> 3 idiots (more than just 3 idiots)

Recently I watched this Indian movie "3 Idiots". The name seems to suggest it's a comedy, but it's more than that. It's an Indian rojak of comedy, romance, motivational, philosophical, maybe a bit of technical. Oh, don't forget the Bollywood dances that make it so musical as well.

The story revolves around this 3 roommates who are undergrads at the Imperial College of Engineering (don't bother searching, it makes you an idiot too). Each of them has his own reason to study engineering. One loves photography, but the father forced him to take engineering; one wants to break away from poverty cycle, and it seems like in India, being an engineer is the answer; another just has this passion for engineering. And there's this joker who would resort to anything just to top his cohort, including slipping porn magazines into his coursemates' hostel room.

The central theme of this movie is to question the norm in the education system. In one scene during lesson, the lecturer asked for the definition of "machine". So the engineering-freak gave simple answer like machine is anything that helps to make our life easier. Wrong. Then a mugger raised his hand and regurgitated the disgusting textbook definition. The lecturer gave that approving smile.

I never like definition questions. And I never like marks and grades. I don't recall teaching my students definitions nor mentioning about marks during my previous job, maybe that's why I don't fit in this system.

Anyway, I highly recommend this movie to educators, engineers and engineers-wannabe. I'm sure you will have something to take home from the movie.

let's sweets!

A few weeks back we were at Bugis Junction when we spotted a signboard saying something about sweets buffet. The sweet tooth in me said we must come back and check it out. A few days later it was all over magazines and newspaper. Damn. When we finally went to check it out the following weekend, there was already a long queue outside the place before it was open for business.

Let's Sweets is a new Japanese buffet restaurant at level 2 Bugis Junction. Obviously Japanese desserts are their main selling point, but if you need some less sinful food there's quite a decent selection of pizza, pasta, soup and curry rice. Drinks bar is a bit like Saizeriya's.


As for the desserts, my heart melted before the cream did. The sesame and the coffee zenzai (coffee + red bean, great combination) were really rich in taste, so were the macha roll and macha mousse. You are not doing justice to yourself if you don't visit the dessert fridge more than once.

One thing to note, there's a time limit for each table, and in the case of lunch, it's 60 minutes. So if you don't like the urge to call the bomb squad while the clock ticks on, you may want to think again. With the time limit you may need to work out some strategy too, and I suspect the next table was spying on us... cos they kept peering over.

The layout is quite cramped between tables and the walkway to the food bench is rather narrow. 60 minutes isn't very long if you want to eat and snap photos and chat. But the sweet stuffs were satisfying.

you have the technology, but can you apply?

The other day I was in a meeting with some external party. We were planning some schedule and the boss brought up that we should avoid the Chinese New Year period. Then he asked, when is Chinese New Year next year. Everyone was clueless, so one colleague went back to the office to check, while I took out my Nokia E72 and googled it. Some 5 minutes later the colleague came back with a print-out of the same page that I found.

After deciding on the date, I saw everyone taking out their smartphones and jotting down in the calendar/organizer function. Except me, who scribbled it on my analog notebook and transferred it later after the meeting. Close to one minute on and they were still poking on the touchscreen. Looked like the latest smartphone from a Korean brand.

It is one thing to have access to (and blindly chasing after) latest technology, but another thing to know how to apply it. In fact, it is useless if you don't know how to apply it. I'm sure everyone at the meeting has a mobile data plan, and I'm sure my phone isn't the smartest among all at the meeting.

There is a reason why armies still have foot soldiers, and why foot soldiers still carry bayonet.

lunchtime trilogy

Part 1:

Today a few colleagues and I were going to Alexandra Village for lunch. The funny thing is, I am the only one who can remember the bus services that go there. So today while waiting for bus, a stranger approached us asking how to get to Esplanade. Me being me, gave him the direction (no, I didn't just point East and kthxbai). Then we saw a bus came and I told the folks to hop on.

We were supposed to get onto bus 93. We boarded bus 97. We ended up having lunch at NUS. Anyway the gang was delighted with the 40cents kopi-o and the young girls in the canteen. And I punished myself by buying coffee.

The person who taught others which bus to take, got onto the wrong bus.

Part 2:

After lunch, we were crossing this overhead bridge opposite NUS Dentistry. I think one of my colleagues found the scenery over the expressway pretty, so he took out his camera phone to snap some picture. Another colleague said, wait the motorists thought traffic police catching speeding with camera.

I thought I saw 2 lorries slow down...

Part 3:

The colleagues have this habit of buying lottery after lunch. So I thought I should bring them to the lottery booth at Dover. But when we reached there, the shutter was down. So one colleague went to ask an ah beng at the hawker centre where is the lottery place, and guess what did the ah beng say? After listing nearby but not so near lottery places, he added, if we have time we can go Selegie. Hello, Dover.

1st roll of film

Remember my Gakkenflex 35mm Twin Lens Reflex camera? I guess it isn't of much use talking about camera without looking at the photos it chunks out. I actually finished my first roll of Fujifilm some time back and sent it for developing. The effect?

I'll say the whole package is really a different feel from digital photography, starting from the moment you handed over the roll to the lady behind the counter and she handing a slip tore from the paper bag. Then the anxious waiting before your photos were done and you took them out from the paper bag right away.

I took this first roll of film as test shot and now I know my camera's characteristics better. For example, the image is more sharp dead at the middle but blurry at the side. Also, when you take close up shot, the vignette effect becomes more obvious. On top of that, there is a bit of tilt-shift feel when I took faraway built environments. And double-exposure shots were always fun. That's the thing you can get on analog.

Think I'll post the rest of the photos on my photoblog, if I am not feeling that lazy. By the way, second roll has been developed and I'll leave the story for another time.

cheap old thrill

Among the group of colleagues whom I go lunch with, I think I am the youngest, easily 10-20 years apart.

So today during lunch, somehow the topic ended up with childhood fun. Everyone was so excited talking about playing marble and the rules, like the one who tosses the marble closest to the line drawn on the sand, how we hit other players' marbles out of play, etc. Another colleague talked about making lantern out of Milo tin. Then another colleague started on what bom bom, those explosives wrapped in tissue paper which you tossed at people.

Good old times. Somehow I share those same childhood games. That's collective memories.

In my previous job, a colleague talked about Prince of Persia (the RPG game) and I was like, huh? King of Fighters characters, double-huh?

elevator infernal affairs

The brother and I were on the way home. At the lift lobby we saw this couple whom we have never seen before. The lift came, and we entered after them. (yes, we FOLLOWED them in, since they were there first. Basic manners). Inside the lift, the couple pressed for the floor which we are staying on. If someone has pressed the button that you wanted to press, you don't press again, do you? Ok, there are only 4 units on our floor, and we have never seen these 2 fellas. The 2 of them were like looking at us as if we were some villains tailing innocent people. It was like the lift scene in Infernal Affairs. Whoever pulls the fast one would be the last one. Damn I forgot my pistol.

The lift arrived at our floor, and ended up the strangers were my neighbour's visitors.

You see, you don't live there and yet you act like guarding against someone who lives there. It is like you fart in class and you point to your favourite scapegoat when the whole class looks around.

fact and faucet

One fine day I was washing the plates at the kitchen. Looking at the faucet, I was reminded of the water efficiency labelling scheme for taps and showerheads. A water appliance with good rating is said to be water efficient. I also recall the authority recommending consumers to put a little rubber ring in their taps to increase water efficiency.

Now, what exactly is water efficiency? From what I've gathered, it seems like water efficiency is determined by flow rate of the product. However, I believe that water efficiency should be the amount of water used to complete a task.

We all know (I hope we really do) that consumption is based on the volume of water used, and volume is given by flow rate x time. Now, by cutting down on flow rate, we will reduce the volume of water used provided the time used remains the same as before. However, this is not always the case. Let's say we are showering or washing our hands. Do you feel clean under a dripping water, or do you prefer a powerful spray? Maybe it is a perception thingy, maybe not, but when flow rate decreases, I think time used will inevitably increase. The end result does not necessarily mean reduced water consumption. Even with those water efficient appliances, if the end user is not satisfied with the output we always know how to turn the meter valve with simple tools like a spanner. Then it will be back to zero. (minus the fact that you've thrown away the old taps and replace with new ones with ticks on the label)

It doesn't work like tying your stomach with a rubber band. On the other hand, choking your sink may help, cos you will turn off the tap inevitably.

the expendables

Went to watch the preview of the movie The Expendables (not, expandables). Looking at the cast it seems like a gathering by Sylvester Stallone and friends. You've got Jet Li (Singaporean actor ok!), Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others. Basically the tough guys.

The story revolves around this group of mercenaries who called themselves The Expendables. Like in computer games, each character has his own special move. If you want to know more about the plot, you can try the game here.

This is one movie in which you just have to sit back and relax and enjoy all the gun firing and knife flying. There is no surprise in the storyline, but the actions will keep you occupied. You really need to be in a THX-equipped cinema to experience all the THUMP THUMP THUMP. Our all-time favourite action stars have aged a bit, so like I said, treat it like their little gathering. Even so, I think Stallone looks better than in his 2008 movie Rambo, in fact a bit like Demolition Man with his beret on. You've gotta catch him reload his pistol and squeeze off a few mags in one shot. There are many funny scenes too, like Jet Li being shorter lured his opponent to the "Low Head Clearance" space. Mickey Rourke didn't do much like he did in Iron Man 2 though. Someone in the cinema laughed so loudly when Arnold appeared.

Don't expect too much and you will end up enjoying it.

the ship that flips

This must be the weirdest ship I've come across. Name's FLIP, or Floating Instrument Platform. By filling its ballast tanks, it can flip from horizontal position to vertical. The vertical position enhances stability in the sea and allows for precise measurement taking by the scientists onboard. Have you seen those tea leaves that float in the same manner?

I wouldn't want to be drinking tea on the ship when it flips.

distance fare in a cup of kopi

And so, "travelling time - and not just distance - is also used to charge train commuters under Singapore's distance-based fares system." Mercy on those who can't squeeze onto a train and have to wait on the platform, cos your travelling time is longer.

So, why not call it "distance and time fare" instead of "distance fare"? Well, they never say a plate of chicken rice cannot have cucumber, and thus, not chicken and cucumber rice.

Let me illustrate my view using a cup of coffee. One day you go to your usual coffee stall and order coffee. The stall owner tells you that the price has gone up by 10 cents. You suck thumb, cos you have yourself to blame for having that caffeine addiction. Just as you are digging for coins, the stall owner adds that the price has gone up cos the transporter is using a more expensive fuel, or they are buying new lorry to ferry the coffee bean, or simply the stall owner has a new baby and needs to buy milk powder and diapers. The fire inside your stomach must be hotter than the kaya toast grill.

It is not the fare hike itself that is angering people, but the explanation. Public service is taught to make unpopular but necessary decisions, now they are making the explanation unpopular as well. Choice of words like "penalise" can easily start fire in the stomach. Pay then pay lah, what penalise?

If it isn't wrong in the first place, don't make it look wrong, then try to make it right and glorify yourself.

lift education

I feel irritated whenever I press for the lift and others rush to enter the lift first.

I was at a MRT station just now, and I saw this couple with their 2 toddler children. The father pressed for the lift, and then 2 other kids popped in from nowhere and snatched the front place in front of the lift doors. As the lift approached and the doors opened, that father held his son back and said, "people no manners, don't learn from them."

You can't educate other people's offspring, but you can educate your own children. Encouraging scene to see such parents around.

a ride on the ktm ekspres rakyat

Wanted to try something special over the National Day long weekend, and we decided to hop onto the KTM Ekspres Rakyat ("People's Express" in Malay). It was the first time I rode on the KTM, and many years since I last took a diesel-electric train.


We got seats in the Superior Class, which is one class below First Class and above Economy Class. Looking at the manufacturer's plate, the coach is almost 2 decades old. The interior is definitely not the sparkling new, but that adds to the retro feel.

With a blow on the whistle the train set off from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. It wasn't always smooth riding as sometimes you could feel the train swaying from side to side on uneven sections. The view through the windows was interesting though, as we passed by places like Biopolis, the metal bridge across Bukit Timah Road, Bukit Gombak... and finally across the Causeway, looking at the jam on the road :P

Ok, I think the E&O Express is too stiff for me.

yashica ez digital f521

While I am going analog, the GF got herself a new Yashica EZ Digital F521.

First look at the camera and you would've thought it's a film camera, if it wasn't for the big 2.4" screen. With its black plastic body and that way-too-simple GUI, you can tell it is going in the retro/toy direction. (do catch that BYE-BYE message when you switch the camera off) In fact it resembles the Holga 135BC. Some call it the digital Holga.

Think simple, cos it is a simple machine with few buttons and knobs. Also, forget about the half-press and just shoot. Focus is manual, but you can only choose normal and macro. It runs on 3 AAA batteries, which I think is not quite convenient than AA. Other than that, 125g won't strain your hands.

Most importantly, what can it do? Besides the different colour modes, the F521 somehow can make buildings curve like a banana (please, don't think dirty). Some say it's due to the way the sensor scans the image. Anyway I will leave it to you to figure out how to get this kind of picture.

At under S$100, I think it is a buyable toy. Really, when you see the actual set, it feels like you won't feel heart pain if you knock it accidentally or purposely. Although I would say the packaging looks... weird? Too toy-like (aka cheap-looking) and not very convincing.

new business opportunity

If you are looking for new business opportunities in Singapore, I have some ideas. Sell hearing and reading aid.

Just look at those people who blast music from their earphones (earphones mind you, not headphones), if I can hear it from some 5-10 metres away, I will be surprised if the person's ear drums are intact.

As for the eyes, I wonder how many of those who stay glued to their PSP wherever they go will have perfect eyesight.

Don't worry if you need some lead time, cos they don't go deaf overnight.

unplanned bus stop

Yesterday I was walking out from a hawker centre with my group of colleagues, when we saw a bus stopped right next to the hawker centre. There wasn't a bus stop there, and more strange, there were passengers on the bus but no driver.

A colleague of mine, an ah pek, shouted in hokkien, "wah bus no driver!" Unbeknown to him, the driver (aka bus captain) was walking right behind him. I couldn't hear what he said, but he raised both his hands to catch our attention, like "here here!" It was a hilarious scene.

I suspect the driver pulled over and went to the hawker centre's toilet to answer nature's call. Can't be he was so ahead of schedule he went for a teh tarik right?

If I was one of those passengers, I would have been irritated by the wait (of course, depending on the driver's "driving" speed). But then if I put myself in the driver's shoes, I think it was in the interest of the passengers not to pollute the air on board the bus.

(details as to location and bus service and company have been omitted cos I don't want to screw up anyone's life)

punishable kindness

The Sunday Times talked about using different doors for boarding and alighting on the MRT. Kind of reminds me of my own experience at the MRT station.

By right, people are supposed to wait at either side of the screen door, let the passengers alight first, then board the train. I adhere to that. But when those on the other side rush in the moment the doors open, naturally those alighting would take the easier path, ie, my side of the door. You really have a bi-directional human flow happening simultaneously. So by the time those alighting passengers have cleared, the boarding ones on the other side of the door have already taken up what remaining seats, and then it is my time to board the train. I would be lucky if I can get onto the train and find a decent un-hugged pole to grab on.

It is like getting punished for being gracious. Now don't let me see Singa again or I will turn violent.

now a lighter climber

It has been donkey years since I last went climbing. So it was great to get back the pumped-forearms feeling when I went ClimbAsia this afternoon with the old climbing gang. We used to climb at SAFRA Yishun, and this was the first time I went with them to ClimbAsia. Good excuse to use my under-utilized membership card.

The same old feeling of wearing the harness and tying the figure-of-8, not forgetting shoving your hands into the chalkbag for calming effect. Aside from climbing, the catching up on each other and gossiping part was equally cool.

My belayer could tell I've lost weight. That's the thing you can tell when 2 persons are linked by a rope.