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Sunday, October 09, 2005
Pai Chiu Mahjong session and Google Earth
Well, in case you haven't notice I'm pretty damn bored in my current state. With no work and only 1 useful hands, there's really nothing much I can do except stone in front of the PC (typing withh one hand is kinda tiring...), eat, watch stupid tv shows... Basically I'm bored and too well rested..
However my friends with undying love for me agreed to accomodate this One Handed Wonder to a game of overnight mahjong! Muahaha... so I gave my best and did not disappoint them with my mahjong win since a 5 week hiatus.... Sure the 9 Tais Yi Ser Dui Dui Hai Di Lao Yue Zi Mo (Moon scooping underneath the sea + Self Draw win) by LS almost spoiled the fun but in the end we punished him justly for pulling such a disgusting hand. I keep the stats in my side section of this blog.
Anyway, something to share. Realise most of you are getting faster PCs and broadband. Hence you should try the latest craze - Google Earth. It's a free satellite picture of the entire globe, and a brilliant tool for mad scientists, terrorist and Pinky and the Brain to take over the world with free, top notch target mapping. Here are some sample pics - my neighbourhood and the infamous 99 Bends of Singapore:
Tecnical talk 1 - 2 stroke motor and why I love it and you hate it
My first and 2nd bike were both 2 strokers. First bike was a made in Thailand single cruiser commuter/mini cruiser with a pretty zesty 2 stroke engine, similiar to the NSR150 SP (commonly seen with the Repsol paintwork) that's so prevalent here in Singapore. Here's a pic of me and my dear on it, in motion.
It's a very reliable bike, brought me to Hatyai without any difficulty. A bit low on power but still can outrun most if not all 1600 cc cars on acceleration. Top speed only 130 km/h though.
Well my 2nd bike, till now haven't ridden much though had an unfortunate incident already, is reputed to be one of the best cornering bikes in production. Already the 250 cc 2 strokes are known to overtake much bigger bikes in corners and we can still see them in MotoGP250. They aren't very useful as road bikes, due to the powerband/torqueband and insanely high fuel consumption (11 km/l for me). The following dyno chart of a RS250 and 4 stroke RVF400 shows that a 250 cc 2 strokes produce as much or even more power that a 400 cc 4 stroker. However, most of the power of the 2 stroke is achievable at high rpm (approx 9000 rpm) and thus the application to racing.
Dyno chart of Aprilia RS250. Note the gentle slope in the beginning followed by the abrupt steep slope when the "valve opens".
Dynochart of Honda RVF400 (NC30). The power is more readily available across the rpm curve.
That's all.... and for last 'motorcycle speak' a very good diagram to illustrate why
a. 2 strokes sound the way they are (or rather 2 strokes exhaust have a big chamber).
b. why they waste fuel and considered a pollution (inefficient exhaust and fuel separation).
c. the source of power, lies in the ignition every 360 degrees (opposed to 4 stroke having 1 ignition every 720 degrees of rotation).
Friday, October 07, 2005
Ah yes, my clavicle crusher...
The front of the bike. Looks ok yah? The headlights and windshield were shattered. The white paper roll still held behind the shattered windshield was the rose I bought for my dear, which surprisingly survived the crash and remained in the same location.
Well the bike landed on the left side and this is where most of the damage was. Besides the scratches, the clutch lever was broken off (and most probably the culprit for giving me 8 stitches on my hand), left rearset broken off and the left fork slightly dented...
Rear view - note the off centre tail piece...sigh....
And now the worst damaged area, and most probably most expensive to fix - BROKEN front rim and severely bent brake disc. Note that the disc is 4 mm high quality steel... Now I know how lucky I am to escape with only a fractured clavicle....
 
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Still a late bloomer into the blogosphere, I finally chance upon the popular blog search - www.technorati.com. And by using the keywords nus, guitar, ensemble, this is what I found from this blog:
"Timeless Classics!
so there was this concert showcasing the NUS piano ensemble, Guitar Ensemble,Strings and the choir... God! it was a major failure... i hear that the guitar conductor had apparently no musical background and he was conducting the poor choiristers too! it wasnt choral singing per se... the dynamics were mostly loud and louder! he wanted just 10 singers... all antique pieces that required a larger choir and more violinish instruments instead of the stupid guitars!
i fell asleep anyways!
but the worth of the $8 spent on the ticket was made when we decided to crash into the artistes reception! MAN! such amazing food.. mini pizzas, mini eclairs, mini that mini this... awesome.. and some good shit wine too! which jospeh became drunk on and provided us with enough entertainment on our way to Karaoke TV..."
I couldn't help grinning. I don't know why...
Oh, also managed to...uncover some fellow Genus members blogs...
prettypickled = by Priscilla, an Alto junior which I'm not very familiar of but Mich challenged me to find her blog so...
++Lonewolf++ = by Marie, currently yr 2 in Bass and a Genus comm member. Forgot her post in comm though...
it's my life...story = by Siyang...I think he's the PM.
Ah well, I'm blogging all this crap because it's 3 am and I can't sleep. I never thought I'll not be able to sleep but after 2 weeks of VERY VERY good rest I actually need some motivation to kun...
Oh yes, seeing my bike tomorrow....pictures promised.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Me blogging at 1035 am on a weekday?
Yes....something unfortunate has happen to me AGAIN such that I can leisurely blog at home, typing with only 1 hand. More details later but this is how I look now....
Prior to this I hadn't been on an ambulance nor had a fracture nor had stitches before....now I can experience all 3 at the same time! Yippee....
Anyway...some interesting stuff which you might want to interest your friends or even try it at your really drunk and crazy birthday party.....streaking. Click link to find out more. I got this site off Cowboy Caleb's blog, which I think is kinda popular in Singapore (and not as boring as the 2 other famous ones, mrbrown and mr miyagi).
Oh yes, I heard S'pore wanting to raise service standards...maybe this can be a valuable refernce point...
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
16 Sep 05 - Alaskan experience
American Final Frontier. When someone mention Alaska, images of snow capped moutains, leaping salmons, grizzly bears and glaciers spring to mind. Not the ideal location for a 'sunny boy' from Singapore. Before the trip, I bought long johns, scarf, jacket, sweater....basically extremely useless stuff in Singapore context. However reliving the piercing cold in Taiwan (Ah Mei wasn't wearing jacket when she did the advert! Bloody swindlers...) I feel that a little kiasuism is good this time....
After a gruelling 26 hours flight (SIN-TOKYO-SEATTLE-ANCHORAGE) we finally arrived! Collected the rental car and together with the bus provided by our USAF counterparts, we head for our dorms.
Oh btw, pictures intensive. Modem users beware.
This is my accomodation. The room is huge by SAF standards. And let's not forget...the view!
The moutain ranges and the sun creates quite a view under different times.
What is so special about the trip, about Alaska, you may ask? My friends were not very impressed with the assorted moose nugget (i.e. dried moose droppings) derived souvenirs I've gotten for them. Yes, yes, they're pretty useless but it's still 100% made in Alaska! But it's still a fact that I suck at buying gifts that are appreciated, at least. So be warned, for those reading this blog. State explicitly what you want (or don't want) else just prepare to get what my warped mind fancy. "Pink, cute and useful" does not work!
Hmm...what's my most memorable experience? Besides the 2 lap dance (hehe....) at the ABC, I have the privillege of falling sick on the last day. Splitting headache, a total lost of appetite, a perpetual feeling that cold air is circulating my ribcage....oh t's terrible. The 30 fucking hour long flight back was already a torment to my healthy flight mates, so guess how glad I am when we finally arrive at Singapore at 0100 am on Monday.
Of course, I didn't know then but I was actually nursing the great Singapore epidemic - dengue fever. A blood test 3 days after I touchdown in Singapore confirmed that my blood platelets are way to low to be considered normal, and off to SGH A & E. I was actually feeling pretty ok that day, with my fever subsided and me reluctantly dragging myself to work. They believe I was infected just before my Alaska trip, and 1 week later a ful blown dengue has developed, wit me getting a high 39.2 degrees fever. Well, I'm glad I'm in Singapore when it struck...imagine stuck in Alaska because of a bloody mosquito!
Anyway, it was an...interesting stay in the hospital. I wisely rejected the suggestion to go to the horrid NUH and chose instead to cram myself in a C ward in SGH. I think it's a pretty good stay (although the food will make NS cooks proud) and 3 days later, I'm discharged! With more days of MC to enjoy my Harry Potter and FF VII Advent children, I'm quite glad actually.
And now here I am, completing this entry that started in Alaska and completed in Singapore 9 days later. 3 Harry Potters done, watch FF VII twice, picking up the FF VII game again and most work promptly ignored, and all I can think of Alaska is how miserable I was during the sick period. "Home sweet home".... and thanks for the 'dengue holiday'!
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Caught cold in Alaska...but at least I can upload the pics! Tuesday, September 06, 2005
This will leave foreigner scratching their heads in wonder but I don't care!
In Singapore, living in Highly Dangerous Buildings (HDB), people have already got used to Paying and Paying. In fact, you don’t just pay, you Pay Unit Bankrupt (PUB). If that’s not enough, somebody still Purposely Want to Dig (PWD) from you. What can you do if you are in a Money Oriented Environment (MOE).
With the current Mad Accounting System (MAS), you are forced to Pay the Sum Ahead (PSA) which make some people Permanently Owe Some Banks (POSB) and live on Loan Technique Always (LTA). When you are sick, you might be able to use your Cash Prior to Funeral (CPF) fund, if you happen to be admitted to the Money Operated Hospital (MOH) on time.
If you are out of luck, you may meet doctors who Never Use Heart (NUH) to treat you and you would be Sure to Give-up Hope (SGH). When that happens, Call Home (CH), you deserve a better place to recuperate. To help to ease the traffic, motorists have to pay Cash On Expressways (COE). If that doesn't help, the Lousy Tax Accounting (LTA) can always Effectively Raise Prices (ERP). If you don’t own a car, you can always go for the Mad Rush to Train (MRT) and get squashed Side by Side (SBS).
Under all these pressures, there is not many places we can go to relax not even the good old place we used to go to because it has become So Expensive Nothing To See Actually (SENTOSA)
The Moneytree Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched a brand new Singapore Dollar bill, which has been named the "Peanut Series". Each peanut series bill is legal tender equivalent to 600,000 Singapore Dollars, henceforth known as 1 Peanut.
The CEOs across the Republic have been quick to applaud the launch of the 1 Peanut bill. In an interview with a Mr. Durai, a CEO of a philanthropic organisation, who wished to remain anonymous, he said, "Now I don't have to carry suitcases of money home. Prior to the issuing of the Peanut, I had to carry a whole suitcase of small change home every month. This is because the people who paid me tend to do so in small amounts, like $5 dollars each time, and it can be very irritating. Now I am just paid 1 Peanut with a single bill, slip it quickly into my wallet and off I go. It's very convenient!"
The reaction by the general public was however cool. Most said that it is unlikely that they will ever use a 1 Peanut bill. With a average national income of S$3000 (0.005 Peanut), the average Singaporean will need about 2 lifetimes to save a Peanut. Said a Mr. Tan, who is a plumber, "The other day, I installed a golden tap in some CEO's bathroom and he paid me using 1 Peanut for the $1000 golden tap. I tell him where got enough change?
Watch out for the newest security features on the 1 Peanut note, including a new watermark which replaces the traditional lion head. The new watermark can only be seen under an intense bright light and close scrutiny because of its extreme lack of transparency.
According to MAS spokesman, the added security features are extremely important given that 1 Peanut can probably buy three 4-room HDB flats, or 10 Nissan Sunnies, the average Singaporean will be very tempted to lay their hands on a Peanut.
And more of stunning animated gifs! 
Saturday, September 03, 2005
For those of you who feel safe to be protected in a car and sniggers at 'naked' motorcyclist... Monday, August 29, 2005
Unscrupulous tactic to get yourself married!
Yes! My dear Cheng Chin Yuen, resorted to tricking Karen go up a 4900 ft moutain and at the edge of a precipice, grab her and hang her in midair, feet over nothing (she's quite small and light, and he's capable of a few one arm chinups I think) and demanded that she marry him! Admist this god forsaken place where there's nothing but km and km of blue skies, white clouds and pieces of tall jutting rocks called moutain peaks, she has no choice but to accede with a defeated "sure!" 
http://fivetospare.blogspot.com/2005/08/two-drifters-off-to-see-world.html
What is he thinking?!?!  They have been together for so many years, why now? Sign contract, bond for life you know! Maybe it's the 2 days of diarrhoea that finally prompted him, that he need somebody like Karen around to...search toilet paper for him and cleans his soiled pants and underwear..... 
Haha,  just joking obviously... Nice one there Mr Cheng. And cleverly done not at a more beautiful moutain in Europe or Tibet, which will make the "let's revisit that wonderful moment" trip in the future so darn expensive!
Sigh, I've been having pretty shitty day (losing some at Mahjong not included!) but this really warms my heart. Congrats, and pls hold your wedding dinner at sea level.
Wishing you ever lasting bliss that outlast the moutains you stand upon, and so much happiness that you can share with all the nice people you'll meet in this trip and have enough left to give to the people you despise.
His blog was already linked on my sidebar, called fivetospare in case you're wondering....
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