Telco wars

Just a day after I left Singtel for Starhub, I was greeted by a call from Singtel asking me for feedback on why I switched. It was rather interesting to me considering that a full 2 months back, I gotten a call from them asking me to extend my contract with the smallest sugar coated offer I have seen. They would like to give me $4 off for my bills for a whole year. Now does that interest you?

I told them back then that I was not interested in their offer and intend to switch and pretty much never hear from them again. Until Monday came and a nervous voice was curious on why I did. I replied simply that Starhub had offered me much better deals for me. He questioned further by asking me if there is any push factors. I could think of a few minor ones, but told him none. He was curious to know how long have I been with Singtel and to my own surprise, it has been 10 years now!

I got a bloody pager from them at the start and as a long serving customer, I have seen attractive offers going to the fresh sign up applicants while I re-contract yearly to maintain my silly number (see stupid story below). I guess I am not the only one here who felt that way and since my contract is up, I decided its time to move on. The new deal from starhub entice me dearly. Not to mention, I rated their customer service greatly better than the robotic operators I met in Singtel.

Anyhow I am happy now and waiting to get back from G900 from the service center later. (its not Starhub fault for SE to come up with a crappy product quality)

PS. For those switching telco, they do all the admin work for you. So basically, just sign up and let them cancel the old contract for you along with all the other nasty paper work. In not more than a working day, you should get the your number activate on your new network.

Stupid story
When I was asked to choose my number 7 years back, I thought that since its my number, its my frens and family who would have to remember it, I decided to find the most difficult number to remember.

fish news

here are a series of updates. might bored you all, so I would keep it brief.

I have build nets for my home and office tanks for the moss to grow on. the one at home started slowly but have began to show sign of growth, the office one however did not seems at all comfortable. It could be that it is spiky moss, a different variant as compare to the majority of java moss I been using. Anyhow I remove it and let it lay on the gravel and would need more weeks to monitor this.

My prawns in the office are slowly dying out. The 2 expensive Crystal red shrimps are the survivor of the original 5. The 10+++ sakura shrimps have diminished to 5. Perhaps this would be a good population size for my small tank.

I am thinking of increasing the prawns population in my home tank. But that depends on when I have time to pop by Clementi to purchase some.

I also bought a food timer to ensure that while I am overseas, my little ones are fed daily. I wonder if I should get a light timer as well, or I could just leave it on for a week.

Lastly, one of my original 8 orange fish (of which 1 had cancer and die 2 years back), has appeared to have bloated tummy. Its likely there is a severe infection and I doubt she would survive. I have added some fungus killer, but ensure that would save her. At least I hope it would protect the rest.

Sighs

my last run

My last and desperate attempt at my IPPT ends today in failure. Sighs.

I did alright for the first 4 stations. Was tired from them, but it was not stopping me from the run. However when I did run, my legs could not carry me. The first 3 rounds were about 6min 10 sec. Well within my target and my expected running pace that I was training for.

Somehow round 4 was a disaster. I stopped, walk, huff and puff and gave up like a coward. My legs were wipe out. I could barely stand and din want to walk even.

I could find excuse that I was generally not feeling well. Got a damn ulcer on the side of my tongue, was feeling giddy since last night and mild feverish the entire day. But no, these are still excuses and ultimately it wont help me pass.

Anyhow, I would be meeting my Omega loving friend for a month full of Remedial training.

Mugicha

A long while back, a large group of my colleagues and I visited this ramen place near boat quay. The ramen was good with the addictive butter they added.

But what caught my taste bud was a cool refreshing drink they had provided. It tasted like water down coffee but its not even coffee beans. And yet its so refreshing and delicious.

I visited plenty of supermart even those Jap ones and I have yet to find them. Well it would be easier if I know what I was looking for. Alas I decided to google "roasted tea" and it tells me this is Mugicha.

Mugicha is roasted barley that is enjoyed warm in winter and cold in summer. The taste of coffee was probably due to the roasted flavor that was introduced. It has no caffeine and it is apparently good for you.

I fancy the cold version. From what I read, you can cold brew this just by leaving it in the cold water. Now this is new to me. Anyway, I would be looking out for one later this week I hope

G900 not working

The damn touch screen is not working. Sometime it does, sometime it doesnt. And a majority of options relies on this. Sighs, guess I have to pop by the service center later.

Grumbles.

G900 has arrive

This sure took a while...

After an afternoon spent waiting for the phone was not available, my dearest new phone has arrived.

and strangely I am still thinking of naming it. My history of my ladies has made me ran out of female name that begins with A

Looking for a good time?

I was walking down Orchard Rd late last night after catching the Dark Knight. PS. The story is brilliant. Its slowly moving toward Batman becoming more dark and cynical. Well at least in the comic book he was pretty crazy when old and ended up beating superman

Anyway as I walked toward down the busstop to get better seats, I came to realise that Orchard Rd reminds me of Geylang. However the "exports" came from different source. Its likely they also cater to a different audience as well.

I am not talking about a handful of streetwalkers, there are like troops of them. Looking at the time, its barely pass 10pm. One could only imagine what would this be like on a weekend night.

There is just one incident that amuse me deeply. A fairly older streetwalker was finding competition tough. She knows she is not in her prime and just standing by winking and smiling would get her nowhere. She daringly asked her prey is he was looking for a good time. That guy barely reacted and walked on.

As I know, its not legal for such acts in sex trade. There are those residing in fish tanks which are license by the Govt. Streetwalkers are not those and are here on a visitor pass.

You are probably wondering, there are loads of them in Geylang, the prime redlight district, why arent they round up by the police? Well frankly, there is no law to dress like a seductress. They are however unable to pry their trade, not able to solicit.

So I guess the elderly visitor is definitely trying to get lucky. One way or other.

Rubix cube

I could never solve more than 1 face of the cube. Apparently someone could and even build a Lego Mindstorm solver along with the programming code.

This guy is a genius

Appreciation of life

I thought about this recently. I had a darn good life so far and I should learn to appreciate it.

Thinking about it makes me consider. I am not filthy rich, neither do I have a fantastic high paying manager job or the sport car (Audi R8). Or even the looks that would make heads turn at a party or the fitness that would guarantee me a Gold at each IPPT.

I do however have a secure job nonetheless. Even though most part of it involves helping out a dumbass manager. I should not go on describing him, as his attitude and talent (lack of) could deserve a whole blog by itself. I do know my pals whom had worked under him would dearly so contribute to the endless incompetence he is.

I do also have a comfortable life. Have a room to myself which probably needs more regular cleaning. Have a family sedan which I so often rev it when I am alone. I do also have a wonderful fish tank which I am so proud of. I dun really post much details of it lately but I recently did put up a moss wall and it starting to take shape. Come to think of it, I should post it sometime in the future.

Life could be a lot better yes, I dont deny that. But in a way of looking, Life could also be alot worse. While we constantly dread the Life that has been given onto us and frequently look at the greener pastures all around us, we sometime fail to see there are those among us whom look at us with envy.

Anyhow, I am happily eyeing Fossil Watch. A present to myself which I look upon as a Bonus gift. Its almost as lovely as an Omega as my friend so desire :P

GTR

I present to you the GTR. Perhaps the fastest and hotest Jap car at the moment. Topgear shipped it direct from Japan to their track in UK just to see how fast it goes. And the result is astonishing. (go watch the video, I am not saying)

If you own one and at a stoplight a Jackass in a Ferrari tries to mess with you. You would be glad to know that he would be staring at your taillights soon after. But of cos, do not try this against the Veyron.

Do you know that the GTR (Skyline) sits 4 passenger? Yeps its a family sedan.

Run with BLM and many others

To take my sudden love for running to a new level, I have decided to sign up for the Std Chart Marathon.

There is 3 options, the full marathon at 42km, the half marathon at 21km and the 10km run. Guess which one I would be signing up for.

So far, a couple of my co-workers and 1 cool dude are interested. I do hope to get more response for this.

How say you?

running log - day 3

I ran 2.4km today.

of which the first 3 rounds was approximately 2 mins each

the next 2 rounds were 2 mins 30 sec each

and the last round was about 2 mins 10 sec.

I still need a miracle to pass.

(ps. no one turn up to run with me)

Negative

This has hurt my eyes. Wonder if it bothers you too?

Run with BLM - 2

Couple of days back, I ran 4 km at a leisure pace. I found out yesterday that the leisure pace is about 10.43 km/hr or just 2.5 mins per lap. In a sense, I ran continuously for 25 mins.

Just yesterday, my Vanilla Bear (VB) and I started our training session. We did the following

1 slow warmup lap (~2mins 30 sec)
1 quick lap (1min 50 sec)
1 quick lap (1min 45 sec)
1 quick lap (2min 0 sec)
1 quick lap (2min 5 sec)
5 endurance laps (12min 45 sec)

In total its another 4km of run and my legs are doing just fine (strange I know)

With all these running, I do hope to pass my ippt in 10 days time.

PS. I never ran 4km before..... And somehow did it twice in consecutive days. You can too. Join me this Sunday at 6pm for a lighter session. I promise no 4km run this time.

Run with BLM

Since I am training for my IPPT, I would like to start a Run With BLM drive. For absolutely $0000, you get to meet BLM for a jog.

I wont race with you but I definitely motivate you to run as much as I could. In fact I am so keen about this that I am opening up 2 sessions weekly

Thursday night at 7pm and Sunday evening at 6pm

Location with be at TPY stadium.

PS. I just ran a 4km with a moderate pace. It inspire me to blog and I am pretty sure the next day, I would regret asking my friends to run with me.

How to cheat on those claw game

Now yo know - Watch more free videos

My graduation

well ok this is not my graduation, but rather my favourite song from Speed.

I do hope they reform their band.

Advertising Space

Kinda love this song from Robbie.

Steve Job and the Segway

Hey mac fans out there. If you have the time, do take a look at this article

I read it years ago and it describe Steve Job dislike for the segway. It also makes reference to our former PM. Perhaps now you would learn why indeed did our police force decide to ride a segway at the airport patrol years ago..... Yeps, its becos of this

(yes the spell the name wrong)

looking for GPS

I am heading to Aussie with my folks in a couple of weeks time. It would be a road trip and the bloody GPS rental cost like 80 AUD. I am keen to avoid this all. After all, that cost of rental, could probably allow me to afford one.

So well, I am asking my friends out there if any of you guys have one which I can borrow for about 10 days. You probably wont get 80 sing for your trouble.

Poor snake

Ermm.... I am quite lost by this video. I could only imagine what happen next to the snake and not "what if" would happen to the boy

House music

I been a house music fan ever since my Best Bud since Sec sch intro me. In particular, am a great fan of satoshi tomiie.

In the past, I used to turn up the volume of my headset as I listen to the beat of House, while studying for my exams. Its been a while since I did that now. Now as I am reading thru the pile of documents, I stumble upon my old music and began to enjoy the moment.

It hard to describe this feeling. But will no doubt try. There is a lack of lyric but the progressive rhythmic tunes it has, entice the body to groove along the motion. It clears your thought and open your senses to the surrounding.

I guess this pretty much like a close friend of mine, whom listen to classical music whenever there is a need to type a difficult report.


As for me, I guess I would be playing my house music when I have work to do. It helps me. You guys should try this

Qn time

Would you rather be ignorance and live in bliss or know and be miserable?

Take for example, you went for a medical examination. Your dearest kin gotten the the result and it shows that you would died quietly in a matter of months without any pain.

Would you rather know and be miserable or would you ignore it and be happy.

I know my answer. I rather know.

What about you guys?

Visit to Gym

Its been almost a year since I stepped into a gym for a workout. And I went to each machine with the idea that my body aint conditioned at all.

Its a safety measure I have learned thru the hard way. Let me describe to you this. Its your first visit to the gym. You sat on the bench press. You set the weight to a comfortable level. And you did like 10 repetitions. Rested after completing 1 set. You walked around. You saw a muscular guy. He used the same machine. He set a lighter weight than yours. (or heavier). And he make it look easy. You get the silly idea that muscle guys are just for show. They cant really push as hard as you. You went back. You set a weight that is twice more. You did another 10 repetition. Struggle to complete it. Happily walking away smiling. The next day. Your arms started to ache like crazy. And you wont have the strength to open your car door.

Anyhow, I met with another hard selling sales reps. He was keen to give me the best the club can offer. I declined to speak to him and went about my workout. After it all ended, my assessment of the gym is as such.

• They have plenty of machines, though I have no idea why there is only 1 pull up machine at my level.



• They are quite packed. Plenty of female eye candy.



• The toilet is super cramp. Have no idea where is the steam room is.



• The shower is even more cramp. The water flows back into the corridor after it rained down. Weird.

After all this, I looked back at my cheaper option at Safra Energy One. Though it lacks the prestige of a good location. It has the benefits of being just walking distance from my office. It does not have the magnificent space, but at least there is little crowd to compete with. Most of all, I like the spacious showering facilities. It even has space to place my clothes and shoes, while 3 time the showering area to play with. (ok no funny ideas)

Perhaps I would consider going back to them.

Always be my Baby

Well I know there is the David Cook version. But Mariah Carey style was still my favorite

I was looking at this old MTV. She was so pretty then and all the boys my age had the biggest crush on her.

This happen to be also my favourite song from her as well.

Looking back it was recorded in 1996, a time when I was in my prime teen years. It was a good time where I would enjoy my weekly scouting, hang out with my patrol, pop by Guides campfire, tease them a little and generally have a good time.

Strangely I am still in touch with some of the girls I have known since then. Heres there to Shups! and Eejean! My 2 faithful readers. Lets head down to a campfire once more. Promise I wont tease you this time.

We have the technology, we can rebuilt her

Born without front legs, she was given a set of wheels.

It so sweet.

thou should not run when....

I had a neck ache which lead to a headache. And frankly feeling mildly feverish before I left the office.

butttt..... as i needed to train for my ippt, i decided to arrange with Aeric and we met up for a jog.

We wanted to do 7.5 laps or 3.0km (yes I am so engineer) but ended up running for only 2.0km at a good pace. Aeric push me along, I would have gone slower but he had to maintain 2.0 min per lap.

By the 4th round he was beat and after a hearty slap from me, he ran on.

I guess the only good thing was that we probably ran 2.0km in 10 mins plus. which leaves us about 2 min more to pass.

Anyhow, after dinner I started to feel cold. And soon after a mild fever developed. The temperature subsided for a while. Enough for me to type this crap when I am suppose to be in bed.