Still alive here.
I'm at my second destination - Paros.
We haven't visited much historical sites, just taking in the view and exploring the labyrinth layout of the town.
"Pay as you roam" is not supported so I'm kinda cut off here.
Cya
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Greece: Athens
[legend]
In dividing heaven, the watery realm and the subterranean land of the dead, the Olympians agreed that the earth itself would be ruled jointly, with Zeus as king. This led to a number of territorial disputes among the gods. Poseidon vied with Athena to be patron deity of Athens. The god demonstrated his power and benevolence by striking the Acropolis with his three-pronged spear, which caused a spring of salt water to emerge.
Athena, however, planted an olive tree, which was seen as a more useful favour. Her paramount importance to the Athenians is seen in her magnificent temple, the Parthenon, which still crowns the Acropolis. The people of Athens were careful, all the same, to honor Poseidon as well (as soon as his anger calmed down and he withdrew the flood of seawater with which he ravaged the land after his loss in the contest with Athena).
[/legend]
[post has been back-dated]
[click on the pictures to have an enlarged view]
*** Day 1, May 5, Sat ***
Am I in Athens? It didn't feel like it.
A brand new transportation system. Miles of farmland and unclaimed land in equal portions. Every where I turn, there are hills all about. We got off at Monastiraki station and I look upon Acropolis. I'm in Athens.
Am I in Athens? It didn't feel like it.
Run down buildings with an European feel. Graffiti graced every possible surface. Is that it? Where's my Ancient Athens?
We did some light exploration in the afternoon and had sandwiches. We returned to the hotel and met up with the group. There's Paul and Lina from New Zealand. Carrie and Gerrie from United States and.. the others. We were briefed by our guide Mary and were to gather for breakfast tomorrow.
Dinner was our first taste of Greek food. Bread was served right at the start and the selection was chiefly grilled meat. When I tried to pay for our dinner, it was discovered that I had brought Australian dollars instead of Euros for this trip.
I suddenly found myself 600 Euros short.
[click on the pictures to have an enlarged view]
*** Day 2, May 6, Sun ***
We had a feeling of being in the clouds after Roger inserted a piece of contraband material into the toaster. He was let off with a gentle scolding and we proceeded to eat our breakfast. We were introduced to two new guys who were late for last night's briefing, Melab and Sia.
Once we were done, Mary took us on a quick tour around the major attractions. I found it amusing that she considered the weather to be hot. We passed by the Temple of the Winds, the Roman Agora, Parthenon, Temple of Zeus, Royal gardens and the Tomb of an unknown soldier, where we were treated to a display of the changing of the guards. We took a break at a nearby cafe and were given the rest of the day off to ourselves.
The three of us decided to head for the art museums and left the guys. To our disappointment, the first one was not open so we went to the one with the mosaics. It was quite an eye opener and guess what? Entrance is free as it was a Sunday!! Can you get that back home? Seeing so many young dedicated museum attendants around, I can't help being impressed. As an additional bonus, the mosaics museum has an exhibition of Greek and Byzantine art as well. This took up a large chunk of our time.
We returned to join the others for our welcome dinner, which was paid for by TopDeck. The food was great and we polished off everything till they told us it was only the appetiser! After that, I could hardly eat anymore and Mary thought that the food disagreed with me. There was traditional Greek music and dance and everyone had great fun.
[Links]
Index (not so soon...)
Day 1-2: Athens
Day 2-4: Paros
Day 4-6: Mykonos; Pictures at Mykonos
Day 6-7: Santorini-part A
Day 8-10: Santorini-part B (WIP)
Day 10-12: Back to Athens (not so soon...)
In dividing heaven, the watery realm and the subterranean land of the dead, the Olympians agreed that the earth itself would be ruled jointly, with Zeus as king. This led to a number of territorial disputes among the gods. Poseidon vied with Athena to be patron deity of Athens. The god demonstrated his power and benevolence by striking the Acropolis with his three-pronged spear, which caused a spring of salt water to emerge.
Athena, however, planted an olive tree, which was seen as a more useful favour. Her paramount importance to the Athenians is seen in her magnificent temple, the Parthenon, which still crowns the Acropolis. The people of Athens were careful, all the same, to honor Poseidon as well (as soon as his anger calmed down and he withdrew the flood of seawater with which he ravaged the land after his loss in the contest with Athena).
[/legend]
[post has been back-dated]
[click on the pictures to have an enlarged view]
*** Day 1, May 5, Sat ***
Am I in Athens? It didn't feel like it.
A brand new transportation system. Miles of farmland and unclaimed land in equal portions. Every where I turn, there are hills all about. We got off at Monastiraki station and I look upon Acropolis. I'm in Athens.
Am I in Athens? It didn't feel like it.
Run down buildings with an European feel. Graffiti graced every possible surface. Is that it? Where's my Ancient Athens?
We did some light exploration in the afternoon and had sandwiches. We returned to the hotel and met up with the group. There's Paul and Lina from New Zealand. Carrie and Gerrie from United States and.. the others. We were briefed by our guide Mary and were to gather for breakfast tomorrow.
Dinner was our first taste of Greek food. Bread was served right at the start and the selection was chiefly grilled meat. When I tried to pay for our dinner, it was discovered that I had brought Australian dollars instead of Euros for this trip.
I suddenly found myself 600 Euros short.
[click on the pictures to have an enlarged view]
*** Day 2, May 6, Sun ***
We had a feeling of being in the clouds after Roger inserted a piece of contraband material into the toaster. He was let off with a gentle scolding and we proceeded to eat our breakfast. We were introduced to two new guys who were late for last night's briefing, Melab and Sia.
Once we were done, Mary took us on a quick tour around the major attractions. I found it amusing that she considered the weather to be hot. We passed by the Temple of the Winds, the Roman Agora, Parthenon, Temple of Zeus, Royal gardens and the Tomb of an unknown soldier, where we were treated to a display of the changing of the guards. We took a break at a nearby cafe and were given the rest of the day off to ourselves.
The three of us decided to head for the art museums and left the guys. To our disappointment, the first one was not open so we went to the one with the mosaics. It was quite an eye opener and guess what? Entrance is free as it was a Sunday!! Can you get that back home? Seeing so many young dedicated museum attendants around, I can't help being impressed. As an additional bonus, the mosaics museum has an exhibition of Greek and Byzantine art as well. This took up a large chunk of our time.
We returned to join the others for our welcome dinner, which was paid for by TopDeck. The food was great and we polished off everything till they told us it was only the appetiser! After that, I could hardly eat anymore and Mary thought that the food disagreed with me. There was traditional Greek music and dance and everyone had great fun.
[Links]
Index (not so soon...)
Day 1-2: Athens
Day 2-4: Paros
Day 4-6: Mykonos; Pictures at Mykonos
Day 6-7: Santorini-part A
Day 8-10: Santorini-part B (WIP)
Day 10-12: Back to Athens (not so soon...)
Friday, May 04, 2007
"Pay as you roam" not supported in Greece?
["Pay as you roam" is a plan by my telco for a dial back service to my home country]
So says the service operator but the website says differently.
Oh well, we shall see.
So says the service operator but the website says differently.
Oh well, we shall see.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Dream: I got to stop him!
[post has been back-dated]
Dreams as they go don't make sense. I just thought that it's amusing to log them and read at a future date. Readers might want to skip this entry.
[Dream]
Pat: Adrian(randomly assigned name) is saying we're taking up 1 month to do the changes!
Me: How could this be? I thought he's a nice guy!
[in another room]
Adrian: How could they take so long to do these changes?
Me: I got to stop him.
[in another room, person was replaced]
Ben (randomly assigned name): How could they take so long to do these changes?
Me: ???
[/Dream]
Political dream? Wow...
Dreams as they go don't make sense. I just thought that it's amusing to log them and read at a future date. Readers might want to skip this entry.
[Dream]
Pat: Adrian(randomly assigned name) is saying we're taking up 1 month to do the changes!
Me: How could this be? I thought he's a nice guy!
[in another room]
Adrian: How could they take so long to do these changes?
Me: I got to stop him.
[in another room, person was replaced]
Ben (randomly assigned name): How could they take so long to do these changes?
Me: ???
[/Dream]
Political dream? Wow...
Monday, April 30, 2007
Debugger's wedding
[post has been back-dated]
A first among colleagues of Ulu Ulu place. Also, how could I not attend for someone who helped me with B.P.O.E?
30 odd of us were invited and I was seated with Pat, Kelvin, Belle, Kieran, Big Satan, Sarah, Ah Bing and Steven. The decor was nice and everything tasted good except for the shark's fin soup. As expected, ours was the nosiest table, earning glares for the racist jokes coming from the usual suspects. To our pleasant surprise, We dismissed earlier than usual.
Now, If only people can come on time...
A first among colleagues of Ulu Ulu place. Also, how could I not attend for someone who helped me with B.P.O.E?
30 odd of us were invited and I was seated with Pat, Kelvin, Belle, Kieran, Big Satan, Sarah, Ah Bing and Steven. The decor was nice and everything tasted good except for the shark's fin soup. As expected, ours was the nosiest table, earning glares for the racist jokes coming from the usual suspects. To our pleasant surprise, We dismissed earlier than usual.
Now, If only people can come on time...
Santorini
This is in Greek but here's an aerial shot of Santorini.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=santorini+caldera&sll=36.407744,25.399017&sspn=0.195351,0.32135&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=12&ll=36.459673,25.401077&spn=0.195221,0.32135&t=h&om=1&iwloc=E
Some pretty shots here
http://mountainhouse.smugmug.com/gallery/1698463#83520946
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=santorini+caldera&sll=36.407744,25.399017&sspn=0.195351,0.32135&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=12&ll=36.459673,25.401077&spn=0.195221,0.32135&t=h&om=1&iwloc=E
Some pretty shots here
http://mountainhouse.smugmug.com/gallery/1698463#83520946
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Instant messaging
[Was watching a series and had forgotten to turn off my messenger program. My online-away status probably toggled every 15 minutes]
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:55] ZC: !hmm
[09:55] ZC: !hmm
[09:55] JW: yes?
[09:55] ZC: !hmm
[09:55] ZC: what are you idling?
[09:55] JW: ...
[09:55] ZC: never work?
[09:55] JW: send once enuff rite?
[09:55] ZC: so u will response mah
[09:55] ZC: keke
[09:55] JW: ...
[09:55] JW: ta
[09:56] ZC: !88
[Logged off]
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:54] ZC: !hmm
[09:55] ZC: !hmm
[09:55] ZC: !hmm
[09:55] JW: yes?
[09:55] ZC: !hmm
[09:55] ZC: what are you idling?
[09:55] JW: ...
[09:55] ZC: never work?
[09:55] JW: send once enuff rite?
[09:55] ZC: so u will response mah
[09:55] ZC: keke
[09:55] JW: ...
[09:55] JW: ta
[09:56] ZC: !88
[Logged off]
Slackers
I do hope Mr Jantze don't sue me or anything, I love his strips.
Once some time has passed, I'll replace the pictures with hyperlinks to the archived pictures from his official site.
From: http://www.gocomics.com/thenorm/
Friday, April 27, 2007
Dilema at work
[Ok ok, another post on work. I promise there'll be no complaints in here]
[1. Helping too much]
I've been worried about this for some time till my colleague made a verbal (and physical) complaint to me. She said I spoilt the guys and she won't be able to cope when I go for my vacation.
Yup, it's my fault. Even if they don't ask me for a quick fix, I would have volunteered a solution. Impatient; busybody; show-off. Still, there is a new hope...
[2. Aptitude over experience?]
The Little sister of the B.P.O.E. broke loose with 3 errors logged and promised more to come. To cut the time wasted by red tapes, the Powers requested us to collectively solve them under a single programmer instead of 3. I couldn't take it up so they left it to us to decide.
Do we pick someone with strong debugging skills or do we pick someone who is experienced with the Little sister? We have a deadline and would suffer political fallout if we fail.
I recommended Ad Myron (not his real name) to our Little team leader and she accepted. He had earlier impressed me by locating a problem inside B.P.O.E. with minimal help from me. Double points were scored as he turned down my earlier offer to swap his task with mine.
Did I make the right choice? I would know when I return.
[3. Who the hell does he think he is?]
Potentially, anyone from my bosses to my co-workers could think of this. Some apologies may be needed on Monday...
-
[1. Helping too much]
I've been worried about this for some time till my colleague made a verbal (and physical) complaint to me. She said I spoilt the guys and she won't be able to cope when I go for my vacation.
Yup, it's my fault. Even if they don't ask me for a quick fix, I would have volunteered a solution. Impatient; busybody; show-off. Still, there is a new hope...
[2. Aptitude over experience?]
The Little sister of the B.P.O.E. broke loose with 3 errors logged and promised more to come. To cut the time wasted by red tapes, the Powers requested us to collectively solve them under a single programmer instead of 3. I couldn't take it up so they left it to us to decide.
Do we pick someone with strong debugging skills or do we pick someone who is experienced with the Little sister? We have a deadline and would suffer political fallout if we fail.
I recommended Ad Myron (not his real name) to our Little team leader and she accepted. He had earlier impressed me by locating a problem inside B.P.O.E. with minimal help from me. Double points were scored as he turned down my earlier offer to swap his task with mine.
Did I make the right choice? I would know when I return.
[3. Who the hell does he think he is?]
Potentially, anyone from my bosses to my co-workers could think of this. Some apologies may be needed on Monday...
-
Restrain
Another stupid edict got passed down and I resisted the urge to give a sarcastic reply.
Now, that wasn't so hard, was it? -.-
Now, that wasn't so hard, was it? -.-
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Quantity of sleep
Since my precious fell sick, I have been sleeping earlier at 12mn.
So why do I feel so tired?
I think I fared better with my earlier 3.30am timing.
Strange...
So why do I feel so tired?
I think I fared better with my earlier 3.30am timing.
Strange...
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Belated bday for Gaga
The seven of us are finally together after some time. We had a slow lazy BBQ which was interrupted at the latter half when a monkey came along. After an hour of standoff, it was always comical for the monkey to be distracted by an ice cube. It enjoyed it so much that he took it up the tree to suck on it.
We cleared up and headed to another spot to play Munckin. We backstabbed each other for 2 hours before Roger joined us. We then took another hour triple-stabbing each other before we let Ah yam win...
Finally, we ended our day at a restaurant with not-so-nice dumplings. The ending highlight of the night was, "Do you know the price of your wife's ring should be 2.5 times your salary?"
Official site: Munckin Bites
We cleared up and headed to another spot to play Munckin. We backstabbed each other for 2 hours before Roger joined us. We then took another hour triple-stabbing each other before we let Ah yam win...
Finally, we ended our day at a restaurant with not-so-nice dumplings. The ending highlight of the night was, "Do you know the price of your wife's ring should be 2.5 times your salary?"
Official site: Munckin Bites
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Itinerary for Greece
4 May: Check in for flight.
5 May: Arrive in Athens at 1.30pm in the afternoon. Proceed to hotel and get briefed on trip during the night.
6 May: Walking tour of Athens after breakfast. End with welcome dinner.
7 May: Depart for Paros. Small walking tour. Free day.
8 May: Free day on Paros.
9 May: Depart for Mykonos after breakfast. Free day.
10 May: Free day.
11 May: Depart for Santorini. Tour.
12 May: Free day. Evening farewell party.
13 May: We stay on and check-in to our hotel. Free day.
14 May: Free day.
15 May: Depart for Athens. Check in to our apartment. Free day.
16 May: Free day.
17 May: Free day.
18 May: Check in at Athens airport latest 4.30pm for our flight at 6.05pm.
19 May: Arrive Singapore at 2.05pm.
The day can't come quick enough...
5 May: Arrive in Athens at 1.30pm in the afternoon. Proceed to hotel and get briefed on trip during the night.
6 May: Walking tour of Athens after breakfast. End with welcome dinner.
7 May: Depart for Paros. Small walking tour. Free day.
8 May: Free day on Paros.
9 May: Depart for Mykonos after breakfast. Free day.
10 May: Free day.
11 May: Depart for Santorini. Tour.
12 May: Free day. Evening farewell party.
13 May: We stay on and check-in to our hotel. Free day.
14 May: Free day.
15 May: Depart for Athens. Check in to our apartment. Free day.
16 May: Free day.
17 May: Free day.
18 May: Check in at Athens airport latest 4.30pm for our flight at 6.05pm.
19 May: Arrive Singapore at 2.05pm.
The day can't come quick enough...
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Removal of rocketmail account after 4 months of inactivity
This is painful. My first web account I had ever subscribed. Hundreds of mails, passwords and java source codes inside.
Lesson learnt is not to entrust important mails to web accounts.
Lesson learnt is not to entrust important mails to web accounts.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Aftermath of Friday the 13th
1. Think I should stop being a busybody... bzzz...
2. I solved the update-task. That improved my mood quite a bit. Huikoon said I mustn't begrudge that guy's assistance but I pointed out he might as well tell me to use an oven to bake a cake.
The final analysis of why he was so unfriendly/unhelpful boils down to he is someone who is afraid for his own skin. This isn't unknown to me but I guess I was in a bad mood.
2. I solved the update-task. That improved my mood quite a bit. Huikoon said I mustn't begrudge that guy's assistance but I pointed out he might as well tell me to use an oven to bake a cake.
The final analysis of why he was so unfriendly/unhelpful boils down to he is someone who is afraid for his own skin. This isn't unknown to me but I guess I was in a bad mood.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Freedom Writers
The story isn't new. Put a motivated teacher in a problematic school and expect a heart warming story. However, with Hillary Swank, I was willing to give it a try. That or it is "Ninja Turtles" with Prawnkid. Don't get me wrong, I'm thinking of kids...
It turned out surprisingly good. How easy is it for a movie with 20 odd characters to leave an impression in you? Well, this one did. There are several themes but my personal "favourite" is "jealousy and resistance to changes".
It turned out surprisingly good. How easy is it for a movie with 20 odd characters to leave an impression in you? Well, this one did. There are several themes but my personal "favourite" is "jealousy and resistance to changes".
Friday, April 13, 2007
Complaining about work
[Another complaint. You have been warned]
I thought I made a new year resolution to myself - "Stop complaining so much about work"
I cleaned out unhappy posts and began posting pictures of myself, so that I am no longer faceless. I gave out my blog address to more friends and thus hoped that I could accomplish my resolution.
But I simply can't help myself.
Why is it that some people must make life as difficult for you as possible?
Stress relief? Oh yay! Take away our tools. Send us threatening email directives. Freeze our accounts...
Rivalry? What the hell? I clean bugs!
If you're still here, thank you for reading...
I will TRY...
I thought I made a new year resolution to myself - "Stop complaining so much about work"
I cleaned out unhappy posts and began posting pictures of myself, so that I am no longer faceless. I gave out my blog address to more friends and thus hoped that I could accomplish my resolution.
But I simply can't help myself.
Why is it that some people must make life as difficult for you as possible?
Stress relief? Oh yay! Take away our tools. Send us threatening email directives. Freeze our accounts...
Rivalry? What the hell? I clean bugs!
If you're still here, thank you for reading...
I will TRY...
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