pain is temporary, glory is forever.

2011-07-14T09:24:00.002+08:00

seems like forever that i updated this blog or even visited it, but realized that my last post was less than a year ago only.

so if anyone actually reads my blog, leave a tag.

right now, i am in my dorm in toulouse, waiting to leave for the airport in a few hours time. home. i will be home soon.

past year has been awesome for me. studying in america has been fun. school was fun. gpa isn't as high as expected. but i have two more years to pull it up. did a summer abroad program in France (which is why i am currently in toulouse). it wasn't as fun or as enriching as i expected. but as a consolation, it was an experience. sorta.

but enough of the school and stuff. the main reason why the past year has been so great is because of the special someone who came into my life. while reading my previous posts, i saw everything that i was going through more than a year ago. but everything has changed. today i am just so contented with life. there's nothing else i need right now.

2010-08-15T18:47:00.002+08:00

and so the preparation for my departure for michigan is underway. the wallet has drawn blood too. some of the larger spending include,

HP dv6-3011TX Notebook PC ($2000)
Targus Laptop Backpack ($140)
Rocanto 78cm Luggage Bag ($199)
US Visa Application (S$200)
and all other miscellaneous uni stuff in excess of 1k.

11 more days to departure. i can't wait.

2010-07-10T01:25:00.002+08:00

been awhile since i blogged. lots of things have changed in my life. i learnt to let go of a big part of my life and move on.

ever since i ended my internship, spent most of my time hanging out with friends. had a couple of scholarship workshops and an obs camp. made some new friends.

took a trip to australia. still there. sydney plus melbourne. interesting place. surfing, shopping, eating, fishing, driving and there will be some horseriding and snowboarding/skiing coming up. will return to singapore by the 18th of july.

other than that, i will be flying off for the states on the 26th of august. that's about it.

you won't get hurt this time kenny. stop guarding your heart.

COE

2010-04-09T01:06:00.002+08:00

the COE for april is crazy.

small cars: $34,001
large cars: $45,501
open cat: $49,000

what does all this mean? it means that the golf which i bought for $86,800 in february now cost $109,800. that's $23k more. and not to mention the coe tagged to my golf was about $20k. that's already pretty high compared to the past. the 2.0L honda civic cost $120,800 and the renault clio cost $84,000.

well COE is a good way for the government to control the number of cars on the road and also to earn money. but really it doesn't do much in controlling the number of cars. it just makes cars more expensive. and singaporeans will still pay for cars. i believe that the car ownership procedure should be changed to that of buying a flat. there should be a waiting list. and the car issuing process should be a continuous affair. when a car is de-registered, someone receives a permit to purchase a car. and to be on the wait list, people pay a deposit which they forfeit if they don't purchase a car. simple as that. it would still keep cars cheap, and still allow the government to control the car population. in fact, i think it would be easier for the government to control the car population this way. a waiting list actually makes it fair for people who really need a car instead of encouraging elitism where rich people bid big for their coe and screw up the system for everyone. in that case, don't make organ trafficking illegal.

2010-03-26T15:14:00.001+08:00

Audi A5 is a car for the future!

The Audi TT

2010-03-23T13:44:00.002+08:00

The Audi TT has always been my favourite car. But today, i found something else about it which made me like it even more. I found out that the TT actually has a 2+2 seating configuration. that means it has rear seats (tiny seats). I always thought that it was a pure bred coupe with only 2 seats but i was wrong. the roadster version has 2 seats. but not the coupe.

i have always liked the audi TT because it looks good. but i found it rather impractical based on my flawed knowledge of it having only 2 seats. i like coupes. but i also want the practicality of being able to fit 4 when the need arises. and that got me started on the search for nice 2+2 cars. there aren't many nice ones on the market which have character. the honda integra is a good 2+2. but it comes with a not so desirable image and production has ceased. after doing some research, the golf GTI, golf R and scirocco are the nicest 2+2s out in the market. the subaru-toyota ft-86 would be a good candidate too but with it comes a not so desirable image. having found out about the TT's 2+2 configuration, it's a car i would want to make my dream car a reality. maybe in 30 years time, i will be driving one. so a little about the audi TT.

similar chassis as my golf! +1 to the golf.

the audi TT comes in 3 trim levels. The base TT, TT-S and TT-RS. only the TT and the TT-S are available in singapore. both the TT and TT-S are powered by a 2.0L traversely mounted inline-4 engine while the TT-RS is powered by the legendary 2.5L inline-5 engine.

the TT has 2oo HP for the driver to play with while the TT-S has 272 HP. torque of 280Nm and 350 Nm respectively. pricewise, they cost $196k and $233k which is rather pricey compared to other lesser brands. by comparing the TT and the golf GTI, there is a difference of more than 50k already. but for the extra price, you turn heads at traffic lights. why not if you are rich unlike me? here's some picture of the car.

2010-03-22T16:45:00.001+08:00

today i spent the day reading up on aircraft propulsion. i was slow cos i was tired. so at the end of the day, i only learnt a small part on propellers. shall try to read faster tmr so i can get to the good part (jet engines) soon.

i am a geek.

2010-03-22T10:57:00.002+08:00

"We have sought power in the same fire which serves to keep the vessel aloft. The first which presented itself to our imagination is the power of reaction, which can be applied without any mechanism, and without expense: it consists solely in one or more openings in the vessel on the side opposite to that in which one wishes to be conveyed."

Joseph Montgolfier, 1783

2010-03-22T08:43:00.002+08:00

today i drove to work and paid $3 erp. feeling sad now. bad way to start the week.

must learn to save money. so for this week, (monday to friday), the aim is to limit cashcard spending to $40 and food spending to $50. then i'll reward myself on the weekend.

be disciplined kenny.

2010-03-17T08:30:00.002+08:00

project's completed. presentation and all. hopefully i get a chance to start on another one. i have 2.5 months left in this internship. hoping to save 2k from all this for my australia trip plus expenses for june - august where i won't be working. easy if i don't have a car now. but i do. too bad kenny :)

also, need to buy the following:

climbing shoes
tennis shoes
guitar lessons

must save!

to alvin

2010-03-12T21:50:00.002+08:00

thank you for introducing me to google adsense. i finally reached the USD 100 mark and just received my cheque of USD 107.

however, google seems to be pissed off that i've earned their money. as a result, they have banned me from the programme. this is what they had to say.

"Hello,

While going through our records recently, we found that your AdSense
account has posed a significant risk to our AdWords advertisers. Since
keeping your account in our publisher network may financially damage our
advertisers in the future, we've decided to disable your account.

Please understand that we consider this a necessary step to protect the
interests of both our advertisers and our other AdSense publishers. We
realize the inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you in advance
for your understanding and cooperation.

If you have any questions about your account or the actions we've taken,
please do not reply to this email. You can find more information by
visiting https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=57153
.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team"

Oh well. at least i made the easiest USD 107 in my life.

the weird conversations i have

2010-03-11T13:10:00.000+08:00

I say:
anw the golf

I say:
factory run in already

I say:
buy can straight away revvv like mad

I say:
vvv looks like vw lol

I say:
look closely

Banana! says:
oh heh.

Banana! says:
yeah

Banana! says:
vvv

Banana! says:
vw

Banana! says:
pretty similar.

I say:
vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv

Banana! says:
lol

I say:
spot the vdub

Banana! says:
confuse.

Banana! says:
2nd to last.

Banana! says:
no

I say:
actually dun have

I say:
LOL

Banana! says:
ahahaha.

Banana! says:
yeah

Banana! says:
confuse.

Banana! says:
HAAHHA

Banana! says:
shit

Banana! says:
optical illusions.

I say:
let your gf try

I say:
hahahaha

Banana! says:
she'll roll her eyes.

I say:
the kinda things we entertain ourselves with

I say:
like car geeks

Banana! says:
yeah.

Banana! says:
=D

Banana! says:
car geeks are awesome.

I say:
yeah!

Banana! says:
yes!

I say:
as long as its not star trek

Banana! says:
hm

Banana! says:
those are weird.

I say:
car trek

Banana! says:
car geeks generally manly lol.

I say:
scar trek

Banana! says:
scare trek

I say:
car wreck

I say:
oh the horror

Banana! says:
nooooooooo

2010-03-11T08:58:00.002+08:00

my car is 1 month old! anyway, being 1 month old, i am able to estimate the monthly upkeep of this car.

just pumped $80 of petrol which brought my petrol spending for the month to $450.

parking and ERP takes up about $250 a month. everyday, there's a $1.50/$3.00 erp which i have to face and on the way back, there's a $0.50/$1.80/$3 erp. so if i am unlucky, i can actually spend $6 on erp per day. as for parking, it's $2.57 per entry and cos i drive out for lunch, i pay $5 for parking per day.

so there goes my pay.

2010-03-10T09:01:00.002+08:00

last night i dreamt of you. i woke up. felt a sadness i never felt before. then the heavens started crying with me. they haven't stopped since. the sky's gloomy. a picture of my heart. like the sky, my future's now grey.

loving you was the best thing that ever happened to me. you changed me. but losing you now is the saddest thing that has happened to me. you left behind wounds which may never heal. and if they do, the scars will be etched permanently into my heart. there forever.

oh cupid. why must you be so cruel?

for alvin.

2010-02-22T17:12:00.002+08:00

and so i choose michigan.

2010-02-21T21:48:00.002+08:00

i know some may be questioning my choice of michigan over london. but i finally decided on michigan because they provide a more all rounded education over the london one which is more focused. also, michigan has a stronger engineering course despite imperial providing purely an engineering course. doesn't make any sense to go there.

i wanted to go to michigan from the start. but when i received an offer from imperial, i changed my mind purely because i was attracted to the branding imperial college offered. however, i have always had issues with elitism in singapore. be it in school, or at work, or even among friends. and i realised that choosing imperial college based on it being elite was an elitist decision. i wanted to study overseas because i had issues with our elitist education system. and it wouldn't make any sense to go to london to embrace elitism in its full glory.

hence i chose michigan. a not-so-elite school. a school which allows me to look beyond my area of expertise. a school which allows me to study subjects which i never got a chance to do. things like the humanities and social sciences. junior colleges these days are encouraging roundedness by introducing the contrasting subject rule. it's because singaporeans are becoming too square. by going to michigan, i believe i'll be more useful to society. going to michigan is also a personal thing for me. when i was young i idolized astronauts. and strangely, michigan has churned out quite a handful of astronauts. michigan's aerospace department is also celebrating their 100th anniversary in 2014, the year i graduate. i want to be part of a special event. some may wonder whether planes were invented back then. for the record, they were. the wright brothers achieved the first powered flight in 1903. michigan provided america's first collegiate aeronautics program. back then, the jokers in europe were still skeptical about the legitimacy of the wright's brothers. kelly johnson, the legendary father of skunkworks came from michigan. if he was alive right now, i believe he would have told me to go to michigan. and i would listen to his heavily biased opinion.

i really don't see the point in imperial college. perhaps they have a strong f1 culture because they have produced numerous f1 engineers. but f1 is really 90% business and 10% racing. detroit michigan is more famous for building cars anyway seeing that ford is based there. i made my choice. michigan it will be.

the car.

2010-02-14T23:14:00.005+08:00

here's my car. nice number plate too. comes with pirelli p7 tires which are awesome!

2010-02-14T17:05:00.003+08:00

the golf seems to be more economical the less i try to be economical. hmmm strange.

2010-02-14T10:19:00.000+08:00

12 feb, day i got my car. it is the most awesomest thing to ever happen.

torque.

2010-02-11T00:52:00.002+08:00

i was checking out some car data online. and i discovered something about my car which i didn't see initially. torque! well a little about torque. everyone knows about power. power is measured in terms of horsepower (HP). but most people fail to realise that power is a function of torque. simply put,

torque x rpm (revolutions per min) = power

hence, power isn't everything. torque is more important. a car with high torque at low rpm will give the same amount of power as a car with lower torque at higher rpm. but the former will have more accessible torque.

now i compare the vw golf with the honda civic.

the golf has a 1.4L turbocharged engine producing 122hp at 5000rpm and torque of 200Nm at 1500rpm. the 1.6L civic produces a almost similar amount of power of 123hp at 6200rpm and torque of 151Nm at 4200rpm. comparing power output, my golf will produce max power at 5000rpm, while the civic requires a higher rpm of 6200rpm. that means that the driver of the golf will find the engine somewhat perkier. but power isn't my main concern. it's torque. the golf produces 50Nm more torque and it does so at a much lower rpm. this is a good thing because it means the golf has a more accessible power band. 1500rpm versus 4200rpm is like earth and moon kinda distances. think about it. more torque at lower rpm. good.

pushing the distinction between engine performance even further, let's compare the golf's engine with the one from the 2.0L civic. the 2.0L civic produces 155hp and 188Nm of torque. characteristic of honda engines, the 155hp only comes in at a high rpm (6000+). in addition, the 2.0L civic engine produces less torque than the golf's 1.4L engine. and torque output is very important in an engine. though the civic's engine might seem good on paper, it's just honda's way of conning the average uninformed consumer than their engine is powerful. it's not entirely false. but it's only powerful when the accelerator is planted onto the floor. hence, although lacking in 30hp, the golf's engine is still a better choice by virtue of having more torque, at a lower rpm (more accessible).

now, comparing the golf's engine with the engine's from some other cars, the honda civic type-r has a 2.0L engine producing 212hp and 200Nm of torque. don't look at the golf's lack of power because the honda civic type-r's engine only produces that amount of power at 8000rpm. that's too high. instead, recognize that the golf produces the same amount of torque as the much more powerful civic type-r engine i.e. the golf's engine is very very torquey. and that's a good thing. not to mention, the golf's engine is more fuel efficient

now you understand the beauty of the golf's engine. no need for large displacement engines with immense power when a turbo on a small engine is enough to raise torque numbers. and really. torque helps you in acceleration not power. good power is just an outcome of good torque.

the long wait.

2010-02-09T16:17:00.002+08:00

so i bought a car. paid for it. it was supposed to come on 31st jan. delayed to the following week. delayed further to end of last week. delayed further to early this week. then delayed further to this thursday. seriously like wtf? chinese new yr is coming hello i want my ride now. there're things i want to do with a car. like deliver my weights to jeremy so i can get his guitar. stuff like that. damn annoyedddddd.

premiums

2010-02-08T14:35:00.003+08:00

today, we look at paying premiums for a car. vw golf, honda civic and the toyota corolla altis. looking at the graph below, we see the dotted lines representing cars of equal (or close) engine performance. they are placed next to each other to compare their pricing. from the graphic, we see that the golf sport, having similar performace than the civic 2.0L is about $9,000 more expensive than the civic. the same trend is seen between the base golf and the civic 1.6L. so it makes more financial sense to buy a civic or perhaps a corolla altis. think again. a new factor to consider into choosing a car is it's build quality.

the golf is most expensive but it's german built. that means it comes with the german quality and styling which the japanese cars lack. i will just let the pictures speak for the german cause.

the civic. well equipped. looks great too. very futuristic. the young driver will like this more than the golf. but one thing though. the interior feel is plastic. everything's plastic. nice to see, not so nice to touch.the corolla altis. not as well equipped. it's too plain and boring and makes me want to sleep. the attempt at sprucing things up with the fake wood panels doesn't help too as they look plastic.

guess it's obvious the difference in build quality now. considering the car with the greatest value for performance, one would be better off with the subaru impreza wrx. for only $87,500, you get 230hp, 4wd and alot of noise. sounds worth it. but with it comes a label of one being a hoon. guess drivers just have to peer into their hearts and know what they really want.

oh and i sat in dee's legacy GT today :D the build quality is goood. and engine is even gooooooder.

2010-02-05T23:35:00.000+08:00

a little girl gave me this paperclip today. hahaha so cute.

2010-02-01T18:45:00.000+08:00

it's february! the month of a few birthdays. chinese new year. and valentine's day. which brings me to something i have been thinking about recently. whether feelings are important in love.

i have always believed that feelings were important in love. the sensation of being nervous and excited at the same time. a nice warm feeling. something which can be felt within seconds of seeing someone. like what we see in fairy tales. something which can bring two very different people together, defying the laws of logic. i always saw love as something very powerful.

then people say feelings are overrated when it comes to love. i don't blame people for thinking like that in today's society where everyone only cares about power and wealth. people say love cannot feed the family. they rate love by dollars and cents. i don't believe feelings are overrated. i believe the whole idea of love is underrated.

i believe feelings are important because it's related to how much chemistry a couple has. and that in turn helps couples get through bad patches. without feelings, a relationship just becomes too logical. that's a relationship heading for disaster.

maybe i'm wrong. but my idea of love revolves around the presence of feelings. wouldn't settle for anything else.

2010-01-30T13:42:00.002+08:00

A post about car safety. My golf has a 5 star euro NCAP rating. hence i am safer. the fiats alvin and i used to drive also have 5 star NCAP ratings. this brought upon a strong contender for the quote of the year from alvin.

"rocks probably have 5 star ncap ratings too, and thats what a fiat would be if the gearbox doesn't function"

think about it.

2010-01-28T17:13:00.002+08:00

was bored at work so i checked out some car stuff and think my car driving/loving friends might want to see this.

using my golf as an example.

when i am buying a brand new golf. i pay $92,800. Road tax and insurance are not included. This comprises of the following,

COE: $20,501
OMV: $23,431 (The actual value of the car)
ARF: $23,431
Other taxes: $1,741 (GST, Excise Duty and Registeration Fee)
Premium: $23,696 (Kind of like misc fee. I think LTA couldn't come up with any other reason to add this in)

So it all adds up.

So by taking the fraction of OMV over the rest, we can actually find out how much tax LTA is imposing on the buyer of a brand new car i.e. me in this case. COE is not included in the equation as i can still own a car without it. Just can't drive it on the road. Just for track day use.

And so i get OMV / (OMV + ARF + other taxes + Premium), and i realise that my car's OMV is 32% of what i am paying for. That means i am paying 212.5% of what the car is actually worth.

Also, COE which i do need to drive it on the road wasn't included in my calculations. Taking COE into account (using this month's), i am paying 400% of the car's actual value. Think about it.

petrol prices are up too. to almost $1.80 per litre for RON 95.

2010-01-26T14:10:00.002+08:00

workload is still very manageable. i am bored though which explains why i have been blogging a bit more than normal lately. right now i have some workings waiting to be vetted but i don't know where my project supervisor is so the papers are just lying on my desk looking nice. i think it's because the last intern took 2 weeks to master some program but i took 1 day to do it and produce results. think the last intern was a slacker. or i just got lucky by randomly clicking stuff. either ways, it's annoying not to be able to install certain programs into the com so i'm really better off working from home.

but being at home wouldn't be very productive for me because if i were, i will be sleeping right now cos i only got 4 hours of sleep last night and the night beforezzz.

2010-01-25T10:20:00.001+08:00

i am falling asleep at work. it's been a totally uneventful morning. i think my mentor's probably busy with his own work so i don't feel like calling him down to check on my calculations. he'll probably come down later on when he's free and i'll show him my work. i shall just try to stay awake by doing some reading and rethinking my calculations.

zzz

2010-01-23T23:15:00.003+08:00

charlotte chow you wrote 1253 words (mostly flattering) in the blogpost dedicated to me. if include picture of me (picture speaks a thousand words) it's 2253. but okay thank you very much. it's much much more words than any GP essay i ever did in school. alvin and you have to sit in my sexy red golf when you all come back to singapore.

and it was just a side swipe! like thud. then got the coke can being crushed sound. then uhhhhh shit!

"If you want to date him based on his geeky picture, you have to sign up with me. On my tagboard, on the left." You might want a new tagboard for that!!!!!

2010-01-21T00:11:00.003+08:00

right now, the only thing in my life is the thought of collecting my golf. everyday, i anxiously wait for the phonecall from volkswagen to tell me the car's ready for collection. car is only expected in february though.

in other news, work is finally starting to pick up pace. i still don't have computer access but once i do, it's full steam ahead. i really do hope to complete this project and start on a new one even though most interns do not complete their projects. i guess it's alright to be ambitious as long as i'm not doing it to score points but because i want to learn as much as i can and not feel like i'm being paid for nothing.

okay time to sleep.

car come soon please.

2010-01-16T18:06:00.000+08:00

and it's not a vtec (yo!).

it's a TFSI.

2010-01-16T16:34:00.001+08:00

16 Jan 2010

The day i bought my first car :)

2010-01-05T21:20:00.000+08:00

forget VTEC (yo!). hello TFSI.

new watch

2009-12-29T04:25:00.000+08:00

watch no.5 to the collection.

2009-12-28T21:01:00.001+08:00

honda prelude? honda integra? cars can be a pain when you can't decide which one is better.

CARS

2009-12-24T00:59:00.005+08:00

still haven't got my car. but getting much closer to getting one now. i shall document the whole process of me getting car from the time i had the brilliant plan to get a car.

it started out on a crowded bus journey hope from climbing. i was on service 67 from little india and the bus was freaking crowded. some fat old lady was grinding me throughout the bus journey cos we were all packed like sardines. i was cursing to myself and wondering why i had to put myself through such uncomfortable situations. so i conceived this brilliant plan of buying a cheap COE car for myself to drive while i am still in singapore and when i leave, it would be time to scrap the car.

the same night, i spoke to my dad about getting a car for myself over dinner and after much debate, he said we could check out cheap old cars provided i get a job. the first car in question was a 1991-1992 honda civic esi for about $7000. car will then be scrapped in 2011 after i leave.

spent a week checking out that car on the net and after that, my dad suggested we spent a little more to get something newer and more reliable. so i checked out some 2006 cars to scrap in 2016. hence, i will still get to drive the cars when i return in 2014 and save up for something really good. the next car in question was a 2006 toyota vios. cheap car at about $33000. upon doing further research, i realised that the 2006 subaru impreza was good value too. for the same price as the vios, i can get 4wd which means super handling. but i checked out the crip sheet for the subaru and realised it has 97hp instead of the 107hp i initially thought it had. so pretty fail in terms of power. so the vios was the car of choice. nothing much to shout about though.

so with the vios firmly in pole position as the car to get, i continued searching the net for other cars worth buying. chanced upon a 1992 toyota mr2 going for $38000 with COE expiring in 2019. didn't think my dad would get me a sports car but i still talked to him about it and managed to convince him about it. looking at it from the financial point of view, i pay a few thousand more than the vios and i get a car which i can drive for an extra 3 years. why not? and during the extra 3 years, i can save up even more money for my next car. the mr2 was really good looking and power packed too. 2.0L turbocharged engine producing 200hp to the rear wheels only. awesome stuff. most importantly, such cars are pretty well maintained because they are exotic. less than 15 pieces in singapore.

having my dad's approval to get the mr2 opened me up to the idea of owning a sports car. so i checked out other sports car and there was another suitable candidate. 1992 mazda mx5. there was one going for $30000 with coe expiring in 2019 and another going for $20000 with coe expiring in 2011 with intention to extend to 2021. with 130hp to the rear wheels, the mazda isn't as powerful as the mr2. however, it was a real driver's car. built with the idea of "horse and rider as one". it was the most fun to drive. it was also a platform for the novice rwd driver. hence, i kept myself open to either the mr2 or the mx5 with me leaning more towards the mx5 based on the driving experience the mx5 would give me. went to the showroom to check out the cars and realised the mx5 was sold the day before. gone. but the pretty white mr2 greeted me and it was so darn sexy. asked about their loan policies and stuff and my dad said maybe i had to wait till april to get the mr2. felt sad. dad did say if i was willing to wait, he could get me the garage r tuned mr2 for $45000 and thereafter extend coe in 2011 to 2021. it was powerful with 560hp. told him crazy. i don't feel safe handling something so powerful with so little driving experience. moreover the fuel consumption will kill my wallet. anyway, i decided to wait till april to get the mr2.

went home, checked the net once more and found a $14000 1992 honda prelude. that was when i got excited. here's something i didn't have to wait till april to get, and it was a proper sports car with 2 doors. called the owner up and my dad wasn't so sure about the condition of the car because the owner said some things need fixing. so my dad wrote the car off. but for some weird reason, later in the day, we decided to check out the car anyway. and thankfully we did. the issues with the car was just spoilt side mirrors and a cracked armrest. nothing too difficult to fix. just some wiring and sealant will do the trick. mechanically, the car was fine and that was my main concern. so why not? a little about the car. owner was a prelude enthusiast. he refurbished the car to it's current condition. old 2.0L engine removed and replaced with a JDM 2.2L producing 205hp. illegal exhaust system but owner would give me the stock legal exhaust for inspection purposes. bucket seats from the lancer evo VII. momo steering wheel. JBL stereo system with woofer in the boot. free accessories thrown in include a gigantic gt wing which i don't intend to put. strut bars to improve handing of the car. customised tein suspensions. pretty impressed with what i was getting. a proper sports car which sounds like how a sports car should sound. decided on getting this car and now trying to settle the financing portion of the car. pretty excited now.

2009-12-16T19:50:00.002+08:00

day 4

i went to play go karts again. played till my kart ran out of petrol, had to return to the pits to top up and go again. like f1. ate everyone for breakfast lunch and dinner again because not many people there can really drive fast. drove up gunung raya again. love that road/mountain. also visited a waterfall today. didn't know what i was getting myself into until the end. i climbed 500m of steps just to see waterfall. oh well. took pictures. they also have trails to the top of some mountain. 2500m high. i shall go back someday to climb that. okay off to dinner by the beach.

2009-12-15T21:58:00.002+08:00

day 3 of my roadtrip.

first day was a drive up from singapore to kl. took me 3 hours. could have been faster if not for the jam outside kl. topspeed 180kmh. no traffic police. spent the night in dad's condo.

second day was drive from kl to langkawi. took me 4 hours. topspeed 190kmh. average speed on highway was 140kmh. overtaken by a bmw and a ferrari. that's all. no trafic police. parked car in ferry terminal. went over to langkawi. checked into bella vista resort. it's nice. but a little low class. too bad was only hotel left with vacancies.

third day. rented a proton wira to drive around langkawi. would have prefered something better but town was mainly single lanes so no point. no speeding as car's topspeed was 130kmh. car is trash. but i needed a trashy car to drive around for a change. played go-kart. faster than the pnes in singapore. ate everyone. found a 700m mountain. drove up in a speedy manner. drove down i a speedier manner. very fun. wish i had a semi-auto or manual gearbox. still, made my day.

will be back in singapore on friday morning. till then, tata.

love them mountains.

2009-12-15T21:49:00.002+08:00

For Combat Engineer Xiew

2009-12-12T02:57:00.001+08:00

Another incident during the war (Gulf War 1) highlighted the question of large-scale Iraqi combat deaths. This was the “bulldozer assault”, wherein two brigades from the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) were faced with a large and complex trench network, as part of the heavily fortified "Saddam Hussein Line." After some deliberation, they opted to use anti-mine plows mounted on tanks and combat earthmovers to simply plow over and bury alive the defending Iraqi soldiers. One newspaper story reported that the US commanders estimated thousands of Iraqi soldiers surrendered, escaping live burial during the two-day assault February 24-25, 1991.

that's why digging trenches is no good.

2009-12-11T03:01:00.001+08:00

"Love Actually" is a really nice show. I love christmas!

Why I should get the Toyota MR2

2009-12-09T19:56:00.003+08:00

Pricewise, a 1991 MR2 costs $38,800 which is within budget. In fact it's pretty good value because the car is powerful and it is ia very rare sports car.
Car might be old. But such cars are very well preserved because the people who own it would take care of it. Car i am looking at is in stock/mint condition.
COE is until 2019. Most other cars i'm looking at have COE until only 2016. This means that i can drive this car for an extra 3 years and that means i can save more money for a better car/house next time. This is money savings. I will also tell dad not to set aside money for my car fund because once i have this car, i don't really want any other car.
Insurance for this will be expensive as it's a sports car. But i have an idea on how to circumvent this. Insurance under dad's name. He has the 50% no claims waiver. I will pay for the insurance and be registered as a driver. When i return from the states, i would have accumulated enough years to get my no claims bonus and then insurance and car will be transferred to my name. So i wouldn't be affect too much by the high insurance for sports car. Moreover, this is an old car. Insurance wouldn't be sky high anyway.
Practicality is another issue but that isn't too crucial. No doubt car can only sit 2 people. However, dad still has the camry to bring the family around in. We don't really need another car that can sit 4. Another issue might be that this isn't a suitable car for my sister to borrow while i am in the states. But sis already says that she would rather not drive than maintain the car and pay for petrol. So she wouldn't be driving it and instead i will just leave the car in the carpark for my dad to randomly drive to keep engine warm.

I think i have valid reasons to get a MR2. gotta see what the dad thinks.

Cars Under Consideration

2009-12-07T21:37:00.002+08:00

1) Honda Civic 1.8L 2006
Good styling. However, car is too expensive at $50,000.

2) Toyota Vios 1.5L 2006
$32,000 so car is cheap. Interior is bad especially with the speedo in the middle of the dashboard. Car is light. Good fuel economy i guess. But not for fast driving.

3) Honda Civic 1.6L 2005
$35,000. Good value for a honda civic. However this is an old model and dad used to own one. So this is out of the question.

4) Toyota Corolla Altis 1.6L 2006
$35,000. Good value for comfort and spaciousness. but i have driven this before and it isn't great on power neither is it very fun to drive. not worth the money.

5) Subaru Impreza 1.6L TS 2006
$36,000. Great for it's 4wd technology. Awesome handling. However, car is a little underpowered and dad doesn't like the image the car gives.

6) Toyota MR-2
HAHA. Just saying you know. $33,000 for a sports car. But dad definitely wouldn't buy a sports car for his son.

(30) Days of November

2009-12-07T01:59:00.002+08:00

i really can't get enough of the show (500) days of summer. it's generally a good show but i find it more fantastic than most people, zooey deschanel's fan included. i think it's because of how much i can relate to the feelings of the lead character.

it's december. and the past month, many things changed for me. when the month started, things were going smoothly. everything was the same as it was in october, september, august, july and a little bit of june. things changed in november. for friends who matter, they know what i'm talking about. as summer was called summer in the film, i thereby name her november.

7th: got a car for the weekend. went out with november. prata @ upper thomson, movie, and late night ice cream.

9th: ORD. went out to celebrate with november. october (sister) tagged along and we had an awesome lunch at nydc. hung around town till november went to school. night time. went out to pump petrol. november called randomly. picked november up. supper. later that night. november confessed small feelings.

11th: left for bintan. november is troubled over the thought of me leaving for the states

12th: november disappears thinking that's the best for our future.

15th: returned from bintan. finally discover moving on isn't that hard after living 4 years in bondage. but i don't want to move on. talked to november and salvaged the situation.

19th: november says "we're just friends". appreciate the honesty. don't appreciate the ficklemindedness. I realise it probably won't work out. decides to continue doing what i have to do anyway.

30th: november starts talking to old friend. says she's very excited. he's nice, smart and has a 1st class honors. don't see how 1st class honors is relevant. appreciate the honesty once again. don't appreciate the beating round the bush and letting me figure out november has feelings for some other guy. kenny doesn't feel sad though. he happily checked out cars worth buying and steering wheels online in the midst being told the "bad" news.

1st December:

december: hey let's hang one day.
kenny: sure!
*exchange of numbers*

past few months was a rather bittersweet experience for me. happiest times of my life. still, the happy memories have been left in the past. i won't experience them ever again. but it's okay. because from this experience, i became a better person. i took my future more seriously. the happy memories might have been left behind. but i take into the future with me something much more valuable.

okay macdonalds just arrived and the delivery boy was trying to squeeze the food through the grilles even though my gate was open. lol.

2009-12-04T14:11:00.002+08:00

had a damn psyched day of climbing yesterday. 3pm to 1030pm with an hour's break in between. today my finger tips are all raw. right middle finger is pain in 2 parts too. awesomeness. my toes are all pain from my downturned shoe. went home, watched progression. got psyched from sharma's jumbo love and johanna ernst's world cup win. the mind wants to climb some more. but the body can't.

what car to buy?

2009-12-02T23:34:00.002+08:00

well, cars i am looking at are the honda civic, toyota corolla or the mitsubishi colt. honestly i would prefer the civic. but it seems to have lots of reliability issues for an old car. i am afraid the car might be too expensive to maintain if it keeps breaking down. therefore, i'm willing to pay extra for one that is in good condition. and it must be in stock condition because aftermarket modifications only spoil the car. guess i have to test drive the car. bring it out onto the highway and watch the temperature gauge carefully. and still, i might not be able to weed out any overheating problems. i am just afraid of getting a car that needs repairing every month. that would be a big headache. i want a manual one because i'm afraid an auto gearbox might die on me. also, manual is more fun to drive anyway. keeps me awake. so many things to consider when buying an old car. headache.

2009-11-27T02:53:00.002+08:00

what's that i see?

it's a honda nsx!

and so one may wonder what's the big deal about the honda nsx. let me explain. starting price SGD 620,000. but if you think you have that kind of money, think again. there are only 5 of these cars in singapore. it's the first time i saw one in real life and i believe it would be my last. this ns-x was spotted at the legendary carpark in milenia walk. over there, i saw a maserati granturismo. that's 428K. i saw a ferrari f430 and a ferrari f360. oh and a porsche carerra s. but those cars didn't make me go wow. the honda ns-x did.

a little about the honda nsx. NSX stans for New Sportscar eXperimental. it was designed by the late aryton senna. if anyone doesn't know who that is, he's argurably the best racing driver in the world. even better than michael schumacher most say. died in the san marino 94 grand prix. but that's besides the point. any car designed by the best driver the world has ever seen has to be a good car. perfect i must say. rear wheel drive, mid engine layout. that's good balance.

now let's look at the crip sheet. it's powered by a 3.0L engine producing 270hp or 3.2L engine producing 290hp. both engines are naturally aspirated VTEC. that means no turbo or supercharger. what this means is that the engine torque is more linear. good! the NSX was built to be better than the ferrari 328 and subsequently the 348. The bodywork design was inspired by the 360 degree visibility of a f-16 jet. i can go into futher detail about the NSX like the titanium connecting rods in the engine but it's not going to make sense to many readers. Let's move on to the most impressive thing about the car. Honda's breakthrough engineering in the NSX was the major contributor to the engineering of the Mclaren F1. Now people might be wondering what the Mclaren F1 is. Well it was the Bugatti Veyron of the past decade. And, it's naturally aspirated unlike the veyron which has 4 turbos. I think the Mclaren F1 is the greatest car ever built. The Mclaren F1's designer, Gordon Murray, drove an NSX for 7 years.

i guess the only car i would really want to see more than the NSX is the Mclaren F1. however, there isn't one in singapore. so i'm really glad i saw the NSX. it's a life changing moment for me. because i know no matter what car i ever drive next time, i will not be as happy as driving an NSX. i love NSX!!

2009-11-22T13:26:00.002+08:00

the nights have been spent staring at the ceiling deep in thought. the heart wants to press the call button but the mind says no. night out drinking really helps though. i reach home so late, too tired to do anything but just sleep. and i get a really good rest.

2009-11-20T23:59:00.003+08:00

today was a crazily fun day. I can't believe i was out from 8am to 8pm. Well i went home for like 1 hour in between but no count. The weather was in my favour today. Played tennis in the morning with pinquan. It looked like it was going to rain. But it never rained. he sun even came out near the end. Won 6-1. Like first time and i have been playing tennis with him for 4 years now? Well the capt was rusty and i was playing well. Collected my pants from the tailor. went down to kartright to play go-kart with willie. i was seriously concerned about the weather. the forecast was thunderstorms in jurong. on my way there, it was practically raining all over singapore. but when i reached kartright, it wasn't raining. the track was wet though. and the middle sector was too wet so they modified the track. short. first time driving on a wet track. on slick tyres. good luck. i entered the first corner too fast. turning the steering didn't result in any change in direction. i was like omg what's happening. tappity tapped the brakes to induce some oversteer and i learnt how little grip i actually had. took me a few laps to get used to the different conditions. and changing entry speed into the corners. had a duel with willie. we had good fun. wet is really fun. but driving in someone else's slipstream makes me dirty. and wet. really trains smoothness. watched a corporate event. they had a proper race with safety car and all. well. the safety car spun on the wet track. LOL. should have let me drive that. oh well. feel like sleeping now folks. bye bye!

Volkswagen Polo 1.4L DSG vs Fiat Grande Punto 1.4L

2009-11-20T22:35:00.010+08:00

Been awhile since i had a car review. But finally, the petrol head is back! I dedicate this post to all my car loving friends, Alvin, Jeremy, Aldric, Willie "Drift King" and all other friends who secretly love cars but don't dare to tell me in fear that i would go on and on about cars.

So the new Volkswagen Polo has just been launched in Singapore. Must say it seems very impressive. And so i shall compare it with another car of it's class. Initially i wanted to compare the renault twingo. But that's not sold in sillyspore. so i had no choice but to choose the Fiat Grande Punto. Alvin adores the Punto.

Okay let's look at their similarities. Both cars have 1.4L engines. FWD. They are hatchbacks. And they have less than 100HPs. yeah.. that's all. I don't really know what i'm talking about eh hahaha. Oh. They both start with the letter P. Revelation kenny.

Engine

Like i said. Same engine capacity. The Polo produces 85bhp / 132Nm. The Punto produces 77bhp / 115Nm. So the Polo has a better engine.

The engine connects to the Gearbox.

The Punto comes with a 5 speed automatic gearbox. It has the pseudo-manual +/- thing but having driven a punto, i wouldn't want to fiddle around with the gearbox too much. It does things like refusing to engage D. then it starts beeping. not funny when it happens at a traffic light right alvin? So punto has a fail gearbox. As for the Polo, it has a VERY impressive gearbox. Does DSG ring a bell? Yes. 7 speed DSG. Traditionally, one would expect to find 7 speed Dual Clutch gearboxes in performance cars like the BMW M3. So what makes the Polo's 7 speed DSG special? It weights only 79kg. That's lighter than jeremy. The Polo's gearbox has a shorter first gear and a taller seventh gear. The shorter first gear means that the Polo is able to accelerate more quickly from standstill. The taller seventh gear acts as a overdrive for highway cruising. This means improved fuel economy and greater comfort because the engine isn't revving so high and making the whole car vibrrrrate. More pleasant on the ears too. Polo gearbox wins hands down. No fight. Next!

The gearbox connects to the driveshaft which connects Wheels.

I have nothing to say about the wheels though. Except that the Polo has nicer looking rims than the Punto. But that's subjective. I think the Punto's rims look more like a seashell because it has so many spokes. And the Punto's rims are plastic. They only cost SGD$70. I know. As for the brakes. The Punto comes with front disc and rear drums. The Polo comes with discs both on the front and rear. Front discs are ventilated. Polo wins again.

So now, we have established that the Polo has better performance. Now let's look at the disgn of the cars.

Exterior

The Punto has the Maserati styled front grilles. That's a good thing. The 3 door coupe looks pretty sweet too. From the rear, it doesn't look too attractive though. The boot cover looks rather swollen. Like bulbous. Some might like it. But i don't. Retangular-ish exhaust. Very sporty.

3 door punto.

Polo polo polo. It really reminds me of the current Golf. I almost called it a Golf. The Polo is simply pretty. The designers seemed to go for a more angular look. Front headlamps are aggressive looking. Imagine seeing them flashing in your rear view mirror. I would move aside.

The rear brake lights are cute. Big squares. And practical too. Sure to dazzle the eyes of the sleepy taxi driver behind you. Good!

Interior

Ter'ribile. That's what the italians would call it. Having driven the Punto, i hated everything about the interior. Air con outlets look like they belonged to my dad's old lancer. When i say old i mean 15 years ago. Buttons are horrible to press. They're all too soft. Climate control a.k.a aircon system has an ugly orange display and i can see pixels on the display. Like my digimon. Have to say though. The Punto with a skydome/glass roof gives the interior a very nice glow when out in the afternoon. But the buttons controlling the sunroof tends to stick in after pressing. That can be annoying. Quality of the interior is questionable.

The Polo on the other hand has a very pleasant interior. Just seeing it makes me want to smile. The headlamps are controlled by a dial. Simple. Kinda like the dials you find in the BMW 1 series. Everything else looks standard like the other Volkswagens. In fact, the inside looks as classy as the more expensive volkswagens. Professional looking dashboard display and stereo. From the inside, looking at the side mirrors make me feel like i'm in a spaceship.

All in all, the Volkswagen Polo makes a better drive than the Punto. Volkswagen is also a trusted brand compared to the Fiat. When i see Fiats on the road, weird backronyms comes to mind. Like "Fix It Another Day". But i can realy think of anything for Volkswagen. However the best part is the price of these cars. The Punto cost $76,900. The Polo cost $65,900. Honestly, what makes the Punto $11,000 more expensive? I can think of a million things to do with $11k. Buy the Polo. Forget the Fiat.

2009-11-14T19:47:00.002+08:00

tonight's my last night in bintan. about time too because i really miss someone back in singapore so much that i wanna take the next ferry out of bintan island. okay that will happened sometime tomorrow afternoon. past 2 days were fun. yesterday went for a sailing lesson. boat was a catamaran. hobie wave. really easy to sail that boat. after that, did some kayaking. and then went for a ping pong tournament. won myself a medal. LOL. i realise that after all the seasports, i do get a little tanner. but because i am already so tan to the point of saturation (???) i lose that extra tan quickly.

today, i went for windsurfing lessons. first time windsurfing and it was interesting. managed to learn to move and to do u-turns. then went to play some more ping pong and in the afternoon, went for a tennis tournament. there was only 4 of us playing. so we played round robin and i played the eventual champion. lost 4-1 but it was rather fun. he was actually good and i put up a pretty good fight. right now, i'm going for dinner.

2009-11-13T00:32:00.002+08:00

today was a pretty fun day. first activity was an ATV adventure. It's a 150cc all terrain vehicle which is like a motorbike with 4 wheels. pretty powerful stuff. it started raining halfway so i got a little muddy. waited for the rain to stop then went jet skiing. the jet ski was pretty powerful stuff cos it was meant for 2-3 people each. 1100cc 4 stroke engine. i went single and it was really fun. managed to skim around 56kmh but i just couldn't go any faster cos i was jumping around too much. the water was very choppy because of the winds and it's the monsoon season after all. it also started drizzling while jet skiing and when the rain pelts the face at high speed it's quite painful. after that, went kayaking. kayaking was rather dull compared to everything else i did but i found it pretty relaxing. currents were strong and pulling me out to sea. a little annoying. anyway i got a slight tan. pretty cool.

2009-11-13T00:30:00.000+08:00

bintan

2009-11-12T00:34:00.002+08:00

okay. first day in bintan was awesome. i am living in this place called club med and for people who have experienced living in any club med, you will understand why i like this kind of place. if i wasn't with family, probably go crazyyy. did many shit today. but highlight was playing go-kart. track was only 375m long. but it was bendy which made it fun. the karts weren't too powerful but for such a circuit, it's not so important. the traction though was bad. easily sliding all over the place. but i like to believe that good karts give you the best timing, lousy karts gives you the most learning. learn to drive smoothy lah. the dude at the kart track decided to race with me on my 2nd round. he was fast but couldn't overtake me. i think it would have been the same for me if our roles were reversed. so pretty evenly matched i think. oh and to travel out of the resort to do things like karting, we arranged for a cab to pick us up. cab my foot. they got us a car from a car rental company and we had our own personal driver who opened doors for us, talked to us and told us about bintan's good stuff. cab? more like chaffeur man. he drove a manual altis. first time seeing a manual altis. pretty okay car i guess. alright gotta go.

i'm missing you.

2009-11-09T19:24:00.002+08:00

the past few days have been simply splendid. but the happier i am now, the sadder i will be when i leave. and that makes me sad now. today, i drove 200km just to get my mind off things. it reached a point where i just wanted to go home as fast as possible and get out of the car.

2009-11-01T16:16:00.001+08:00

climb on today was great. atmosphere was good, company was fun. and met many people. climbing wise, was okay. great improvement from last year. flashing harder routes. endurance today was alright.

2009-10-31T22:24:00.000+08:00

i've got this sudden craving for some mudpie. i don't know why.

climb on tmr. how exciting.

2009-10-30T20:00:00.003+08:00

today, i woke up to aching forearms and raw fingers. went karting again. first session, the kart was really slow. suspect rev limiter was screwed so the kart could not accelerate fast enough? damn retarded. i did the whole track without using brakes at all. it was too slow. went for a 2nd round but told them to get another kart out. and this time, the kart was tuned properly. we all had a good time jousting and trying to overtake each other. it wasn't a hot day though so the track wasn't warm enough to give us enormous traction. so karts were sliding around quite a bit. but i think the sliding and all trained me to be smoother in my driving. turn too fast and i slide. turn too slowly and i won't make the turn. was pushing myself hard too. so very very exciting.

get well soon mudpie.

2009-10-28T01:20:00.002+08:00

today i went lead climbing again. and i still can't send that 6A+. its getting closer. but leading is so different from toprope. i shouldn't have spent most of my time toproping on CA's indoor walls. firstly, top rope doesn't train much. and the indoor walls are too short. so today, i decided to focus more on bouldering and lead climbing. right now i need more balls to do those bouldery moves on lead. then i can start pushing past 6B on lead. and i realise i have been neglecting bouldering with my new found love for leading and falling. need to boulder more because i wanna take part in 1 full season of bouldering (boulderactive, rockmaster and pumpfest) before i do leave for the states. Climb On is this sunday. don't think i can do much since i haven't been bouldering much. just go there and see the difference between last yr and now. and generally bask in the atmosphere.

after i ORD, i think i shall start a training programme in the boulder gym. I will have about 2 months of free time anyway. STRONG STRONG.

2009-10-26T23:07:00.002+08:00

the whole idea of karting has got me very very excited. especially after they installed lap timers at kartright. right now i have a 51s lap. however, i believe my kart was slow that day as i did a 55s first lap compared to a sub 53s first lap on the other day which i though i was faster. so i think can be faster with the right kart. it's a little annoying that the karts need constant tuning so much so that sometimes, the kart is just plain slow. but i guess, it's now all about doing the perfect lap and then the timing will improve when i do get a properly tuned kart. consistency!

2009-10-24T14:33:00.002+08:00

i believe that in a relationship of any sort, there are a few stages.

1) Couple meet, they find something interesting about the other party and get to know each other.

2) Things get better, both parties are happy with each other. The honeymoon period. Some couples get together at this stage. Some don't. No difference though.

3) Honeymoon period over. Cracks form. Problems arise. Both parties have their differences. Now, it comes down to how they settle their differences. Handle it wrongly, they break up. That's where most relationships end. Play your cards right, relationship is strengthened. Both parties trust each other more and know that their partner is the right one for them. Well, more or less.

4) Step 2 and 3 repeats itself time and again. Everytime it occurs, it's like a small obstacle in the relationship. Overcome it, relationship becomes stronger.

So what's the right way to handle step 3? I believe every person is different so there is no "textbook" method to handling problems. However, in every situation, i believe that problems have to be solved and avoiding the problem isn't helping the relationship's long term future. Using the analogy of the stairs, every stair is an obstacle. By avoiding a problem/skipping a stair, the next step becomes higher and harder to surmount. However by taking it stair by stair, it's now possible to reach the top of the building. Overcoming each individual stair gives the relationship a firmer foundation and makes it more solid. It becomes easier to overcome the next stair. However, by skipping stair, eventually, you find yourself doing the impossible, trying to climb a wall.

that's why i believe in my approach to solving problems. not happy with something, say it out. prevents a catastrophic volcanic eruption from occurring.

2009-10-24T01:12:00.002+08:00

reliant k is a good band. they play nice sounding music. but i wonder why they're called reliant k. the name holds connotations of drug abuse. drug addicts are reliant (slightly different spelling) on drugs. K is for ketamine. relient k. i am a ketamine abuser. hmmm. just a random thought. ponder ponder.

2009-10-23T23:06:00.002+08:00

today was a fun day. started off the day with tennis at TP with rayner. won both my matches. 6-2 and 6-3. we both were not playing well after not playing in a long time so it was a matter of who was serving and returning better.

after that, rushed down to kartright speedway where i met willie and his dad. everyone knows his dad and as a result, everyone knows willie. watched his dad try out the circuit. unlucky he took the slower kart. then we watched some super fast karts (30+ hp compared to the 6.5hp we were using). then it was our turn to go out. managed a few pretty fast laps. helps that i am light. means can corner faster and accelerate faster. had great fun today.

tomorrow, i am supposed to be down for the nike human race in the morning. but because i am lazy to wake up early, and i want to go climbing instead, and for some other reasons, i chose not to run. so i will be going climbing in the morning. then, i will be going home to rest and wash up and then i will be going karting in the evening. the weekend's gonna be a blast!

2009-10-23T23:04:00.002+08:00

taken at 530am in the morning at pasir ris. 6 mins before the next train arrives. think the lady kan chiong. either that or she's rushing seats with somepeople whom i can't see. don't you just love singaporeans? they are amusing.

2009-10-23T23:00:00.001+08:00

gigantic spoiler on a honda city. looks ugly as hell. sure VTEC (yo!) and all. but a spoiler? think again. maybe on the new 2009 city. maybe. but definitely not on this.

2009-10-22T23:33:00.003+08:00

so the SAF has this e-prep thingy where i can apply for courses and use the $350 credits to pay 90% of the cost. sounds cool so i shall do it since i have so much free time. decided on the following courses.

1) Avoiding Grammatial Errors in Business Writing $85
2) Dynamic Decision Making $45

The remaining was a pretty tough decision though.

I could choose between doing NTU's Intro to Economics which consisted of:
-Fundamentals of Microeconomics
-Fundamentals of Macroeconomics
-Products & Cost
-Fiscal & Monetary Policies

For this, i cover 4 topics and get 1 cert saying "Intro to Economics"

The other choice was doing 3 programmes by Skillsoft.

1) Basic Concepts in Microecomics
2) Foundations of Macroeconomics
3) Products and Markets

3 certs. But it doesn't seem as "tough" and comprehensive as the ntu one.

Since i am not a firm believer in the paper chase, i shall go for the ntu one because it seems more challenging. sounds fun. now i just need to find time to complete.

2009-10-20T01:55:00.002+08:00

today, i finally started lead climbing. its amazing the how i can toprope 6B+ on 8m walls but find difficulty in 6a+ lead on 15m walls. height difference plus the scariness of lead adds to the difficulty. but climbing outdoors is fun. found 3 new projects of which 1 is lead and 2 are still toprope.

2009-10-18T00:22:00.001+08:00

it's disappointing at times when friends fall short of expectations. when promises are made and broken, there's disappointment. how to live this way?

2009-10-15T06:06:00.001+08:00

last night i had a really fun night. food was good, company was great.

2009-10-09T18:16:00.002+08:00

2nd time go-karting. the owner knows willie's dad. played 2 sessions today with a lunchbreak in between. it was really fun. and tiring. after the 2nd session, i was aching a little in weird places. managed a few fast laps though. it was rather expensive to play so much go-kart but money was well spent.

2009-10-09T01:08:00.001+08:00

6 hours of climbing and bouldering (mainly bouldering) is damn tiring. but really fun and i feel like it was a productive day. should climb like that more often. fingers are now raw, bruise on hips and eye lids heavy. love this shit.

2009-10-08T00:07:00.002+08:00

jeremy reckons the dark ages has arrived. i think so too. all the bickering, fighting can't go on. oh well. ORD in 1 month's time.

2009-10-06T12:01:00.001+08:00

officers can be so disappointing at times. however, i would rather just put it down to doing stupid things under the influence of alcohol.

2009-10-05T20:57:00.001+08:00

riding pillion on a motorbike can be quite exhilarating. being in a car at 130kmh is pleasant but 100kmh on a bike can be scary. matter of getting used to though. i wonder if any pillion has fallen asleep on a bike before. hmmm.

Life in the Ace Bde

2009-10-05T16:33:00.002+08:00

Life in the ace bde was great and all. Until nice people got posted out and not so nice people got posted in. I was listening to P!nk's funhouse and i think 2 lines in the song describe the Ace Bde.

"This used to be a funhouse
But now it's full of evil clowns"

GO-KARTING IS DAMN FUN

2009-10-02T14:15:00.003+08:00

Like seriously. It's as fun as driving real cars.

2009-10-02T01:12:00.002+08:00

having guard duty now. 2 turn outs. and now back in branch relaxing for awhile. today's duty is boring. nothing happened. my psp ran out of batt. my handphone is silent. but alvin called and that broke the monotony for awhile. can't wait to go melbourne. nothing else to blog about.

2009-09-29T18:27:00.003+08:00

in the past, being an ORD personnel is valid grounds to not participate in exercises or any form of work. the understudy is there to take over. in fact, ORD-ing is a passport to sleep the day away without anyone's interference. however, under the new management in branch, being an ORD personnel means having to do most of the work because i am a "lao jiao" (old bird). who supposedly know everything. that doesn't make sense though because there is no point in keeping my system sharp.

about today, i was reading newspaper in vegas when suddenly, i was called to be vehicle commander for some exercise in 4sir. talk about depressing. the whole idea of being in lim chu kang camp scares me because i had many bad memories of that place from numerous exercises like Ex Kocha Singa and Ex Leopard I and II. well i still managed to make it back to camp by 2pm but somehow, a one time occurence became a full day commitment tomorrow. i was to be vehicle commander which is to help the driver in parking the vehicle, make sure he doesn't get into an accident, and make sure the driver doesn't sleep while driving. well, i had 5 hours of sleep over the past 2 days. what if the vehicle commander's the one falling asleep? well anyway, i think it's a waste of my abilities to do something so boring when i could be using facebook in camp instead. not to mention, i am supposed to be slacking away as an ord personnel.

boy scouts aside, i feel like taking a break from climbing. like a 1 week break. that would free up quite a bit of time to do something new on tuesday and thursday nights this week. like blogging. and playing gran turismo 4 on my ps2. not exactly a fit and healthy lifestyle. but heck, i love peanut butter in pandan bread and i have a body fat percentage of 7.5%. maybe i would play some tennis too. and daddy's back. that means i am no more broke. and i have a car to drive around again. 3 weeks without a car to drive really bothers me. i think driving might even be better than sex. but i can't confirm that. it's just a thought. well i have to go now. a reasonably long blogpost to make up for the recent quietness.

2009-09-26T16:32:00.001+08:00

mum has got f1 tickets. at the pit grandstand which are worth $1k plus. but she's watching it alone. sis has got tickets for f1 qualifying. and she's watching it alone too. i guess they know that if i wanted to watch it badly enough, i would buy the tickets. well i watched it from marina mandarin and the view was pretty good.

2009-09-25T13:24:00.002+08:00

Some things which recently annoyed me.

Work in camp.
Shouting match with mum every night.
~~UK Uni applications~~ Even though i already decided to study in Michigan, USA.
An issue i wouldn't want any tom dick or harry to know cos its none of their business.

Yesterday after work, i decided to take leave today because i needed a break from work. Jeremy suggested playing tennis today but a little last minute so i suggested hiking. I didn't want to stay home because of all the quarrels i have been having at home. Sometimes, i wonder why i even bother to go home every night when i can stay in camp and avoid the quarrels. But i really like sleeping on my king-sized bed. Hiking today was apt. Because it kept me away from work, and home. Took my mind of things. Hiking is a really fun exercise because it allows me to escape the real world. In the jungle, my world suddenly becomes the trees standing around me. Peaceful. After hiking today just did some random stuff. Had a drink at macs, and even watching jeremy open a bank account at DBS was fun. Train ride home was long and tiring though. Good thing i had my book with me. It's a really good book called "Massacre in Munich". For anyone with a hatred for ak-47 carrying jihadists, this pretty violent book is a pleasant read.

2009-09-25T00:16:00.002+08:00

today was hell in camp. new officers, make me do work that old officers used to do themselves. Hence, i find myself at a lost at times although these officers expect me to know it since i have been in branch the longest. I end up doing a lot of work. Their work. damn it.

2009-09-21T01:16:00.004+08:00

"Laksa, nasi lemak and bak kut teh — these are some of the food Malaysia will lay claim to.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said there were many dishes synonymous with Malaysia’s identity but they had been “hijacked” by other countries."

so some malaysian minister wants to protect the intellectual rights to Malaysian food. quite rubbish i think. good thing she's being ridiculed by her fellow malaysians. i mean seriously. malaysian food????

“In the three months, we will identify certain key dishes (to declare as Malaysian). We have identified laksa ... all types of laksa, nasi lemak and bak kut teh,”

all types of laksa? does that include katong laksa, changi village nasi lemak, chong pang nasi lemak? and really bak kut teh as a national dish for a country with 60.4% muslims. you really sure?

she talks about not letting other countries hijack their food. but that's how food evolves over the years. by crossing borders and getting its own distinct taste from different countries. that's exactly why we have so many different kinds of laksa. some people prefer the penang type. some like the ones we find at katong. but does it really matter whether it comes from singapore or malaysia? no. it only matters whether i like it. looking at prata for instance, even within singapore, people are able to taste the difference between the jalan kayu one and the one at upper thompson road. and these happy people have their own preference for prata. well my point is. no point identifying laksa as malaysian if it's gonna taste different across the border.

let's look at chicken rice. wiki says:

Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of Chinese origin mostly associated with Singaporean cuisine, and lesser so for Malaysian cuisine or Thai Cuisine, although it is also commonly sold in neighbouring Thailand, and found in Hainan, China itself. So-called due to its roots in Hainan cuisine and its adoption by the Hainanese overseas Chinese population in the Nanyang area (present-day Singapore), the version found in Singapore region combines elements of Hainanese and Cantonese cuisines along with culinary preferences in the Southeast Asian region. The dish was popularised in the in the 1950s by Moh Lee Twee, whose Swee Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant operated from 1947 to 1997.

Clearly it originated in singapore. but the whole point of this is not to lay claims to who it belongs to. because the chicken rice in ipoh, is served with bean sprouts unlike that in singapore. In malacca, the rice is served as riceballs. a totally different eating experience i must say.

well moving away from the whole food topic, i wonder how such people become ministers. minister of tourism to be exact. she doesn't show much sensitivity to her own countrymen by wanting to identify bak kut teh as a national dish. might be alright to do that in singapore. but malaysia is a country that canes women for consuming alcohol. hello a little sensitivity please!

she's supposedly well educated too yet she makes such weird comments. a search on wiki says that she has a bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery MBBS. i wouldn't want to be her patient though. i fear she might cut me open and go "hmmm the liver would be nice in our bak chor mee". the fear. well. that's all i have to write about. just my 2 cents worth.

on a totally separate note, i slept 16 hours. went climbing today in the afternoon. did a few climbs. was climbing strong. 6B, 6A+, 6B+, 6B+, 5c, 6B+.

2009-09-20T14:57:00.002+08:00

picnic with climbing kakis yesterday was super fun. there was beer, lots of soft drinks, chips, sandwiches, apple pie etc. lots of good stuff. the rockwall there was about 10metres high. quite easy but natural rocks like sandstone pretty harsh on the fingertips. we also did a free solo up the replica of dragon's teeth gate.its only about 6metres high but scary stuff cos the landing zone was littered with small boulders. still it was easy. well here are some pictures from the climbing yesterday.

me climbing dragon's teeth gate with andi in the foreground.

the three of us atop dragon's teeth gate. the overhanging face looks impossible to climb.

plus cliff. natasha is climbing the face which we used.

2009-09-19T04:32:00.002+08:00

based on last calculation, i am 54.6kg, fat percentage of 7.5% and muscle mass of 28.0kg. feeling pretty healthy now although i would prefer to be 2 - 3 kgs heavier. so, plan now is to run to lower fat % and climb more to gain muscle mass.

okay for today, cycled to east coast with the intention to meet up with sec sch classmates. finally found them at pit c7. they also seemed a little shocked to see me because there was a silence of 5 seconds upon my arrival and i couldn't help but feel awkward with all their stares. but i guess the short time spent there was rather fun.

after that, met up with alvin lim and cycled around east coast park and went to parkway macs for supper. talked cock a little and we decided to ride to town. but alas! alvin discovered that his rear tire was flat. so he damn sad. but his dad picked him up so all was fine for him. me on the other hand, faced a long and lonely journey home. rode back by my usual route. east coast park, changi coast road, lyang ave, pasir ris drive 3, pasir ris town park. did about 60km today so pretty proud of myself. arse hurts so much though. and now, cornflakes for supper. and sleep.

2009-09-18T18:39:00.003+08:00

today we went for branch cohesion. lunch at han's @ upper thompson. and bowling at safra yishun. posted scores of 103 and 101. which is like okay since i stopped playing bowling 7 years ago. okay some peektures.

S3 presenting a plaque to Ops Wo.

the farewell present that jeremy and i did for Ops Wo and DYS3. well actually i did it all by myself and it was my idea. but jeremy chose materials and quality control.

while scouting for materials for the farewell present, we saw this outside hilton. its a lamborghini Murciélago

COOKING

2009-09-16T19:31:00.002+08:00

2009-09-16T19:14:00.002+08:00

10km in 52mins. slow i must say. but considering that i did the last 2km in 15mins because of a stitch, its not too bad a timing. time to start training up to my target of 45mins for the nike human race. bye!

2009-09-16T17:34:00.003+08:00

today, i left camp early to buy farewell presents. while waiting for 927 outside camp, a scrambler (motorbike for off road racing) came out of camp and made very loud engine noises to the u-turn. after negotiating the u-turn, the rider threw the cutch and did a wheelie so unimpressive, the front wheels jumped 2cm off the ground. i only have two explanations for what the rider did.

He didn't have the balls to do a real wheelie.
He doesn't know how to do a real wheelie.

one thing's for sure. He did not execute a real wheelie. Still, he had to satisfy his ego by turning back to see if anyone was looking at him. What a douche. and he's from my camp. this guy reminds me of the dude who posted a video of himself "drifting" in a multi story carpark. saw that on youtube. it wasn't a drift because a corolla altis is not a drfit car. in fact, it was a handbrake turn with a bit of opposite lock. nothing to impressive. so i dropped the dude a message saying that it wasn't real drifting and that i was disapponted. doubt he would reply though because his last log in was 9 months ago. maybe he died while trying to drift on some mountain road. or maybe he created a secondary account because he was afraid LTA would fine him for reckless driving. oh he sounded like an ah beng too.

okay. enough about automobiles. or anything with an engine.

well i am going off for a jog now.

2009-09-13T15:24:00.000+08:00

kim clijsters won serena williams. i am so glad cos clijsters beat both the williams sisters in the same tournament. and serena williams did not deserve to win the way she was playing. yay! can't wait for tonight's monza grand prix.

2009-09-12T22:43:00.000+08:00

i guess life has resumed to normal for me. and today i had an awesome day. played tennis in the morning. 4 matches in total. shagged like mad. went to royals cafe in siglap with the tennis gang. food was pretty good. spent 14 bucks on aglio olio, black pepper chicken chop and soup plus drink plus garlic bread. pretty worth it and the place was peaceful.

2009-09-10T00:30:00.002+08:00

i have been trying my best to find things to do to distract myself from certain issues. yesterday was a crappy night of climbing. did 5 routes all of them easy. got a pump that couldn't go away so by my 4th climb, i was having difficulty holding onto jugs. strange i say. probably from a lack of sleep.

today, spent most of the day sleeping in camp. virtually nothing to do besides breakfast, lunch and pool breaks. after work, it was pool of a different sort. took a train down to tampines for a swim. although i went to play water at rayner's house that day, i haven't swam proper laps in 2 and a half years. so today i went for a swim. i can't do front crawl for nuts. breaststroke is still alright because that was my favourite stroke. no stamina nowadays so i did single laps of 50m and rested. only managed 4 laps without stopping. but still, i managed to complete 24 laps in about an hour so it felt really good.

went home, bought ingredients and cooked dinner. made chicken burgers today. 6 burgers. ate all up and now i feel like puking. cooking keeps my mind off things too because it takes up quite a large proportion of the evening. alright. sleeptime now because i need energy to climb tmr.

2009-09-07T23:45:00.005+08:00

today i had a very fun and action packed day which helped me keep my mind of some troubling issues. woke up for tennis at TP with rayner and nick. was a little slow so i had to take a cab. managed to get a mercedes cab which did an illegal u-turn to pick me up. how unprofessional! but i shouldn't complain. did up my new grip on the cab to TP. i never studied at TP but i keep refering to it as school. maybe playing tennis there so often has made me think of it as school. then alvin can say we went to the same school. tennis was alright. didn't play too well but got a good workout + tan.

after tennis, hung out with the boys at tampines. ate at seoul garden till i got a diarrhoea again. nick kept looking at some girl. and rayner decided to buy cheap levis slippers. cheap as in 2 for $29.90. then randomly decided to go rayner's house for a swim. it was rather relaxing and try as we did, nick's shorts refused to tear because it was so big. and it stretched so much. by then, it was arond 7 so we went home.

reached home around 8 o'clock. decided to cook dinner today and i had craving for beef bolognese pasta. found the recipe online, modified it cos i intending to use pre-made bottled pasta sauce (which sucks). went out to buy ingredients. supermarket no more minced beef so i got minced chicken which is sad. pepper, olive oil and pasta. went home, cooked, washed up, showered, ate. and washed up again.now feeling very happy and accomplished. but i wish i had beef isntead of chicken. chicken has that not so happy taste. upload pics soon.

2009-09-07T23:36:00.001+08:00

kim clijsters won venus williams. suddenly, there is fairness in the world. 1 man down, 1 more to do.

i know i am very bad. but like clijsters is like super duper nice while the williams sisters are plain bitchy.

2009-09-03T15:49:00.000+08:00

the proposal is a really funny show. 2am dessert bar is a really nice place to hang out at. oversteer is scary when it happens for the first time.

2009-09-01T23:42:00.002+08:00

climbing strong today. started off with an easy 6A warm up. then did a project of mine. purple 6B+ called mangosteen me. it's seriously tough because the holds are so freaking far apart! i saw some people do it by 2 deadpoints. but i did the sequence with 3 super duper high steps. the point is, i managed to clean the route today despite doing it with 2 rests the last time round. so it a very unexpected send and i am very happy. straightaway tried a 6A+ but i fell at the crux cos i was too tired from mangosteen me. still, i shall do it first thing on thursday and i know i shall send it. didn't climb many routes today cos i was just doing the hard and tiring routes. ended the day trying out a 6C route for the first time. managed to top out only with many many rests so its not clean and i shall try it again the next time round. still, it's going to be changed on the 7th sept hence i doubt i will be able to project it.

drove home after that and really, the CTE is the lousiest expressway to use. how can an expressway be jammed past 10pm. retarded.

missing someone right now.

2009-09-01T01:30:00.003+08:00

today while i was driving on the highway, i decided to practise some double declutch downshifting. so i was practically changing down from 5th to 4th gear throughout my journey. but i must say i am getting the hang of it that sometimes the car doesn't jerk even when i throw the clutch. so that's good. then i went to practise driving at rifle range road again. i am losing it because i have been doing devil's bend too much and devil's bend is easy peasy compared to rifle range. still, very very fun. maybe when i get more used to the car, i can try to be a little faster around the bends.

anyway, the car i am driving now is pretty good. steering alignment is perfect. aircon is cold. tires are good. in fact, the front tires are continental premium contact while the rears are michelin pilot preceda. pretty good tires. nothing much to fear when it rains. engine though, is crap! i wish it was the turbo-ed version seriously. the engine is so weak, its preventing me from killing myself. hmmm oh well. leather seats. yay!

2009-08-29T17:22:00.000+08:00

time to revive my bloggity blog. the past week has been rather fun. climbed on wednesday. sent a new 6B route on my 3rd attmept. thursday was tennis. played superb. friday was climbing again. projecting mangosteen me 6B+ and some red 6a+. gonna send them soon if they don't remove the route by then. today was spent playing tennis at TP. wasn't playing as well as i like but won my match 6-2. pretty pleased about that. lunch was mad. ate as pastamania. spicy chicken pasta with minestrone soup and iced lemon tea. as if thay wasn't enough, i also ordered basil chicken aglio pasta. everything was nice and spicy which made my tummy rumbly after that. but i felt so happy.

2009-08-28T10:57:00.003+08:00

i realised i haven't blogged since last saturday. this is a record. but i don't really have anything to blog about. life's been really boring these days. anyway, 73 days to ORD. i am not looking forward to ORD as much as before though because once i ORD, there isn't much to look forward to. I think i will find work. And earn some money. But then again, isn't that as bad as having not ORD-ed?

2009-08-23T02:34:00.009+08:00

tennis on friday was awesome. i reached a stage (the zone) where suddenly, i could hit everything hard and it just stayed in. and not only that. everything flew to where i wanted it to be in the corner. i could just go "come on!" at every shot but i had to conserve energy at the level i was playing at. why couldn't i play like that during my A' div days? even the serve was going in with the right angles. i really wanna play more tennis now. psyched.

START OF CAR REVIEW

today, i had a chance to drive the corolla altis. its a rental which i begged my dad to rent cos i wanted to feel what it was like. this is what i think about it.

the engine is pretty peppy. it is especially fun to drive with the ECT switch on. but that burns the fuel up fast. and because i am trying to get the same experience from the camry, i drive with a heavy foot and so i burn petrol faster. but honestly, when driven normally, the car is pretty fuel economical. i hear, it can go as good as 15km/L but i think 12km/L is a reasonable figure for happy driving. as for the acceleration, it's pretty good from the 60-120kmh region unlike the camry which blitz the 100-160kmh region. but in singapore, only crazy people like me touch 140kmh. the altis doesn't accelerate very well after 160kmh.

the handling is above average. i think its close to the lancer in terms of handling. enough feedback while i was driving. i tried it out on my secret test track and it was good. brakes were good and bitey which i think is helped by the fact that the car is lighter than the camry i regularly drive. 300kg lighter in fact. think of it as 1 baby elephant less in the boot. tyre grip was good but then again, everyone use different tyres so i shan't comment much on this.

comfort. good. the camry is too comfortable. the altis however, strikes the right balance between comfort and road feel. suspension isn't as soft as that of the camry so the car rolls less while cornering. however, i feel more of the uneven road surface. i like that anyway. still, this is not a sports car. it isn't even close. the lancer's suspensions is still sportier than that of the altis. but you get more comfort from the altis. as for insulation from the engine noise, FULL MARKS FOR THE altis. okay it isn't as silent as the lexus. but a car has to make some noise still. the lancer is too noisy. i feel the camry is a little louder because it has a larger 2.4L engine. the altis however is quiet. but not so quiet till i can't hear anything. i can just hear the gentle humming of the engine which reassures me that the car hasn't stalled or is running on nuclear power. it makes a noticeable growl in the higher revs but then again, a person who drives in the higher revs would want to hear a growl. for these reasons, i give it full marks for noise insulation.

overall, you will be getting more than what you paid for an altis i.e. this car is good value for money. a camry would suit a successful business man in his 40s. but before this bloke got successful, he needs a drive. and he would find it in an altis.

END OF CAR REVIEW

as for tonight, i went to paragon and had some coffee. then i went to thompson road for prata. and then to devil's bend for a spin. it was a night to remember (:

good night folks.

2009-08-21T08:36:00.002+08:00

yesterday was a good climbing day. i haven't climbed so hard before in my life. did a 6B (minus 3 handholds), 6B, 6A, 5C, 6B+, 6B+, 6B+, 6A, 5C+. sent a grey/black 6B+ on my 5th attempt. really psyched after that cos first time i did the route, i was like "how the **** am i gonna do it?" Sent a 6B eliminate too with a nice deadpoint/dyno move and a slappy crux. psyched. and tried a crimpy 6B+ on overhang which was painful and scary but really great fun.

today, took the day off. but i'm back in camp to help out with the transformers trucks. then i will be going home to play tennis and hang out.

bye bye.