Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Monday, April 11, 2005
PSP coming to Singapore!
Wow... this is a really aggressive move by Sony. In only 6 mths after the Japanese launch, and 3 months after the US launch, they will apparently be releasing the PSP in Singapore on 12 May. This is quite significant because Singapore has often been at the tail end of Playstation products.
In this aspect, Microsoft has been very successful with the Xbox in Singapore. There is a constant release of games and they are very reasonably priced, often $15 to $20 cheaper than the Japan or US versions. Microsoft has also maintained a very high profile by promoting the Xbox at every PC fair and having lots of advertisements in local magazines.
Well, hopefully Sony has decided to pay a little more attention the the local market.
So, should you get a local version, US version or Japanese version? For those still considering, as far as games are concerned, there are no differences. You can play PSP games bought from any country on the PSP. The only problem is movies. Movies sold in the US or Japan will not be able to be played on the local set. Actually, up till now, Sony hasn't revealed what movies the local PSP can play. So, if movies are not your concerned, then I would probably wait for the local PSP. It's targetted to launch at S$455, a little more expensive than the US price. But it will at least be covered by a local warranty.
Even though I already have a Japan set, I'm eagerly waiting for the Singapore launch! It's really quite exciting!
For those wanting to know more, visit Sony's official site at http://www.sony.com.sg/psp/.
In this aspect, Microsoft has been very successful with the Xbox in Singapore. There is a constant release of games and they are very reasonably priced, often $15 to $20 cheaper than the Japan or US versions. Microsoft has also maintained a very high profile by promoting the Xbox at every PC fair and having lots of advertisements in local magazines.
Well, hopefully Sony has decided to pay a little more attention the the local market.
So, should you get a local version, US version or Japanese version? For those still considering, as far as games are concerned, there are no differences. You can play PSP games bought from any country on the PSP. The only problem is movies. Movies sold in the US or Japan will not be able to be played on the local set. Actually, up till now, Sony hasn't revealed what movies the local PSP can play. So, if movies are not your concerned, then I would probably wait for the local PSP. It's targetted to launch at S$455, a little more expensive than the US price. But it will at least be covered by a local warranty.
Even though I already have a Japan set, I'm eagerly waiting for the Singapore launch! It's really quite exciting!
For those wanting to know more, visit Sony's official site at http://www.sony.com.sg/psp/.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
I finally found the tray yesterday (Friday). Went to this supplier of kitchen/catering goods in Chinatown and found that they had the stupid trays. So, that's the end of one saga - The Quest for the Metal Trays. Wonder if it's worth making into some movie.
Last night, I watched a DVD which was really freaky. Not sure if any of you caught the show SAW when it came out in the cinemas. The strange thing is, in the cinemas, it was rated R21. On DVD, the (apparently same) uncut version is only rated M18. Shows the consistency of the censors.
Anywaez, SAW is a totally screwed-up show. It's gory but it also plays mind-games on you. Basically, it's about this fella who goes round putting people into situations where they have to kill others in order to survive. What's the big deal about that? Well, in the main story (*dun worry, no spoilers*), we have two guys, each with one foot chained to pipes. They are given saws and a time limit. To survive, they had to either shoot each other or if they like, saw off their foot to escape. That's totally screwed up! In another scenario, a guy as put in a corner of a room and the pathway to the door was obscured by a maze of razor sharp barb wire. He had a time limit before the door was sealed. So, the poor fella basically had to struggle his way through the wires... you get the picture... Those aren't the worst. I wun even start on the girl with the iron braces...
It's not really an A-grade movie. No big stars and not really very glizty like a big hollywood production. But I think it was quite a good movie.
After watching the show, I admit there was a feeling of unsettledness in my guts. I mean, it's one thing to watch a gory show. It's another when you have to watch people struggling with killing others in order to survive. I think that's the real brain-screwer. Imagine you are in a room with a ticking bomb and an axe. The doorway is blocked by a guy chained right across. The only way to escape is to use the axe to hack the guy blocking the door. What would you do?
Last night, I watched a DVD which was really freaky. Not sure if any of you caught the show SAW when it came out in the cinemas. The strange thing is, in the cinemas, it was rated R21. On DVD, the (apparently same) uncut version is only rated M18. Shows the consistency of the censors.
Anywaez, SAW is a totally screwed-up show. It's gory but it also plays mind-games on you. Basically, it's about this fella who goes round putting people into situations where they have to kill others in order to survive. What's the big deal about that? Well, in the main story (*dun worry, no spoilers*), we have two guys, each with one foot chained to pipes. They are given saws and a time limit. To survive, they had to either shoot each other or if they like, saw off their foot to escape. That's totally screwed up! In another scenario, a guy as put in a corner of a room and the pathway to the door was obscured by a maze of razor sharp barb wire. He had a time limit before the door was sealed. So, the poor fella basically had to struggle his way through the wires... you get the picture... Those aren't the worst. I wun even start on the girl with the iron braces...
It's not really an A-grade movie. No big stars and not really very glizty like a big hollywood production. But I think it was quite a good movie.
After watching the show, I admit there was a feeling of unsettledness in my guts. I mean, it's one thing to watch a gory show. It's another when you have to watch people struggling with killing others in order to survive. I think that's the real brain-screwer. Imagine you are in a room with a ticking bomb and an axe. The doorway is blocked by a guy chained right across. The only way to escape is to use the axe to hack the guy blocking the door. What would you do?
Thursday, April 07, 2005
A tale of a tray
Today, I shopped for 4.5 hours to look for a stupid metal tray.
I started off at 5pm at the concourse. Took a cab to Mustafa Shopping Centre at Serangoon Road, thinking it would be easy to find a metal try there. But.. no.. they didn't sell it. So I walked down Serangoon Road to Tekka Market, looking out for stalls that sell metal stuff. No luck. Decided to try something more up market, so I took a cab to Orchard, Paragon, where there's a Metro, remembering that they had a household goods section. Guess what, they had apparently closed down that section a long time ago. So, I crossed over to Takashimaya to try my luck. Nope, no tray there either. Actually, they had one, but it was too small. So where to next? I decided to try Seiyu at Bugis Junction. Their household section wasn't too bad. I took a can there, but... no luck. None there too. Maybe OG at Albert Mall opposite Sim Lim had it.... so I walked over. Again, no luck. It was already 8.15pm. I was hungry, but I needed to find the stupid tray. So I decided to go all the way back to Ang Mo Kio coz I remembered there was quite a good household shop next to the S11 food court. I tried to take a cab. Took me almost 45 mins. Sigh. By the time I got into a cab, it was already 9.00pm. Made my way to Ang Mo Kio, guess what? Right... NO LUCK. Went to the ultra-neighbourhoodish Four Seasons shopping centre for my last ditch attempt. NO LUCK AGAIN.
It was by then, already 9.30pm. I was tired. I was hungry. I decided, it was time to give up.
One would think it would be easy to find a stupid metal tray in Singapore. One would be wrong.
Wouldn't you say I had a meaningful day?
I started off at 5pm at the concourse. Took a cab to Mustafa Shopping Centre at Serangoon Road, thinking it would be easy to find a metal try there. But.. no.. they didn't sell it. So I walked down Serangoon Road to Tekka Market, looking out for stalls that sell metal stuff. No luck. Decided to try something more up market, so I took a cab to Orchard, Paragon, where there's a Metro, remembering that they had a household goods section. Guess what, they had apparently closed down that section a long time ago. So, I crossed over to Takashimaya to try my luck. Nope, no tray there either. Actually, they had one, but it was too small. So where to next? I decided to try Seiyu at Bugis Junction. Their household section wasn't too bad. I took a can there, but... no luck. None there too. Maybe OG at Albert Mall opposite Sim Lim had it.... so I walked over. Again, no luck. It was already 8.15pm. I was hungry, but I needed to find the stupid tray. So I decided to go all the way back to Ang Mo Kio coz I remembered there was quite a good household shop next to the S11 food court. I tried to take a cab. Took me almost 45 mins. Sigh. By the time I got into a cab, it was already 9.00pm. Made my way to Ang Mo Kio, guess what? Right... NO LUCK. Went to the ultra-neighbourhoodish Four Seasons shopping centre for my last ditch attempt. NO LUCK AGAIN.
It was by then, already 9.30pm. I was tired. I was hungry. I decided, it was time to give up.
One would think it would be easy to find a stupid metal tray in Singapore. One would be wrong.
Wouldn't you say I had a meaningful day?
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
I'm not a casual music listener. You rarely see me with ear phones listening to mp3s or radio programmes. When I have my ear phones on, it's normally coz I'm playing some PSP or GBA game. Guess I've never been much of a music listener except when I need some noise, example, when I'm marking or studying for some test/exam (in my student days lar...).
Sometimes, when I hear someone I really like, I'll follow the artist for a while. A couple of years back, I really liked Alex To when his song '情人' was super popular. Then I bought a couple of his albums, but that died out in less than a year. I also liked Lee Hom for a while coz I first heard his song 'Julia' which was really catchy. For english songs, I thought Robbie Williams has got pretty interesting songs. Really liked his 'Rock DJ'. Caught my attention the first time I listened to it.
Last night, I was tossing and turning in bed. Maybe it was coz half my nose (ie. one nostril) was blocked or maybe coz there were things going through my mind (like how sucky the last few days had been). As I laid in bed, two songs popped into my mind. Don't ask me why. They just did. So I got up, turned on my computer, went on the net to Soundbuzz.com and purchased the mp3s. Soundbuzz is really convenient and I think the prices are reasonable. Anyway, the first song was "Angels" by Sarah MacLachlan. The chorus was really nice. I wanted to blast the song through my lovely MX5021 but had to control myself coz it was like 3am in the morning and the boarders were already asleep. Maybe it was becoz of my mood that the song was exceptionally comforting.
The other song was kinda weird. Dun really know why I was thinking about it. It's "19-2000" by Gorillaz. I first listened to the song coz it had this really cool flash animation. Furthermore, the song had a computer-game-like rhythm. Very fun. Like I said, dunno why I suddenly thought of that song. Maybe I should introspect a little more and see if I can find the reason.
Sometimes, when I hear someone I really like, I'll follow the artist for a while. A couple of years back, I really liked Alex To when his song '情人' was super popular. Then I bought a couple of his albums, but that died out in less than a year. I also liked Lee Hom for a while coz I first heard his song 'Julia' which was really catchy. For english songs, I thought Robbie Williams has got pretty interesting songs. Really liked his 'Rock DJ'. Caught my attention the first time I listened to it.
Last night, I was tossing and turning in bed. Maybe it was coz half my nose (ie. one nostril) was blocked or maybe coz there were things going through my mind (like how sucky the last few days had been). As I laid in bed, two songs popped into my mind. Don't ask me why. They just did. So I got up, turned on my computer, went on the net to Soundbuzz.com and purchased the mp3s. Soundbuzz is really convenient and I think the prices are reasonable. Anyway, the first song was "Angels" by Sarah MacLachlan. The chorus was really nice. I wanted to blast the song through my lovely MX5021 but had to control myself coz it was like 3am in the morning and the boarders were already asleep. Maybe it was becoz of my mood that the song was exceptionally comforting.
" In the arms of the Angel far away from here.
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear.
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie,
You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here."
The other song was kinda weird. Dun really know why I was thinking about it. It's "19-2000" by Gorillaz. I first listened to the song coz it had this really cool flash animation. Furthermore, the song had a computer-game-like rhythm. Very fun. Like I said, dunno why I suddenly thought of that song. Maybe I should introspect a little more and see if I can find the reason.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Since today has not been particularly pleasant, I decided not to blog about the day.
Instead, I shall write about the wonderful statement which Mr Bob Parr (ie. Mr Incredible) made when he was arguing with Mrs Parr (ie. Mrs Incredible). For the blur, Mrs Parr was making some statement about how Mr Parr never made time to go for his son's school functions, like when his promotion ceremony when he was moving from like primary 4 to primary 5. And Mr Parr simply replied about what kind of society have we become that we have begun to celebrate mediocrity.
Mediocrity is a scary word. For me, it's a word which I'm really scared of, but at the same time, it's a word which can be spelt 'stress-free'.
I've always been scared to be mediocre. I think it's something which I've tried never to be since my secondary school life. In whatever projects I have undertaken or responsibilities which I had been given, I have very rarely been satisfied to be mediocre. I've always believed that if anything deserves to be done, then it deserves to be done well. So, personally, I'm quite annoyed when I see others being satisfied with medicore efforts.
This has been both a bane and a boon.
Bane: you become a very critical person who tends to pick on others' performance. Nothing ever seems good enough. And sometimes, this can make others scared/annoyed /irritated with you.
Boon: it pushes you to greater heights. It ensures that your efforts are always you rbest, always 110%. So, the results are often fairly good, coz I can't settle for second best.
Well, that's why I'm scared of mediocrity. But like I mentioned earlier, many times, mediocrity is also something I wish I could settle for. It would certainly make things so much more stress-free. If I was willing to settle for second best, not to make things overly difficult for myself, and just do what is normal/expected, then I can envision a pretty easy life. No need to think of new ideas, new ways of doing things. Just repeat what was done earlier, and keep repeating it... ad nauseum. (heh, I like that term, 'ad nauseum'.) If I could do that and be satisfied with a mediocre performance, I 'd probably have much less stress.
Well, for now, I think I'm still quite scared of being mediocre. Maybe I need to find a balance? But if I find that balance, would it still be a state of mediocrity? heh.
Well, until then, I'll still agree with good-ole Mr Parr: 'What kind of society have we become if we've begun to celebrate mediocrity?'. Nice!
Instead, I shall write about the wonderful statement which Mr Bob Parr (ie. Mr Incredible) made when he was arguing with Mrs Parr (ie. Mrs Incredible). For the blur, Mrs Parr was making some statement about how Mr Parr never made time to go for his son's school functions, like when his promotion ceremony when he was moving from like primary 4 to primary 5. And Mr Parr simply replied about what kind of society have we become that we have begun to celebrate mediocrity.
Mediocrity is a scary word. For me, it's a word which I'm really scared of, but at the same time, it's a word which can be spelt 'stress-free'.
I've always been scared to be mediocre. I think it's something which I've tried never to be since my secondary school life. In whatever projects I have undertaken or responsibilities which I had been given, I have very rarely been satisfied to be mediocre. I've always believed that if anything deserves to be done, then it deserves to be done well. So, personally, I'm quite annoyed when I see others being satisfied with medicore efforts.
This has been both a bane and a boon.
Bane: you become a very critical person who tends to pick on others' performance. Nothing ever seems good enough. And sometimes, this can make others scared/annoyed /irritated with you.
Boon: it pushes you to greater heights. It ensures that your efforts are always you rbest, always 110%. So, the results are often fairly good, coz I can't settle for second best.
Well, that's why I'm scared of mediocrity. But like I mentioned earlier, many times, mediocrity is also something I wish I could settle for. It would certainly make things so much more stress-free. If I was willing to settle for second best, not to make things overly difficult for myself, and just do what is normal/expected, then I can envision a pretty easy life. No need to think of new ideas, new ways of doing things. Just repeat what was done earlier, and keep repeating it... ad nauseum. (heh, I like that term, 'ad nauseum'.) If I could do that and be satisfied with a mediocre performance, I 'd probably have much less stress.
Well, for now, I think I'm still quite scared of being mediocre. Maybe I need to find a balance? But if I find that balance, would it still be a state of mediocrity? heh.
Well, until then, I'll still agree with good-ole Mr Parr: 'What kind of society have we become if we've begun to celebrate mediocrity?'. Nice!
Monday, April 04, 2005
Funny kind of day
Today has been just 'one of those days'. Some might simply say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe I was just feeling a little down in the dumps coz I feel a hint of a cold coming. One nostril is blocked and my throat is kinda sore. Maybe that contributed to a crappy kind of day.
Funny isn't it? How one's mood can so simply affected by how one feels.
One thing that gets on my nerves is when people got behind your back to complain about you. I mean, if there are things to say, have the decency to say it to the person's face. I think it's a totally cowardly act to act as if everything is ok in front of the person, then go behind the person's back to his superiors to say otherwise. I won't really give any more details but I get very pissed when people do things like that. Ok.. deep breaths... happy thoughts... H27 in my room... :P
Plenty of 'fun' stuff coming up over the next few weeks. I'm quite looking forward to it. Yah.. sure.
Maybe a good night's rest will get me out of this crappy mood.
Funny isn't it? How one's mood can so simply affected by how one feels.
One thing that gets on my nerves is when people got behind your back to complain about you. I mean, if there are things to say, have the decency to say it to the person's face. I think it's a totally cowardly act to act as if everything is ok in front of the person, then go behind the person's back to his superiors to say otherwise. I won't really give any more details but I get very pissed when people do things like that. Ok.. deep breaths... happy thoughts... H27 in my room... :P
Plenty of 'fun' stuff coming up over the next few weeks. I'm quite looking forward to it. Yah.. sure.
Maybe a good night's rest will get me out of this crappy mood.
New Pics!
Just uploaded some pics from my class' mini-party today. Click on the link on the right to take a look.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
New Photo Album!
Just added an online photo album at exzekestence.myphotoalbum.com
Not sure if it's the best place to do it, so if any of you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears!
Until then, feel free to click on the link on the right and take a look at a few pics which I've uploaded.
Oh yah, and I decided to lengthen the Tag Board too. Always thought it was a little short. I'm not really good at fooling around with the code, so I'm taking little baby steps here. Be patient with me!
Not sure if it's the best place to do it, so if any of you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears!
Until then, feel free to click on the link on the right and take a look at a few pics which I've uploaded.
Oh yah, and I decided to lengthen the Tag Board too. Always thought it was a little short. I'm not really good at fooling around with the code, so I'm taking little baby steps here. Be patient with me!
Saturday, April 02, 2005
In the news again
Found out that RI was in the news again, this time over the fact that the school does nothave a soccer CCA. It's really interesting to read the various points of views... from the coach to our Headmaster to former soccer stars from RI.
In case you missed the New Paper article, here's the online link.
In case you missed the New Paper article, here's the online link.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Took this photo at Toa Payoh central. There was this large group of people doing some linedancing thingy. In many ways, it looks like a mass dance, except I think it's just footsteps and no hand choreography. Really don't know what to make of it. I mean, there's this group of people, probably in their late 30s to 50s, dressed in different outfits, some fairly skimpy..a few scary! There was a guy, probably in his early forties, wearing a fish net t-shirt! OMG. The dances looked interesting, but I can't imagine myself joining them! Maybe it's this 'beng' feeling or maybe it's the 'Ah Soh' feeling. It just feels wrong. But they do dance quite nicely. Many of them are pretty good at their steps. Haha.. maybe it's time to act like I'm in my thirties and join line dancing!
Oh yah, I took this photo with my Nokia 6670. Really like the megapixel camera on the phone. Maybe I'll be able to post many more pics from now on since I have a camera with me most of the time.
Oh yah, I took this photo with my Nokia 6670. Really like the megapixel camera on the phone. Maybe I'll be able to post many more pics from now on since I have a camera with me most of the time.
Haha... looks like whenever term starts, blogging is reduced to the weekends. It's not that I don't check my blog everyday, guess it's just laziness that prevents me from updating my blog.
Well, the week wasn't too bad. A fairly good start to the term, I think.
A few highlights...
Went for my medical checkup on Monday to see if there are any new stones in my kidneys. It was good to hear that everything looked clear. Just last Saturday, I had gone to my family doctor to get the results of my blood tests. It was excellent to hear that everything was quite normal except for my triglycerides and uric acid. No problems with anything else. So, things really brightened up.
Maybe it's the good health results or maybe it's the delay in getting the Optoma H27, but this week, I was bitten bad by the handphone bug. I was reallyquite tempted to just get another handphone to try it out. After much struggle, I confess I gave in to the temptations and bought a second hand Siemens S65. It's not a bad phone, but after trying it out for a couple of days, I've decided that I didn't really like it. Guess I'm really too used to the Nokia interface. So, now I"m trying to sell it off at not too big a loss. Hmm.. should I try out the Sony Ericsson S700i? heh...
The other thing which occupied my time was the Japan World Expo trip. Had to spend time confirming the itinerary, the price, preparing the materials for the students... It really reminded me of my job when I was with Ken-Air when I had to plan tours, prepare travel brochures, etc. I met up with my old boss who will be handling the tour for us. It was nice to meet them again. And the thing is, the team working with her, was largely unchanged. I think that's really commendable coz I think it really shows what a good manager/leader my old boss is. She's one of the persons I look up to as a model of a good leader. Sure miss those days!
Well, the week wasn't too bad. A fairly good start to the term, I think.
A few highlights...
Went for my medical checkup on Monday to see if there are any new stones in my kidneys. It was good to hear that everything looked clear. Just last Saturday, I had gone to my family doctor to get the results of my blood tests. It was excellent to hear that everything was quite normal except for my triglycerides and uric acid. No problems with anything else. So, things really brightened up.
Maybe it's the good health results or maybe it's the delay in getting the Optoma H27, but this week, I was bitten bad by the handphone bug. I was reallyquite tempted to just get another handphone to try it out. After much struggle, I confess I gave in to the temptations and bought a second hand Siemens S65. It's not a bad phone, but after trying it out for a couple of days, I've decided that I didn't really like it. Guess I'm really too used to the Nokia interface. So, now I"m trying to sell it off at not too big a loss. Hmm.. should I try out the Sony Ericsson S700i? heh...
The other thing which occupied my time was the Japan World Expo trip. Had to spend time confirming the itinerary, the price, preparing the materials for the students... It really reminded me of my job when I was with Ken-Air when I had to plan tours, prepare travel brochures, etc. I met up with my old boss who will be handling the tour for us. It was nice to meet them again. And the thing is, the team working with her, was largely unchanged. I think that's really commendable coz I think it really shows what a good manager/leader my old boss is. She's one of the persons I look up to as a model of a good leader. Sure miss those days!
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Went to Toa Payoh for lunch today. Popped into the Value Dollar shop at the MRT and found a nice round tin which fit the UMD too. It was actually filled with some aroma candle. So for only $1.05, I bought the tin, melted and threw away the wax, then lined it with the leftover soft styrofoam from yeasterday. So now, I have two cool tins!
Well, the UMD was a little smaller than the tin and would make clinky noises when it moved around the case. So, I went to Art Friend in Bras Basah (just cross the road from Bugis Junction) to see if I could find anything to put inside the case. I was looking for some thick styrofoam which I could perhaps cut a slot that fit the UMD nicely. In the end, I found these soft foam sheets which I could easily cut and use them to cushion the UMDs. No need to cut holes in them. So I cut out 4 to 5 sheets which I can use to separate the UMDs in the tin. No more clinky noises and the UMDs are also nicely cushioned! And to top it off, I printed a little PSP Logo, laminated it and pasted it on the cover... and now I have my very own PSP UMD case! (I'm very proud of myself!)
With the PSP being released in US, I now can buy more games coz they are now released in English. One irritating thing is that there are still no PSP UMD cases on the market except for a $15 plasticky one from Gamescore in Funan. Well, I went around today and found this cool metal tin from a shop in Bugis Junction. Cost only $6. Think it looks much better than the plastic case.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
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