At first I thought I had overspent horrendously in June but I had forgotten I had used at least $1500 on tuition fees for the coming semester, work and medical fees. In the end, my usual expenditure remains the same but this has made me rethink my estimate of my budget.
Instead of an expected upper limit of $500, I may have to consider raising it to $1000. Of course, it's all in my mind.
I should also consider having porridge for breakfast more often.
If this continues, I could spend up to $25k annually. My income and savings targets simply cannot support that kind of expenditure.
Taking a bus to work seemed like a good idea at first, but according to my calculations using the bus fare calculator it will only cut around $100-150 a month. Pffft...
It would make more sense for me to cut my meal deliveries down to once a week like we used to, which would reduce my expenditure by around $200 a month.
And that will still be ineffective in the long run. Food is the area I believe I spend the most, yet I'm not sure if I can cut any deeper.
I am pretty sure the police investigators and their superiors have already thought about this before they started arresting people, but I do hope they win this case for their own sake. If the CHC members are found innocent, not only does it undermine the public's trust in the police, CHC might even have a case against them when it's over.
For defamation and whatever. Might even demand for damages, and it's I think it's possible they could win, but only if they're not guilty in the first place.
I am surprised I have come to the day when I feel that a cotton sweater sample is superior to the woollen sweater sample.
I didn't know that 30% in the mix ratio can make cotton/acrylic feel better than a wool/acrylic one.
Been playing a lot of Grimrock. Or at least during the times when I have the time and mood for it.
Missed a lot of stuff even though the perfectionist in me went through each level as thoroughly as I could.
I did everything right except deliberately falling into pits.
I missed 6 levels worth of pits due to this, and I'm pretty sure there were some serious goodies in a few of those that I will never get in this playthrough.
...
Ok just beat Grimrock. It reminded me of this really old video.
Didn't spend the time to use the keys I found on the Prison floor because I only noticed them when it was too late and there was no time to stand and look around.
Also didn't find Toorum.
Finally, I had only found 4 out of the 7 secrets. As thorough as I tried to be, clearly it wasn't enough.
Game's pretty good. Simple but good. Length was just right IMO because it was too simple and monotonous to hold anyone's attention longer.
The end came at just the right time - I was beginning to think of jokes to mock the lack of plot in the game. However I wouldn't say the plot was good. It was good that it was simple :P
No really, if they made it anymore complex based on this same storyline, it would really suck. The story sucked, but it was so short and simple we couldn't really feel the badness. On the other hand, if they had fleshed it out, they would have expanded the badness, and we would feel bad for playing it.
There are so many holes in the plot, I don't really know where to begin.
The biggest one has to be how pointless dismantling the cube was. It couldn't climb stairs anyway! They could have just left it there forever when it dropped to that level! They wouldn't have needed to build anythng; they could have just built a gigantic flight of stairs! Far simpler than what they built.
And then they could just spend their old age sitting on one side taunting it forever while living on escargot and sauteed mushrooms. Might eventually die of scurvy but euthanasia was just a few steps down anyway.
Just watched my bro do his workout.
I guess he's now my role model for exercises.
My bro bought a jar of turtle feed that turned out to be unsalted dried shrimps... at $7.50 for 55g.
I went to the market to check the price by buying 300g of an unknown type I randomly pointed at and it cost me $6. It's salted so I have to soak it for a while before I can use it as feed.
I believe he can stop buying tuna from now on too since this can also replace it. He can soak it for 30mins and blend it with the lettuce and make ice cubes with the mix. I feed the elder turtle with the ice. I wouldn't say she loves the cubes; it's more "instant feeding frenzy" than "love".
One of my staff has always told me she's poor, mostly because she has to split the costs with her siblings to keep their father in a nursing home.
So I believed her... until she also told me she goes to a private clinic for her annual health screening and recently went to a private hospital to get her knees checked after experiencing discomfort there.
Yeah, poor, right.
Good thing the other one doesn't even pretend that she doesn't really give a damn about the pay.
Getting Rosetta Stone for Korean. Might be good to know a tiny bit of the language.
The last time I tried French on Rosetta Stone, I find that it's not as useful as taking a semester in basic French, but it's much more fun. The programme doesn't really go into the basics but instead, it goes straight into teaching users pronunciations and basic words and phrases.
Good for learning enough for short vacations but not nearly enough for anything else.
Then again, I've only tried Level 1, so I may not be completely right.
Had to redo my sleep study last night. They said the pulse monitor on my finger stopped working for half the night. The guy who came over to set up everything seemed to think I had made a fist or gripped something hard but I don't remember doing anything like that.
Hopefully it was ok this time. My doctor's appointment is in the coming week and they need 2-3 days to get me the report.
Slept better this time though. Maybe I was tired (I was already sleepy at 9.30pm when he arrived) or maybe the abdomenal band was higher this time.
Tried Evochron Mercenary.
I can't say much about the game on the whole since I'm stuck on the very first quest: finding New Hope.
Let's just say the humongous wall of text the developers call "training" was not exactly interesting.
Got bored, didn't listen to quite a few things, but I have the feeling it didn't mention how I could find specific planets until I was close to them anyway.
The game might be good, but still.
Whatever they say about old school games, the style in which this game was probably made, they lacked good design, and by "design" I mean the learning curve.
Nobody picks up a game to suffer. Or rather, relatively few people. I want a game to be fun. If I wanted to read through 6 pages of lecture notes, I go to school.
This could be why computer games weren't exactly mainstream until recent years. Game designers started to realize games aren't fun until they're easy to pick up.
Look at all the popular games around the world: football, bowling, Scrabble, Monopoly, strip-poker, etc.
None of them are hard to learn. None of them require players to read much before they can participate.
They're just hard to master.
I am still interested in the game but it just wore off my patience.
Friday, 27 July 2012
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Rant 1029 / Crocodile Mouth
SAT
While boiling the soup for 6 hours yesterday, I realized why double-steaming is a separate technique from simple boiling.
Double-steaming involves a sealed container placed within a larger pot of boiling water, with no direct contact between the smaller container and the water surface in the pot, usually by using a steam stand.
You have to be serious distracted to burn your soup if you're double-steaming it.
The other benefit is that it distributes heat far more evenly than basic boiling, since the steam at the surface of the water can't be much hotter than then steam near the top compared to the temperature difference between the bottom of the pot and the water surface.
I find that as an amateur, I tend to burn stuff too easily. Even in soups, the ingredients at the bottom can burn if I do not remember to lower the heat once it begins to boil. Double-steaming and double-boiling would remove this problem, although these techniques have their own issues.
For one, the containers I have are too small for me to make large batches of soup.
Also, cleaning up the pot after making soup is a pain.
Not doing shit kills people.
5 million people die every year for not doing anything.
30 minutes 5 times a week? Looks like I'm on the right track, unless they mean 30 minutes of continuous moderate physical activity.
Singapore's economy should be described as "state capitalism", not "mixed economy".
Feeling down for some reason tonight. Not tired. More like zombified. No appetite, workout felt more strenuous than usual, voice went back down to my pre-ICT volume.
Too inactive?
My guess is the shoulder training is not enough; I need cardio too.
Then again I spent most of the evening researching and booking my first trip to Seoul.
Took hours to make sure I have the best flight times and hotel locations.
According to experience, choosing the most convenient flight times is a little more complicated than choosing the hotels.
For example, I have to take into account the local rush hours. Pre-dawn is the best time for cab trips. Though the surcharge can seriously jack up the taxi fare, it's far better than getting stuck in traffic and risk arriving late for your flight home.
Another factor is the price difference versus stop time between flights. This is no issue if you book so early that you can still find cheap direct flights (e.g. from early bird discounts), but if you're as lazy as I am, you will never do so and the only ways you can get a direct flight that can be even remotely considered cheap is to either have a lot of mileage in your airline membership programme or marry a pilot.
Sometimes it's worth a hundred bucks, even fifty, to stay in an airport for 2-6 hours. The only times it's not is when it's 6 hours in the night and it's during the journey to your destination.
It is pretty hard to sleep alone in a foreign airport regardless of the time unless you're a frequent traveller.
A third factor is the intervals between flight times and the hotel's check-in and check-out times. Too early for check-out and too late for check-in is fine; the reverse is not.
The last factor I will mention, missing the complementary buffet breakfast on the departure date, is subjective. IMO it's not important but still should be avoided unless it is inconvenient or causes the trip to cost significantly more. Personally, I am hooked on the idea of travelling to the airport before dawn, so skipping to leave early is fine to me.
After all, hotel continental breakfast buffets feel the same after a while - cold (and I'm not talking about the temperature) and utilitarian.
There's nothing much to appreciate but it fills the belly until lunch or dinner.
A lot of times, I feel from eating the food that the chefs didn't really want to cook it but they did it anyway because it's the generally accepted hotel breakfast fare.
Or maybe it's just me.
Moreover hotel continental breakfast feel the same everywhere just like Macdonald's. That's probably the idea anyway.
It gets a lot more complicated when I wanted to throw in Hong Kong into the trip. Due to the lack of options, I decided to push that later into my Shanghai trip instead.
SUN
Tried mixing a little cycling with the workout this morning.
The effect of just 5 minutes of very easy cycling on the second level of resistance (out of ten) was astonishing.
It takes 2 sets of my workout to get me properly warmed up (except for last night, somehow) but it only took 1 set plus 5 minutes of that cycling on my stationary bike to get me so warmed up that I was doing the lateral side raise perfectly, ie no pain, without any special efforts like I normally put in my left shoulder.
I didn't know that a little cardio can make such a great difference.
Also timed myself and found that each set only take 4mins to complete and my breaks last 1-2mins.
Arranging for my Shanghai trip is so unnecessarily complicated this time.
First, I can't stay at the Bund Riverside because the hotel hasn't updated Expedia for the month I want.
Second, Expedia isn't allowing me to view the available flights separately, thereby preventing me from booking a cheaper direct flight by a separate airline from the one I'm using for the rest of the trip. It's S$200 cheaper and my current option also includes a 5-hour stop, hence my concern.
Emailed them just now and I'm waiting for their response. I expect them to offer to book everything except for the Shanghainese hotel for me manually, but I'm open to other options as long as I get the rest of the direct flights.
I chose Expedia again because apparently Tingo is US only even though it doesn't clearly state it on its website. Tingo's prices combined with air tickets from other websites like Cheaptickets.sg would have been slightly cheaper than the combination at Expedia, even with the combo discount there.
Both Expedia and Cheaptickets have discounts for DBS cards, but the promotional offer by Cheaptickets doesn't apply to budget airlines and is $20 less than the one offered by Expedia.
The offer at Expedia that I'm talking about is the S$60 discount for packages exceeding $1500.
Teamviewer works! Now I can access my PC through my iPad instead of having to dump everything in Dropbox. On the other hand, I'm reading bad reviews for its paid version. Teamviewer is only free for personal use, so when businesses use it, they have to pay.
Everything lags, which makes sense, and the iPad can't display all the colours that the PC can, so this can't be used for watching videos or playing games. Mainly, it's for surfing the web, working with documents and chatting.
Skipped the workout before lunch before I forgot. I forgot because I'm tired. Been sleeping late.
But the pre-dinner workout was different. Since the cycling was so effective at raising my metabolism (which made me finally really understand why the PE teachers used to make us jog as a warm-up exercise), I decided to alternate each set with 5 minutes of cycling.
I didn't even have to maintain some sort of pace; as long as I keep moving, it works. I even paused a few times when I was using my iPad (I found out I could safely leave it on the handle resting on the timer display) and it was just as effective.
Result was just more perspiration which I believe means my metabolic rate rose higher than usual.
I'd just cycle but it's so boring to me.
MON
It just feels a little unusual that only specific parts of my shoulders and chest ache instead of the entire shoulder.
Today shall be my first rest day of the week. Again, I'd cycle but it's too boring.
I am actually kinda worried about the trip to Korea but the many discussions and reviews I've read say that it's possible to survive without knowing any Korean in Seoul.
It's a good thing I'm only staying in one specific tourist-friendly part of Seoul, although I am going to need a 3G connection this time - for an online translator in case shit happens.
So I did some googling on how to get a 3G prepaid SIM card there and... there isn't any.
I can, however, rent a portable 3G modem that's larger than the ones I own for around S$8 a day.
Awesome deal.
It's also super convenient because I can reserve online and the shop is open 24 hours daily at the Incheon airport.
There are also other alternatives since this isn't the only shop that does it.
As long as roaming works for my phone, I don't need another SIM card or phone for calls. I'll have to check when I arrive though.
The reason for choosing a portable modem instead of renting a 3G phone is because I want to keep using my phone and my iPad. Getting the rental phone will mean I have to carry an additional gadget that will still merely serve as a mobile Internet access point for me.
TUE
Holy feck! The sleep study test was more horrible than the one I saw on House.
When I heard that it was done at home, I thought they were going to set up some simple monitoring device like maybe a camera and some simple pulse and breath monitoring device.
No.
Instead I get electrodes planted all over my head, and wired ones at that! Wires! At least the guy bundled them right under my chin to keep them neat.
That's not even the worst part. No, far from it. That was the part I could easily ignore after I got used to sleeping on them.
One of the worst parts was the nasal tube thing that I used to see on my mother when she had her breathing problems near the end, except in her case it was connected to a pump.
Mine appeared to work solely as a device to hold the actual monitor in position. It might not seem obvious, but it blocks airflow into my nose. Not much but enough to annoy me a few times during the night.
The worst had to be the two elastic bands around my torso, one around my abdomen and one around my chest. Whenever I relaxed enough to fall asleep, I felt as if I was being slowly suffocated. My lungs took most of the night to get used to the extra resistance from the bands, so that by the time I woke up for the morning at 6.20am, I badly stank of dried sweat.
Finally, there was the monitoring device about 13cm X 8cm X 4cm (padded pouch included) on the chest band in front. I could lie on it without damaging it but I wouldn't want to. I mean, who would?
When he was nearly done setting all these up, I asked him if it would be the same if I had chosen to do it at NUH. Apparently, yes it would have been, except in some cases he heard the patient also has to stay inclined on the bed. In contrast, I could roll around and even sleep on my abdomen, ie on top of the device, if I was masochistic enough.
Anyway all the electrodes were stuck on me using this adhesive glue produced by Grass, apparently known as "EC2 Grass Electrode Cream". According to this guy, it would solidify within 30mins and it could be easily washed off after in a shower.
And it felt like strong glue when he tore them off.
It's a good thing it was water-soluble because two electrodes were in my hair.
So as for the whole test, I don't know how it's supposed to work. How do people sleep normally with all these things attached to them?
I couldn't, and the results will probably reflect a very bad night of sleep. Heck, anyone who goes through that sleep study will test positive for sleep apnea even if they really don't have it, unless they can somehow detect when I'm actually sleeping.
I am so glad I don't have to go to work today, although I'm going to need to go to the bank to collect my temporary chequebooks. I kinda told them I would, but now I think I'll just ask the banker to courier it to my home address instead.
So while I was researching on the Shanghai-HK trip, I suddenly thought about taking a cruise back to Singapore.
Results were... intriguing.
Initially I thought Star Cruises might have them since they are pretty well-known in this part of the world, but the website shows nothing of this sort.
However, my searches were more fruitful in other websites like this CruiseCompete.com.
From this website, I found out that there are at least 3 seemingly affordable cruises from HK to SG next year that last only slightly over a week.
I say "only" because there are far longer cruises like 21 nights.
From other websites, a 14-night cruise can cost around US$1700. Hence my guess is that these 8- or 9-night cruises will cost around just US$1000.
According to the itineraries I've seen, passengers get to spend a day at each stop during the cruise. Guided tours are also available for each of them, at an additional cost of course.
As for complementary meals, I don't know but they're unlikely.
Therefore, together with all the meals at the classy restaurants onboard (I'm pretty sure they don't have cheaper alternatives like MacDonald's), that US$1000 can easily turn into US$2500 even if you don't take guided shore excursions at all.
Still, they actually look quite possible to me.
Someday.
And someday, I'll book a cabin on that 68-night cruise.
And that's how someone can blow through ten thousand bucks easy.
Personally, I estimate that I spend around S$1500 a month, inclusive of utility bills and my bro's phone bills. US$10,000 in 2 months is just almost quadruple my spending rate.
Actually, US$10,000 wouldn't be enough.
Say each meal costs only US$50 (a rough estimate of the average between meals ashore and onboard), 68*3*50 = 10,200.
Looks like the budget would have to go as high as US$25,000. About $8000 for the cruise alone, $11,000 for the meals and waiters' tips, and $6000 for onboard entertainment, shore excursions, insurance, shopping and etc.
US$25,000 is S$31,500 right now. Split over two months, that's over eight times my average monthly spending rate. Ouch!
Can I hoard combat rations during my ICTs (if they're ever issued) and bring onboard a duffle bag filled with them instead? I heard they taste delicious when we're starving.
...
Ok a 9-night cruise on the Silver Shadow cost around US$5000 minimum. I might have seriously underestimated the cost of the QE2 cruise then.
Apparently there are no inside cabins on the Silver ships, so everyone lives in cabins with windows, and such cabins are always expensive on all cruises.
It also comes with $500 onboard credit per cabin occupant, so it could theoretically cover the food costs.
...
I do see one HK-SG cruise that's going for about US$1500! This price, together with the taxes and fees, comes with $75 of onboard credits. Probably enough for one meal, two if you are trying to slim down.
For a room with a porthole aka window, the room would cost around US$600 more minimum. Very reasonable when you take into account the fact that this cruise lasts 8 nights, ie 10 days.
Prices are for single passengers. Presumably, having more people with you is going to drive down the price per pax because the one guy is going to stay in a cabin meant for at least two people, though I have not confirmed this.
Seriously, this cruise is very possible for me, if not for the dates. The total budget of a 10-day trip to Hong Kong would easily exceed that of this cruise for me.
...
Oh wow I found even cheaper ones when I googled the term "cruises Singapore". One is at around US$850, but it probably has a lot of hidden fees that will only be shown once you submit a booking request.
Maybe I'm bored, but now I see why the price of Legends of Grimrock on Steam is dropping so slowly compared to other indie games.
It's actually good, just like SPAZ (the fun, not anything else).
The problem is that it's only at 60% off the last time it appeared on sale on Steam, which is 15% too low for me.
However I had previously expressed interest in the game to my bro and the night it got on... he bought it for me.
It was the day I got back from ICT and it went on sale that night, either Flash Sale or Community Choice. Whatever it was, it was on sale after 7pm.
I know that because I was so tired from ICT I fell asleep at 7 that night and slept all the way till 7am the next morning.
Now I think it was Community Choice because I recall wanting to wait for it to come on before I sleep, then rejecting the idea because it was only 60%. However I was so tired by late afternoon I neglected to inform my bro of this second thought.
Anyway, it's worth the money even at 60% off. Moreover the difference between 60% and 75% discount is only US$2.25, so it's not that bad; it's just against my principle to buy anything less than 75% off on Steam.
Ministry of Supply finally sent me the survey to find out what sizes and colours I want for my shirts. This means they're getting ready to ship soon and have the production part ready.
TBH I don't expect them to ship next month as they promised on Kickstarter because the demand had far exceed their initial expectations. So, whatever. If they ship early, awesome. If they don't, it's not unexpected. I'll only have a problem with them if they do not deliver within 6 months of their promised month, August.
I think I actually like shoes. I find myself returning to Gilt and Amazon daily to look at them.
Must... resist... temptations!
And then Amazon sends me a 20% off coupon for sports items. I don't have a pair of sports shoes ever since the last one I had "crocodiled" during ICT. Both shoes.
No idea where the term "crocodile" in this sense came from but I first heard it used by the RSM during my ICT and it kinda made sense so I keep using it after that.
Both my last pair of combat boots and sports shoes crocodiled during the ICT, the latter on the final day of it while the former came apart at the end of the outfield training and I desperately kept it together with superglue for the next few days.
But anyway, so I keep looking at shoes. I even wanted a pair of canvas shoes but thought that I rarely have the opportunity to wear it so it would be a waste of money.
I'm glad my reason is still here, or I'd probably have ordered my third pair of shoes by now. I've already wasted money by buying the suede shoes. It was a matter of want, not need, since I could have just bought a normal patent leather shoes instead of getting those after I had the suede shoes.
While boiling the soup for 6 hours yesterday, I realized why double-steaming is a separate technique from simple boiling.
Double-steaming involves a sealed container placed within a larger pot of boiling water, with no direct contact between the smaller container and the water surface in the pot, usually by using a steam stand.
You have to be serious distracted to burn your soup if you're double-steaming it.
The other benefit is that it distributes heat far more evenly than basic boiling, since the steam at the surface of the water can't be much hotter than then steam near the top compared to the temperature difference between the bottom of the pot and the water surface.
I find that as an amateur, I tend to burn stuff too easily. Even in soups, the ingredients at the bottom can burn if I do not remember to lower the heat once it begins to boil. Double-steaming and double-boiling would remove this problem, although these techniques have their own issues.
For one, the containers I have are too small for me to make large batches of soup.
Also, cleaning up the pot after making soup is a pain.
Not doing shit kills people.
5 million people die every year for not doing anything.
...Lack of exercise claimed more than 5.3 million of the 57 million deaths worldwide in 2008.
Physical inactivity was described for the study as failing to do 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five times a week, 20 minutes of vigorous activity three times a week, or a combination of the two.
30 minutes 5 times a week? Looks like I'm on the right track, unless they mean 30 minutes of continuous moderate physical activity.
Singapore's economy should be described as "state capitalism", not "mixed economy".
Feeling down for some reason tonight. Not tired. More like zombified. No appetite, workout felt more strenuous than usual, voice went back down to my pre-ICT volume.
Too inactive?
My guess is the shoulder training is not enough; I need cardio too.
Then again I spent most of the evening researching and booking my first trip to Seoul.
Took hours to make sure I have the best flight times and hotel locations.
According to experience, choosing the most convenient flight times is a little more complicated than choosing the hotels.
For example, I have to take into account the local rush hours. Pre-dawn is the best time for cab trips. Though the surcharge can seriously jack up the taxi fare, it's far better than getting stuck in traffic and risk arriving late for your flight home.
Another factor is the price difference versus stop time between flights. This is no issue if you book so early that you can still find cheap direct flights (e.g. from early bird discounts), but if you're as lazy as I am, you will never do so and the only ways you can get a direct flight that can be even remotely considered cheap is to either have a lot of mileage in your airline membership programme or marry a pilot.
Sometimes it's worth a hundred bucks, even fifty, to stay in an airport for 2-6 hours. The only times it's not is when it's 6 hours in the night and it's during the journey to your destination.
It is pretty hard to sleep alone in a foreign airport regardless of the time unless you're a frequent traveller.
A third factor is the intervals between flight times and the hotel's check-in and check-out times. Too early for check-out and too late for check-in is fine; the reverse is not.
The last factor I will mention, missing the complementary buffet breakfast on the departure date, is subjective. IMO it's not important but still should be avoided unless it is inconvenient or causes the trip to cost significantly more. Personally, I am hooked on the idea of travelling to the airport before dawn, so skipping to leave early is fine to me.
After all, hotel continental breakfast buffets feel the same after a while - cold (and I'm not talking about the temperature) and utilitarian.
There's nothing much to appreciate but it fills the belly until lunch or dinner.
A lot of times, I feel from eating the food that the chefs didn't really want to cook it but they did it anyway because it's the generally accepted hotel breakfast fare.
Or maybe it's just me.
Moreover hotel continental breakfast feel the same everywhere just like Macdonald's. That's probably the idea anyway.
It gets a lot more complicated when I wanted to throw in Hong Kong into the trip. Due to the lack of options, I decided to push that later into my Shanghai trip instead.
SUN
Tried mixing a little cycling with the workout this morning.
The effect of just 5 minutes of very easy cycling on the second level of resistance (out of ten) was astonishing.
It takes 2 sets of my workout to get me properly warmed up (except for last night, somehow) but it only took 1 set plus 5 minutes of that cycling on my stationary bike to get me so warmed up that I was doing the lateral side raise perfectly, ie no pain, without any special efforts like I normally put in my left shoulder.
I didn't know that a little cardio can make such a great difference.
Also timed myself and found that each set only take 4mins to complete and my breaks last 1-2mins.
Arranging for my Shanghai trip is so unnecessarily complicated this time.
First, I can't stay at the Bund Riverside because the hotel hasn't updated Expedia for the month I want.
Second, Expedia isn't allowing me to view the available flights separately, thereby preventing me from booking a cheaper direct flight by a separate airline from the one I'm using for the rest of the trip. It's S$200 cheaper and my current option also includes a 5-hour stop, hence my concern.
Emailed them just now and I'm waiting for their response. I expect them to offer to book everything except for the Shanghainese hotel for me manually, but I'm open to other options as long as I get the rest of the direct flights.
I chose Expedia again because apparently Tingo is US only even though it doesn't clearly state it on its website. Tingo's prices combined with air tickets from other websites like Cheaptickets.sg would have been slightly cheaper than the combination at Expedia, even with the combo discount there.
Both Expedia and Cheaptickets have discounts for DBS cards, but the promotional offer by Cheaptickets doesn't apply to budget airlines and is $20 less than the one offered by Expedia.
The offer at Expedia that I'm talking about is the S$60 discount for packages exceeding $1500.
Teamviewer works! Now I can access my PC through my iPad instead of having to dump everything in Dropbox. On the other hand, I'm reading bad reviews for its paid version. Teamviewer is only free for personal use, so when businesses use it, they have to pay.
Everything lags, which makes sense, and the iPad can't display all the colours that the PC can, so this can't be used for watching videos or playing games. Mainly, it's for surfing the web, working with documents and chatting.
Skipped the workout before lunch before I forgot. I forgot because I'm tired. Been sleeping late.
But the pre-dinner workout was different. Since the cycling was so effective at raising my metabolism (which made me finally really understand why the PE teachers used to make us jog as a warm-up exercise), I decided to alternate each set with 5 minutes of cycling.
I didn't even have to maintain some sort of pace; as long as I keep moving, it works. I even paused a few times when I was using my iPad (I found out I could safely leave it on the handle resting on the timer display) and it was just as effective.
Result was just more perspiration which I believe means my metabolic rate rose higher than usual.
I'd just cycle but it's so boring to me.
MON
It just feels a little unusual that only specific parts of my shoulders and chest ache instead of the entire shoulder.
Today shall be my first rest day of the week. Again, I'd cycle but it's too boring.
I am actually kinda worried about the trip to Korea but the many discussions and reviews I've read say that it's possible to survive without knowing any Korean in Seoul.
It's a good thing I'm only staying in one specific tourist-friendly part of Seoul, although I am going to need a 3G connection this time - for an online translator in case shit happens.
So I did some googling on how to get a 3G prepaid SIM card there and... there isn't any.
I can, however, rent a portable 3G modem that's larger than the ones I own for around S$8 a day.
Awesome deal.
It's also super convenient because I can reserve online and the shop is open 24 hours daily at the Incheon airport.
There are also other alternatives since this isn't the only shop that does it.
As long as roaming works for my phone, I don't need another SIM card or phone for calls. I'll have to check when I arrive though.
The reason for choosing a portable modem instead of renting a 3G phone is because I want to keep using my phone and my iPad. Getting the rental phone will mean I have to carry an additional gadget that will still merely serve as a mobile Internet access point for me.
TUE
Holy feck! The sleep study test was more horrible than the one I saw on House.
When I heard that it was done at home, I thought they were going to set up some simple monitoring device like maybe a camera and some simple pulse and breath monitoring device.
No.
Instead I get electrodes planted all over my head, and wired ones at that! Wires! At least the guy bundled them right under my chin to keep them neat.
That's not even the worst part. No, far from it. That was the part I could easily ignore after I got used to sleeping on them.
One of the worst parts was the nasal tube thing that I used to see on my mother when she had her breathing problems near the end, except in her case it was connected to a pump.
Mine appeared to work solely as a device to hold the actual monitor in position. It might not seem obvious, but it blocks airflow into my nose. Not much but enough to annoy me a few times during the night.
The worst had to be the two elastic bands around my torso, one around my abdomen and one around my chest. Whenever I relaxed enough to fall asleep, I felt as if I was being slowly suffocated. My lungs took most of the night to get used to the extra resistance from the bands, so that by the time I woke up for the morning at 6.20am, I badly stank of dried sweat.
Finally, there was the monitoring device about 13cm X 8cm X 4cm (padded pouch included) on the chest band in front. I could lie on it without damaging it but I wouldn't want to. I mean, who would?
When he was nearly done setting all these up, I asked him if it would be the same if I had chosen to do it at NUH. Apparently, yes it would have been, except in some cases he heard the patient also has to stay inclined on the bed. In contrast, I could roll around and even sleep on my abdomen, ie on top of the device, if I was masochistic enough.
Anyway all the electrodes were stuck on me using this adhesive glue produced by Grass, apparently known as "EC2 Grass Electrode Cream". According to this guy, it would solidify within 30mins and it could be easily washed off after in a shower.
And it felt like strong glue when he tore them off.
It's a good thing it was water-soluble because two electrodes were in my hair.
So as for the whole test, I don't know how it's supposed to work. How do people sleep normally with all these things attached to them?
I couldn't, and the results will probably reflect a very bad night of sleep. Heck, anyone who goes through that sleep study will test positive for sleep apnea even if they really don't have it, unless they can somehow detect when I'm actually sleeping.
I am so glad I don't have to go to work today, although I'm going to need to go to the bank to collect my temporary chequebooks. I kinda told them I would, but now I think I'll just ask the banker to courier it to my home address instead.
So while I was researching on the Shanghai-HK trip, I suddenly thought about taking a cruise back to Singapore.
Results were... intriguing.
Initially I thought Star Cruises might have them since they are pretty well-known in this part of the world, but the website shows nothing of this sort.
However, my searches were more fruitful in other websites like this CruiseCompete.com.
From this website, I found out that there are at least 3 seemingly affordable cruises from HK to SG next year that last only slightly over a week.
I say "only" because there are far longer cruises like 21 nights.
From other websites, a 14-night cruise can cost around US$1700. Hence my guess is that these 8- or 9-night cruises will cost around just US$1000.
According to the itineraries I've seen, passengers get to spend a day at each stop during the cruise. Guided tours are also available for each of them, at an additional cost of course.
As for complementary meals, I don't know but they're unlikely.
Therefore, together with all the meals at the classy restaurants onboard (I'm pretty sure they don't have cheaper alternatives like MacDonald's), that US$1000 can easily turn into US$2500 even if you don't take guided shore excursions at all.
Still, they actually look quite possible to me.
Someday.
And someday, I'll book a cabin on that 68-night cruise.
And that's how someone can blow through ten thousand bucks easy.
Personally, I estimate that I spend around S$1500 a month, inclusive of utility bills and my bro's phone bills. US$10,000 in 2 months is just almost quadruple my spending rate.
Actually, US$10,000 wouldn't be enough.
Say each meal costs only US$50 (a rough estimate of the average between meals ashore and onboard), 68*3*50 = 10,200.
Looks like the budget would have to go as high as US$25,000. About $8000 for the cruise alone, $11,000 for the meals and waiters' tips, and $6000 for onboard entertainment, shore excursions, insurance, shopping and etc.
US$25,000 is S$31,500 right now. Split over two months, that's over eight times my average monthly spending rate. Ouch!
Can I hoard combat rations during my ICTs (if they're ever issued) and bring onboard a duffle bag filled with them instead? I heard they taste delicious when we're starving.
...
Ok a 9-night cruise on the Silver Shadow cost around US$5000 minimum. I might have seriously underestimated the cost of the QE2 cruise then.
Apparently there are no inside cabins on the Silver ships, so everyone lives in cabins with windows, and such cabins are always expensive on all cruises.
It also comes with $500 onboard credit per cabin occupant, so it could theoretically cover the food costs.
...
I do see one HK-SG cruise that's going for about US$1500! This price, together with the taxes and fees, comes with $75 of onboard credits. Probably enough for one meal, two if you are trying to slim down.
For a room with a porthole aka window, the room would cost around US$600 more minimum. Very reasonable when you take into account the fact that this cruise lasts 8 nights, ie 10 days.
Prices are for single passengers. Presumably, having more people with you is going to drive down the price per pax because the one guy is going to stay in a cabin meant for at least two people, though I have not confirmed this.
Seriously, this cruise is very possible for me, if not for the dates. The total budget of a 10-day trip to Hong Kong would easily exceed that of this cruise for me.
...
Oh wow I found even cheaper ones when I googled the term "cruises Singapore". One is at around US$850, but it probably has a lot of hidden fees that will only be shown once you submit a booking request.
Maybe I'm bored, but now I see why the price of Legends of Grimrock on Steam is dropping so slowly compared to other indie games.
It's actually good, just like SPAZ (the fun, not anything else).
The problem is that it's only at 60% off the last time it appeared on sale on Steam, which is 15% too low for me.
However I had previously expressed interest in the game to my bro and the night it got on... he bought it for me.
It was the day I got back from ICT and it went on sale that night, either Flash Sale or Community Choice. Whatever it was, it was on sale after 7pm.
I know that because I was so tired from ICT I fell asleep at 7 that night and slept all the way till 7am the next morning.
Now I think it was Community Choice because I recall wanting to wait for it to come on before I sleep, then rejecting the idea because it was only 60%. However I was so tired by late afternoon I neglected to inform my bro of this second thought.
Anyway, it's worth the money even at 60% off. Moreover the difference between 60% and 75% discount is only US$2.25, so it's not that bad; it's just against my principle to buy anything less than 75% off on Steam.
Ministry of Supply finally sent me the survey to find out what sizes and colours I want for my shirts. This means they're getting ready to ship soon and have the production part ready.
TBH I don't expect them to ship next month as they promised on Kickstarter because the demand had far exceed their initial expectations. So, whatever. If they ship early, awesome. If they don't, it's not unexpected. I'll only have a problem with them if they do not deliver within 6 months of their promised month, August.
I think I actually like shoes. I find myself returning to Gilt and Amazon daily to look at them.
Must... resist... temptations!
And then Amazon sends me a 20% off coupon for sports items. I don't have a pair of sports shoes ever since the last one I had "crocodiled" during ICT. Both shoes.
No idea where the term "crocodile" in this sense came from but I first heard it used by the RSM during my ICT and it kinda made sense so I keep using it after that.
 |
| Crocodile |
Both my last pair of combat boots and sports shoes crocodiled during the ICT, the latter on the final day of it while the former came apart at the end of the outfield training and I desperately kept it together with superglue for the next few days.
But anyway, so I keep looking at shoes. I even wanted a pair of canvas shoes but thought that I rarely have the opportunity to wear it so it would be a waste of money.
I'm glad my reason is still here, or I'd probably have ordered my third pair of shoes by now. I've already wasted money by buying the suede shoes. It was a matter of want, not need, since I could have just bought a normal patent leather shoes instead of getting those after I had the suede shoes.
Friday, 20 July 2012
Rant 1028 / Double Nothing Everything
I've been so tempted to buy a game for my iPad since all the free games suck.
At one point I went to the confirmation popup before I stopped myself from buying Spectral Souls.
Then I wanted to buy FFIII and FF Tactics.
Now I've to repeatedly remind myself this is not for games, and that all the games there suck compared to those on my PC anyway.
Ok, now I feel what my bro was trying to tell me. Parts of my shoulders ached since this morning whenever I lift my arms. I'm going to rest today.
The West may call China's investments in Africa "neo-colonialism" but I say that's just their anxiety talking. Even if it's true that it's not a completely fair deal for the Africans in general, with all the infrastructure developed by Chinese investments, I believe this has to be better than everything the West has done for the continent in the last several decades.
Since their efforts aren't working, perhaps we should let the Chinese have a go at it, even if it's to their benefit. It's not like what the West did in Africa all these years didn't benefit themselves anyway.
Now I feel like applying for SAFRA membership since they're having 40% off to celebrate the 40th anniversary this month.
It's just around S$140 for 8 years, and since they recently announced that the government is spending quite a fortune to improve SAFRA, I'm pretty sure they will be jacking up their membership fees in the future, probably in about 3-4 years' time.
Right now, there isn't much that I'd want from the membership other than the $90-for-$100 vouchers for various supermarkets including the one near my home, and the free financial management programme.
Limited to just 2 sets per member, the vouchers will already offset $20 this year, versus the $17-18 for the membership fee of this year alone. I've also accounted for the transport fee, which would have made the vouchers pointless (I'd have to get a cab to the SAFRA at Mount Faber) if not for the fact that I need to visit an E-Mart sometime this year to buy a new pair of boots for my next ICT.
Moreover, a friend in ICT advised me to forget about waiting for my fixed deposits to mature in 2 years if I have better things to invest in. I'll have to find a fund I want and then do some math before I follow this advice.
What I have on my mind right now is unit trusts because as always, I am looking at the long term. My current investment-linked policy at Prudential is really a trust fund investment combined with a life insurance policy, but I feel that it's not enough.
And apparently it's better to invest in the trusts separately from the insurance anyway.
Since this is not an insignificant sum, I'll have to give it a night or two before I make this decision.
Made soup. Lotus root, peanuts, a whole chicken breast, a cube of chicken essence and a teaspoon of salt.
Took 5 hours of constant boiling before the peanuts turned soft. At the 3-hour mark I was beginning to get worried that it might stay hard till the next day, but it turned out fine in the end.
Had to set hourly alarms to make sure I didn't burn it, but it's worth it... once in a while.
I'd take a picture but it's just a pot of reddish-brown anyway.
At one point I went to the confirmation popup before I stopped myself from buying Spectral Souls.
Then I wanted to buy FFIII and FF Tactics.
Now I've to repeatedly remind myself this is not for games, and that all the games there suck compared to those on my PC anyway.
Ok, now I feel what my bro was trying to tell me. Parts of my shoulders ached since this morning whenever I lift my arms. I'm going to rest today.
The West may call China's investments in Africa "neo-colonialism" but I say that's just their anxiety talking. Even if it's true that it's not a completely fair deal for the Africans in general, with all the infrastructure developed by Chinese investments, I believe this has to be better than everything the West has done for the continent in the last several decades.
Since their efforts aren't working, perhaps we should let the Chinese have a go at it, even if it's to their benefit. It's not like what the West did in Africa all these years didn't benefit themselves anyway.
Now I feel like applying for SAFRA membership since they're having 40% off to celebrate the 40th anniversary this month.
It's just around S$140 for 8 years, and since they recently announced that the government is spending quite a fortune to improve SAFRA, I'm pretty sure they will be jacking up their membership fees in the future, probably in about 3-4 years' time.
Right now, there isn't much that I'd want from the membership other than the $90-for-$100 vouchers for various supermarkets including the one near my home, and the free financial management programme.
Limited to just 2 sets per member, the vouchers will already offset $20 this year, versus the $17-18 for the membership fee of this year alone. I've also accounted for the transport fee, which would have made the vouchers pointless (I'd have to get a cab to the SAFRA at Mount Faber) if not for the fact that I need to visit an E-Mart sometime this year to buy a new pair of boots for my next ICT.
Moreover, a friend in ICT advised me to forget about waiting for my fixed deposits to mature in 2 years if I have better things to invest in. I'll have to find a fund I want and then do some math before I follow this advice.
What I have on my mind right now is unit trusts because as always, I am looking at the long term. My current investment-linked policy at Prudential is really a trust fund investment combined with a life insurance policy, but I feel that it's not enough.
And apparently it's better to invest in the trusts separately from the insurance anyway.
Since this is not an insignificant sum, I'll have to give it a night or two before I make this decision.
Made soup. Lotus root, peanuts, a whole chicken breast, a cube of chicken essence and a teaspoon of salt.
Took 5 hours of constant boiling before the peanuts turned soft. At the 3-hour mark I was beginning to get worried that it might stay hard till the next day, but it turned out fine in the end.
Had to set hourly alarms to make sure I didn't burn it, but it's worth it... once in a while.
I'd take a picture but it's just a pot of reddish-brown anyway.
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Rant 1027 / Shoulder Workouts
The singer sucks but the song made me want to play Dead Money again.
Then I thought about it and decided it was not a good idea.
The plot of Dead Money was certainly better than those of the other DLCs IMO but I just dislike the dark and creepy setting.
All those Korean- and China-made shoes are so damn cheap, and that's what I actually wanted when I looked through the catalogues on a few websites.
I need a pair to wear on rainy days until the Christmas sales begin and I can get a real pair of leather shoes that are more water-resistant than suede.
The problem with those shoes I mentioned is that they never seem to exceed US size 11.
I need size 13.
Like I said before, it looks like I will never be able to buy those cheap shoes I saw on websites like Qoo10 and DHGate.
Now I wonder whether the accident that killed Bashar Assad's elder brother was really an accident.
So I was right. I just asked my bro what exercises he did to get the shoulders he has and of the three he showed me, I've already been doing two of those for the past few days.
The first was the second half of what this website calls the "Alternating Deltoid Raise", which is just this:
Btw I've also been doing the first half since yesterday:
These workouts are hard, especially the sideways one, also known as the "Side Lateral Raise". I even feel pain in my left shoulder where I had my surgery some years back whenever I get tired. Generally, it takes about 10 repetitions (2 sets) before I'm properly warmed up so that I can do it perfectly and feel no pain.
The workout in the second image, aka the "Front Two-Dumbbell Raise" was less stressful on my arms and more on my back.
The other was what the website calls the "Dumbbell Shoulder Press":
This is much easier, so much so that I decided not to lock my elbows when my arms are stretched upwards just to make things slightly harder. My dumbbells are probably too light for this workout but I don't have more weights to add on to them. Moreover, they are more than enough for the Alternating Deltoid Raise.
The third one that he suggested, the one I didn't already know when I asked him, was the dumbbell version of the Upright Barbell Row:
I think it's quite easy to tell how this works with dumbbells.
Another workout I tried was the Dumbbell Raise:
But I thought it was too easy and decided to drop it since yesterday. Now that I see that it's a legit shoulder workout, I think I'll add it into my workouts again, albeit with more repetitions, perhaps ten or fifteen per set. Maybe even as a filler between sets.
There was one workout I tried but found it way too hard for me, which the website calls the " Standing Dumbbell Straight-arm Front Delt Raise Above Head", and was basically the Front Two-Dumbbell Raise but instead of stopping in front of you, you raise it all the way above your head.
I want the workouts hard but not painful.
Initially I started with just a simple three sets of five for each workout but since yesterday afternoon I'm moving on to four or five sets each.
Per session.
Mostly I've been doing this right before meals. I prepare my food and sometimes I put the food on my desk right in front of me before I exercise.
Just inspired by the story told by a MG gunner in my unit about his company OC during his NS. The man, he said, was really buffed and was into bodybuilding. He also noticed that he worked out with dumbbells before lunch everyday, so he went up to ask him how many he did.
"Until my arms are shaking," was his answer.
And he wasn't kidding. After that, he watched his OC at lunch and noticed that his hands were trembling as he held his fork and spoon.
Though there's no way I can match that kind of motivation, I just find it convenient to work out after cooking since I'll be sweating anyway.
I'm not saying my exercises are light; I have difficulty lifting my arms up to shampoo my hair after each workout, so what I'm doing is hard for my physique.
However, this means I'm showering at least twice a day now instead of only twice a day, so I have to do the laundry more often.
As for why I'm only focusing on my shoulders, it's because I've always needed to strengthen my shoulder muscles to prevent future dislocations due to my already loose tendons, so it's a good place to start.
...
Tried the Iron Cross just now.
Holy feck that's way too hard for me! Did it twice and gave up on it. This workout is far too painful for me. The funny thing is, this workout is labelled as "Intermediate" on the website.
Anyways my bro advised me to take a day off at least twice a week to recover. While I worry that this can ruin my momentum, I think he has a point too. My arms felt weaker this morning, so I might have overworked my arms in the last few days.
Now I'm considering doing much less than normal instead of completely stopping. Maybe two sets in total for the entire day.
However, while I was changing my terrapin's water today, it felt way lighter than it used to. I almost thought I had starved it for too long... then I recalled the last time I fed it was two days ago.
The workout must be working!
Finally got another pair of shoes that will likely cost me about S$90-S$100 in total. The shoes themselves cost US$59.95 on Amazon, the ground shipping within US cost nothing and the international shipping by ComGateway will likely cost anywhere between S$15-20.
Visa tells me that its current exchange rate inclusive of the 2% foreign transaction fee is 1.28615 SGD per USD, Amazon says it's 2 pounds, which slightly over 0.9kg, so yea, it's going to be around S$95 unless they stuff more paper cushion into the box than expected.
It's just a pair of leather oxfords (again), except this time it's not suede.
I just like the simple casual style, I guess. Spent quite some time looking through the oxfords between US$50-100 and decided on this partly because of the simplicity and partly because of its latex sole.
Anyway I bought it from Amazon because it's the only place where I can find decent leather shoes my size right now that cost less than or around S$100 inclusive of shipping.
Initially wanted a pair of chukka boots but decided it didn't seem formal enough for work. Oxfords, on the other hand, seem to be the perfect compromise between work and play to me.
The rains are coming and I don't want to wait till it's raining everyday before I buy a pair, especially since they usually take 2-3 weeks to arrive.
Rant 1026 / It Will Not Cease!
The coffee stall owner refused to sell her coffee beans whole.
At first I thought I misheard what she said and that she had also misheard what I said, so she had to repeat herself twice before I knew I heard it right the first time.
What?
How does grinding the beans make any difference as far as her sales are concerned?
Why must she sell her beans in powder form?
This is the first time I am so completely stumped my only guess doesn't even make sense.
And I'm guessing she somehow adds powdered maize as a filler through her grinding machine into the mix and has been doing that all these decades, except...
1) I don't see how the maize can be stored inside without anyone knowing.
2) She weighs the beans before grinding them.
I've never been so puzzled in my entire life.
Floris mod is awesome but there are a few things that really get on my nerves.
First and foremost, the bugged ladder during sieges.
In my first siege, there were two ladders up the wall and everyone got stuck at the top of the right one.
So while everyone who took the left ladder went on to fight the defenders, everyone on the right ladder (and it was packed like a can of sardines) was little more than target practice for the defending archers.
I didn't lose since I was with the Nords (IMO the best at sieges since they have the best infantry) but I got knocked out while trying to bait the defenders to the stuck soldiers after everyone else got defeated after being outnumbered.
Then there's the clear imbalance after the Nords took two cities from the Vaegirs and one from the Swadians without my aid at all. At the point I was just a simple travelling merchant.
I don't really want to play it anymore, yet the troop upgrade trees continue to draw me back to the game.
Went to Queensway Shopping Centre where all the shoe stores are only to discover that it's actually the same or even cheaper to buy leather shoes online.
I mean, I found a pair that's almost like my suede shoes except for a shittier outsole and the price tag was almost the same as what I paid in total for my pair.
The problem is that my shoes' price had the delivery included while that pair I found didn't.
I mean, what?
As for the other leather shoes, they were all priced about the same as what I can find during sales at online stores, even the ones that sell branded stuff.
The only benefit of buying at that mall is that I can try the shoes out, but after my current pair of shoes, that doesn't feel so important to me anymore.
I'm just going to wait till a sale happens somewhere and buy a pair.
One better come up soon. I do not want to think about what would happen if I'm forced to go to work on a rainy morning.
Since I can't use the elastic band, I've been using my bro's dumbbells instead. No idea how much the bar itself weighs but the weights are 1.25kg on each side, making the dumbbells 3 to 3.5kg each.
Life after the ICT is so different I have to say I'm now against anything close to abolishing it.
Sometimes, people like myself need a good hard push to go in the right direction, and the last ICT made me see how much I needed to exercise.
This week, I've noticed that I barely break a sweat throughout my trip to the office even after a trip to the market before that.
I went to the market, cooked breakfast, did some light strength training, showered, had breakfast and then went to work.
In the past, the only way I can get to the office without breaking a sweat was if it was a cool cloudy day and I was half-asleep during the journey. Today, I didn't even notice I had forgotten to take a handkerchief until I was halfway through some work at the office.
Fortunately I always keep a spare.
This ICT made this difference that the one last year didn't because I had been much more physically active this time. For several days I had gone beyond my jobscope to help out with the storemen and armskote instead of waiting for work in the office all day. The storemen, in particular, had a lot of heavy stuff that needed carrying.
For now, I'm content with doing about 10-20mins of arm exercises twice or thrice a day. I don't want to end up like the last time I tried and pushed myself so hard I ended up hating it.
On the other hand, I expect to become less fit by the end of this week, but I don't have the motivation to do more.
The only industry not affected by the flood of Chinese immigrants may be the Hindu and Muslim funeral services.
That is nowhere close to enough. Nothing will ever be enough. The silence will not be forgotten.
At first I thought I misheard what she said and that she had also misheard what I said, so she had to repeat herself twice before I knew I heard it right the first time.
What?
How does grinding the beans make any difference as far as her sales are concerned?
Why must she sell her beans in powder form?
This is the first time I am so completely stumped my only guess doesn't even make sense.
And I'm guessing she somehow adds powdered maize as a filler through her grinding machine into the mix and has been doing that all these decades, except...
1) I don't see how the maize can be stored inside without anyone knowing.
2) She weighs the beans before grinding them.
I've never been so puzzled in my entire life.
Floris mod is awesome but there are a few things that really get on my nerves.
First and foremost, the bugged ladder during sieges.
In my first siege, there were two ladders up the wall and everyone got stuck at the top of the right one.
So while everyone who took the left ladder went on to fight the defenders, everyone on the right ladder (and it was packed like a can of sardines) was little more than target practice for the defending archers.
I didn't lose since I was with the Nords (IMO the best at sieges since they have the best infantry) but I got knocked out while trying to bait the defenders to the stuck soldiers after everyone else got defeated after being outnumbered.
Then there's the clear imbalance after the Nords took two cities from the Vaegirs and one from the Swadians without my aid at all. At the point I was just a simple travelling merchant.
I don't really want to play it anymore, yet the troop upgrade trees continue to draw me back to the game.
Went to Queensway Shopping Centre where all the shoe stores are only to discover that it's actually the same or even cheaper to buy leather shoes online.
I mean, I found a pair that's almost like my suede shoes except for a shittier outsole and the price tag was almost the same as what I paid in total for my pair.
The problem is that my shoes' price had the delivery included while that pair I found didn't.
I mean, what?
As for the other leather shoes, they were all priced about the same as what I can find during sales at online stores, even the ones that sell branded stuff.
The only benefit of buying at that mall is that I can try the shoes out, but after my current pair of shoes, that doesn't feel so important to me anymore.
I'm just going to wait till a sale happens somewhere and buy a pair.
One better come up soon. I do not want to think about what would happen if I'm forced to go to work on a rainy morning.
Since I can't use the elastic band, I've been using my bro's dumbbells instead. No idea how much the bar itself weighs but the weights are 1.25kg on each side, making the dumbbells 3 to 3.5kg each.
Life after the ICT is so different I have to say I'm now against anything close to abolishing it.
Sometimes, people like myself need a good hard push to go in the right direction, and the last ICT made me see how much I needed to exercise.
This week, I've noticed that I barely break a sweat throughout my trip to the office even after a trip to the market before that.
I went to the market, cooked breakfast, did some light strength training, showered, had breakfast and then went to work.
In the past, the only way I can get to the office without breaking a sweat was if it was a cool cloudy day and I was half-asleep during the journey. Today, I didn't even notice I had forgotten to take a handkerchief until I was halfway through some work at the office.
Fortunately I always keep a spare.
This ICT made this difference that the one last year didn't because I had been much more physically active this time. For several days I had gone beyond my jobscope to help out with the storemen and armskote instead of waiting for work in the office all day. The storemen, in particular, had a lot of heavy stuff that needed carrying.
For now, I'm content with doing about 10-20mins of arm exercises twice or thrice a day. I don't want to end up like the last time I tried and pushed myself so hard I ended up hating it.
On the other hand, I expect to become less fit by the end of this week, but I don't have the motivation to do more.
The only industry not affected by the flood of Chinese immigrants may be the Hindu and Muslim funeral services.
That is nowhere close to enough. Nothing will ever be enough. The silence will not be forgotten.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Rant 1025 / Sealing
EA is making an Ultima MMO.
There goes another good franchise.
Suddenly feel like getting a seal or two after seeing a discount on wax seal stamp sets on Groupon.
I want to get both a Chinese seal and a Western wax seal stamp. The former is a square seal containing the three characters of my Chinese name (with my family name stretched to fill the space of two characters) that uses red ink while the latter would use the three initials of my English name.
Both aren't cheap and are, frankly, quite impractical.
I think I can get a stone Chinese seal with my zodiac sign for about S$50 in Hong Kong or S$80 locally, and the English one can be ordered online for about S$100. These are higher prices because they need to be custom-made. Most Western stamps come only with a single initial and I want all three of mine in a single stamp. Similarly for the Chinese one, I want the ancient Chinese font and my surname streteched into a rectangle.
In addition, the red ink would be easy to get but the sealing wax is going to raise the costs significantly.
I'm planning to use the Chinese seal for cheques. On the days when I haven't been using a pen for about a week, my handwriting can get noticeably uglier than usual. That's when I can whip out my wooden/stone seal and ink pad instead of signing my cheques. I'm pretty sure seals are accepted too but I'll have to confirm it when I inform them of the seal to be recognized as a secondary signature.
As for the Western wax seal, apparently people only use it for wedding invitations, so I can't use it for my mails in case it causes confusion among the receipients. However, I can also use it on legal documents, but I rarely have to sign any.
Actually I already have a Chinese seal but it's a much simpler and kinda Westernised one in which my name goes from left to right in one horizontal line. I want the square sort with the characters in red and in the ancient Chinese font.
Tue
Got up at 7am today. Hopefully this will become a habit. To encourage this, I am leaving my curtains opened so that the sun can go at full blast into my room through my east-facing window.
Studies have shown that sunlight can wake people up, likely due to natural instincts after millenia of evolution. I can either feel that very well or it's a psychological effect from reading about that.
Also trying to do some strength training in the morning but the elastic band is degrading after a year of neglect, so I've told my bro to order another one. It's just not safe to continue using this old one.
But before the training I went downstairs to the market for some vegetables. All I've got in the fridge is 10 chickens' worth of chicken breasts, bone-in, and three thighs. Although I can simply bake or steam them, I'd rather not do that for all of them.
So I got down to buy lots of lettuce, sweet potatoes, onions, potatoes and a bit of mushrooms before getting the 60 fishballs and, this time, also some yong tau foo.
Just when I was thinking of going home, I walked past the chaw siew stall... AND IT WAS OPEN!
IT WAS ONLY 7.30AM! After so many years of not visiting it due to timing issues, I've totally forgotten about it!
Better still, there was almost no queue since it was a weekday morning.
Straight away I got behind the two people queueing there and started looking around for clues on how to order.
None of them ordered a whole stick of char siew like my mum used to, so I wasn't sure if the system had changed. Regardless, I can't just tell them to give me a whole piece because many of them hanging on the hooks was small round pieces the size of my palm. I could also point at one of the larger ones but since I can't see any difference between all of them, what's the point?
In the end, I just ordered half a kilogram of it. She asked me if I wanted the "heads", and I wasn't sure if she meant the charred ends, but I said "yes" anyway. They are known to be carcinogenic but those are also the best parts of the char siew. Next she asked me if I wanted them chopped and of course I did.
When I got home I put everything but the char siew into the fridge and used the leftover rice from last night that I had forgotten to store in the fridge to make char siew fried rice. The rice was still fine and I made a point to fry the plain rice in the oil a little longer before adding the light soy sauce, char siew and eggs.
I should make more of this.
There goes another good franchise.
Suddenly feel like getting a seal or two after seeing a discount on wax seal stamp sets on Groupon.
I want to get both a Chinese seal and a Western wax seal stamp. The former is a square seal containing the three characters of my Chinese name (with my family name stretched to fill the space of two characters) that uses red ink while the latter would use the three initials of my English name.
Both aren't cheap and are, frankly, quite impractical.
I think I can get a stone Chinese seal with my zodiac sign for about S$50 in Hong Kong or S$80 locally, and the English one can be ordered online for about S$100. These are higher prices because they need to be custom-made. Most Western stamps come only with a single initial and I want all three of mine in a single stamp. Similarly for the Chinese one, I want the ancient Chinese font and my surname streteched into a rectangle.
In addition, the red ink would be easy to get but the sealing wax is going to raise the costs significantly.
I'm planning to use the Chinese seal for cheques. On the days when I haven't been using a pen for about a week, my handwriting can get noticeably uglier than usual. That's when I can whip out my wooden/stone seal and ink pad instead of signing my cheques. I'm pretty sure seals are accepted too but I'll have to confirm it when I inform them of the seal to be recognized as a secondary signature.
As for the Western wax seal, apparently people only use it for wedding invitations, so I can't use it for my mails in case it causes confusion among the receipients. However, I can also use it on legal documents, but I rarely have to sign any.
Actually I already have a Chinese seal but it's a much simpler and kinda Westernised one in which my name goes from left to right in one horizontal line. I want the square sort with the characters in red and in the ancient Chinese font.
Tue
Got up at 7am today. Hopefully this will become a habit. To encourage this, I am leaving my curtains opened so that the sun can go at full blast into my room through my east-facing window.
Studies have shown that sunlight can wake people up, likely due to natural instincts after millenia of evolution. I can either feel that very well or it's a psychological effect from reading about that.
Also trying to do some strength training in the morning but the elastic band is degrading after a year of neglect, so I've told my bro to order another one. It's just not safe to continue using this old one.
But before the training I went downstairs to the market for some vegetables. All I've got in the fridge is 10 chickens' worth of chicken breasts, bone-in, and three thighs. Although I can simply bake or steam them, I'd rather not do that for all of them.
So I got down to buy lots of lettuce, sweet potatoes, onions, potatoes and a bit of mushrooms before getting the 60 fishballs and, this time, also some yong tau foo.
Just when I was thinking of going home, I walked past the chaw siew stall... AND IT WAS OPEN!
IT WAS ONLY 7.30AM! After so many years of not visiting it due to timing issues, I've totally forgotten about it!
Better still, there was almost no queue since it was a weekday morning.
Straight away I got behind the two people queueing there and started looking around for clues on how to order.
None of them ordered a whole stick of char siew like my mum used to, so I wasn't sure if the system had changed. Regardless, I can't just tell them to give me a whole piece because many of them hanging on the hooks was small round pieces the size of my palm. I could also point at one of the larger ones but since I can't see any difference between all of them, what's the point?
In the end, I just ordered half a kilogram of it. She asked me if I wanted the "heads", and I wasn't sure if she meant the charred ends, but I said "yes" anyway. They are known to be carcinogenic but those are also the best parts of the char siew. Next she asked me if I wanted them chopped and of course I did.
When I got home I put everything but the char siew into the fridge and used the leftover rice from last night that I had forgotten to store in the fridge to make char siew fried rice. The rice was still fine and I made a point to fry the plain rice in the oil a little longer before adding the light soy sauce, char siew and eggs.
I should make more of this.
Monday, 16 July 2012
Rant 1024 / I Haz Innernet
Gained 3kgs over the week. It has to be mostly muscle mass because of how I feel right now.
Can't imagine what the high-key ICTs are going to be like, mainly because of the outfield training.
Choosing the concrete floor of the training shed to sleep on was a terrible idea. Together with an already aching lower back from lugging/carrying stuff around all day, I probably spent most of the time trying to sleep than actually doing it.
Next time, I'm going to sleep on the grass. It has to be better there despite the jungle bugs.
Three guys were fell out within one of the days out there. One was from a pre-existing condition, another from the heat (probably didn't drink enough water, which was his own fault since we had plenty of water at every resting point and everyone carried at least a litre each in between) and one more because of the wet terrain after the light rain. Man, reverse fracture on the arm. Very disturbing to me just to think about it, yet I keep doing that.
It also shows how tired everyone was. If you're locking your elbow to break your fall, which I think he did, you're so tired you've become stupid.
Can't say much about the rest because I'm not even supposed to discuss anything regarding this online, though it suffices to say that I slept for a full 12 hours when I got home.
But not before ordering three pizzas for dinner.
...
Lost an inch of my waistline despite the weight gain. Yep, muscle mass.
Because everyone loves the violin and P4.
My Standard Chartered chequebook hasn't arrived. Wtf? I'm going to bring some blank cheques from my bro tomorrow instead :\
Can't imagine what the high-key ICTs are going to be like, mainly because of the outfield training.
Choosing the concrete floor of the training shed to sleep on was a terrible idea. Together with an already aching lower back from lugging/carrying stuff around all day, I probably spent most of the time trying to sleep than actually doing it.
Next time, I'm going to sleep on the grass. It has to be better there despite the jungle bugs.
Three guys were fell out within one of the days out there. One was from a pre-existing condition, another from the heat (probably didn't drink enough water, which was his own fault since we had plenty of water at every resting point and everyone carried at least a litre each in between) and one more because of the wet terrain after the light rain. Man, reverse fracture on the arm. Very disturbing to me just to think about it, yet I keep doing that.
It also shows how tired everyone was. If you're locking your elbow to break your fall, which I think he did, you're so tired you've become stupid.
Can't say much about the rest because I'm not even supposed to discuss anything regarding this online, though it suffices to say that I slept for a full 12 hours when I got home.
But not before ordering three pizzas for dinner.
...
Lost an inch of my waistline despite the weight gain. Yep, muscle mass.
Because everyone loves the violin and P4.
My Standard Chartered chequebook hasn't arrived. Wtf? I'm going to bring some blank cheques from my bro tomorrow instead :\
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