Europe – The Final Countdown (Live)

Brought back memories for sure. Yeah, I know the song’s cheesy.

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2. messenger//live
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I kinda like those greetings actually. I just wish it would be a little more spontaneous. I wish the teacher come in and just greet you good day and everyone just echo back sincerely. There really is no need to stand up at attention to greet. Not all teachers are comfortable with it too actually. I guess it just sorta got stuck in our culture.

During the ten years of education, we greet teachers like robots. I am still on the process of relearning how to greet people when I see them. I think I greet people more sincerely now.

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2. secondary//revisited
3. Only click on Google ads you are interested in

And if you think you’re indeed benefiting yourself, couldn’t you choose to do what you want to actually benefit yourself? For example, I love Japanese anime, why can’t I just start a Japanese anime appreciation club where a bunch of people just sit in a room and watch television all day?

My secondary school just had to persuade us to join some crazy uniform groups to nurture teamwork and, erm, country building. I recall my principal urging people to join uniform groups. The CCA talk he gave is absolutely bias and dedicated a whole fifty minutes to uniform groups and ten seconds to comment the existance of clubs and societies. I was so annoying by his speech that I joined a club. Seriously if you joined a uniform group in secondary school, and spend all the time doing drills, perhaps you can find something better to do – like watching anime or play tennis or even running.

Some guys would join the NCC and wear those army uniform. Seriously, you guys are just cosplaying soldiers! If you’re a guy, you have 2 years in national service to slowly cosplay being a soldier, a police or a civil defence guy. And NPCC? Haa! You’re just cosplaying being a policeman. Why don’t you go join the cosplaying club instead. You get to be air-stewardess, Haruhi, maid, bunny girls, esper, ninja, shinigami (death gods), military personel and more. You can change your costumes every week if you want.

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1. Review: Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
2. old//friend
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Bud – Swear Jar

During Primary School we had this fine thing going on. Basically we get a fine if we scold vulgarities. Every vulgarity you scold forces you to part with your precious coin. It’s a small amount, I don’t think it actually work even. Now I’m wondering what happen to the money. Hmmmp, perhaps the treasurer got hungry and used it to buy candy or something. I don’t remember we had Buds.

An advertisement every Tuesday

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*Atari’s Pole Position game*

Back in my archives, there’s Atari Breakout commercial.

An advertisement every Tuesday

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Microsoft Windows/386

The soul of the new machine. The designers are probably not thinking right when they come out with this. Below is Windows Vista advertisement – good music, but too much words. And I notice they had this multiracial thing going on these days.

Windows Vista

Speaking of Windows Vista, I probably get mine on April when I buy a new computer. I calculated a little and the computer I want cost around SG$1400 at the moment. I don’t really need really good graphic cards, I’m pushing on the computing power though. I always welcome faster application launching. I’m wondering if I should go for 64-bit this time.

[via Gizmodo]

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50 things known to a Singaporean teenager

1. You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Silver hawk and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, Ninja turtles and Smurfs too.
2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too.
3. You know what’s Bin1 Fen1 Ba1 San1 is all about.
4. You know what SBC stands for.
5. You were there when the first chinese serial, the Awakening was shown on TV.
6. Internet? What the hell is that? So you thought a decade or more ago.
7. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in Secondary school.
8. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushion is red.! The big red bell gives a loud BEEEP! when pressed.There are colourful tickets for TIBS buses. The conductor will check for tickets by using a machine which punches a hole on the ticket.
9. Your favourite actor and actress is Huang Wenyong and Xiangyun. Next is Lee Nanxing and Zoe Tay and the Aiyoyo woman.
10. You’ve probably read Young Generation magazine. You know who’s Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable.
11. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery.
12. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.
13. Gals are fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls.
14. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.
15. You longed to buy tibits called Kaka (20 cents per pack) and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.
16. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.
17. All that you know about Cantonese is from the Hong Kong serials you watched on TV2.
18. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest story ! books you ever thought you have read. Even SweetValley High and Malory Towers.
19. Civics and Moral Education was 好公民 (Hao3 Gong1 Min2).
20. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives.
21. The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and the most extreme was ’super white’ – you just couldn’t bring yourself to say the hokkien relative.
22. Catching was the in thing and twist the magic word.
23. Your English workbooks was made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.
24. CDIS was your best friend.
25. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you maths.
26. Waterbottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go.
27. Boys loved to play soccer with small tennis balls in the basketball court or play something that uses tennis ball to hit other players known as “HUM TAM BOLA” during recess or after school
28. Hopskotch, five stones, chapteh and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too…
29. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives.
30. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr. Wally.
31. You did stupid exercises like seal crawl and frog jumps.
32. Every Children’s Day and National Day you either get pins or pens with “Happy Children’s Day 1993″ or dumb files with “Happy National Day 1994″.
33. In Primary 6, you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.
34. Chinese teachers were always old, boring and damn fierce looking.
35. Your form teacher taught you Mathematics, Science and English.
36. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality.
37. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.
38. Famous Chinese singers were only Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai.
39. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.
40. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.
41. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.
42. During class gatherings, parents always tag along in case someone gets lost at Orchard Road.
43. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.
44. Handkerchiefs were a must for both genders.
45. Collecting notebooks and all kinds of stationery was a popular thing.
46. Autograph books were loaded with “Best Wishes”, “Forget Me Not”, and small poems like “Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friend like you, hard to forget”.
47. Class monitors and prefects loved to say “You talk somemore, I write your name ah!”
48. There were at least 40 people in one class.
49. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.
50. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one thing called the timetable.

The list has been reformatted. It’s quite true for half the list. Quite a good list though.

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My brother bought gameboy just to play the game. And he bought the Pokémon cards, watch the television cartoon which I always felt is retarded by the way. My brother know his Pokémon inside out and offer technical support for his friends. They call my brother to ask him where can they find a particular Pokémon. And my brother knew! He may not know where Istanbul is but he definately can tell you where’s Dratini.

“Oh no! I have to use Pikachu’s XXX to counter.”

(I hate Pikachu.)

The cartoon didn’t really attracted me. The game however did. I got almost all the Pokémon! And when Nintendo release a sequel with like 250 Pokémon or something. I just given up playing.

I got this friend who train almost all his Pokémon to level 99. What a complete waste of time.

With more than 400 now, try memorizing them! That take – Deoxys. Togekiss. Regigigas. Arseus. Fuwaraid. Bossgodora. Huntail. Dumbbell. Metagross (gross name!).

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(National servicemen fighting for Singapore. I haven’t a clue what those guys are holding!)

We all started not knowing one another. It’s quite ironical that when I finally get to know those bunch well enough, it’s time for them to leave. They’re very nice and hardworking people. I’m sure they would be missed.

But the cycle works this way. People come, people go. It’s a good thing that they finally completed the two-year national service. They can’t wait, I tell you. It’s an end here but it marks an exciting beginning for them.

I am really happy for them and I will wish them all the best.

[By the way, I drew that picture when I was a kid, hahaa... I'll post more of my art pieces. Please don't puke.]

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_(Comic of a woman wishes for no housework, cooking and cleaning.)_

Nowadays, men are participating in the housework more already I think. In secondary school, I know of this guy who simply loves to do cleaning. He loves things neat and neater. He has the best score in Home Economics lessons. He is just so neat and tidy. He is kinda like the Bree Van De Kamp (Desperate Housewives) in our class minus the breasts.

And the girls find him okay. The guys avoid him and make fun of him. Anyway, the last time I met him was early this year and he was laughing loudly and surrounded with girls. I was trying to walk out of that food establishment because I forgot the name. I got spotted it in the end and we chatted a minute. He is doing pretty well now it seems.

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[Direct Link]

Today, it’s the Nintendo DS, it’s so much of a change. I won’t be buying a DS but it would be more portable console of choice if not for the fact that I don’t really need a portable console anyway. I’ll probably spend my money on a music player perhaps.

An advertisement every Tuesday

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“Can you do that?”

“Sure, sounds quite easy, so it shouldn’t be a problem. You guys can go and watch American Idol, I’ll settle this,” I reassured them. So I sat in the bus waiting for the repairman to do some bus measurements. They left not long after and it’s time for me to shut off the bus.

And I press the button to close the door. It didn’t shut. I tried the open door button, it didn’t work too. So I called for help and Ken told me, “oh, there’s no battery already, just step onto the accelerator to charge the battery.”

“Oh, that’s it? Oh okay… Which one’s the accelerator?” I questioned.

“Far right one.”

I charged it and the door closed quite nicely. And I turn key out but the engines didn’t seem to have stoped. “Er, you know, the key’s out and the engine isn’t.”

“Huh? Try putting back the key and turn counter-clockwise?”

I tried it and it didn’t work. “Still noisy, didn’t work.”

“Maybe have to press some button? Can you look around for some buttons to press?” he guided.

I start to read every label I see, “…and there was this button that has an ‘EN’ at the back. I can’t see the word, it’s too dark. What if the whole bus moves?”

“Oh, maybe it’s ‘Open’ or something. Press that one and try, you will not move the bus one lar. You don’t press a button to move a bus anyway.”

“Okay… Wait a second, I’ll take a closer look.” I shone my cellphone light onto the words slowly. It reads…

“SIREN”

Always read, don’t make assumptions.

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View it through YouTube.

This is the advertisement of the then Atari Breakout. Atari used to be one of the bigger players in video gaming. It’s sad that today’s Atari seemed to be struggling in releasing games. And their games – they’re buggy. They are usually the publishers so it’s not fully their fault but shouldn’t there be more quality control?

You see, that’s why people thing the games in the past are better. You alway got those guys who would say things like, “those were the days, dude, games are just fun and original.”

I always argue that I prefer games today. Because I love SimCity 4, Civilization VI, and a bunch of other strategy games. The games in the past are good and simple. But today’s game captivated me totally! Unfortunately, the bugs in today’s game are getting more due to 3D graphics engine coded badly. Many games are just taking too much resources too!

Maybe I should return to playing Tetris.

An advertisement every Tuesday

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_(The school shoes outside my house; they sure bring back memories.)_

I remember my friends coming to my place after school too. It kinda bring back memories. This photograph is taken on June 30, 2004. It’s taken in color but I desaturated it to give it an old look. No sepia, simply grayscale.

On a side note, I went to the doctor today as I have infection on a foot. The doctor wrote “excused from wearing shoes”. Great! Now my pals have to help me put on my shoes.

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Being a secondary school kid, we all love watching how chemicals react, don’t we? I think I have seen how lithium would react with water, but here is how rubidium and cesium react in water.

Can’t see the player? View it here.

So kids, don’t try it at home; try it at your neighbor’s.

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Then there is this section where people would comment on the cookhouse food as our commanders seem rather concern about how well-fed the man are. The platoon in-charge would have to comment on it daily and the role is rotated among everyone. I got to be platoon in-charge for 3 days. Praise the lord; I sucked at being the platoon in-charge.

So I took a peep on what the others are saying about our camp’s food.

Food was ok, but Muslim is the best.

My friends are saying:

Don’t expect too much already.
Acceptable but hope it gets as good as Muslim food.
Was okay, beginning to be like BMT (Basic Military Training).
Acceptable, hope it gets better.
Food is alright, noticing a trend.
Could appreciate with better food.
Was filling as it’s western.
Outstanding as it’s western.

The verdict is clear, the people love Muslim food although it tends to be more oily in our cookhouses. And yes, we love western food. The soggy fries and fillet, diluted mushroom soup and lots of chilli ketchup. Delicacy.

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And he went on to tell me about an incident so familiar. He told me that he did some mischievous stuff during his polytechnic life and they all found it funny. It was just a joke although it’s an inconsiderate one.

(Our trash bins are green!)

He and his group of friends pushed 3 green rubbish bins into a lift. They manage to carry the rubbish bin from all corners of the lecture block and all stuff it into a lift. Then they laugh all day long because no one can enter the lift! They watch the people appear in frustration and amusement.

And I told him that that incident happened to me too. My then-classmates pushed a trash bin and a ‘Danger Keep Out’ sign into the lift. And guess what, my neighbor did the similar by pushing one trash bin into the lift.

So there seems to be a total of 3 incidents that involved trash bins found in lifts. And I actually thought it was quite an original prank.

Jeremy and gang actually placed three of the trash bins! We all had a good laugh though. There must’ve been something about all these trash bins, the polytechnic students seem to prefer them in lifts. And guess what – the 3 incidents all occured in Singapore Polytechnic.

I’m sure the cleaners would be less than amused.

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Watch the video at YouTube.com.

We should be using CDs at least these days anyway. :p

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I wasn’t good in many subject. Take a look at my results and you’ll probably figure that I’m below average.

(My result slip during secondary 4, mid year. Click to enlarge.)

I am consistently lousy in Chinese language. My English is crap even though I’m at position 8 as my reading is the one that saved me – I can’t write English, but I can read them all out to you.

And my geography… I made good pals at the geography remedial class with the 2 fellows who fail too – and guess what – we sit side by side.

I never really undertstood Mathematics, I got good results sometimes and lousy ones on other times. Before I entered secondary 4, my Additional Mathematics’ results was 29/100, that would be a miserable F and I almost got kicked out of the class. Physics and Chemistry was nothing worth mentioning too.

And I brought the same result slip you see back home. Note the positions in my class. I got scolded quite badly and my mother thought – and still think – that I am a bad student. She tells me to do better and play less computer games. I don’t know why she has an impression that I was playing games anyway.

There’s nothing great about my conduct too, my teacher finds everyone okay and give a good remark. In the end, I graduated from secondary 4 with L1R4 score of 12, L1R5 score of 15 and entered a polytechnic which I later didn’t do too well.

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It’s always such a good experience starting some new projects but I gt tired of continuing them after a while it seems. It’s not good because I seem to have a lot of uncompleted stuff that’s just hanging around. I start looking through my labyrinth (computer folders) and found so many half done works. And trust me, 2 half-dones will never combine to be done one.

I need some sort of motivation. Something to push me to continue all the way to the end. The key lies in liking what I do of course. And as I was doing some rough statistics yesterday, I realized that in every 5 projects I start, I scrap 4. Only one is completed to my liking.

And I start to think like a company manager – why is that so, how can productivity be increased and stuff.

I quit because:

* Projects took too long to complete.
* Too many going on at a time and I am forced to neglect some.
* I got bored of it basically.

To solve my problem, I can:

* Structure better schedules for my project and do one at a time.
* Select what to start more carefully.
* Show my project to others to drive me to work faster.

Hopefully some day I’ll just work faster and not laze around listening to songs with nonsensical lyrics. I should cut down on SimCity too it seems. I aim to scrap one out of five projects instead of the other way round.

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