360

You have heard of webcams that follows the swaying of your face (Logitech Sphere).

You have even heard of webcams that will track you when you walk around the room (Polycom Video Conferencing).

But have you heard of 360 panoramic view webcam? Eat this.

Enter the Microsoft Roundtable!

It has 6 CMOS sensors which shoots up to a prism like mirror to form the panoramic view. It will show EVERYONE in the room ALL THE TIME.

Now how cool is that. Drop by my office or join drop me a line and we can do Live Meeting over the Internet.... ala Roundtable style!

Not to forget, this is the ONLY unit in Malaysia. Even Microsoft Malaysia have to beg us to lend it from us.

Office Mayhem

The girls at the office decided to give their group manager something..... enticing.

To her husband anyway.

Road Side Toilet

When you hear Road Side Toilet, the words "wooden hut, hole in ground, toilet seat with stains" is what comes to you mind.

Surprisingly, I have the opportunity to pang jior (pee) in one of the few "automated" toilet in KL city center.

Check it out, got door control ala lift - even comes equipment with alarm button in case you caught your jiao jiao in zipper?

Nice mirror - what is that warning sign ar?

Automated sink, minus the nose/pubic hair.

 

Even got a nice tray to change the baby's diapers. Erm - some horny couples can probably use it for something else...

So go try it out, best 20 cents I have spent for public amenity. Got air cond some more. But 1 caveat.

The door opens automatically within 15 mins. Don't say I didn't warn you. Can be found at junction across Wisma Sime Darby, KL.

Stain

Some people leaves lip stick stain.

Monica left some of Bill's stain on her.

LCie left this for me this morning:

 

Hypocrisy to the max...

OMFG...

Little Girl Substituted By Cuter Little Girl In Olympic Opening Ceremony

How can this happen :(

Fans vs Mass Market

Manage to get myself a night off to catch 2 movies - that as fans shall not miss. Back to back some more.

Anyway not going to write movie review, just want to say how I observed the fans and non-fans reacted to both movies.

X-Files

I believe (insert puns here) that this 2nd movie would make the perfect closure for the cult following TV series. As fans, we all know that the sexual tension between Mulder and Scully has always been something present, yet almost taboo like that it was never discussed about. Matter a fact, for hardcore fans, the most memorable moment is when they *almost* kissed at Mulder's apartment hallway, when the kiss was interrupted by a bee sting that almost killed Scully.

Another thing that was never really talked about, but insinuated throughout the series, is that Mulder was William's father.

That's why fans can relate when I said that I had goose bumps when Mulder and Scully's sexuality was so publicly displayed, so casually shown off in the 2nd movie. It was a moment that completed us all X-Files fan. They even openly talked about William.

Which leads me to the point, why I am so not surprised when hearing how the non-fan reacted in the cinema. The girl sitting next to me commented:"Har? Like that finish liao ar." Sounded almost like she was cheated or something. Come on la, the mystery was solved (no spoilers here), the bandits were caught - what else you want la?

Dark Knight

When I was queuing for my movie tix, I overheard "Why I cannot see Batman on the list one? Which one is Batman ar? Still on ar?" which someone was nice enough to tell the girl that Dark Knight is the Batman movie then she said "OOOOoooohh... haiyah, why not just call Batman la."

Beh tar han.

Very obviously she has not read the Dark Knight series.

The other comment that I heard inside the cinema was the confused sound of "Huh?" made at the ending of the movie when Jim Gordon said that he would have to pursue Batman, even after he just saved Gotham from destruction.

Fans would understand this because Batman was never a publicly welcomed figure - not openly anyway. Unlike Superman, who appears in fund raisers, talk to kids, shows up during the day time - generally a public figure. Batman works on the opposite, his most powerful is not the Bat Mobile or the Bat-pod (which was super cool. BTW), but fear. He uses fear to achieve his objectives, hides in shadow, wears dark color.

And he is labeled vigilante at best, not ever a "superhero".

And that is why the authorities will always disapprove of his methods, or his existence for that matter.

Whirlwind Week

Last week was a mad week for me, with Iz getting hospitalized and the big tender closing (in that particular importance order).

Apparently Iz had a stomach virus infection. Which means,

He has to be put on IV - OUCH!
...for 2 days - OUCH!
And Jo's pregnancy is making her very tired nowadays - DOUBLE OUCH!
And the cooling off period for Iz's new medical card policy has not pass yet - (small) ouch.

I do thank God for looking after my family in times of crisis, and at the same time teaches me some humility and realignment of priorities.

Price Point

It's interesting to see how the patrol price hike have changed the dynamics quite a bit.

Firstly, eating fast food is not a big deal anymore, because Chap Fan (self service mixed rice) typically cost around RM6 now.

Secondly, taking taxi is cheaper now, (whether you can get one in your area, is another story all together), especially if you cost in the parking fees. This is because their prices are regulated, and they use NGV, which the price was not affected.

So, who's joining me for burgers at lunch, and going there by cab? :)

Announcement!

If you hadn't known already, Joey is expecting again :) Wishes and prayers are welcomed....

myCar

A lot of people have asked me why I have not "upgraded" from my 10 year old Proton Wira. Guess that I have to clarify it once and for all:

1. I owned the car from day 1, and I know all the knicks and knacks of it. Plus I always replace with good parts, so the engine is tip top condition. Matter a fact, it's so well maintained, it's still running the same mileage since day 1, i.e. RM450/tank.
2. I missed my chance when I could. Many times.

Heh - you all probably dying to know what I meant. I'll talk you though it by chronological order, from when I got my Wira.

1. Year 1 - already thought of it. Talked to a few friends, and told me it's bad value to sell Proton until at least Year 3, coz it's gonna be the same price. So I waited.
2. Year 5 - got into this cybercafe business, had too much partying and got into another stupid business. So I waited.
3. Year 7 - getting to get married. So I waited.
4. Year 8 - wife pregnant, angel of joy coming. So I waited.
5. Year 9 - sole bread wiener. So I waited.
6. Year 10 - economy downturning. So am waiting.

And that's why they all say, "it's the timing, man". So true, so true.

"So when will you change?", you said?

1. My car seizes to work,
2. Migrate and buy a kick ass car overseas! (screw Malaysia import duties)

Of coz I hope that it'll be case 2.

BSG S4E10

I don't like the ending at all. Period. They better have a super duper fantastic come back from the mid-season hiatus.

And soon.

Ubah Gaya Hidup

In case you haven't already seen this from Patrick Teoh's site @ http://niamah.blogspot.com.

 

Fate and Luck

Was talking to a friend the other day who told me that her husband, who once broke up with her, but finally went back to her and got married.

And she told me that the reason why he came crawling back is all because he was going out with this bitch during the "break" (in reference to HIMYM), which got him to realize that my friend was in angel in comparison.

Well, I think I will have a different take on this. I believe that a person will always be together with this other person, no matter what, is because they are soul mates to start with.

And yes, soul mates are like best friends, sometimes you argue with each other and have different opinion on something, but sooner or later you would kiss and make up.

Don't ask me what soul mates are or their characteristics or symptoms, because I just believe that you will instinctively know who he/she is, once you have met them. It's just like that, no explanation required.

I am so lucky to have married my soul mate.

iPhone 3G

What a yucky name.

There you have it folks - same old factor.

And [C] your wish come true:

Women want Men 2

"Love is no value without power and position." - Anne Boleyn

Women want Men

I have a very in depth conversation with someone the other day.

Basically, it revolves around what does a women look for in a men, for marrying purposes. It boils down to either:

• Already have money, or
• Have the prospect to earn a lot of money.

In this regard, women is divided into two categories:

• Those who acknowledge the above fact, or
• Those who does not.

And those who does not usually hide behind fantasy ideology called, "LOVE". I am sure quite a bunch of you are going into disgust now, but let me assure you that the above facts came from the horses' mouth. And I have a simple explanation for those who feel how they feel - wait for it.... wait for it.... naive-ness.

It's because you are not old enough to know it. Either you are still in your first relationship, or had the luck (or bad luck) to be in one yet, or because the idea of living with someone for the rest of your life has not crossed your mind yet. Really.

Trust me, it's a yardstick that you had been using to size your man up, from the day one you laid your eyes on him. It's nothing to do with his charmingness, his sincerity, his nicely shaped abs or the size of his junk. It's the money making the potential that you are sizing up first. Let me translate that to you in plain English:

• "He is a poor artist but he has passion in his art" <= "He will make lots of money when he can finally sell his paintings"
• "He is a honest guy making a honest living as a clerk" <= "Hopefully his boss will think honesty is a great attribute and make him a manager soon - and make lots of money"
• "He is struggling with his small business, but he is very working hard" <= "His business will turn around if he works hard enough for now, and eventually will make lots of money"

Need I say more? Don't agree? Let me know why are you attracted to your man. I will in turn tell you the truth. Don't believe? Try me.

Of Gas Price Hike and Bitching

Early this morning I got into this very interesting conversation with my friend who is currently working and staying in Singapore. I got a bit ticked and the conversation went like this. My fren's name is changed to Dude :)

Dude
Johnathen
yo.. got story to share?

Johnathen
Dude
?

Dude
Johnathen
petrol price lar

Johnathen
Dude
other than the traffic jam at the petrol station?

Johnathen
Dude
nothing la - still cheapest in the region..

Dude
Johnathen
you sure this is wat you think?

Johnathen
Dude
converted to USD - yes.

Dude
Johnathen
you mean your pay?

Dude
Johnathen
or the petrol price?

Johnathen
Dude
petrol la

Dude
Johnathen
i really feel sorry for those in malaysia..

Dude
Johnathen
worry for my family business also

Johnathen
Dude
nothing to feel sorry about la - it's sooner or later. i am surprised that ppl are taken back by "sudden" price increase

Johnathen
Dude
either thosse ppl never read newspaper or dun care

Johnathen
Dude
because crude oil price already doubled over 5 years

Johnathen
Dude
so of coz u have to be prepared for the same thing for gasoline price

Johnathen
Dude
plus government still subsidy what - in a differnt way la

Johnathen
Dude
i am happy because i am driving my old 1.3 wira

Johnathen
Dude
save petrol and get extra rebate :)

Dude
Johnathen
how many tanks of petrol pump a month?

Johnathen
Dude
the most 4

Dude
Johnathen
the rebate only give you free 2 tanks a month

Dude
Johnathen
assuming 40 liter once

Dude
Johnathen
free as in the extra money you need to pay

Johnathen
Dude
wah...very good liao lo

Johnathen
Dude
safe 50% petrol - and petrol price barely went up 30%

Johnathen
Dude
good wat

Dude
Johnathen
free as in that extra rm0.78 you are paying per liter

Dude
Johnathen
not the total price

Johnathen
Dude
ok la - no need to kiam siap. like i said, still cheapest in region

Johnathen
Dude
i am sure singaporean will still drive to JB to pump - if the government still allowed it

Johnathen
Dude
haahahahaha

Dude
Johnathen
you kenot compare..

Dude
Johnathen
singaporean earn SGD

Dude
Johnathen
1SGD = RM 2.35 now

Dude
Johnathen
singapore got fantastic public transport to fall back

Johnathen
Dude
i tell u - i was in Indonesia - and that is worst

Johnathen
Dude
their fuel price is even higher and their pay is a lot lower

Johnathen
Dude
even in china is bad

Johnathen
Dude
the petrol price vs. earning ratio

Dude
Johnathen
like i say, its different..

Dude
Johnathen
malaysia net export all the crude oil

Dude
Johnathen
and those money are malaysian's money

Dude
Johnathen
it should be used to pay back

Johnathen
Dude
those are politics who i dun give a rat's ass la - coz it does not affect me

Johnathen
Dude
what affects me is the ground items

Johnathen
Dude
if the government is so corrupted, there is notihnng i can do

Johnathen
Dude
so i no need to worry about something that i cannot change

Johnathen
Dude
there is already enough worry in real life :

Johnathen
Dude
:)

Dude
Johnathen
we can change things around.. like wat happend in mar

Dude
Johnathen
higher diesel price will mean higher consumer item

Dude
Johnathen
unless you are earning too much now that you dun bother lar...

Dude
Johnathen
hehe

Dude
Johnathen
more things will hit, if this imcompetent government keep going on

Johnathen
Dude
so - u propose i go to the street to protect ar?

Dude
Johnathen
nope

Johnathen
Dude
then?

Dude
Johnathen
since BN is rotten to the root

Dude
Johnathen
why not PKR take over

Dude
Johnathen
since it can't be worse

Dude
Johnathen
there must a someone to start with this, and ppl must aware and follow

Dude
Johnathen
so our part, is to aware and kenot ignore lar

Johnathen
Dude
hahahaha

Johnathen
Dude
u come back be politician la

Johnathen
Dude
i dun fuck care about politics one

Johnathen
Dude
it change- then lucky me. if not - dun bother

Johnathen
Dude
dun like then fuck off

Johnathen
Dude
i mean fuck off from the country

Johnathen
Dude
hahahaa

Johnathen
Dude
it's not really my country anyway

Dude
Johnathen
u must be leading a good life down there

Johnathen
Dude
it's ok la - because i have seen worst from my recent travels..

汽油

昨天刚从布吉岛度假回来上班，本来兴致仆仆的，哪里知道去油站打油的时候， 我用的那个泵他妈的竟然在油缸满了时不会自动跳掉，搞到整个地上都是汽油。Ni nah beh - 好彩老的闪得快， 不然一定会被喷到全身都是。搞不好还会变成自焚。

我很毒兰的跑到柜台去找人吊，然后那个死肥佬猪supervisor竟然还敢讲我是不是用手按着那个泵所以才会搞到酱。Nia mah cao ci bai - 老的驾车多过十年都没有发生过酱，竟然那条他妈的死猪想赖我!! 我火上脑就开始很毒兰很毒兰一直在吊他，要他赔钱。吊吊吊吊吊吊吊到他没办法他就讲要POC到底是不是那泵的问题。

长话短说 - 那条鸡白肥猪siaosiaolan给会我十块钱。

看图吧。还有录影tim.

Me and Iz Day

So 2 Saturdays ago, Jo decided that she needed a proper haircut, so we stopped by Snips at The Curve. So I was left with Iz for around an hour.

So we went carting around for a while, and ended up in Borders - which has an excellent children's book corner.

"Ma, look - one hand niah."

 

Ice Cream

Babies are not suppose to have ice cream. I think.

So the other day during Cheng Beng, there was this old dude who was selling ice cream on bicycle. Iz was intrigued by the ring ring sound that the ice cream man was making and motioned Jo to bring him closer to see.

The nice old man gave Iz a free cone. He loves it! See how much he as already chewed through.

(Sorry for the small pic size, accidentally set the wrong resolution)

Safety

I always insist that Iz is properly strapped down during road trips, regardless of distance.

Yet, this is what I saw yesterday.

Don't see what I mean? Look closer. A mother sits in front, together with 2 children crawling all over her.

Really beh doh.

Ultramouse

Do you guys remember that when Ultraman is low on power and in distress, the beacon on his chest would blink in red?

Well, so does my mouse =>

"Low batt liao la!"

Class A Idiot

I feel like an class A idiot (quoting Liz Lemon).

I would never thought that I fall within the category, especially when dealing with computer hardware. This is because:

1. I have single handedly built many machines from the past, and
2. I have worked part time as a technician to repair boxes in cybercafe.

I thought I have seen my fair share of weirdness (esp. when dealing with dirt and smog choked equipment) but this case caught me with my pants down.

I have sent in the media PC for a motherboard replacement (another story) and the techie booted it up before passing it back to me. When I reached home, I happily plugged it in, and punched the power switch.

Nothing.

No lights, no sound. I opened up the case, and the LED on the board was lit. I said to myself... wtf.

Tried by passing the power switch by jumping the power jumpers using screwdriver, no love there.

Pissed, I brought the box back to the service center, and told them that it would not boot up at all. The guy who serviced me the day before looked at me with wild, open eyes, and said nothing. He took over the box, plugged in, and while staring at me with that matter-a-fact look, punched the power button.

It came alive. IT'S ALIVE!!! (so much for Frankenstein.)

...

WTF.

...

To cut the story short, I brought it back, plugged into 3 different power outlet - 2 from different rooms and another one via my study's UPS.

It refuses to turn on..... This is probably a good time to freak out.

Either karma is telling me to frak myself, or there is a variable that I have missed.

Hmm.... what that be? What's that missing element? Compassion? Love? Faith? Wait a minute.... it's.... "heat"!

Went to get my Jo's hair dryer...  While blow drying the power supply, I kept repeatedly pressing the power button... and out of the blue, the power supply started to turn on! OMG. I am a fraking genius. But wait! Still no display!

More blow drying of the rest of the components. Then it really came alive.

The box is now sitting on top of the cabinet now and chugging along happily. I wonder what's wrong at the first place.

What-if series (Intro)

Just want to run my imagination wild once a while. So I'll start a What-if series, where a small tiny what-if could have impact in the world.

I missed writing fiction, which I used to do a lot during my schooling days... Hopefully I will be able to drum up something good soon.

Tethered HSDPA

Test done at Plaza Sentral using tethered Q9h.

First Train Experience

I would never thought that my first train experience would be at Shanghai. I was required to travel to Nanjing, which is about 300km away, and the customer insisted that train travel was far more convenient than by flight.

"Yeah, right.", I thought.

Before I got more into that, let me explain why I never been on a train before. Simply because, KTM is the worst mode of transport in Malaysia. It is consistently, but randomly late. The Senandung line to Singapore could be as late as 4 hours! I just don't get it, how can the train system be late, as there are no jams... As everyone knows, the journey to Singapore takes an excruciating 12 hours, excluding customs. A premier bus takes about 5 hours tops.

Back to Shanghai, me and my buddy decided to take the cab (instead of the MetroLine) because it was suppose to be a low traffic hour (3pm), and we didn't want to drag our luggage for 15 mins to the nearest MetroLine station. Boy, the cabbie that we hired was on fire, man. We got caught in some crazy bad traffic, and he was fuming. While cursing and swearing, he took some really funky shortcuts, and was weaving in and out of traffic without any regards to other vehicles, even busses!

I was quite terrified, so to speak.

Reached the Shanghai Train Station, got down, and immediately there was a porter offering to handle our luggage for like 10 Kuai. The funky part is that he has this piece of rotten wood on wheels, and tied to a rope. No way I am going to let him handle my luggage. OK, walked up the stairs (yes, the taxi stop is underground) and was greeted by this humongous building.

So, to make a very long story short, in point form (again):

1. Had to queue to go into the station. A mean looking guy in Gong An uniform will check your ticket. If your train ride is not due within 2 hours, he will chase you away rudely,
2. Had my luggage X-rayed! For god sake, I didn't know that someone wants to blow up the train!
3. The hall looks like an airport. Big, tall with a huge signboard to announce the arrival and departure. All in Mandarin. Good luck guai-lohs.
4. Navigated to one of the 12 waiting halls. It's huge but it's packed to the brim! I estimated the capacity to be around 500 seats. Uh oh. This is going to be rough. Think overloaded India trains with people sleeping on top?
5. 5 mins before departure time, boarding announcement in Mandarin.

Wow! Was I in a shock or what.  A nice shock! Our train was a very very long one, and looks very futuristic! Better looking than TGV!

Boarded, put my luggage on top of my seat. I tell you, I was dumb founded. Make me feel like a hillbilly. The difference compared to our KTM is like being on a Fokker Friendship that is being slapped around by turbulence as I am trying to hold my lunch in (KTM) versus a 737 on super cruise mode where I can still can slowly sip my drink in peace (China Railways)!

At one point of time, it was cruising at 240km/h and it felt like Disney on Ice. Sitting arrangement was 3-3 (versus KTM 2-2), and there was ample of space. Heating was available, so were coat hangers, tray and "in-flight" magazine. It was totally like an airplane experience, man.

I am truly sold. It was a really quality ride, on par with Japanese or European bullet trains.

I have to eat my own words, again.

Cisco vs Microsoft

I've been touring several cities in China, and had a chance to interview various IT personnel from many offices, including the IT manager, the helpdesk guys, the server dude, and network man.

I have made an very interesting observation.

Cisco men makes more money, but Microsoft dudes are just happier (and knows English a bit better, I observed).

Really.

The 2 of the network men that I talked to are rather quiet, spectacled, geeky type. Spews network terms in all Mandarin.

As with the MS dudes, one of them look like Jay. Nuff said...

[FL] and [WH] - don't bash me.  But look deep down into yourselves, you see it as well, right? :)

Wonderful....

Today I had the most wonderful (and a first for me too) experience.

Jiujiang had a steep temperature drop today, and it was drizzling for the whole day.

I was wearing two layers of jackets (on top of my working clothes), and still I was shivering. Fortunately (and unfortunately, read on) the meeting room was heated to a nice 25 degree. I was invited to visit the server room, which was next door. Then the IT guy told me that there is another raised floor room near by to hold all the fibre switches, I said, "why not.".

Mind you, I was wearing only 1 jacket. I took off the big one due to the heated room. The guy failed to tell me that it was quite far. Outside. Walking. 10 mins. Wind. Rain.

I was very fairly frosted when I reached. And the worst thing was...

..

I had to walk back.

But, I guess it was worth it, coz when I had to pee, I could feel the hot pee warming my dick as it came out. AAAAaaaaHHhhh.

Nice.

Did I say that I was wearing the wrong polyester pants for the weather?

Project NGVCefiro

I guess most people who are like me, at this age and situation, would  eventually look for an upgrade.

"So what are you talking about?", you say? Early 30s, with a young child, still driving a Proton, that is.

So my requirement was:

1. 2nd hand Japanese car,
2. < 8 years old,
3. Around 40K,
4. NGV-able.

Anyway, the list came down to either Toyota Camry 2.0 or Nissan Cefiro V6 2.0. I found several Cefiro @ 2000 for about RM45,000. A bit over budget, but nvm, should worth the money, and a same year Sentra would more or less fetch that price anyway. The reason I dare to look at such a big CC car is because with NGV, I get 1) road tax break of 25%, 2)over 70% saving on petrol.

So, Cefiro + NGV is my dream combination. So the research went on. Saw some ads, got a couple of good candidate to test drive. Then came the NGV research, which I stumbled upon http://www.ngvcommunity.com/ which I got fantastic help from the true owners there. And it would have been doable, if not for the following:

1. A proper NGV conversion kit would cost me RM8K,
2. The car maintenance (tires, shocks, normal wear and tear stuffs) are at least 4 times higher than a Proton.

All in all, I would end up spending with RM60K-ish.... :(

So project shelved. Probably going to spend some cash to straighten out Jo's Wira first. And buy something else to cheer myself up in the meanwhile...

Explosm

Sick stuff...I like.

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

True Stock Investment

Good story I came across digg.com today.

http://www.sanfran.com/content_areas/home/view_printable.php?story_id=1507

I guess most of us IT folks would relate better.

Medan Findings (Part Uno)

During my 4 days at Medan, I saw some interesting things to share:

Here is the fast food stuff that I got from Sun Plaza, the only decent, but huge shopping mall there:

Some local pizza shop, J.Co. donut and Texas Fried Chicken.

There is a local custom to have this billboard made out of flowers to announcement weddings. It's usually left on the floor near where the wedding reception is taking place. It's done on the day itself!

Saw this interesting sign in the toilet, you can probably guess what it means...

This is the only road side food that I had a chance to eat, a local variation of Mee Goreng. The plain fried rice was way better IMHO.

One of the major culture shock that I had there is how the local drives. Apparently swerving left and right, cutting lane, constant honking is the norm. No wonder the IT manager who drove me out for lunch was pretty quiet while he was driving me out for lunch, despite my effort to chat him up. Obviously he was busy concentrating on the road! He was honking his way thru as well, but he was doing it with emotional detachment! Unlike Malaysian, getting honked by someone on the road will raise our temper by several degree,  but at Medan, it seems so normal, almost as it it was common courtesy to do so....

And also a (lop sided) video of the crazy crazy traffic situation there:

My First Jakarta Experience

Well, it's not much of an "experience" anyway, since I popped in and out within 2 days, and I barely got a look at city.

So, unlike my previous blog entries, which many of you complained is too long winded, here is it in good old point form:

• Ibis Tamarind is quite a bad hotel, the most is 3 stars to me,
• There is this crazy food court in some high class shopping mall, ala Siam Paragon or Pavilion. It was like Jayoga setting, with food court prices! It has faux waterfall at the entrance, and the variety/quality of food was amazing,
• I like the local food, or at least the ones I have at the food court. I don't think the food is as hot as some claimed,
• Gado-Gado rocks! I love peanut sauce, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gado_gado)
• Driving around in JKT is mad. I told myself that I would have died many times over if I tried driving there. Honks are more useful than signal lights, and weaving in and out is a standard practice, even but large lorries and buses,
• Many people at roadside "helping" you with parking and costs around Rp5000-10000,
• Got Absolut Vodka 1L at JKT airport for USD14!
• Liquid item is strictly disallowed in cabin, must check in or discard. Apply to all airports now,
• Sport shoes are suppose to be very very cheap (Nike 50% less for latest model?), but my schedule did not allow for any shopping,
• My customer was super duper nice people! Brought me out for dinner (more like hijacking me, suppose to send me back to hotel only), and would not let me pay,
• Had one piece of J.Co donut, thanks to Rudy,
• Had fried fish at that dinner (yum!),
• Weather was baking hot,
• My Bahasa Melayu is almost useless there,
• You see the Polisi everywhere, at shopping malls, middle on the highway (no kidding, like a small post).

So there you have it folks, looking forward to Medan trip...!

Cracked...

My 595's screen (not the LCD) cracked... For no reason. This is not a good start for the new year...

I had the 577w for yonks and never had any issue with breakage (except for the stuck button), and I trash that phone like mad. My 595 was sitting happily in my pocket this morning, and then when I took it out to read a SMS, there is this huge 2 inch vertical crack, just as I am suppose to fly off to Jakarta for work... some luck huh?

So what's next? My top list is now BlackJack II + WM6.1 (if that is going to happen ever), Motorola Q9h, Palm 500v - in that order. Any suggestions?

Hmm... This is getting way too "interesting".

Today, I cannot get on the client's proxy server using FQDN, but only Internet Explorer. Well, if you know, if you cannot get proxy setting working on IE, everything else will fail miserably, example, F5 VPN client, Live Messenger, and the works.

Freaky thing is that, Firefox still likes the proxy using FQDN.

What to do? Had to switch to IP address of the proxy server now. And before you tell me "can you resolve the FQDN name by using PING/NSLOOKUP?", and answer is yes, yes and yes. Other than IE, everything else recognizes the FQDN of the proxy.

Hmm...

Further Glitches

I got to document this down while it's fresh....

From day 1 (well, that's 2 days ago), my newly Vista imaged lappie cannot get on my home router. Cannot get DHCP address to be exact. In case you are wondering, it's a WRT54G 3.1 with Thibor firmware. Super solid torrent router.

So it was like getting APIPA, and never successfully got on. I tried at work, no problemo. DHCP worked perfectly. Come home, DHCP no go.

So here comes the merry-go-round. Typing "Vista+DHCP" in Google yielded many horrifying results! And most glaringly, this...

Windows Vista cannot obtain an IP address from certain routers or from certain non-Microsoft DHCP servers - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928233

I told myself... but I have a Vista PC permanently tethered to the same router, DHCP enabled, no issues. I had a Compaq V2000 running on Vista since RC1 and RTM, no problem as well.

And to make it worst, some people claims that the KB article got the registry value wrong:

DHCPConnDisableBcastFlagToggle vs DHCPConnEnableBcastFlagToggle - http://qkhx.com/ontherock/?p=4

Anyway, neither worked. Even tried to disjoin from the domain so I could manually stop Windows Firewall.

No luck.

Until...

By chance Problem Reports and Solution told me to update my wireless NIC drivers. BTW, my D630 has a Intel 4965AGN. Even provided a download link to V11.1.1.0_VT_DRIVERS.ZIP. But deep down in my heart, "Yeah right, as if updating drivers will ever help."

Guess what.

I will investigate further, to isolate whether it is because of the registry key, or the drivers. But as of now, it seems like the drivers is the one that did the trick. And yes, I always reboot after having a registry change. Twice or more, matter a fact, after each change.

Hmm.

Vista Observations Continued...

Hey all,

As you IT professionals go, MSTSC is the next best thing to sliced bread. Some of yer, like me, were cursing like mad when Vista introduced RDP client 6.0 and the new authentication mechanism.

Here is a very good FAQ I stumbled across... No more this!

http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/01/22/vista-remote-desktop-connection-authentication-faq.aspx#_How_to_eliminate

Go have fun...

Long Adieu...

It has been a rough journey, and the wait was excruciating.

Finally... Vista on my lappie! Eat that (for all your Vista whiners)!

  

Although I have to admit not without quirks.. Although I had been using Vista since RC1, and I have a Vista running on my gaming (!)machine, these are the odd things that I am trying to figure out with the Avanade build:

1. DHCP problems with my WRT54G on Thibor - Applied http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928233 but not fully working yet,
2. "Route add 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 n.n.n.n" does not work anymore, instead, use "route change 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 n.n.n.n", some of you guys sitting at customers would know what this is about... (talk to me if you are not sure....),
3. Firefox keep prompting a million times when trying to authenticate with the ISA Server (as proxy). It does work eventually, but blardy annoying...

Many other colleague have complaint about the UAC thing, the non-local admin thing, and "slow" thing... All user problem :P

Will report back with more observance.

p/s the DVD boot works like a charm... the WIM image got loaded in less than 30 mins!

Umai-Ya - Revisited

Went to Umai Ya, this time the Uptown outlet. Actually did not plan to eat there, but... well...

Anyway, it was for Joey's friend who just got registered. The ambiance was very nice, and the pseudo Tatami experience was fun for Isaac, since he is at the crawling stage.

Again, didn't plan that was buffet either. I started too shy, and the waiter come back with my first round order ...saying... "Eh....you might want to just get a whole set of this, this and this...". Forgot to mention that there were 8 of us :P

Umai Ya have proven that they have the freshest ingredient around! We had this fried fish, and it turned out to be so juicy, we had 3 more!

You should see the amount of food we had... I am sure the tauke got quite "am-kook" because of us... Each one of us sure got our RM45 worth back.

My personal favorite from the session was the Dragon Maki and Salmon Sashimi. The Dragon Maki is a set of rice roll, with prawns in front and and the back, just like a Chinese dragonboat. It's crunchy yet juicy!

Only minor complain....

1. There was this lead waiter, which I nick name Wang Li Hom. Because he got this American accent. And he's was quite snobbish-ish...
2. Some waitress keep dropping/spilling stuff, like one of my Dragon Maki was gone just like that...
3. Have to keep track of the last order time (I think 2.30pm)
4. Some dishes does take come time to prepare, so order plenty, early ...but ...
5. Not too much as there is a 500g/RM5 wastage charge. Although I guess RM5 cannot buy 500g of top notch salmon though... But imagine a neglected Soba Soup.... (which we almost did... Good job WY of finishing it!)

Will definitely revisit again with another crowd... anyone want Japanese? 

Immigration vs National Registration

I had the following mission objectives today:

Primary Objective: To renew passport - to be completed at all cost by today!
Secondary Objective: To change MyKad/NRIC home address so I can vote in my own constitution (more on that later).

As most mission would go, the primary objective usually takes about 80% of the effort, and "by the way" 20% effort would be devoted to the secondary.

Since I would out that JPN (National Registration Department) is next to the Immigration Department in Wangsa Maju, I decided that the secondary objective should be very much within grasp.

Such irony.

To start off, let me explain why I chose Wangsa Maju branch. It's mainly due to Patrick Teoh fantastic experience (http://patrickteoh.blogspot.com/2007/01/all-done-in-under-2-hours.html), so might as well follow la. If it's good enough for the big man, shouldn't be an issue to me.

Anyway, reached there by 10:30am, took my form at Counter 1, found out that I forgot to photocopy my MyKad/NRIC, walked next door (where there are plenty instant passport photo and photocopy kiosks). Nice lady in the kiosk even had a stool and table and walked me thru the form.

10:40am, walked back to Counter 1, got a number, sat down for 5 minutes, and my number was called! The officer was a energetic man, make some cute comment about my picture and the fact that I am born in Brunei (I always get that rubbings anywhere I go....), then quickly processed my form under 5 minutes. Told me to wait for my number to be called again for payment.

11:00am, payment time at Counter 7 or 8. Then nice lady asked me to wait for around an hour to be called to collection Counters 17 and 18.

Looked at the board, my number was around 20 away from being called to collection. Hmm. 1 hour? Can ar.

Went out to mamak, had a very quick roti telur and Milo ais, and came back around 11:20am. Checked the board, only 3 numbers away! 5 mins later, my number was called, and new passport was in possession!

Wow! I am *very* impressed! That's an hour from tip to toe! And its not like that the place was stone quiet as well, there were quite a bit of people around, and seats were 70% full.

Anyway, next door, JPN, the story was way different. I took a number, which was like 40 numbers away, and I sat there for 10 mins, NOT EVEN A SINGLE DIGIT moved! Hmm.. that's not good. Sure a buzz killer compared to the service level that I got few minutes back.

Then I realized something else, for all MyKad/NRIC related operations, I always have to go back for a second trip to collect. OK, out I go, and back to nearest JPN to my place, which is Komplex Desa Kepong.

Go there around 12pm, took a number, which was again 40 odd numbers away, and was told that I needed some official documents to prove my resident address (i.e electricity bill). She told me don't bother to come back until after 2pm...Hmm.. WTF?

Went home, got the documents, went back at 2pm. Checked the numbers...WTF (again?), still 40 odd number away? My heart sank. This is not going well. Waited until 3pm, only 5 numbers crawled by. Irked, I went out to had a walk and some light food. Came back 30 minutes later, still around 20 odd number away.

My turn finally came about 4:30pm, and greeted by a mumbling auntie that keep saying that "40 mins from killing time...". (WTF...). On we go. Finger print scan, failed again. Right finger, failed. With a stern look, she told me.... "I would need to detain you for trying to fake Johnathen You have wait a little bit longer than usual, about a month plus". Ushered to take a new digital photo (another queue...sigh), and was released.

Came out around 5pm. That's almost 3 hours man.

Anyway, here is my low down of these departments:

Immigration	JPN
Energetic, diverse crowd. Team work can be seen.	Old, mainly nearing retirement age Malay ladies.
Fast back end processing, immediate result. Got smart chip inside the passport also ma.	A month just for a card?
Fully manned counters.	Only 4 out of 10 counters manned.
In uniform. Professional attitude.	Very casual clothing. Laid back attitude.
Systematic. Counter 1 = Form/Query, Counter 7+8=Payment, Counter 17+18=Collection.	Very confusing. Counter 4 for query? (long queue somemore...) No number call back, have to listen to name calling.
Serve all policy.	"We are out of numbers for the day, come back tomorrow." Happened about 3:30pm, and many people was turned away.
Good/minimum queue number system. 1xx and 5xx.	Weird system. 1xx, 0xx, 6xx, 7xx, 9xx
Consistent progress. Very easy to calculate ETA.	Unpredictable. Numbers were crawling from 2-3pm, then sped up around 3:30pm, and flying from 4pm onwards.

By the way, when I went to Metro Prima Kepong's Post Office to update my voting constitution number, and here is what I got...

214 in front of me.... But at least they are opened until 9pm...

Nissan Bluebird Sylphy, not the Teana...

Paul Tan just came back and told me it's the new replacement of Sentra that I shot... Something to look forward to?

Another SpyShot...

This morning while I was driving to work, via the Segambut Dalam shortcut, I saw this Indian guy driving this old old Japanese guy, who is draped in some factory supervisor/engineer uniform... The car was white, and certain parts are covered in white tape. May it's the new facelift Nissan Teana?

Pics coming up! Be the judge yourself...

 

Proton BLM Spotted...

The other day when I was having lunch with the MB gang, we spotted the new unlaunched Proton BLM on the road... Because it was stuck in the huge jam somewhere in Masjid Jamek, we frantically took many shots. In fact, too many until the guy inside the car tulan and took his camara out and shoot back :) Thanks to LH for having her CyberShot with her...

If you wanna know more about the Proton BLM, read here for excellent information:
http://paultan.org/topics/cars/proton-blm/

Christmas Comes Early (Part 3)

Next, after ditching the old stroller in the car, armed with the new Maclaren, we went downstairs to take some "commercial" Christmas pictures. Man, was it "People Mountain People Sea" or what... Didn't really get a good shot as Iz was really excited with his new ride...

 

Was nicely surprised that our friend's cupcake business - Cup Cake Chic (http://www.cupcakechic.com.my/blog/blog.html) had a booth there as well! Quickly asked whether Joanne was around, but I guess she was busy with her new Cupcakery! Congratulations Jo!

Christmas Comes Early (Part 2)

Next comes to the stroller shopping. Having already done extensive research, we decided on the following criteria:

• As light weight as possible,
• As foldable as possible,
• But still be able to recline somewhat,
• Don't want fancy cup-holders, super suspension, tray or any other fancy pansy.
• Not > RM1000.

We ended with the following shortlist:

• Peg Perego - Pliko P3
  • Liked: this for complete recline, reasonable weight, one swift fold
  • Hated: too many accessories, most heaviest among compared, RM1.7K (!)
• Maclaren - Quest Sport/Mod
  • Liked: lightest, can incline 45 degrees, cheapest among compared - ~RM800
  • Hated: hard to find, harness no padding
• Quinny (Maxi-Cosi) - Zapp
  • Liked: Smallest folded! It's barely longer than my tripod when folded, looks very high tech
  • Hated: Zero recline, no padding anywhere at all, price ~ RM1000-ish, hassle to close (at least 4 steps)

Was in happy mood after nice dinner, and the salesperson was very sincere, so out came from Mothercare @ 1 Utama, this => (http://www.mothercare.com.my/web/propic/Quest%20Mod%20Black).

Hot off the press:

It's a actually Quest Mod, which costs RM100 more than Quest Sport due to the "designer" fabric pattern, but oddly Mothercare sells both at the same higher price of RM 819. No discount even though there is a sales going on. LittleWhiz.com was selling about RM20 cheaper for the Mod version, but what the hack, we were in a happy shopping mood.

Christmas Comes Early (Part 1)

Since we are already in the holiday moods, we decided to go out to have an early Christmas celebration.... It has been ages since me and Jo had a proper Japanese dine in...

Cue from chleong.net (http://chleong.net/blog/?p=472), I decided to try out Umai-Ya's branch at The Place, Damansara Perdana (http://www.umai-ya.com/). Thinking it's just going to be one of those lame typical "traditional" Japanese, where the food is gonna be expensive, yet so so quality...

Boy was I wrong.

It was good. Seriously good. How good? The ingredients are the most freshest I have tested in a restaurant (and that's including non-Japs as well). I had the Umai-Ya Bento Set (RM50), and it had the mother-lode of everything I would expect. From super duper nicely cut fresh Salmon sashimi, to Chawan-mushi, to cold noodle, to Eel/Unagi, to Tempura, to Miso soup, and even green tea icecream. And they don't just impress with quantity, the freshness of each element really surprised me. Definately coming back for more.

Some pics of the gang:

好介绍(其一）

你一定很常埋怨你的硬碟很快就占满了，但又很难找到凶手。

今天让我来介绍一个很好用的免费软件 => WinDirStat (http://www.download.com/WinDirStat/3000-2248_4-10614592.html).

先来个screenshot.

看起来有点复杂？别怕别怕，就好像鬼佬讲的“easy as an pie“。

它能将档件类型分成不一样的颜色分类。就如以上的案例，蓝色是方块是VPC档件 （可见我有多勤劳工作。。。）。 在各自的格子点一点击，它就能显示档件的方位。

百闻不如一见，现在就去下载那627KB的装件！！！