Ho eh!!!

Its been awhile since I've had really good Turtle Soup and I finally had one amazing bowl today. Mmmmmmm. It was so delicious that I finished almost every single drop of the soup except for the herbs. The meat was nice and tender. No tough bits in it. Interested in trying it? Head to Tai Seng Turtle Soup at Upper Paya Lebar Rd. Its open everyday from 9am to 9pm. Hardworking folks.

There were several interesting buildings near the Turtle Soup restaurant. The building with the glass facade is a Presbyterian Church. Not sure what the other building is.

Another reason to hate Macs

My DVD drive kept getting stuck today despite my attempts to eject the disc in it. I tried pressing the eject button or ejecting it from the OS but to no avail. I also tried rebooting a few times but the disc just kept spinning in the drive. I googled this problem and it turns out that this issue is very common. The solution? Reboot and when the OS is booting up, hold down the trackpad button and press the eject button. It worked for me.

Mathematical "genius"

I ordered 1 cup of green apple juice and another watermelon/orange juice for my colleague. The fruit stall auntie brought our drinks and here is the conversation between us.
Auntie: "One S$1.50, the other S$1.70"
Followed by a long pause as she tried calculating the total in her head.
Me: "Total S$3.20"
I gave her a S$5 note. Another long pause followed as she calculated how much change she owed me in her head.
Me: "S$1.80"
She handed me 2 50 cents and exclaimed.
Auntie: "Wait ah... I still owe you 30 cents"
Me: "No... that's S$1 on the table... you own me another 80 cents"
I've always admired hawkers because they can calculate on their feet so it amazes me that this auntie couldn't count for her life.

Avoid at all costs!!!

Tried out "Hip Diner"... a diner by Billy Bomber's. The food is terrible... they made me feel terrible paying S$26+ for the food even after using a S$20 voucher. They only served three measly pieces of potato skins and charge S$6 for them.
The ambiance.... oh man... don't get me started on that. The place looks like a cheesy fake diner and nothing like Billy Bomber's. I wonder who in Billy Bomber's was "arrowed" to take on this project. It's a flop.
People... stay away!!!

An Aussie perspective

Singapore as described by an Australian reporter.

Picture perfect

Talk about an amazing picture. Damn!!! It was not taken by me though. It was taken from a helicopter cockpit. Wow.

How to explain ah?

I have problems when meeting people for the first time. Nooooo... not becoz I'm shy... I just don't know how to explain what I do to people. IT is intimidating to non-IT people... try explaining security to them.
Btw I experienced something really strange today. My laptop couldn't connect to my home wireless network. I tried all sorts of configuration changes and it wasn't until I changed the wireless channel did my devices finally manage to connect to my AP. Hmmmmm... could it be that there are too many people in my neighbourhood using channel 13 and jamming up signals? Anyone experienced this before?

Rainbow

It is rare to spot a rainbow in Singapore. I wonder why? Is it becoz our skies are polluted or due to the abundance of high rise buildings here? The last rainbow I spotted in Singapore was the largest one I ever saw in my life. I saw it over Choa Chu Kang Way in 2006 when I was in a taxi on my way to report for my reservist. It was so huge that it took up most of the sky. I couldn't take a pic becoz of the Army's policy against bringing in mobile phones with cameras. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

How to generate a good PSK?

The Wireshark folks provided a nifty service to allow people to create good PSKs.

Another ~!@#$%^&* hot day

Global warming is getting out of hand. Its so freaking hot that I don't even feel like leaving the house. I was so glad to see the sun set.

Henry to Barca a year later

Just as I predicted, Thierry Henry joins Barcelona for £16million... a year later. I feel sad at his departure but then again, its just business. Arsenal got good value from Barca for a 30 year old but that may prompt Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas to depart too.

Rise of the Silver Surfer

Watched "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" today. Bleh! You know what they say about sequels? The debut movies are always the best. The best thing about my evening? Choc milkshake and chunky fries from Billy Bombers. Haha.

Patriotism

I'm a 2nd generation Singaporean. I basically grew up together with independent Singapore. When I was growing up, Singapore was still classified as a developing country and we faced our growing pains together. I attribute this to my feelings for Singapore and patriotism. Younger Singaporeans grew up in a different era and thus take a lot of things for granted. I remember growing up with plenty of inconveniences and one such example was frequent blackouts. What's the solution to their indifference and pampered cushy ways? I do not have the answer.

Don't know why

I don't know why I don't like water. I don't appreciate activities like swimming, snorkeling, diving, water skiing, etc. Hmmmm... maybe becoz my Dad used to force me to swim 50 laps in the Olympic pool everyday when I was younger. Tips to parents... don't force your kids to do things becoz they will develop a phobia.

Time consuming update

Time to update your Macs again! There is a single patch available to install but be warned... it is extremely time consuming even comparing it to Windows patching. And I have a 10Mbps Internet subscription!

Interview with a guru

Enlightening interview with DNS guru, Cricket Liu. Yes.... there is no typo... that's his name. Me thinks his father is a Hong Konger.
Additional information for techies out there... the reason that there are only 13 root name servers to support the entire Internet infrastructure is that UDP packets are 512 bytes in size and can only contain a maximum of 13 server IPs.

Lip smacking

The only exciting thing about the off season is blockbuster trades. Both KB24 and KG want to be traded. My dream would be for the Lakers to get KG and pair the two of them together. Talk about a dream team.

Bad job

The Pepsi PR guys did a bad job becoz even though I like the design of their can, I don't know what its significance is.

Deletion

Was reading up on one of my fav bands, Lighthouse Family, and came across a music industry term "deletion". Fascinating, it actually refers to the removal of singles from a music company's catalog for various reasons.

Got the formula down pat

I love watching TV and was enjoying an episode of "House" when it struck me. I figured out the formula for successful TV. You need a mentor in the show who is cold and seemingly uncaring yet brilliant. Throw in a female who is ambitious and feels threatened by her fellow colleagues. You also need one African American character. Sounds familiar? These are traits of shows such as "House" and "CSI".

Human nature

Human nature is a funny thing. I have my fair share of quirks just like how I sometimes can meet a person for the first time and can't stand that person. Shearer expresses his dislike for Bellamy. Bellamy for Blackburn!!!

Window scene

Its the start of my enforced leave. What am I going to do during my long weekend? I started it by admiring the cloud-filled sky.

Another Barca fan

Kobe is a Barca fan. Interesting. His parents named him after THE steak btw.

Storyline or discipline?

The last books I finished reading were "Angels and demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" years ago. This got me thinking... does reading require a good storyline or discipline? In the case of the above mentioned books, it was a good storyline that got me interested in completing them. I've borrowed books since but never finished them. So is it down to a lack of discipline?

Talk about passion

Kid fights burglar with samurai sword to save his PS3. My advise? Give criminals what they want... its not worth risking your life for material possessions.

Candyman

I love this Christina Aguilera music video. I think its possible the decade its based in.

Groove armada

Was watching MTV on cable and saw Groove Armada's music video for Superstylin'... didn't realise that the dance duo were middle aged men! Always envisioned them as young hip men :p

I'm going home

Lyrics from Daughtry's song "Home". Quite apt considering that I was listening to that song and caught these scenes on my way home today.

Stressed out

Singapore came in second in a recent survey trying to ascertain increased stress in the workplace. 52% of Singaporeans surveyed stated that they experienced increased stress at work. Surprisingly, Japan which is notorious for stress had the least % of respondents who reported increased stress. My analysis? I think Japanese are so used to stress that they don't really notice any increased stress. What do you think?

Rome Reborn

Rome Reborn is an effort by developers from the University of Virginia that took 10 years to complete. It is a virtual simulation that aims to represent Rome in AD 320. Way cool!!!

Really nostalgic

Am watching a replay of Game 6 of the 1992 NBA Finals. Just saw John Paxson do a spin move and scoop the ball in! Wow. Don't remember him being able to do that as I remember him more of a clutch 3 point shooter. The Trailblazers are better than I remembered too.

Worthy substitute

Tried the Roti John at Haig Rd Hawker Centre. How does it fare against my fav Serangoon Gardens one? Crispiness? Yes it was. Taste? It is almost comparable with the Serangoon Gardens one but less tasty. Verdict? Yes worth eating if you don't have a car to drive to Serangoon Gardens.

Blazing hot

The only good thing to come out of the blazing hot weather was glorious clouds.

Its about time

Nokia has finally released an online service to update the software on your Nokia mobile phone. The only downside is that you can only update phones belonging to the N series. Not sure what took them so long to have this service becoz their competitors allowed customers to update their software ages ago.
Warning!!! I've tried the software update from Nokia, its buggy and doesn't work. Don't use it!!!

Did you know?

The first coin operated American Pool table was released in 1903. How much did it cost to play one round then? 1 cent! Found this out when the commentator revealed this during the Guinness Pool tournament in Taiwan.

Freaking insane!!!

The weather is fucking insane. Insane I tell you! Its the weekend and I'm stoked but I'm pissed off with the weather. I just went outside to buy lunch and I'm dripping wet from my own sweat. Shit! I'm going to take a cold shower after I finish my Char Siew rice. Should I turn on the aircon too? Its ironic becoz turning on the aircon might contribute to making global warning worse.

Paris out of jail

So much for setting an example and punishing her for her crime. Just goes to show that you can get away with anything if you're filthy rich.

You got to hand it to the Chinese

Laymen usually equate hacking with viruses and spam. What they do not realise is that hacking is big $. The Chinese are infamous for piracy and they have devised a new way of getting their hands on fashion designs before they are even out to market! They hack into fashion houses' networks to steal their designs from their servers.

Any takers?

DAMN! A Darth Vader collectible for US$4K. Its made in Japan and some parts are handmade. Anyone getting it for my birthday?

My choice

If I were Portland, I would choose Oden. He has a personal blog with videos. Check it out.

Stickgirl

Came across this interesting blog that uses sketches instead of words.

Anything?

Curiosity got the better of me and I tried "Anything". What does it taste like? 7-Up!

Rarity

Its rare to have pineapple rice served in a pineapple nowadays! It was a pleasant surprise to receive one during lunch this afternoon. Doesn't the pineapple make the dish more appertising?

Reflexion

re·flex·ion
- the phenomenon of a propagating wave (light or sound) being thrown back from a surface
- variant of reflection
Caught a glimpse of the sky that was mirrored on the rear windshield of a parked car and had to snap this scene.

Wireless piggybacking

And I thought only Singapore resorted to jailing people for petty crimes. My opinion is that the impetus is for the government or law enforcement agencies to educate the public on how to secure their wireless networks and use warning banners. I am all for taking actions against criminals who break into wireless networks that have been secured but not those who hop onto unsecured wireless networks to surf the net. If you didn't secure your home wireless network, you can't blame others when they connect to your network.
A few tips to securing your home wireless networks:

1. Change the default username and password of your wireless gateway.
2. Change the default wireless network name and make it unique.
3. Enable the built-in firewall.
4. Enable wireless encryption by using the latest encryption standards (such as WPA and WPA2).
   
5. Disable SSID broadcasting.
6. Configure MAC filtering.

Funnee!

Eddie Johnson was a player I idolised when I was young. He was one crazy sixth man who had no problems lighting up the scoreboard on any given night when he was in the zone and even scored 60+ points coming off the bench in one game.
I came across his blog and he was bitching about some active NBA players who are dirty ~!@#$%^&*. One particular entry about Manu Ginobili had me in stitches.
"This guy really irks me. I have never seen a player that plays so physical on one end of the court and then turns around on the offensive end and acts like someone is doing cruel things to him. I am beginning to think that either he thinks Americans are not capable of analyzing a situation or that he is David Copperfield and creates illusions. He complains virtually on every call and just like most international players he looks to the coaches and fans as if to say, “Why is he picking on me?” I played in Europe and I saw this behavior from players every game."

What a difference a player makes

I've been watching the NBA since my teens and the Cavs have always stunk. Lebron has really transformed the team since he was drafted first in 2003. Man can the guy play! I'm a "Believer" and "Witness" now. I'm rooting for the in the finals. It will be the Cavs' first trip to the finals. Will he be crowned king?

Technology

Was watching a program "I, videogame" and it was interesting to note that video games were a by product of the Cold War. They were created on computers that were owned by the military used during the Cold War to perform computations and simulations.
I remember reading somewhere that microwaves were discovered by the military and were not originally used for cooking :p
On the topic of technology, can anyone tell me what this gadget is for? I will reveal the answer in a few days time.

Makan places lost and found

My own version :p Used to eat the Tow Kau Pow from this stall almost weekly when I was in Poly. The stall went MIA for quite a few years when the coffee shop was closed down but I discovered that it was back again when I passed by on my bus last week. Mmmmmm. I ate it today and it reminded me of what I missed for so many years.

Where do you find it? Its at the corner coffeeshop along Joo Chiat opposite Katong Mall. Check out the beautiful setting sky.

Illuminated

Was waiting in the train station. Was attracted by the line of lights above every train entrance/exit from head to tail. Interesting.

Quote #1078

"Software is like sex: it's better when it's free."
- Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux

Shrek 3

Watched it yesterday. My verdict? "Thank goodness I got the tickets for free". Not exactly a waste of time as there were moments that were entertaining but I think the writers ran out of ideas and were forced to churn out a 1.5 hour story.