USB Table Fan II

A package arrived at my desk today and it was quite a big box (I placed the pencil there for reference).

When I opened it, I felt a little cheated as it was only the USB fan that I bought. Alamak, pack such a big box for what?

I know I have a USB fan heading my way but I didn't expect this package to be it. First of all was the size of the box and second of all, I only ordered the thing the day before. Totally didn't expect the shipment to be that fast.

Gotta love the logistics speed here in Da Hu. It is the norm that you get your orders delivered overnight. Such is the intensity of the competition as far as online shopping is concerned.

• JayWalk Online (28 Jun 2012) - USB Table Fan

Anyway, if you recall my entry last year, that freebie USB fan died the day before. It was a good run while it lastest, especially since it came for free.

This new one? A mere RMB 7.80 (SGD 1.60) including shipping. The downside is that it does not have a standing base i.e. it is very near to your hand while you are typing (which is not really a problem since the blades are very soft but nevertheless still gives you a shock when you stray into its path).

Also, an ON/OFF switch would be nice. One has to remove the entire fan to get it to stop.

Not a big problem for such a small sum of purchase.

- Voxeros

Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?

• The Huffington Post (26 Jun 2013) -  Where Is Edward Snowden? Ecuador Foreign Minister Says He Doesn't Know

I was actually following the RT's & Kim Dotcom's live tweets yesterday as they tracked the entire Snowden's fiasco. It was comedy gold as a plane load of journalists took off to the sky towards Havanna.....

..... without Snowden.

Kwa kwa......

Anyway, I am not here to write about Snowden's adventures. The media does a good job cover that already.

All these actually reminded me of a computer game that I used to play when I was a kid.

"Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego" (1985) by Broderbund (the same good people who gave us Choplifter, Karateka and Prince Of Persia).

Good news is that there is a Java-emulator DOS version available on the web for you to relive those childhood memories.

The one I played, when I was a kid, was the Apple ][ version. The game play is identical except that this DOS version has colour. I don't think I got sound from the emulator though.

Go ahead and try it! --> http://dosdose.com/game/13/where_in_the_world_is_carmen_sandiego/

p.s. One of the destinations in the game was Singapore and the short write-up introducing the country was that we were a population of 2.5 million (the game was dated 1985). Looking at the current overcrowded Singapore (and going to be even worse when we hit 6.9 million), I couldn't help but felt a stab in my heart.

- Voxeros

Champion Subway Auntie II

I was most amused the first time round but when I spotted another one, I started to wonder if this is the norm or what?

Perhaps, it would be a good idea to ease the seat crunch?

Still, I wonder if a foldable one (the camping types) would be a better option in terms of portability?

- Voxeros

Donkey Bag

I was walking to the supermarket after getting off the train when I spotting something amiss from the corner of my eye.

I saw something sticking out and it turned out to be legs protruding out from the bag in front of me.

Legs?

As I looked up to get a better look, there it was.

A donkey bag!

How cute!

Hahaha.....

As amused as I was, I wouldn't be caught dead spotting one of these.

- Voxeros

Goodbye Polar Bear

• JayWalk Online (13 May 2005) - The Polar Bear Dog

Nanook used to be more blond when younger. That's what you get with greying.

Got word that Nanook was put down last Friday as he could no longer stand up.

Nanook has lived to a ripe old age of 15 which converts to about 105 human years.

Whenever I visited Char's place, I would go round to the back of the house to see this old friend of mine.

While it is sad to see an old friend go, the last few years had been really tough on him. Perhaps, doggie heaven is the better place for him at this time.

Goodbye. Polar Bear. Goodbye.
 
Image Credit: Facebook - Charmaine Wong

- Voxeros

Maglev In Da Hu

I heard a lot about the Maglev (magnetic levitation) train in Da Hu that I decided to take a ride on it to the airport.

I read it a few years ago that it was supposed to connect the two airports namely PuDong and HongQiao airports with nearly 60km between them.

Travel time from airport to airport? 7 minutes.

So imagine my disappointment when I heard that project failed to take off (too many kickbacks?) and sank.

What eventually came up was a line from town to PuDong airport, leaving HongQiao airport in the cold. That probably explained the empty counters at HongQiao airport that says "PuDong airport check-in".

So anyway, the ride to the airport was RMB 40 (SGD 8) and wow. It was a very fast ride. Speed topped at 301 km/h. I heard from my colleagues that it used to go up to 350 km/h until the fatal accident at Wenzhou, killing more than 40 people and a shitload injured, back in 2011. Thereafter, all high speed trains across the country were ordered to reduce their speeds.

The ride was very stable and we passed another train along the way, running in the opposite direction where our relative velocity was what? 300 x 2 = 600 km/h?!. I like the part where the train had to tilt sideway as we banked around the corner.

The ride was over in a matter of minutes as I reluctant got off the train.

Wish the ride was longer.

- Voxeros

A Week On The Bund

 

Has been out at the clubs every night of the week and I am exhausted!

It wasn't exactly partying as it was more of work than play.

Besides, it is beyond my budget to be keeping this type of lifestyle.

In actual fact, I was out accompanying a couple of overseas friends surveying a few sites of Da Hu's nightlife. There was talk about setting a new club to add to the Bund's nightlife.

First stop was back to Club Cuvve at Bund18 which I mentioned in my earlier entry. That was the first night.

The subsequent nights we headed to Zeal at Bund22, The House Of Roosevelt at Bund27 and also Muse On The Bund, recently relaunched by HK actress Carina Lau.

It didn't matter whether it was a weekday or a weekend, these places were packed!

And if you recalled how expensive a night of clubbing there cost, you take that number and multiply by the number of people in there.

Goodness. That's a big number.

So there I was on one of the nights at Zeal Club when these two ladies came up to me and asked me to buy them a beer each.

I immediately had this flashback to the early 90s where there was these two per-pubescent girls (around what? 12? 13?) at Fire Disco trying to bum a cigarette off me to be shared between the two, which I gave them a good ticking off and walked away.

Except these two were much older ladies in their 30s.

A beer there is RMB 70 (about SGD 14 which is about right for a drink at a club). I gave them each RMB 100 and told them not to return.

I didn't get any change back.

Pathetic.

It was madness at Muse On The Bund. 100 bottles of Moet & Chandon ordered and proudly displayed on the table.

Goodness! Who drinks 100 bottles of champagne??

I calculated at a discounted price of RMB 750 (SGD 150) a bottle, the bill for these bubbly should come up to what? RMB 75,000 (SGD 15,000)?

Common sense tells you that there is no way these bottles can be finished that night, given how many people was at this particular party. If that was the case, why bring out all the bottles?

One word.

Peacock-ing. Obviously the host want to hao lian. A decadent display of one's wealth and to bait gold-digging ladies to bed.

*shrugs*

The next table, not to be outdone, was drinking Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac.

Though not 100 bottles (god knows how much THAT would cost) but still, the two bottles of premium grape distill on the table were still able to attract quite a few fruit flies to the table.

As night wore on, we are talking about people using bottles as baits.

Then Kev said that we should get two bottles of 4.5-Litre Glenmorangie Single Malt the next time we come. At RMB 4800 (SGD 960) a bottle, he said it's very worth it.

*roll eyes + shrug*

- Voxeros

Kung Fu MP

Is it me or does our Minister knows the Tiger Kung Fu?

See both pictures above and below, then tell me if Mr Yaacob Ibrahim knows 虎拳?

Anyway, I feel it is damn dumb and insulting to attempt to regulate news stream.

First of all, there is no way to regulate it coz as many as there are big news websites out there, there are just as many small but significant ones too. Sure you can clamp down on Yahoo News et al. I would like see them plug all the holes.

And to decide what we can or cannot read, that is just down right insulting. They might as well follow QQLand's footstep and erect the Great Firewall too.

I hope they actually do that and then come 2016 see how we take the wall down with these idiots along with it like the Berlin Wall.

Oh please. Please. Please. Put up the Great Firewall Of Singapore. I beg you. Please.

Image Credit: http://publichouse.sg; http://utility.voc.com.cn

- Voxeros

BarRun 2013 - Sundown Marathon 2013

Well, not exactly an official BarRun since there was no official invitation for the BarFlies to come run.

Still, we have a tiny handful running. That's KingMeng and his aunt on the left and the Yum Yum Long Legs Aloe between the two guys.

Airpork as chio as I last saw her like what? 4 years ago, went off running with her colleagues. Still, it was nice to be able to say hi before we ran our separate ways.

My timing of 1hr 18mins was a mixed bag of feelings.

On one hand, I was glad that I managed to finish the run in a single puff, and very comfortably if I may add, despite laying off training for an entire month due to my work relocation.

I took a lesson from running veteran Adrian from RunForFunds as I made sure I taped up my 4th toe and my left arch, before putting on two layers of socks. Result? No blister at all and I finished the run comfortably.

Surprisingly, there was no aching or soreness after the run sans a tightness at the back of my right knee.

On the other hand, I was disappointed as I have been training since December last year and was close to cracking the 60-minute mark only to be disrupted and have everything undone is just mere 4 weeks.

As I ran, my confidence took a big hit as I now contemplate switching down to 10K instead of the 21K for StanChart, at year end, as originally planned.

Thoughts on this run? I am not particularly happy with the route as there were a couple of bottle necks along the way jamming up route. I won't complain about the start-of-race traffic jam as that happens to every run. It was inevitable.

So that still makes the Real Run as my favourite run so far. The worst has got to be the Mizuno Wave Run. Incompetent organisation and coordination. Hope they are better now but it is irrelevant to me now that it has been struck off my list of runs to participate.

Anyway, I ran with the Wahoo BlueHR Bluetooth 4.0 Heart Rate Monitor and am happy to report that the HRM worked perfectly throughout the entire 10K. I would certainly recommend this to all my friends. Below are the screen caps of my run tracked by Endomondo, which I probably would review this genre of software in another entry sometime in the near future.


There was a slight discrepancy due to the gun time and nett time different. This to due to the sheer number of people at the starting point that it took me three minutes just to get to the starting line after the gun had gone off.

The first indication of fitness, or rather the lack of, is the timing as I clocked less-than satisfactory time. Still, when it comes to timing, several factors come into play and human traffic jam is perhaps to biggest delay of them all.

The other and more important factor was my average heart rate. 172 bpm is really working the ticker really really hard. On a good day, i.e. regular running and in good fitness state, my average heart rate on a 10K run is around 150 to 160 bpm.

The maximum heart rate of 217 was just a one-off jump during the final sprint approaching the finishing line.

Here are the rest of the race details below.

- Voxeros