onwards to e72

After having rolled back from E51 to 3120 last year, I am onto my new Nokia E72!

With the S60's calendar function greatly missed, I decided it is time to move on from the old workhorse 3120. The E72 is my first QWERTY phone. Moving from a keypad to a qwerty takes quite a bit of adjusting, and I still have to look at the keys when I type. Less than a week onto the new toy and I don't have much problem with it, since its interface is pretty similar to E51's. The additions of the GPS and compass are most welcome for the walker in me, while the return of the phone camera (now 5.0 somemore) may mean I'm back to photoblogging. Also, the optical Navi-key is one feature I find unique, as user can choose to slide his finger like on a touch screen, or just scroll using the physical mean of pressing the navigation buttons.

The one thing I am not comfortable with is the cover for the USB port. The rubber looks like it can snap after some time. Better don't connect the cable too often.

earth hour at mcd

I am usually not a big fan of symbolism, so it didn't cross my mind to switch off the lights during Earth Hour (c'mon I save energy all year long. I don't do work). Nevertheless I was partially involved in it while having a cup of caramel macchiato at McDonald's.

It was interesting sipping coffee in a blacked-out 24hr McD. Surely the message was driven across as the staff gave us caramel macchiato instead of the himalayan tea latte ordered. You can't work in darkness!

Now you had Earth Hour. I wonder if the plastic fork for Big Breakfast is biodegradable.

high elements

The other day I was at this particular exhibition centre in Singapore. I was sitting at a cafe, observing some workers putting up banners on the exterior of the building. Their modus operandi was as such: 2 workers were at the top of the aluminium scaffolding, some 15 metres tall, tying the banners to the pillars, while 4 other workers each stood at the 4 legs of the scaffolding, pushing the whole tower to a new location whenever the top guys were done, and locking the wheels with their feet. When the top guys were tying the banner, the 4 workers at the bottom went to one side and slacked.

The guys on top were not wearing any safety harnesses. Imagine one slip while tying the banner. Also, by a simple lever-arm mechanism, if the workers on top leaned to one side of the scaffolding, a turning moment would be resulted and the scaffolding would just topple and there was no way the 4 guys at the bottom could prevent it, even if they were at the base and trying to hold the legs down.

If the company used those aerial platform, not only would it be safer, they could also save the 4 manpower at the bottom cos you can control the wheels from the top. Oh well, better equipment means money.

quote of the day

I should have done worse
- yours truly

When competence becomes a demerit and burden and you get punished by getting loaded with unfavourable tasks, you start to ask yourself why were you so goddamn-finger-licking-good.

ikea lights

The two items I like a lot in my room are my ceiling lamp and my table lamp, both from Ikea. Fine, call me a fanboy.


Lightings is an indispensable part of the house. Many people think of Balestier area when they think of buying lights, which I agree that there are many choices along the road. However I don't really find it worth it to spend a bomb (ok, exaggeration) on a so-so looking ceiling lamp. I chose the Foto N from Ikea which I had laid my eyes on for a long time. (wanted the gigantic one but think it will look ugly in my tiny room) Like the shiny aluminium and "factory" feel. My work table lamp was another headache since I had a real estate problem, but I didn't hesitate when I saw the Tertial N work lamp at Ikea, another metallic piece taking up a mere 45mm x 45mm on my table top. Cost about S$50 altogether.

Actually if we look around when outside, we may discover many shops and cafes are using lights from Ikea. Think I saw pasar malam stalls with dozens of the same Tertial N lamp used as spot lights.

from engineer to guard

The other day I had a little chat with the security guard at my workplace after office hour. He looks like he's in his 40s, always with a happy smile, speaks fluent English, unlike most of the other security guards we see around with grumpy faces.

Little did I know that he was previously a QA (quality assurance) engineer with an MNC.

His previous company is a manufacturing plant that operates 24/7. As a QA engineer he had to ensure products are up to standard, which could be a stressful job. His phone was on 24/7 as well, as he had to rush back to company anytime of the day to attend to any problems with the products. He wanted his life back and so he quitted.

He switched to become a security guard along with pay cut. His pay was lower than advertised as his engineering experience does not count as relevant work experience. Now he works 12 hours a day, but he always wears a wide smile on his face.

That is job satisfaction.

quote of the day

me: 你们有用CAD的吗?
gw: 用猫...
(me: do you use CAD?
gw: use cat)

Met up with some university and secondary school friends for dinner. Some of them I knew them since Secondary 1. It is always good to catch up with friends, find out how is everyone doing, share some lame jokes, talk about Gundam...

Interestingly, of the 5 present I was the only non-engineer.

come and go phenomena

They say change is the only constant, and this surely applies to shops. (Most) shops don't last forever. It is like, a month or so ago they were still open for business, and now they are all gone. Toy shop, tea house, hamburger place, eateries, cafe, places that I told myself I would revisit them when I have the time/money. And now they have vanished, either turned into totally different face, or behind the work-in-process wooden boards. Damn, I still have some toys in my wish-list and now that shop is gone!

It is like telling you to treasure what is left before your eyes before they too disappear. (and so people, stop hesitating and start spending! hur hur)

I guess to many people, at some point in their life they would have told themselves they want to open up a cafe, a bookshop, a bakery, a gift shop, a little cosy corner. Not totally for the money, but partly for the feel of it.

It feels sad to see these meaningful places go. Hopefully the owners can move on in life. At least they can tell themselves they have been there, done that.

escalator accident

Ok it will sound a little stupid and exaggerated if I say I was involved in an escalator accident. I wasn't wearing Crocs by the way.

I was on a down-riding escalator with The Old Ones. Being the *ahem*caring*ahem* son that I am, I turned around to look out for them. Just as I was travelling down I felt a sharp pain on my leg and saw the step above mine was pressing onto my leg. I swear I was standing within the yellow box. Some skin came off.

So they should include more warning signs. Face the front when riding on the escalator. No turning around and kissing and hugging with your lover. But I do remember seeing signs saying you should look after young children and elderlies.

manned but unmanned

Engineers usually incorporate redundancy or factor of safety into their designs. It can be as simple as knocking a few more nails into the plank, or as sophisticated as having a few backups. But where to draw the line between too much and too little redundancy?

The Alstom trains running on our North East Line and Circle Line use something called communication-based train control. Or to put it simply, they don't need drivers in the train. Fully automatic. However the operating companies still station a staff to stand at the front window of the train.

I have no issue with the trains themselves, they are efficient, punctual, close doors on time, but it's the stationing of the staff that I am puzzled with. Is the staff redundant? (that is a weird question to ask, especially from someone with an engineering degree. Of course he/she is redundant!) If they have to station a staff on each train, wouldn't it be cheaper (I presume) to just go with a manual non-automatic train and the infrastructure?

racism starts young

I was on a crowded MRT train when I saw these 2 kids. The reserved seat was empty and the younger sister sat down. She shifted towards the glass panel to let her elder brother squeeze into the same seat, but guess what, the elder brother said "I don't want to sit next to him.", quite loudly.

The "him" alighted some stations later, and the kids' father took up the seat. The boy finally squeezed in.

Maybe it wasn't the skin colour, maybe it was body odour, maybe it was the attire, maybe something else.

I kind of hope my conclusion was wrong.

choosing your course

I guess 'cos A Level result was released recently, some people were asking me about the choice of course in university.

Seriously, I can't answer you, cos I am not you, and you are not me. If you like washing test tubes, I can't possible recommend you to play with bolts and nuts.

All I can say is, choose a course which you think can help you find a job in future. Flip the recruit section of the newspaper and see which degree has the most openings. Go crash some lectures (most lecturers won't mind or notice) and if the first impression is along the line of "I think I can answer that question off hand", then I think you've struck.

Just a gentle note, 4 years of engineering can be very miserable if you don't like engineering at all. I've only heard of people transferring out, not transferring in.

loan repaid

I just repaid the full sum of my university's tuition fee loan before the interest kicks in in April. While I purposely waited until so late then repay the amount (so that I can earn a bit of interest), it still is a load off my mind and now I can continue with whatever financial plan I have.

I've got a feeling some of us take the tuition fee loan for granted like a given, but actually it has been a great help. Imagine without the interest-free loan, we had to fork out the full sum of the university tuition fee every semester. Not everyone can juggle both academic and financial pressure. So I am grateful.

Oh, just a note, if you intend to repay the loan before the interest comes in, don't wait till the last few days of March cos some banks need 3 days to process the loan repayment.

Anime Showdown

Was at Takashimaya basement 1 and saw that they are having an Anime Showdown till 17 March (Wednesday). Saw quite a collection of 30th Anniversary Gundam models and some from Tamashii Nations. Urgh, I also saw the M9 Gernsback from Full Metal Panic!

Not a big event but still not to be missed by anime fans.

quote of the day

It is a good time to start being passionate about your work

not sure if those were the exact words, but I saw this interesting book at kikki.K. I flipped open and the first page I arrived at I saw these words. Hmm...

international women's day

It's 8th March today, so happy International Women's Day! (any lady had an off-day from your boss?)

quote of the day

They spend the money that they don't have,
live in space that they don't need,
to impress people they don't care for.
-- overheard on the MRT

Good food for thought.

cj your bread

There is this bakery (or is it confectionery?) that is known for selling Hong Kong-style bread and tim sum from its bigger brother restaurant. And as a marketing strategy, they have some discount for their cakes and breads after 8:30pm. It is common to see people loitering outside the bakery and then suddenly it gets crowded at 8:30pm sharp.

So the other evening I happened to have some vouchers from this bakery, so I went there to redeem some char siu bau. It was about 8:20pm. I saw this woman (not in uniform) sitting at one corner, a tray on the table with mountain full of bau and bread and what-nots. The moment it hit 8:30pm she went to the cashier counter.

Is that considered hogging? No, that's reservation.

There wasn't much left on the shelves.

operate machines

I dared not take my drowsiness-causing medicine today,

cos I had to operate machines at work.