Singapore International Kite Day

Went to the Singapore International Kite Day @ Punggol this afternoon along with 3 kites. The event was like a carnival as we saw both professional and the casual kite flyers flying kite on the big grass field at Punggol. It was really eye-opening to see giant white tiger and tortoise kites in the sky.


As for kite flying, didn't have much luck. Too many people flying, too many lines, too many entanglements. And I was halfway flying my kite when suddenly a big kite with insurance company logo came crashing onto me from behind...

human factors for non-human voice

I'm not sure if you had such experience before. You call up some service hotline and got picked up by an automated answering machine. It tells you to press some button to select language or some options. Let's say you are using your mobile phone, and you take your handset away from your ear in order to press the button. (it sure feels weird to punch in your IC number with the numpad on your face) When you put the phone back to your ear, the machine is already speaking mid-sentence. You miss some words, and have to make it repeat the options.

Not everyone uses hands-free earpiece or the normal cord phone which allow you to press button while still listening on the phone. Can they just allow for a few seconds of pause for users to press the button and bring the phone back to the ear?

engineering cocktails

Many people think that the engineering types are square and boring, but many-a-times we find ourselves the funniest bunch. (well, maybe boring people don't find themselves boring)

I saw this engineering drawing on making drinks, produced in 1978 with the latest revision made in 2008. Yes, you can find Singapore Sling inside.

Any Professional Engineer wants to check and approve the drawing? Then we can send for fabrication.

mc fallacy

A friend was sharing with us that during a meeting, her department head told the whole department that he hasn't taken any MC (medical certificate) for the 7 years he is with the company. That reminds me of the time when I went for a job interview at a particular manufacturing firm, the interviewer told me he hasn't taken any leave for the past 3 years.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, but in both cases, what the bosses were trying to do was to dissuade you from taking any form of leave, medical or annual. And to both cases, my thought is the same: who gives a flying damn whether you have taken any leave for the past century or not?

Not having taken any leave doesn't necessary mean you are hardworking. You haven't fallen sick for the past 7 years can mean your workload is so light, it won't even kill a bacteria on your fingertip.

Seriously, they will be happier if you work for them for free. That's why, if you are unwell and need to take MC, take. If you have a life outside of work, do take your annual leave.

some parental guidance

The other day I was on the bus and I heard this mother telling her son about why they have stopped broadcasting TV Mobile. She said nowadays electricity is not cheap and the TVs on the buses sucked loads of power, that's why they couldn't sustain the broadcast.

Now think about it, the buses in Singapore aren't trolley buses that draw electricity from the power grid. The electricity on board is generated by the bus' own engine which runs on diesel. What has it got to do with electricity bill?

Reminds me of a quote from Charles Louis de Secondat:

We receive three educations, one from our parents, one from our schoolmasters, and one from the world. The third contradicts all that the first two teach us.

I must say that there is some truth in the quote, and I really hope that the kid will find out the truth.

machine mood swing

The washing machine at home was acting weirdly these few days. Washing washing halfway when it reached the stage of "spinning", it halted there. Spinning is the process which the washing machine spin-dries the clothes. Imagine digging out clothes from the washing machine's drum, still dripping wet. Having to hand-squeeze the whole family's wet laundry is no joke, neither is it fun to let the water drip downstairs.

We really were clueless what went wrong. Could be circuit board, could be motor. In our mind we were already thinking along the line of "new washing machine" or "new dryer".

In the end, it was the drain hose. It was hung too high and the machine couldn't discharge the waste water.

Sometimes I think machines do act like human beings. They stop working for no reason (or rather, we dunno the reason) like us throwing tantrum or having mood swing, when in fact the remedy can be very simple.

wrinkles are free

When the shirt's label says "wrinkle-free", sometimes I wonder if it means the wrinkles come at no extra cost.

For those of us who have to wear formal attire to work, ironing clothes seems to be an inevitable activity. And I don't like to iron clothes. The thing about ironing clothes is, it is easy to accidentally make new lines on your shirt while ironing, but difficult to remove both the old and new wrinkles. Then in frustration you try to increase the iron's temperature but it doesn't seem to help. And I observe that shirts with different composition of cotton/nylon/polyesters catch on wrinkles differently. Yes, those that say wrinkle-free have wrinkles too.

Can they invent a really wrinkle-free shirts, or can they do away with formal attire at work? Maybe wearing coverall sounds like a good idea. NOT!

quote of the day

Are you an engineer?
-- the course trainer

I was on course for the past 2 days. I reached the classroom early and the trainer was having trouble putting the presentation slides onto the projector screen. So I just went to the projector switch panel and "pojito!" (press). The projection appeared.

credit card brochure tug-of-war

Nowadays it is common to see bank staffs promoting their credit cards and other financial services at MRT stations.

Yesterday I was at this MRT station and there were some bank staffs promoting their credit card. One passerby wanted to take the brochure from the promoter. He said he would take the brochure back and read (he looked keen though he was like rushing off), but the promoter insisted on explaining the details on the spot. So there was this little tug-of-war with both men holding on to the brochure. Finally the passerby let go and said "ah! Then nevermind!"

Perhaps for the promoter, if the passerby had taken back the brochure and submitted the application form himself, the promoter couldn't earn the commission. Either way the bank probably has lost one potential customer.

"gahmen" official

A few of my colleagues and I went out for lunch together. We walked through the void deck of one HDB block and there were some senior citizens sitting at the stone table, and, well let's say they were having a little card game. On seeing us all of them gave that stunned look and tried to hide whatever on the tabletop.

Some of us were wearing our staff pass, which made us look like some enforcement officers.

A colleague told me there was once the card players even shoved the stuff down the rubbish bin on seeing my colleague with the pass on her neck.

Interesting. I wonder what card game were the old folks playing.

official first day of work

I work in an "engineering" department.
We don't do engineering,
but we all have engineering degree.

new year observations

Incident 1:
We were at YK Kaya Toast. Those who frequents YK should know how competitive the hunt for table is. We spotted this empty table, and just before we sat down on the stool, 2 kids appeared from nowhere and sat down before us. Then their parents came in. It was like, we were already right at the table, our butts on the way down to the seats and then we got squeezed away.

The family spoke Japanese.

Incident 2:
I was on the upper deck of the bus, left side. At one crowded bus stop I observed 2 boys squeezing from behind through the boarding people (including old ones) in front and getting onto the bus. The 2 boys went up to the upper deck, sat at the first row. They took off their shoes, rested their feet on the railing. They peered down that driver's periscope window, and then placed their plastic bags blocking that window.

They spoke Korean.

Incident 3:
We went to this famous bak kut teh restaurant at Balestier. When we reached the front of the queue, the staff asked if we mind taking the outdoor table since the indoor area was full. Before we could reply, this woman behind us popped in front and said she didn't mind. Hello, I know you are eager to cut queue and all, but doesn't mean I am not willing to take the available outdoor table.

She spoke Mandarin.

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Just some observations, don't drill too deeply into them.

toast for new year

Just saw this video clip of Magimix Le Toaster Vision, a concept toaster that performs like any toaster, but also comes with glass panels so that you can see your bread getting toasted.

The thing about Corningware that some of us like is because of the transparent lid. I'm not so sure about toaster, since we usually set the timer and adjust according to experience. Do you stare through the glass window when microwaving food?

I wonder if I can toast the bread until it is as crispy as the kaya toast from YK.

happy 2010

It's the first day of 2010, I would like to wish everyone (myself included) a happy and smooth new year ahead!

2009 had been an eventful year for me. At least I survived.

2010 seems to have a lot of stuff in store for me. I will be taking on new challenges, new responsibilities, new environment, meeting new people.

I just have a very simple target for myself for now: pull through 2010.