today's problem

ok today's problem is:
should i get a new bluray disc player??

right now i am using a sony ps3 for bluray movies............. as i dun game, the ps3 is solely a BD player and nothing else...................

i bought it a few days after it was released in singapore......... cost me S$559 a year ago







goodie points:
wifi enabled - able to download firmware updates easily
regular firmware updates
large storage - ready for BD Live with firmware update
onboard decoding of HD audio formats to linear PCM
fast loading time
able to surf internet
able to function as a computer

baddie points:
DVD region locked - code 3 only
higher power consumption than other BD player
unable to output HD audio formats as bitstream

i love the ps3 for what it is........ however the main ass is my onkyo AV amp cant flex its muscle cos the ps3 cannot output HD audio formats as bitstream........ i would wanna at least have the chance to try things out......

so i could perhaps sell the ps3 for S$350? ............ and top some cash to buy newer BD players such as these:

sony s350, now at S$699........




this is very new to the market.......... and is able to send bitstream of HD audio formats to your fav AV amp......... however, there is onboard decoding........ if u need that feature, then stay with the ps3 haha..... or the s550 at S$999..........

samsung 1500, now at S$599




i saw this last week........ and was very tempted to buy at this lower price........ however it's so plasticky that i feared for its life, hehe....... for the S$100 savings, i can buy 2 BD movies..... so i am keeping my options open........

reviews are generally positive and it is able to pass HD audio as bitstream.......... and not to forget, it has an ethernet port.........

panasonic bd30 at S$799??

this is also a profile 1.1 compliant BD player..........

IIRC, this player does not have a ethernet port........ so firmware updates can only be done through a CDR file..... abit troublesome if you are spoiled by ps3 and its user-friendliness....

all are pretty promising based on specs.......... so which one is suitable.....???

let me think about it..... :)

belt and buckle

when i first saw this at dunhill boutiques last week, i thought...... hmmmm, that's quite a fun-looking accessory to have..... must be a very recent release.....

i like the dunhill text and cast in a bronze/gold finish, is a perfect matching buckle for the brown leather belt........

more suitable for play than for work, i suspect it will find its way onto jeans and chinos mostly .... doesnt go with business pants i think.....

are we very much into retro these days??

well i dun intend to buy any belts in the near future......... so i will pass.............. but dun let that stop you....... it's a very handsome looking belt.........

btw i am still looking for a pendant................a suitable pendant such as this one, but it's very expensive for a steel pendant......... although it's just perfectly-sized......

then how about a tote-bag.......... hehe.......... the LV damier graphite tadao is perfect at S$2160.........

when its pics first appeared, i wasnt keen.......... it didnt look THAT nice at all back then......... it was until i saw a SUPER BIG poster for the damier graphite tadao......... AHHHH i realised, it really is WONDERFUL......

u can use it for work...... and also on your leisure days............. it is large enough for your A4 folders and laptop plus any other things u might need such as a change of clothes and water bottle.......... use it as a tote or if u prefer, sling the strap over your shoulders........... very versatile indeed.......

there's also a zip for the main compartment so that no one can peep into your bag...... :)

it's a little on the expensive side....... but hey quality dun come cheap......

truly amazinggggggggggg

wow football is really an amazing game......... truly one of the greatest games in the world.........

how else can one explain what happened in the game between arsenal and tottenham hotspurs at the emirates stadium............... such nail-biting stuff all the way till the 94th minute... those with weak hearts should stay away..........

8 goals in TOTAL.......... some are pure brilliance while some a result of silly mistakes by the goalkeepers ........

the first one by david bentley came out of nothing.............. a header from a teammate was met with his in-step and the next move was CLASSY...... a dipping volley that caught out almunia and hit the back of the net...........

too bad, spurs was always vulnerable at the back.......... and in no time they were down 3-1.......... then 3-2 and followed by 4-2 within 90 seconds.............

the best was yet to come of cos......... for jermaine jenas scored a wonderful goal in the 89th minute and then ....!!! spurs had something up their sleeve and when the ball rebounded off the post, aaron lenon was the first to pounce............ and there we have 4-4 to end a miserable night for arsenal and arsene wenger........

by then i was so tired........... i went to bed straightaway............

-------------------------------------------

surprisingly the post on monday shopping was incredibly popular......... i had more than 700 hits yesterday....

thanks everyone for visiting........

more cartier

shopping for a pendant is way way tougher than looking for a ring.............. there are many nice rings around............ and i've been looking around, trust me

but a beautiful pendant? gosh that's a tall order...... out of the so many cartier pendants they have, i can only find 2 that i like............ both are from the LOVE range......

i like the 2 inter-locking rings................



the one below looks kinda fragile........ and might just break easily............. but it's not bad looking too....



and i will very likely stick to yellow gold.......... no worries of tarnish and flaking..........

monday shopping

who doesnt like clean and comfortable underwear? well i guess most people do.......

we all have a choice..... one can either pay $10 for 3 pairs of briefs..... or you can go for the ultimate whereby i am not quite of the prices..... i know that emporio armani and john galliano are quite expensive.....

today is a public holiday and since there's on-going offer, i thought i should pay the shop a visit......

and here's today's catch........ the most comfy of them all......

so what's inside the small ck carrier????



ah yes there are 2 familiar metallic boxes...........



2 hip briefs



my favourite of them all........ ck steel microfibre......



indeed it is ultra-luxe and very comfortable.........



2 in different colours and i didnt pick any in black this time........

last but not least, these are brand new unworn briefs........ so no prob showing the pictures i guess......

:)

CK....

this weekend and till today, there's a 20% off for calvin klein underwear.....

so dun miss it...... especially those sought after steel microfibre trunks/briefs.......

and it's not limited to CK underwear boutiques......... isetan/tangs with CK counters also having the offer...

oh oh ..... goodie

oh my gosh........ liverpool won!!

no doubt they played very well to deserve the win......... congrats

btw i also checked out other options for jewellery........ from bvlgari..... they have amazing designs...! for a pendant i am so tempted to choose the following....





i like their rings too......... although my first choice is the cartier trinity, then cartier LOVE......


anyway i am not very keen on white gold jewellery......... most are rhodium plated and will tarnish with time........ for those non-plated, they are more gray than silverish.......... rolex white gold is different, they shine bcos of the alloy mix....... there are palladium and platinum in the mix so the sheen is permanent.......

so yellow gold is the best bet..... :)

the ball is round

i watched the last few minutes of the 1st half beetween everton and manchester utd....... the score was already 1-0 to the visitors and from the run of play, i thought that everton could probably not survive the 2nd half....

but then i was pretty surprised to see the final score at 1-1......... surely this proves that the match must run its course and if u refused to give up, there's always a chance....

tonight chelsea hosts liverpool in a top of the table clash.........

how will it end...???

hmmmm......... my heart says liverpool of cos..... but my head? i dunno......... but i know liverpool is tougher this time.......

let's hope the reds win

nice package wyler...

i dun really care about the watch ..... but the box and packaging are excellent...!!

very comprehensive and also so thoughtful of them to include a matching extra strap and a screwdriver..... i am pretty sure the customer is "paying" for all these but it's a nice touch anyway

the joy and satisfaction might last a little while.... and in no time the box will be gathering dust in a closet...... that's how most boxes end up

metal shopping

times are bad..... so i thought maybe i should buy myself something to cheer myself up haha.....

so i decided to ....... perhaps buy a pendant... or a ring......... either stainless steel, sterling silver ...... or maybe even yellow gold..........

and so i went to tiffany & co........ i expected more, given their reputation.... but i was kinda underwhelmed when i browsed their collection ........ their pendants appeared much bigger in pics on their website but the actual size was errrr..... abit disappointing...... maybe only this one is nice....



next i walked over to cartier, which is right next door.........

and here i saw what i like....... especially the LOVE rings and the trinity ring (rose gold, yellow gold and white gold in one band).....

a plain trinity ring (without diamonds) starts from S$1600++ ....... perhaps is reasonable for cartier....... but no matter what, they do charge a premium over local jewellers...... well this is 18k gold after all........

of cos i paid a visit to mont blanc...... which really had me scratching my head......... i dun quite understand why they are asking for S$510 for a stainless steel pendant and a silver chain.......... and $720 for a polished stainless steel pendant and a silver chain.......... i rather pay more for gold ......

well i am keeping my options open..........

ISSE 2008 - continued

to be frank, there's nothing much to write about this year.......... haha i think i enjoyed myself more at the previous show in 07....

however when it comes to rooms that stung my ears, surely i have something to say.... here are the award winners for the loudness contest....

let's see.... in no order of merit....

revel ultima salon 2 loudspeakers and system (i hope i get the model correct cos it was quite dark)

wilson audio maxx 3 loudspeakers ............ driven by goldmund electronics....

i am sure these are all great products but under the show conditions, they were utterly disappointing...... everything was shouting for attention......

they should go to the raindrop audio room to learn how to do things correctly......

btw those guys from henry audio are back this year.............. and still showing their tweaks that i cant understand hehe.....

happened to see the wadia itransport......... looks very cute but i think i will pass .... at least until it gets a AES/EBU output...........

as usual, ong radio was there with mcintosh electronics and loudspeakers.......... as usual, they sound pretty much as usual ........

harbeth was there with the SHL-5........... i think it sounded abit flat in the room..........

at the end of the day, i didnt buy anything........... no CD, no electronics......... nothing..... i was kinda prepared for a little retail therapy but alas........ i tried but there was nothing to buy....

at first i thought of bringing my camera to snap pics of the show and the more interesting products......... i am glad i didnt..........

ISSE 2008

well let me tell you right at the start:

if you have $15 and 2-3 hours to spare, then go to the international sight and sound exhibition 08..... at least you can visit kitchener road, which is surely not a popular spot for locals (unless you like to go to mustaffa)

if not, just save the money for lunch and dinner.... cos u are not going to miss much

to sum things up: my best sound for the show is: emerald physics cs 2 loudspeakers...... (by raindrop audio).... simply music to my ears......

best visual goes to mitsubishi hc7000 hd projector....... even at 123 inches acrooss, the picture was crisp, sharp and bright..... and very easy on the eyes.....

as for the rest, most seem to think they are selling PA systems and participating in SPL contests..... way too loud..... TOO LOUD...!!

the dark knight

100 limited pieces and only for USA........... gosh..... this is really not bad looking at all....

there are many black watches and this counts as among the nicest.........



48 mm is huge but the admiral's cup watches wear comfortably even for small wrists as the rubber straps taper inwards at an angle.......... short straps can be ordered easily.....

however for a reason only corum knows, changing the strap would somehow scratch the lugs...... even for the official service centre technicians who perform the job day in and day out......



kudos to corum, this one is nicely done........ full name is corum admiral's cup challenge 48 black flag.............

if you and jeans

if you'd read today's papers......

then u should know levi's is offering 50 dollars for your old pair of jeans when u purchase any regular-priced levi's jeans (retail price 100 dollars and above)....... only at levi's stores....

so if you are shopping for new jeans and there's an old pair around, u know what to do....

limited unlimited

hot on the heels of the singapore grand prix LE of 25o pcs, AP will be launching the survivor royal oak offshore chronograph watch....

very macho very musculine very tough and if u think the T3 model was massive, wait till u see this one.....

i can see they are truly the leaders of limited editions....... which is why i coin the term limited unlimited.......

cos the sky's the limit, when it comes to limited editions....... :)

mc-filter??

i dun quite understand why mcintosh decided to enter the mains conditioning segment...... it's pretty saturated right now.....

especially by introducing one that is so expensive.... us$4500!!!

no joke i can buy lotsa things for that money..... moreover i dun like the idea of using an isolated transformer in a mains filter....

and i think i will stick to my shunyata hydra and oyaide outlet and power plugs.......

a reminder

in case you forgot,

the international sight and sound exhibition will be on this week from friday till sunday.... ISSE 2008

so make sure u go down to the correct venue .... hotal parkroyal at kitchener road....

cos it's no longer at meridien hotel.........

too too too bucherer

too busy is the dial and one is resigned to just ignore it....... in case confusion sets in

i guess the designer had too many things on his plate and was struggling to fit all of it onto the dial...... perhaps that was why 2 years were needed for this to be born.....



so there is a big date display, a flyback chronograph function, a power reserve indicator, an annual calender and retrograde hours indicator..........

WOW.... which is more than a mouthful right? i need a drink after reading everything out haha.....

i have no idea how popular carl f bucherer is in switzerland but over here in singapore, i have never heard of anyone who owns one....... it's a neglected brand..... i should check with the AD how it's selling ... :)

now that they have a new manufacture movement, i suggest they work harder on the designs.....

dun give me crap

if i were heikki kovalainen, i'll be pissed..... very pissed.....

seems like he was destined to get all the engine failures and blow-outs for his team while his team-mate remains unscathed......

are they getting identical machinery? nah it's not possible..... and the result is clear cut....

eeekkkss

i like wasabi..... and i like fillet o fish.....

but when u mix the 2 together it sucks....

price update

some market prices:

rolex 116660 deepsea sea-dweller S$16,000 (premium price)

rolex 116400 milgauss S$8494 (list price) - small discount possible...

btw rolex day-date 2 and tudor iconaut are in stores now

watch-spotting: saw a lady with a richard mille watch which was on a black alligator strap, very nice looking indeed.......

the fishy tail

surprisingly at the chinese grand prix, felipe massa was on the shark's fin bodywork while kimi remained on the normal package.....

i wonder why...........

looking at the race pace, both seemed to be working ..... but just not as good as lewis's car ...

well never say die and anything is possible...

so GO felipe GO...!

counting down...

in less than an hour, the sinopec chinese grand prix will start......

and i believe today's race will be full of action......... or will it be anti climatic????

hmmmmm...... i really dunno......

btw it's raining heavily here..... how about shanghai???

will kimi let massa pass him at the start??? or will kimi try to beat lewis into turn 1 and 2......???

i think it will benefit ferrari more if kimi can pass lewis and control the race from there..... both kimi and massa may have more fuel on board than lewis.....

i quite cant believe it.....

cos liverpool has done it again............. succeeded in giving liverpool fans a heart attack..... !!

why do they have to do it the hard way..... ??

instead of imposing themselves on the game early, they had to concede a goal and then another to go 1-2 down at half time.....

in the end they emerged 3-2 winners in this see-saw game of football in anfield, liverpool.......

well done......

but it's not good for our hearts......

bus and mrt

i had a medical appointment at novena medical centre..........

since i wont be able to drive for at least awhile after my medical, i decided to take public transport........... firstly a bus to the nearest train station and then the mrt (subway in other countries)....

it took me slightly more than 60 mins in all......... (plus waiting time)............

wow.....

it would have taken me at most 15 mins by car......

jingle jingle...

have u heard the OCBC credit jingle on the local radio?????

oh my gosh, it's so irritating..........

i wonder who came out with it......

if u wanted attention, you've got it.......... cos it's damn digusting.......

haha..... perhaps that's what they wanted.....

so angry!!

i was so ANGRY!!!!!

cos this van driver made a sharp turn and cut into my lane............ well i guess this is pretty common..... i can take such behaviour, no problem.......

so i responded by giving him a long blast........! for i had to brake hard to avoid an accident........

the best thing was, when i caught up with him, he was gesticulating as if he had the god damn right to do it...... i gave him back in kind with my hand gestures of cos..!

at that moment, i was boiling mad........ so i accelerated and did a "lewis hamilton on timo glock" move..........

and i was on my way in no time........

such a loser......... i cant stand drivers with bad lane discipline......... stay in your lane and the world will have less accidents..........

what for?? what for??

http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20081015-93855.html

just read this "Singapore's public transport operators were fined for not meeting service standards in a biannual Public Transport Council (PTC) review"

i was thinking, what for? why fine them??? is it a strong deterrent?

and how much were the fines? $9,300 and $1,000 from SBS and SMRT respectively.... haha......... oh come on, be honest and realistic, do you think they feel a thing.. haha.... $1,000!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahah.... fine a big corporation that SUM???? gosh........

make them pay by offering cheaper rides or free rides to commuters...for a day or a week or a month even.. instead of a fine? the commuters benefit zilch!!!!!!

btw i dun take public transport and have no vested interest......

someone pls take note.......... the fine has no bite....

hot hatch.....

volkswagen cars are expensive ...... especially in singapore........... here the are priced as higher-end executive cars..........



of all the models available, my fav is the GTI............ which recently underwent a facelift and minor revisions............... power has been bumped up to 210 hp from 200 hp...... i kinda prefer the new look........... a little more clean-cut perhaps.........

if given the choice, i will change the alloy wheels cos those are the ugliest part of the car.......



interior is sporty and classy.......... the flat bottomed steering wheel is a nice touch.......... although overall it has a dark and gloomy feel.......... can we have some sporty bits..???



rear is absolutely boring.......... except for the GTI badge and the twin pipes...........

if u have about S$120,000........ want at least 200 hp....... want only a continental car........ are lazy to shift gears all the time........... then pick this, cos it's fast, powerful and versatile........

i followed one through a challenging turn and it was really good......... (of cos that driver was good to make the car look good)...........

if not just get a subaru wrx sti........ :)

survive

pic copyright of grandprixproducts.com

to survive a grand prix weekend, you will a pair of ear plugs........

to spend time in style, of cos you need stylish ear plugs........... and this is what ferrrai can do for you........... the plugs are normal foam ear plugs but the metal canister is very nicely done.........

they surely know to make you spend money haha

the pretty oracle

audio components are usually plain or ugly.......... turntables are even worse, well most of the ones available are anyway..........

however, the oracle delphi turntable or record player bucks the trend......

SEXY is the word to describe this veteran ..... or u could say the oft-used "work of art"....




not only does it look marvellous, it is also a superbly capable record player that will give any top of the line CD player nightmares...!!



of cos it is expensive.............. at US$5000 dollar sans arm and cartridge...... i am a big fan of Linn turntables but the delphi looks so irresistible.................. how can one say NO........




worth the money? u betcha!!!!

bye bye singtel

ok the voice capable cable modem is in.........

and once activated in 8 days' time, my home will switch to starhub digital voice....

everything's free for this promotion............ hardware, number retention and so on

bye bye singtel.....!

too bad when YOU decide to raise the price for fixed line telephone charges........... bad timing..........

for people are EXTREMELY sensitive to prices.....

bye bye singtel........... !!!!

boo boo

so ashley cole was boo-ed in the recent game at wembley........ so what's the big deal..... he made a mistake and the fans are upset......... they have a right to be upset........ it was an unforced error and he was under no pressure ....

i remembered those days when my secondary school classmates and i would go to kallang stadium to watch singapore play ..... those were the days of malaysia cup and league games..... visiting teams are the malaysian state teams like kedah, FT (later kuala lumpur), selangor, pahang, johor .....

wow that was so many years ago......

so when singapore played badly, we boo-ed........ as simple as that haha

when the referee made a mistake......... almost of us in the whole stadium cursed in unison.......

wahaha....... it was FUN...

let's see..... lewis

ok lewis hamilton is not a popular guy among the 20 drivers that line up the formula 1 starting grid....... that's no secret.....

and now alonso said he would support and help massa in the fight for the championship..... what does that mean??? pretty ambiguous right now.... but he will be involved, if he could......

i dare to say.... there will be more wheel-banging between lewis hamilton and his counterparts....... and i dun think any of them will let him get away with it this time..... he was over agressive and unsporting on a few occasions, and they remember......

ok u read it here first....... i think it's payback time....

credit or debit......

some ppl swear by cash........ and had sworn off credit cards..... they think that credit cards make them spend more and spend unnecessarily....

i like credit cards..... cos they allow me to earn reward points, they are convenient (i dun like to bring cash around).... and i cant imagine the cards urging me to spend more..... i dun quite get the idea...... i spend only when i want to.... card or no card dun affect me....

and the cards allow me to pay later........... haha...... not for long though......... maybe 30-60 days later and depending on the cards and banks ....

i like the redemption part best........... usually i prefer to redeem for fuel vouchers.....

but today i decided to go for tangs voucher.......

and using my starhub points, uob card points, ocbc card points was enough for me to go shopping at tangs...!

ayeh to credit cards...!

latest........ go felipe go

latest......... so as i suspected........ sebastian bourdais was given a retrospective drive-through penalty = 25 seconds added to his race time....

therefore, massa is now classified seventh........ which means he scored 2 championship points instead of one.....

poor bourdais...... he drove strongly to beat his teammate and now he's tenth and no points for today......

the difference between hamilton and massa is now FIVE....

it's heating up nicely for shanghai....!!

safety first...

the japanese grand prix at fuji speedway showed exactly why street circuits are dumb....

when david coulthard slammed into the tire wall on lap 1, he travelled quite a distance on the run off area before the rubber absorbed the impact.....

now if this was a street circuit where there are only concrete walls, the stewards would have to deploy the safety car.... no choice cos the stricken car has nowhere to go.....

however, in fuji speedway DC's car was off the track anyway, so racing could go on........ no safety car no interruption......

so thumb down to street circuits....

absolute mayhem at fuji

as it turned out to be such a absolute mayhem at fuji speedway today......

why?

simply bcos lewis hamilton outbraked himself and forced more than a few cars to go off their racing line........ spoiling the race for himself and almost everyone else.... at the very first turn of lap 1....

this allowed mr "lucky" fernando alonso to jump on the opportunity to lead the race and even won from there.... not to take anything away from alonso...... he was superb in his 2nd stint and managed to pull away from kubica and raikkonen by more than half a second a lap....... sublime race-craft from the double world champion.....

as i predicted, felipe massa had the toughest job today............ after being forced wide, he banged wheels with hamilton and incurred a drive through penalty (hamilton himself was penalised for the 1st corner incident)............ almost ruining his race right there and then............ kudos to felipe for not giving up......... he took it on and drove a superb race to score 1 point...........

now his clash with sebastian bourdais is being investigated right now.......... and it could go either way.......... massa could lose his point........ or gain more if bourdais is penalised....... i have no idea how the stewards will look at this........ whose fault was it? maybe it's just a racing incident......... and both will keep their position.....

exciting yes...... but not very good for the heart if you are a mclaren and ferrari fan.......

go felipe go...!

uphill it is..... felipe

following his qualifying at p5 on the grid, it looks like felipe has his work cut out for him tomorrow.... however the race is long and obviously no one knows what will happen.......

of cos the pole sitter has the advantage .... it may rain at fuji speedway after all....

felipe is a strong person and hopefully he can make up the ground right at the start on race day....

remember this is japan and it's noon time (local time) for the race on sunday...

it's also up to kimi to show his true worth......

hmmm.... felipe massa might be carrying a little more fuel.... perhaps......

let's see.......

aha...... another one

oh no..... they have done it again

after last year's release of a breitling watch in black steel, they have decided to do it again



maybe the response was too good and they cant resist the temptation to tap on the demand .... so it's 3000 LE pieces for this time..... the breitling super avenger chronograph....



the first run sold at list prices and even fetched a small premium...... haha another 3000 more will only dampen the resale price......

booooooooooooo......... it's just no longer "limited" after all........ cos they will make more and more of it.... and sooner or later.....

bank erupt = bankrupt

we all know what happens when a business go bust........... they shut down or get acquired.....

but what happens when a country goes bankrupt????

is it available for sale then???

some countries are in dire situations...... and they need help quickly.....

i dun quite understand why is this happening.........

it's all about greed.....

sigh, god save us all....

miserable

sometimes working is really miserable........

either the work itself sucks.......... or the people working around and with you sucks......

it just sucks big time when both the work and the people suck.........

sucking miserable!

blown away.........

watched an episode of discovery turbo a couple of days ago.....

and there was a segment on a shootout between a BMW M5 and a BMW sauber F1 car....... both were driven by motor journalists around a small local track

now the M5 has a 500 hp v10 engine.... it's no slouch at all...... in fact, it's one of the fastest road cars out there..............

but it was absolutely blown away by the F1 car.......

haha..... ABSOLUTELY........ not even a chance........

btw have u heard of the plans by bernie and mosley to implement standard engines for f1 in 2010????

that's a nightmare i have no wish to experience.......... if the situation becomes dire, the teams might break away and form their own race.....

lenovo ideapad s10

this little guy is so cute that i was very tempted to grab one the moment i saw it........

small, light and highly portable, i can go places with this.....

add a mobile broadband modem, i can work anywhere too....

come on it's only S$799 ..... there's even a 160 gb HDD inside..!

white and black are both so COOL.........

time to move...........!!!

now that singtel has raised telephone charge, it's about time to move on........

we have a choice...

and we must exercise our choices carefully........

those that raise prices could raise the wrath of their customers....

and lose them............ and lose them quickly

:)

bring your own.....

more dental clinics will charge for consumables such as gowns, gloves, cups, bibs.... etc

but do all these cost up to S$7...??? errr, i dun think so....

do all the dentists dispose of these after every use? i am not so sure about this....

haha so why not bring your own bib and cup.......???

and tell them to knock down the price......

today tomorrow saturday and raceday

tomorrow is thursday.........

and on friday is free practice at fuji speedway............

oh come on, this is a grand prix weekend..........!!!!!!!!

so at the japanese grand prix i believe ferrari will bounce back......

they have the car, the drivers and the package to win............ however again luck will come into play..... one key factor is the weather....

eagerly awaiting the qualifying on saturday and of cos race day....!

go felipe go..!

up and up and up

electricity tariffs are going up........

phone charges are going up.......

watches are more expensive.....

fuel prices came down a little

public transport charges upped a little......

inflation rate not negligible....

rebates too little or not applicable

net effect = poorer this year.....

eeks....

soooooooo tired...

i had a long day..... but it was a rehearsal.....

tomorrow is the BIG day....... i hope it ends well ....... and EARLY

too tired to write more......

hehe...... i'll be back soon.....

clean power...!

one of my fav audio companies has made a move.........

channel islands audio will make a special cable to enable owners of a vdc-9 to power the wadia itransport........

good news indeed ........

clean power is like clean water............. to make good tea u need clean water..... similarly for good sound........

aha....... thumb-up!

i have witnessed many famous liverpool comebacks.......... usually on a night of slick european soccer.... this one is different............

and this one, although just a premier league match, was of utmost importance.....

firstly to keep pace with chelsea,
secondly to preserve a unbeaten league record and
most importantly to silence the new-found confidence of the city fans......... bouyant cos they are now loaded with middle-eastern CASH....

looking at the how the game was played in the 1st half, i was pretty stunned to see liverpool trailing by 2 goals............ i thought while city was slick, liverpool wasnt really playing badly.....

i am most impressed with the way they fought back............ on many occasions, when liverpool was down, they were usually out in no time............ this season, we have seen them come back in fantastic fashion......

well done.... for a most exciting game......

a blast???

according to the straits times, bernie ecclestone blasted luca de montezemolo........... for calling the singapore gp a "circus"

and he said "if the ferrari president is right about the singapore gp being the circus, then we have to be grateful to him for providing the clowns".....

ha i think bernie felt hurt cos he was the one who mooted the idea of a night race.... but he was a mile off in his comments cos the ferrari president was against street circuits in general....... and the safety car rules.....

to be frank, bernie ecclestone was the one who created the "circus"..... only that he failed to realise this.........

so sad....

thumb down to street circuits....

i pray

one of my neighbours have moved out......

and the new owner has been to their new place for cleaning-up.... when are they going to move in??? are they going to refurbish the whole place???

i pray that there will be no large scale or extensive renovation in the coming days.....

that will be terrible and a HUGE inconvenience....

pls pls pls....

aha.... it's the GREEN monster...!!

wowowowoow..... i like the colour of this ford focus RS.......

isnt it wonderful to be seen from miles away???

you'll never lose sight of your car in a open carpark!!

plus it's pretty powerful as well....... 300 hp to be exact..... almost too much for 2 driving wheels.....

smacking.... LAMBO...

oh my god they shd just stick to coupes and spyders......

this attempt to build a 4 door is .......... EEEEKKKKSSS!!!



it's butt ugly from every possible angle.....



no no no...... it sucksssssssssss



give me the gallardo any day...... this is SOOOO UNACCEPTABLE......

can i?

can i ever stop my watch buying habit???

seriously i dun have an answer..... every time i buy a watch, i'd tell myself ok that's enough.....

but there's always something else that catches the eye

haha and it's so difficult to resist the temptation......

perhaps i shd be more focused.....

i shd just stick to my favourites......

only the problem is i have many favourites...... and i cant seem to know which is MY FAVOURITE....

a tweak....

i never was able to get my msb nelson dac to hook up successfully via a AES/EBU link with my CAL delta transport .... no matter how i try, the signal would drop after a while..... therefore i stuck with a coaxial connection over the years....

out of curiousity, i decided to try both connections at the same time.... i.e. the coaxial S/PDIF and AES/EBU links......

WOW it works......! i hope the dac is giving priority to the 110 ohms connection........ it is potentially a better interface than the 75 ohms version.... finally my dh labs 110 cable is getting its exercise....

and now is burn-in time...... and i will listen tonight if i have the chance.....

it may just postpone my decision to get a new dac...

go moscow go....!

it's great to know the russians are building an uber modern circuit to host f1 races

that's the way to go.....

no doubt about it

thumb-down to street races.......

ipod classic

i went to see the ipod classic..... the new 160 gb model...

right now it's going for S$498........

hmm.... do i need that big a capacity? even if i were to convert all my CDs to wav, i am sure it's still far off from 160 gb.....

maybe i shd be satisfied with 120 gb........... right?

ah.... i also went to look at the mcintosh c500..... it's available for audition right now....

to spend S$25,000 on a preamplifier i must consider and reconsider haha......

i dun quite hesitate when it's about nice watches ...... but for audio components i have a glass ceiling that i am not quite prepared to break.....

i am sure it's good..... but again S$25,000 .... OUCH..!

mc or mac or mc.... it's mcintosh...!

i am always on the lookout for great preamplifiers........ever since the c200 was discontinued, there was nothing between the c1000 and c46 preamps in the mcintosh range.....

now this one, the new c500, looks like a gem and perhaps is a potential world beater..... it looks sooooo GOOODDD...... simply yummy

the flagship c1000 preamp from mcintosh is way too expensive and the c500 attempts to bring the price point to a slightly more affordable level......... in absolute dollars, it is still VERY expensive for a piece of audio equipment.....

but this is sooooo beautiful right????



u have a choice of either a transistor or tube signal path to mate with the c500 controller...... if your budget is very healthy u can buy both and enjoy the fun of listening to tubes vs transistors all day long........



all the switching and noisier circuits are in the c500 controller.... keeping the low level signals isolated and undisturbed.... for owners with poor eyesight, mcintosh displays are a god-send.......... for they are bright and BIG...... very easy to read....



obviously the c500t is the sexier of the two........... behind the see-through glass windows lie the 4 tubes to be admired from afar............ accompanied by the cool blue meters, it is more than a piece of sculpture and a feast for the eyes..... i am sure it sounds mighty good......



while the c500p has to be contented with the title of the ugly duckling (next to the c500t of cos).......

if i have the money i would swing for the c500t............ tubes are IN (they were never out in the first place).......

azzurri???

here's another association between football and watches....... this time with the italian

national football team..............

the colour is nice.... but i feel nothing for the watch.......

a century

no matter what, 100 goals is an amazing achievement............ for a midfield player that's INCREDIBLE....!!!!!

a wonderful GOAL from such a distance to make it a century.......... such pace such accuracy...... it was DEADLY

so congrats to steven gerrard ...... :)

brilliant 2....!

to use the wadia iTransport you first need a compatible apple ipod......... either the classic, nano or shuffle.... iphone too haha........

the bigger the capacity, the better........ which makes the classic an ideal choice.... the key here is to use the lossless formats i.e. WAV, ALC, FLAC............. say no to mp3 and no to compression!! trying away bits and resolution is sinful.... :)

if i get these 2, i'll attempt to "burn" all my CDs into the ipod........


being curious, i went online to find out the price and specs for a ipod classic.......... the 120 gb model is currently priced at S$398..... and taking into account the exchange rate, i think the iTransport could be around S$600???

to pay $1000 for a bit-perfect capable transport seems reasonable to me..... of cos i am assuming one already owns a "good" outboard DAC.......



black or white??? i'll take white.... thanks....

brilliant....!

this is a wonderful product and i wanna get my hands on it............ the WADIA digital iTransport....



errr can u tell what is it? haha well it is a dedicated dock for ipod............... but arent there tens of ipod docks available???? what's the big deal about this....???



this one is DIFFERENT.... cos it allows users to access the bit-perfect information in the audio files before it was routed to the cheapo DAC in the ipod............ i.e. it outputs a high resolution S/PDIF signal to your favourite DAC............. yahoo...!!!!!



looking at the pics, i am so tempted to go for the white iTransport...........



this is SO COOL................ and i think it can rival many top quality CD tranports......... and an unbelievable price.....

i only wish there is a AES/EBU digital output................... check it OUT....