ramly burger got pinged

Went to the ping.sg "UFO Seeing Session" at Clementi pasar malam last night. We spotted the UFO (aka teochew junk food) but didn't order them, but instead we had Ramly Burger. Thanks xizor for the treat!

In the attendance list we have uzyn, sekling, paced, dhope, arzhou, xizor, chillycraps, aaron84z, nannywen, rinaz, rinaz's bro and attilio. Ordering drinks at the coffee shop was so fun, cos almost all of us ordered different drinks, so the coffee auntie had to take one order shout one time.

Talked quite a lot of things, such as pong-cheating, plugging, spamming, selling ads, arzhou's manboobs, swearing in different languages and dialects, etc etc.

Wasted, I didn't even start crapping proper.

のだめカンタービレ

Just finished watching the Japanese drama Nodame Cantabile (のだめカンタービレ).

The story revolves around a group of music student from the Momogaoka College of Music. We have the handsome conductor student Chiaki Shinichi and the really cute piano student Noda Megumi, with all kinds of funny scenes happening. Other than the fun parts such as the hentai maestro, the drama is full of touching scenes that will make your eyes moist.

Lots of efforts were put into including pieces after pieces of nice classical music from Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Bach, etc etc, with short background description by the main character.

The part when Chiaki hugged Nodame from behind in the last episode was just so sweet~

record-breaking lecture

I broke my record yesterday, for the first time I fell asleep during lecture!

It was ME3162 Manufacturing Processes lecture and after talking for half the lecture (and me staying awake for half the lecture) Prof Seah showed us a video on manufacturing processes (duh!).

The 1980s video from BBC was showing presswork processes like how aerosol cans are made, car body, etc... then maybe cos I wasn't feeling too well I just dozed off during the video. Rest of the time (plus other lectures) I was wide awake. Shucks, my record is stained.

Now I wonder does pepper spray help keep a person awake?

singaporeans getting less superstitious

I think Singaporeans are getting less and less superstitious nowadays.

I still see so many people spitting and littering even when it's the lunar 7th month.

Is it a good sign or bad sign?

canteen attitude

Some strangers (especially foreign students) just like to share table with you while you are away buying food at the canteen.

Yesterday after placing my bag at the table I went off to buy my lunch. When I returned I was stunned to see a stranger sitting there, right in front of my big backpack. So with the extra few newtons of force I tossed my plate of rice onto the table and stared at the man with my cool chilly eyes.

"Is there someone sitting here?"
nod. DUH!
"All 4 seats are taken?"
nod. Actually I was having lunch alone.

Then the guy stood up while I sat down. The best part was after that 3 different lone lunchers came one after another and asked if they could share the table with me, and I agreed, right in front of the first stranger who had by then found a table just in front of mine.

Maybe it's cultural difference or what, but it would be nice if he could at least ask if he could share the table with me before settling down. I know I feel wrong to be one person hogging 4 seats and giving the first guy different treatment and lying to him and etc... (it was like a revenge)

But if it was you, how would you feel to return to your table to find a complete stranger sitting there? (at least this time I was alone, there were times when we really needed all 4 seats)

total lunar eclipse tonight

There will be a total lunar eclipse tonight. It's the second lunar eclipse of 2007. (the previous one was on 3rd March)

From NASA, the timing is as follows: (GMT+8)

• 16:51 partial eclipse begins
• 17:52 total eclipse begins
• 18:37 mid-eclipse
• 19:22 total eclipse ends
• 20:24 partial eclipse ends

If you don't want to leave your eyes off the screen, can always watch the live webcast here.

EDIT: ok NASA screwed the webcast up.

crap with caution

Ever since the first time I saw this advertisement, I so wanted to make fun out of it. Don't you think the girl looks like a particular group of Arab men who happen to be seen with that long tubular thingie on their shoulders all the time?

This morning I saw the ad again on the bus to campus, and just now I was halfway photoshopping it when I was reminded of that incident.

Sigh. Crap also cannot crap freely. Anyway you can figure out what I intended to write about while listening to this song.

(by the way that girl is an engineer)

starting my generator

It's like you want to start the generator, you keep pulling and pulling the starter cord but the generator just refuses to crank up.

It's week 3 of the semester and still not in the right mood to study. Tutorials (and quiz) coming up...

Maybe the spark plug is wet. Am I supposed to change it?

birthday false alarm

On Thursday I was on my way to campus when hj SMSed me "happy birthday". I was like, err... not today leh... "Oops sorry, wrong intel".

Then when I reached school, some of the guys who supposedly wanted to stay home and watch webcast of the lecture, came to school to have birthday lunch with me. (worse is I had early lunch before going into lecture theatre... sorry~)

My birthday was yesterday. Thanks for all the well-wishes!

One very amusing thing, my family still doesn't know it was my birthday yesterday! So I did a little experiment, kept quiet about it and spend the day like any other day. I revised, mopped floor, went bookshop, went library, even went to bakery with my mother and was so close to the birthday cakes. In the end we bought a swiss roll. Still a cake =)

Oh and for the first time in my life I asked for a birthday present from a friend, quite a big and heavy one and money can't buy one. Hope it arrives soon. =)

offline matchmaking

Very funny, my mother's colleague, who is a teaching staff at a secondary school, wants to matchmake her goddaughter to my mother's son!

The girl is 23 and is studying in SMU.

I told my mother, which son does she want? One graduated from NTU and has income; or the other who is studying in NUS and has outcome no income?

(I think my brother needs a girlfriend more than I do.
I'm still single though. And NO, I don't fool around!)

ad-dicted

You might have noticed there are advertisements added to my blog recently. (and if you haven't noticed, that means I've done a great job blending them in =P)

First thing first, I put the ads there for fun. (I received complaints before from my readers) I'm really not counting on the ads to earn money for me, especially google ads' rate can't compare to certain local blog ads companies. (can see arzhou's earnings) Then why am I still sticking to google? For fun~! You see, google has this crawler that crawls your blog content and delivers relevant ads. So when I wrote about airliner accident, ironically those airlines' ads appeared =P

Some of the ads are pretty interesting, especially when I write about engineering stuffs. So tempted to check them out but too bad I myself am not allowed to click on them. I think this beats seeing the same credit card or female garment ads in every other blog.

When I get my first payout (which doesn't seem any time soon unless you help me click more) I'm going to donate the whole sum to charity.

virgin or non-virgin textbook

Was planning to buy the Vector Mechanics: Dynamics textbook. NUS co-op is selling at $30. My favourite Clementi is selling at $28. Market price for second-hand on IVLE forum is $25.

So I had to decide. Very much I would like to save resources (money and trees and ink and wadeva) and buy a second-hand one, but if a brand new 8th edition book costs about the same as a second-hand used 7th edition, then it made perfect sense to buy a new one.

And then at an used-book sale I found a second-hand 7th edition selling at $10. It's now mine.

It's not in the best of condition, but the pages are clean. You know, it's like reading library books. It feels kind of wonderful knowing so many people have gotten knowledge from the books and sharing and passing on. Anyway I wonder how many library books have me as their first reader. =)

(It's like girls. A virgin girl may not always be good and an non-virgin one may not be all bad. Maybe I shan't be so particular about it. But I have my personal reason for it...

But it's way easier to find a virgin book than a virgin girl)

china airlines run out of fuel

Not even one week and another China Airlines(CAL) joke/incident. A China Airlines Airbus A330 headed for Nagoya was diverted and made emergency landing at Osaka's Kansai International Airport as it was running out of fuel, according to Japan's NHK channel.

But CAL claimed that Nagoya closed the runway due to wild birds on the runway.

First Boeing, now Airbus, so it seems that it's with the airlines itself. The weird thing is, even if they closed the runway to chase away the birds, the jet could still hover above the airport until it's clear to land, no? I dunno, the closest I've only played an air traffic controller game.

Kinda weird that other airlines don't have to divert but only CAL. Or was the media picking on them?

china airlines paints over name & logo on wreckage

I think China Airlines is damn joker, they used white paint to paint over it's name and logo on the jet wreckage at Naha Airport.



Please, you think covering it up then we won't know what happened meh?
(photos from 每日新聞, 22 Aug 2007)

lecturer doing blowjob

(the above title is just a joke)
Associate Professor MAJ(NS) Dr Seah showing us a kind of metal forming known as blowing.

Bonus track: 银色月光下

Prof Seah from ME Department can form a duet with Prof Victor Tan from Maths Department.

Coincidentally yesterday morning before class I was listening to Lena Park's 祈り~ You Raise Me Up.

(thanks Alvin for the video)

quote of the day

hope you don't plan to blog about the "[...]" quote from me [...]
-- sms at 16:41:59

Remember DON'T quote ah, please.
[...]
But really. don't blog bout the quote k! Thanks!
-- sms at 17:12:52

[...]that's why i ask you, if possible... don't blog abt it at all.
-- msn

now that i've told you the story, pls don't blog abt the quote k.
-- msn

Someone asked me not to quote him, but I have like quoted him 4 times already.
See the power of my blog?

china airlines on fire

Was reading up on the China Airlines' Boeing 737-800 which caught fire on Monday at Naha Airport. It's believed that there was a fuel leak near the no.2 engine, causing the explosion.

It was quite a miracle that no one was injured as the 165 on board escaped safely. The reaction from the crew and the passengers must have played a part in the quick evacuation, so next time you fly, be sure to listen carefully to the preflight safety brief (regardless whether the crew members are good looking or not).

But the incident also brought up a point about the airline's track record. It can be the pilots, the maintenance, or the aircraft itself. Some smaller airlines use second hand aircrafts, which, like human beings, the bones go weak when they get old. You will be glad that our local airline has one of the youngest fleet in the world.

But that 5 year old 737-800 that exploded isn't that old actually. Hmm, age is superficial?

group leader vs friend

The project group leader is facing a little dilemma. Our project hasn't even started proper when one of the group members may be leaving. He may be joining the Shell Eco-marathon team which covers the design project AND final year project.

As group leader, of course I wish he can stay with us. But as friend, I really would encourage him to pursue his interest, passion or even dream. In fact it was me who told him about the team opening and urged him to email the prof-in-charge even though the registration deadline was long over. Not everyone has the chance to design a car and go to France to compete with teams from all over the world. After you graduate you will want to look back and find yourself having done something meaningful in your university life.

I'm only a group leader for 2 semesters, but definitely a friend longer than that 2 dozens odd weeks. I'll still encourage him to grab the opportunity.

wrong bus, wrong mood

When you are moody, you tend to do stupid things.

I was on the way to school from home, then somehow I boarded the wrong bus that took me nowhere near NUS. (mind you, I'm in year 3) When I boarded the bus, I knew it wouldn't take me to school... but somehow I still boarded it.

I decided to ride on and alighted at National Library, seeking refuge inside. I went to the engineering shelves, but couldn't find anything that would interest me. Anyway I don't need books when I already have readings and lecture notes. So I left, and boarded a bus that really would take me to NUS.

Maybe the back of my mind just wanted to spend more time on the bus, sorting out my thoughts.

kindergarten kid in nus

For our HR2002 Understanding Human Relations in the New Economy lesson, we are given marks for class participation. But before the tutor can award you marks, he/she has to know who you are. For our group, every student has to wear a yellow name tag in class.

So yesterday during the break halfway through the lesson, I went to the Business School canteen to buy coffee. Somehow I got the feeling that people were looking at me in a weird way... then I bumped into Min Hui who laughed at me and said I looked like kindergarten kid. Shucks I forgot to take off my name tag...

Even freshmen don't look like that. =_=

mail from london

Received a mail from London yesterday, and the letter says...

Dear Mr Chow

Thank you for your recent application for membership. I am delighted to advise you that on the above date you were elected to the class of affiliate.

The Trustee Board, in approving your election, has asked me to extend their congratulations to you and to wish you every success in your progress towards full membership of the Institution and the associated registration you will gain as a professional engineer with the Engineering Council UK...

Yay, I'm now member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers!

I look at some foreign universities, they have IMechE Student Chapter in the school, but there's none in Singapore. In NUS we have SME (Society of Mechanical Engineering), ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), maybe even can count Engin club in. It seems a bit saturated with clubs and societies, but their activities are like mostly selling notes and what not. I thought there would be exciting things like industrial visit. The IMechE Singapore Branch does organize site visits to places like power station, and isn't it nice if there are some affiliate in local universities so that students can tag along in such activities as well?

The idea did flash across my mind to propose setting up an IMechE Student Chapter in NUS, but then like I said, we already have so many clubs and societies, and afterall who's going to look after the new society?

machining under influence

Never operate machines under influence. And when I mean influence, I don't mean alcohol or drugs, but humans.

Yesterday I was in the Fabrication Support Centre fabricating a part using the lathe machine (not latte machine). I was slowing turning the Z dial, so slowly that my part got a super shiny mirror finish. Just when I was so proud of myself, my lab partner put his hand on the X dial and turned in the wrong direction... ARGHH! The shiny surface got a deep indent... So, more hands doesn't always mean better. Try eating with you holding the fork and your partner hold the spoon for you.

After that, was machining some depth away from the part. I was doing it slowly, moving in 0.2mm by 0.2mm. Then the surrounding people were saying can do faster, so I sped up to moving 0.5mm by 0.5mm, then KLONG!KLONG!KLONG! That's it, the force was too great for the clamp and that's the end of my part.

(I remember that time during internship, I was machining alone and I saw some pretty girls outside the workshop. You can guess my fabricated part became wreckage)
Ok lah, at least it's the aluminum that felt the pain and not human flesh.

encik and briyani

That day I was ordering nasi briyani, and the Malay lady addressed me as "encik". Reminds me of the other time when I called malique as encik, and he replied "encik is that old bastard in the camp". =P

Back to briyani. Ok so that day I was eating nasi briyani and observing this couple looking/hunting/waiting for table. They were standing at the very nonstrategic outskirt of the stall and everytime they saw an empty table, the girl would make her long way towards the empty table only to see another group taking the table. And all this while the guy was standing motionless at the outskirt.

Finally they got a table, it was right in front of that can't-be-bothered guy. To be honest, I was one of the "other groups" who came later but got the table earlier than the couple. Sometimes I myself can't help but hate this kind of late-comers who got table first in the canteen, but what can I do if you are not competent? (or simply can't be bothered)

ultimate leak test

When you are stressed, you tend to do stupid things.

My backpack has this external pocket where I place my big-mouthed Nalgene bottle. So this morning I lay my backpack flat on my lap, ie my bottle was lying horizontally. Then dunno why I went and unscrew the bottle cover and... *splash*~

Luckily my Osprey backpack has the waterproof membrane.

(in industry, when they manufacture compressor, the product has to go through a leak test chamber to test for leakages. 100% leak test.)

i don't like readings

For my 2 years + 1 week's time in NUS, one thing never changed: I still don't like readings.

Home appliances' user manuals are best, laboratory manuals are fine, engineering research papers still okay, science articles still readable, arts and business readings are totally disgusting! EEK!

After reading like 3 pages of my HR reading material, I just couldn't take it anymore.

I went to mop the floor and wipe the windows.

my proud sponsors?

The Department of Crappy Engineering is proud to have the following supporters:

















and the list goes on... (really, I wish I can list them all)
Why are you guys reading my blog in the office?

nus freshmen recognition guide 07/08

The NUS Freshmen Recognition Guide for AY07/08 is out!

Additions to the previous academic year's recognition guide are as follows:

7. Walk around in campus wearing the purple Rag & Flag T-shirt.
8. Looking out of the bus windows with head 90 degrees from the front. (I was sitting at the window seat and I thought this guy was inspecting my unshaved facial hair)
9. Taking tray for food that doesn't require a tray.
10. Ordering western food at engin canteen without paying first.
11. Coming out from the wrong exit after buying food at canteen. (ie, squeezing through the queue with food in hand)
12. Forgetting to log-out after using computer at Computer Centre.
13. Paying extra for take-away cup and drinking the coffee in the canteen.
14. Smiley face.
15. (fill in the blank)

invisible water effect

look ma, no water!

That's sulfur hexafluoride gas they pumped into the container.

Wait a minute, now I'm having doubts on the gas...

quote of the day

hi mum!

-- Dr Christina Lim
waving to the webcast camera during ME2151 Principles of Mechanical Engineering Materials lecture

point to notes

Fellow NUS ME3 coursemates, the following notes are available at YIH printing room:

HR2002 Understanding Human Relations in the New Economy
-- $11.2 unbound, $14 with binding

ME2151 Principles of Mechanical Engineering Materials
-- $1.30 (thanks to snoookems for sending it in)

btw swave is selling his Vector Mechanics for Engineers (Dynamics) by F.P. Beer, E.R. Johnson Jr, W.E. Clausen, 7th Ed in SI. Anyone interested?

interesting email

I received this email from a coursemate (whom I dunno) with regards to design project.

Dear Mr. Chow,

I am a poly direct ME3 student that is interested to join your group. My classmates have decided to take up another project but my strong desire to take up your project has spurred me to leave and join you guys. My experiences include sourcing for material, technical hands on and CAD. I hope my hard work and contribution can help the team to achieve a grade of A or B. The maximum number per group is 8 which can greatly help split this heavy module. For your information, students who have not been allocated would be assigned to existing groups which still has openings on Monday 20Aug. I hope you can sincerely consider and discuss with the other members regarding my request.

As the deadline is near, sms or phone call regarding your decision would be much a appreciated. Upon your approval, i will inform Ms Noor to add my name into the group registration so there would not be any trouble for you.

Regards,

Too bad my group is already full.
But if it's a she, I can make special arrangement =P

white (chocolate) terror

From Japan News Review, Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Sapporo-based sweets manufacturer Ishiya Chocolate Factory Co. deliberatedly mislabeled the best-before date on chocolate from their popular brand “Shiroi Koibito,” the company revealed on Tuesday. It was also revealed that bacteria had been found in Baumkuchen and popsicles produced in the same factory. Ishiya have now started recalling the products.

The company confessed that 4,328 chocolate boxes of Shiroi Koibito had been mislabeled in order to get rid of their backlog of products. The company claims it only found out about the mislabeling after it had received a supposedly anonymous e-mail about it.

While a best-before date is not legally required in Japan, the company apologized and announced they are re-calling the chocolate.

The company also revealed that Staphylococcus aureus bacteria had been found in Baumkuchen produced in the same factory as the Shiroi Koibito. While Ishiya has previously recalled 20 suspectedly infected Baumkuchen, they had been unable to confirm the safety of products sold before that, and will now recall those as well.

Thirdly, E. coli bacteria had been found in Ishiya’s “ice candy” popsicles, of which Ishiya so far has recalled 34,000.

That's the famous 白い恋人 (white sweetheart) chocolate from Hokkaido. Kind of reminds me of the scene in The Simpsons Movie where Apu wrote over the expiry date of a product in his Kwik-E-Mart.

Earlier this year, another Japanese candy company Fujiya (the employer of that kid in my avatar) used expired milk in its cream puffs. =S I always thought this kind of thing only happens in China, but even in Japan! (whose industries pride themselves in Total Quality Management TQM)

It worries me, cos I like Japanese chocolate...

me3 welcome session

Prof C. Yap: a hungry man is an angry man.
Siu Hang: he angry liao...

Although I had no lesson yesterday, I went to campus to attend the ME3 Welcome Session. Thought it would be a good idea to hear what the professors had to say before we make the choice for specialization.

Every university wants to advertise its own programmes and that includes engineering. The Head of Department was explaining why NUS is not offering Aerospace Engineering but instead Mechanical Engineering with aeronautical specialization. His reason is, Singapore needs aerospace technicians, not aerospace engineers. This point was later confirmed by my dear brother, a mechanical engineer working in aerospace company. Think I'm not going to elaborate, don't want to offend my friends in NTU Aerospace Engineering. =P

And the hot topic around is Offshore Oil & Gas technology! They are pumping money into this (oil) field and NUS is the only place offering this course in Singapore. Digging black gold is not my cup of coffee.