East Coast Ride 16th August 2009

Went for a ride on Sunday at East Coast in the morning 8am. Was supposed to meet Foong there but when he reached, his car tyre had come off the wheel!! He end up drving supre slow to the car repair and I went riding alone. It was a good work out though, I have not been riding for a week so I felt better after the ride. Weather was perfect and the Army marathon was on at the same time, lucky for me that they had finished by the time I started riding.

MindCafe

Randy, Shi Qiang and I had a game of RISK on Saturday night at the MindCafe. Their charges were pretty good, for $12.50 you get 2hours of game time, finger food and free flow of drinks. The subsequent hours are charged $3.50 per hour. We went to the Purvis street branch and it was not as crowded as their other outlets. It was a good way of spending the weekend with friends and we had a good time amidst some competitive spirit!

Another round this coming Saturday!!

KL trip 12th August 2009

Went to KL for a meeting with customer on Wednesday. I was worried that the haze was going to be bad but was relieved when we reached. It was'nt so bad after all and with the afternoon shower, it actually cleared the haze. My last trip to KL was about 2-3 years back.

It seems different now, it seems more happening than Singapore, the retail stores have a much stronger character and the quality of goods are much better.

Singapore is fast losing its appeal as a shopping paradise, at least in my opinion. Ridiculous high rents have driven creative shops owners up the wall and we are left with uncharismatic big companies that are able to pay the rent. Thats why all the malls are looking the same as they are just carbon copies of each other.

I get a bit of that too in KL but I still see lots of other stores that are unique and special. Some are very daring, with decorations you would expect to see for example in Japan instead. 

As usual, I over ate when I was there. The food was simply irresistable! The great sale was on too! I had a session of foot massage at Mid Valley and the price was half of Singapore after the conversion! Shiok!

Planning another trip there soon!

Movie: District 9

Last weekend I watched the movie District 9 twice within three days. Yes, it was that good to me. Produced by Peter Jackson of The Frighteners & Lord of the Rings fame, Directed by Rookie Neill Blomkamp, a 30 year old South African, it was touted as one of the most original Alien movies in a long while.
There was not much publicity done for the movie, I suppose it being directed by a rookie with an unknown cast must have been the reason for its low profile. Nevertheless, I have been noticing it for a month or two now before it aired. I first caught the trailer on Youtube and was impressed by the machines inside. I read the prologue and it sounded pretty interesting to me.
Perhaps what impressed me most about the movie is the acting on hindsight. Without the usual Hollywood stars, you tend to focus on the story and the actors.
The production design signifies another milestone for me. The weapons and Mechas used by the aliens were without a doubt inspired by Japanese anime. You notice elements of Macross, Patlabor and Evangelion everywhere.  It seems like the trend is moving towards Japanese anime influence in Hollywood productions. This is good news for me as I grew up watching anime and could relate to it. Gone are the days of Americana designs, those crude bare metal, muscle and stars and stripes. This is the age of Asia and we will be seeing lots of anime inspired movies.

I hope there is a part two in the near future. I look forward to even better designs and effects.

Cycling Lower/Upper Pierce 2nd August 2009

Went on another cycling trip to Lower and Upper Pierce by PCN again with the usual suspects. Started off at 7:30am from Kallang Bahru by the Potong Pasir PCN all the way to Bishan Park. The track was full of people exercising, running, cycling, walking, stretching....

It was my first time there on my road bike. Surprisingly it was not as tough as I thought it would be on the hill sections. There was a lot of traffic on the road going into Upper Pierce which kind of spoilt the fun during the downhill part as we had to watch out for them.

Malacca 11th-12th July 2009

Went on another trip to Malacca on the weekend. This time with Eddie and Shi Qiang. It was Eddie's first trip to Malacca, Shi Qiang had been there before many moons ago. For me it was the fourth trip to this historical city. My last trip was just about a month ago in June during the school holidays. I noticed a change in the atmosphere, it was a lot more quite. There were still many tourist, but just not so noisy. It felt quiet and comfortable but the weather was still hot as hell.

We stayed at the Seri Costa hotel resort booked by Shi Qiang, the cost was about S$32 per person. The room was pretty big and cosy. I will stay there again if I go back as its near Jonker walk. Places we went were Jalan Hang Jebat, which had a pasa malam at night, Makhota Parade shopping, Bandai shop at new shoppping mall, Oleh Sayang for authentic nonya fare, and lots and lots of other street food.

Enjoy the pictures!

Documenting recent events

20th June, Aeronautical cup 2009(Airfixcup)
20th June Saturday was the prize presentation for the annual Airfix cup.
This third Airfix competition has seen more entries than before.The master class had more entries than the senior category. The standards have also been raised and its getting to be a more challenging competition year on year. Which is good news. This year it was held in Ngee Ann Polytechnic which I must say was much more professional compared to the two previous held at Singapore Airforce museum. I have two entries which did not win any prizes. Will try to build something bigger for next years event. Overall, the turn out of aircraft was fantastic, the event was won by an A-6 Prowler by Kee Wee(winner of the first Inaugral Airfix cup). I believe next year will be better.

Announcement of Actung Japan Hobby closing
The official announcement of closing the shop by sms from Nakamoto himself just 1 week before the Airfix cup. Was followed by panic and uncontrolled hoarding of kits from the shop for the last time. Various factions of the Clan members have come up with plans of taking over or co-ownership with Nakamoto till lease expires. Future fate of the shop remains unknown at this time of documentation.

Old school Roadie
Managed to aquire an entire old school Road bike with full Shimano 105 parts to start my retro build. Seems to be of Olmo origin judging from logo on fork. Can't wait to get started on rebuilding it with my new bought Pink Suntour Superbee frame!