Post Easter Post

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend. Even though I'm not religious, since it's Easter, I'd like to take the time to share some takes on the Last Supper.

1. If Jesus were a mouse, I'm thinking the Last Supper might be something like this. Be wery wery quiet, they're eating...

2. A more commercial take on the Last Supper. Although, if food were the main theme, it might be quite apropos.

3. Abstract, with contrasting colours, some might say the Apple is akin to Jesus.

4. Perhaps some people worship this form of Apple Jesus instead.

5. Personally, I worship at this One's altar more than any son of God.


6. Who can resist Lego figures? Lego Jesus FTW!


Well, I'm also back on-site. Using the hotel internet. Which sucks eggs.

Good "QQ" Game. Oh well, I never expected to TF2 anyways. I'm just glad I brought my DS along.

Couple of miscellaneous Chinese vocab.

1. 频频肇事 (pin2 pin2 zhao4 shi4) - to repeatedly create issues.
2. 涉嫌 (she4 xian2) - to be a suspect

Do-Over

This post was originally about someone who was impersonating me as seen above. But like a good friend said, I should grow thicker skin. So that's that.

TF2 Overload

I'm amused at all the creative things people have done with TF2. It's a game but I've seen so many youtube music that utilizes TF2 sounds. It's incredible.

Here are some of the best I've seen. And a special shoutout to AhSeng. Most of them are Scout-based. Bonk!

1. Mortal KomBonk


2. NFL Bonk!


3. Super Bonk Land (Soon to be my ringtone)


4. One of my favourite characters, the Heavy Weapons Guy.


5. More Scout.


And lastly, it's been raining all day here. So naturally my thoughts are about how to keep warm, and what better way to keep warm than the pyro? So here's a tribute to that crazy bastard we all love and can barely understand.

Something I don't do very often

Which is discuss about finance. WARNING:LONG POST THAT I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND MYSELF. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. Here is a Financial Times article written by former Fed(eral Reserve) Chairman Alan Greenspan.

With the emerging financial doom and gloom lead by the sub-prime mortgage crisis and compounded with a steadying dropping consumer confidence and rising oil prices, I thought it would be a good thing to listen to what this guy had to say. He obviously knows a lot more about finance than me. So I'm gonna be leaving pointers on what I think is interesting/important.

1. Apparently this might be the worse crunch for the US since World War II. I guess we should be "privileged" to live in such interesting times.

2. The biggest component of this mess is the housing market. And until the liquidation of the excess inventory has happened in earnest, there won't be stabilization. Which means, that it's a good time to go investing if you can spare a few hundred thousand USD (My thoughts). However, single family housing supply has sharply fallen in the past year. Mr Greenspan predicts that in 2008, around 400,000 homes will be sold. And next year's supply is limited as well so that will prevent even more empty houses flooding the market.

3. One of the biggest changes that should occur from the fallout of this crisis is how risk is assessed by the financial sector. I don't fully realise the impact of his words so I'm just gonna quote verbatim here.

To be sure, the systems of setting bank capital requirements, both economic and regulatory, which have developed over the past two decades will be overhauled substantially in light of recent experience. Indeed, private investors are already demanding larger capital buffers and collateral, and the mavens convened under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements will surely amend the newly minted Basel II international regulatory accord

The manner of risk-taking companies took were not able to withstand the stress when the whole market took a downturn.

One difficult problem is that much of the dubious financial-market behaviour that chronically emerges during the expansion phase is the result not of ignorance of badly underpriced risk, but of the concern that unless firms participate in a current euphoria, they will irretrievably lose market share. Risk management seeks to maximise risk-adjusted rates of return on equity; often, in the process, underused capital is considered “waste”. Gone are the days when banks prided themselves on triple-A ratings and sometimes hinted at hidden balance-sheet reserves (often true) that conveyed an aura of invulnerability. Today, or at least prior to August 9 2007, the assets and capital that define triple-A status, or seemed to, entailed too high a competitive cost.

4. Current models have an X-factor thrown in to model the market. This means that they cannot adequately describe what is happening. Ideally, we should be able to simulate what happens when the market is given to hysteria. As long as we can predict the systematic lows of the market, we should be able to prepare for it. But that is beyond my expertise as to how such things should occur (My thoughts).

I hope that was informative! And yes, I know it was too long. Bleah.

Animal Abuse

Be warned, the following video contains scenes of graphic animal abuse. I do not advise listening to the video carefully. You might choke on your food.



Bad cow pun indeed.

Spring Forward!

So I know I promised to upload pics and I went to Flickr to upload them, but then I realised that they only allow people (myself included) to see the most recent 200 pics. Since I'm not willing to pay $25 a year to change that access and also because I'm not impressed with Flickr's interface, I'm considering switching photo services. Does anyone know if Picasa is any good? I spent a considerable amount of time today downloading all my stuff from Flickr to my HDD and gave up after the 120+th photo. So just a reminder that yes, I still remember.

In other news, it's time to Spring Forward guys. Daylight savings has arrived! I like it. It means when I reach home, there is still light (although maybe no warmth still) when I go jogging. Means I can go by the lake again. And it's always nice to think that Spring is here, after spending a dreary 4 months in the cold, sleet and snow. That means another 4 weeks to a more *ahem* colourful street scene. I'm looking forward to that as well. It also means it's a 13 hour difference with home now. So that means a better convergence of timing to chat and catch up with people back home. That's always nice.

And who says gamers aren't cool? This is Soulja Boy done Team Fortress Two style. Enjoy.



And to the people who understand - Isn't that rocket jump, turn and frag of the scout so damn cool?!?

Breaking News!

Just because I care. This is an extract of an article from the AP.

Men who do housework may get more sex...

Joshua Coleman, a San Francisco-area psychologist and author of "The Lazy Husband: How to Get Men to Do More Parenting and Housework," said equitable sharing of housework can lead to a happier marriage and more frequent sex.

"If a guy does housework, it looks to the woman like he really cares about her — he's not treating her like a servant," said Coleman, who is affiliated with the Council on Contemporary Families. "And if a woman feels stressed out because the house is a mess and the guy's sitting on the couch while she's vacuuming, that's not going to put her in the mood."

So there you have. Guys this is for you, and knowing is half the battle.

Random Thoughts

So, here are some random thoughts that I've been accumulating and been just to lazy to write down.

1. It's not so bad jogging when it's around freezing, as long as the roads aren't icy and the wind isn't blowing. And you don't jog too far, till your nose gets so dry you have to jog with a gloved hand over your mouth and nose. And I'm just glad the weather has gotten warm enough to actually allow jogging outdoors. And I'm grateful that I don't have to go into the field for another month or so. That's some regular exercise time right there. Time to lose that weight I gained during vacation. Haha.

2. My neighbours are far better cooks than I am. I was boiling a soup today with some dried scallops, dates and ikan billis. And whilst waiting for the stuff to boil, I went to clear the trash and the moment I exited into the walkway, the aroma of my neighbours' grilled fish was just too fantastic to ignore. Single asian working male in foreign country = low culinary skill-time.

3. After the previous post about how I think I left a lot of things behind, I had a chat with my supervisor. And was very impressed with his plans for the division and for progress in the company. But the surprising thing was, that even with these visions of grandeur (our own little R&D model, computer simulations, integrated equipment surveys), he still said that it's best not to get pigeonholed and even encouraged me to look for other opportunities when I thought it would be appropriate. He also said that I had some transferable skills already, with all the field work that I have had. That's something I will think about. Realistically, I think there's probably another 1-2 more years before I will start to actively reassess my life. But it's always nice to know you have nice superiors.

4. NEVER EVER BUY ANY COMPUTER MADE IN CHINA. My Lenovo (Curses on the lousy brand!) has seen the Lenovo return DHL box 4 times since Sept 06. I will get a new PC when my warranty expires. I cannot stand this piece of shite that is Lenovo. Ugh, I cannot even begin to describe the revulsion I feel for them. I will have to stop here or I shall pop a vein. Ugh.

That's about all I have right now. I'm going to bed.

Cardinal Sin

It's lunch and I'm blogging. It kinda feels weird. Since I try to not mix work and personal life. But sitting here, I just had a bout of something. Dissatisfaction with the status quo is the best way to put it I guess.

有一种对人生不满的感觉。可能是因为我这次回家时，认了为了来这里，我放弃了很多。我羡慕，我怀念。 But I'm afraid of up-rooting and re-settling again, and to lose all I've done here and start from scratch. To do something I don't really like, with no real alternative. I don't want to work in the most common industries at home, so I need to come up with a better plan.

Perhaps it's just nostalgia talking and I'll get over it in a couple of weeks. But man, I really need some motivation now. I'll just focus on the improving weather and getting back in shape. That should do it for now.

Thanks to All

Who made it a unforgettable trip home. Pics and a recap will come up later. It's 130am and I'm still slightly jetlagged. Which means I should sleep. Scleeeph.

豆腐！豆腐！

This post is about 功夫灌篮 (Kung Fu Dunk). And yes, I know it says 大灌篮 in the pic but it's called 功夫灌篮 in Singapore. So that's that.

It's a light hearted comedic action movie that draws on an anime background and is really a lot of fun. There are ridiculous dunks, random plotlines (or plotholes, depending on your perspective) and not enough pretty girls (but enough pretty boys I think).

Still despite all of it's flaws, me and my friends couldn't really condemn it as a bad movie. I felt that the movie was worth the admission ticket. The acting is ok, the action scenes are cool and Jay Chow can really ball. And the soundtrack is really catchy and was a real plus for me.

我不卖豆腐(豆腐) 豆腐(豆腐)
我在武功学校里学的那叫功夫 功夫(功夫) 功夫(功夫)
赶紧穿上旗袍 免得你说我吃你豆腐

I never believed that 豆腐 could actually be a catchy phrase for a song, but I now know better. With lyrics like this, how can the song not let people laugh?

And since it's Valentines day and also since Valve is releasing a new TF2 map, I have an urge to share the love.



Pyros Rock! Happy Valentines day everyone!

Note to self: Get Capo and practice this.

Baby Care 101

Since there is an increasing number of people I know who are getting/are already married, I thought it would be appropriate to share what are some of the do's and dont's of baby care. All these helpful tips are pretty self-explanatory I believe.

Observe.




Simple enough to follow yeah? For more baby care tips, the whole list can be found here.

Here's to proper child rearing techniques.

Canada, Revisited...

That's the weather I'm facing again. I have nothing to add to that. The numbers do all the talking for me...

Luckily, this time, my trip is considerably shorter and should be less stressful. Everything is up and running and mostly going smoothly. We have to do some modifications but it shouldn't be anything major.

And after I come home (US), I'll be definitely counting down to home (HOME). Unfortunately, that means I'll have a TON of stuff to finish up before I leave for vacation. I foresee 10 hour days in the office again... BUT it will be worth it. WORTH EVERY SINGLE MINUTE.

I'm starting to fill my calender of events for the stay home already. Let's get the stuff rolling peeps!

最后一件事就是想讲日本人。我知道他们能读汉字但是bopian啦。汉字比英文适当吧。我的日本朋友大部分回到日本就如雾一样消失到无影无踪。。。真是气死人。。。想联络也联络不到。靠。不管啦。Dun care liao. Let's rock regardless.

Action!

Hmm, I don't know if I should be ashamed cos I detract so easily or encouraged that I actually tried to live up to the Action! motto I set for myself this year.

I was gonna go home to veg out but I thought I need to bank a cheque my company had given me AND get a hair cut while I was out anyway. So my decision to run errands or just slack at home was based on guilt and the Action! theme. Not surprisingly, guilt won.

Oh well, baby steps. Baby steps.

The year is still young, plenty of chances to break my resolutions later. Haha.

And in a completely unrelated observation, contradiction is the same in both Chinese and Japanese. 日本語の矛盾（むじゅん）and 中文的矛盾(mao dun). Uncanny eh?

Resolutions

So I'm waiting for my car to do its 25,000 mile service and what better time to do my New Years Resolution(s) than now?

I think my keyword this year will be ACTION. That is, take concrete steps towards goals and not put things off. I wonder how long before I start procrastinating this year though, in spite of this decision. Haha.

Anyways, here is the list of things I want to do. And a little bit of how I'm going to do it.

1. Learn about investing. By reading Investing for Dummies (1-2 hours per week, till end of Feb) and then researching online. Via some online brokerage that I've yet to research.

2. Learn about VBA. By reading VBA for Dummies and writing my own code (1-2 hours per week, till forever).

3. Learn how to do barre chords properly and get the Em to Bm transition smoothed out. Then I can play 恋爱 ING better. Learn Fukai Mori by Do As Infinity (have to practice).

4. Improve Japanese by watching 1-2 hours of drama per week. Currently watching Security Police, which is pretty good and reminds me of the Ambler Warning.

5. Sign up for a gym when I come back from vacation in Feb.

Now I just realised that the stupid morons at Lenovo have, by reimaging my hard drive, wiped out my wireless card software. Which I will have to re-download and reinstall. Gods... I will not taint this feel good post with vulgarities but gods!!

Simple Wishes

Happy New Year dear readers, may 2008 be better than 2007 for all of you!

I'll post further introspections later but I have to finish housekeeping first...

FUCK LENOVO

I was going to post something about my 12 hour connection from Winnipeg to Chicago (only a 2 hour flight normally) but I'm furious at the piece of shit that is Lenovo Tech Support.

I sent in my laptop because I had a faulty NIC card, and when I got it back, my whole Hard Drive was wiped out. FUCK THOSE LITTLE BASTARDS. I will call the tech depot tomorrow to screw that moronic techician. Oh my god, I cannot adequately verbalise how angry I am right now.

So here's a PSA for you guys, save yourself the grief, don't buy Lenovo.

Observations from Continental North America...

1. It is f*cking cold in winter. It's only mid December but there's already like 10 inches of snow on the ground...

2. Night Shift + 20mph winds + Flu + Equipment faults = Worst Buy. It's not fun trying to dig through baked cornflakey animal feed when you're trying to start a 5 million dollar system under pressure and the effects of the flu. It definitely gives you a shot of adrenalin but it's not worth the anxiety.

3. Milk, one of the best ones to get 2 hot chicks (and chicks of different nationalities too).


4. Even though I have coming promises to keep about going home next year, with all my travelling and some careful juggling of vacation/off days, I am thinking about going home (home-home) for the Chinese New Year, with a stopover in Japan. I just asked my bosses for vacation and started looking for tickets. Hopefully, I'll get something done. That would be super awesome. w00t(Merriam-Webster's word of the year)!

You know it's cold when ...

The weather forecast looks like this... And bear in mind that wind chill is NOT accounted for in that number... Ugh.



I intend to run very fast from the car to the office and from building to building whilst I spend my time up here in Canada. It's so cold, that the car has to be running for about 10 minutes before my windshield starts to clear up...

In other news, while up here in Canada, I amuse myself by watching youtube videos. So here are some videos that I thought were amusing.

1. You've seen it done well, you've seen it done horribly, and now, you can see how the pros do it.

And after you do, you can try to practice like the pros.

2. What do you get when you cross John Travolta with a Wookie?


3. You may or may not have heard of the Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban) series for the Nintendo DS but someone used the sprites and animation to do this.

Five hundred dollars anyone?

4. A cooler (and totally japanese) trailer of all the Ace Attorney games (all 4 of 'em).

I HIGHLY recommend this game to anyone with a DS. Start with the first and work your way up.

Wow.

I had many things to wow and bitch about. From not having time to play Team Fortress 2(50% off on Black Friday!), to having to send in my laptop to cos I appear to have a busted network card, but this really takes the cake. The video on youtube was removed by the user, but you can see it at the link below. It's a sad story about gaming and family (not the sad way you'd typically think). Very touching.

http://animalcrossingtragedy.ytmnd.com/

I'm really blessed to have parents who are supportive and allow me the freedom to do what I think I want in life but are always there when things don't go as planned. So a big thanks to them for helping to where I am today. And I think, after watching that, dear readers, you should do the same too.

I wish our band were as cool as this...

Wow. I'd hate to have been one of those people who missed this just because they had to do trivial things like pee... or eat...

Aboot the "Eh"

So from my 48 hours in Canada so far, here are my revelations:

1. I realised that gas in America is still quite cheap. It's about 1 dollar per litre here, which is still more expensive than what I pay for in Chicago (already one of the most expensive places in the US).

2. Canadians DO use "eh" very often. It's as bad as the "lahs" of Singlish. But perhaps even more flexible. I've never heard anyone use "lah" as a response to a question, but you can use "eh" to do that.

3. I always thought that "aboot" was a parody of Canadian English done by South Park, but apparently, it's real as well. Canadians sound very much like Americans except for the 2 above mentioned traits. It's kinda amusing when you are talking to them and they let the "eh"s and the "aboot"s into their mannerisms.

Oh well, I'm sure I'll learn more as I spend more time here. Not too much ado aboot eh yet.

Darkness Falls...

So spring forward, fall back yeah. Daylight savings is over. This means that it's an hour further away from my friends on the other side of the world... That means live communication just got that much more inconvenient.

I never really got the hang of why the time changed anyways. When I woke up on Monday morning, I thought I was late for work, cos it was brighter than what I was used to... And now when I get back, it's so dark. The sky is black at 5pm already... The good thing is, you can tell when winter is ending by looking at the sky as you go home. There will be a gradual change in brightness. Still, that's at least 4 months away... Argh.

Since winter is coming, I guess I'm finally capitulating and looking for a gym. I figure I can still jog outside till the end of the month, then I'm finding a warm indoor treadmill after that... Plus you get to ogle even in the midst of winter. Haha.

Going to Canada in 2 days. I'm not really looking forward to it, considering that it's already around freezing up there... I'm gonna pack my winter stuff and be prepared for the worst. Thankfully, the installation is actually indoors, so at least there won't be any wind. That'll be something to be thankful for as Thanksgiving comes up. Can't wait for vacation!!!!!!

Warning...

Abstract Science Concept Ahead.

Discover recently had a contest to ask people to explain String Theory in TWO minutes or less. The entries are all pretty cool and should be checked out if you have interest in knowing how the universe works or just want to sound knowledgeable about this theory.

However, for the people who just want to spend two minutes of their lives knowing more, I've copied the winning entry into this post below. It's string theory about duckies. I present to you- String Ducky. Enjoy.

Total Wipeout

So Comcast has been sucking balls lately. My Pudge has spent more time fighting lag than enemy heroes, so with some regret, I have to renounce my dota-ing. For the near future at least. Guitar has kinda become my new dota, which means I play anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes almost every night. Haha, at least girls can dig guitar more readily than they appreciate my l33t dota skillz. That's a net plus in my eyes.

And now that I have 9-11pm block free, I can read the books that I've always meant to catch up on. Investment, programming and of course, Japanese. I've lost the camaraderie of my bnet friends but I hope to gain much more knowledge. My life for VB for Excel! Er, I meant Aiur (Waiting for SC2)!

欢迎光临

听说中国现在能上blogspot.com了。所以我想热烈欢迎来自大陆的朋友们。请多多指教！

学弹吉他真的好痛。手指肥，手又小的人弹吉他就等于自讨苦吃。每天只不过弹几分钟，
手指就会痛，要停一下。没办法啦，只能坚持下去，花了100+块买吉他，就一定要学。

For the people who can't read (or are too lazy to read) Chinese, China has just allowed access to blogspot.com. So I'll make more of an effort to type in Chinese, just so that if anyone in China sees this, they will see a bilingual (more or less) blog. So I guess probably once a week, I will have a Chinese entry.

Sudden Urge...

To get an Xbox 360. I know that it's probably gonna fail on me, and have the 3 red rings of death(can you imagine, the 360 has so many problems, it even has a dedicated Wiki page...). But I just saw the video of Beautiful Katamari, and now I can't stop saying "Oh Oh!". Maybe I should get the Wii instead, I heard that Beautiful Katamari might come out for that too...

A Story in Pictures

So I was down in Utah for my friend's wedding this weekend. It's a very nice place, Utah, but it's kinda slow on Sundays. But still, I flew in on Saturday for the wedding, and managed to spend Sunday morning before my flight exploring Salt Lake City. So it was an eventful weekend.

I didn't manage to attend the wedding proper as it was held the day before I reached Utah, but I was there for the ring ceremony and the reception. So my pictures only tell the story of the ring ceremony.


So the setting is fixed, a backyard at someone's nice. A gazebo. Cool. Now we just need a bride and a groom.
The groom appears first. I wonder how sweaty are his palms now?
The ring bearer shows up and, for a moment, steals the show. Isn't she adorable?
Here comes the bride, all dressed in white! With her dad in tow, she was the most beautiful lady that day.
"Thank you for this wonderful lady sir! I promise I will do my very best to take care of her!"

So now the I/C says a few words about the bride and groom and tries not to reveal all the embaressing moments at one shot. He's saving it for the reception later...



The exchanging of "rings". I don't know why it's called a ring ceremony if the couple is exchanging wedding bands. The groom goes first.
Very nice.


Now it's the bride's turn.
Hmm, seems like there's a NG moment here. The groom must have fat fingers. It seriously took about 2 minutes to get the wedding band on. Oh well, if that's the only hiccup they have, they're lucky.

Awwww.

So with the wedding bands exchanged, the couple gets a round of applause from the attendees. They look really good together don't they?
And then they leave. I forsee a bright and happy future for these lucky people. May they always find peace, joy and love with each other.

I have other pics of the event, but they're uploaded in the my picture album. Go check them out. There are 2 sets, "Nat's Wedding" and "Life in Pics".

For Whom The (Wedding) Bell Tolls

Not for me that's for sure, but a hearty congratulations to the newly weds. I will post pics laters. I just got back from the ceremony in Utah (a really nice place by the way) and I have to go to work tomorrow, so this is just a short update.

Also, check out these vids by Monty Oum. I would use the term f*cking awesome to describe them, but that won't do them justice. So just watch.

Halo vs Metroid. Stay past the credits!


Dead or Alive vs FF! Chixorz fest!


Enjoy.

The LAWGIVER

Don't mess with Toyota, any and everywhere you go. Or you might find yourself on the wrong side of the 4 wheels of FURY!

If I were to turn Emo...

Now would be a good time to do it. I got the guitar today, and like 2 hours of trying to tune the damn thing only led to me snapping one of the strings. The G *ahem* string (yes, yes laugh now) to be precise. Sianz. Sianz Si bei Sianz.

Anyone out there knows how to use a digital tuner? Mine is the Qwik Tune and I can't seem to get it right. Or maybe I'm just not good enough now... Sigh.

1Z1A715V0339135471

That's my shipping number for the guitar. It's been registered with UPS since it left Lenexa, Kansas MONDAY MORNING 1:10 am. Using Mapquest, I've determined that it takes about 8 hours from Lenexa to my office. Even giving the driver a whole day to putz around, it should have been around Illnois today... I fear my truck has been jacked or involved in an accident. WTF... SIANZZZZZZ.....

In other happier news, I played a 9 hole course today. We were playing in a company tournament with 9 teams of 4. And we used best ball, i.e. the best ball out of your team is used for play after all 4 members have shot. With those rules, my team which had a combined 5 years or so of experience (which was all concentrated on one guy with a sprained wrist) came in at about 15 over par. Some of my low lights include losing 5 balls, 3 to water hazards and 2 to wherethehellisthedamnthing-itis, and slicing my ball so hard off the course that it hit the cart track and bounced like 5m into the air. However, I was feeling good as I did manage to make a 1-shot putt on the green. That's pro-ness right there, but Tiger Woods should be safe for the next year or 10.

Man, I wish I knew where my guitar is...

Anticpation.

So I caved in and got myself a Yamaha Blem GigMaker Acoustic Guitar Pack Natural, whatever that means. Hopefully now I can just strum along to favourite hits like King of the Road, Good Riddance (Time of your life), 晴天 and noob hit 对面的女孩看过来. It should be coming tomorrow or early next week. It's a lot more pick-up-able than an electric keyboard. And it's easier to out sing your own mistakes. Haha. But then again, it means that you actually have to get the tune right. Oh well, I'll treat this as karaoke practice for next time when I go back home.

Also, the Ambler Warning is a fantastic book. If you like the Bourne series, it's written in the same author's style. I would say it was written by the same author, Robert Ludlum, but it's not exactly true. I think he passed away in the midst of writing this one and someone was commissioned to take over. It's a book about a spy who's a walking lie-detector and he's been sabo'd to lose his memory and set-up as a hit man. So the superspy (Ambler) takes it upon himself to find out who did this to him and extract some revenge. It's an action packed book with a bit of whodunit at the end. Highly recommended for any one who likes action.

And to commemorate the latest Resident Evil movie, here's a history of Resident Evil, done to the NUMA SONG. Be prepared. I found it hilarious, but then again, that's just me.

1 more...

Night to (potential) pwnage! And in the meantime, here's an acid trip from Witch Doctor. Ah, the good times with DDR.



Let's hope I don't have to come back again. Although ... sianz.

Negative Demonstration

真是气死了。这个project的programmers是一群窝囊废。原本说好明天需要他们在工厂协助我们的project，可是他们老板目中只有钱这个字。只抱着一个"Show me the money"的态度，很贪小便宜。而且最岂有此理的事是他们本来就没有把事件做好就走了。现在，他们起先应该做好的事，他们要我们付钱？What the fuck. 幸亏除了我之外没有人听得懂中文。我听了那件事之后，就臭骂那个小人似的老板。真是。。。CENSORED.

And to those people interested, the company is based in Georgia. Be VERY CAREFUL in dealing with 喂前 (Process engineers might be familiar with the translated version.). They are... less than savory when it comes to responsibility and fiscal obligations...

Pics

As requested by Ken, and long promised, here are the pics of the night before the storm. If you ever see clouds that circle like that, be prepared for an 8 hour thunderstorm...

Also, this is a water tower I saw on the way home. I thought it was kinda cute, how many water towers have a smiley face? Adair seems like a friendly town.

Lastly, new pics are up.

Warning

What smells like bubble gum and tastes like shit? And yet will have lots people clamouring for it (at least for the first taste)?


Halo 3 Mountain Dew with Citrus Cherry.

Do not buy it. You have been warned. You must resist the Master Chief or let ur taste buds suffer.

Speaking of Halo 3, WK is one lucky dude. Gears of War, Halo 3, you can even get Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix on that Xbox 360 of yours. I would have gotten 1 if not for the craptacular failure rate of the 360 and the fact that I'm not at home like 50% of the time anyways... Sigh.

TenQews are in Order

To everyone who sent me their birthday wishes, in 1 form or another, thanks for everything! I really appreciate all the care and consideration you have shown. It's nice to know that even if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, there are people thinking about you.

Anyways, another brief update. I'm back in Nebraska and damage assessment of our equipment gave us a pleasant surprise. Nothing was serious damaged and mechanically, we should be up and ready in 2-3 days. Which garners a huge "PHEW" from me since we could have been looking at half a million dollars worth of damages and a 3 week turn around time. It turns out that we had stuff stuck in our equipment and that pluggage meant that any fire water that entered the system ended up pooling in the equipment instead of flowing out. That meant that the actual damage was really limited to a small area. Thank god for small favours.

As some of you might know, there was a huge storm last week in Chicago. I was trying to get home when the brunt of it struck. City driving was never this scary in my life. The winds got up to 70mph (~100kmph) and visibilty was about half a block only. It was the first time I've ever felt that 20mph was a dangerous speed. I guess I shoulda known it was going to be a bad storm cos everywhere in the Midwest was suffering from the same thing. And it was raining the momemt I crossed the Illnois state line from Iowa. The previous night, while I was still in Nebraska, I saw the storm clouds circling in a very classic hurricane pattern. I'll post it when I get a chance to upload pics.

Well, other than that, my Chicago apt is now 50% cleaned, 75% livable (with 100% cleanliness tolerance, 90% if you have a 75% tolerance) and almost ready to receive my first guests next week. That's gonna be a fun, to have some time to spend with family. Oh the owning that we'll see.

Once again, thanks for all the wishes and thoughts guys (& gals)! Much appreciated! A real lift in a depressing place. QQQQQQQQQQ (and that makes 10 total)!!

Blearhg

It's been a rough week... The equipment had a little "incident" but luckily, it doesn't seem like we are too badly affected. Hopefully everything will be ok when we get a chance to really take a look. But besides that, I'm now sick and have to solve the problem of having 2 cars but only 1 driver... I have a car att he airport and a rental here. But only 1 driver, so it looks like I'm gonna ride the train tomorrow. That'll be an adventure...

Just a heads up to anyone wondering what happened to me, I'm still alive (barely) and kicking (baby kittens!!). But now, it's time to sleep.

Travelling

So I'm back in Nebraska and the stuff is up and running. So that's good news. The bad news is the true pros who know the system inside and out are leaving this weekend. Which leaves the rookie, i.e. Me, to run the system with another engineer. Hopefully, we'll get all the bugs worked out before they leave tomorrow and Friday, but... I'm kinda doubtful. So No Pressure. Haha. Oh well, I guess I've gotta get a list of things that need to be looked at and just plug away. Just keep working.

其实，现在已经不是这么烦了。虽然客人还是不能让我们增加我们的生产力可是现在已经不是我们的问题了。哈哈。只省我们的100%的生产力的production run了。真希望那能顺利的进行。

Travelling here was quite an adventure. I went home over the weekend to tidy up some stuff and on my return, I was slated to fly from Chicago to Omaha and then take a puddle jumper to the Central Nebraska Regional Airport. I made my Chicago flight on time, but then due to delays, I was sitting on the tarmac for 1.5 hours... And so I missed my noon connection. The next flight out of Omaha was at 830pm. So my options were to wait for 7 hours (I arrived at 1pm) for the next flight or drive. I ended up renting a 1 way car and drove 3 hours to get here. So at one point in time yesterday, I had 3 car keys. One for a Corolla, one for a Grand Prix and one for a Piece of Shit. Seriously, that Kia Rio ('05 model) that I got was an underpowered, poorly engineering moving heap of junk. The windows were hand operated and could not be sealed properly. Whenever I exceeded 40 mph, the windows would start rattling in the wind and you could hear whistling from the windows. Also, the RPM exceeded 2000 when I went over 50 mph. I was truly amazed that the car survived the 160 mile journey. And I got so ripped off by the rental company. For a 1 way trip, it was $2 per mile AND they charged me $50 for that piece of shit. Sigh.

In other news, here's a super uber cool video of Transformers cosplay, complete with ACTUAL TRANSFORMING COSTUMES. OH MY GOD COOLZORZ!!

战争

人的一生就是一串的争斗。为了自己的利益，享受或生存而斗。最近，我在Nebraska出差。已经出差了连续三个礼拜。出差的确是吸收新知识的最好，最快的方法，可是在这里三个礼拜，我已经开始不耐烦了。如果我们工作有进展的话，还算OK.可是现在应因为客人的设备不足，我们不能实现我们公司的合约。结果，又延长我须留在这鸟不生蛋的地方的时间。Si Bei Sianz.

可是,没法子,只能珍惜这个学习经验,而趁机用公司的信用卡来吃几个好餐.我真的希望明天会有更好的消息...

And just so it's not so depressing, here are some quotes I've heard from these Mid-westerners.

1. We're off like a prom dress (first time I've ever heard that, but I can see why people would say this)
2. Let's make like a tree and leave ( I was laughing quite hard at this one)

And lastly, I wanna dota!!!!!!!!!! Sianzzzzzzzzz.

Edit: Fixed typo. Thanks to Lemonteh.

Hypnotic...

As you might well notice, there's a new thingamajig on the top right hand corner of my blog. It's a very unique (as befitting of it's uniqlock title) clock. I can spend hours just listening to the trippy, jazzy music, watching the psychedelic medley of colours and dancing (kinda) girls, but why don't you try it out for yourself?

Power of rot, obscuring truth, What once was old restore to youth!

If anyone can tell me where that title came from without googling it, I'd say they know their 80's cartoons pretty well. And that they'd probably feel nostalgic about it now too.

Anyways, I'm still in Nebraska but I'd like to point out a couple of things.

1. I've moved to Flickr cos Yahoo Photos was going out of business (I presume). And I've uploaded 2 new albums there. Seattle 07 and Cubs Game. The link is on the right.

2. Ah Seng has a new post. 6 months after his last one but a new post nevertheless.

3. Bob has a new blog now. And he has some pretty cool stuff about modding your car (Corolla S). Go check it out.

4. The Simpsons is a funny movie, if you appreciate that kind of humour. I watched it for 6 USD in Nebraska. What a steal eh.

Awesome Video

Wow. I can recognise like maybe half the games shown here. But the blend of Kung-fu, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Mario is irrestible. A bonus is the white dude in the background when Sylvia walks around that says やらないか. That's how someone asks for sex (with prostitutes) in Japan. And who says video games aren't informational. Enjoy!

Rants

I feel that the internet here is stable enough to try to blog now. First off, big props to E.B.O.F. for hosting my previous rant. (A bit of incestuous cross self-linking there).

Anyways, aside from all the sentiments expressed there, I really wish I could be done with this place and go home soon. But the odds are good that I'm gonna be here till early August at least. That's... umm... gonna suck. A lot. But what can you do? A job's a job and you have to do your best, regardless of what kind of (mis)management and (a severe lack of)communications you have.

Lastly, I'm really looking forward to going home as I can finally start living in Chicago proper. Hopefully I can go jog/bike around the lake and meet new friends and just soak up the bustle and energy. 最后想说的就是算了吧，她不值得我烦. And that's the word.

Beer Song

What could be better than a song that exalts the virtues of "liquid bread"? And to top it off, it's done in stop-animation lego style. With a chicken!!

Interesting Video

The following is Rip Slyme's latest single. I find it fascinating for a couple of reasons.

1. There are 11 girls in the video.
2. Allegedly, 6 of the 11 are AV stars (aka porn stars). (Courtesy of www.japanprobe.com).
3. That dance routine looks damn gay. Even when the girls do it, it doesn't look good.

Enjoy.

Random Stuff

Ever been to Vegas? Seen the Bellagio fountain? Even if you've never been to Vegas, if you watched Ocean's 11, you'd have seen it. Now see it again, sweeter, more calorific and definitely more home-made. Kudos to Mei for that video.


So I was traveling back from a job site today. When you drive for more than an hour, chances are, even with a 6 CD changer in the car, you're gonna listen to the same song a couple of times. I was listening to Eason Chan's Bai Se Qiu Xie (White Sneakers). It's a really nice song, I wish I had memories like that. Here are the lyrics. Taken from baidu.com.

歌曲：白色球鞋
歌手：陈奕迅 专辑：认了吧

LRC歌词 HOT
• 搜索 "白色球鞋"mp3
打印预览
到一定年纪总算明白
美好的事物
好像大部分都在青春时候发生
那天无意中翻出了那双发黄的白色球鞋
依然还有心跳温度
和她一起走过这城市许多的路
她总低着头听我的梦和心事
那一天笑着对我说
随我的白球鞋的脚步好像可以走到幸福
忽然她让我感觉
自己已不再孤独
可以在未知的明天去天竺
美好青春的爱情和曾经走过的路
年轻城市换成另一种面目
如今大了那样感动难重复
幸福和那双球鞋放记忆最深处
这保留却又忘了的初恋纪念物
在经历几次恋爱后重新回顾
爱还依然清晰在梦中
让当时的街灯和书
有许多已不知去处
想起来我然感觉曾经自己不孤独
你是否已走到你要的幸福
美好青春的爱情和曾经走过的路
年轻城市换成另一种面目
如今大了那样感动难重复
幸福和那双球鞋放记忆最深处

当年的我还懂保留失落的爱情遗物
究其爱情现在想起来却面目模糊
却相信去感触
美好青春的爱情和曾经走过的路
年轻城市换成另一种面目
如今大了那样感动难重复
幸福和那双球鞋放记忆最深处

Here is a video. It's not a single, so there aren't any good vids of it. Just a concert footage.　It's about 4:23 into the clip that the song starts. Enjoy.

Man Vs Wild

I never really did any true survival skills training in the army since I never really was expected to charge hills in the forest anyways. However, recently, watching the Discovery channel show Man Vs Wild, I have an urge to train up and see what's it really like. Although I failed once during the adventure race in that park in the middle of Indiana, I think I would like to try again.

In any case, that show is so cool. The host even has a kick ass name. Imagine a survival show host called Bear? How awesome is that? And he shows you all kinds of neat stuff, from escaping quicksand to building a shelter in the snow. I just spent the last 3 hours of my life watching back to back to back episodes of that show when I should have been doing my laundry. Oh well, at least doing laundry is easier than eating maggots for lunch.

To people who have Discovery, I say give it a shot. I think you'll find it fascinating.

How to Build Your Own Rock Band (Or How 5 People Can Look Good Doing Nothing)

So how was my vacation some people might ask. And I can honestly say it was a heck of a good time. I managed to meet up with my cuz, E.B.O.F. and my friend from home. So it was really enjoyable.

One particular part of vacation that really stood out was when we went to the Experience Music Project (EMP) near Space Needle. It was there that I realised how manufactured bands are produced. Let me share some of the insight I gleamed from that place.

First, when starting a band, you need someone with passion, or at least someone who looks like they have passion when the camera flashes. So I present to you the Siao Zhar Bor Ardent Drummer Girl. She's literally ready to burst with fury.

So after you settle on the passion, you then need the flair. To accomplish this, you need to have a pretty face lead singer (who can sing, preferable). As they need to look good, most of the time, a female is selected for the task. In our case, it was simple. The girls simply looked better.Hence the SuperStar Wannabe Lead Singer.
Ideally, you'd want to have more than a single sex front the good looks section. If the best looking guy isn't much to speak of, then you transform the ordinary into the extraordinary by sticking an electric guitar in his hands. Thus creating Flair Number Two (For Female Eyes version). Or as I like to call it, the Act Seh Guitarist.

So after you covered cool, you now want to spin a little humor into your group. To do this, they employ the "Act Blur" persona. In this case, it was done by the a Koteh Back Up Singer. Incidentally, a male with a tambourine is the latest "hot" image with all the chicks. Or at least according to the population (me) surveyed. So I shall hear no arguments about that.
Lastly, after all that commercial appeal, you have to "keep it real" to give your band that edge. To that effect, you need a "homey"ish kind of band member. We decided to cast our keyboardist into that role. And the Homey Keyboardist was born.
Although each individual element might seem very "meh" at the moment, a rock band is truly greater than the sum of it's parts. Combined, the aforementioned members form a fluid, melodious and totally happening band. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present "The Engineers and Psychologist". And yes, no one had a better name at the moment of inception.

My apologies for the cropped picture but the poster was too big for my scanner.

I hope my readers have learnt something from this tutorial about how to create your own musical experience. And I would expect acknowledgements when anyone of you make it big. Till then, live long and rock on!

More Moving Appendum

So I'm moving my stuff bit by bit over time and I've come to the realization that moving heavy stuff after dinner is not really the best of ideas... I was moving a book-filled box (NEVER, NEVER, EVER[!!] FILL A BOX WITH JUST BOOKS) into my apartment today after a sumptious Vietnamese dinner. In accordance with Murphy's Law, all doors were locked, all elevators were on the furtherest floor and the there was no one around to help me open doors. I thus lugged/kicked/dragged/pushed this 20Kg Box the 500 feet or so from my car to the apartment. Upon reaching my apartment, I promptly felt like visiting the bathroom. Note to self, move big boxes BEFORE eating...

Anyways, I think I can move everything I have left in one more trip, so that's good news. Gonna enlist the help of my colleague and his truck to move the big stuff. That's even better news.

Kinda nervous about going to work tomorrow. I believe that since I'm going against traffic, it should only take me about 45-50 minutes to travel the 45 miles or so to work. I'm kinda betting my late nights on this hypothesis. Else I'm gonna have to wake up at 6am everyday. Which is even worse than secondary school... and jc... and army... and university... Which would suck. A lot.

Oh well, we'll see if I can get to work on time tomorrow!

Moving

Is such a pain in the ass... Especially after you settle into routine at home,it takes so much effort to overcome the inertia. But I think it's gonna be worth it. The new neighbourhood is decidedly more up-scale. My new place is 10 minutes from downtown and it's in the midst of a whole bunch of restaurants, shops and other ideal people watching locations. Also, it's next to the lake and park and even close to the zoo (how relevant is that, I do not know). So hopefully, I'll have moved most of the stuff over this week and then I can relax. So if anyone is considering vacationing around my area, you're more than welcome to stay over at my place. It's actually worth showing off now. Haha.

It's one of the things I have control over so I'm gonna concentrate on that. Other stuff... not so much, all I can do I hope and try my best. 时期快要到了。。。到底会怎么样呢？

Video Overload?

For your viewing pleasure, the Nintendo Short Film Top 3 Finalists.

#3. See the previous post.

#2. Koopa Force!


#1. Good vs Wiivil.


Also, what would you do if you had 1,000,000? Maybe you can understand this song better than I do, but you don't really need a deep understanding of hokkien to enjoy it's idea. Kudos to E.B.O.F. for the vid link.

For Those Suffering in Cubicles Out There

If you think you have it bad at work, try comparing your day to a day in the offices of Nintendo. I'm pretty sure the fireballs, piranha plants and thwomps will have any of the your office jerks/bullies beat flat. Although I can imagine the Boo's being the annoying co-worker that hovers around you while you work. And then when you confront them, they just disappear.

Congratulations are In Order

To the dude who suffers from "Tourette's", a hearty congratulations. You are the first among equals (for now anyways). May you be empowered in your future and overpower all obstacles with a primal roar. And if you do have the time, help this poor Zu31G set up an assist with a (fiend's) grip on some unsuspecting target please. Haha.

Seriously, you the man. I just hope my life can be as joyful as yours soon. Best wishes, and here's something I whipped up for you. Hope you like it!

Winds of Change...

You don't need to go to Africa or California to experience the desert. Just go to Nebraska. With it's 70kph(50mph) winds, vast plains of uncovered dirt, you'll be eating dust and cleaning your ears for dirt in no time flat.

I think this summer is gonna to be a period of change. I'm moving my apartment from Ulusville to downtown Chicago. Hopefully the change in scenery will improve my doldrumic life. Also, I'm going on vacation in July so I can't wait for that to happen either. Getting a chance to see some friends from SG then as I go Washington (State). An opportunity to get out of the wind and sand. And hopefully then, I'll have some good news.

I really wonder, why do people live here in Nebraska?

Invisible Mario Kart

Ah Mario Kart, the purveyor of many a good times. And now someone has done a stop-motion video of a real life attempt at mario kart. Enjoy.

Who's afraid of the rain?

So as some of my readers know (or have inferred from the post and comments), my car window was smashed last week and someone stole my GPS. The vandalism cum theft occurred during my japanese class and I was totally unprepared for the sight of glass shards all over my driver seat and floor. To make matters worse, about 5 minutes after I reached the car, it started to rain. It wasn't any kind of spring shower, the raindrops were the size of your fingertips. It was a localized storm.

So I scurried about in the rain trying to clear the glass shards (by dumping them onto the ground beside me) from my car, to restore some semblance of order to my suddenly chaotic vehicle. When it was somewhat cleaned up, I decided to seek cover in the backseat of my car. The rain was pounding the car and I had to wedge an umbrella into the driver seat window to try to keep my car dry. It was truly a sorry sight I think. An orange umbrella trying to shield a gaping hole. Why me? I already have to deal with being sent to the middle of nowhere and now THIS? Those were the only thoughts I could muster as I sat, soaked and feeling sorry for myself, in the midst of the pouring rain. But after a while, as I surveyed the interior of my car, I felt calmer. It provided an (imperfect) sanctuary from the howling rain. And I realized that I could only control so much in my life. I don't have any say in whether someone will break my window, but I can reduce the odds of that happening. I can sit around and bemoan my fate all day long but the glass isn't gonna magically disappear (sonic attrition perhaps?). You can bitch but bitching and taking action is so much more efficient at getting yourself back on your feet. And the hopelessness of the situation kinda receded. It was a $650 lesson in life that I don't think I will forget anytime soon. This was not to say I wasn't depressed nor that I didn't bitch about it as I drove 40 miles home with the wind blowing past me on the highway.

When I got home, I thoroughly cleaned up that mess and now my car is actually cleaner than before the incident. The next day, I went to get a replacement window and life resumed as normal (sans a GPS - anyone know about any deals?).

I think that the ordeal was made that much more bearable because I have good friends (a shoutout to R & Y & all the people I bothered on my drive home). And I think that the same applies to life. Even though I'm a semi-vagabond right now, it's not something I can control. What I can do is maximize my own skills and improve my fitness. And I'm thankful that I have good friends that I turn to when things like this happen.

So really, who's afraid of the rain? Not me. Not anymore.

You Know What They Say...

About doing things irrationally under duress, so I really shouldn't be doing this but...

FUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. I HOPE YOUR BALLS ROT AND DROP OFF WHOEVER YOU ARE.

I think balls are ambiguous enough to cover both genders. I will update again when I am rational. And poorer.

Be A Ma.....

As a sign of respect to E.B.O.F. (and because I fear for my life), I'm not going to finish that phrase. But I do believe, that the ability to distinguish cowardice and foolhardiness is essential in any form to confrontation. To do so will not only do your allies right in battle, but the thing is, the crux of any battle is attrition and to win, you must be able to brave the odds.

Today, I had allies who were like this during normal times.
But come battle, they became thus.
So remember, do your teammates a favour and when you are the f*cking tank, don't let the nukers suffer. The CM will thank you for that by disabling the people who are chasing you the next time.

Note - When the low health spell caster has more kills than someone that is build like a tank (Slardar), the only result is a "/ban XXX condemned!!!!". Sorry for the semi-cryptic in-game reference.

Musings

Spending a week in the wilderness that is Nebraska can really give a man some perspective. Before I start reflecting, just in case there are people out there who actually want to visit Nebraska, here are the things you can look forward to.

1. The speed limit is 75mph for the most part.
2. The skies are really vast and clear and blue (when there are no storms).
3. The clouds can do impersonations.
4. The speed limit is 75mph. (Get out while you still can!!)

Ok. With that out of the way, lets start the ramblings proper.

1. 人生最重要的可能是好友。爱人可以分手，同事可以辞职，好友会终生在你身边。I am really starting to miss everyone already. I think it's a cumulative effect of everyone being far away. Advice can be sought online, but the damn time differences always screw with the best laid plans of men. I'm sure that the safety net that is a cherished friendship will be put to use even more from now on, as most ties with college have been severed. Thanks guys & gals. You know who you are.

2. I think I won't complain about my place as long as I go to Nebraska. The place where I go to makes my current digs look like downtown Manhattan. I guess you make do with what you have and believe that however bad the situation is, you can find a dump that's worse. I know I did.

3. 在我的年龄,我是应该注重职业,可是还是觉得很孤单.甚至在一个繁忙的城市里住也会觉得孤单.这是没办法的吧.做朋友以往是不容易的一件事,但我真的希望能找多几个好友...

4. Bleah. I forgot what I wanted to write about already. So no 5. Not much of a 4. even. My bad.

Hope everyone had a memorable Memorial day weekend!

Pirates is a 3 hour long backstab fest. Leave your brain at the door and empty your bladder for maximum enjoyment.

Videos

A couple of cool videos for you viewing pleasure.

The first is Super Line Rider Bros. And it's amazing the amount of dedication Line Rider-er's put into crafting a course. I tried that a long time ago and never got the hang of it. My loop de loop would result in a suicidal crash after missing the gap by like half an inch...


The second is a little comparision of dance moves in World of Warcraft with their real life inspirations. Make sure to watch Peanut Butter and Jelly Time!


Enjoy.

One for the Road

I just can't enough of traveling it seems. After (finally) finishing with one job last week (Friday), I'm going to another job site 600 miles away this time.

But before I go (leaving at 6am tomorrow), I'm gonna say a few things.

1. It's really the end of an era for the Champions of Excellence as I know them to be. No longer will I hear the cross hallway shouting of explicits during late night Dota Extravaganzas. No longer will I be able to meet most of my friends around a table in the middle of the room and eat/steal other people's potluck food. I will miss those good times (not to mention times when people make a fool of themselves reciting the alphabets).

2. Shrek 3 is a refreshing change from the previous 2 in my opinion. It's not a straight parody of fairy tales anymore and instead tries a different kind of plot instead of just playing off stereotypes. There are definitely less jokes about fairy tales this time and more action/drama elements. I think the best of the trilogy was the first Shrek, but I doubt people will regret spending $8 to watch this.

3. STARCRAFT TWO!! If that didn't sink in, I'm repeating it again. S-T-A-R-C-R-A-F-T 2!! I wonder how many people who have forsaken gaming for other things like "life" or "significant other" will find themselves struggling with that pledge to stay clean from gaming after the release date for SC2 is out.

Ok, see you guys next time from Far Far Away...

When all teams are equal

Equally detested anyways. So now there's nothing left to watch in the NBA playoffs. It's really disappointing this year. All the teams that are left are either lousy (Cavs/Nets), whiners (Spurs, Pistons), arrogant (Suns) or have players who are backstabbers and look like serial rapists (Jazz - Boozer). So no more basketball for me til the Draft. Go Mavs!! Go Bulls!! Go Yao Ming!!

Jerry Falwell is dead. Long live Falwell...NOT!!

Haiku for n00bular

n00bular rests now,
Great pwnage was real fun dude,
M-m-monster kill!

Ok, so I might have cheated on the last line. But still, it's good to see a show of self-discipline. I'm sure you'll find other activities to do, like search for girls for me.

His retirement from the game set me thinking. Why do we play Dota? It's a waste of time to bully noobs so real challenges are few and far in between every time we go on Bnet. But I think it's cos we share a sense of camaraderie when we play together. And it's a relatively easy game to get into AND it's free (so WoW goes out the window).

To me, it all boils down to having fun with your friends and that's about it. If you can derive pleasure from that, I think you can game till you die.

Congrats to the Class of 2007!!

電話こなかったちょっとがっかりしてる。だから、来週またいってみて。なにかあったかな。We'll see what happens.

Since everyone I know has finally finished all their exams... CONGRATS TO THE CLASS OF 2007. You guys were fun and the memories I had with you peeps will probably last forever or till I get Alzheimer's (which ever comes first). I wish all of you the best in whatever paths that you choose and hope that you'll let me wash your car when you have made it big and I need employment! The skies the limit for you and I think the only thing you can't accomplished is to be the Class of 06 (the original Champions). Peace.

How Birdshit Can Be Erased With A Telephone Number Solicitation Event

So, I travelled down to visit the plant site again today. And in the 3+ hour drive down and the 5 hours I spent on the site, my car accumulated a total of 5 direct "hits" from avian bombers. I should try to see if someone can get a Warthog the next time I trade in my car. With it's attached GPMG, let's see if any birds try to mess with the Zu31Gm()b1L3.

BUT, all that animosity and belligerence just evaporated like liquid moisture in a 850 Celsius furnace after the encounter I had in the evening.

I was in the chinese buffet that I've visited a couple times during my time here and was chatting with a waitress that I've talked to a couple times before. And then cos I mentioned that I could be leaving for good since the job is (hopefully) coming to a close, the waitresses started talking to me and asking a lot of questions. Did I have a girlfriend? Did I live around the area? And then finally, the resident 大姐 came over to ask for my number to give the "四大美女" of the restaurant. My head couldn't fit into my car after dinner. And the fact that it's 12.30am and I'm still on this post means that it's probably still inflated. Haha. Life is good all of a sudden. Haha.

陈奕讯's "ADMIT IT" is a relaxing album

Comcast is screwing up my internet, I'm too nervous to follow the Mavs-Warriors game, so I need an avenue to vent. I'm kinda late in adding my $0.02 to this issue, but I think that perhaps an apt analogy would be that governance of a country is like a brain. Even though it contains 2% of the body's mass, the brain demands 20% of the oxygen, and hence the blood supply, that a body receives. I learnt that from Bodyworks. It was too expensive but kinda cool to see innards of a human being put on display.

But anyways, as I attempt to ramble to my point, which is that this arrangement works during normal situations. However, when the body exerts itself, it will reduce oxygen flow to other parts of the body while maintaining the same amount of oxygen to the brain. Hence you get anaerobic reactions when you exercise. A bit of anaerobic metabolism isn't a bad thing. It's a sign of a body at work which would be better (in the long run) than a body at rest. However, when the brain (in one of those mind over body instances) "wills" the body past its limit, the body generates too much anaerobic byproducts that could cause a total system failure. Which means that sometimes when the brain pushes the body to hard, the brain gets bitten in it's metaphorical ass.

I don't think there's a real point in that analogy. But I thought it was interesting. And the Mavs are down 8 at halftime. WTF IS WRONG YOU GUYS?!?!

Haha

“帅哥“といわられた“暗笑“しているぞ！Haha.HAHAHAHA. And it's for me to know and for you to ask.

And Happy birthday to Ah Seng! Almost time to "L,R,L,R" liao loh. Get your BKB ready...