sidoarjo's man-made mud flow / volcano

i came across pictures of this mud flow. It was created 2 years ago, on 28 May 2006 due to faulty drilling procedures. If you think the mud flow is a small hole in the ground, read this: that crater has the ability to extricate 50-60 olympic swimming pools worth of mud in a day! Mind you, it's not mud at room temperature - hot sizzling mud with some stench. They tried dropping concrete balls to stop the flow. Stopped for 30 minutes on a particular day, then it resumed since, It continues to ooze mud as you read.



asked I, and yes, it seems it's a menace to the environment. Near her place too.

shall beef this posting up after my test on friday. Meanwhile, 3 links for your reading pleasure:

- Sidoarjo mud flow (Wiki)
- Impressive and powerful images of the impact (Boston.com)
- Recent satellite images of mud flow (NUS CRISP)

guess who? part I

guess her occupation from these photos.

note: potential nosebleeds

If she cooks, i'll woo her straightaway


Piano!?


Melting my heart... =p





Sunny side up!


Ah. =x


No push ups, no silicone.

no prizes for correct answer!

steve's visit to Australia

i think he's working hard to upload his experience while there, so i gotta advertise for him...

~ I Love that Recipe ~

speaking of which, maybe i should try Google's Picasa for my albums...

idling at home... noo!

it's my only free day this week and i'm doing nothing (except patching up my visual studio 2005 discs) at home! Think should go out for some fresh air...

was reading many people's blog, then came across 1 post that was different. I don't know this girl (yes, no weird ideas please), but she's thinking forward from her words. Which is good for her age...

press on...

a while more. Just 4 more days.

changed this blog's layout a little. Added a facebook badge, shifted some lefties up and down. Then threw in some Google Maps and toolkit scripts from BlogFlux to better understand reader patterns.

private blog updated.

crane toppled at NUS

the year of 2008 is kinda wretched.

had my math tutorial at S16, then took the long winding A1 to Biz for my MNO1001 tutorial. It was a normal bus ride, until the bus turned into Law Link (around 2.10 PM).

as i sat with Steve and looking towards the Biz bus stop, i saw a large white crane falling down, with the highest end falling towards Biz1. I thought, maybe someone was lowering the crane. But the speed at which it came down was too fast.

since i was in the bus, i couldn't hear anything. But i can see people at the bus stop staring at the mess less than 8 metres behind them. And the force of the fall split a tree, and parts of that tree went down on the motorcycles in front of the bus stop.

if you see the scene, those people at the bus stop are very lucky. And fortunately, nobody appeared to be standing at the linkway to the bus stop, which bored much of the impact. The linkway is almost gone.

I waited for my friend last week at the same linkway. PHEW..


See the mess in front of the bus stop too.

loss of Singapore sportsmen in Cambodia

Tonle Sap is one of my geography interest since i traveled over it towards Siam Reap (Angkor Wat) at least 4 years ago. Northwards of Cambodia, Tonle Sap forms the largest freshwater lake in SEA, and do note being named a lake is an understatement, or rather our local lakes are overstated. I was very amazed at certain areas in the lake, no boundaries could be seen!

Credits from wiki

excerpt from STI:

The fast-flowing Tonle Sap river springs from the sacred Tonle Sap lake, the largest inland freshwater lake in the region.

The lake and its river systems provide much of the fish that is the staple source of protein for Cambodians, as well as fertilising vast hectares of rice paddies with its flood-waters.

When the monsoon rains arrive, the Tonle Sap river flows north into its parent lake, breaking its banks in some places and providing fertile flood plains.

But at the monsoon's peak, just before the rice-planting season, the river reverses its flow as the engorged lake expels flood waters rich in alluvial soils, and the freshly fertile flood plains are revealed, ready for planting.

The Tonle Sap is said to be the only river in the world to flow in two directions.

From its beginnings, it meanders through the heart of the country and forms the main promenade in the capital Phnom Penh, bustling with shops and restaurants.

Tourists going by river to the ancient Angkor Wat temple complex 400km north must navigate the Tonle Sap, but thousands more cruise its deceptively calm-looking brown waters - waters which hide fierce currents - every year for pleasure.

At the end of the stretch of river that flows past the capital, the Tonle Sap meets the Mekong and Tonle Bassac in a three-way confluence of waterways in a churning mass of currents prone to whirlpools and downward rips.

It was in this area that the bodies of the five Singaporeans were finally found by fishermen who know these treacherous waters best.

- Stephen Loh, 31, PE teacher at NJC
- Poh Boon San, 27, engineer at DSTA
- Jeremy Goh, 24, student at UniSIM
- Reuben Kee, 23, musician part-time model, graduate from NYP SIDM
- Chee Wei Cheng, 20, full-time NSF

imo, the accident should be considered a freak one. The Water Festival has been going on for a long time, and the tradition is to compete without life jackets as a primary consideration.

despite questions from the bereaved families, we must also note that Cambodians have responded very timely and appropriately to the mishap. PM Hun Sen and King Norodom Sihamoni have appeared to speak and amass help. DPM Sar Kheng was supervising search efforts. We may not find such high-level diplomatic assistance everywhere else in the world.

nevertheless, we have lost 5 very competent men. Hope the families can take the loss well, at least after some time...

china scammers 中国诈骗集团

apparently there is a new way to trick people who fears the law.

SPF has issued a media release for this scam:

Police would like to alert the public of a phone scam where callers impersonate themselves as police officers or staff from the Supreme Court. The impersonators would direct them to attend court or request for transfer of monies and attempt to induce their victims into parting with money, presumably to exonerate them from involvement in criminal cases or for failure to attend court hearings. In reality, the victims were not involved in any such criminal or court proceedings.

Over the past 3 weeks, Police have received 35 reports by victims who have received such calls, of which a victim have parted with about S$10,000.

During the course of Police work, investigators will sometimes inform members of the public over the phone on Court dates and appointments at the police station for police statements. However, police will never ask for money to be deposited into a bank account. If such requests for property deposits or personal information disclosure are received, they should be reported to the police immediately.

They may take different forms but these scams are designed to cheat victims into parting with their money. The public is advised to be wary. When in doubt, the public is advised to verify the caller's identity with the agency or organisation the caller claims to be from.

looks like many Singaporeans are taking them for a ride too, as more and more become aware of such scams.

2 real experiences here and here. Time to inform my parents because the elderly are very vulnerable to these scare tactics.

once again i have no issue with Chinese nationals in general, many of them are extremely courteous and kind-minded. My past 2 visits to China were by and large pleasant, except for a few touts targeting tourists on the streets. The tour leader in charge of our China itinerary was a gentleman who had much historical knowledge and love for his country, in particular. The more unfortunate (scammers) probably have financial difficulties because of the enormous population and limited employment opportunities, but as usual i hate dishonest people, as anybody else. 2 wrongs doesn't make a right.

说一套做一套 II / 小动作 I

if Chevrolet, Daihatsu, Suzuki (and maybe Nissan) get increased sales because of this blog, i want all of them to give me a Honda Jazz! Any colour is fine with me, preferably white or yellow, or even passion red! =x

instead of working on what is really needed, i went for a spin in Mobtv. Thanks to you!

so i downloaded Hey Gorgeous! episode 1 and 2, because i was on night shifts when the shows came on. Going to watch them later. After that, i found 2 very familiar gals in Code Red's last episode. Michelle ar michelle.. why never show your face more in the show *grin*


说一套做一套 II
ok now let's tune the focus back to the 说一套做一套 post.

assuming the pseudo character of Chevrolet, it was a fun 1 hour trying to compose that piece of reel story. But the revelation as observed in the comments section was closer to scary. Following that relevation, i don't know whether to thank or condemn Google, because its search algorithms are simply darn good.

i must see whether i can harness the power of Google too. This is Project 小动作. I'm not going to say how i'm going to do it. Essentially, i turn the tables in my favour using Google's algorithms.

Daihatsu and Suzuki invited me to Sakae, coincidentally a Japanese restaurant for a meal. Daihatsu was angry because Suzuki was called Suzuki, which he preferred something else. Ok bro, i give your sweetheart a new name - Mitsubishi? lol...

Daihatsu and Suzuki had a hard time posing for this photo

Because no matter what problems they have, they are always in sunshine!
I'm like a darn lamp post.

The 3 car makers - Chevrolet, Daihatsu and Suzuki. Oh no er, Mitsubishi.

PS: i have to clarify that Nissan is not you. No intention to stir up the past.

PS 2: don't bother speaking up because you're right - the more you speak the more you reveal yourself. A person's words can cut both ways if the intention is crooked from the start.


editor's note: Daihatsu and Suzuki, i managed to scour Google's netcache to find that stuff. The content is hosted here. It's password protected, so refer to your sms. The userid and password can be redistributed, no worries.

说一套做一套

let me tell you people a story. I'm using the automotive way of naming objects, so bear with me.


there was a time, long long ago in Singapore.

maybe not that long, few months only.

there was a boy called Daihatsu. He was together with a girl called Chery QQ.

initially, Daihatsu and Chery QQ went along fine. However, both of them had different point of views, and had many arguments because of that.

as Daihatsu's relationship is a first for him, there were understandably some times where he couldn't react in the best way. Daihatsu had a friend called Chevrolet. So Chevrolet, Saab, Volvo and etc plus their spouses, Audi, etc sat down with Daihatsu over many kopi sessions. Yes, Daihatsu had faults, but the boys didn't shield him either. They counselled Daihatsu to persevere and let time do the job.

however, there was an incident that caused Daihatsu and Chery QQ to reach the ultimatum. The silly (sorry my friend, just for this post) Daihatsu went to contact Geely under the table, Chery QQ's close friend because the former is going through a bad patch. It was under the table, because Chery QQ had a strict don't-touch-other-China-car-models policy. However the tables got turned upside down, Chery QQ swiftly did something that caught the entire car industry by an even bigger surprise. Daihatsu had to evaluate his relationship with Chery QQ because he was so hurt that the trust was in fact as thin as a parking coupon after all. So he made the decision (to break up).

of course, Daihatsu's friends told him "why you so itchy handed?". However, Chery QQ's response left us speechless. Daihatsu was already disillusioned, yet he kenna this nonsense. We too couldn't offer any good explanation for that.

Daihatsu moved on rather quickly. He had a personality like his father, Toyota, swift and direct. As fate also might have helped out, Daihatsu had the understanding of Suzuki, who was quite a contrast from Chery QQ. They improved on themselves and are trying their best in the new relationship.

one day, Chevrolet blogged about Chery QQ. It was a superficial mention. Yet Chery QQ fired up, serving a notice to Chevrolet to respect intellectual property rights (IPR). Chevrolet gentlemanly complied, even though he only mentioned the brand name.

weeks went by. Daihatsu and Suzuki have been doing well, however there was the Nissan who didn't like Daihatsu (probably car too old, or reputation is poor). Chevrolet prompted blogged about it with a lot of fire, because it could be linked to him.

Chery QQ also blogged. She mentioned how creaky Daihatsu was, now that she has a Volkswagen. Chevrolet is wondering whether Chery QQ is trying to be funny because the post came after Chevrolet's one. Should Chevrolet remind her of the past notices she served?

now, the Chinese's famous 说一套做一套 is verified to be true.


Chery QQ is playing a game in disguise, so Chevrolet is doing tit-for-tat. Now time is telling the truth, for the US, Japanese and German car manufacturers too. Not only yours, Chery QQ.

Saab, Volvo, Daihatsu do inform Chevrolet after reading this parody. He cares about Total Quality Management (TQM) for this article.


(CheryQQ, i'm already patient enough to say only certain things here. Don't bother to serve a notice again. If you're not happy, go read your past notices. If you're still not happy, shut down your factories by pressing Alt+F4. Don't get Daihatsu involved at this time too, if you have some conscience left.)

no malice intended!

good morning peeps, it's indeed unusual my posting is done in such early hours of the morning. After a few phone calls here and there, i decided to clarify matters.

let's skip the events prior to this post, and let's just say that i have a couple of unexpected visitors over here, and i'm quite surprised.

i value the freedom of speech on the Internet, and i believe i have been fair in my words online so far. I don't rant for no reason, so wherever convenient, i try to structure my thinking in writing too.

although my blogging atmosphere is by and large personal and cozy, i do listen to feedback and improve. However, this line will soon apply (i didn't say this, it's from another blog i read):

My Blog My Says. Kindly press Alt+F4 if it sores your eyes. Thanks

the rest of the events are strictly confined to coffeeshop talk - join me at Blk 211 (upon invitation only) for a series of kopi-casts.