2 Rolling Balls of Metal: Part 2

[good]
Action was somewhat better. Now you can see who is fighting who. However, near the very end, it becomes a fight between 2 rolling balls of metal again.
Story was somewhat better; albeit with holes. However, I can't discuss this without giving spoilers.

[bad]
Bad scripting.
Annoying, flat Human characters. With the exception of.. John Turturro.
Annoying, flat Transformers characters. With the exception of Optimus Prime.
Part of the show feels like a porn show, with lame sexual jokes.
Pointless and annoying circling of the subject with the camera. Does it really help build any mood?

[Verdict]
If you enjoy watching a porn movie with 2 hot actresses, with lots of light and smoke. This movie is perfect; the average film goer would love it.
If you are approaching this with a fan boy's loyalist heart; stay far far away.

What is the difference between thrifty and being stingy?

Thrifty: not spending for comfort items.
Stingy: not spending for comfort items.


Thrifty: likes to save.
Stingy: likes to save.

What is the difference then?

p.s.  I believe there's a difference but I hope to get different views then putting my judgement down.

Chinese woman boiled man's head to cure daughter's psychiatric problems

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5617094/Chinese-woman-boiled-mans-head-to-cure-daugthers-psychiatric-problems.html

Madness.
Anyway, why is it the helper got death sentence and the mother only charged with assisting murder?  I thought China have a harsh penalty system?  Doesn't look fair to me.

Swim attire sparked row

[excerpt]

TWO lifeguards noticed a woman in wrong attire approaching the pool and tried to pass the buck.
Each told the other to turn her away.
This started them quarrelling and it ended with one attacking the other with a small knife.
[/excerpt]

source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_394275.html?vgnmr=1

Sort lor.. can just don't do it..

RP: Stay away for a week

[excerpt]
ALL first-year students and several staff members of Republic Polytechnic have been told to stay away for seven days from Thursday, after nine cases of H1N1 were confirmed there.

The move affects 4,500 students and 16 teachers and makes the polytechnic the first to adopt Ministry of Education measures aimed at preventing mass local transmission of the flu virus.
[/excerpt]

source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_395065.html

So the Polytechnic won't become a new cluster but the students are now free to roam the streets with *more* time.  Isn't that worse?

Keeping secrets

Disgrunted tongues are loose tongues.

It's loose...

Okay...  no need for me to update le.
There's no point blaming people now because there's probably a 100 imported cases that we know nothing about.
So here's my last update on this new hyped up disease.

As at 21 Jun
source: http://www.crisis.gov.sg/FLU/InfluenzaA/PressReleases/
A) LOCAL CASES
2. Among the seven new local cases include two additional cases from the Riverlife Church cluster, one new cluster linked to Butter Factory at One Fullerton, one case who had contact with an earlier confirmed case, and three unlinked cases who did not have any travel history or known contact with confirmed cases.

3rd time eating at Qun Zhong, Neil Road

edt1: added Tong Lok
edit2: clarify the ranking is on what

Cheryl and Skinny Norman have brought me there on separate occasions. Both times, I was peeved by the unresponsive service and long waiting time to get in. I found the food above average but not top-rate. If an equivalent word could be found in English about their attitude, it's called "stuck-up". I decided not to patronise them again.

Today, for Fathers' Day, we went there again. This time, the waiting was a mere 10 minutes and the food was pretty light and fragrant. The stuck-up-ness was not evident. Maybe times changed and so did my mood. Guess how bad mood can affect the taste-buds, huh?

Anyway, I still prefer my Xiao Long Bao from Ding Tai Fong. The skin is strong yet thin enough. The soup is generous and nice. At Qun Zhong, the skin though stronger than the average fare, can still break. The soup is not enough to my likling. The skin though is soft and taste like those from Shui Jiao.

So my ranking on Xiao Long Bao...
1st Place - Ding Tai Fong
2nd to 4th Place, Crystal Jade or Qun Zhong or Tong Lok, in no special order
Sucky Trophies, all the rest....

Would I go ahead?
Well maybe. It's 2 bad experience to 1 good experience. So maybe I won't suggest that place but I won't protest if someone wants to go there for dim sum.

Local infections detected on 19 Jun

On 19 Jun, there were 4 cases where the patients were believed to have contracted the disease locally.
So there you have it, H1N1 is among us.  In time, we might be listed as an "affected country" too.
There were 103 cases on 19 Jun.
There were 126 cases on 20 Jun.

Country of Origin of Travel of Confirmed Cases (as of 19 June 2009)

Countries	Number of cases
Australia	44
United States	21
Philippines	19
Thailand	4
Canada	2
UK	2
Indonesia	2
Malaysia	1
Chile	1
Cruise#	1
Total	97

Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'

source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pixar-up-movie-2468059-home-show

[excerpts]
HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.
.

On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."
“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.
.
By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.
.

Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum-Moore said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum-Moore guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.
Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum-Moore recalled.
.

At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.
He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.
Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.
At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.
The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.
“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”
After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.
Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.
[/excerpts]

Read from the link above for the full story.

64 detected cases

More cases.  Again, half of the cases are from people going on holidays or going about their daily routines.  The other half, thanks =]
http://www.crisis.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/D4985A06-E928-4B4E-9A0B-938EDBC88860/24447/H1N1PR17June_rev.pdf

Whether this disease turns out to be harmless or not, we're at Yellow Alert..

49th detected case

http://www.crisis.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/192A0CF6-9715-483D-BADC-18D090AF4A75/24395/H1N1PR16Junrev.pdf

[excerpt]

1. The 49th case is a 26-year-old Indonesian man who works in Singapore. He
2. went to Melbourne with friends for a holiday on 5 June
3. He developed symptoms on 11 June while he was there
4. He was not picked up by the thermal scanner at the airport as he did not have a fever then.
5. On 15 June morning, he sought medical attention at a GP clinic, and was given 2 days of medical leave.
6. Before he took a taxi to TTSH ED, he did some shopping first.
7. Laboratory results confirmed his infection at 2140 hours on 15 June.

[/excerpt]

48 cases of H1N1

Suddenly, we see a huge jump in the imported cases.

I'm not worried about the lethality of the disease but there's something very disturbing about the behaviour of the people who are coming back sick, blatantly violating the travel advisory.

• Continue going to affected areas for holidays
• Does not self quarantine
• Does not seek medical attention even though he clearly caught a flu overseas, in an affected country
  

If the Government enforces a forced confinement period for people caught committing the above, for say 21 days; I'm sure everyone will fall into place.

Haiz...

He killed boy to save licence

SEOUL - A SOUTH Korean motorist who hit and slightly injured an 11-year-old boy has admitted later murdering the child in an attempt to cover up driving offences, reports said on Tuesday...

Full report: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_391004.html

1/6 Kotobukiya Collection Movie Fine Art Statue: Iron Man & Many others

The ironman looks good.
Also includes some from Macross Frontier.
This guy is too rich sia...
http://www.dannychoo.com/adp/eng/1706/Iron+Man.html

Data Centers

Interesting photos and facts
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/14/magazine/20090614-search-slideshow_2.html

Slamming for social irresponsibility. Who is right or wrong?

1. University management who said the virus was restricted to the Queens? (an area in New York, about 1/4 of the total area)
2. Suspected case who traveled on public trains to the clinic?
3. Aircrew who went on holidays in infected areas while on stop-overs?
4. Families who went holidaying in infected areas, despite travel advice?

It's hard to say.
Case #1, we didn't know much then.  However, what kind of naive fools in the management believed that the spread of the virus could not cross street boundaries?
Case #2, how was he to travel then?  He was told to go to the clinic.
Case #3, stay in the hotel?

But...
Case #4?..

Lyrics: Let's hear it for the boy

Caught this on radio last night...

http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/l/letshearitfortheboy.shtml
LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY
Deniece Williams


My baby, he don't talk sweet, he ain't got much to say
But he loves me, loves me, loves me, I know that he loves me anyway
And maybe he don't dress fine but I don't really mind
'Cause every time he pulls me near I just wanna cheer

Let's hear it for the boy, let's give the boy a hand
Let's hear it for my baby, you know you gotta understand, oh oh oh
Maybe he's no Romeo but he's my loving one-man show, oh woh woh woh
Let's hear it for the boy

My baby may not be rich, he's watching every dime
But he loves me, loves me, loves me, we always have a real good time
And maybe he sings off-key but that's alright by me, yeah
'Cause what he does, he does so well, makes me wanna yell

Let's hear it for the boy, ah, let's give the boy a hand
Let's hear it for my baby, you know you gotta understand, oh oh oh
Maybe he's no Romeo but he's my loving one-man show, oh woh woh woh
Let's hear it for the boy

Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh, yeah

'Cause every time he pulls me near I just wanna cheer

Let's hear it for the boy, ah, let's give the boy a hand
Let's hear it for my baby, you know you gotta understand
Yeah yeah yeah yeah, woh oh oh
Maybe he's no Romeo but he's my loving one-man show, oh woh woh woh

Let's hear it for the boy (let's hear it for the boy)
Let's hear it for my man (let's hear it for my baby)
Let's hear it for my man (let's hear it for the boy)
(Let's hear it for my baby)
(Let's hear it for the boy)
Let's hear it for my man (let's hear it for my baby), yeah yeah yeah hey
(Let's hear it for the boy)
Put your hands together (let's hear it for my baby)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh (let's hear it for the boy)
Woh, let's hear it for my boy (let's hear it for my baby)
Let's hear it for my man (let's hear it for the boy)
Ooh-ooh ooh-ooh ooh ooh-ooh (let's hear it for my baby)
Let's hear it for my man, yeah

Setting priorities

I need to Set my Workplan.
I need to Archive My Emails according to the request numbers.
I need to solve Operation Issues.
I need to do Feasibility Studies.
I need to create a Documentation for screen procedures.
I need to do Technical Specs.
I need to solve outstanding Defects.
I need to complete my Change Requests.

Which should I do first? Past mentors taught me to always give Operation Issues and Defects the greatest priorites. Yet, the other tasks cannot wait. If too many issues stack up in one category, then that becomes a hot potato.

I need a better system...

Macross Frontier: Bandai (?) 1/72 VF-25F Armored Catherine Decal set

Bandai (?) 1/72 VF-25F Armored Catherine Decal set
http://www.collectiondx.com/news_item/05142009/1_72_macross_f_vf_25f_armored_catherine_decal_set

Macross Frontier: Alto Saotome EX-Gear

DX Alto Saotome EX-Gear
Flight mode and cockpit seat.
http://www.collectiondx.com/news_item/06032009/dx_alto_saotome_ex_gear

Armor Plus Series Macross Frontier EX Gear Alto Versoion
Posing mode only?
http://www.collectiondx.com/news_item/05142009/armor_plus_series_macross_frontier_ex_gear_alto_versoion

Yamato - Macross 1/60 Perfect Transformation VE-1 Elintseeker

http://eshop.tfh.com.sg/product_details.php?prod_id=106

Ho Chi Minh City

Q. You went on a trip?!  When was it?
18 May to 22 May.  Missed me? :p

Q. Why?
It was my birthday present, preciousss...  Heh, not really, my current phone is the birthday present.  The trip was co-shared.

Q. ... No, why there?
This destination came about because it was relatively cheap.  The basic tour was only 200+.  Add $60 for extension.  Add $110 for a change in carrier from Garuda to Tiger Airways.
Also, after cleaning out my bank accounts twice on Europe trips, I wish to see something from Asia.

Q. What were the complications?
Switching to a budget carrier means that we get charged from baggage weighing more than 15 kg, which considering it costs $110 more than the default choice of National Carrier, leaves a bad taste in the mouth.  For our return trip, we paid US$20 for excess baggage.

Q. How bad was the traffic?
At first, we expected something like Bali, but worse.  Actually, the traffic in the city was well managed and relaxed.  Jay-walking is the national past-time.  Just make sure you make eye contact with the driver.

Q. Is it true the best way to cross the street is to close your eyes and walk?
Unlike Singaporean drivers, most drivers in Vietnam do not charge at you, to scare you out of their way.  However, bullies exist everywhere.  We met one.

Q. There's nothing to see in Ho Chi Minh!
True.  But are you there to see Zoos and Bird Parks?  Frankly, among all the lame claims to fame that our country tried to make, it's true about our Zoo being world-class.  We went to the standard tourist traps, with hidden costs.  Grrr...  We learnt our lesson from Bali - If you're gonna be a purse-pincher, then you won't get to experience anything!  So spend!  Go to all the silly tourist traps and enjoy yourselves.

Q. Any tourists traps that I should not go?
All of them are pretty enjoyable.  Take note of the hidden costs.  They made their day trips appear very cheap, but they do not include the price of tickets!  Not exactly ethical in my point of view, but everyone does it there, it seems.

Q. Where are your photos?
Ok, here, here.

200905_hcm_vietnam

Sports Sponsership - Which is more deserving?

Soccer?
Table Tennis?
Paintball?
Mountain Climbing?

Someone suggested in the forums that climbing Everest is for personal achievements and not contributing to national pride as there are no medals to be obtained.

Are medals the measure of success?

Blame the cameras

I find it disturbing.
http://www.tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,203977,00.html?

I must be right because my opponent is a liar

Recently, a couple made history for being charged for "violating the peace".  They distributed an article which attacked another faith, by discrediting their key figures.  Therefore, they argued that they are the true faith to follow.

These are logical fallacies and no one should be persuaded using such underhanded methods.