The diary of a self-proclaimed FT in Singapore, who is now back in Indonesia

Desert Song - Brooke Fraser

2009-08-07T11:26:00.003+07:00

A song that can be used as a prayer when you feel all is lost and no one is with you...

Brooke Fraser widget by 6L & Daxii

Manchester United Asia Tour @ KL

2009-07-24T15:49:00.006+07:00

I'll let the pictures do the talking =p

Me & the boys

Packed stadium

Old trafford-ish
Stadium on our left

Stadium on our right

Ben Foster

Rooney !!

Evra e Joker

Nani e Pretender :p

Cooling down time

INA - SG - KL - SG - INA

2009-07-19T19:20:00.005+07:00

Hmm where do i start..

This trip for me had MANCHESTER UNITED printed all over my passport, tickets and luggage even before i left.

And so it won't probably be a suprise for many if this post only talks about my team, Manchester United :p But please bear for a while till my photos are uploaded.

Instead i felt that i grew a bit more after my recent trip to KL (not sideways if you are wondering :p). During the trip, i stayed @ my friend's house and i felt like i was treated like 1 of their own, 1 of their children, brothers and it's really the best treatment i could ever asked for from a host family. The truthfulness and generosity from their words and action really seeps into your heart...

But still, even though it had only been 2 short days in KL, after leaving friends (and their families) there behind, it made me feel a tinge of loneliness that made me wonder why should there be partings and separations in our life again... yes again... like a case of Deja Vu it made me remember that without these seperations, we probably won't cherish the time spent with each other as much.

I'm sure there will be more separations and meetings further down in the path of my life and i just hope i will treasure each and every one of them.

PS: Thanks Derrick & Lex!

Food

2009-03-04T21:16:00.003+07:00

Aight! Time to showcase some of the food in Indonesia that is just so splendid they ought to be franchised over to Singapore hehe...

First up are deserts!

This looks like a simple mixed fruits cut right? You are not wrong but it's the hidden sauce at the top left corner that deserves a mention. Not to mention that it only cost IDR5000 (roughly 80 cents) for the below mix.

Pineapple + Watermelon + Papaya

It is a special peanut sauce made up from peanuts (duh!), gula melaka, grounded chilli padi and a special secret mix of brown sauce. Not only does it taste sweet but it's hot at the same time making fruits taste nicer and fresher. You may wonder if chilli goes well with fruits but for us Indonesians, we eat chilli with almost everything you can imagine.

Next up, Ice Creams !!!

I'm not really a big fan of ice creams, but i love it when it's mixed with either brownies, waffles or fruits etc. It just gives ice cream the additional texture and taste which is mssing with normal ice cream.

I'm not too sure if Haagen Dazs in Singapore serve such ice creams platter but the ones here sure does. And the ice cream served with the toppings are customizable. Good timing to eat ice cream as well since the weather is slowly but surely turning hot here in Indonesia.

Mango Tango - Mango IC + Coffee IC + assorted fruits

Honey coated waffle + Mango passion IC + Baileys IC

Gear Up

2009-02-26T16:46:00.003+07:00

Woohooo! New kits to use for the next futsal outing.

I got the shoes from Queensway only @ SGD49, really a steal imo even to use it as a normal sneakers. Though it would look kinda strange i guess with the mini stud grooves... hehe..

Sadly it doesn't come in red base

On top of the shoes, on an impulse I also picked up 3 more original jerseys to add to my collection. The fonts are all champions league's and they look really nice with the mini club logos incorporated in the number set. They are, from left to right:

Juventus - Away - Del Piero - 10

Inter Milan - Home - Ibrahimovic - 8

Barcelona - Home - Messi - 10

And *drum roll* the last piece of jigsaw to complete my jersey puzzle!! TA-DA!!

I have been looking high & low for a goalkeeper jersey but it seems like everybody is having trouble getting the original replicas in their hands. However I managed to find this seller in a local forum that does goalkeeper replica jerseys from Thailand. Obviously this is not original T______T but i'm really desperate for one so I went into the dark side.

My precious VDS jersey

Would love a 90s goalie jersey of Peter Schmeichel

Home sweet home... Singapore??

2009-02-22T18:56:00.003+07:00

My last singapore stopover before returning back to Indonesia has been a very pleasant one so far. Hanging out with friends, talking about the past, watching football with groups of friends has really been heart warming.

Once a group of friends taught me the importance of true friendship and before i departed from Singapore for good, they gave me these golden words that would be in my memory forever i hope.

"Best friends are like siblings that God never gave you"

I would though prefer to add another line.

"Best friends are like siblings that God never gave you
because
he wants to teach you the lesson of being thankful for them"

Day 6 - Guangzhou

2009-02-21T09:20:00.003+07:00

Back to Guangzhou at last after a gruelling air flight marathon spanning 6 cities in 5 days. I wonder how those senior citizens can take this type of schedule when I'm already on the brink of giving up after the Beijing - Wuhan flight.

Since we are back here, It's time to do last minute shopping. Not that I have much time though since I only have a day and there is so much things to buy.

Okay to recap, these are the places (in random order) you want to go in Guangzhou for really cheap stuff.

步云天地 - For all kinds of shoes, men, women, children and etc

Roads between 步云天地 & 站西路 - Sells all sorts of sports related merchandise from jerseys and socks to collectibles and accessories.

站西路 - Replica watch & silver accessorieswholesale market

北京路 - A place to hang out, eat and a lot of Giordano-ish fashion outlets

白马广场 - For ladies fashion, level 1-2 only allows bulk shopping if i'm not wrong.

天河电脑城 - 5-6 SLS sized buildings lined up from 1 street to the end, go imagine. There is also a large generic shopping mall nearby - Tee Mall

Xiang Xia Jiu - I don't know the 汉字 for this place but taxi drivers should know. It's very similar to Bei Jing Lu but more catered to the teenagers market like Far East Plaza and old Heeren lvl 5. I did manage to take a picture of the place though.

TBC, need to rush off to catch my flight :p

Edit: Added some more locations

Day 5 - Wu Han

2009-02-21T08:31:00.003+07:00

Not much things to note in this city which was named by taking the first 2 characters of the neighbouring cities - Wu Chang & Han Kou. We were here to visit a laser machinery company that could help us in our embroidery work. Turns out the machine was so good that we were really glad we made the trip. I hope this machine can aid us in this lousy financial year!

Some shots from Wuhan airport and the airplane that is about to bring us back to Guangzhou.

Day 5- Bei Jing

2009-02-19T20:13:00.003+07:00

Finally, the capital of China - Beijing. Surprisingly, Beijing only started snowing 2 days back and the whole city is experiencing quite a drought.

White snow fields all around the landing strip

It is even colder here with -4 as the forecasted temperature and about to get lower in the evening when it will start to snow again till the next day. No time for us to lose though as we need to hurry down to the factory to check out the embroidery machines

White scenery all around

Again, I totally could not recognize the place anymore as it has developed leaps and bounds over the 2.5 years since I last came. The place the factory in has been developed into a science park-ish location with the country's top research facility being built around this area. Next to the factory of our supplier is China's money counterfeiting prevention centre where they research new technology to keep counterfeiters away... but not like it helps much though with all the counterfeiting rage in Southern China.

Unluckily we weren't able to stay for the night in Beijing and had to leave for Wu Han in the evening so that we could visit another factory tomorrow.

Nonetheless, we managed to fit in time to eat our dinner at the airport for a sucky meal that's twice more expensive than Macdonalds or KFC, Bleh!

1. Tasteless beef with onions
2. Tasteless stir fried prawns
3. Sucky & oily vegetables
4. Cold and hard fruits
5. Good ol plain rice

Day 4 - Zhu Ji

2009-02-18T22:32:00.005+07:00

We went to this city famous for its embroidery machines just 100KM+- of Yi Wu city by taxi to re-visit one of our old machine supplier to check out how far they have progressed so far for the new machine models.

Turns out this place has changed a lot since i last visited it in mid 2006. They even already have a 6 star hotel built here and it looks more like a city rather than a village now.

1 thing i really have to praise the Chinese is they build things really fast like on steroids. The highway was very nicely built and laid and the journey was really smooth. I really hope Indonesia can learn something from China....

It's even colder here than Yi Wu as it is still not very populated yet, there are even still some shades of it's old village-ish state.

Just beside the factory

Day 3 - Yi Wu

2009-02-17T16:55:00.003+07:00

Damn those weather forecast sms service who said the temperature in Yi Wu here is 8 to 4. It's more like -4 to -8 instead. Even Japan's Hokkaido is not as cold as it is here. And we actually walked around 3 full hours visiting shops in this weather.

For a brief explanation, in Yi Wu here you can find all and i mean ALL "Made in China" (small items only though) products ranging from electronic items, hardware to accessories and flowers. It's dubbed the city of small items (小商品城) and in here you'll find people of all countries.

小商品城

On the plane from Guangzhou to Yi Wu, it was like a plane of united nations representatives. Seeing this, indeed nowadays we can't live without China and so is the opposite true.

One thing i learnt today is when trying to hail taxis in peak period and in cities where the taxi to human population ratio is very low, you have to offer more than you usually pay. We hailed a cab which was not planning to go to the direction of our hotel and offered him twice the fare which he would have usually gotten and he relented in an instant. On the way he picked up another passenger, an Iraqi which i could see that he knew how to play the rules of taking taxis here. The taxi demanded 10RMB and the Iraqi replied "Okay, 5RMB okay" a few times before the taxi driver gave up, lol.

Our hotel room

Our hotel room 2

I promise pictures to be up when i get to another hotel in our next stop, Wuhan... hopefully

Day 2 - Guangzhou

2009-02-16T21:18:00.004+07:00

What a day, I felt like i had ran a marathon at the end of it after 8 hours of non stop walking and standing.

But at the end of the day, i felt really good with the stuff i bought. Guangzhou is really a paradise for electronic stuff. In this place 岗顶 located at the 天河 region, there are like 5-6 SLS-ish building side by side each other making this officially the largest electronic/computer store area in the world imo. I came away with electronic stuff at 15-20% off the prices in Singapore.

Earlier in the afternoon I also visited the local watch city which houses the world's supplier for branded replica watches. They really almost had every model you could look for and even had a self made book that attempted to make it look real by using Japanese language. But anyone who understand Japanese would know that it's just gibberish writing which makes no sense at all. But you really have to applaud the Chinese in China here for their business sense and acumen.

Too bad the internet here in Yi Wu is really bad at connecting to certain sites especially image uploading sites. So i can't update the pics till at least when i reach Beijing.

Nonetheless, I'll continue some more tips to help anyone who is planning to visit here.

1) Bargain at least half the price they state to make sure you aren't getting ripped off... that bad. You'll probably end up paying 60-70% of what they originally quote you which is still not that bad.

2) Double check and triple check whatever you buy to make sure it works before paying. You'll not want to waste time travelling to the store again the next day or worse, returning to your country before realising it doesn't work.

3) You pay for what you get especially in China. If you want to be safe, make sure to go for the more popular brand instead of the unpopular local brand. And it's better to choose the product that you want, then bargain for it instead of asking for recommendations based on price as you'll probably end up with an inferior product.

Okay, that's it for shopping guides that i personally learnt when buying stuff here. Let's hope you don't make as much mistakes as i did :)

Cheap cheap USB drives

Dim Sum time with Kong Fu tea

Unfortunately, i don't have time to post all the stuffs i bought :p

Day 1 - Guangzhou

2009-02-14T12:38:00.005+07:00

Just reached the hotel and checked-in now. Luckily had a good sleep on board the flight, so off I am to go sightseeing and shopping in GZ.

Just a note, the SIA girls on the GZ flight looks way better than those on the Jakarta flight. Some are even flirtatious, no wonder the scandals involving them.

Breakfast on board SIA

Edited:

Back at the hotel after a whole day of walking around Guangzhou city.

Found out lots of things about the city and her people that i never knew about on my last 2 visits here.

1) Contrary to people's belief, people here are actually nice. I saw 1 guy who gave away a balloon to a crying kid in MacDonalds to stop him from crying. People giving up seats on the train (MRT) is quite a common sight and almost instantaneously. The people here are quite loud when talking so don't mistake that as being rude.

Speaking of the train, i finally got the chance to ride on 1 this time and was amazed at what they were using to pass thru the gantry instead of stored value cards like Ezlinks. By the way, the trains here are generally much faster and cheaper than taxis so you may want to check out nearest train terminals closest to your destination.

Button like chip that works the same way as an ezlink or stored value card

2) People here can't queue. Lol i know this is an irony considering i just wrote something good about the people. They just love to cut queues like it is their favourite pastime. 1 tip for those queueing up at fast food restaurants, is that here they look to queue horizontally and not vertically. So if you see someone standing by the side of the counter, do not think anymore, he will cut your queue if you don't show that you are not letting him do it either by making eye contact or moving closer up the queue.

3) Pay attention to the Y100 bills that you pay to taxi drivers, shopkeepers etc. Try to remember the serial and make sure it is the same Y100 note if they claim they have no change or the bill is torn/defaced. There are lots of fake notes circulating so do take care.

I'll post where to get what stuff in Guangzhou tomorrow when i finally start to shop. Oh and that wonderful Dim Sum restaurant as well when i go there tomorrow.

China Trip

2009-02-03T21:51:00.003+07:00

My schedule is set as follow. *edited as the agency didn't book the tickets fast enough. so we are now on waiting list for the original schedule.

13th Feb Jakarta - Singapore, arriving in the noon

14th Feb Singapore - Guangzhou, early morning flight

21st Feb Guangzhou - Singapore, arriving noon

22nd Feb Singapore - Jakarta, evening flight.

Can't wait to see old friends again after 2 months break
(＊＾＾＊)

Also many electronic items to get as it's much more expensive here !

Pa rr te y !!

2009-02-02T23:43:00.003+07:00

Believe it or not (mostly not, i know you guys bah), my dad has given me the license to drive on the road alone ^____ ____^

Now i can finally drive to anywhere I want in peace without having my mom nag me by the side. I will be driving the Honda CR-V till it breaks down before they'll change it for something else presumably as the car is 4-5 years old already.

Now now where should i go this weekend :p

Glasses..

2009-01-31T00:06:00.005+07:00

Saving me some money instead of wearing daily acuvues :D

Oakley !!!!!!

But it's fake, i admit it. I can't bear to spend that much for a real oakley frame :p

Though it sure looks real and it's even fitted with transition lens! Those that will turn brownish under sunlight and even more opaque under direct sunlight. The lens are a bit thick though as they don't offer thinning service for transition lens. I'll probably get another frame with an EMI coated lens for use with my PC since it's dirt cheap and super value for money.

Ignore the scribbles

Oakley logo

Damn I love my country !

Food Feast ~

2009-01-27T22:43:00.004+07:00

Chinese New Year has come!! ... and passed as well in a twinkle of an eye

Haiz, no ang pao this year as well T_T

Only pictures to show, yum!

团圆饭 for dad, mom & me

Prawns & fish

Home made assorted balls & dumplings

Veggies & MushrooomsFish stomach & sliced beef
The killer chilli that made everything gel

Yum Yum !

And this is as close as you can get to see CMI CNY decorations in the streets of Jakarta.

Sick

2009-01-23T11:15:00.003+07:00

Flu and sore throat... the worst potent combination of common sickness...

But i have 罗汉果 here to dispel it! Hope it works in time before CNY comes around :|

Next year doesn't look too bad for us pigs, nor too good either. so let's not hope too much for anything this year and just accept whatever good things that comes to us as bonuses!

Looks like an egg huh..

Mini Theatre

2009-01-14T19:57:00.005+07:00

Ta Da!! I present my humble and simple home theatre using what else other than cheap stuff collected here and there :p

Lousy wall mount that costed me 200,000!!! Rupiah :p

Screen using embroidery paper, free of course

And first movie premier honour goes to Dark Night

And wow, i found this really new innovative electrical appliance which i've never seen before. It works like a switch, whereby you plug in the connector and rotate it so that it becomes "armed" (lol) with electricity. I hope the picture can tell a better description than i do. The brand is Eubiq though if you plan to source for it in Singapore. I think Home-Fix or the likes will have it.

Connector, choices of round pins or 3 pins

Plug and rotate

And happy birthday Mom

Tired yet refreshed...

2009-01-03T14:48:00.004+07:00

Phew, I'm back after a whole week spent in the mountain and Bandung (city just beside Jakarta). It was really great to discover more beautiful places about my home country and her history during my travels.

Though the time spent travelling was really long, I was glad we didn't encounter jams along the way.

Pictures and stories will come up when I get my short break :|

We spent a day in Bandung and was caught in massive jams due to the holiday peak period. But we still endured the trip and hiked up the mountain to get to this place, Kampung Daun to get our breakfast + lunch. It serves traditional Sundanese cuisine, the food was quite standard nothing nice but the place sure is.

Small huts where we ate in

The view from our hut

Traditional system to call for the waiteress

And guess what this place is? It's actually a strawberry farm !! (though they spell it as stroberi here in Indo) From the picture below, to the left are the farms and all you need to pay is IDR50,000 (equivalent to USD5 or SGD7) and you can spend an hour plucking strawberries. Unfortunately the place was overrun with visitors during this holiday period and they decided to close the farm to prevent them left with just tree twigs :p

Christmas is all about...

2008-12-25T23:10:00.004+07:00

Being with your loved ones and friends taking a break from your job or worries but here I am watching DVDs all alone by myself at home.. sob.. sob..

I really need to get to know more people here, and as soon as possible or I'll be spending my weekend nights with the TV and DVD player instead of friends and girls heh...

I did go out though for Christmas lunch with my parents to Pacific Place - some mall in the city. We had Japanese food at Rakuzen, yes the same restaurant that we (YZ & JW) went in Millenia Walk and got butchered by the price. I had the same Gyu Tataki stuff again and it was much better done here. Overall the food served is better than Sushi Tei and the decoration and ambience of the restaurant was superb. Place to bring girls to, check :D

Nicely decorated ceiling

More seats downstairs

Awesome pillars and surroundings

This mall has all the shops that you will find in a posh shopping centre in Singapore. The LV store was HUGE! And with the current currency exchange rate, the price is competitive and comparable to Singapore. Even Pedro here is cheaper than in Singapore now, which was a perfect excuse to get myself a pair of slippers though.

I also managed to pick up a PC casing yesterday and proceeded to assemble it back the whole of yesterday night which explains the slight headache (from the lack of sleep) I have while typing this post.

The box

Everything assembled - Non Lit

Assembled - LitHuge 200mm silent cooling fan
The front view

My room and stuffs are slowly falling into place now !!

2008-12-23T22:41:00.003+07:00

Ta da my really humble table that took me a full day to assemble, set up and move to my room. Now that it is all set up, i just need to get a new PC casing and reassemble my PC to get it running.

I'm also thinking of getting a rack and fit it just above my bed so that it can house my projector and turn the room into a mini theatre. Oh yah, need speakers as well...

Modem, Router, Network HDD, S10

Strange sight?? Not in toilets here

By the way, what are all these mineral water bottles doing in some toilets, do you guys know OR want to know? This my friend, is the flushing system for the toilets!!

Enough to scare you guys for one day, I will find more strange stuff here and take pictures of it.

DIY = Die If You try...

2008-12-20T21:40:00.004+07:00

I went shopping for furnitures few days back and tried to be clever by getting a DIY desk thinking it would be easy to assemble it like those from IKEA.

Unfortunately I was wrong... very wrong...

Uncovering the box

1 part labelled as part no 17

The same part labelled as no 25 at the back...

I will never ever (x100) get any DIY stuff here anymore. I'll rather get an assembled furniture then to spend just the whole day figuring out which part is which.

On the bright side, i got to taste this wonderful stuff. It's called murtabak (pancake) but not the type of murtabak you get from prata stalls in Singapore. It's a dessert here so it's sweet and goes very well with black coffee.

Mouth watering ain't it!

1 side chocolates and nuts

1 side lots of cheese

Internet speed in Indonesia...

2008-12-17T22:41:00.004+07:00

Is as turbulent as the stock market....

These are the times that i wished i was back in Singapore...

I also went out to check out the local PC stuffs at a local mall (something like Sim Lim Square) and found out that the prices are similar (YAY!!) but only that they are in USD and not SGD...

Wedding and a dinner

2008-12-15T19:28:00.004+07:00

I never knew being a AV coordinator of a wedding reception was that fun till i tried it myself for my sis wedding few days back. Just a few presses of the button here and there and the lights and music are up in no time.

With the wedding, more pressure is on me as I'm the last one single =| Not like it's such a bad thing right.

View of the hall from the AV room

Another wedding next door

After which, we had a parting dinner with my bro-in-law family who came from Malacca for the wedding and the weekend at a restaurant near our house.

Sorry guys but this wins all Indonesian restaurant in Singapore and you guys aren't here to taste it.

We were seated at 3 tables and each had 10+ dishes!!! The pictures here really don't do the dishes any justice at all

Restaurant Signage

The Food

The ending damage

Back in Indonesia

2008-12-10T11:16:00.004+07:00

Negaraku yang tercinta, Indonesia.

Well i am back here, rebuilding my life in this country from now on. Surprisingly saying Indonesia is a much better country than the one 2 years back is an understatement.

For one, the internet infrastructure is a lot better now as i'm typing this post at a local mall 5 mins away from my house. The wi-fi here is much faster than wireless@sg as probably only a handful of people are utilising it. And with my S10 I can sit here up to 5 hours at a cafe without lugging along my charger.

More about this mall, it has a splendid cinema, an arcade with games at half price than those in Singapore (including WCCF, no Sanguo sadly). There is also a billiard parlour rivalling those in Japan and to top it off, someone will help you to arrange the balls. It's like malls in Indonesia is a totally different world to the one outside it and i'm liking it... a lot!

My 1st dinner in Indonesia after 1 yr ++

Indonesia's own 茶餐厅
Christmas decoration in the mall

WCCF machine lol

As for the moment, I will still continue to use my Singapore no but should be replaced by my local no soon. Will update in on my MSN and here. *Updated, my local line is 0878-8393-3698

As for internet at my house, i've applied and it should be active from end of the week onwards, hopefully...

Pictures should be up soon, forgot to bring my sd card converter out -_-;

また復活するか・・・おいおい

2008-07-28T09:38:00.004+07:00

What's past is past...

And i did recall your name Bernard :)

My new room !!

2008-05-13T16:17:00.006+07:00

I moved in to my sis room as it has been renovated and no one is using it :D

Overall view

Compartments below the wooden platform

Wardrobe

Lao-Ya Bed

Work table

EPL 07/08 CHAMPION

2008-05-11T23:00:00.004+07:00

EPL 07/08 Champions

We shall repeat this on and on and on till i say so (*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ＼ / ＼/＼

How befitting this match went. Scholes to bring us to the finals of the champions league and Giggs to deliver us our 17th championship trophy. Did i just hear the gods whispering to his angels to give Gary Neville the gift of flight to send us to the peak of competitive football - Champions League?

pictures courtesy of espnsoccernet

終わらない宴会はない

2008-05-09T15:36:00.003+07:00

I have always thought that i was strong in the affairs of the heart, immune to break ups and seperations regardless of whether it was between friends or families. After all throughout 23 years of my life, i have been spent most of them away from my siblings, parents and friends at some point of the time. Never did i know, i was never that strong... that i have just been briefly tested all this while.

Some may know that my eldest sister has finally flown off to Lyon, France as my brother-in-law received a good job offer there. My niece has gone over as well and suddenly the house looks and sounds so empty. Strangely this time, i really felt a part of my life was lost when they left.

Recently our company's representatives from our sites in Philippines, Taiwan, China and Japan met up for the semicon show that ended last wednesday. When it came to the final dinner on wednesday to celebrate for the success of the show, i felt the same strange tingle in my heart again this time. I was so reluctant for them to return to the hotel knowing this may be my last year i am going to work for this company.

And still i know that seperations are not an ending to relationships, they are but just a beginning to another chapter of my life. I will still be able to see them again at some point of time, somewhere in this rapidly shrinking world. But for now, till the inevitable return to Indonesia at the end of the year, i know my heart will be aching for company from friends and families.

MOSKAU! MOSKAU!

2008-04-30T09:21:00.003+07:00

After 10 long years, we are finally back in contention for the finals of the Champions League. Ten long years we have waited for the legendary Paul Scholes to bring us to the brink of greatness once more !!

It has been a long time for us Manchester Utd fans who last tasted Champions League glory 10 year back in '99. I could still remember waking up early in the morning, to find Man Utd down by a goal and it was already the 73rd Minute. I immediately sat down on the sofa and cheered for them in my heart, begging them to fight back 1 solitary goal to bring the game into extra time and hopefully scoring a goal or winning the penalty.

Alas it was not to be... Because we did even better by scoring 2 goals in the injury time to bring the Champions League trophy (ノﾟДﾟ)八(ﾟДﾟ　)ノｲｴｰｲ

How fast has times passed by since i was still a secondary school student, awestrucked by that game and couldn't help but gush about the game the whole day that fateful day. I hope to relive that feeling again, this time in magnificient Moscow!

Deja Vu

2008-04-23T14:14:00.003+07:00

So once again... I am back to blogging again after almost 2 months of no news or update from me. The reason is because i am so bored here in the office today, bleh.

To start off with maybe I'll show off what i bought in these 2 months of inactivity online. NEW home audio setup !! (●⌒∇⌒●) わーい

You are looking at the setup of FubarII (DAC) <-> LD MK II (AMP) <-> K701 (Headphone). Now i can listen to my music at home in peace and comfort though i have a 1 yr old niece that loves to play in my room and.

Seriously the headphone produces such a sweet sound that it leaves you in awe when listening to orchestra/instruments songs. Of course it still does a decent job playing my J-Pop collection but admittedly bass is not its strength. The tube amp on the other hand is so mesmerising to look at night but it does get too hot after a while that you can't touch it without scalding your hand.

Shattered...

2008-02-03T11:16:00.000+07:00

Oh how was i obliged to write this review on a movie titled "shattered". At first glance the cast of the show featured Pierce Brosnan (007) and Gerard Butler (300) - ironic eh, numbers - so i was actually looking forward to the show as i love these guys. The show started out at a nice pace actually, setting up the settings of Neal's (Gerard Butler) family and the relationships of people involved. Then the plot kicks in where Neal and his wife was hijacked (by Pierce Brosnan) on his car and ordered to do lots of mind boggling stuff. At the end it was revealed that he was having an affair with the wife of Pierce Brosnan and that was why he hijacked them.

How i wish the movie just ended at that point because the ending really made me DU LAN! I won't spoil it for you guys but it was perplexing enough to make wanna go up to the screen and tear it with my bear hands and demand my $8 and 1.5 hours of my life back. I have watched many bad movies with bad acting or bad story lines but this movie's ending is really so bad that it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, tongue, jaws, eyes, ears, whole BODY !!!!!

Oh yah, i watched it at AMK Cathay and i had the time to go over to 3 Guo machines and watch some people play. It was bad.. i don't even know why these people still play.

My Precious ～LW

2008-02-01T14:33:00.000+07:00

YAY!!

I'm getting back my livewires today from Jaben.

Will post the remolded earphones pictures later :D

Off i go to pick up my baby.

CNY countdown in 8 DAYS!!!

2008-01-30T12:20:00.000+07:00

新年要到了，新衣服买了吗？

Unfortunately XD no new clothes for me this year. Just can't be bothered anymore as i'm fine wearing my current batch of clothes. Anyway this year, i'll be spending CNY with my parents and one of my aunts in Singapore. We have no relatives here, just one family friends who live very near us so no need to spend time to 拜年. Instead as usual we will have a big steamboat dinner for our 团圆饭, with big crabs, prawns and fish yummy (●⌒∇⌒●) わーい

On the other hand, i'm beginning to plunge into the world of headphone and i just got one Grado SR80 online. Thank you buy.com for your ever cheap prices and support ｷﾀ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｯ!! Will do a review on it when it reaches next week. Now i will have to worry about Amps, USB DACs for my headphone.. oh headphone stand $$$$

8 more days !!!

CNY 2008 Horoscope

2008-01-17T09:53:00.000+07:00

Wah according to next year's chinese horoscope, mine is quite hong kan 工エェェェ━━━Σ(о・Д・о)━━━ェェェエエエ工

Taken from http://www.jmine.com/ if you want to see an outlook of next year.

-------------------------------
Piggies

General

For those who are born in the year of the Pig, though you have moved away from the unstable year of 2007, this year is not going to be easy for you too. Your health will be one of your top concerns this year. You are more prone to falling ill. It is more important to conserve your energy. Though you may have very outstanding performances in your career, you need to be very selective in who your allies are because there tends to be more power struggles this year. You will find that there are not many people who can help you. It is important to keep positive thoughts and surround yourself with positive people.

Career

On the career front, there are many power struggles. Office politics and unhealthy competition does not help matters. You need to be careful in who you choose to be your allies and also be careful of not getting involved in unnecessary matters. You will need to put your foot down where necessary. Do not let others push you into a corner. This is the time that you need to revise and implement your political skills. Focus your energy on doing your work well and you will find that you are able to produce excellent results. If you are in business, you will be able to stabilize your business this year. However, do not act aggressively. Go slow and steady and you will be able to achieve more in the long run.

Office politics orz ＿|￣|○

Never mind, slow and steady win the race

Wealth

Money matters could be quite tight this year. Avoid investments.

Does this means no more singapore pools outing? orz ＿|￣|○

Relationship

If you are in a relationship, you will have a loving year. You will get the support from your spouse or partner through these unstable days. If you are single, you will have a high chance of finding the love of your life this year.

This year is the chance !! And the only good point for piggies this year

Health

Not good. You will be more prone to fall ill because your immune system is especially low this year. Due to a lack of rest and spreading yourself too thin, you will increase your risk of being accident-prone. Please pay extra attention to your health in terms of having a healthy diet, keep your stress levels in check and do exercises regularly.

must.... live.... thru.... this.... year

People

People could be quite nasty to you this year. You need to focus on what you want to accomplish and keep your eyes focused on your goals. Do not get distracted by gossip and power struggles. Remember to be calm and adopt your diplomatic skills.

maybe people from the 3 guo community?

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

Ultimate Ears and Etymotics Earphones

2008-01-14T09:32:00.000+07:00

Hi People, currently i am selling these earphones in my free time. If anyone of you know any friends who are looking for earphones from these 2 brands can refer them to me. It is definetely much cheaper than local retail price XD

Ultimate Ears

Super.fi3 Studio (White, Clear, Black, Red) For SGD115

Super.fi4 vi (for iPhone users) For SGD240

Super.fi5 Extended Bass (Black) For SGD250

Super.fi5 Extended Bass (White) For SGD250

Super.fi5 Pro (Black) For SGD300

Super.fi5 Pro (White) For SGD300

Super.fi5 Pro (Clear) For SGD300

Etymotics

Etymotics ER6i For SGD145

Etymotics ER4P For SGD305

Etymotics ER4S For SGD 325

Grado

SR60 Headphones For SGD125

SR80 Headphones For SGD170

SR125 Headphones For SGD275

Pelican Cases

1010 size pelican boxes with foam set for SGD50

Different sizes and colours available

Pelican boxes are watertight, auto pressure adjustment storage compartments. You can store your electronic equipments in them to prevent moisture from damaging them during travelling. It can also withstand knocks very well as it has a crush proof, poly carbonate body. I'm personally using it to store my ipods, earphones, handphones during travelling.

WANTED !!

2008-01-13T12:00:00.000+07:00

Need Help!!

Searching for the below arcade game that has been getting scarcer by the day in Singapore.

To be precise, i'm looking for the first 3 games listed there, KOV, KOV plus and KOV Super Heroes. If anyone knows which arcade has them, please tell me okay !

IEM Reviews

2008-01-09T10:50:00.000+07:00

I started paying interests to In Ear Monitors (IEMs, read definition below) when i chanced upon one that my friend wore in 2005. It was a Shure e4c andmy first impression was that it looked cool because of the design and the way you wear it over your ears unlike ordinary earphones. I was unimpressed though with the amount of money i need to spend to get it as i felt it was unnecessary. I mean how different could the sound be coming out from a SGD20 earphones and a SGD200 earphones.

Few years down the road, i am now an owner of 6 IEMs and they all have a special place in my "ear". Since i have the time to do it now, i will give some reviews about the IEMs that i own. Will start slowly from the basic IEMs to those outrageously priced ones for easy reference to noobs.

Panasonic RP-HJE50 (SGD50)

This was my first ever IEMs and earphones that costed me more than SGD50 and i remember buying it at the Best Denki store in Takashimaya in December 2005. I didn't really pay attention to the different types of earphone and just took this and payed for it. The sound is decent as you get a good seal by pushing it deep into your ears, as such bass was present but standard. However there was always a problem of tangled wires when i chucked it into my bag as the cable is very long if you use the extension. Eventually one side of the driver spoilt due to constant tugs and unfortunately it embarked me on an expensive hobby.

Ultimate Ears Super.Fi3 Studio (SGD159)

I bought this online just because it had a super big discount off the retail price even after factoring in the shipping cost from US. Honestly, i've never been a fan of UE's IEMs as it just doesn't fit as well as the rest available in the market. Rather than placing it inside the ear canal, the UE's were designed (i presumed) to just block off the entrance of the ear canal. Therefore you still can hear external sounds even when the music is playing. But this also meant that if you can get it to fit, it should be more comfortable if wearing for long hours as it does not irritate the ear canal. Ultimate i sold this off after a few weeks because i didn't really like the way it fits in my ear, though the sound is great for the price. It had enough bass, mids and highs and for the built of the earphones and superb customer service of UE, this has to be the earphone to beat for the price.

Westone UM 1 (SGD179)

The westone UM1 was the IEM that i bought right after my HJE-50 died on me in 2006. It was after long hours of reading threads in audiophiles forum that i decided this is what i needed. And i wasn't far off, the Westone shines in the way it reproduces out machine recorded voices back as how it would be when you have the singer singing directly infront of you. Their sound IMHO is the most non-mechanical i've heard from each company's IEMs. To top it off, the fit was excellent and comfortable with the soft comply tips. I could hear with it all day and not complain of tiredness in the canals. Till now i'm still occasionally listening with the UM1s, definetely a classic to me.

Ultimate Ears Super.Fi5 Extra Bass (SGD250)

I was actually deciding between the SF5 EB and SF5 Pro until Amazon decided it for me by reducing the price of the EBs by almost half. From there it was easy to decide as quality per dollar definetely sided with the former. AND i'm glad i picked the EBs as the bass was mind blowing. All along i've really loved the Westone's sound signature for its great clarity but the EBs introduced bass like i've never listened to before. Genres that are especially great with the EBs are acoustic, jazz and musicals as they have a lot of hidden bass that only the EBs bring out. But on the other hand, it can be quite noisy for already bassy rock songs. Also since it is louder, we have to take care of the level of the volume as you may get a headache if listening to songs at high volume. The EBs is like a best supporting actor(ress) and therefore is great only as a 2nd pair of IEMs if you want to listen to your music with a different sound.

Livewires - LW (SGD450)

*WINNER*

I've got nothing bad to say about these babies as they are right now, the best IEMs i've ever owned or listened to. 1 big reason is because the LW is a custom IEM done according to each and everyone's ear impression. The result you should get is super comfort, isolation and detailed music because it fits perfect. You can wear it to sleep even, as you wear it flushed so there is nothing jutting out. You can even use it as an ear blocker (or whatever it is called) to block almost faint external noise even without music on it. The bass though is not as thumping as what users expected but i felt it was good enough to complement most songs. And i've got myself a SF5eb anyway if i suddenly feel like a bass head.

Oh i had the mylars X3 as well but uh... let's not review it, its just not my type.

* IEM (In Ear Monitor) is different from normal earphones in a way that its driver tip is usually protruded to allow the tip to enter the ear canal and create a seal to block out external noise. This way you can actually hear more details in a song and experience a new way of how your music sound. On top of that, since it extends into the ear canal, you are now able to reduce the volume thus protecting your ears and at the same time less annoying to people around you.

Competition... Does it exist in Singapore?

2008-01-08T10:07:00.001+07:00

Competition means 2 or more parties (companies) acting INDEPENDENTLY to secure the business of a third party (customers) by offering the most favorable terms.

So by definition companies should actually try their best, offering their best prepositions for us (customers) to choose but is this what is happening in Singapore. Their decisions to price their offers should not be affected by other companies offer BUT should be in the best interest of the customers. Or at least i personally think it does not happen the way it should be. So are we getting the best offer for what we are paying for or what we elected for?

We see a lot of examples, for example the telecommunication industry. It used to be only Singtel in the past (10?15? years back) offering customers telephony and internet service. Then few years back, the government decides to deregulate the industry to "increase" competition and up sprang M1 and Starhub to challenge Singtel. At the start it was good, we had more services (incoming call free??) offered to us and different way of charging (per second billing) that made our bill lower. Therefore Singtel had no choice but to come up with better offers and that is what competition does.

But after a few years, the competition suddenly became stagnant. Companies started to offer the same price plans and service and price them at almost exactly the same price as their competitors. YES we occasionally get "upgrades" but actually those are just paper upgrades as we still get the same shitty service.

Let me offer another example that has been making quite a lot of hoo-haa recently. Taxis used to be provided by Comfort and Yellow Top Cab only in the past. Only until a few years back then we see Premier, SMRT, etc coming in to "increase" the competition. But in view of the current raise in taxi charges, we once again see that competition does not exist.

When comfort adjusted taxi charges to "solve" taxis supply and demand, instead of taking this opportunity to show us that they will offer us something better, the other companies decided to follow with the adjustment and left us the customers to fend for ourselves. They gave us quite a few reasons such as increasing cost, the need to reduce subsidies etc. This even after they continue to post healthy profits year after year. This is definetely wrong.

It is sad to point out that these companies behave more like a cartel instead, signing a peace treaty to control market prices and thus limiting the need for competition among each other.

I don't even understand why many singapore brands/services are labelled as world class when they have a lack of competition domestically to even prove they are one. The only

あけまして、おめでとうございます！

2008-01-07T10:41:00.000+07:00

Phew... Time really pass by so quickly, i didn't even realise that this is my first entry for 2008.

Looking back, 2007 has been really good to me in terms of wealth, health and relationships (with friends and families that is...) ☆☆ For 2008, I'm really looking forward to this year as this may be the last full year i'll be spending in Singapore. As some of you may know, I should be leaving Singapore for good at the end of the year, back to my home country. I really hope to spend more time with friends, especially those who have been with me from Secondary or Polytechnic till now. They are the only reason why i have not returned much earler.

2008 will also be the year that my 2nd sis will be getting married. Talks will be held during CNY 2008 between the parents to set an auspicious date. This also means that i will be spending CNY here !! WAI !! (●⌒∇⌒●) わーい Anyway i won't be getting Ang Pao anymore at this age so, no reason for me to spend money on air ticket to travel back just for 3(?) days.

As for myself, i'm not in a rush to look for the special one although i don't mind meeting one anytime soon. Would be great if she was Japanese nom nom Zzz(´ｰ｀)ヾ(・・｀ < ......... WHAT !! Can't i dream?

Resolute Resolutions 2008

2007-12-31T09:06:00.000+07:00

Aye, 2008 will be here in 12 hours time. Looking back the past 20 odd years of my life, i really experienced a lot this year after starting work. Somehow it helps to train build my character and shape my attitude and i'm starting to have more self-belief than ever before.

So... as inspired by NT2, my new year resolutions is called The Resolute Quintuplets!! *cue clapping hands* ｵ━━━ヽ(´∀｀*)(*´∀｀*)(*´∀｀)ノ━━━ｯ!!!

1) Achieve and maintain weight at 75± 3KG （゜□゜；）ヒッこれ大事だよ！！
2) Travel to Japan at least twice ｷﾀ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｯ!!
3) Delay going back to Indo for good... yes i'm that unfilial ＿|￣|○
4) Delay getting married to someone i don't know... ＿|￣|○
5) Upgrade my room to contain a projector, projector screen, movie theatre system, amplifier + speaker system, upgraded PC system, new curtains, new queen size mattress, 1ft fish tank. Yeah JUST that only.

3 & 4 looks tricky as there is a 50% variable factor which is called my mom. ε-(´д｀●)┌

A small wish for the new year would be a good and prosperous health for 2008. Entering into the mid 20s, i realize how important one's health is and it is so easy to destroy your health without you knowing. So regular check ups + eat healthily + more exercise will be next year's mantra! Of course wishing everyone good health as well.

Anyway HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE ! (*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ＼ / ＼/ ＼

Gifts !!

2007-12-27T12:21:00.000+07:00

Well i got a few nice pressies for this year's christmas

1st up is a handphone/mp3 player/anything holder that i got from gift exchange. They would be more suitable for Mahjong lovers though XD

2nd would be a liquor holder, also from a gift exchange. I only drink vodka and baileys though, no expensive whiskey to fill it up with. The viewsonic birds are there just to help my lousy hp cam focus.

3rd would be a present i got myself, the tomahawk. Got it 2nd hand from a jabenite 2 weeks ago and he was kind to throw in IC, dock and a shuffle.

4th would be a present from my sisses, the Super.fi5 EB !! Good old bass to accompany me till my livewires come back!

SUDDEN INSPIRATION 2

2007-12-26T12:47:00.000+07:00

Good luck everyone, New Year is coming and i'm sure you and I all need funds to spend on GF, Wife, Family, Hobby etc

Tip of the day is 新城

Congrats in advance (ノﾟДﾟ)八(ﾟДﾟ　)ノｲｴｰｲ

Or if anything goes wrong, i'm outta town (♯゜д゜)ノ゛コリャー

Youtube attacks!

2007-12-26T11:51:00.000+07:00

Hehe... post christmas mood here in the office. There's nothing much to do around and there's no mail coming in... So what better to do than spend the time watching Youtube videos!!!

1st up, Mario wannabe that is as wicked as the "super hard Mario"

2nd goes, Dschinghis khan !!!!! What a group, what a video, what a song. Oh search for the other superb song, Moskau

3rd... still searching XD　Edit: found !!

Komakasugite Tsutawarani Monomane (imitation of ppl or item that is so random that it's funny as hell)

Xmas Eve

2007-12-24T10:09:00.000+07:00

Here comes the time of the year again where it gets lonely for us singles.. haiz.. ( つд｀) EMO time..

To top it off, there's still 1/2 day's work to do though there is nothing much to be done as Japan is having holidays and the bosses are not around.

Think i'll just play some DOTA and waste some time...

BORING !!!!! Though i'm looking forward to my Xmas presents from 大姐! Hope it's something electronic and useful. PLEASEEEE no clothes or food, those 2 are the last things i'll ever wish for

Christmas Party 2007

2007-12-21T14:12:00.000+07:00

Yayayayay party thru the night ~

We had our company's christmas dinner at the outer seats of Cafe Vic in Carlton Hotel on the 19th and it was a great as it was probably the first time in months that all staff was present. Everyone brought their family along and i was the only one who attended alone ( つд｀) orz

Putting sad things aside, the special buffet prepared specially for our group was neither excellent nor exceptionally great EXCEPT for the grill stuffs. If i didn't have lunch that day, i could probably finish all the BBQ stuffs.

The grilled pepper marinated beef and german sausage was really the highlight of the day. Of course the prawns, chicken chop and mackarel fish (though slightly saltish) was great as well. Look at how many servings of the BBQ stuff i took, i hardly anything else on the buffet line. Oh the only food i ate besides the grill stuffs are the sashimi because the salmon was really fresh and sweet.

At the end of the day, we exchanged gifts and the company gave us each a G2000 shirt which we had picked personally before hand. 照ﾚﾏｽﾅヾ(-`ω´-o)ゝ｡+ﾟ

I also won a LE MON MP4 player for the year end raffles, thought i would have preferred the microwave oven as ours in the house is slowly but surely dying.

Houston... Elvis has landed !!

2007-12-19T09:20:00.000+07:00

YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!! (*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ＼ / ＼/ ＼

My much awaited Red Super.fi3 (christmas season ya know!) is at last in the house! Look at that beautiful baby, i could get an orgasm looking at it XD AND it costed me a mere SGD65+- when it would have costed me more than twice if i got it locally. 3 cheers for amazon and buy.com and google checkout!! ｵ━━━ヽ(´∀｀*)(*´∀｀*)(*´∀｀)ノ━━━ｯ!!!

And finally the last piece of the puzzle to complement my portable rig, the RSA TOMAHAWK !! *cue thunder sound effects* ｷﾀ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｯ!! Got it cheap, even for a 2nd hand item that has barely been used and in mint condition. The nice seller even gave me the ICs and the iPod docks and a FREE iPod shuffle 1GB. Ho ho ho is all i can say.

I can't describe how happy i am that my dream rig has finally been completed though it has been a costly affair. I would be switching it on 24/7 to burn the amp and IEM fully in for around 200hrs before enjoying the mature sound it gives. By the way somebody commented that i look like a terrorist carrying that whole thing in my back pocket!

Soon i will be off to Carlton hotel for a poolside BBQ to celebrate Christmas and the new year! More pictures of food to come !!

15th DEC BKK - Day 2

2007-12-17T15:25:00.000+07:00

Day 2 and it started very early at 7AM where we headed off to Ayuthaya. An area that housed some buddhist relics and a giant gold Buddha statue. It was a long 1.5 hours journey by car and if i had a choice i wouldn't go though as i'm just not a person that can appreciate such stuff. There was also an elephant farm/circus just around the area and we got to feed them. I forgot to take pictures though Σ(￣◇￣；)

Our driver for the day on the comfortable toyota camry

Relics of Ayuthaya

I suppose this is the Buddha tree (?)

Buddhist temple

The huge Buddha statue

After touring the whole Ayuthaya in the morning, we made our way back towards the city area for lunch and found a street that is dubbed the Japanese town as it housed lots of Japanese restaurants and supermarkets. I found 1 of my favourite restaurant - Ootoya - while i was in Japan in 2005 and we had our lunch there. It was filled with Japanese families as expected and it was nice to eat in a calm environment for once.

Ootoya restaurant in Thong Ro area

My set lunch of grilled chicken with seaweed riceAND the fun begins!! We were lucky as usually Muay Thai starts only in the late evenings. But this new stadium started as early as 2.30PM and we decided to go for this 1 as it didn't clash with our schedule. When we reached at 2PM, the place was still much empty and i managed a clear shot at the ring. Those white seats shown on the right portion of the 1st picture were ours. After picking up a program brochure, we realised that the matches would be screened live on national television so we were going to be on TV (if the camera panned over us!) Anyway i only had my phone camera so i couldn't get any good shots of the fight, bleh. ＿|￣|○

The ring close up

The ring view from our elevated seatsScheduled program, 5 bouts of Muay Thai to be screened live on TV11
The fighters getting their interview done

Supporters (??) , nah just a big bunch of gamblersRandom shotsF***ing gays

So we ended the day with another trip down to Taniya street for Japanese dinner this time round and made some last minute souvenirs shopping. Need to turn in early to catch the morning flight at 0700 Zzzzzzzz

14th DEC BKK - Day 1

2007-12-17T14:20:00.000+07:00

We took a morning flight from KL to Bangkok on Malaysia Airlines. They really do serve some funny inflight snacks (´・＿・)ん？

I also saw a Japanese 50s guy playing a Nintendo DS on the flight. It's cute and made me think how much different the rest of the world are from the Japanese.

After arriving at the BKK international airport, we quickly made our way on a fan to our hotel, the mighty PAN PACIFIC HOTEL
ｵ━━━ヽ(´∀｀*)(*´∀｀*)(*´∀｀)ノ━━━ｯ!!!

Checking in was a breeze and the strange thing was that the lobby itself is on the 23rd floor, similar to how the local Marina Mandarin hotel is. I spotted a cute Japanese staff and was wondering why she was needed there until i realized most of the guests were all Japanese. Sorry no pictures of the staff (━＿━)ゝウーム

This part is the main highlight of this entry, the room !

Big fluffy bed!

Armchair, leg rest, welcome cookies, ice in bucket, wireless internet etc

Huge toilet with great japanese style toilet bowl which cant be seen unfortunately

City view from the room

Giant LCD TV

Soon after we proceeded to take a walk around the hotel and we were recommended to visit the nearby famous Taniya Street. The street is basically made up of only 3 types of establishments which are the red light district (Pubs, Karaokes, strip bars), massage parlours and restaurants.

We managed to keep our senses in check and head straight to a chinese restaurant which served excellent claypot shark fin's soup and claypot abalone rice with other Thai-Chinese dishes. Alas they could not serve alchohol throught the weekend as the election is taking place. 工エェェェ━━━Σ(о・Д・о)━━━ェェェエエエ工 Damn no cold beer to go with the fantastic dishes σ(－｀ー；)・・・

Claypot abalone rice to fill us up at the end

The annoying "No alcohol" notice

Night market in Taniya street

Lots to shop at the night market if you love shopping and bargaining is a must. slash 1/4 of the price they offer to begin with and you should be on your way to a great bargain. I got a Brazil jersey, an alcohol container, some "Chang" beer singlets and a few ties and pens .

Tomorrow we are going sightseeing and will be watching some Muay Thai!

MELAKA - KUALA LUMPUR

2007-12-13T21:18:00.000+07:00

Hooooof... at last there's time to blog since i arrived in KL. I definetely need to stay away from morning champion's league match during biz trips or else 1 day i'll really be late for the meetings ＿|￣|○

Anyway checked in yesterday into Concorde hotel. When i first heard of this hotel i was imagining it to be a high class 5 star hotel... but the only high class aspect of the hotel was unfortunately the name. The room was horrible, it looked like a higher class of the first world genting hotel. The wall was dirty, the carpet looked dirty, the plugs weren't working and the bathroom was frustratingly small. All of this for 200++ RM per night, what a "steal" Σ(￣◇￣；)

Look at that, that, that, that !!! 工エェェェ━━━Σ(о・Д・о)━━━ェェェエエエ工

But but but, the view from my room wasn't that bad. At least i get to look at the mighty KLCC if i'm bored from the window beside me.

Anyway today was much better because we went over to Malacca and had a very short sightseeing at the old town.

After that we travelled all the way back to KL to have dinner at !!!!! KL tower's revolving restaurant. ｷﾀ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｯ!! The bill came up to 600++ RM for 4 adults, food wasn't yummy but the place was certainly beautiful. OKIE! Tomorrow would be Bangkok, i'm gonna watch my first Muay Thai in Thailand!

PENANG!

2007-12-11T21:27:00.002+07:00

Well before talking about Penang, just wanted to show a picture of Kim, 狼王(what's his name ah?) and me having nice dim sum at Victor's Kitchen on a rainy sunday afternoon after soccer. 3 pax costed us $32 including drinks and we ate alot for that price. The custard pao was excellent (*´￢｀)

Anyway the next day i left for Penang on a rainy monday evening. So depressing flying off on a rainy day and feeling so lonely with only my trusted iTouch and UM1. I think it's time to find a partner soon... never had this feeling before.

After touching down at Penang airport, made my way to the usual Equatorial Hotel and i still don't understand why Malaysia's taxi is so expensive. I think it has to do with some government policies that only "pure" Malaysian are allowed to become taxi drivers.

Will be leaving for KL tomorrow and more gate waiting, more flights and more taxi boardings... hope i survive this trip.

TIPS TIPS TIPS

2007-12-08T18:05:00.000+07:00

SUDDEN INSPIRATION

Stuttgart give ball

Everton give ball

Reading eat ball

Christmas is around the corner, why not take the chance to earn some $ heh (＊＾＾＊)

Oh yah i'll be out from 10th December - 16th December for trip around SEA just in case you want to clobber me for giving you wrong football tips XD

One Love

2007-12-08T17:30:00.000+07:00

Came across a very nice ballad - One Love - from EXILE on this emo saturday afternoon after reviewing their "Exile - Evolution" album and can't help but notice the beautiful lyrics at the end. Here's how it goes... (translated loosely with my C6 'O' Level english

出会いの数だけ、笑顔がうまれ
with the constant meeting/interaction (between us), your smiles appear

笑顔の数だけ、しあわせになる
with your constant smiles, we will achieve happiness

* The use of しあわせ in hiragana instead of the usual spelling of 幸せ in Kanji makes the lyrics more lighter. Inversely, musicians normally use katagana to emphasize the words.

EXILE has always been my constant source of beautiful and soothing ballads such as Lover's again, 運命のヒト (the destined one), I believe and many more. While they also have more upbeat songs like the famous Choo Choo Train, their ballads are the one that touches my heart constantly and therefore being played the most no of times on my iPod.

So if you come across their music, please take some time to listen and appreciate it. Who knows it might create a ripple in your heart as well...

Travelling、どこへTravelling。。。

2007-12-04T09:05:00.000+07:00

Haaaaaaaaiz~

Travelling out this sunday again on the 9th. I'm probably gonna miss the soccer game again depending on my flight timing '`ｧ(*´д｀*)'`ｧ

I've always dreamed about jetting off here and there around the world when i was young, but when you grow older it's really becoming a chore. You don't get to see friends, meet up for supper and drinks and etc. Most importantly you miss your family.

So this time it looks like my schedule is SIN - PEN - KL - BKK - SIN, that's 4 cities in 1 week ＿|￣|○ The only good thing is this time, there will be contact person to bring us around and we don't need to jump on taxi and hope it will bring us to the correct location. And i hope we get some time off to do some city exploration.

Btw, found an interesting online watch shop here. Definetely a unique way of telling time and a maybe a good way to impress chicks and fellow geeks
(○゜ε゜○)プッ Hmmm let's see how i can get those watches...

Tokyo Flash - Shinsoku

This is by far the most eye catching watch among the whole list and it looks AWESOME! The problem is these watches are selling like hotcakes and are out of stock already... again... Btw you tell the time by counting the no of litted LEDs. Red = Hour (1 hr per LED), Green = Minutes (15 min per LED) and Yellow = Minutes (1 min per LED). So the picture above now shows 11:41, the problem is AM or PM (´・＿・)ん？

Nonetheless they have a wide range of cool watches for nerds like me & you. Go on guys, it's the christmas season so spend spend spend!

Day 1 Mission: Have Fun & Eat Good Food

2007-11-25T22:01:00.000+07:00

Sawadeekap!

Finally reached my hotel, put down everything, bathed and connected to the internet (*´￢｀)

At first i thought it was just some cheap 3 ☆ budget hotel but it turned out to be quite good. Name of hotel is Miracle Grand Convention Hall and it was indeed grand and huge. When i arrived, they were having a wedding dinner reception on the 2nd floor and i could see that the ballroom was huge. Room rate for 1 night is only 2K Baht (less than 1/2 the usual rate) thanks to some good contacts.

The room was huge for 1 person and there were 2 beds, would have been great if it was 1 huge bed. But what blew me away was the toilet. Call me a frog in a well but i swear this has to be the best toilet i've ever seen. Not only is it spacious, there is a make up table, nice and clean bathtub, working hot water and the nice view while soaking in the bathtub. At the sametime i was watching AXN's Asian Amazing race while enjoying my bath. Well 3 more nights in this nice place.. how i am going to miss this room '`ｧ(*´д｀*)'`ｧ

Room view from the entrance

Wardrobe

Study corner with relaxing chair

Bathroom view (Small TV included)

View of the city from the bathtub

Some language tips from the magazine

Can't wait for bonus to come

2007-11-24T01:40:00.000+07:00

Jingle bells jingle bells, Santa's handing out presents again !!

I know i'm being spendthrift shelling out money for these stuffs but their prices are just unbelievable now since the greenback is depreciating as well. Planning to use this baby when i need to make overseas trips and do not want to risk losing my trusted Livewires. This will also come in handy if i need to listen to my music in a different way. To put it simply, the livewires would be like drawing with a colour pencil - smooth. While the EB would be like drawing with a crayon, rough but more oomph.

UE Super.fi 5 EB

This earphone would be very suitable for people who like to hear the bass in musics or for teenagers who listen to lots of techno, rock and surprisingly jazz and acoustic music. Some experts advised me that there is a common misconception that to hear acoustic and jazz music, the main criteria for a good headphone is the ability to reproduce excellent mids. BUT slight bass in the background actually helps to accentuate the vocals.

Just a slight drawback of the EB is that it sticks out quite prominently out of your ear if it is tiny. well i look like shrek and have his ears so it's fine for me... i think XD

BTW saw this quiz lying around.

There are 3 different nationality guys who own different pets among them. The magic question is who owns the dog if these hints are given.

The Brazilian guy owns a parrot
The English guy owns a cat
The 3rd guy is Swedish

Well well an answer anyone?

More toys coming in

2007-11-21T21:51:00.000+07:00

It is truly a christmas season when you see presents arriving one after another. ☆♪☆ This time it's slightly smaller than the previous Livewires earphones that i got but it's still in red - my favourite colour other than black.

Ta Da!!

UE Super.fi 3 Studio

I can just feel the music coming out of it even by looking at the picture XD This will be good when i need to bring a rugged earphones out for sports or those overseas travel. And even if i lose or spoil them, it's O K !! they are only USD39.99

Too cheap to pass by this christmas season

How windows screw us daily

2007-11-18T22:59:00.000+07:00

As you might know, we have endless program failures, crash, BSOD and whatsnot operating a Windows PC/Laptop. But these errors are really pushing it too far ＿|￣|○ Would have killed myself if these errors happened to me (>___<)

Erm.. so is that an error?

Ahh.. now then i realized

Yes!! added 0 printer successfully...

God help us all...

I wish i could say something like that to my boss...

This has to be the best error ever shown...

And a cute one from Youtube.

More new toys.... the LIVEWIRES

2007-11-14T16:00:00.000+07:00

At last after waiting for almost 3 months, my LIVEWIRES earphones are here ｷﾀ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｯ!! Too bad i'm having a slight flu and music just seems to be weird when you are sick, so will do review later.

And yeah can someone for god's sake please spell my name properly !!! It's J O N N Y. Damn this time my "name" is integrated inside the mould somemore, now everyone will mispell my name.

Livewires with the iPod Touch

Oh by the way the view outside my room was just too nice not to capture yesterday, it never fails to calm me down.

No zoom

With zoom

[MIKAN]

2007-11-14T13:19:00.000+07:00

New 35th Single from MORNING MUSUME !!! Title is [Mikan] which means mandarin orange. Look at them (ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉ Kawaiiiiiiiiiiiii ~

EPL Wk 12... Boring saturday

2007-11-10T23:10:00.000+07:00

Damn i just realized only 3 games today.

come chop chop analysis.

Sunderland v Newcastle

By this morning, newcastle odds dropped by 10 cents again. These people are betting against their luck man, why so confident when newcastle play away and especially at sunderland where their main aim is not to lose.

I say another draw will happen. can try A-D or D-D for best bet

Derby V West Ham

Will it be a fairytale night for derby who have only won once this season so far? i say no. but a draw is very likely since west ham is still missing some strikers.

H-D is my best bet, 1-1 or 2-2

Liverpool v Fulham

Fulham has no means to disrupt liverpool game and they play badly away. A definete home win for liverpool. H-H is a very good bet.

Touch-y

2007-11-08T14:43:00.000+07:00

Hi guys, introducing my sleek, good looking and sexy companion. The TOUCH !

This IMO is the best and most complete multimedia player in terms of function, look and price(i got it 2nd hand). Although the music playback capability is similar to the previous iPod generations (albeit with extra support for lossless), the video playback is where it leaves me breathless. It is capable of playing back VGA quality videos and it is matched by the giant and beautiful screen the touch has.

Not only are the standard music and video player function in there, the touch is capable to surf the internet using the super gorgeous Safari browser. On top of that, when the touch is jailbroken(in simple terms, hacked) you are able to install 3rd party applications such as Apollo - Instant messaging client -, NES - Super Nintendo emulator - and many more unknown and undeveloped programs.

And i still have not gone into praising its touch screen responsiveness. Similar to the iPhone or the Sony Ericsson P1, all 3 devices have superb touch screen and it is a breeze using it. For everyone who is thinking of whether to get the touch, i will say skip it if you insist on players that support flac audio. If not this is My no.1 must have for electronic device this year.

UEFA Champions League night

2007-11-06T08:37:00.000+07:00

Today & tomorrow is the last round of the champions league before it begins again next year. So this is the last chance to make some $$ to pamper yourself for Christmas. (My picks are in red)

Today's matches are pretty straightforward for the 2 English clubs.

Liverpool V Besiktas

Easy match for liverpool even without the injured Torres. Gerrard must be relishing this match to get his revenge for their loss in Turkey. Everyone is saying that Liverpool won't qualify for the knock-out stage, well maybe but at least not tonight.

Best bet: PTS 1-0 or 2-0 since i am quite sure Besiktas won't score tonight.

Schalke 04 V Chelsea

Well Chelsea needs 3 pts to officially qualify for the knock-out stage with 2 games left to spare and i'm sure they want that so they can concentrate on the EPL. EditL More good news for Chelsea as Schalke 04 is facing a massive injury crisis, i think that will play into Chelsea's hand very nicely.

Best bet: 1X2 @ $1.90 is good odds for a Chelsea win.

Olympiakos V Real Madrid

This is 1 of those matches that could go wrong for Real imo as they are not a team that bounces back quickly from a loss. And as these groups go, it is going be quite a high scoring match. And the handicap of +1/4 for Olympiakos is a bit too low, it is like encouraging people to take Real.

Best bet: Over or +1/4

As for the rest, no confidence because i don't really pay attention to their league, so i do not have enough news to pass judgement.

Good luck boys!! (○゜ε゜○)プッ

World Class

2007-11-05T08:28:00.000+07:00

With transport ministers and the old man constantly reminding us that we have world class transport in Singapore, i was beginning to believe it till i was as usual, reminded by bus 21 and 131 that it was not.

These buses start from Whampoa bus interchange which is only 4 stops from the usual stop that i board. They are "scheduled" to leave every 10 mins in the morning because there ARE that many who needs the ride to the Novena MRT station where almost everyone alights. So sometimes they screw us by either not comin on time (how the hell it happens when the interchange is so close) or they decide to send a single deck 21 σ(－｀ー；)・・・ Whoever scheduled it must be shot, period.

And they still dare to increase prices to justify their "service upgrade" such as bus arrival panels which doesn't work. Who are we kidding? Singapore always like to claim that they have world class this and that but she is just like a frog croaking in the well.

On the other hand, Bolton did draw (ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉ so i hope some people made a lil money.

Huat Huat EPL WK 11

2007-11-04T17:58:00.001+07:00

The picture speaks for itself ｵ━━━ヽ(´∀｀*)(*´∀｀*)(*´∀｀)ノ━━━ｯ!!! Anyway, i had to seperate the bets because singapore pools required 1 betting slip per person to enter the hall. But i could see that they were quite lax yesterday as it was a big match.

I also learnt something, whenever derby plays away, just aim for PTS and buy 2-0/3-0 or bigger margin if it's a strong team. Just as my friend commented after the match against Aston Villa where he analyzed spot-on the score " the rams are food, just eat them"

Anyway, today's tip has to be taking Bolton... (´・＿・)ん？Yeah Bolton that goal leaking team that everybody is avoiding. But really, i can feel a resurgence going on and i think it would be a draw game today. So can try eating 1/2 ball with boo*** or buy both X (3.80) and 2 (4.20) with spools. The trick is to bet on both and get the difference in winnings. But of course if you lose, you lose all XD

Anyway good luck, remember always bet responsibly and only bet the amt that you are prepared to lose.

Presents !! Part Three

2007-10-22T12:44:00.000+07:00

Great month, more presents coming in. Bag from Pedro :D 1 of my favourite brands for shoes and bags. Sadly still no presents from the 3guo guys.. sob sob..
( つд｀)

Presents !! Part Deux

2007-10-22T12:19:00.000+07:00

Presents from my parents :D 3D 2N trip to bintan (ノﾟДﾟ)八(ﾟДﾟ　)ノ YAY!!

Muahaha the villa was damn huge, definetely enough for around 10 occupants because it had 4 rooms, 2 living rooms and 1 kitchen. And every villa had a buggy that you can drive to access the facilities in the resort. Fantastic for F1 drivers wannabes. And the best part was that the beach was just behind the villa so you can just walk over, swim, have fun and walk back. Definetely worth the $$.

Have more pictures, but don't think want to sexpose my family
(´･ω･`)

Night view of the villa at night

The villa in the day
My Room
Upstairs
Living room 1
Living Room 2
Archery at the golf driving range

Mini laser quest.. so tiring..

Sunset at the beach

Super hard Mario Bros.. damn...

2007-10-09T20:30:00.000+07:00

Look at this string of video, it made me laugh till the tears come out. LoL, I never thought Mario could be this disgustingly hard.

And the video author's comments and expletives only made the video sweeeeter :D I'm suprised it's not in the top 10 video... yet.

PS: BTW someone say "my" IC Card being played at Marina Square. I say "My" because maybe someone just made an IC card identical to my old one. But hey please just check it out the next time.

Presents !!

2007-10-09T15:37:00.000+07:00

Wooohooooo. Time of the year for presents.

First up is the long awaited Man Utd away kit + Solksjaer name and no printed behind.

And more stuffs (earphones, clothes, bags, DVDs) coming soon throughout the month... I hope (´･ω･`) So to everyone reading you know what to do.

Ohh by the way, my niece just got baptised. Very cute hor :D

Back from Penang Trip (belated update)

2007-10-09T15:19:00.000+07:00

OOooooooooooo

Been long since i updated again. Did you all think i gave up on blogging ?! Of course yes (*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ＼ / ＼/ ＼

But somehow i found the time to blog and so here we go again XD

This is my hotel room in Penang.

And some not so nice scenery

So i was trapped in Penang for a week doing some *cough*"stuffs"*cough*. Though i managed to find some time to visit the local malls and night market for delicious food like Penang Chao Kway Teow, Xian Bing, O Lua, Wan Tan Mee etc. I also tried Penang Laksa, it was horrible, the fish smell was too strong for me. Definetely not my type of food.

Enjoy, that is all i can say of this video

2007-09-15T23:09:00.000+07:00

What are you thinking?

2007-09-10T13:12:00.001+07:00

It's Monday and nobody loves Monday. Anyone who loves Monday is either a A)freak or B)retard.

Anyway i found this wonderfully entertaining site that tells you what makes up your brain. This is what i'm supposed to be thinking based on my name. Honestly, it's creepily true, and yes i have 4 very close friends from poly days till now.

But i'm sure it's just a coincidence, so try it and let me know XD. The website is http://maker.usoko.net/nounai/, just put your name in the blank and click the "の脳内" button.

PS: Please don't treat this seriously XD and if you don't understand the Kanji you can ask me.

ie. for my case, i'm yearning to 休=rest (40%), 私=full of myself (10%), 友=thinking of friends (10%), 秘=keeping lots of secrets (40%)

Morning Musume - 10th Year Anniversary Collection

2007-09-07T09:44:00.000+07:00

Yay MM will be coming up with the collection album that has all their singles so far. Must BUY!! And the cover is so nostalgic, take a look for yourselves.

Original Version

Remake Version

IIRC the new version looks much better XD

OOT: On a side note, this week's football will be at Queenstown Primary School. 11AM please please please come (´･ω･`) ＿|￣|○

Photos from Viewsonic booth

2007-09-03T13:17:00.000+07:00

Hi all, i'm sure most of you know i was selling projectors for Viewsonic over the weekends and that was why i did not go and join the crowd in cheering for their favourites. So some photos here of the birds and girls of viewsonic.

In case you didn't pop/pass by our booth, maybe you heard us blasting our j-pop music because we were playing back HD clips of Morning Musume and Ayumi Hamasaki. Of course contributed by moi (*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ＼ / ＼/ ＼

Overall it wasn't a good event for us because of the poor location of our booth which was facing a small corridor and not the main pathways. But i still managed to sell a few of them and earn for myself some $$ for Sangokushi Taisen V2.0. Of course will only start playing when the V2.0 cards arrive. I won't be seen playing for V1.1 cards muahahahahah

新チャンピオン登場「マーク」

2007-09-01T23:23:00.000+07:00

Congrats to our new champion Mark for overcoming everyone to rightfully earn the title 「洞主」

Just a bit sad that my company's representatives didn't manage to snatch the championship but as someone said before " In a tourney, form doesn't matter " Well i guess this tourney has shown us that somehow this is true.

Until now i'm still unaware of the placings and matchup for the whole event so ill be updating this post later. Please watch out for it :D

Update: List of matchups and winners contributed by spy99, winners in red

1st Round
恂ちゃん VS George
Mark VS 魔
JTSL VS ZZZZZZ
月上人 VS LEO
ALU VS KIM
夏侯迷 VS Thomas
G VS 仲达
ANGIE VS 狼王

2nd Round
Mark VS 恂ちゃん
月上人 VS JTSL
ALU VS 夏侯迷
ANGIE VS G

Semi-finals
Mark VS 月上人
ALU VS ANGIE

Finals
Mark VS ALU

I thought the preliminary draw was done very well and although i'm surprised at some of the winners of certain matchups, i will not take the honour away from the eventual winner, (ノﾟДﾟ)八 MARK (ﾟДﾟ　)ノｲｴｰｲ

PS: The title means A new champion emerges, [MARK] for those who have asked me that.

ODEX VS PACNET RD 2

2007-08-31T10:58:00.000+07:00

~ This is the saga that doesn't end

yes it goes on and on my lambs

some people started downloading it not knowing its ilegal

And odex will continue sueing us forever just because

This is the saga that doesn't end ~

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

Apparently ODEX has brought in reinforcements from Japan to overturn the decision of Judge Lau in the upcoming appeal. They are the official licence holder of the listed animes listed in the AVPAS website.

I still wonder how ODEX managed to smoke thru these Japanese to support them when they have not been doing their fair share of the job. No advertisements no promotions zilch, nil, kosong, egg, plaster whatever !! Probably the clever people up there in the management are not willing to spend on PR because they are not making $$. HELLO!!! You need promotions to get your sales running not the other way round.

And i'm sure some of you have heard regarding how ODEX director, Peter Goh (PG) were owners of some sort of game shop (Games Mart Pte Ltd) that was raided in 99' for selling counterfeit games and accessories. PG came out on the news today telling the media that they were not at all involved in the fracas. Chinese has a saying "上梁不正，下梁歪 ", go figure out. '`ｧ(*´д｀*)'`ｧ

全武将がOOがキタ！！

2007-08-30T20:54:00.000+07:00

Finally Singapore is going to play host to 1 of the most respected Japanese players which is none other than 全武将がOO !!

I think most of us have seen his replays from v1.0 and v1.1 showcasing his micro skills of numerous units and his deck building skills. I can't wait to see him tomorrow @ AMK hub, too bad i need to work till 6PM but at least my workplace is near YAY!!

Also i'm getting him to sign my SR Dongzuo & IC card muahahahahahahah!!! PS: Please don't copy my idea XD

全武将さん、あしたよろしくお願いします！

BTW, at last the countdown begins !!!!!! 42 days from now on to the livewires :DDDD

FF XIII - Awesome battle system

2007-08-27T16:13:00.000+07:00

Look at the trailer yourself and be amazed Awesome is all i can describe the in-game & battle graphics of the new FFXIII. Σ(ﾟдﾟ　)!!

The last FF series i played was FFX and this is so much different... Enjoy

Final Fantasy 13 - Trailer - Funny bloopers are a click away

PS: The hero is a heroine XD

Qualifier's Update

2007-08-26T18:25:00.000+07:00

Update !! We have the latest 4 qualifying contestants from Marina South and West Mall. Too bad our dear uncle COACH who is the most motivated didn't make it thru the qualifiers. But i'm pretty sure there will be people who can't make it to the show in the last minute and uncle COACH will be there to fill the space up.

Mean while i'll be rooting for our company's representatives, G, KIM and 仲達 to do well in the finals. Alas i'll be working @ COMEX the IT show and won't be there to witness the crowning of the champion. Good luck to everybody because everyone stands a chance of winning :) みんな、進め！！

Marina South
魔
Angie

West Mall
ZZZZZZ
Mark

COMEX 2007

2007-08-23T10:35:00.000+07:00

Comex 2007 will soon be arriving on the 30th Aug - 2nd Sep and once again i'll be in it selling projectors !! Viewsonic's to be exact.

Definetely 1 of the cheapest and of better quality than the rest in the market :D Ideal for replacement of TV's at home and easy to maintain and set up. Anyone interested can look for me OKIE ??

4 More Heroes ..

2007-08-21T09:15:00.000+07:00

Results for 6 locations have been confirmed and we are just left with 4 more slots from 2 other locations.

East Coast
JTSL
G

AMK Hub
KIM
狼王

Clementi
夏候迷
Leo

Jurong Point
Thomas
George

Bishan
恂ちゃん
仲達

AMK Funland
月上人
ALU

Of course the few main familiar faces are there and i expect a few more to appear after next week. I can't wait for the finals to begin and see who might be the Japanese pro assigned to play with us, locals. (○゜ε゜○)プッ

Congratulations to everyone who made it for the finals !!

Re arrange the letters X, O, E, D to form the crappiest company alive

2007-08-20T10:53:00.000+07:00

Just taking a break from blogging about 3 kingdoms ~ and we shall turn our attention to a company that has been making the headlines for sueing people.

The main argumentative stand that downloaders are pointing out is that "XOED" company is delivering crap anime video quality and subtitles. I'll go straight to the point and show you a screencap from Initial D 3rd stage. PS: Picture was screencaptured by Norad™ from playpark forum, and all credits go to him.

"XOED"

Fansubs

From the number plate to the railings and colour composure, you can actually see quite difference in the quality of the 2 screencaps. However i admit i can live with the difference in quality as i'm more interested in the storyline than the drawings. But nooooooo that's just the beginning of the nightmare.

Look at the subs done by "XOED" company and the other by fansubs and you'll notice that, hey maybe the subs done by "XOED" was done for another anime that involves "big trees" which can drive cars.

The point is, in the first place how can you expect people to purchase your company's inferior goods. The answer is a big flat NO. I don't even need to bring downloading of fansubs issue into this argument, as whether fansubs exist or not it won't affect the conclusion that people don't like to pay for inferior products.

As to this whole sueing issues made big by "XOED", i can only quote a certain line from a movie that i like. "THIS IS MADNESS"

桃園の誓い Deck

2007-08-15T16:14:00.000+07:00

I think i just found my own perfect 桃園 deck. Must say this is the most stable 桃園 deck i've played before.

Sidedeck

And i faced Ryan and Chris today before losing my IC Card, sob sob..

results

○×○○×

HUAT HUAT HUAT EPL 07/08

2007-08-15T16:06:00.000+07:00

Come Come Bros/Sis

07/08 season has arrived and what way to welcome it than to donate a few bucks to singapore pools? (and a box of cards as well.. well..)

1st week result, not bad. Let down by sunderland who very key kiang and score in the 93rd min.

Here's my prediction for 2nd week of EPL, please bet responsibly and donate some $ to singapore pools.

Labour Day

2007-05-04T12:24:00.000+07:00

Went to watch spidey with the 3 guo gang on Labour day. The movie was delayed due to some glitch, made us wait there for 30+ mins XD Luckily the show was good. Same old plot, same old ending. Though the action scenes were a bit lacking, the emotional scenes were done in a good way. Verdict 8/10

Here's the screenshot of the ending, wonder whether there's any hidden scenes after the credits.. hmm..

AND !!!!!! My new CPU is up ^^, here's the screenshot. Took me 2 hours to just connect the drives and to connect all the cables. And a cat (○゜ε゜○)プッ was disturbing me while i was doing all these. Btw it's just a bare CPU with 2 HDD, 1 DVD drive, nothing fancy. No $$ for better graphic card yet, will come soon if i don't touch 3 guo at all :|

Tak Kiu !!

2007-04-29T18:01:00.000+07:00

Sunday is soccer day !! At least for us gamers who only moves our hand all the time and occassionally our legs.

Soccer Squad

*Click on pics to enlarge

Apart from the guys above, there were more who left early like 狼王，BOY, Bunny(?), Becks and friends. So we have like 15++ players playing once fortnightly, if you would like to join us please do so, we are glad to have anyone join us.

Btw sorry for the people above whose name i do not know. Maybe you or others can fill me up on this because calling people by their nick on the court is difficult for people like wu gui dan whose nick is long!!!

See you guys again in 2 weeks time またね!

つづく

Euphoria

2007-04-29T00:46:00.000+07:00

Glory Glory Man Utd !!

"And Rooney scores, what a wonderful piece of excellent move"

That's what you'll probably get used to hearing from now on. I can smell the treble like a mouse targetting a piece of cheese (´･ω･`)

Luckily we didn't give up and left the pub after seeing Man Utd go down 2-0, and luckily Everton's GK made the stupid little mistake and let Man Utd get the momentum to fight back. It was all made sweeter with Chelsea drawing at Bolton XXXDDDD

Btw guess what's this? (´・＿・)ん？

It's Pi Pa Gao made into a drink !! OMG and i still dared to try it. All i can say is, after opening the can, i immediately gave it to my friend. It was like smelling and drinking cough syrup. Bleh

Anyway though tired, it was a happy day for me and all Man Utd fans. I hope everyone sleep well because we'll have our bi-weekly soccer game tomorrow. Zzz(´ｰ｀)ヾ(・・｀ <

つづく

Blank

2007-04-22T00:07:00.000+07:00

Today's result with my standard double fan ji deck (○ = win × = lose △ = draw)

○△ ○○× after 1+ months of no playing.

Sianz 1/2, no 討伐 today. Really rusty, my 反計 either totally not aiming people or aiming at the wrong person. To top it off, i wasted $6 playing with com opponents because there was something wrong with the online connection. Bah lousy machines and servers. Made me think about totally quitting 3 guo till they decide to have a big tournament before bringing in V2.

And our picture of the day !!! of a 覇王 losing to com. I have edited out the name to protect the person's reputation. (*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ＼ / ＼/ ＼

On another note, i keep on seeing this girl as Vanessa in KOF. Maybe it's just me but i thought, the bangs and highlight of the hair + face expression + the white sleeveless shirt made them look similar. Well XD how come we can't find such girls in Sillypore.

PS: Obviously i've photoshopped the colour of the hair and tie lar !! And the girl's name is 亀井絵里 from Morning Musume.

つづく

Food and Pool の誘惑

2007-04-21T11:26:00.000+07:00

Wake up early in the morning tio shoot by someone liao, saying i'm a pilot. All i can say is sorry sob sob ＿|￣|○ I couldn't resist the temptation and promise of nice dinner and pool afterwards. FOC somemore, while playing 3guo means i need to fork out my own money.

BUT today CONFIRM going down. So long never play, not sure how much my standard has dropped, but should be enough to get some 討伐　(^N^)

Also PS to Archezdevil, i think you can come down today to pick up your ang pao XD

つづく

SR　パパ　Deck

2007-04-20T09:22:00.000+07:00

Xiao liao, forgot to bring my deck out today, how the hell am i going to go PVP later on.. sighz '`ｧ(*´д｀*)'`ｧ Just have to borrow from Kim & Co later X(

Thinking of playing this deck today.

Actually i've played a somewhat similar deck before but found it difficult to control 6 cards at once. But with the modification of 2 spears, horse, archer each, i think it would be easier to control. And i like to play with shiny decks (ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉ 1 SR + 4R, too bad i can't find another good replacement for a 1 cost horse in these 2 countries.

24 Str + 32 Intel, but this deck's winning chance all lies with SR Sun Jian, if he falls the whole deck falls. Have to work up on my 単挑pressing liao.

Hope to do well today, we shall see later

つづく

初代チャンピオンの Deck

2007-04-19T10:14:00.000+07:00

This is the deck that i'm currently using to PVP people. Of course i do try and play other decks but this is my favourite.

The concept of the deck is very simple, push opponent into their own half of the map and go into a mounting position where it is almost impossible for them to cast any skill -> 落城. This is also 1 of the deck with the highest 落城 rate if you choose　増援の法　as your 兵法.

The key to winning is to conquer the middle neutral ground and push them back within their own half. I have always said that defending is always easier than attacking because of alot of factors such as sieging bar time, no auras (for horse and spears) when you come in contact with the castle area etc. But this only hold true if both are playing on level grounds. Imagine a powered up unit camping on your half but you can't power up or use other skill to defend. Most of the time, the attack will go through the defense.

That is why you have to camp in his half. Imagine if the opponent is the 1 presurring you in your own half. even if you power up and try to counter his skills, he can fall back abit to the halfway line (out of the reach of your counter) and cast his skills, rendering your counter unit useless.

The Origin

2007-04-18T15:39:00.000+07:00

Time to give hints on why i decided to start this blog. It all began with a conversation with 2 other 3 Guo players 1 night.

*Re-enactment of conversation. All names are withheld to protect witnesses and me XD

Chicken-Head: Wah lately i see alot of new faces in the arcade ah
Technician: U long time never come and play lar, noob lar u.
Medic: Yeah lor, but they mainly playing just to get uniforms lar, u know, sponsor people
Technician: Yea Yea like that old guy who visit the arcade everyday with a bunch of coins, dunno where they get all the $ from, must be A.S.Ks or businessman

Chicken-Head: Then how come they dunwan to play themselves har, why must ask people to play for them, not sian meh, waste $$ only and cannot improve skill.
Technician: Yea lor, got pride meh
Medic: True but also hor, i dun understand why they like to sponsor Gayboy leh, not like his tao fa (討伐) rate is high like tt.
Chicken-Head: Y leh, Gayboy not bad mah.
Medic: He is good lar, but he everytime play jiao deck when people sponsor him. Of course tao fa rate low lar.

Chicken-Head: He should just stick to his 5 horse deck lar, only he can use
Medic: Ah lar that deck easy to use lar, just now i and Bak-ka try once, also can tao fa easily.
Technician: Lol no wonder only he can use, it's so easy to use mah

3 of us: Ha Ha Ha (ﾉ´∀｀)

*No prize for guessing who is who

Sangokushi Local and International Community

2007-04-17T15:16:00.000+07:00

For others who are unaware, this game originated from Japan (doh xD). Needless to say due to the head start that they had, they play better, have newer versions, newer cards than the rest of the international community.

Look at the date, that was when i played my first 3 Guo game. Lol @ Guan Ping being the No 1 used card.

Some random screenshots of a match. My Card nick is and has always been 「 ♀ 」 :DD

These international community comprises of Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. The first three countries that i listed are currently in a testing stage of online gaming that enables players from the 3 countries to PVP (players vs players) each other anytime and anywhere. I'm sure this is the only game except from the Mahjong game that allows players of different countries to PVP each other. Malaysia should be following suit when V2 of the game comes.

Of course this comes @ a hefty price (-_-;; of $3 per game or if you choose the PVP mode, it can go as cheap as $6 for 3 game as it gets cheaper when you win each battle. So the pricing systems goes like $3 for 1st game, $2 for 2nd game and $1 for the 3rd game. The pricing system restarts back to $3 when you win 3 games consecutively.

* For people who visit this blog and is unfamiliar with the game or who wish to learn this game, can visit our local forums @ http://www.sgcardgames.com

The start of this blog

2007-04-17T15:01:00.000+07:00

What prompted me to start this blog is to inform and share my personal views on the game, Sangokushi Taisen （三国志大戦） with others who play the game. Of course there are hidden agendas that i would not disclose right now but will become very apparent later on. Occassionally i will blog about my daily mundane life as well :o

In the meantime, stay tune for updates to this blog :D