the first white hair

I guess I am considered "lucky". Among my peers whom have strands of whites spread around, I never had a single strand.

That was until yesterday.

My girl, spotted a white image and promptly told me about it. My first reaction? Pluck it out, so that I could see. And true enough, its white without a single black coloration.

I turned 30 this year and at the prime of my life perhaps. I am happy the way things are for now, but perhaps from next year I would be keen on the next step forward.

This little white hair of mine has now pointed out to me that its time for a change.

Christmas reflections

Its after all my 30th Christmas.
30 years have went by and things are different at each year.

Growing up, I looked forward to the tons of Christmas gifts that my parents and relatives have gotten me. Its a time of expectation and joy for me. A time where worries are no more than getting thru the examinations and the hopefully passing my Chinese.

Years later, I became less incline to receive but to give. Went about shopping and hunting to look for the gifts that would made someone happy. I guess the smiles that I get back, is worth more than the cash that was spent.

Looking back, this festive season always is a important period for me. I used to love to join my brothers Scouts and sister Guides in songs of carol and spreading the love to the less fortunate. A time I cherish dearly and looking back never fails to be a little sadness to my heart.

The wonderful period spent in my teens has led me to find great and closed friends with Eejean, Shups!, Inky and so on. You guys are the bestest and I hope to remain close with you guys for eons to come.

As I close of this post, I would dearly hope to once more come together to bring the joy and cheers to the everyone all around.

Smile. and you be sure someone would smile back at you

The 2 lobsters

After several weeks, I began to see that my 2 lobsters dun see eye to eye. They tend to stick out their craws when they are near each other. And its not becos they are looking for a hug.

Apparently I read that they can get quite territorial and would be waiting to kill off their competitors.

However I am guessing that this 2 creatures are either both Females or Males. There is no way they could get along.

I guess I have to move one of them home and keep the other one here.

Google talk

A long while back, my former colleague secretly installed an older copy of messenger and thus allow us to chat with the outside world. Months later he left and strangely, the older copy of messenger was declare obsolete by MS and we were forced to upgrade (which we cant) and thus our connection was lost.

Much later, I have embarked on using web based messenger for chatting. Sad to say, ebuddy tends to disconnect often and iloveim seems to be a few mins laggy. Just then, my former colleague suggested to try google talk.

And guess what, I dun need admin rights to install and use this. GRIN

Topgear driving through a tunnel

And doing a loop in it

The nagging cough

Being sick sux. It sux sooo bad that it keeps me from doing the routine stuff.

And recovering from it, aint exactly better. I am in my cough phase and judging from past experience, you would likely to hear me cough for an entire month (if not more).

Is there a better way to solve this?

Oh and Scrubs is back for Season 9. It looks familiar but feel different somehow.

The 2nd 10 km run

Last year I ran with 2 good runners and they kept me going till I lost them at the 5km mark. Later on, my ankle gave way and I stopped at the 7km mark and walked pretty much on and off from there till the finish line.

This year I ran with this guy. He was a veteran runner whom came in 3rd back when he was in secondary school. My bro was too suppose to run with us today, but I called a frantic call from him this morning. He said that his wife not feeling well, then added her breathing was heavy. It took some time before he actually said that he think his wife is going into labour.

PS. He is a dad of a cute baby girl now :)

Oh and months ago, we actually had this joke that he may have to sprint to the finish line if he knows his baby is coming during the run.

Anyhow, I met M in the dawn of the morning. He complained to me about the lack of sleep, a slight headache and a damaged bonnet which surprisingly din crash his hand. I myself had 4 hrs of sleep, mild flu like symptoms and pretty much lost my voice. We were 2 misfit runners.

We set about to complete the run in the best we can. And as soon as we are line up to start, the kenyans were finishing their 42km stroll in little more than 2 hrs.

I had targeted to run throughout this round without stopping. Also hope to better my mark of 1:13:20 (official) which I did last year. The ran was enjoyable and fun for most part. We ran together right up to the 5km mark (top of ECP bridge). Its there that M spoke to me like a wounded soldier. Go on, he said, dont let me slow you down.

Anyhow I went on my own. My ankles were starting to ache and my throat was killing me. The devil on my left said, its time to take a break. Walk like the rest of them. The angel said, WTF! you ^($^%@#*# better not stop.

So I carried on till the the 9km mark where for no reason at all I stopped. I was just passing Esplanade at that point and within a few short steps, I pushed myself on. Ran to the finish line and cross the counter at 1:13.

M ran pass not too long after at 1:20. He had been thinking of nasi lemak throughout the run and as soon as we were rested, we went for a good meal.

BTW, I am suffering from some dehydration. Gotten a mild fever since I came back. Dun think I would ever try running again when I am not of good health.

The Italian Police

This is what the Italian Police has in its arsenal to combat against the illegal racing speedster and the getaway bank robbers.

Its the Lamborghini Gallardo. Much much more powerful than the Subaru WRX which our local police has.

Unfortunately, one of only two of this beautiful machines had been totaled by a careless driver. You could almost felt the tears in your eyes when you see the picture below.

more info

new plants

The office tank (see earlier post) now has 2 lovely baby lobsters.

Now onto the home tank. I had remove the bottom netting that holds a bundle of moss. It was meant to be a moss flooring but the moss din ended up growing too well. Upon removing it, I shift it to the back of the tank.

this reveals plenty of shit. lots and lots of shit that have been lying underneath the netting. This is where the filter fails to gather the necessary dirt. Having said that, I set the filter on high and immediately the tank was cloudy shit. Everything looks like a dirty washing machine.

I bought 5 plants which were neatly pack in the bag. Having open them, I realise 3 will be all I need to cover the background. I have no idea they could expand so much.

Anyhow, I would pose some pics after the shit settle down. May take a whole day. In any case, I do hope my inhabitants wont mind living in a peculiar condition.

Update: Apparently the renovation is quite stressful to the little creatures. About 5 were spotted dead this morning and 20 more are missing. Sighs

baby lobsters

This is my second attempt at raising lobsters. Previously my $4 crayfish live for a week before laying dead in the tank. I could not find out any reason why.

Now I have spent $14 on 2 smaller lobsters. They seemed to be enjoying the new tank life. One is even feasting on a dead cherry shrimp as I speak.

They are no larger than 50 cents. And I mean the coin, not the rapper.

Long Weekend

I took leave for last Thursday. And with the Public Holiday on Friday, I practically had 4 days of weekend.

And boy was it bad for health. After all, with the thought of 4 days of rest, I spent Wed night out late, and slept at 2-3am throughout.

Only for last night to get used to this "jetlag" mode and slept for only 4 hrs.

Already today I had 2 shots of coffee to keep me going. However the effect is wearing off.

I should have come back to work on Sunday :S

ps. I realise I am talking rubbish throughout

the tea break

It was a pretty quiet day for me today. Seems like the people I am working for are away on leave. Time has been passing by slowly and was contemplating a nice teabreak in the mid afternoon to perk the mood up.

Coincidently, a colleague needed to get some table lights. I pop the suggestion, abt Ikea and in 10 mins we were finding a carpark lot there.

The coffee was good, the chicken wing was tasty and the meatballs were always fabulous. Which also brings to mind, the meatballs are made of pork and beef. Particularly taking away the halal and firm buddhist customers.

Anyhow, every teabreak should be this relaxing.

Behind the scene of Sesame street

Sure seems fun to be a muppeteer

work

If you notice my blog had been quiet for the past couple of weeks. You are not alone.

Aside from posts which I found interesting to copy and paste, the only other post I wrote was about my Maths problem. Well the truth is my Maths problem still exist and I would have to swap the adults and babies soon.

Anyway, I had quietly pass my 4 years of work mark. Interestingly, there were no joy, no sadness. It was simply another day.

What I could not believe is that I had been in the same organisation for 4 years. I recall wanting to leave twice but relented due to various reasons. And well, I planning to leave by early 2010. If only I could find the right place.

Speaking of which, there was a climate survey carried out for all employees. Strangely the level of happiness is as follows

1 year and less - Very satisfy
1 - 3 years - Not satisfy
4 - 5 years - Satisfy
5 years and more - Very satisfy

My director explained this to us that its a general J curve seen everywhere.

When you join a company, the initial excitment carries you on. After the first year, you realise what a mistake you had made. After the 4 years mark, you kinda become accustomed to things and managed to find the joy of work once more. It could also mean you have been promoted to a certain level where you can make the newbies life a living hell :)

Well, I never believe in torturing the newbies. Always enjoy working in a team to get things done. Its the teamwork that helps make the workload feel lighter.

To sum it off, I guess if I failed to leave by early next year, I may never leave. *insert Hotel California*

Maths problem

My fish tank at home is having a healthy population of 30 prawns and a handful of baby prawns

The fish tank in my office is roughly 5 times smaller and its meant for just baby prawns. It has however having a population of 20 teenager prawns reaching adulthood. In fact some teens are pregnant. ---- yes i know.

So I would have to bring the little ones from home to work and bring the bigger ones from work to home. The problems are as follows

1. Its difficult to scoop out the tiny ones from the big tank
2. Its even more difficult to scoop out the big ones from the small tank
3. There has to be a safe way to transport them

I have 5 tetras and I wondered where I should put them.

How to eat a chicken wing

I find this information very useful

Notes for my mom and dad

Elena Desserich was diagnosed with brain cancer at 5 years old. She began to hide hundreds of little notes around the house — in sock drawers, backpacks and tucked between the books on the shelves — for her parents, Brooke and Keith, to find after she was gone. In “Notes Left Behind,” her parents share the journal entries they kept....

Read on

Nessie

This Nessie. She has been with me for abt 1.5 years now. A faithful and dependable worker whom provided me with the valuable cup of coffee.

Due to my work schedule, I could only indulge in the espresso during the weekend. Its not as much as I would have like. So just last week, I brought her to office. Sitting at my desk, she caught the attention of many of my co-workers.

In no time, she was giving out FREE coffees every few hours. After they have their caffeine fix, they came back for more. And soon enough, they gotten paiseh and wanted to pay me for this.

This got me thinking, hey this may make a good small income for me. I would sell the capsules at 90 cents (got them for 60 cents from France) and make a tiny sum to keep up my caffeine addiction.


This is until one of my co-worker decided that she wanted one too and would be importing the machine from US next month. She decided to get the newer machine too.

Camera tricks

I just came back from an island much compare to the one I am staying. Yes its Hong Kong and did you know its not spell Hongkong in one word. I actually din.

Anyway, in pursue of a decent camera, I had tot of getting the awfully good looking GF-1. This is until my dear CB whom advise me to stick with a lesser camera without the fancy lens changing. Looking around I targeted the Panasonic T27 (aka ZS3 in some region)

It was offered at the airport at a reasonable price including casing and a 8Gb card. And that became my baseline. Walking along Nathan road, I noticed that there were plenty of camera shops. Interestingly all offered Tax free and there are barely any locals patronising. Just a couple of tourist whom are mostly white.

I went abt asking their offer price. Most quote 2500 HKD. Thats about 500 and it was a good price to me. I finally settle on one that look "trustworthy". They quoted be a reduction of 100HKD after some bargaining. They did offered some accessories to up the price but I din budge. Strangely midway through they replaced the person assisting me with one that seems to have been awake for 5 days.

His eyes were red and he look tired. Not to mention impatient. I asked to test the model and he was rude and insist that I hasten up. After some time he informed me that he did not had the stock for the model I wanted and offered a lower range for a cheaper price. I din budge and left.

Crossing the road, there was still time before my shuttle was to arrive. I walked into another shop. I merely asked for the price and he said 1800 HKD. Now thats 360. A big drop. A part of me and glad that the earlier deal fall through becos of the lack of stock.

However this shop was cunning in their own way. The setting of the test model was dim and aimed to let you feel that you are using a entry level camera. They then started encouraging me to try the Canon SX 120. And it seems to be a better all rounder.

The interesting thing is that he too need to get the stock. Amazingly such a well size shop cant house a small camera box. They did however house many lens and filters for the DSLR ranges.

Anyhow while waiting for the stock to arrive, he kept persisting me to get the SX 120. Even offering improve pricing. I am skeptical. I din play along and just waited. And this in total was a 1.5 hrs of wait.

In that period, there were some ang mohs whom came in asking for a particular lens but were enticed to get more expensive ones. I began to realise there is no stock and the deal was the SX120 or nothing else.

Indeed, I read from some articles there this con shops operates by showing you a degraded model of the item you want, only to offer you a gem. It seems they are out for the big bucks.

Having miss the shuttle, I was pissed off and left. A few days later I happened to be back there and went in to ask if they had the stock. Another staff approached me asking for the price the previous guy quoted. When I said 1800 HKD he kept it cool and said that the ZS3 is only available in Japanese. While the one I should get is the multi language T27. And that is 2700HKD.

I just walked off.

Up and Away

I would be away for the next couple of days.

Would be my first trip there and also my very first time on the European made A380.

If you know the history of this Airbus, its a little concerning how delay could a project this big be.

Anyhow dont miss me

Cameras

I am not into photography. The pictures I took doesnt have to compose of ideal lighting or depth in color or exposure or .....

They just have to tell a story and hopefully bring a smile to the person looking at it.

Lately, I caught a giant poster of the Olympus Pen. It looks like a compact DSLR and even has interchangeable lens. This gotten me pretty excited. I like the design of it and am considering to get this for myself.






This is until I chanced upon the Panasonic GF-1. Which has all the features and comes in dashing red.

Now I have no idea which to choose.

The Name game

My real name is...... never reveal online.

Strangely, I owns a couple of nicks that were used to keep my real life private.

DecoderX - A old nick I used when I was still designing Windowblind skins and webpages. No longer in use

!drn - well this came about from eenki whom suggest it. I added the ! because of Russel Peters.

BLM - this is my pen name. For my blogs and things I post online.

Aegis - My gaming nick. Use to struck fear in my opponent. And yes its not scary at all.

drn_blm - My tweet name. simply because all above are taken

The rat trap conclusion

On friday last week, I placed another dose of milo with baking soda into a Styrofoam cup. Just this morning, I saw that the cup has been topple with probably 20% of it eaten.

The rats are smart creatures. They are likely to taste the food and decide if they are poison before finishing it. Seeing that it still contains a hell lot, its likely they knew something was not right.

I pop by to one of the manager seat. His desk area is their supper place. Full of opened packages and messy items all around. I did told him abt this mess but it seems he is more incline for someone else to do the cleaning than himself. What I saw when I peep over today was that the half eaten food had been cleared and that packs of eyedrops have been chewed and suck dry.

I came to the conclusion that this rat pack somehow tasted the poison I had set and when to drink the eyedrop to wash it down.

In other news, the blood donation is making me doze off constantly.

Office fishy

This is my mini shrimp tank. It now has 5 neon tetras and >30 baby cherry shrimps.


The adults have been moved to my home tank and guess what these horny creatures are pregnant again.


Also this is another mini fish tank which I am helping to maintain.


On closer look they are messy with overgrown moss. Need to prune and get another plant.


Lastly, here is Jenny's tank whom I effectively psycho to go out and get one :)


Her rummy nose fishes cant help leaping out.

Letterman extortion

Still my favorite talk show host. Kinda glad he went public about it.

Memories of a fren

About a year ago, I was alerted by a sms that my fren from Poly days has passed away. He had died from complications from a bacteria infection.

In a sad way, he was the only fren I still kept in contact from 10 years back. Having lost him now, the passage to my poly days has effective closed.

Just today, I pop down the NUH blood bank to donate my blood once more. Upon lying down on the comfy chair, my mind suddenly drifted to him. I recalled a lecturer asking if we would like to donate and among seated at that table, only him and myself got up and went for it.

He was one avid blood donor and has been trying to do more for others. I am sadden to have lost this fren. I wish him all the best in the eternal peace.

Rat Poison

The awful rats has struck my office once more. No longer would I take the approach of a sticky tape "humane" trap. This time round I am turning tasty. Its time to poison them. I have found a website which provide 3 concoctions. Cant wait to try them.

1. Boric Acid and Baking soda - Apparently this creatures cant pass gas and after ingestion, they would die from not being able to fart.

2. Plaster of Paris - Plaster hardens in their tummy. Enough said

I am so tempted to try this soon. Will lay this evil traps down on friday and wait for the weekend to pass. BWAHAHAHAH *little pinky to the mouth*

Blood energy drink

The fruit punch flavor packs 4 hours of energy along with iron, protein, and electrolytes. Not only does Blood Energy Potion have a similar nutritional makeup to real blood, but it has the same color, look, and consistency of blood. Get real blood nutrients without that real blood taste! The re-sealable transfusion bag style pouch provides the convenient delivery of fluids for vampires and humans alike! Contains no real blood, just synthetic!

All I know is, this little drink would sure be welcome by all vampires fans. Whether you are a fan of the original vampire chronicles or the newer twilight series.

Which reminds me, I am overdue for a blood donation.

F1 Day 1

My close car loving buddy and I left early from work and headed down to Marina. It was to be our first F1 experience and we intend to make this most out of it.

We arrived via train to cityhall. Already at 5pm, the walkways were packed. Seemed like there is a fan in everyone whom wanted to taste a part of the action. For the ticket holders, we do get pretty close to see, feel and capture the whole rounds of practice. For those who just wanted to sneak a peek, I believe they did managed to get a slight glimpse and heard the loud roar.

Well, the guy who is making profit out of this sure knows how to cover up as much holes as possible. One could barely see the race without a ticket.


The practice started at 6pm on time. Meeting the televised schedule all around the world. As I walked to find my seat, I bump into an old buddy whom exclaimed that he was here since 3pm. He parked a couple of streets away and took a long walk down. Everywhere seems packed. He came for the earlier BMW race and was excited by the loud noises then.

Anyway, my buddy brought along a decent DSLR. He was busying shooting away and managed to capture plenty of decent shots. Sadly Aiko was not in this category and when I snap, the cars would have long pass me.



Anyhow, we did witness a minor crash of a renault and took plenty of pic and video of it. Kinda glad that it happen very near us and we ran to the scene. Everyone wants to see the vehicle being lifted up and out of the track.

After 9pm we were pretty thirsty and tired. A cup of beer was $8 and coke was $5. We decided to head off and skipped the 2nd practice lap. Walking of, we considered selling the pass away. After all, there was still one more race and we could let it go for a few bucks. However the thought of keeping a piece of memory far outweighs this.

Edmund and Julie's wedding last sunday

Well this is not their wedding video, but rather a song that was being played while they video was playing. It was a lovely shot that they have created, with a number of supporting actors (include mua) and actress in it.

Thanks for the entertainment guys. I do wonder if they would be posting it to youtube some day.

yoga and drinking

According to this, research shows that drinking has the same benefits of Yoga

The letter

I received a letter from the traffic police. Its regarding the accident that had happened and tells me the outcome.

The driver was presented with a fine and had a number of points deducted. I wont be revealing the full details online as I respect his privacy. After all, he was sorry abt the whole incident and had his son follow up on me with my progress.

I wished him well and that from today on, we can put this incident behind us fully.

zoooooommmm

I cant wait for next weekend. Having gotten 3 day passes, I decided to attend only on friday and sunday. Will take a much needed break on saturday.

The home tank

Its been a really long time since I last posted pics of my home tank. As you might have known, this tank came from my office. Having had to move office, I decided that its time that I brought it back home to where it should be.

And since Apr 08 last year, its been sitting in my living room, entertaining my guest. More recently, I moved it to my room during the renovation and it has remained here since.



The tank has been revised to focus more on prawns, since the aging death of my fishes. I must say, I enjoy seeing this little critter roaming ard the tank. The best part is that they reproduce easily

back to the gym

After nearly 4 weeks of rest, I returned to the gym this week. Finding the courage was a little tough. There were concerns I had that I cant run without a limp or that my shoulder may pop out while on the bench press. I am kinda glad none of that happen.

I took upon myself to set only 70% of what I could do previously. The weights felt light and were completed in just 1 set. On the treadmill, I ensure that I ran no more than 2km. All this made me felt humble. Even with this, I felt out of shape.

My right leg appears to recover pretty well. The weights and repetition did not caught any pains. My left shoulder however probably needs more time. I felt a tightness when lifting and sharp pain after a few moments. As I had suspected, its just not fully healed yet. Still having trouble stretching my arm.

I guess I would take things slow. In time to come, I wont remember all this and knew I gotten back my form once more. Till then I could only hope that such accidents never happen again.

Censored Sesame street

Teach them young you say...

"I'll never fall in Love again"

I love Austin Powers, more so when Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) came on board. And with this little music by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach soothing the mood for all, I cant help but felt that Love is in the Air.

PS. I was out filming today. wont want to ruin the surprise yet. Will say more soon.

Big Bang Theory

I blame my CB for getting me addicted to BBT. After all I just wanted to see just 1 episode with Summer Glau. But now I am almost done with Season 2.

Not to mention, I partially blame Shups for letting me know that ANTM were in it too :P

What happens when you ....

....switch into reverse gear while moving forward

Craze star wars fan's home

I am lost for words and wish my room looks like his.

So many prawns...

....So little time.

I have estimate that my tiny office tank having 30-40 prawns. Some are the size of ants and would be an adult (size of a har bi) in 5 months.

Having started with just 20 prawns. This growth rate is scary. (I wish my bank account grows likewise)

Anyway I have to move some of them to my home tank. Its been a long while since I taken a pic of it. Will probably do so. In the meantime...

The last day

(cant add pic again)

Tomorrow marks the last day of my ICT. And I must say, this past 3 weeks have been the most interesting yet.

First, there was Gonzo, whom has not appeared since the 3rd day. I am kinda glad. Would have throw him towards to rotating blades eventually. Anyway, they are considering he AWOL and taking him out of this ICT and recommending him to see a doctor.

Gotten a sweet $200 and then I was hit by a car. Kinda glad I took my IPPT first, otherwise I am sure be unable to pass it till much later. At the moment, I suspect I have stress fracture (hairline cracks) on my right leg. Wont be running for a couple of weeks, till it heals.

I also met and felt in love with Aiko.

Also this last week, I was made by another reservist from other batches to sign up a security account. Guess he needed the quota, but I am unlikely to put any funds in it.

And lastly, a friend from within is introducing me a sales role. I am not sure I am cut out for doing sales but earning additional income is tempting. Gonna see how this pans out.

Kinda weird how 3 weeks could have changed my life so much :)

Gundam 30

Tips on egg shells

I got this Eggy tips from here and somehow knew that you rather just read it from me :P

1. Compost for Naturally Fertilized Soil
Eggshells quickly decompose in the compost pile and add valuable calcium and other minerals to the soil in the process.

2. Nontoxic Pest Control in the Garden
Scatter crushed eggshell around your plants and flowers to help deter plant-eating slugs, snails and cutworms without using eco-unfriendly pesticides. Also, deer hate the smell of eggs, so scattering eggshells around the flowerbed will help keep Bambi away from your begonias.

3. Less Bitter Coffee
Add an eggshell to the coffee in the filter, and your morning coffee will be less bitter. The spent coffee grounds, eggshell and bio-degradable filter are then conveniently ready for the compost pile.

4. Splendid Seedling Starters
Fill biodegradable eggshell halves with potting soil instead of using peat pots to start seedlings for the garden. And an egg carton on the windowsill is the perfect way to start a dozen tomato seedlings in shells before transplanting to the garden in the spring.

5. Eco-friendly Household Abrasive
Shake crushed eggshells and a little soapy water to scour hard-to-clean items like thermoses and vases. Crushed eggshells can also be used as a nontoxic abrasive on pots and pans.

6. Eggy, Crafty Projects
"Blow out" the inside of a raw egg and paint/decorate the hollow shell to make your Faberge eggs or other craft projects. Pieces of egg shell (plain or dyed) are also used in mosaic art projects.

7. Clever Jello and Chocolate Molds
Carefully fill "blown out" eggshells (above) with jello or chocolate to make unique egg-shaped treats; peel away the eggshell mold before serving, or serve as is and let your guests discover the surprise inside.

8. Natural Drain Cleaner
Keep a couple of crushed eggshells in your kitchen sink strainer at all times. They trap additional solids and they gradually break up and help to naturally clean your pipes on their way down the drain.

9. Membrane Home Remedies
The super-thin membrane inside the eggshell has long been used as a home remedy for a wide range of ailments, from healing cuts to treating ingrown toenails.

10. Treat Skin Irritations
Dissolve an eggshell in a small jar of apple cider vinegar (takes about two days) and use the mixture to treat minor skin irritations and itchy skin.

11. Egg on Your Face
Pulverize dried egg shells with a mortar and pestle, then whisk the powder in with an egg white and use for a healthful, skin-tightening facial. Allow the face mask to dry before rinsing it off.

12. The Fuel of Tomorrow?
Just when your brain was totally fried by all my ingenious reuses for eggshells, researchers at Ohio State University recently discovered that eggshells might be the key to producing affordable hydrogen fuel. I've heard of walking on eggshells, but maybe some day we'll be driving on them too.

If you like this, you may like the Coffee ground tips I had

SE C501

This is what my new girl looks like.

PS. Blogger is once more having issue with posting images.
Update: FINALLY. damn blogger fault took a long time to fix

Now to think of a nice name for her. Need to match her with her sisters and the one that gotten away.

Any suggestions?

UPDATES: I decide to name her Aiko. After a little Japanese girl.

The knock

21 Aug 2009 was a day to remember for me.

Interestingly, I had collected my new IC the very morning. I din expect to use it so soon after.

At about 11.20pm, I was crossing the road to hope on the bus home. It was at a cross junction and what I din expect was to see a red car turning right and dashing ahead without stopping. The next thing I knew was that I felt pain and ended up lying on the floor.

My post analysis of what happen was that the car hit me on my right with the bumper touching my right knee. Immediately I was thrown to the car with my right temple hitting the windscreen. This is then follow by me rolling off to the side of the car and onto the road. At this stage, I probably landed on my left side which severely injured my left shoulder and another knock on the back of my left side of my head.

Several passerby stopped and assisted me. This includes the driver who has ran into me. I was in a dazed stage and could not respond much. My first proper response interestingly was to look for Aileen to call my loved ones. Aileen was not found. I asked frantically and a kind soul found her lying not far away. She had scratches and her face was in a mess.

The ambulance came soon after. (apparently they were on their way to somewhere else but just cant leave me there) And I was transported to Changi Hospital. The doctor examined me and found that aside from being badly bruised and cut up, I was otherwise fine. There were no serious head injuries or neck pains. My back having been shielded with a backpack had averted any injuries. My knee was fine despite the knock. Only my shoulder which I complained of a sharp pain, was send for an X-ray. And that turn out fine too.

The driver was rather sorry about his act. He was no doubt on his way home and though he normally would have check for pedestrian, he missed me somehow.

Its been 2 days after that fateful night. My bruises are still painful though the abrasion have mostly dried up. The pain on my left shoulder has restricted my arm from exerting any strength and can barely lift to a height above my head. But I believe this pain would ease in the coming days.

The Traffic police called and I am to make a sentence with them soon. I would be fair in my statement, after all I had accepted his apologies and would just want to close the chapter of this issue.

For now, I would try to rest as much as I could and take things easy.

Thanks for all your concern. I know some of you guys are worried for me when I din said about this the moment it happen. Well I needed some time to rest and recover. Din want to let the whole world know about it as yet. Kinda felt blessed to having so many friends out there.

To my CB whom pass his driving

I know you would pass. Now waiting for you to give me a lift

The prawn tank

A short while ago, my lonely cory has breathed its last. She has been sickly for weeks now. Swimming upside down and refusing to eat. It has been tough for her, especially when a cousin of hers died last year. Things has not been the same.

The only 2 surviving fishes are the offspring of my original 8 danios. I had just taken them out of the big tank into a smaller space. I had the intention of converting my old tank to a prawn tank for a long while now.

It sure took its time. Over the last 4-5 months, I had been changing the plants and the layout. Cultivating a moss floor and optimising the water conditions. I was afraid to introduce the prawns after the dead crayfish incident scarring me.

Well since last week, I release a handful of cherrys into my tanks and they were doing fine. Sadden by the cory departure, I have took more out of my tiny office prawn tank (farm) and release them here.

One of which is pregnant with eggs and I am hopeful that this would be a good start.

Another IPPT

(For some reason blogger cant post any pics)

Anyway, I did my IPPT today and gotten Silver once more. In the past, I would have dread this day to come but strangely its pretty easy this year.

The months of works in the gym has turn out well. Not only am I quicker in the run (shave 14 secs of my 2.4km) I also fare better in other stations. On top of which, I am pretty much more confident in myself.

In the past, I would complain that I had only 5 hrs of sleep (damn early morning IPPT) or that I barely had any breakfast or that my thigh feels stiff, etc. Well this was all true this morning, but it din matter to me today.

Hopefully I could keep this up for a long while more.

Is it an act?

Its my 2nd day of my ICT and already I am having issues with an idiot who came back as well.

Hmmm to make it simple, I shall call him Gonzo.

back in 2005 I met gonzo when I pop back for a 3 mths period. I had finished my studies and had to complete the 3 remaining months to clear off my NS liability. Gonzo was a newbie then who recently completed his BMT and posted to the SQN. He was the classic blur recruit which we all know. Instructions clearly given but he never fails to screw it up. And also without warning, he could do the darnest thing and gotten everyone to sit up.

Apparently I heard that after my ORD, he nearly walked straight into the tail rotor when the aircraft was starting up. The signs of danger were not apparent to him and his blurness persisted.

So well last year I came back to serve my 3rd cycle and he was listed with me. Having ORD a year earlier, I found that he has a proper job and spoke better. I din spoke much to him back then and not this time either. I had a tendency to get my ass out in the open and do some work while he has found solace in the comfy crew room.

Somehow I am stuck with him this year AGAIN. From the bigger group of 5 of us, only 3 made it this round. On the first day, I arrived at abt 8 and met the other familiar face. We were wondering who is coming back as well and when we gotten the namelist we were not really surprise to see him in it. After trying to contact him, we found that he has off his mobile. Seeing this as he is likely to get charge if he doesnt come up with a good excuse, we laugh it off.

Hours pass and he finally appeared. We asked him what has happened and he merely mumble to himself. I find that excuse he gave that he doesnt know what time is it to be appalling. Surely you wont wake up and leave your place without knowing the time you need to get there by.

Afterward an Encik ask him what he is working as now. With 5 mins pass and more mumbling, he gave up asking. A friend told me later that he is likely to be out of job and interestingly, I could not understand why its so hard to tell strangers that your working status. Its not the figure on your paycheck nor your sexual orientation. For crying out loud, you could just lie to the doremon encik. Mumbling makes no sense at all.

And today Gonzo is late once more. I asked him about it. Not with the status of authority but more becos I am concern. (Also partly becos doremon ask me to keep an eye on him). And strangely he mumble. I asked him what time he arrived and more noise is heard. There is no answer.

I gave up and walk off.

Throughout the day, gonzo went abt playing the blur recruit. When ask to retrieve a tool, he would walk 10 steps away and walk back and said its not found. When there is a refueling going on, he would turn off the pump for no reason. But yet when ask him if he wants to take ippt, he could be a smart arse and answered the right thing. And even go as far as asking the right people about the arrangement.

He definitely knows an opportunity when he see ones.

Which brings to mind, having been labeled a blur cock then, why would one wants to reprise his role so eagerly. After all its only 3 weeks of training, aint that difficult to cross. Why is there a need to put up an act just to skip work.

All I know now is that I would put up with his shit a little while more. After that threshold is reach, I would give him feel small.

District 9

Its a film directed produced by Peter Jackson. You know that guy whom love to have giant monsters in his movie. So well, I expect this to be rather like what Transformer the movies ought to be.

ICTing

If you are wondering why there is lack of post recently, well its mainly becos that I am off for a 3 weeks break and my boss sensing it, was envious and all so jealous that I ended up working late the past week.

Ok.... so a portion of that was also becos I had overdue tasks.

Guess the procrastination part of me is doing me no good :P

The Stig aint coming after all

Kinda felt down the past few days. When I learn that the Stig is helping out Ferrari, I was excited that he would be coming to Singapore F1.

Even Jeremy Clarkson was teasing that the final episode of TopGear has ended last Sunday and the Stig is free for a couple of months and just so happen Shumi is coming out of retirement...

Now all I can say is that I hope he makes a guest appearance. It still nice to have the greatest driver to race down the track.

Starwars book ends

This would make lovely gift for a starwars fan. The only problem is finding one that has books.

Thanks once more

Strangely of all the gifts i gotten so far, the biggest surprise was from my CB and CB-in-law. They gotten me this which I had kinda forgotten I wanted it.

It was a delightful surprise.

And to SherYL, thanks for the good guy gundam tee. Now I am amazed on what Uniqlo has.

PS. I spent 1 hr trying to transform it. This aint for kids.