Testing my new mobile broadband from Starhub.
Posting this in Jan's car!
Showing newest 32 of 39 posts from May 2008. Show older posts
Showing newest 32 of 39 posts from May 2008. Show older posts
Saturday, May 31, 2008
happy friday
Its been a great week so far and today was fantastic!
Moved Abi this week.
Collected my bike today! Now it is all good to go, I can burst and crank it without having to fly over the bars. Cycled to work to day because I blew my transport budget. It even overshot previous month which had overshot. It was a hot afternoon but at least I get to wear my shades. Reached Suntec and went for an afternoon swim.
Save money + exercise + burn calories + swimming to cool down, what else can I ask for?
We had a show for iShop and Apple earlier this evening outside Heeren at the iPod music carnival and my biggest worry was the Beat It! Throwdown contest. That event was supposed to be part of last weekend SYYC08 but we cancelled it because the guest of honour (Dr Maliki) had to leave. So I was packing the store the other day and saw the Beat It! medal and the prizes (Motorola rizer handphone and a metal freehandzero). I don't want to keep all this stuff and suddenly thought of using the music carnival to hold the event. Wasn't too difficult to make that happen since Jan is in charge of the event. =p It was a small gamble because I am unsure of the crowd response. It turned out better than I thought and it was great!
I am happy for Hans that he won and finally owns a handphone with bluetooth technology.
The guys from YYAS were great to drop by and support the contest.
//
Came home and checked my emails. Hans told me the curator of tickleart sent an email saying that she likes our exhibit!
Saw my tagboard and it was cool to know another jitter ring enthusiast.
Saw another email from a stranger who likes the way I painted my gundams and asked if I have a painted strike freedom gundam for sale.
//
Still waiting for the spotted grey crested pigeon with zebra striped feet.
Moved Abi this week.
Collected my bike today! Now it is all good to go, I can burst and crank it without having to fly over the bars. Cycled to work to day because I blew my transport budget. It even overshot previous month which had overshot. It was a hot afternoon but at least I get to wear my shades. Reached Suntec and went for an afternoon swim.
Save money + exercise + burn calories + swimming to cool down, what else can I ask for?
We had a show for iShop and Apple earlier this evening outside Heeren at the iPod music carnival and my biggest worry was the Beat It! Throwdown contest. That event was supposed to be part of last weekend SYYC08 but we cancelled it because the guest of honour (Dr Maliki) had to leave. So I was packing the store the other day and saw the Beat It! medal and the prizes (Motorola rizer handphone and a metal freehandzero). I don't want to keep all this stuff and suddenly thought of using the music carnival to hold the event. Wasn't too difficult to make that happen since Jan is in charge of the event. =p It was a small gamble because I am unsure of the crowd response. It turned out better than I thought and it was great!
I am happy for Hans that he won and finally owns a handphone with bluetooth technology.
The guys from YYAS were great to drop by and support the contest.
//
Came home and checked my emails. Hans told me the curator of tickleart sent an email saying that she likes our exhibit!
Saw my tagboard and it was cool to know another jitter ring enthusiast.
Saw another email from a stranger who likes the way I painted my gundams and asked if I have a painted strike freedom gundam for sale.
//
Still waiting for the spotted grey crested pigeon with zebra striped feet.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thanks for all the comments and positive feedbacks. I believe Abi must be really happy to have so many people taking photos of her. There were already many passer by who stopped and take pictures when she was outside the glass cage. Just waiting for the final bit to be up, which is the signage mentioning the artist statement and our names.
Still gotta think about what to do her when her shelter lease ends on late July. Will leave that till later.
//
Was late this morning for an appointment so I took a cab but she is a new taxi driver who is still new to the roads. She is also the safest driver, following the speed limits very strictly. Its the perfect combo to be even later for an appt when I am already late enough. Sometimes she will use the 4th gear when driving slowly in a small lane and she kept braking and acclerating. Was trying to do work on my laptop for a while but the motion sickness came in very quickly. To make matters worse, I mixed up the address and told her the wrong one! *faint*
It sounded like a shitty morning but I am totally happy. Moving Abi last night created all the good karma I need for the rest of this week or even for a long time to come!
Still gotta think about what to do her when her shelter lease ends on late July. Will leave that till later.
//
Was late this morning for an appointment so I took a cab but she is a new taxi driver who is still new to the roads. She is also the safest driver, following the speed limits very strictly. Its the perfect combo to be even later for an appt when I am already late enough. Sometimes she will use the 4th gear when driving slowly in a small lane and she kept braking and acclerating. Was trying to do work on my laptop for a while but the motion sickness came in very quickly. To make matters worse, I mixed up the address and told her the wrong one! *faint*
It sounded like a shitty morning but I am totally happy. Moving Abi last night created all the good karma I need for the rest of this week or even for a long time to come!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Moving Abisaurus to City Link!
Afternoon - Met up with the curator of Tickelart, the showcase of art exhibitions by local artists. She is in charge of the showcases ink City Link Mall (the underpass leading to Esplanade). Yes, she selected our work for the current showcase! It was our first time meeting her today and she were asking us questions about us and Abi. We emailed her last week without any hopes and all and we were so thrilled when she first replied that she was interested.
Hans and I were really grateful to her when we learnt that there were several other artists requesting to have their work displayed but she gave the chance to us first. And I am pretty sure that the other artists have a real solid foundation in art compared to us. We were considered lucky in a way because she found the idea of Abi interesting and it will be appropriate with the June school holidays.
Our plans for moving Abi today was almost thwarted by the rain. Andrew saved us by helping to buy bamboo poles from Bugis and carrying it all the way to Suntec. I needed the poles to create a stretcher for Abi so it will be easier for us to transport her. Andrew helped us with the initial filming to document Abi's journey. Isaac, Nurali and Firdaus volunteered to help.
Improvising a stretcher and securing Abi to it with recycled yo-yo strings
Initial idea was to use trolleys or skateboards which were obviously not practical. The poles idea came to me when i was thinking about ntu sports camp where poles were used to make a sedan for grand finale. We worked as a team rather efficiently and we left the shop soon. First major obstacle was the escalator. The security guard asked us to take the cargo lift but Abi can't fit into it. I didn't want to take the risk down a moving escalator because I don't want the guys to get injured unnecessarily. So I asked if he can switched up the escalator temporarily. He needed to get approval from his supervisor and heres the really funny part.
His words to the walkie talkie: "There are two guys here who wants to move a dinosaur from level 3 to level 2. Permission to switch off the escalator".
Heard him repeating him that several times and I don't think the other side understood him (Would you?) so the supervisor came. He reluctantly helped us swtiched off the escalator. If there were any complaints, he has to bear the blame. Thats why he was hesitant but he don't have much of a choice. Abi was standing there in front of the escalator and she can't fit into the lift. She has to move to her new home today.
I wanted to enter the new entrance to city link but have scrap that idea because there is this point where the ceiling is way too low. We took a different route by crossing the main road and using the other entrance to city link. It must be a real treat for the drivers waiting at the traffic light seeing a dinosaur crossing the road. Before that, we have already attracted a little attention when carrying her through Suntec.
Bringing Abi out to see the real world.
We wrapped up around 11.20pm and we were really glad that we pulled this off. The helpers, Andrew, Isaac, Nurali and Firdaus will each receive a limited edition Abisaurus T-shirt from us. We can't imagine finishing the setup by tonight if not for their help! Thank you guys!! This has to be one of the best days of my life.
Still left the signage and the exhibit will be completed. Will update again when its done. The exhibit will only be there for two months. That means I need to start scouting new shelters for her.
Left: Setting up
Right: Isaac role playing
The creators of Abisaurus - Colin and Hans
Hans, Isaac, Colin, Nurali, Firdaus
Firdaus, Nurali, Colin Isaac, Hans
Abisaurus in her new home
The t-shirt design
Hans and I were really grateful to her when we learnt that there were several other artists requesting to have their work displayed but she gave the chance to us first. And I am pretty sure that the other artists have a real solid foundation in art compared to us. We were considered lucky in a way because she found the idea of Abi interesting and it will be appropriate with the June school holidays.
Our plans for moving Abi today was almost thwarted by the rain. Andrew saved us by helping to buy bamboo poles from Bugis and carrying it all the way to Suntec. I needed the poles to create a stretcher for Abi so it will be easier for us to transport her. Andrew helped us with the initial filming to document Abi's journey. Isaac, Nurali and Firdaus volunteered to help.
Improvising a stretcher and securing Abi to it with recycled yo-yo strings
Initial idea was to use trolleys or skateboards which were obviously not practical. The poles idea came to me when i was thinking about ntu sports camp where poles were used to make a sedan for grand finale. We worked as a team rather efficiently and we left the shop soon. First major obstacle was the escalator. The security guard asked us to take the cargo lift but Abi can't fit into it. I didn't want to take the risk down a moving escalator because I don't want the guys to get injured unnecessarily. So I asked if he can switched up the escalator temporarily. He needed to get approval from his supervisor and heres the really funny part.
His words to the walkie talkie: "There are two guys here who wants to move a dinosaur from level 3 to level 2. Permission to switch off the escalator".
Heard him repeating him that several times and I don't think the other side understood him (Would you?) so the supervisor came. He reluctantly helped us swtiched off the escalator. If there were any complaints, he has to bear the blame. Thats why he was hesitant but he don't have much of a choice. Abi was standing there in front of the escalator and she can't fit into the lift. She has to move to her new home today.
I wanted to enter the new entrance to city link but have scrap that idea because there is this point where the ceiling is way too low. We took a different route by crossing the main road and using the other entrance to city link. It must be a real treat for the drivers waiting at the traffic light seeing a dinosaur crossing the road. Before that, we have already attracted a little attention when carrying her through Suntec.
Bringing Abi out to see the real world.
We wrapped up around 11.20pm and we were really glad that we pulled this off. The helpers, Andrew, Isaac, Nurali and Firdaus will each receive a limited edition Abisaurus T-shirt from us. We can't imagine finishing the setup by tonight if not for their help! Thank you guys!! This has to be one of the best days of my life.
Still left the signage and the exhibit will be completed. Will update again when its done. The exhibit will only be there for two months. That means I need to start scouting new shelters for her.
Left: Setting up
Right: Isaac role playing
The creators of Abisaurus - Colin and Hans
Hans, Isaac, Colin, Nurali, Firdaus
Firdaus, Nurali, Colin Isaac, Hans
Abisaurus in her new home
The t-shirt design
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Just reached home! Sent Buko off at the airport and her flight was at 6am. Was chilling with Cheng, Sui Kai and Caine all night long and till breakfast at T2's Mcdonalds.
Gotta keep awake for the whole day. Gotta wake up at 10 and go process the check out payment at Dimi's hotel. Meeting the curator in the afternoon to sign some documents for Abi. Got a meeting at iShop after that. Back to shop to move Abi to her temporary new shelter and I got a macenrich lesson tmw early morning!
Gotta keep awake for the whole day. Gotta wake up at 10 and go process the check out payment at Dimi's hotel. Meeting the curator in the afternoon to sign some documents for Abi. Got a meeting at iShop after that. Back to shop to move Abi to her temporary new shelter and I got a macenrich lesson tmw early morning!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
SYYC08 Prelims
No point talking how packed my day is especially when it is the same almost everyday.
Tried to rush to the MRT this morning but there were no more mypapers by the time I got there. Luckily Alex managed to get me an extra copy and Jacq got me a copy too!
Today was the preliminaries of the competition and it was fun. The new venue at Suntec was really great, of course it comes with a price too.
Tomorrow will be exciting and it is going to be a really stiff competition! If you intend to drop by and catch the action, 2-5pm is the hottest segment!
Better crash early to recharge for tomorrow!
Thanks to Jacq for helping to scan the article!
Tried to rush to the MRT this morning but there were no more mypapers by the time I got there. Luckily Alex managed to get me an extra copy and Jacq got me a copy too!
Today was the preliminaries of the competition and it was fun. The new venue at Suntec was really great, of course it comes with a price too.
Tomorrow will be exciting and it is going to be a really stiff competition! If you intend to drop by and catch the action, 2-5pm is the hottest segment!
Better crash early to recharge for tomorrow!
Thanks to Jacq for helping to scan the article!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Just bathed after reaching home few minutes ago. Have to wake up early to go iShop and pick up some stuff then back to Suntec for the event. Had another super packed day. Went to SPH for an interview with mypaper. It was coincidence that the photographer (Xiaobin) was from NTU too! She was from the same batch but she was in CS. The three of us (Alex, Hans and myself) went for the shoot and it must be tiring for her to shoot us because we can't seem to smile properly. Can't be helped... Anyway, she said that if it goes well, the article should be featured tomorrow, i.e. later...
After the shoot, went for lunch then to meet Dimi, an invited judge for the compeition from KL. Then to CGH for my medical follow up, which was quite a waste of time but it is something that I just have to get it over and done with. Back to the shop to clear some last minute work for the competition. Left the shop past midnight and headed to airport to pick up Maya Nakamura, an invited judge from Japan. Almost couldn't recognise her!!! The amount of weight she lost in 3 months is unbelievable! Her proven method will make any slimming package deal seems like a con job. So I sent her back to the hotel where Dimi was sound asleep, woke him up and we went for supper. Finally went home after that.
The event is just tomorrow but it feels that there is still so much stuff to be done! Maybe I am just over excited.
If you are looking for stuff to do, drop by tomorrow and Saturday at Suntec City tropics atrium to check out the Singapore Yo-yo Championships 2008!
I am fighting my inner thoughts to wake up early to pick up a copy of mypaper from the mrt. It is times like this when I wish they will just sell it at the newstand.
After the shoot, went for lunch then to meet Dimi, an invited judge for the compeition from KL. Then to CGH for my medical follow up, which was quite a waste of time but it is something that I just have to get it over and done with. Back to the shop to clear some last minute work for the competition. Left the shop past midnight and headed to airport to pick up Maya Nakamura, an invited judge from Japan. Almost couldn't recognise her!!! The amount of weight she lost in 3 months is unbelievable! Her proven method will make any slimming package deal seems like a con job. So I sent her back to the hotel where Dimi was sound asleep, woke him up and we went for supper. Finally went home after that.
The event is just tomorrow but it feels that there is still so much stuff to be done! Maybe I am just over excited.
If you are looking for stuff to do, drop by tomorrow and Saturday at Suntec City tropics atrium to check out the Singapore Yo-yo Championships 2008!
I am fighting my inner thoughts to wake up early to pick up a copy of mypaper from the mrt. It is times like this when I wish they will just sell it at the newstand.
Good news for Abisaurus
After the dilemma on what to do with Abi after building her, I have been working with Hans on some ideas. It has to carry some meaning like for example, environment and recycling issues.
We really don't want it to go waste after all the effort put into it. It is unfortunate that some passerby still mistaken it for a giraffe! Maybe they have not watched Jurassic Park or the Land before time. So we came up with a few ideas and the main one was to get it displayed 'somewhere'. We proposed our 'art' installtion to the curator of some place that was the first choice in our list. We had minimum hopes because previous works that were displayed there always have an impressive arts resume. Hans is only starting his undergrad studies in computer engineering later this year. I am a grad with engineering background so both of us barely had any arts foundation excecpt for the art classes in during primary and secondary school. We were stunned when the curator replied to us saying she is interested in our project!
I don't want to reveal the location yet just in case this project falls through but all is looking good so far. I am extremely excited about the transportation part, her journey has to be documented on video! Andrew (small one), we need your help here.
We really don't want it to go waste after all the effort put into it. It is unfortunate that some passerby still mistaken it for a giraffe! Maybe they have not watched Jurassic Park or the Land before time. So we came up with a few ideas and the main one was to get it displayed 'somewhere'. We proposed our 'art' installtion to the curator of some place that was the first choice in our list. We had minimum hopes because previous works that were displayed there always have an impressive arts resume. Hans is only starting his undergrad studies in computer engineering later this year. I am a grad with engineering background so both of us barely had any arts foundation excecpt for the art classes in during primary and secondary school. We were stunned when the curator replied to us saying she is interested in our project!
I don't want to reveal the location yet just in case this project falls through but all is looking good so far. I am extremely excited about the transportation part, her journey has to be documented on video! Andrew (small one), we need your help here.
I need some space. Blogging this post at Suntec Starbucks while escaping from work during lunch time. This week will very hectic due to the Singapore Yo-yo Championships this weekend. Got a newpaper interview to attend tmw morning, there are stuff to be settled for the event, logistics, manpower, speeches to be written, team training matters, etc. Spent quite a lot of time and effort in revamping Team Spinworkx Xtreme. This syyc will be their first debut and I hope they will do well.
//
Was setting up some macs at my client's new branch outlet in Sunshine Plaza. It was supposed to be fast and easy but there were delays in the renovation so by the time I started, it was already 8.30pm. There were only 3 iMacs but when I was down to the third one, then I found out that it was still running on Tiger! That means I gotta reinstall Leopard, Adobe CS suite and that is gonna waste so much time. I thought all was done, their only PC has gotta act stubborn... My life shortens by a few minutes everything I troubleshoot a PC. Everything was setup but the PC was refusing to recognise the macs in the same network. It was a time issue, after a while, it finally recognised it. The other macs were all happily connected and was only waiting for this pc. I left his shop around 12.50am.
//
Last night, I received an email from a MacEnrich client who was facing trouble with her PC. I reluctantly agreed to help her troubleshoot it few days back and now I regretted. Before I left her place, she tested and everything was working fine, network printing and stuff. Then suddenly things just refuse to work. Then how? If I were a PC technician, I should be happy because I can go back and charge her for a service again. Maybe this is how they are kept in business. There are bound to be unnecessary problems or challenging troubleshooting issues. Viruses, hardware drivers, incompatibility, etc.
Hence, I have decided not to service any PCs under MacEnrich in the future because it is not just a waste of my time but it is also against my principle. I left computer engineering partly because I don't want to be buried in a world of PCs when there are better alternatives. Yes there may be Linux, macs and others but lets face it that Windows still holds the biggest market share.
Even if client is willing to pay me at the same rate, I am going to reject it in future. Yes, it can be lucrative because you know that after fixing it, it is just a matter of time before another problem occurs. It doesn't feel right to keep charging when the problem lies in the inferior product. I can sympathize with the client but who is going to sympathize with my time? I can do pro bono work once in a while but I can't save the world 24/7 when I have more than enough issues at Spinworkx to take care of.
Many people may not understand why people always face so much problems with PC. That is because our generation are quite tech savvy but there is a bigger batch of users who are unfortunately not that familiar with tech stuff.
Things like this drive me crazy sometimes but it always gives more assurance on why I switched to a mac.
//
Was setting up some macs at my client's new branch outlet in Sunshine Plaza. It was supposed to be fast and easy but there were delays in the renovation so by the time I started, it was already 8.30pm. There were only 3 iMacs but when I was down to the third one, then I found out that it was still running on Tiger! That means I gotta reinstall Leopard, Adobe CS suite and that is gonna waste so much time. I thought all was done, their only PC has gotta act stubborn... My life shortens by a few minutes everything I troubleshoot a PC. Everything was setup but the PC was refusing to recognise the macs in the same network. It was a time issue, after a while, it finally recognised it. The other macs were all happily connected and was only waiting for this pc. I left his shop around 12.50am.
//
Last night, I received an email from a MacEnrich client who was facing trouble with her PC. I reluctantly agreed to help her troubleshoot it few days back and now I regretted. Before I left her place, she tested and everything was working fine, network printing and stuff. Then suddenly things just refuse to work. Then how? If I were a PC technician, I should be happy because I can go back and charge her for a service again. Maybe this is how they are kept in business. There are bound to be unnecessary problems or challenging troubleshooting issues. Viruses, hardware drivers, incompatibility, etc.
Hence, I have decided not to service any PCs under MacEnrich in the future because it is not just a waste of my time but it is also against my principle. I left computer engineering partly because I don't want to be buried in a world of PCs when there are better alternatives. Yes there may be Linux, macs and others but lets face it that Windows still holds the biggest market share.
Even if client is willing to pay me at the same rate, I am going to reject it in future. Yes, it can be lucrative because you know that after fixing it, it is just a matter of time before another problem occurs. It doesn't feel right to keep charging when the problem lies in the inferior product. I can sympathize with the client but who is going to sympathize with my time? I can do pro bono work once in a while but I can't save the world 24/7 when I have more than enough issues at Spinworkx to take care of.
Many people may not understand why people always face so much problems with PC. That is because our generation are quite tech savvy but there is a bigger batch of users who are unfortunately not that familiar with tech stuff.
Things like this drive me crazy sometimes but it always gives more assurance on why I switched to a mac.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Can't believe the amount of phone calls, appointments, emails and work I have the clear after a weekend away. By the time I reached home today at 12.10am. I just realised I have not eaten dinner yet. Need to kick this habit away otherwise it is a matter of time before I really get stomach ulcer.
Better get back to clearing my emails first. Will be lucky if I can sleep by 3.30.
Better get back to clearing my emails first. Will be lucky if I can sleep by 3.30.
Monday, May 19, 2008
I am back in SG but I am tired! Had to teach this evening because I have already missed last weekend and yesterday.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a public holiday but I got a full day of work!
So much stuff happened over the weekend, most are good. Actually almost everything was good except for the missing pigeon and a client having problem with parallels on her mac.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a public holiday but I got a full day of work!
So much stuff happened over the weekend, most are good. Actually almost everything was good except for the missing pigeon and a client having problem with parallels on her mac.
Friday, May 16, 2008
6am in KL
Just arrived safely in KL and for the first time, I didn't take any taxi to the guesthouse. From Pasar Rayat, I can see Times Square so I just followed it while using "the force". The walk took about 25mins. Arrived at the number8 guesthouse where I made a reservation. Their only room available was RM160 a night but the check in time is 1pm. Since I can't check in anyway, I went to check out this new guesthouse (Tropical) just 2 units away. It is directly beside my favourite beef noodle stall. Can't get any nearer than this!
Felt bad having to wake the guy up to unlock the door for me. I enquired about the availability of any rooms. He said there is one left and it is RM70 a night! I knew there would be some catch to it but as long it is private (cos I am worried about my belongings) and there is wireless access then I am cool with it. He says he needs to charge me extra RM 20 for early check in and he was a little surprised when I agreed to it immediately. 2 nights stay, 70 + 70 + 20 = RM 160. This is the price of the other guesthouse for one night! Of course, the furnishing of number8 looks much better and I don't mind its price. In fact, I think it is the nicest in this whole street. Just too bad, they don't have any rooms now.
He led me to my room and it is the smallest possible ever! Only 7 by 6 feet. The length of the room fits the length of the bed nicely. The walking space is the width of the door and length of the bed. Feels like living in a box.
Gonna rest for a while before I go for my meeting in the morning.
Felt bad having to wake the guy up to unlock the door for me. I enquired about the availability of any rooms. He said there is one left and it is RM70 a night! I knew there would be some catch to it but as long it is private (cos I am worried about my belongings) and there is wireless access then I am cool with it. He says he needs to charge me extra RM 20 for early check in and he was a little surprised when I agreed to it immediately. 2 nights stay, 70 + 70 + 20 = RM 160. This is the price of the other guesthouse for one night! Of course, the furnishing of number8 looks much better and I don't mind its price. In fact, I think it is the nicest in this whole street. Just too bad, they don't have any rooms now.
He led me to my room and it is the smallest possible ever! Only 7 by 6 feet. The length of the room fits the length of the bed nicely. The walking space is the width of the door and length of the bed. Feels like living in a box.
Gonna rest for a while before I go for my meeting in the morning.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
2nd night with Abi
Yesterday, we stayed overnight at the shop again to put the 2nd layer onto Abi and some touch ups. I felt her tail was undersized and its end looks like rolled newspaper so we had to do some surgical work. Kinda feels like a plastic surgeon and after last night, we can be qualified newspaper surgeons. We were so much faster now and we had spare time to kill while waiting for the mache to dry before applying the next layer so we were just jamming with our yo-yos. They are among my best time killer.
The tail job requires major modification and we had to re apply the newspaper mache all over again. All for the sake of making her look more complete. Now the tail looks much more proportional to the body but she is now much longer at 3.2m! Even the tail itself is taller than me when placed upright. After last night's job, she has put on more weight and now I can't move her alone without risking any damage.
Applying the new layers on her head was especially challenging because we don't have a proper ladder. I had to drag a table from somewhere and put the ladder on it. That table isn't exactly very stable so the idea is quickly fix her head and come down. Took quite a while and there were times I almost lost balance. Those emergency moments kept me awake.
My mum called me when I was on the way back home and asked what happened to me last night. I don't know how to explain to her about a dinosaur. Who would understand? Just said I was working on a project.
We now are stuck with a few dilemmas"
1. What are we going to do with her? She is really much bigger now and I can't really keep her at the entrance of the shop all the time. I can't carry her out alone without a helping hand.
2. Should we paint her or leave her raw as it is? I think the raw newspaper looks carries a more significant "save the world / recycle" message but if we don't paint, some may still mistake her for a giraffe. In a way, she still doesn't look complete yet. If we do spray, I am not sure if we can do a good job. If only I still had my airbrush kit, it will be easier. I am not confident with controlling the spray can's nozzle.
Need to catch some beauty sleep. Gotta wake up early tmw for an appt and I have not packed my bag for KL yet.
Used 4.5 bottles of glue so far
Appling the new layer and touching up her head.
Killing time
Supper and our jukebox to keep us moving
Phase 2 completed!
The tail job requires major modification and we had to re apply the newspaper mache all over again. All for the sake of making her look more complete. Now the tail looks much more proportional to the body but she is now much longer at 3.2m! Even the tail itself is taller than me when placed upright. After last night's job, she has put on more weight and now I can't move her alone without risking any damage.
Applying the new layers on her head was especially challenging because we don't have a proper ladder. I had to drag a table from somewhere and put the ladder on it. That table isn't exactly very stable so the idea is quickly fix her head and come down. Took quite a while and there were times I almost lost balance. Those emergency moments kept me awake.
My mum called me when I was on the way back home and asked what happened to me last night. I don't know how to explain to her about a dinosaur. Who would understand? Just said I was working on a project.
We now are stuck with a few dilemmas"
1. What are we going to do with her? She is really much bigger now and I can't really keep her at the entrance of the shop all the time. I can't carry her out alone without a helping hand.
2. Should we paint her or leave her raw as it is? I think the raw newspaper looks carries a more significant "save the world / recycle" message but if we don't paint, some may still mistake her for a giraffe. In a way, she still doesn't look complete yet. If we do spray, I am not sure if we can do a good job. If only I still had my airbrush kit, it will be easier. I am not confident with controlling the spray can's nozzle.
Need to catch some beauty sleep. Gotta wake up early tmw for an appt and I have not packed my bag for KL yet.
Used 4.5 bottles of glue so far
Appling the new layer and touching up her head.
Killing time
Supper and our jukebox to keep us moving
Phase 2 completed!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Up to KL
I am going up to KL this Fri to Sun to meet the M-yo guys.
Anyone interested to go up for a short trip? Let me know so we can share the cost of the lodging. I am always at a disadvantage to pay for a double room when I am staying alone.
Please contact me if interested. I am going up on Thur night (room is booked for Fri and Sat night). Taking the morning bus on Sunday and will be back in Sg by Sunday afternoon.
Anyone interested to go up for a short trip? Let me know so we can share the cost of the lodging. I am always at a disadvantage to pay for a double room when I am staying alone.
Please contact me if interested. I am going up on Thur night (room is booked for Fri and Sat night). Taking the morning bus on Sunday and will be back in Sg by Sunday afternoon.
A lot of things in this world don't make sense.
Banks trying their best to issue as many credit cards as possible to people who shouldn't have them in the first place. Then they will earn on their carelessness when they default payments.
Hospitals and doctors. How did we arrive to this point where if we don't have enough money, its understood that the hospital can't treat us so we just have to choose the coffin. If we don't pay the premium, doctors can't justify the years of studies they need to put in to earn it back. Then if there are no doctors, there won't be anyone to cure patients.
Its the curse of the chicken or egg theory.
//
Its a terrible day.
Had dinner at place that was way over packed and there were flies all over, some in the soup too.
My sister's dog was diagnosed with cancer and was put to sleep.
Saw the movie "kite runner" thinking it was a happy movie judging from the way my friends promoted it. It turned out to be severely disturbing.
The night ended with stomachache and gastric.
Banks trying their best to issue as many credit cards as possible to people who shouldn't have them in the first place. Then they will earn on their carelessness when they default payments.
Hospitals and doctors. How did we arrive to this point where if we don't have enough money, its understood that the hospital can't treat us so we just have to choose the coffin. If we don't pay the premium, doctors can't justify the years of studies they need to put in to earn it back. Then if there are no doctors, there won't be anyone to cure patients.
Its the curse of the chicken or egg theory.
//
Its a terrible day.
Had dinner at place that was way over packed and there were flies all over, some in the soup too.
My sister's dog was diagnosed with cancer and was put to sleep.
Saw the movie "kite runner" thinking it was a happy movie judging from the way my friends promoted it. It turned out to be severely disturbing.
The night ended with stomachache and gastric.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Keeping her in the shop
Its been two days and it is not easy to keep Abi in the shop. The detachable tail idea works but now its the angle of the neck. It will choke on one of the beams in the ceiling. Now we have to lift her up and put something below to elevate her front legs so her neck will tilt back a little.
Abi have been attracting quite a lot of attention from passerbys. It was interesting to see people's reaction to her.
A lady walked in and enquired about our yo-yo performance for her event, her company is organising a carnival for the chronic ill children. She walked out and walked in again, asking if we can make more dinosaurs for the carnival, maybe smaller. A random idea occured and I suggested an auction for the dinosaurs and the proceeds will go the children or charity.
I don't know if I should just faint or be happy after I realised what I just said. I am proud of Abi but its not easy to build another one, not to mention two or three more! We can opt for smaller one but it wouldn't look as real because of the size. Some still see Abi and think it is a Giraffe, only realising that it is a dinosaur after seeing the long tail. If we were to build a mini T-Rex, people make mistake it for a dog standing on 2 legs.
Here is a video to show how one person is definitely not enough to keep Abi. What can we do with her? I can't possibly expect another person to be available in the night after the shop closes. Hans can't be there everyday. We can leave her inside at her resting place, blocking most of the entrance and almost my entire counter display. Even if I bring her home, I don't think my ceiling is high enough for her.
Abi have been attracting quite a lot of attention from passerbys. It was interesting to see people's reaction to her.
A lady walked in and enquired about our yo-yo performance for her event, her company is organising a carnival for the chronic ill children. She walked out and walked in again, asking if we can make more dinosaurs for the carnival, maybe smaller. A random idea occured and I suggested an auction for the dinosaurs and the proceeds will go the children or charity.
I don't know if I should just faint or be happy after I realised what I just said. I am proud of Abi but its not easy to build another one, not to mention two or three more! We can opt for smaller one but it wouldn't look as real because of the size. Some still see Abi and think it is a Giraffe, only realising that it is a dinosaur after seeing the long tail. If we were to build a mini T-Rex, people make mistake it for a dog standing on 2 legs.
Here is a video to show how one person is definitely not enough to keep Abi. What can we do with her? I can't possibly expect another person to be available in the night after the shop closes. Hans can't be there everyday. We can leave her inside at her resting place, blocking most of the entrance and almost my entire counter display. Even if I bring her home, I don't think my ceiling is high enough for her.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Making of Abisaurus
This is one of my pet projects that we have been working on. It all began with Brufus which had a successful run. That led us to think of bigger projects. Our card boxes were piling up and it will be a waste to throw them away. So how can we recycle them to make something that is bigger than brufus? How about a dinosaur? We just want to make something big. Don't know and don't care what it is, just make it big and clear as many boxes as possible.
It was a hasty decision but we decided on the long neck dinosaur which we later learned that it was the Brachiosaurus.
We did the prototype few weeks back and everyone thought we were joking because it looked nothing like a dinosaur. No one seems to take us seriously and doubted that junk boxes can really be made into something different. There were some creative minds, who thought we were trying to make a giraffe. I won't bother spending so much effort to make something that I can see at the zoo.
I have no appointment this morning so last night was the best night to stay overnight to work on Abi. Hans was also willing to stay on so we planned it. I went to buy supplies like pail, white glue, etc. Hans supplied with the old newspaper, brush and masking tape.
Started work around 11pm last night and worked till morning around 8am. The tough part was the paper mache. Just got a rough idea of how it works after reading some sites in google. I chose the simplest recipe, mixing white glue with water. Everything was just 'agaration' and we were quite happy with the results. It is a little ambitious to start with such a huge paper mache project! Most would begin with bottles and balloons. Applying the newspaper strips was a messy job! We had to soak the newspaper strips into a pail of diluted glue, bring it out and the excess solution will be dripping all over then stick it over Abi. After the first 2 layers, we need to allow it to dry which took about 2 hours. It is still damp but at least we can put on another layer.
We stopped there and worked on moulding the body and the tail. Much of the whole project was done on improvisation. Some problems were tricky, especially mounting the head and the tail.
Due to the length of the neck, we need some kind of a pole to join the neck to the body. Its past midnight and all shops are closed. I had this hunch I may find something useful at the loading bay. There was nothing but I walked towards the garbage compacter and looked in. There was a broken mop made of metal tubing! Only problem was it was inside the giant rubbish container. No choice... the project has to move on so I jumped down reluctantly. Then a lot of flies started buzzing around. It was gross.. I am tired, hot and sticky. The central aircon was switched off after 10pm. Grabbed the pole and climbed out as soon as I can.
For the tail, if we were to fix it to the body for good and when we keep Abi in the shop, the door cannot be closed. In end, I thought of a detachable tail using velcro straps which we will have to add on later.
We wrapped up close to 8am and we were glad. It was fun to see people's reaction to Abi. She measures 2.65m long and 2.7m tall.
Seriously, we haven't give it much thought of where to put Abisaurus eventually. For now, she will guard the shop's entrance. It was a tough night but it was great cos both of us engineers get to play artist for a night. Abi is completely biodegradable and is basically made of waste materials except for masking tape and glue.
This concludes phase 1. In phase 2, we need to add another two or three layers of newspaper and seal up all the error areas. This means burning another night. Then there has to be a last night where we will paint and spray it, making it ready for Jurassic Park 4.
Protoype. Takes a little imagination to think it is a dinosaur.
Left: 11.37pm - getting ready
Right: 11.55pm - forming the body with crushed newspaper
2.53am - bone insertion to connect the neck to the body
3.37am - neck attached, body looks less blocky
Right: 7.24am - Tail is ready
Left: 7.24am - That hole is not the ass, its for the tail so it will be detachable.
7.40am - Abigail Brachiosaurus aka. "Abisaurus" is born
Admiring our work.
7.44am - Phase 1 completed
It was a hasty decision but we decided on the long neck dinosaur which we later learned that it was the Brachiosaurus.
We did the prototype few weeks back and everyone thought we were joking because it looked nothing like a dinosaur. No one seems to take us seriously and doubted that junk boxes can really be made into something different. There were some creative minds, who thought we were trying to make a giraffe. I won't bother spending so much effort to make something that I can see at the zoo.
I have no appointment this morning so last night was the best night to stay overnight to work on Abi. Hans was also willing to stay on so we planned it. I went to buy supplies like pail, white glue, etc. Hans supplied with the old newspaper, brush and masking tape.
Started work around 11pm last night and worked till morning around 8am. The tough part was the paper mache. Just got a rough idea of how it works after reading some sites in google. I chose the simplest recipe, mixing white glue with water. Everything was just 'agaration' and we were quite happy with the results. It is a little ambitious to start with such a huge paper mache project! Most would begin with bottles and balloons. Applying the newspaper strips was a messy job! We had to soak the newspaper strips into a pail of diluted glue, bring it out and the excess solution will be dripping all over then stick it over Abi. After the first 2 layers, we need to allow it to dry which took about 2 hours. It is still damp but at least we can put on another layer.
We stopped there and worked on moulding the body and the tail. Much of the whole project was done on improvisation. Some problems were tricky, especially mounting the head and the tail.
Due to the length of the neck, we need some kind of a pole to join the neck to the body. Its past midnight and all shops are closed. I had this hunch I may find something useful at the loading bay. There was nothing but I walked towards the garbage compacter and looked in. There was a broken mop made of metal tubing! Only problem was it was inside the giant rubbish container. No choice... the project has to move on so I jumped down reluctantly. Then a lot of flies started buzzing around. It was gross.. I am tired, hot and sticky. The central aircon was switched off after 10pm. Grabbed the pole and climbed out as soon as I can.
For the tail, if we were to fix it to the body for good and when we keep Abi in the shop, the door cannot be closed. In end, I thought of a detachable tail using velcro straps which we will have to add on later.
We wrapped up close to 8am and we were glad. It was fun to see people's reaction to Abi. She measures 2.65m long and 2.7m tall.
Seriously, we haven't give it much thought of where to put Abisaurus eventually. For now, she will guard the shop's entrance. It was a tough night but it was great cos both of us engineers get to play artist for a night. Abi is completely biodegradable and is basically made of waste materials except for masking tape and glue.
This concludes phase 1. In phase 2, we need to add another two or three layers of newspaper and seal up all the error areas. This means burning another night. Then there has to be a last night where we will paint and spray it, making it ready for Jurassic Park 4.
Protoype. Takes a little imagination to think it is a dinosaur.
Left: 11.37pm - getting ready
Right: 11.55pm - forming the body with crushed newspaper
2.53am - bone insertion to connect the neck to the body
3.37am - neck attached, body looks less blocky
Right: 7.24am - Tail is ready
Left: 7.24am - That hole is not the ass, its for the tail so it will be detachable.
7.40am - Abigail Brachiosaurus aka. "Abisaurus" is born
Admiring our work.
7.44am - Phase 1 completed
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Is it just me or does the Blackberry's user interface really cannot make it? Spent hours this morning trying to troubleshoot a blackberry.
I was very tempted to get a blackberry for its push mail service so I can clear my emails while commuting. I used to reply to emails and save them as drafts till I get internet access to send them out. Now that is not so feasible because you can hardly get a seat in the train. Even if you do, there is a very high chance you will meet someone who needs the seat more than you (senior citizens or pregnant ladies).
Off track a little. I get bored 0.5 whenever there is a lady with a tummy standing in front of me while I am seating down working on my laptop. I am so bad at telling if she is pregant or she has been eating too much fries and ice cream. I am referring to her early stages of pregnancy.
If I don't give up the seat and she is really pregnant, her baby will curse me. If I give up the seat and she is not pregnant, I may offend her. Next time, don't guess. Get out of the train on the next stop and enter the next cabin.
I was very tempted to get a blackberry for its push mail service so I can clear my emails while commuting. I used to reply to emails and save them as drafts till I get internet access to send them out. Now that is not so feasible because you can hardly get a seat in the train. Even if you do, there is a very high chance you will meet someone who needs the seat more than you (senior citizens or pregnant ladies).
Off track a little. I get bored 0.5 whenever there is a lady with a tummy standing in front of me while I am seating down working on my laptop. I am so bad at telling if she is pregant or she has been eating too much fries and ice cream. I am referring to her early stages of pregnancy.
If I don't give up the seat and she is really pregnant, her baby will curse me. If I give up the seat and she is not pregnant, I may offend her. Next time, don't guess. Get out of the train on the next stop and enter the next cabin.
Been over pampering my appetite for this week!
Monday:
saac, Jacq and Cuimei happened to drop by Suntec, asked me to join them for dinner. We went to Sushi Tei at Raffles City and I am certainly impressed by its interior. You can't visualise base on its main entrance and it is worth a visit. It was great to catch up with the programmers, haven't been seeing much of them since I was confined to Suntec 7 days/week.
Tuesday (yesterday):
Met up with Cheezepie to celebrate Elvin's belated birthday. I knew Elvin since primary 5 so thats like 17 years! We went to Shokudo at Raffles City for dinner and it was stressful! We can only eat that much but there were so much to choose from. I chose the teriyaki chicken burger in the end and I love it. The other thing I really like was the calpis drink that was available. Its some white yogurt beverage with a weird taste. I used to drink that when I was working in Japan. We got out of control and started ordering side dishes and we didn't realise how much we ordered till everything arrived on the table.
The food was good and its quite a nice place for gatherings. We also noticed that the place was mainly occupied mostly by ladies so bachelors might want to eat there more often in future. =p *Trying to imagine myself eating there alone every week*
One thing I didn't like was the teppanyaki smoke. People can guess that you just ate at shokudo if they smell your shirt. Perhaps it will not be that bad if we didn't seat too close to the teppanyaki stall.
After dinner, we adjourned to Menotti for desserts and talking bird.
Today (Wednesday):
Brought my family, grandma, cousins and my auntie to Tiong Bahru for dinner (cze char). The dinner was meant for mother's day dinner. They have a family dinner this Saturday at Downtown East but my schedule will severly clash so I offered to take them out for dinner today.
A pity the food today wasn't as good as my previous visits but it is still generally better than most places. The waiting time was long and the staff kept forgetting our requests. I was extremely disciplined today and ate just enough. Usually I will just whack and leave no food behind. Over eating will induce excess acid in my stomach.
//
Three days of solid good good, i.e. more budget meals for the rest of the month.
Monday:
saac, Jacq and Cuimei happened to drop by Suntec, asked me to join them for dinner. We went to Sushi Tei at Raffles City and I am certainly impressed by its interior. You can't visualise base on its main entrance and it is worth a visit. It was great to catch up with the programmers, haven't been seeing much of them since I was confined to Suntec 7 days/week.
Tuesday (yesterday):
Met up with Cheezepie to celebrate Elvin's belated birthday. I knew Elvin since primary 5 so thats like 17 years! We went to Shokudo at Raffles City for dinner and it was stressful! We can only eat that much but there were so much to choose from. I chose the teriyaki chicken burger in the end and I love it. The other thing I really like was the calpis drink that was available. Its some white yogurt beverage with a weird taste. I used to drink that when I was working in Japan. We got out of control and started ordering side dishes and we didn't realise how much we ordered till everything arrived on the table.
The food was good and its quite a nice place for gatherings. We also noticed that the place was mainly occupied mostly by ladies so bachelors might want to eat there more often in future. =p *Trying to imagine myself eating there alone every week*
One thing I didn't like was the teppanyaki smoke. People can guess that you just ate at shokudo if they smell your shirt. Perhaps it will not be that bad if we didn't seat too close to the teppanyaki stall.
After dinner, we adjourned to Menotti for desserts and talking bird.
Today (Wednesday):
Brought my family, grandma, cousins and my auntie to Tiong Bahru for dinner (cze char). The dinner was meant for mother's day dinner. They have a family dinner this Saturday at Downtown East but my schedule will severly clash so I offered to take them out for dinner today.
A pity the food today wasn't as good as my previous visits but it is still generally better than most places. The waiting time was long and the staff kept forgetting our requests. I was extremely disciplined today and ate just enough. Usually I will just whack and leave no food behind. Over eating will induce excess acid in my stomach.
//
Three days of solid good good, i.e. more budget meals for the rest of the month.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
New double cheeseburger
One of my external harddisks crashed. There isn't that much data but there is still some data which I wished I did backup before. So now I have to do the Singaporean kiasu way - backup the backup. Bought another dual bay enclosure so it can hold 2 hard disks (2 x 1TB) in it. I already have one of the enclosure last year when I bought it in Sep, that only has a 750Gb hdd with a spare slot so I added another 750Gb in it.
Total ext storage space : 2 x 1TB, 2 x 750Gb, 1 x 200GB
I know. Its a geek thing and it sounds boring but I paid a bomb for the new drive. 1TB already cost $333. Multiply that by 2 and add the cost of the enclosure, its not cheap. I was holding off the purchase for months, if I had bought it earlier, I wouldn't have lost the data in the hdd that died. We can't really quantify the cost of our data because when you lose it, even being willing to spend 15k cannot recover your data.
Total ext storage space : 2 x 1TB, 2 x 750Gb, 1 x 200GB
I know. Its a geek thing and it sounds boring but I paid a bomb for the new drive. 1TB already cost $333. Multiply that by 2 and add the cost of the enclosure, its not cheap. I was holding off the purchase for months, if I had bought it earlier, I wouldn't have lost the data in the hdd that died. We can't really quantify the cost of our data because when you lose it, even being willing to spend 15k cannot recover your data.
Goodbye Brufus
This post is long overdue but I have to post it because its Brufus. How did Brufus come about?
One fine afternoon when Hans and I were unpacking the boxes of Duncan Pulse.
Hans: "Wah.. so many wasted boxes..."
Colin: "yah.. can we do something about them instead of throwing away?"
Hans: "Lets build a robot?"
Colin: "Ok set. Lets build a robot then"
Hans: "Huh?!... Ok on!"
Then Hans happily went on to build Brufus. It has helped us in the store a few times, for example, we used its chest as a pin up board for Mas Selamat's poster. It was also used to collect donations during Art Outreach's craft workshops.
Some people feels that it looks really terrible. Beauty is superficial. The point is we created a character out from waste carton boxes that were meant to be throw away.
One day we felt that we need to give Brufus a life span, because he can't possibly be there forever. Hence, we took him apart last month. These were the goodbye moments.
Left: Brufus and its creator
Right: Colin and Brufus
Left: Andrew and Brufus
Right: Last hug from Hans
Some of the players were there on that day too. Small Andrew, Big Andrew, Caine, Colin, Syafiq, Alex and Li Hao.
One fine afternoon when Hans and I were unpacking the boxes of Duncan Pulse.
Hans: "Wah.. so many wasted boxes..."
Colin: "yah.. can we do something about them instead of throwing away?"
Hans: "Lets build a robot?"
Colin: "Ok set. Lets build a robot then"
Hans: "Huh?!... Ok on!"
Then Hans happily went on to build Brufus. It has helped us in the store a few times, for example, we used its chest as a pin up board for Mas Selamat's poster. It was also used to collect donations during Art Outreach's craft workshops.
Some people feels that it looks really terrible. Beauty is superficial. The point is we created a character out from waste carton boxes that were meant to be throw away.
One day we felt that we need to give Brufus a life span, because he can't possibly be there forever. Hence, we took him apart last month. These were the goodbye moments.
Left: Brufus and its creator
Right: Colin and Brufus
Left: Andrew and Brufus
Right: Last hug from Hans
Some of the players were there on that day too. Small Andrew, Big Andrew, Caine, Colin, Syafiq, Alex and Li Hao.
Project Abi_ _ _ _ _ _
Don't bother guessing what this is. Just wait till it is completed.
It is a massive (literally!) project.
It is a massive (literally!) project.
Zelene - Street Style
Here is something gentle and cuter to counter my previous post that may have appeared too scary far some. Was hanging out with Zelene this morning when my sister went out. Put some accessories on her and took pictures. It was a big mistake to put her in front of the window which is main light source. I didn't want to face the opposite because my messy room will be in the background.
You can't go wrong taking photos of a baby with beanie and headphones.
Most baby photos will be in their nice dresses and stuff. I wanted to go the tech and street style, hence the bose headphones, iPod Touch and Nike Dunk SBs.
You can't go wrong taking photos of a baby with beanie and headphones.
Most baby photos will be in their nice dresses and stuff. I wanted to go the tech and street style, hence the bose headphones, iPod Touch and Nike Dunk SBs.
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