models on SMRT lines.

- 1st - the classic white train, which is built by Kawasaki (Nippon Sharyo, Tokyu Car and Kinki Sharyo). Codenamed C151.

- 2nd - also white, but "sings" when the train moves off/into stations. It is built by Siemens. Codenamed C651

- 3rd - the black trains, jointly built by Kawasaki and Nippon Sharyo. Codenamed C751B.

the SBS Transit NEL (North East Line) and upcoming SMRT CCL (Circle Line) uses Alstom's trains. The NEL Alstoms are codenamed C751A.

talked so much, actually only wanted to draw your attention to the "singing" train. Apparently our Singapore version couldn't sing very well, but the Japan one did it GOOD. It's really excellent. Hear them out.


Singapore's singing train (have to click through because the owner disabled embeds)


Taipei's singing train


Japan's singing train

which do you think is the best singer?


also, welcome the lady made the announcements in the trains. Before SMRT switched it to the awkward sounding chinese lady.


Juanita - be sure to listen till the end

notebook tender for NUS 08/09

one sentence about this year's tender - it sucks.

maybe the models up there are still in draft or incomplete - there are only models that hover around 2.45kg (heavy) or another extreme, around 1.0kg (too light).

the 1.0kg models are from Asus (EEE PC) and Acer (Aspire One). This is perhaps sufficient for business students or anyone who seldom do heavy duty tasks. But for Computing brothers and sisters, they are way underpowered. So upgrade to the powerful models and lug them up and down for classes?

next problem will be the processors offered - the Intel Core 2 Duo T9000 series (still) on the Centrino platform. SMU has already went ahead with the Centrino 2 platform using the Core 2 Duo P8000 series, with the latest 3 antenna Wireless N adapter, DDR3 memories and what not. Don't see why we couldn't obtain the latest hardware to go with our offers, given the size of the student population.

i'm disappointed at the relevant department who prepared and approved the tender. It does not fully address the entire university's needs. What a difference from last year.

there goes my plan to get my 2nd set from campus.

update: i emailed someone from Computer Centre. This senior system analyst replied me with 4 emails each containing a 1 sentence reply, when i sent him only 1 email. So much for email etiquette.

anyway, he said the website is still being updated. That's why Group 2A (below 2.1kg) is missing. But he confirmed something - Lenovo X series is gone. No more.

modules for 2008/2009 s1 (updated)

this post was created long ago, now updating it.

i'm embarking on the 2nd last semester of my degree, yet it can be very far if there are any hiccups from now.

note #1: freshies coming in from Google, below is for reference only. Don't hold me responsible if you follow my loading plan. It's not the best combination, nor the worst, and it's for a stream that's no longer offered. Need advice? Go for FOC/FOW. My friends will help you out there =p

exemptions (38 MCs):
- CS1101 (Programming Methodology)
- CS1102 (Data Structure and Algorithms)
- CS1104 /2100 now (Computer Organisation)
- CS2102 (Database Systems)
- 1x GEM
- 1x Breadth
- 3x UEM

2006/2007 s1 (20 MCs):
- CS2104 (Programming Language Concepts)
- CS2105 (Introduction to Computer Networks)
- CS2261 (Enterprise Systems Development)
- EC1301 (Principles of Economics)
- MA1301 (Introductory Mathematics)

2006/2007 s2 (12 MCs):
- CS1105 (Computing and Society)
- CS1231 (Discrete Structures)
- SSB2216 (Employee Management in SG)
- MA1505 (Mathematics I)

2007/2008 s1 (20 MCs):
- CS2250 (Fundamentals of IS)
- CS3214 (IS Development Project)
- CS3265 (Economics of E-Business)
- GEK1531 (Introduction to Cybercrime)

2007/2008 s2 (16 MCs):
- CS2301 (Business and Technical Communication)
- CS3261 (IT Marketing)
- MNO1001 (Management and Organisation)
- MA1312 (Calculus with Applications)

the most important aim is to bid (and subsequently pass) MA1312 successfully, which is the prerequisite for ST2334 in the last semester:

2008/2009 s1 (17 MCs):
- CS3266 (E-commerce Technologies)
- CS3267 (Enterprise Social Systems)
- CS1280 (Java to C)
- ST2334 (Probability and Statistics)

Something wrong with ST2334 tutorial timings...

selling CS2301, CS3261 and MNO1001 textbook. Nicely wrapped up after a week of purchase. So unlike me...

small thoughts

i have been wondering what i managed to achieve and not these years. When i finished poly, i had great dreams. Then often than not, there are so many distractions and unexpected happenings along the way.

life is not that plain sailing after all.

to those who talked about slacking, are you prepared to (pay the price to) slack? Or just saying for fun?

to those who talked about working hard, are you prepared to lose some in return for certain rewards? or just saying for fun?

abstract thoughts here. By the way, i wanted to be a bus driver when i was in primary school. Over the years, this thought still wanders around. Never mind i may be over qualified, but i hope no one rolls their eyes over such an idea. It is still a honest living after all.

2 events

1. bus broke down

this bus was 1 trip earlier than the one i took home. Apparently the doors opened and couldn't close; the doors were freely swinging back and forth as though they ran out of gas. Yes, literally since the doors were not fully electric ones. Since the braking system was designed to be fully engaged when the doors are open (note: this is an example of inter-locking brake system), the bus was dead on the spot. Can't even move an inch, similar to the SBS buses such as the wheelchair Scania K230UBs.

so in 30 minutes, the mechanic from the depot came. He took out all his tools from his lorry, which had 4 compartments, started to tinker with the rear of the bus. He thought he found a leaking air pump, trapped the holes and the driver tried closing the doors. Nope, no response.

another 30 minutes passed, he gave up and called for towing. Meanwhile, he started to dismantle a portion of the front bumper. Off came the registration plate and a block of wood, probably an area where the tow can attach to. The tow uncle came, spent another 45 minutes fitting his tow under the bus, jacking it up and pulling it back to workshop.

just after the bus was fully jacked up, the tow uncle went into the bus and tried closing the doors.

and the doors closed as per normal! The brake was released with a gassy sound, and the tow end jerked a bit because of reduced axle pressure. Then tow for what? Maybe the mechanic had his reasons, lah.

conclusion? bendy buses are hard to maintain, hard to tow back. And i discovered the mechanic kept washing his hands using some detergent and water. The moment he was done with washing, he took his tools and played around. -.-...

Notice the doors


The bus behind nearly got stuck cause' of insufficient clearance


Dismantling the front bumper for towing...

After so much of adjustment, finally lifted the bus


2. pc crashed

actually i didn't crash it. Few posts ago, i was talking about turning off my server and transfer its job tasks elsewhere. So i decided to setup a new file server with data redundancy on my PC. Armed with 2 new 320GB drives, using the onboard RAID, i switched from AHCI to RAID in the BIOS.

booted Vista, and it crashed with the usual blue screen. No solutions online, thus had to reformat. If you have a modern chipset that offers AHCI and RAID, please please please use RAID. The modes are not switchable once you installed your Windows.

then i tried to clone my server's data drive to my new RAID array. Symantec Ghost refuses any operation from/to the array, since the latter was disabled in all screens. After some hair pulling, i realised the RAID controller didn't fully initialise the array with a master boot record. Had to use my Windows XP installer, pop in the floppy containing the RAID driver, create a partition and return to Ghost.

now my PC has 4 drives, 2 running in RAID 1. The other 2 are my existing ones. The server has completed its job, and powered off for a good rest. Probably giving it to my eldest niece when she is ready to use it.

RIP - Server hostname SUN01. From Pentium 200MHz, through many upgrades, to current Pentium M 1.73GHz. 2002 - 2008

Monday, July 14, 2008

in love with mariah carey (again)

seriously, i love her songs. During her heydays around 10-15 years ago. She has really nice vocals, nice songs. One of the few people who could do R&B well in my opinion.

the later albums after 2000 weren't that good. Together with her transformation into a sex bomb image, i thought that was the end of her. She shouldn't have tried to sell her songs using her figure. I mean, the songs sold themselves. Fast forward, i tried listening a few months back, not that good either. But the latest album sounded good to me suddenly today.

press the button and listen. Using your earbuds... not $10 speaker.

I Stay In Love
Baby, I stay in love with you

Dying inside cause I can't stand it
Make or break up
Can't take this madness
We don't even really know why
All I know is baby I
Try and try so hard
To keep our love alive
If you dont' know me at this point
Then I highly doubt you ever will
I really need you to give me
That unconditional love I used to feel
It's no mistaking
We're just erasing
From our hearts and minds

And I know we said let go
But I kept on hanging on
Inside I know it's over
You're really gone
It's killing me
Cause there ain't nothing
That I can do
Baby, I stay in love with you

And I keep on telling myself
That you'll come back around
And I try to front like 'Oh well'
Each time you let me down
See I can't get over you
Now no matter what I do
Baby, baby
I stay in love with you

Na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na
Baby, I stay in love with you

It cuts so deep
It hurts down to my soul
My friends tell me
I ain't the same no more
We still need each other
When we stumble and fall
How we gon' act
Like what we had
Ain't nothin' at all

What I wanna do is
Ride shot-gun next to you
With the top down like we used to
Hit the block
....................
We both know our heart is breaking
Can we learn from our mistakes
I can't last one moment alone

We said let go
But I kept on hanging on
Inside I know it's over
You're really gone
It's killing me
Cause there ain't nothing
That I can do
Baby, I stay in love with you

And I keep on telling myself
That you'll come back around
And I try to front like 'Oh well'
Each time you let me down
See I can't get over you
Now no matter what I do
Baby, baby
I stay in love with you


there was a paragraph i couldn't really understand in the lyrics. I think you'd know what. Anyone knows? I'm not thinking straight though. lol...

Sunday, July 13, 2008

梁丽芳 and 蔡佩璇

i talk about 蔡佩璇 (cai pei xuan) first, cause' i like her more.

remember 肉骨妹? She first appeared on screen during Star Search 2003, Malaysia. Didn't really made it big then, but now she is. She's a 1981 baby, celebrating her 27th soon.

a looong post in the forum about her.

Rou Gu Mei with Dawn and her knife

now, 梁丽芳 (tiffany leong). She looks good, but not as good as 佩璇. The latter is so cheerful, maybe the screen character(s) helped her. Not much information about her.

both of them are acting in Fallen Angels, ch8 weekends 7pm. If you watch closely, they look like sisters.

佩璇 and 丽芳

lastly, some information here about 陈泓宇 (shaun chen). He's actually 30! Now wondering how people look younger nowadays. Chicken chop is also 30, yet he doesn't look his age too.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

southern ridges II

this is a sequel to my first visit to the ridges in june. Instead of starting from NUS, we started from Harbourfront instead. So it was essentially a reverse of my previous path.

some new sights discovered, new perspectives of the places.

My breakfast - i didn't know of the M on the bread, which is actually a pancake..nice.


Marang Trail


Hua Ba Shan


Poor bino.


HDB estates looked dark with the strong sunlight


Jewel Box and cable cars


Henderson Waves, from the other end


Look at the clouds


Group photo


Diamond advertisement


Forest walk


HortPark


Your dream eco home


HortPark is also called PedePark.

my 2nd breakfast and lunch were yong tau foo. Too much of anything is no good, i must remember!

so tired....