Best Combat Unit 2009

Woot! Woke up this morning, stumbled around to get my coffee, flipped the papers and TaDaa! For the 23rd time, we won the title.. and that’s the 6th time in a row. Happiness. =)

Reading the articles, it mentioned that the structure of the test criteria was slowly changing, with added sequences of live-firing and stuff.. and perhaps it’s a good thing. Somehow, you’ll have to keep up with everything around you. Like everyone says, the battlefield’s evolving, so in a way, I guess the training’s gotta evolve along too.. so I’m happy that the unit’s managed to keep themselves up to speed and ‘make it a habit of winning’, as they put it.

Let’s hope it doesn’t stop here.. may there be a 24th, 25th, 26th time.. and so on.. maybe until they give us one of those long-term awards and bar us from taking part in future competitions.. hah.

Picture courtesy of The Straits Times.

Read the articles from Channel News Asia’s website here, and The Straits Times website here.

Asian Youth Games 2009

Caught bits and pieces of the opening of the games earlier today on tv.. for some reason, the AYG didn’t really appeal to me. I’m not sure why. Somehow, I get the feeling that it’s not as well-publicised as other events.. and reading from the papers, with participants having to wait hours to check in to their hotel room and having to use public toilets to change out of their attire.. somehow, it leaves me the impression that it wasn’t very well coordinated.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against it, I’m actually proud to be hosting the games, but having said that, I somehow feel that there’s just something missing. Like there’s no WOW factor in it.. maybe it’s just me being ignorant of what’s going on; in my own well, but it just doesn’t seem to cut it.

Somehow I expected a bigger grander thing altogether, but perhaps the resources are pulled thin, with NDP round the corner and the Youth Olympic Games next august.. perhaps they’re using this AYG to ‘test the water’ and see what should/should not be done for next year’s international event.

Anyhow, I also recall reading the papers that our northern friends have decided not to participate in the games.. reason cited was the flu bug. But honestly, to me, it sounds too convenient an excuse.. sounds to me like a boycott, plain and simple. No one will readily admit to it, but if you look at how childish their behaviour can be sometimes, then seeing that it’s just one big boycott doesn’t seem so impossible after all.. if anything at all, it makes their own marching contingent look rather sorry; with just 3 ppl.

While trying to dig around for other ppl who share my sentiments, I chanced across this other blog. Hover over the hyperlink and u’ll see the apt name of his blog which probably describes how he feels.. this one really caught my eye, if you talk abt someone being unhappy with the ‘gahmen’, this is one classic example. Hah.. this is one FED-UP person I tell you. Hah..

Well, on a side note.. I made dinner today and it turned out good. Attempted steaming a fish today and it turned out better than I had expected. It’s amazingly simple too, just put the fella in the kuali, turn up the heat and let it do it’s magic.. the ppl who started steaming their foods must be quite a genius to have thought of this method.. hah.. the simple things that intrigue me sometimes.. Amazing.

Omelette/Egg thing on the left, Fish on the right.. =)

nada

Author’s note:
Ok, this makes for one of those posts where I started typing away before actually thinking abt what to write abt.. one of those ‘rambling’ posts if you will.. so don’t ask me what’s with the title of the post or the objective of it; I’ve got no idea myself.. here goes.

So it’s another lazy Sunday afternoon and this one’s abit rainy.. nice and cooling though, something I really appreciate. It sorta reminds me of the line from the song.. “..rainy days and Mondays always get me down..”

Well, not quite ‘get me down’ per se.. just that somehow it’s ringing in my head, and I figured one of the best ways to get a song that’s stuck between ur ears out, is to actually SING it out..

So this week’s been pretty slow.. still waiting for my notification and amidst the boredom, some of the highlights of the week include a mahjong session (what?!? Ya I know.. never figured myself to be a mahjong person either) at joel’s place and a meet-up with the IA folks..

Since I’m at it, I might as well mention abt it.. there’s this place at Liang Court, some jap food place they call Tampopo.

So the story goes that this place is apparently quite known for their pork cutlets and stuff, winning quite a few of those culinary awards. Apparently the source they get their pork from boasts of these black pigs being ‘stress-free’, so supposedly the meat’s nicer.. Supposedly.

For some strange reason, we sorta concluded that the pork was nothing fantastic, well, either that or my peasant tongue is unable to appreciate a royalty swine when it tastes one.. it’s actually a tad bit tough if u asked me. Well, either that, or the ppl at the restaurant were just unhappy with us for waiting 35 minutes before making an order.

Above: That's some Family Meal thing..
Below: That's the one I had.. some katsu-don thingy..

Oh and on the point abt food/restaurants.. here’s a tip, don’t wear a black Hard Rock Café polo to Brewerkz.. unless u want someone to start asking u for a glass of water, and another asking to bring the bill.. *snarl*

Alright, moving on, my latest read would be James Rollins’ Excavation.. borrowed it from beeps; my very own library at home =). I’m right abt halfway through it, and it’s building up pretty nicely.. it’s a typical my-kinda-book.. the kinda plots that I like..

Chanced upon an article on Channel News Asia’s site and it mentioned abt prosecutors seeking to put a 150 year jail sentence on Bernard Madoff.. the main fella behind the Wall Street mess with all the ponzi nonsense.. it’s quite silly if u’d ask me. Haha.. 150 years? The dude’s 71 this year and even with a prolonged life expectancy, you sentence him to 150 years in jail? Hah.. for some strange reason, when I read this article, I had comic pictures of a skeleton figure with his leg chained to those big boulder balls thingy.. slumped up against a brick wall, behind bars.. hah.

I’ve also finally gotten down to arranging my mini montage thing that I printed (which I blogged abt here). It’s really quite amazing.. those tiny little things make for a good montage cos their small enough that u can REALLY pack a tonne of those in a small area. I printed so many of them when I was toying around with the printer, and now that I’m done arranging them, there’s still space left over! So by the looks of it, I prob gotta print more.. of which I’m not complaining.. it’s quite therapeutic actually.. to snap ur own pictures and then have them printed out.. will get a shot of it up here when it’s completed.

Right, I better go before I irritate myself any further. There’s this bunch of juveniles at the adjacent block to my window kicking away at a soccer ball at the void deck. Occupying the space is fine by me, it’s a communal area for all to use. But not when there’s the constant burst of sound as the darned ball slams against the wall and the shouts of curses coming from the dimwits who own it. I’m this --><-- close to calling the police post..

Oh, and meet Omelette.. finally got a decent picture of her NOT sleeping..

By the time this post was finally published, the delinquents had left.. But not before I heard a loud kick of the ball, a loud crash, the sound of something smashing, followed by a “Quick! Run.. Run!”.

I’d tie them to a tree and whip them if they were my own kids.

Caught!

So it’s a cold day, and I sit by my window and enjoy the rare cool breeze that’s blowing by.. something starkly different and blissfully inviting apart from the dreadful heat this season..

And then I look out my window and something caught my eye.. …

It’s the little behaviours like these that ‘kill’ the reputation we’ve earned. Sometimes, we can try as hard as we can to do our bit to keep the place clean, need and tidy but it’s these ppl with these little behaviours, thinking that ‘it doesn’t matter’ that ultimately wreck everything we’ve done..

We can put up a million signs, one every hundred metre, telling u not to litter, not to spit, not to smoke at bus-stops, to keep to the left on the darned escalators, and to give up that corner seat to those who need it more, but ultimately, if our mindset doesn’t change, if we don’t mature as a society, if we continue to inculcate into our young that ‘it’s ok’, then there’s only so much that the authorities can do.. we are the ones responsible eventually.. and here we are complaining that our government is harsh.

Utter Nonsense.. or as how I’d bluntly put it.. BULLSHIT.

Bored?

Yes I am, and so I consulted with the almighty Google and found this wonderful article.. love the ‘tongue’ one.. =)

PART I

Blink wildly and then close your eyes really tight for an interesting light show
(Amusement Potential: 1-5 minutes)
See a variety of blobs, stars and flashes. Try to make out shapes and see if your subconscious is trying to send you a message

See how long you can hold a note
(Amusement Potential: 4-20 minutes)
Not that much fun, but it sure passes the time. Play with a friend, or try to beat your own personal best. Inhale deeply and then try and make a noise for as long as you can. Earn extra points for making your partner laugh or ending on an amusing note.

Try to not think about penguins
(Amusement Potential: 1-5 minutes)
This is especially hard, because by trying too much, you remember what you were trying to avoid thinking of. If you try too little, you end up thinking about penguins anyway.
-> a fat donkey came into my mind when I tried.. hah..

Use your secret mind power
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Pick a passer-by and try to use your mind power to command them do something, like drop their bag or knock into someone. The law of averages dictates that sooner or later one of your mind commands will come true, so you can convince yourself that you really have super human powers and waste even more time trying them out.

Pretend you're a robot
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Walk down the street with mechanical movements, adding 'zzzzzt' sounds with each motion. Pretending to have a motor broken in, say, your left hand can add at least 30 seconds more entertainment.

Scratch yourself
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Go ahead, scratch yourself now. Even if nothing itches, go ahead. Doesn't that feel pretty good?
-> sweeeet.. =)

Rate passers by
(Amusement Potential: 10-15 minutes)
Secretly award passers by marks out of ten as you go along, offering (unsaid) expert criticism over their clothing, hairstyle and footwear choices.

Repeat the same word over and over until it loses its meaning
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Pick a random word out of a magazine and say it aloud to yourself until it becomes a meaningless set of noises.
-> tried this on 'milk'.. quite funny.

Pinch yourself
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
What is pain? Why is it unpleasant? There's nothing physical about it - it's all in your mind. Plus, after pinching yourself for awhile, boredom will seem nice next to being in pain.

Try to swallow your tongue
(Amusement Potential: 1-2 minutes)
There's not much to say about this one. It is possible, but really stupid.
-> My Fav! haha.. go ahead, try it and record ur facial expression while u're at it!

Pretend to be a car
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Make appropriate revving noises in your head as you walk along and add a racing commentary as you pass strangers in the street. Use blinking eyes as indicators for extra authenticity.

Make Star Trek door noises
(Amusement Potential: 1-2 minutes)
Stand by an electric door to a bank or something and make that silly "Scccccccchwop" sound heard whenever people popped on to the bridge to hang with Captain Kirk.

Look at something for awhile, shut eyes, study after image
(Amusement Potential: 2-5 minutes)
Another great time waster. It takes about 30 seconds of staring to create an after image, and the image is then viewable for about the same length of time. Fun to combine this one with pushing on your eyes.

Get yourself as nauseated as possible
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Best achieved by looking straight up and spinning around. Try to be so dizzy you can't even stand up. This is also entertaining due to the "makes boredom seem a lot better" effect.

Invent a weird twitch
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Adopt a bizarre twitch (e.g. flicking your head irregularly, twitching with eye or busting out sporadic cough noises) and try it out when you go shopping.

Make a low buzzing noise
(Amusement Potential: 15-30 minutes)
Hours of fun in libraries! Keeping a totally straight face and looking nonchalant, make a low pitch humming/buzzing noise and see who reacts.

..yes. I am THAT bored..

Excursion!

Went for an excursion yesterday.. Visited the Science Centre! Hah.. felt like a kid all over again..

I have to say, though, that quite abit has changed.. I half-expected to see the decade old displays and what-nots still standing around, but there’s actually quite abit of new things.. granted that I’ve not been there in perhaps more than a decade..

There were still the typical ‘familiar’ science exhibits, like the huge container of saga seeds and the huge tank of water creating a vortex.. but there were pleasant new surprises too.. there’s some HUGE Tesla coil thing, and there even was some lightning display and some Laser setup, which unfortunately wasn’t in operation. Bummer..

But still, I felt like a kid all over again.. ooh-ing and ah-ing at everything I saw.. from the huge larger-than-life exhibits at the Atrium to the plasma arcs of the Jacob’s Ladder.. My heaven.. =) heh. Thanks dar for the trip. Enjoyed myself through and through.. =)

Let’s do it again sometime. Heh.. =)

nope, didn’t go to the DaVinci exhibit.. just the science gallery. Contended enough.. =)

10 on the Grump-O-Meter

hmm.. where should I start?

Ok, let’s start where I left off at the previous post.. Linux. =) first up, I have to say that ever since I started twiddling around with it, I haven’t exactly regretted. For one, I’ve learnt a lot more abt how the computer works over the duration of using linux. For some reason, learning abt how the computer works sorta plateau-ed off over the years.. it started as exciting back when I was 12, learning to ‘save as’ into my very own floppy disk, and learning how to rip an audio cd into mp3, and then learning how to setup the proxy settings on my internet browser to connect to my 56k line and messing around with the autoexec.bat files on the school’s computer *cough*.. then figuring out how the wireless thing worked with the router and how ip addresses get assigned.. all that was fun. But soon there’s pretty much nothing else. Windows pretty much does everything for you.. aside from being brainlessly easy, it also prevented u from effectively troubleshooting when something goes wrong.. simply because u never knew how it worked from the start.

So then, on came linux, and I start the whole process of learning how to save a file.. learning how to mount a thumbdrive via the console.. learning how to download and compile my own applications.. learning how to link stuff around and basically, put the FUN factor back into computing.. and since linux is open, I get to fix my OS exactly how I like it to be, and every step of the way, I’m in charge; learning something along the way, rather than let some wizard do it all for me.. making it a very personalized setup.

So all’s good, and I like it, except for the part that somehow, the folks who released the new version of Kubuntu, v9.04 decided to release a sub-standard version. Out of the box, the wifi connectivity doesn’t work.. and apparently they knew abt it.. but for some reason, chose not to remedy it before the release.. it’s probably things like these that ultimately would turn ppl off the whole linux idea..

But all in, I managed to get it fixed after spending some time on it.. not all’s lost, at least I managed to learn a couple of things.. and I have to say that the new KDE4.2 is really good stuff for the folks who love eye-candy on their machines.. without hogging resources the way vista does. Think running a computer Vista-styled with all the eye-candy, but on a 1999-2000 era computer setup.. =)

multiple desktops anyone?


nope, these aren't my desktop, but I'll upload printscreens of mine soon! =)

Alright, moving on, I’ve tried to tear apart my notebook too (this website basically tells u how to do it for various Toshiba notebooks). Hah. It’s been 3 years, the warranty’s loong over, so I thot I’d give it a go. First was the peek at harddisk drive cos I’m tempted to get me a bigger drive. This 100Gb is just not cutting it anymore.. with 12Gb dedicated to linux, and another 10 to windows, that leaves me with abt 70+ to keep all my junk. And with all the trigger-happy moments on the camera and my music.. it’s getting awfully cramped.. heh. So I figured I’d just get me a new harddisk, then I can pull this one out and get a storage case for it.. then walaa! External portable harddisk.. good stuff. Nothing wasted. =)

Next was the peek into the expansion ram slot to see what ram I’m using.. cos I’m honestly thinking of a ram upgrade. The 1Gb of ram is more than enough on an XP box, but with the prices falling so cheap, it’s tempting to just pay 40bucks and get 2Gb of ram.. hah.

Then it didn’t stop there, since a typical notebook has 2 ram slots, one being the expansion slot and the other being more inaccessible, I attempted to find it. Since if I were to get a 2Gb stick, I’d probably just want to use it by itself, rather than pairing it with a 512 stick.. computing students! Will it make any diff if I do that? Will performance drop if I hook up a 2Gb stick with a 512 stick? Let me know! =)

Requiring access to the other slot needs me to remove the keyboard.. which I was abit edgy abt.. but all’s good. Managed to get it out and it gave me a good excuse to give my keyboard a GOOD cleaning too.. =) the amount of stuff that falls out.. AMAZING. Hah.. *eww*

Then comes the ultimate grumpy part which probably inspired the title of this post.. while cleaning up the dust that’s collected around all the crevices.. I decided to clean up the speakers.. since there’s like a tonne of dust on the diaphragm.. and long story short, the sponge layer around my Harmon/Kardon speakers decided to disintegrate.. probably with the humidity and age.. and so, some of the sponge got wiped off, now I get a really crappy sound coming out of the right speaker. All highs, with almost no mids and no bass.. sickening.. that just totally wrecked an almost perfect day.

Tried to find replacements off the net, but those that sell it do so at like £20 before shipping.. crazy la! Maybe and hopefully simlim would have a better and cheaper alternative.. so much for trying to ‘take care’ of my speakers all these years..

So anyway, maybe it IS time to get me a 2.1 speaker system for my room after all.. oh wells. Baahh..

..well, at least there was something to cheer me up at the end of the day..

Linux Update

RIGHT!

After so loong of not using the penguin OS, I finally decide to give it a go again, and guess what? My apt-get commands don't work..

And after forever.. I finally found out that they don't support the Gutsy distro anymore.. WAH SIAN. To think i adjusted everything nicely.. now I'm wondering if I should painfully make the switch to Hardy.. and set everything nicely again..

hmm.. choices choices.. *slaps forehead*

Week Update

Ok, boring title.. anyway, decided that it’s been quite a loong while since I last updated my blog.. abit of cobwebs collecting around the corners..

Right, so anyway, event #1, I went for a medical checkup.. nothing much. Typical, hearing test, eye test, dental x-ray, chest x-ray, ECG and drew blood. This fella who drew the blood did it awfully well. I vaguely recall drawing blood for my ORD FFI previously in the army and that was abit sickening, this one didn’t hurt at all, couldn’t really feel anything for that matter.. 2 test tubes, and 1 small vial. All’s good.. all’s good. =)

Next, there was the hike/camp stunt that I decided to pull with joel.. so much for trying to re-induct abit of field endurance into us, we went in, had dinner which was awesome.. roasted chicken, bbq prawns.. =) and then decided to head out all the way out to get nice chilled drinks from the petrol kiosk.. and even met siwei to have prata! Hah.. wat nonsense right? Managed to find some checkpoints and snooped around quite abit.. interesting side that I never really ventured to before.. and of course, a dreadful reminder that topo skills will degenerate when it’s been stashed aside for 3 years.. sad.

And then, there’s the PC show.. SO MANY THINGS.. SO LITTLE CASH. Haha.. sad. All the new toys at an arm’s length away, but can own none of them.. anyway, dar got a new notebook finally.. a Toshiba! Hah.. welcome to the Toshiba club dear! =) quite a remarkable deal.. free ram upgrade, free antivirus, a choice of extended warranty or a canon AIO printer, and a choice of MS office (3 users) or a 19” LCD monitor + usb keyboard package.. quite cool.. she got herself a monster too! 640gb ext harddisk for a hundred bucks.. good stuff.

Then there was the meeting with clarence.. good to meet up with him after almost a year. Gonna get promoted this july.. splendid.. super happy for him.. just have to pray for his health now and for God to grant him some peace amidst all that’s going on.. hasn’t been getting much sleep since the incident..

Ok, super chyong hae.. even I am bored writing this.. later.

Fishless @ Labrador

Went fishing earlier this week at Labrador.. in case u didn’t know, it’s got a pretty good jetty that sticks out and it’s probably not as crowded as the Bedok Jetty.. as mentioned here in my prev post, it’ll prob make a good place to go fishing..

So anyway, along with us, there were others around who were waiting in hope of getting some fishes, but apparently none of us caught anything.. except for this little kid who caught himself some mickey mouse fishes.. other than that, nothing at all..

Quite a disappointing trip I’d say.. but at least the weather was abit better than the previous trip, so if I force myself to be positive, I actually did manage to catch a few sunset shots which I didn’t the last time..

after all the fruitless attempts to fish/crab around singapore, I think there’s not much hope for ever fishing anything here.. so the next time I want to fish, I’ll probably drop by one of those pay-ponds.. maybe go prawning or something.. sad.. sad but factual.