Link to Asia one interview.

 

 

 

So funny video.. Must watch..

Japanese people sure are creative!!

skipped CF class on Friday to participate in the Caltex National GoKarting Challenge in East Coast Park. So excited for this day to arrive as our group (Jingpeng, Melvin, Zhong Han and Myself) have been going to Malaysia to practise. This is a time relay system type of competition, any team of 4 to complete 20 laps (5 laps per driver) within the shortest time wins!

 

Our qualifying lap was supposed to be scheduled at 1pm but guess what.. we only started at 3.30pm!! My god.. the wait was long and everyone was like so moody due to the bad weather. But i guess the wait was fruitful in a sense that we had time to go around the track and observe and strategise how much shld we brake and accelerate on each turns. We were assigned to PIT Lane 4 and I was the 1st driver followed by Melvin, Jingpeng and Zhonghan. As the first driver, I had the opportunity to go another lap as our warm up lap as well as to familiarise with the vehicle. The gokart on the first day wasnt the best in terms of its brakes, when i tapped the brakes and it wasnt as effective as i wish it had and i needed to brake early on every turn which would compromise our timings but the acceleration and handling was good. I pushed the vehicle really hard but due to the brakes, i had to be more cautious when tailgating other competitors, thus overtaking chances were slim but i still did overtake a team. Melvin overtook the most on that day, in fact there was a major pileup of vehicles due to collision and luckily Melvin wasnt one of those and he cooly drove pass the affected vehicles!! Well Done Melvin!! Overall the whole team did well, we came in first for our heats and 3rd overall fastest for Friday. Our timing during qualifying was 12mins 13.45seconds. Didnt have any photos that day as Demy (our team photographer) wasnt around.

 

Though we did well, we still had to get a confirmation if we were in the Finals on Sunday. At about 11pm plus on Saturday, Jingpeng called me to inform that our race was scheduled at 1045am on Sunday. Almost cant sleep on Saturday night, dreaming on winning the race, getting a trophy, perhaps some Caltex vouchers or perhaps a prize Gokart???

 

The wait on Sunday was so so much lesser, probably due to the presence of the VIP, MOS for Ministry of Trade and Industry. The track has been slightly modified, more chicanes were added to slow down gokarts before a turn where a majority of accidents have happened. However, it did not really bother us as we felt it would give us more speed after the hairpin corner. After the safety briefing, we were assigned to Pit Lane 3 (since we were 3rd fastest for our Category on Friday's Qualifyings). Sequence of drivers were still the same and on my warm up lap, the feel of the vehicle was great... car's acceleration was responsive, brakes were really good and handling was also top notch!! My personal target was to of course go through fastest and if possible to overtake the front 2 vehicles in front of me. First 2 laps, i have been stuck behind Gokart from Pit Lane 2, can only keep tailgating him and wait for my chance. So damn frustrating, as he wasnt going fast enough and was defending his space around him, i couldnt get around him. however on the hairpin, he took the wider corner which was the normal racing line and i cut into his inner lane after enjoying much slipstream from the back to take advantage of his wider turning angle! One down, one more kart from Pit Lane 1 to go!! By the way, the driver from Pit Lane 1 was a female driver, wonder how they got fastest in qualifying but she must have got some balls to get that fast. Anyway, after overtaking that Pit 2 kart, that girl was already 20 metres ahead of me with only 3 laps left. No choice but to step all the way and leave the braking to the last minute to catch up with her. One lap later, finally caught up with her and was following really closely as well but i knew i had to be careful as if she brakes hard and i hit her back, i may end up disqualified. Dunno if shes that type of kayu driver, i can only keep a bigger distance away from her. Upon making the hairpin turn, she finally noticed i was at her back and she started to stumble! She was more aggressive and started to approach corners at faster speeds to try shake me off but she suffered her own deserts when she miscontrolled her kart and left me with a chance to zoom past her!!! Hurray!! Last 2 laps for me before i enter into the pits and hand over the kart to Melvin. That was perhaps the clearest of tracks that i have driven, no cars in my sight and all behind me. but before i entered the pits, i was within 10 metres from the Pit lane 6 vehicle who started last which meant that i was a lap in front of him! As usual dived into the pits with my hand up indicating my intention and the attention quickly switched to Melvin when he took control of the kart. Melvin was able to do a couple of clear laps as the time he was out there, the other vehicles had to do their switch. He used his jerking method and indeed he was able to accelerate faster after taking the corners. Luckily Melvin didnt hurt himself after another team collided him on the rear. and luckily the kart didnt spinoff!! if not i may not know will happen to the final result??!!! Melvin came into the pits to do the switchover 1st. Jingpeng was up next. I think the pits was really full when Jingpeng was about to leave and precious seconds were wasted awaiting pit 1 and 2 karts to clear the pits. Zhonghan next and he was real fast over the hard left then right corner. On some times, he even had to manouvre through tyres that got stuck in the middle of the road as a result of poordriving from karts in front of him. Thankfully, not much time was wasted.. Zhonghan did well during his turn and was able to control the kart through some melee of karts!!! We were first to complete the race! Our timing was 10 mins 29.5seconds. About 1min and 34 seconds faster than our first try!! Excellent improvement and teamwork!!

 

Right after taking some victory photos, we were asked into the airconditioned Media Tent for interview. Channel 8 and U were there as well as Straits Times and CNA. Took alot of photos Thanks to Demy and got a Timex Watch as Prize together with a Gold Medal.

 

Thanks to Jingpeng, Melvin and Zhong Han for making Team APEX possible. We will be back next year to defend out Cat B title!!

First time visiting Chinese Garden after Bro Liao told that they are having fireworks and got a nice display of lanterns.

Took various photos with different lantern designs as well as a video for the fireworks..

Signed up for Caltex Go Kart Challenge a while back with a couple of frens (Jingpeng, Zhonghan and Melvin) and today was the practice lap. The objective was to get used to the gokart but the track wasnt what we gonna race in on the actual day. Weather was bad on the way there, was pouring v hard and by the time we reached the track, the first group of racers we already there "drying" the wet track for us.

 

To make matters worse, the go karts were not on wet weather tyres. Instead they were still on slicks which were meant for a dry track. That caused us to skid when making fast turns at corners as well as getting a whole lot of dirt + mud churned up onto ourselves. Thankfully Demy came along as well and managed to catch some nice photos.

Finally after almost 3 whole months of wait, results were out yesterday. I was initially quite nervous about the results as friends who managed to log in there before me didnt hit their expected targets.. Just hoped i didnt fail Managerial Economics (ME) as it was my least confident paper of all.

 

Thankfully, when i clicked on my academic profile. Managed to get a First class for Principles of Accounting, a Second Upper for Marketing and Macro Economics and passed my Managerial Economics. Was quite happy with the scores especially after spending so many sleepless nights at AMK Macdonalds with Melvin, Jean, Jae and Jermaine.. At least the effort was not wasted and i felt i somehow achieved my own personal target. 

 

School starts next week. One more year to go... All ready to complete my final lap and go into the working world. Hopefully the good economy holds till next June for us. :)

 

Demy and I have been looking forward to the release on 30th Aug since we last saw the preview a few months back and it was surely worth the wait.. in fact i would rate it higher than Shrek 3, which was short of content in my point of view. If you haven watched it yet, then better go get tickets soon. Almost a 2hr movie and its the best rating movie with 4.5/5 stars!!!!!

 

In case you still dunno what is this movie about, highly recommended that u shld watch this preview..

 

  

Whole morning was at home watching my monitor- both stocks and studying CFA. Mind boggling looking at two tiled screens!! 

DowJones didnt do well the night before. Dropped 1.5% and it definitely affected SouthEast Asian markets. Singapore's STI crashed to a 3.3% fall! Luckily for me, made a small tidy sum before it crashed. Glad i decided to sell my position early

 

Went for my 2nd Hepatitis A jab today with my mum and actually wanted to eat crab bee hoon at Elias Mall but realised shop dont open so early. Afterwhich i went back home again to watch my monitor. As i didnt buy anymore shares and wasnt paying particular attention to any of what im currently holding, i was surfing around arofanatics and liverpool newsnow. A 5ft cabinet tank sales thread caught my eye and thoughts of upgrading my current 3ft to 5ft came up. I quickly seeked mum's permission as well as called my dad. Consent given! Called bro Liao for his advice and arranged for a meeting with the owner this evening after tuition.

 

During tuition, my mind was thinking only about the new tank... heehee...

 

Flew by to pick up Demy and rushed down to Katong.

 

Boy, it looked better than what i thought. Nice sleek black cabinets with matching black silicon for the tank bracing, even have a matching hood with inbuilt lightings. After inspecting the condition, i felt i could tolerate some superficial scratches and flaws on the cabinet as well as on the tank. Couldnt have asked for a better one for $150. Its a steal! Paid deposit on the spot!

 

But i will need to pay for professional movers to get it home. its gonna cost about $120. almost the price of the tank itself. Quite alright as the 12mm 5ft x 2ft x 2ft tank alone already weighs about 250kg without water. Cant see myself handling it myself and neither do i want my dad to get his workers to help, too much of a trouble. Easier off getting pro movers. will get the movers to send them into the house this fri or saturday. So happy for my Blood parrots, new home and more space to grow. Too bad for my longtail goldfishes which is housed in an outdoor fibreglass tank, as my initial intention was to upgrade their home. end up upgrading others. haha. dont worry. their time will come.

 

although mum reluctantly agreed, she commented that our whole house will end up having fish tanks everywhere. As i already have one in my room, one 3ft housing blood parrots downstairs and another 5ft tank outdoors for my goldfish.

 

Come to think about it, Im just so fated with water.... Loved fishing, rearing fishes, boating, kayaking, skiing and whatever related to water (except windsurfing which i haven tried). Strangely, my chinese element is also Water. Could that be the reason? I dont know, but it is surely very coincidental.

 

Cant wait for friday to come, will post some pics soon...

After 3 months of boring Saturday and Sunday nights, the Barclays Premier League is finally back!

 

First game for Liverpool was away to Aston Villa at Villa Park. Benitez started out with Torres and Kuyt in front.

For the first 20 odd mins, the game was under control by Villa, but a lucky break allowed Torres a shot which the keeper managed to deflect away. Kuyt crossed the rebound low and hard back into the 6 yard box and a Villa defender made it 1-0 to Liverpool with an own goal!

 

That made Liverpool gain more possession but it ended 1-0 at halftime.

 

Aston Villa clawed their way back in the 84th min when Liverpool's Carragher handled the ball in the penalty box. Ref pointed straight to the spot and Barry converted the penalty. 1-1. Sad that Liverpool's opening league game have to end up in a draw again!!!!

 

However Gerrard took Captain's responsibility when he did a darting run towards goal and was brought down by Petrov just outside the area. His eventual freekick was swerving high and away from goal initially and it dipped at the last minute with great velocity towards goal. Though the Villa keeper was scrambling from another side to try clear the ball, the fast pace of the ball as well as the top corner placement of the shot made sure he cant palm it away. Excellent response and Villa park roared with Liverpool fans singing!!

 

Great start to the season!

Woke up today at about 10am rather than 830am as today trading was closed. Demy reminded me to go watch Harry Potter before it stops screening. Decided to go to Tampines Mall since i wanted to get a new space pillow at Metro Tampines for my mum and myself.

 

Upon reaching Tampines Mall, headed straight up to GV at top floor and we were amazed by the huge crowd queueing to buy tickets and decided to call off the movie. Sorry Demy, will watch this weekend alright?

 

Went to Metro instead to grab the space pillows. Everything was on sale, 80% discount as they were closing down. Original price was $49++ but paid only about $17 each. Not bad deal for the morning.

 

Afterwards, we headed straight to Pasir Ris fish farm to try find some longtail goldfishes but did not manage to find any as they werent readily available. Instead, we visited some dog farms and fishing/prawning pond within the same area.

 

As we planned to watch the NDP live telecast on tv and it was still quite early at 12noon, i planned to go QianHu in SungeiTengah to find my fishes and i did managed to find the longtail breed i wanted there. bought 4 fishes (3 big 1 small) for $20. Quite pricey as they werent that expensive in other neighbourhood aquarium stores, but didnt care too much as i travelled 50km (one way)from Tampines (East) to Sungei Tengah (West) and didnt wanna go home empty handed!

 

Watched the entired NDP ceremony at home with mum and Demy and really enjoyed the whole new NDP performance and setup as well as the wonderful display of fireworks.

 

  

 

Although July didnt start off well, it ended on a high note... 

 

Mum was finally discharged from the hospital last tues (31.07.07) after almost 2 months stay in there. This tramatic experience for my mum, myself and our family sure is a big wake up call for us. For all the while, my thinking was that my mum is still young (46 y/o) and nothing will happen to her, but this time i was a whisker away from losing her. So everyone pls cherish your family.

 

Secondly, Laiyou decided to stay in SG to finish her contract. Glad that she got over things that happened back home. Great news for everyone especially when my mum is back home, having Laiyou around to help change her wound dressing and injection of painkillers would be greatly appreciated.

 

Demy is on her new career move in AXA. Wish her good luck in this new office!

 

 

haven been updating the blog recently, its because of so many things happening around home.

 

mum was warded a month back because of persistent on-off fever (not dengue) which caused her not to be able to breathe properly and in two cases she had to be sent into ICU for intensive monitoring.doctors said her condition was vvvv critical and were pessimisstic about her, but thankfully her strong will pulled her through. My maid, Laiyou has been the key figure in taking care of her in hospital since most family members were either at work or in school. Without her, things would have been madness both back at home with our laundries and my two doggies especially and in the hospital, when my mummost needed her help.

 

but things started to get a bit tricky... Laiyou became to act weird in the day, not as chatty as before and eyes swollen like no ones business. Yesterday i came to know that something happened to her family back in her hometown Semuang, Indonesia. Her dad who previously had health problems about a year back has got a relapse and he was in the critical stage in the ICU of a Indonesia hospital. Sadly, he passed away yesterday and she is intending to return back to Indonesia to her family. This time for her back in Singapore was actually

her second contract with us following a 2 year stint with us. Its only 8 months into her new 2 year contract and she may be going home.

 

Im not so worried about my dogs or laundries that can accumulate up the ceiling, but actually more concerned of who is going to be helping my mum do things in the hosp? Even if we got a new maid, she may not know things around home fast enough and  esp without my mum's guidance at home, teaching the new maid may be a problem.

 

July 2007 topped off all my crappy incidents when i had to turn down Demy after previously agreeing to go for a trip in Phuket. Sorry darling. didnt mean to not go, but things at home isnt going well enough for me to leave for a holidays. hope you understand. will compensate you alright?

 

Lastly, just yesterday i made my first buy bid for a stock on SGX mainboard in 2 months, i made a lowball bid of $0.39 for 20 lots when the current price was $0.41. Thinking that i may not get the shares, i just left it and went for class and then hospital. Not knowing at results or market happenings till Anthony called me at 6 plus to inform me that the STI crashed. 

 

Initially, i thought he was joking that STI fell 60 points and the stock that i bought fell to 0.335. but soon i confirmed that its true. SG Govt increased the taxes levied intended at the developers due to the recent enbloc fever. It caused the entire market to plunge and the only thought in mind was SELL for everyone. no wonder it fell so badly..

 

Sadly, i wasnt aware, if not i would have grabbed more at $0.335! Now only have to pay up retrieve the shares. Thankfully, i didnt placed a huge 200lots underball bid as what anthony told me. if not i will have a $78000 bill to foot! haha

 

That sums up what have happened till today, but its the 19th of July only. 12 more days of dreaded July 07 to go. hope nothing else happens.

 

Adding a Liverpool video that took place in 01.01.07. New Years Day when Liverpool took on Bolton at Anfield. Its 2 goals within 2 mins. I loved it and wished to share with you.

 

Liverpool just made their first major signing of this close season. Fernando Torres from Athletico Madrid.

He's fast, skillful, physically strong, able to dribble and strike with both feet and head. Most importantly, he is only 23.

More signings to come soon. So optimistic about the new season under new ownership. Hope LFC sign Quaresmo from Porto.

 

Guess i can never live up to my words to cancel my Starhub subscription due to the mad increment in prices... 

 

Fernando Torres....

currently writing my blog from SGH outside my mum's ward:

 

this incident happened about 2pm in the SGH carpark. i entered the carpark
together with an Altis in front of me. upon reaching the carpark consisting of 2 parallel rows of cars parked facing each other, he chosed to wait in the front part of the carpark and i waited behind him about 6 car spaces away.

there came this lady who walked towards her car, and not knowing where she is going to head, i stood my ground and the car in front made a u turn back facing me and started to inch towards the direction of the lady. just so happen then that the lady's car was just next to my car and i moved back and turned on my left signal to indicate this lot was mine. when the lady's car moved out of the lot, that altis parked head into the lot. clearly, his car was damn slanted as he clearly wanted to get that lot ahead of me and moved my car ahead to ensure he does not get to repark his car.  

on the other hand, after snatching the lot right under my nose, this guy (in his 40s) even walked up to my car and hit my passenger seat side window damn bloody hard and ask me move my car away tgt with vulgarities as he could not park properly. I told him that the whole row of carpark isnt his and doesnt mean that he came first, he will have the next empty lot when he is waiting so far away. His response was, i came in first what, so next lot is his and again all the vulgarities came out. obviously, i wont give in and stayed my ground, he can bloody bang on my window for all he like or even reverse into my car. I even had time to take a photo of his car, but not of his face as that scary cat walked back to his car upon seeing me take up my camera phone. while i waited to get myself a lot, this idiot waited in his car a chance to park properly.  For him to park properly, he need to bypass my car first and i cant see him doing anything to scratch my car as im sure his Altis car will surely be more valuable and newer than my MR. old Civic. 

 

irony is that i got a lot directly opposite his and only when i got my lot, thats when he got to park straight. Upon getting his car parked straight, he gave me one last cheap glance, hate me for all you want, afterall, U DESERVED IT!

 
Personally, throughout these 5 years since i got my wheels, i never acted that badly to "steal" a lot from someone else. and even if i ever  ever would act this way due to whatever reasons, im sure there will be less problems faced than what crap he got from me. As i am sure i got more skill to park head in and if i face any confrontation, just walk away.

 

 

haven been able to surf the net properly let alone chat on MSN as my Microsoft keyboard was faulty. firstly it was the faulty enter key but the other keys were alright. subsequently, it affected the entire keyboard, such that when i pressed any alphabet, all rubbish chunk of letterings will repeating appear causing my entire com to crash. really hated such hardware issues. so for 2 days i had to survive without any keyboard on the computer. for normal surfing of the net was alright, as my usual websites are bookmarked in the favourites list. The problem comes when friends start to chat with me on MSN. i can only show Emoticons and nudge them. haha. Nudge once as yes and twice as no was the response between conversations with Demy.

 

But Microsoft customer service did an excellent job in rectifying the problem. They were quick to respond to emails and made arrangements to come my place for a 1-1 exchange within 2 days of contacting them! so i got a new keyboard after 1 over year of usage. I think its the best aftercare service i got from any hardware manufacturers after self-assembling my computer for so long. Truely justified the price i paid for it..

Support Microsoft for hardware... Software wise... Dont think we have much of a choice unless u are used to the Apple software.

 

Embedded is a video on the new Microsoft gadget as introduced by their CEO Bill Gates, its called the Microsoft Surface. Its an intelligent, interactive computer built into a table top, first response was i will have a real bad neckache after using it for a while as i will be looking down everytime.

Its been school holidays for me since exams ended on 21st May and have been lazing around for the past month. Time really flies.. However, after reading through Anthony's interesting fishing blog, it spurred me on to finally create a blog of my own. Will write about interesting happenings as much as possible. Thanks to Demy dear for recommending me Live Spaces.