Recuperate..

Just done with the fitness test & it feels so good to have ice-cold 100 plus...

I've never liked running & dun think I will...

Ah so tired now...

No beer

Why is there no beer in cinemas ??


There are popcorn, hotdog, coca-cola, nachos etc....


Why no beer?

17 dollars...

based on his recent performance, glen johnson is not even worth 17 dollars......

not branded but very ok....

everyone knows that not everything that is branded is good.... or worth the difference....

so when i need to buy my supply, the pharmacist was kind enough to offer me a choice:

branded cetirizine ($9.80) or generic cetirizine ($5.80)...

since the formula is the same, i can save 4 bucks...... errr and i picked the generic haha.....

No interest so not a vote

So far I have not spend a cent voting for any idol, band, compere or superstar etc...

I find that there are too many of such contests and I am not sure who deserves to win cos it doesn't matter at all...

Some people can vote 50 or 100 times each week but I have better use for my time & money...

very stuck...

unfortunately i was stuck at the jalan eunos traffic jam..... out of the 4 traffic lanes, only one was still open...... and the jam was so bad that i thought george bush and obama were in town together..!!

by the time i drove past the scene, can tell that a KTM bike and an audi A6? were involved........ from the car's stationary position, it was surely making a u-turn when the accident happened...... as for the bike, it was on the ground and the helmet was next to it........

prayers for the rider......

Upside down..

For the past few weeks, my schedule has been turned upside down

Can only sleep when the sun is about to rise..!

Acrolink s-1000

Plain in looks but potent in performance...

Search for gold usb cable

I am looking for belkin gold usb cable.... Anyone knows where to find this..?

Merry go round

CSS & I kept going round the booths at megatex... But the prices didn't budge much...

The best deals were:

HP netbook @ $449 win xp
Samsung N130 netbook $599 w 3 year warranty against accidental damages including water spills & cracked screen etc! Comes w free 4g thumbdrive & external dvd drive
Acer netbook $499 for display set

In the end, I didn't buy anything ... But it was fun going around haha

clean for now but how about later..?

the car grooming car came and left....

and of cos the car is smooth and shiny now..... but not for long, as the rain is coming down haha......

DAMN.... haha

Cannot make it...

That ang mo said 'you don't get a gold star for being the first one to open.'

Oh please when you fall behind & embarrassed yourself internationally, do not make excuses & appear as if delivering on schedule is not important...

Can they make it by the first quarter of 2010?.... Let's see if he gets a black star for being the last to open..!!

Not better than before..

Instead of reducing the school fees for citizens, the easier way out was to raise the charges for non-singaporeans... Ha and you think u have got a better deal... No way!!

Still in the mud...

Ah chey..

After so much huffing & puffing, it took a dismissal to start things rolling... So can't beat 11 men?

They are still stuck in the mud...

Metal fork...

Ah so this is the strap-change tool...

LV key holders....

i wanted to see the XL snap hook key holder but alas!!

the only piece is at ion orchard ... and i was kinda lazy to go all the way there just to see a key ring..... since i was at the boutique might as well see if any of the designs are interesting......

the SE was trying to recommend the following......

mini travel key holder: errr this one is plain and simple in design...... and i dun quite fancy the look

lv confidential key holder: i like the leather fob and metal plaque.......

coutre key holder: beautiful.... but too feminine......

Day-dream or night-dream...

During the festive period, there's no harm to day-dream... So I wish for:

Wilson Audio MAXX-3 loudspeakers
Pass Labs pre-amplifier & power amplifiers
Ayre cd player, pre-amplifier & power amplifiers
Acrolink 7N cables
Acoustic Revive AC outlets & accessories
TAOC AS rack

Either
Mitsubishi lancer evolution x
Honda civic type R
Volkswagen golf gti R

Haha.. If only I strike the lottery...

short-lived brawn watch....

remember this watch...??

now that mercedes have bought the team and brawn is no longer with us, there goes one of the shortest f1 team and timepiece marketing collaboration.....

BYE BYE...!!

Send him home!!

GS is already an eye-sore on channel 5... & now he becomes an absolute turn-off on channel 8...

Can't act can't speak... Send him home please..!!!!!

Dinosaurs phone

Public phones, coin or card operated, used to be a common sight... Every coffeeshop & mamak store has one...

Nowadays it's tough to even see one...

And can you remember dinosaurs like call-zone phones??? Wahaha....!!

Help help??

I've heard of people who cheat in their annual fitness test.

So when I read the report of students who get others to help in their napfa fitness tests, I am not surprised at all. Especially when the results determine the how long they have to serve for their BMT.... No one will want to serve longer than necessity... & there will always be some who are willing to take risks to cut short their obligation...

merry christmas..!!

hi everyone... merry christmas and godspeed...!!

thinking about acrolink speaker cables ....

well i have to eat my words.... remember that i wasnt so impressed with their speaker cables? yes, for the very first few hours they didnt sound THAT good..... but with more hours, the magic is beginning to appear.....

so since the double-run of acrolink s-1000 speaker cables are kinda impressive, i cant wait to see what the s-1400 are made of even though the latter is significantly more expensive.....

with my limited budget, i have to stick to a single run of s-1400 if i decide to upgrade to acrolink speaker cables....

but for the moment i will just enjoy the s-1000 until i return them to x-audio....

Inside the pocket!!

I can't stand it when the lead car from the opposite direction is outside the designated pocket for turning vehicles...

Are you blind??!!! Because of your inconsiderate behaviour, all the cars on the opposite side has to swerve & avoid YOU!!

Damn!!

so low..?? i think it's too low....

oh man.... look at this cayenne

this is surely too much of too much..... as much as i like lowered cars, i feel that this one is crossing the line of reasonableness .....

DAMN..... your neighbours and friends will be wondering.... what happened? did you just lose the wheels and tyres?? ... haha

pic from autoblog...

torn..?? the cars or the man..??

ahhh...

i am a big fan of MS.... but also a huge supporter of scuderia ferrari.....

so in march, my loyalty will be torn between the personality of MS and the scarlet cars with the prancing horse.....

even before the engines are fired up, there's so much to look forward to........... in fact i think we are going to witness a season where the most number of world champions are racing each other....

michael schumacher (7)
fernando alonso (2)
lewis hamilton (1)
jenson button (1)

too bad kimi is not joining the party...... if not we can have 5 world champions in a grid of 26..!!

wow!! such a mouth-watering prospect..... so it's time to get your ESPN subscription sorted out.... i cant help it but.... MIO TV here i COMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...!!!

Not so popular..??

For buy & sell in internet forums, the popular items move very fast e.g. My linn LP12 turntable & kimber PBJ & 4TC cables.... Tomei coilover suspension etc

In comparison, the kinergetics subwoofer & Q10 speaker cables did not create much interest ...

I hope someone will come along & pick them up..... Soon !!

What's your limit?

So what's your limit?

Will u spend $500+ for a LV polo-shirt..?

Or limit yourself to $200? $100? Or $50...??

Or a $15 brand-less polo-shirt??

Working timeline..

Here's the easy way to get over the day...

The moment one wakes up, look forward to tea break, then lunch, then afternoon tea break... Finally time to go home..!!!

What happens in between are irrelevant haha...

Hello..?? No bra..!!

I was browsing in a store & a gal came up to me asking... Do you sell sport-bras...??

Well I walked on as if she was not there... & when I looked back later, she was kinda embarrassed... Eh... No bra la!!

New plans to lie low..

The year 2009 is coming to an end & it's time to make plans for 2010...

First & foremost, there should not be any new watches as I want to consolidate my resources... Surprise purchases all these years have drained & made my position weak & also affected my long term plans... So I will try my best to resist all temptations...

Secondly I will still reserve some effort & money to upgrade audio components & the car... 1 thing on my mind is when the engine flash is ready...

Main agenda = save money.. !!

For sale.. Again?

So do I have to sell them? My pair of silver sonic Q10 shotgun speaker cables....

On many occasions when I introduced acrolink power and signal cables into the system, the effects and improvements were immediate and obvious even though the cables were brand new and yet to break-in: they were THAT good ... of course over time, they became better after more hours of use.....

Now I have a slightly different experience with their speaker cables...... Thanks to x audio, I was able to loan a double pair of acrolink s-1000 speaker cables done up for biwiring.. I just have to try for myself before I commit to any purchase... in fact I was more interested in the s-1400 but there wasnt any in shop that is suitable for biwiring...

After listening for half an evening, I powered down the system to switch speaker cables.... but due to my over-enthusiastic tightening in the past, I have some trouble loosening the binding posts to disconnect the Q10.... after some effort of turning the knobs, I managed to do it and also hooked up the acrolink s-1000....

I didnt know what to expect..... Should I judge the sound right away or wait for things to settle down? Anyway I sat down to listen for another hour or so...... Although there were some differences, i could not decide if there were improvements or mere differences..... Maybe the Q10 was quite good to start off with? Well I shall give the acrolink more time to settle in before I listen more critically.....

thinking about speaker cables....

so far i have only experienced acrolink's more affordable cables (namely 4030 and a2110) but their alluring qualities have already left me salivating.....

i cannot imagine what their 7N copper cables can do and honestly i dun wish to find out.... it may turn out to be a journey of no return if i succumb to the magic of high purity copper ... since audio is not my primary hobby, i have to distribute my resources accordingly ... so unless a used pair comes by at a reasonable price, i will stay away intentionally .....

replacing both pairs of silver sonic bl-1 interconnects with acrolink a2110 has been quite an eye, or rather ear-opening experience...... so now i am very tempted to switch over and try their speaker cables.... but at what price..???

the factory-terminated s-3000 starts at S$2000++ and is kinda out of my budget...... and that opens the door for the s-1400 and s-1010 6N speaker cables....  being bulk cables they can be cheaper in the end as one does not pay for factory labour and other expenses e.g. packing and shipping etc.......

anyway there's no rush when it comes to upgrading so i will weigh things out...... but let's see if i can sell my current pair of speaker cables to finance this upgrade .....

How much more money..?

Nowadays sports is about dollars & cents.... No money no talk!

So are 50 bucks enough? Or do we need to pay 100 or 150? My personal comfort level is between 50 & 70....

Anymore & I will pass... Just bcos someone is greedy doesn't mean I must pay...

I just wonder how the indonesians do it... All matches will be shown free!! Marvellous.!!

Crashed out..

I was minding my own business & happily eating my won ton mee ... & this idiot housefly came to visit..

As usual I did the customary wave-the-hand to shoo it away... But this idiot crashed straight into my palm, even though I was not aiming at it...

What a bump...

fancy some fish skin... ?

watch straps come in all kinds of exotic materials ....... be it calf, alligator, shark skin, lizard skin, ostrich and so on......

in comparison, materials used for belts are comparatively less adventurous...... so i was kinda surprised to see this one from dunhill...... a range of belts in stingray !!

they look great ..! except for the buckle ..... what a pity.....

no privacy...??

i was at the isetan sale.....

well they called it the isetan private sale....

but from the size of the crowd, there's nothing private about it.... haha...

so where's the privacy....

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

one question: why is fred perry so expensive...??.... their polo shirts are even more expensive than ralph lauren...... !! 200++ for a polo shirt? hmmmm....

even though some of the range was on offer, i could not convince myself to buy any....

Very tough journey...

Wow it was a tough journey from tuas to the east.. Even though it took only about 30 minutes...

There were countless of road hoggers who refused to keep left even if one tapped the horn or flashed the lights... They must be either blind or deaf..

Even my friend, who was beside me, couldn't take it... Especially 1 black honda civic... Road hogging on lane 1, travelling on 2 lanes, braking for no good reason etc... What a good for nothing... This driver is a menace!!! Absolutely hopeless... Haha..

exclusive preview: v12 vantage....

tonight aston martin singapore is giving their guests a preview of the new aston martin v12 vantage......

let's see if there are any interesting news....

so daring to "shoot" the camera.. ??

haha.... i cant remember what was the last case where vandals had struck at speed cameras.... it must have been a long time ago....

and now, another vandal(s) have done it......

let's see if the police can catch this person.... or persons.....

anyway, the one at holland road is too vulnerable.... as compared to the rest situated at highways......

perhaps they should mount the cameras higher..... just like the red-light cameras......

so the question is.... why are red-light cameras mounted so high and yet speed cameras are at such a level..??

Another acrolink..

Last week I decided to try another a2110 interconnect cable ..... for between the pre & power amplifiers...

As the cable is only 1 m, I have to shift the power amplifiers closer..

I can only say acrolink cables are very addictive... They make u so curious what their more expensive cables can do haha...

Here's the latest update of how everything looks...

A little bit of good fortune..?

When it comes to lucky draws, contests or the lottery, I usually dun have much luck & success...

But today I went to collect a pair of sabelt seat-belt pads that I have won in a contest...

Small value items they may be... But it tastes sweet to win something..

Wish me luck... !!

too much time.....

Malaysia implements 20-litre fuel cap on foreign vehicles



"Mr Ismail said his ministry would be stationing officers at 493 petrol kiosks at border areas to ensure that operators adhere to the 20-litre cap ruling."

Either they have too much time on their hands or they have too many people sitting around waiting to be deployed.....

It's a absolutely senseless thing to do......

International so what...?

After being accused of being anti-competitive, Sistic CEO said it was international practice for venue operators to have exclusive deals with ticketing agents....

Hey, an internationally-accepted practice may not be fair and competitive .... what a feeble excuse.. chey..

Keep the good stuff..

I saw the brochures for the most recent starhub road show ...

While the subscription charges for the corporate discount scheme are a good deal, the phones being offered for sale are not... Mostly cheaper & less popular models... & no iphone!!

Aiyah they keep the good stuff for themselves...

Apple, MS or google... ??

Since the iphone is SO popular, what do the rest of us do? Join in or stay put.. ?

Will the other OS & manufactures disappear in years to come? By then maybe there's only iphone & nothing else haha...!!

What will happen to nokia, htc, bb, sony etc...?? Then I have to stop using windows mobile... Sooner or later..

even worse haha...

ha i thought the cab driver was bad.... but at least the uncle kept to himself.......

on the way back, i met this lowlife of a van driver......

i did not pay any attention to this idiot until he tries to hog the right lane.......

hey, just keep to the left if u wanna to cruise.....gesticulate so much for what? . and pls dun bother about how others drive cos it's none of your business.... and dun try to impede others' progress.... pls dun ever imagine yourself as a role-model driver ....

what a lowlife pest...... just like the work he does...... what a pest.....

Follow da leader... ??!!

There was this idiot who was maintaining his stroll in the fast lane on the kallang payer lebar expressway...

Almost everyone else was passing him on the left but still ... He was like a train travelling on a track; he can't seemed to move his butt...

Well, as much as one can guess: it's a cab!! A comfort cab! Haha..

I think there must be something wrong with him....

Idiot... Really too much ..!!

so the obvious...

if one continue to raise prices of its products and he also happens to be the one and only producer of such a product......

of course the price will rise.......

even 3-year-old boy also knows......

Only half time le... !!

So experienced is everybody... But how come they played football for only the 1st 45 minutes...??

What about the next 45? Go for a stroll?

They should all be ashamed... Where is the pride? Where is the spirit?

Yeah so the risk of a meltdown hovers...

What a waste of time...!!

confused dial....

wah....... the moment i saw the dial i felt giddy.......

and for your own safety e.g. while driving or working, it's better to stay away from this one.....

too messy too complicated and too confusing...........

if u can look past that dial, u may also notice the very unique lugs on this watch.... which i think is a nice touch of antiquity.... quite apt for this museum timepiece.....

hmmm but ultimately i cant find anything adoring ...

pic from timezone.com

Try diesel la

With the special road tax in place, 95% of the diesel vehicles to be registered as passenger cars in singapore dun make any dollars & cents...

Moreover, this special tax has been reduced from its previously crazy figure of 7 times the tax of a equivalent petrol engine... No sane person would wanna pay that amount!!??

But.. What if, what if the government charges the same tax for both petrol & diesel engines?? Will motorists bite?

I think we should all be given a chance to try those delicious turbo-charged diesel engines... Especially the wallops of torque they give..!!

More importantly, diesel is still cheaper than petrol... So what's wrong with using a cheaper fuel on a largely more frugal technology... Does everybody know that a litre of diesel can go further..?

So give us euro v compliant diesel engines..!!

yah yah everything iphone ah....

so now all the telcos have done matching each other's offer....

and they are giving 12 gb of data with most of the iphone plans.......

so only iphones get 12 gb.... then what about the rest ..?? the rest have no phones ah..?? the rest dun need data isit.... ??

haha idiot leh....

wah GTR so power ah.......

so much grip that even the mighty R8 v10 can do nothing about it..???

i wish they had done it on a completely dry track though......

good fun to watch.....

repent...

perhaps a few corporate sponsors have decided to drop tiger woods from their long term plans.... but i think tag heuer has expressed confidence and will be retaining him as one of their big-shot brand ambassadors......

since the timing is right, maybe they should launch a couple-watch combination together with tiger woods...... well as for the "couple", there should be no restriction as whether it refers to the mistresses or the spouse.......

just let it be .... open to interpretation, which makes things more interesting right......

Just bees...

Err.. What's the difference between wild honey & honey from farther bees???

According to the tv advertising, the former is completely soluble in water while farmed honey becomes an opaque mixture...

So..??.... Still can drink right??.... Who cares... haha

No sugar...

When the 3 in 1 fever was on, we had all kinds of products possible in the market... From cereals, coffee to shampoo..

For coffee, 3 in 1 refers to coffee powder, creamer and sugar in a sachet while 2 in 1 would be coffee and sugar...

However there is a recent trend of having a different 2 in 1 .. Just coffee and creamer.. And some of my colleagues prefer this low or no sugar option.... After trying I think it's ok...

My favourite 3 in 1 is still the ipoh white coffee... No matter what, a little sugar is still required for a good cuppa...

Testing testing.. Or is it?

If they didn't teach u this or that, can they also test u on those things?

Imagine during your driving test, the testor wanted u to show what u have not learned... Will u kick up a fuss??

Ha then why they always do this to school examinations..??

still waiting...

someone is selling a used AR RR-77....

but the price is not so attractive ..... at S$475

so maybe i'll pass....

just say so....

yes indeed...

just say so and tell us the truth...

to have to get the CEO to admit the mistake is a big BOO BOO for tag heuer....

read more here.....

http://www.luxist.com/2009/12/09/tag-heuer-new-caliber-1887-watch-movement-snafu/

but in short, they "adopted" a seiko movement and marketed it as their "own"... and was found out by some keen-eyed people....

eekss....

Time to kill..

Ha..!! Long queue at the nearby m1 shop!!

Must be the iphone, what else...

Sooner or later, almost everyone will be using one...

So scary...

Good or bad times.. ?

I have no idea why the aircon always always choose the most inappropriate times to leak... ??

Murphy's law? Or coincidence? Or just bad luck?

No matter how I try to clear the drain tube, somehow it will get choked in no time... !!

never never learn.... from thailand nightspot fire

quite awhile ago, a nightclub in thailand caught fire after fireworks were set off during a party..... as a result many people died,,,,,

now another case of exactly the same thing happened in russia...... again many people perished....

please dun do it again.....

what happened..??

errr, what happened to sun yanzi....???

she looks, errrr......... weird....

more burson clock...

ever since the msb dac was modified, listening was never quite the same again......

there is now more life and air when the system is singing....... even those crappy CDs that i never used to play are now enjoyable..... looks like there is so much more information hidden within the digital bits....

so if the burson clock can do that bit of magic to the convertor, what can it do to the transport???

well, i intend to find out......

and once i am ready, i will hand it over to james ..... stay tuned......

Sunday jam

Encountered a bad traffic jam on the way back from bukit timah... Along the PIE from toa payoh till the flyover at kallang...

As usual some of the delays were due to inconsiderate motorists who slowed down to catch a second look... Sigh

It is a beautiful morning so to enjoy the day, please drive safely.... Cos it's no fun to be involved in traffic accidents..

a tough bar ....

why do most watches come with spring bars...??? are they cheaper to use or are the manufactures reluctant to change.......

spring bars present a real headache when owners wish to remove or change the bracelet/strap... !! especially if one did not use a special tool....... try using a toothpick or thin pen-knife and you will surely curse and swear....and very often one will knick or scratch either the case or bracelet or worse still, BOTH !!.....

even technicians at the service centre are not spared the problem....... of course we can reduce the likelihood by taping the case, bracelet and screwdriver tip with masking tape....... but why should we have to do this in the first place.....

anyway i prefer screws...... and of course the various quick-change system introduced by panerai, JLC, IWC.....

really hope to see these being implemented across the entire range..... and also more manufactures to pioneer their own unique system...

for the SAS....

i wasnt sure about this..... and i didnt know whether to laugh or cry..... but no matter what it is still a thousand times better than the graham ali baba jewelled edition.... maybe i should go down to cortina to catch a glimpse of this....

buy it only if u like the SAS, which stands for special air service...... the most famous of all special forces

Need a roof...

It is raining so heavily... & when I needed food I wanted to look for a place with

Free parking
Covered carpark
Affordable food

So where else than ikea.. & I even bought 2 bowls.. Total damage = $4....

Wait long long... !!

Yes wait long long if u expect someone to give u free money for nothing...

When things appear too good to be true, usually they are....

Balls to scams, internet or otherwise... !!

Spend your money wisely, like buying lottery haha...

A brands everyday..??

According to the tv advertisement, wang lee hom drinks brands essence of chicken everyday....!!

Eeks..!! Everyday?? Why would anyone wanna do that?? As if it tastes that good to wanna swallow a bottle 365 days a year...

Why is it so complicated..??

Sometimes I think... Why are carpark charges in singapore so complicated??

A few charge one rate for the first hour & another rate for subsequent quarter, half or a full hour....

Why don't they all go for a per minute rate which is fair & transparent...

Another pet peeve is about per entry charge (usually after office hours)... If one is to park for 30 minutes, why is it necessary to pay a full per entry charge???

Don't make sense at all...

My good partner

This is my good partner at work... Through the good & bad times...

Always reliable ... It feels perfectly balanced in the hand...& when called upon, it allows me to write smoothly & accurately...

heartpain...!!

if you are one person who love cars..... you will feel the heartpain.......

AHHH ... such a waste .... it's a gallardo for god's sake..!!

can they repair this scrap or isit a total loss...??

another alarm....

firstly we have the polaris re-issue....

then we have the navy seals alarm.....

and now they give us the master control memovox.....

all are mechanical alarm watches so they will buzz and ring ... and they have the same movements in different styles and cases.....

which one is your choice..???

pic from timezone......

Scratched... !!

I was too busy following the gs300 up the carpark that I failed to notice the change in gradient...!!!

Ouch ouch!! I thought I heard something... And when I checked the front skirts... Yes there are fresh wounds haha...

Ok lesson learned.. Pls slow down lah haha

Up the hill

Went up mt faber ...

On the way up, blocked by mini bus...

On the way down, blocked by taxi..

Sigh.....

wake up !!!

i have spoken to the customer service officers on 2 occasions....

and still they send me a reminder to pay the annual fees for the credit card.... the letter even let known to me that my credit worthiness will be affected if i didnt pay.....

cannot coordinate your words and actions???? wake up lah standard chartered..... !!!

no poles...??

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1021822/1/.html

since they wanna make it more realistic, they should place 2 dummy cars for parallel parking ......

definitely more fun than to park in a kerb lot........ how many single kerb parking lots are there in the first place....??

more rest = need more rest...??

after sleeping for about 12 hrs, i feel that i need more.... haha and it was with great reluctance that i managed to pull myself up.....

now i can either go back to nap or get out of the house......

possible venues which are newly opened....

somerset 313 and
mandarin gallery.....

yet to decide at the moment....

Chinese ah!!

So much has been written about the bilingual policy... And to some ppl, the fault surely didn't lie with them..

Then what about mathematics, science, physics, chemistry etc...? So if a person faces difficulty with these subjects, who can they blame?

Now many young students from china are showing us the art of learning a language... From not knowing a b c to scoring A in english, their hunger for success is admirable...

Sooner or later all the top people will be chinese nationals... Scholars, politicians, ministers haha...

Very soon..

are we rational..

so are singaporeans a rational lot..??

well it suggests that we may not be.....

haha cos now there's a new cooling off period......

so cool down boys and gals..!!

a lack of sinn....

sinn has just announced the launch of the ultimate U watch.... which is limited to 200 pcs.....

but why didnt they number the watches individually...???

engraving "Limited Edition 200" is not enough........ and to me it's a serious lack of effort on their part....

shame shame....

there goes the rest...

i had to sacrifice my lunch rest bcos someone wanted to find out what happened.....

and after work i went jogging....... there must be something wrong with me as i felt extremely lethargic and tired....

which is why i ended up sleeping for a good few hours after dinner ... haha

sleep is cool....

sunday's buy

other than stepping out for lunch and coffee, i didnt go out at all on fri and sat....... and i told myself, i am gonna get out on sunday.....

after going one entire round from raffles hotel arcade to raffles city shopping centre, i ended up with a bag of biscuits and sweets from marks and spencer....... i took one basket and began filling it up... haha so difficult to resist their goodies when they so are delicious....

other than that there's nothing much to buy.......

there was a sale at FCUK: some items at 50% and some at 30%.......

robinsons: nothing interesting......

topman: boring.....

so buying snacks makes more sense........

california sighting...

i was pretty sure i saw a ferrari california on the opp side of the road a couple of weeks ago....

but wasnt the car due for delivery in months to come...???

ah until i knew there was one out on the road ..... which was used for a magazine test drive as well...

so it is true... there's one out on the loose....

even more hardcore...

for the uber-rich, being seen with similar or identical possessions is a big sin......

which is why customised cars, bespoke suits and watches are so popular....... no one wanna be seen wearing or driving the same old thing....... e.g. no cars like a toyota corolla-altis ..... or a same cocktail dress at a dinner party.......

the top tuners know this.... and brabus can make your already damn fast e63 even faster....... up to 320 kph and 555 bhp.......

enough OOMMPPHHHH?? you bet!!

picture from autoblog

3 days power reserve....

a few of the grey dealers are selling "brand new" pam 312k for list price........ but why would anyone wanna transact at that price when the authorised dealers are also selling at list price..???

if one cannot wait, might as well get one from other local dealers that often post in the internet for about S$9000.....

crazy....

A big convenience

Using the laptop as a source is such a big convenience ... So many songs become available at a few clicks.... One can even have different playlists to suit their moods n preferences

Most importantly I dun even need to change discs at all haha... If u have an iphone or itouch u can even control itunes remotely... Such a boon for lazy people

Maybe I should look for a used imac just to be the transport or music server..

Btw what's the going rate for used itouch??

a costly difference....

some might be curious about the differences between a pam 5 logo and a pam 111.....

well some of the answers can be found here...

http://www.network54.com/Forum/353391/thread/1259176030/why+is+a+005+less+expensive+than+a+111-

A B testing

Ok I m going to wash up before I start the a vs b test... cal delta transport vs acer laptop haha....

and this is what i am using to connect the laptop to the msb dac... and you can more about it here http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/musicloverdigital/digital.html

too free

some ppl have too much time on their hands...

and can continue to crow and crow....

so what's new..

but then that's their problem...

get a life....

318....

this afternoon i was having coffee with CSS and we talked about the bmw 318..... and then i saw a long running thread in my car forum about the 318..... some wrote about how they felt the car was over-priced and so on.....

now i dun care whether this is a bmw or whatever.......

i can only remember that when i last drove this car along south bouna vista road, i almost flew into the bushes.......and the handling of this car is ....errrr, not very good hor....

even the toyota liteace didnt scare me as much......

wet and grey....

for such a day it's best to stay home and listen to music.......

going out means getting wet and dirty unless you move from one covered carpark to another covered carpark.....

moreover moving on wet roads equate to higher risks.......... especially when all the vampire cars are out on a public holiday. yeah those vampire cars with their weekend drivers so better stay away from them......

wishing all a happy holiday...!!

not shy??

u think i am a beggar???

burson clock...

i will cut the story short and let you guys know exactly what i'd heard from the addition of a burson clock in my msb nelson link 3 dac:

vocals - better texture, more life-like than before....... image size of vocals is rounder and deeper.....

soundstage - able to discern more layers..... deeper and more 3-dimensional..... placement of instruments clearer ......has a nice bloom and air around each instrument

treble - more extended high frequencies..... able to hear more but never never close to being bright and harsh.....

timing - much better pace ....everything is tighter, louder and has a better rhythm ..... comparison is like watching the march past of a guard-of-honour contingent vs a normal group......

bass - more bounce more impact more slam.....

general - more details......... much more organised and less messy.....

that's all for the moment.....

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

addendum - 27 Nov 09

i was informed by james that the improvements i have mentioned above are also due to the mods to the XLR input board and the replacement of critical capacitors at the power supply section

thanks...!!

new connection

i spent the 1st hour listening to CDs n then switched to my laptop as the source by using the hagusb device as the go-between the dac n digital source..

to be honest i didnt expect much as most users know that a computer is a very noisy device..... however the very track i played from itunes gave me quite a shock cos it sounded very good.... and from then on i extended the session to almost another 2 hours.....

it does seem like there is indeed much potential in this area of tapping on the computer to play music.....

of cos the key is how to do it..... one can either buy a dac with an usb input or simply buy an usb to s/pdif converter...... no matter what you choose, it's still a quick way to enjoy music from your computer....

if you are serious about this, you should get a laptop with solid state memory which has no moving parts....... that will be quite a potent music source for your audio system....

good day

good day cos friday is a holiday!! which means i hv time to put the
upgraded dac through its paces....

i think after the 24 hr burn in, tonight will be a fun night...

but right now i need a nap

welcome home 2...

just came back not too long ago..... and was already quickly getting into action to put the msb nelson link 3 back onto the rack.....

before plugging in everything, i cleaned all the connectors with rid-ox and then carefully placed the TAOC footers under the p1000 and the dac itself....

next.... from the box out came the silver sonic d-110 AES/EBU digital cable and when i powered up the transport, preamp and power amps, this time round there was no hesitation, no drop-outs, no clicking.......

only music and sweet music......... haha.....

ohhh forgot to let u guys know that i have added a burson clock for the dac ......

for the moment, i have put the cd on repeat mode and will let everything run in for one day and night before i sit down to listen ......

other than 8b... we have 7b!!

other than exit 8b towards changi airport, the other of my favourites is exit 7b from changi airport towards city.......

now this one is a double apex corner and it opens up gradually towards siglap...... bcos of the kink in the mid section, it presents a different challenge for drivers..... and i found that a downshift just before the 2nd apex is required to get it through the section smoothly without losing too much speed......

no matter what pls drive with care and godspeed.....

welcome home msb nelson link 3

ready!!

yes the upgrade for the dac is done!!

and i m picking it up tonight!!

switched to tv

my usual retreat after lunch is to nap.... but this afternoon, i spent the lunch hour chatting with colleagues and this made me especially tired after work...... end result of not having a lunch nap = dinner nap from 1800 to 2030 hrs haha.....

well just that take it as compensation or rather charging a flat battery... anyway the DAC is not back so i have nothing to listen to..... might as well go to sleep....

so no a weekday night, the only entertainment is tv...... maybe i am getting old haha cos i find taiwan tornado to be quite entertaining ......

msb upgrade....

ok right now i have no dac in the house and that means i have nothing to listen to.... my only hope is to get it back soon....

to make things better another acrolink 2110 interconnect cable will do the trick.....

now resting ....

just came back from my evening run......

so now is shower time..!!

this afternoon as i was walking to my car, rec'd a msg letting me know that the parts to upgrade my DAC is here.... to cut the waiting time i'll be sending it in later in the night...

YAHOO..!!

missing you....

i miss exit 8b.....

so even though i no longer use it on my way home, i made a u-turn to visit exit 8b....

road is wet but by downshifting to 2nd gear midway through the turn, everything feels fine.....

more copper 2... acrolink 2110 mk 2 interconnect cables

ok i cant wait.... so i went to x audio ....

but the 2030 is too expensive for my comfort level so 2110 it is....

the cable jacket may look dull, but the sound even at 10 mins old, is already sparkling in its high frequencies.....

if only acrolink makes this cable more handsome, they can comfortably sell a truckload more of this haha.....

my silver sonic is good at around S$100...... but the yet-to-be-burned-in 2110 is showing the former out of the door ....of cos it's unfair comparison but i am only trying to give you a hint of where this cable stands .....

the bl-1 replaced my kimber PBJ and now the acrolink 2110 is the new resident....... so i need to let it run in before i can have a taste of the full flavour.....

caveat: i'd pasted another 2 pieces of AR QR-8 quartz tuning discs in the room..... so this could be construed as part of the improvements hehe....

one lesson....

yes...

having desserts at restaurants may be cheaper after all.....

cos not all ice-creams are created equal....... some surely are more expensive than others....

haha....

if not just stick to macdonald's hot fudge sundae..... not only cheap but good.....

stiff neck 2.....

right now i can feel alittle discomfort at the neck.....but then i woke up feeling ok...... so it shd not be sleep-related.....

maybe i'd braked too hard on the way to town earlier...... haha i braked till ABS was activated while trying to cut in front of a bus....

OUCH....

hehe but anyway everything's still under control and when one is tired from walking, what he needs is a coffee-break

looks good?

yeah i guess so ...

but the taste is only SO SO.....

to round off the trip, i bought this......

another sale 2... mine

ok i am selling this to clear the room as well as to raise some cash......

all to go for S$900 neg....

kinergetics sw-100.5 stereo subwoofer system

10 inch long throw woofer per side... rubber surrounds still lasting... speaker grilles included....

comes with subwoofer amp with internal crossover....

best mate with spica tc-50 or other small monitors...

speaker spikes included....

job completed....

after abit of hardwork.... everything's up....

and it seems the sound is slightly better hmmmm.....

urgent need

ok now at ikea buy curtain ha

but first a cup of coffee

before that i had done most of the dirty work.... i.e.

measure and indicate the spots to mount the holder....

mark out where to drill....

drill a total of 6 holes......

insert the wall plugs....

screw in the cable holders.....

mount and tighten the steel cables ......

pull out the curtains from the store cupboard....

put on the clips and hang up the curtains.....

TADA...!! job done....

but i still need 1 set of curtains..... which is why i am in ikea....

round 2 so standby....

the skies over singapore opens UP .....

so standby for round 2 of floods.....

and get your cars out of basement carparks in low lying areas before you regret.....

spring cleaning....

today is friday and is a spring cleaning day.....

need to clean up the bedroom and audio room.....

and also see how i can put up curtains in the audio room using the dignitet system...... well i bought this many many months ago but am just too lazy to start work...

need to find time to go jogging too...

where's the redress..!!

ho ho....

i happened to watch a clip of the henry handball..............

that's an absolute disgrace.......

come on it's time.... learn from rugby....

use video and catch all the cheats.....!!

the referee Martin Hansson should be so ashamed of himself....

metal charms....

when i saw this earlier in the afternoon.... it was like WOW......

until i saw the price then i repeated this right inside my head... WOW WOW WOW.....

haha.... very nice but also expensive.....

as good as buying another LV belt or wallet........ errr not so wise to spend so much on a bag charm / key ring right???

of cos there more affordable alternatives if you insist on a LV key ring to partner your bag....

like this one..... at S$145 IIRC......

something to bring home

it's abit silly to go back empty handed after a shopping trip....... but i know i didnt need new clothes or new shoes right now.....hehe although the temptation is always there....

and since i am saving up for something else, i am also aware of the need to cut down the frills...... so even though there are clothes at 50% off, 30% off and so on...... i did not flinch ....

so what did i do...???

errr....

i bought kimchi and apples from isetan supermarket instead.... haha.....

comfort food to fill the tummy will do for this round......

that is for lunch

katong laksa..... yummy

especially after a long break

after lunch i walked over to roxy square wanting to check out preowned audio bits but the shop was closed.....

too bad...

downtown browsing

it began to rain heavily so i cant park at my usual place..... to add to the insult, my usual place was FULL.... totally FULL as in not even 1 inch of space for me to squeeze in the butt...... anyway i dun mind paying a little more to stay dry....

itching to see the pam 312, i dropped by hour glass tang plaza....

and yes they do have 1 piece which was already reserved..... i was told the next is mine if i pay a deposit...... price? at $9850....... also managed to touch/feel/see the pam 270 but as you know, this one is 2.5 times more expensive in terms of list prices......

thinking that i love big watches, the salesperson showed me the latest hublot big bang classic in ceramic (500 pcs LE) and zirconium (regular production)....

nowadays i am not much of a hublot fan but the ceramic case is very well done: the sides of the watch case is polished until it is mirror smooth and it looked flawless under the light ..... since the case is in ceramic, i am sure the finish will be durable......

backup plan for TT

in the coming days and weeks, i'll be on a lookout for any used technics SL-1200 mk2 ......

and if i can find a good condition sample at around S$400, then my back-door way into the dark side will become easier........... cos right now i dun think i can spare enough cash to buy a new turntable.....

patience is key when it comes to waiting...... just like fishing, one gotta wait...... and sometimes the waiting game can be a killer......

once the table is in the next steps will be to get a aftermarket armboard and upgrade the stock arm to a rega or jelco pickup arm.....

so my projected costs are:

preowned technics sl-1200 mk 2 $450

armboard $100

tonearm $500

total $1050

timeline? ...... well very flexible and at no rush

absolutely....

yes this is an absolutely hideous timepiece........

*SMACK*......

*OUCH*.....

*PUKE*.....

fortunately for the rest of the world, there is only ONE piece.....

muff muff...

at one time i was contemplating whether to get a approved exhaust muffler...... so there is HKS and fugitsubo......

but for a piece of steel and titanium that does not add power, not too smart to pay over S$1000...???

so in the end i decided that having good suspension can bring more smiles than having a nicer drone......

although i really love LOUDDDD exhausts haha......

almost bought this...

while at gramophone, i very much wanted to buy this...... and after listening to it with the supplied headphones, i almost did...

in the end, i passed ..... maybe next time......

and then i went to marks and spencer to buy CHOCOLATES haha.............

and ended up spending more than the price of a CD.....

year end ... ESPRIT clothes

i rec'd a sms from esprit this afternoon ...

to inform me that i need to chalk $1200 of expenses by 31 Dec 09 to renew my membership.....

hmmm i dun think i can do it .... cos right now i am at S$593....... and i dun need another $600 of esprit clothes in 1.5 months haha.......

it's ok, let it lapse then rather than to spend on unnecessary shopping.....

upgrade....

ok i am now officially on 1 gb after upgrading from 20 mb....

and it was a simple 5-10 mins job at the m1 shop....... but then it's really a hassle to need to visit the shop just to sign the contract......

worst deal when one gotta queue behind inconsiderate ppl..... especially those who spend their time at the sale counters CONSIDERING WHAT PHONE TO BUY!!!!

BLOODY IDIOTS!!..... u wanna check out the phones? ask the salesperson for help .... only go for the queue to conclude the sale.... sign and pay and go OFF..!!

DUN HOG THE COUNTER AND HEE HEE HAA HAA LAUGHING AND WONDERING WHICH TO BUY... STOP GIGGLING and MAKE YOUR CHOICE LAH....

BLOODY IDIOTS!!

your boss loves you..??

if your boss or your company loves you, then they should give you a h1n1 vaccine jab....

haha... so that you can slog more without taking medical leave for flu.....

air is free....

ho ho ho...... so beautiful so stylish so art-deco

equipped with an air-bearing for the platter and tone-arm, this is one dream TT to own......

but US$20,000 is not a small sum of money ......

i think it looks good enough to eat..... just like a nice delicious CAKE..!!

no compromise 4 - federal ss 595

with renewed confidence, i attempted to push the ss 595 tyres a little harder while on the way to work..... on an almost dry road, the improvement was obvious and i was able to go faster....

but on the way back, the weather conditions has changed drastically....... even though i tried to push abit more, i was held up by the wet grip......

hmmmm i guess that's the limit........ so never never push beyond that.... haha

more copper...

i never like comparing cables.....

maybe i am too lazy to swop them around....

maybe it's usually tough to arrange for home loans.......

maybe mistakes are usually expensive.....

and i believe that cables take time to settle in and immediate A-B comparisons are fundamentally useless...... although one can hear some differences right away, it may not be truly representative of the cable's sonic characteristics.....

for many years, silver sonic interconnect and speaker cables have become permanent members of the system.....before that i was using kimber PBJ and 4TC......

so far i have resisted many attempts to change or upgrade, even from within the range itself........... i have stuck by the BL-1 and BL-1 mk 2 ..... which are very very affordable cables.....

in the recent years, i have been very impressed with acrolink AC cables and since i like the acrolink 4030 so much, maybe i should give their interconnects a chance......

let's see..... cos i wanna tone down my spending for this month.......

let's KIV this until december ok..??

for the MSB...

to check if there are spare parts for the MSB, i dropped by high-end research on saturday ... but too bad, they have not been doing MSB for a long time as well....

so now my bets are with Ong Radio...... if not last resort is to send my upsampling board back to USA...

policemen everywhere...!!

if you were in town yesterday u will have seen the sheer number of policemen out in the streets.... all bcos of APEC 09.......

so what's the big deal about this APEC ....?? whatever that is: MANY important ppl from all over the world coming together to talk ....and talk.....

whether all the talk will translate to any action remains to be seen..... anyway talk is cheap......

alot of uncles sit around in coffee-shops to talk ..... to them, that's ALL they care about ...

and so many cars were stopped and thousands of ppl inconvenienced bcos of one obama........ and the insult was: he didnt even talk much ... :P

haha

not bad an effort....

remember the hokkien CDs i bought quite awhile ago.... ??

it was only today that i brought them up to the listening room.....

oh am i impressed cos the recording quality is very good......

too bad the CD booth that used to be my haunt for cheap MIC CDs is no longer around......

what about flowers....? yours or mine as in LV vs citychain...

finally the verdict at the court of appeal is out.... and so LV has lost their case upon citychain's appeal.....

http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC091114-0000111/?High-Court-grants-City-Chain-appeal-

this certainly proved a point that it can be extremely tough to claim "ownership" of a design unless the copy is blatant....

now we can all rest assured that not all flower monograms are created equal haha.....

you can also read my previous post here

http://oohlins.blogspot.com/2008/09/ohh-fight-over-flowers.html

and i cast doubt at the merits of LV's case.... so proven right haha

where's my newspapers...???

maybe i slept too much yesterday ....

which is why i woke up very very early this morning.......

but why is the newspaper man late for his delivery...????

where are you..????

i need my morning fix of newspapers...!

quite new audio blog....

the revamped audiophilia as become an interesting read....

http://www.audiophilia.com/wp/

so check it out regularly....

no compromise 3 - federal ss 595

after running on the federal ss 595 for a few months i am sort of ready to share my findings about this made in ROC performance tyre.....

i have no complaints with the dry grip..... and the straight-line tracking and performance is very good ....along the highway and narrower streets, it feels fine...... so even during turns and curves, i know i can depend on it.... however, with the pivot 3 drive set on sports mode 5 and above, i can still coax the 595 to lose some composure when accelerating out of sharper turns...... so i take care not to overdrive in these situations......

noise level is high... and if you are looking for a quiet drive u gotta look elsewhere....... and my LKK couldnt stand it at all........ and he thinks that that noise is insane WAHAHAHA.....

now what i am uncomfortable with is the wet grip during enthusiastic driving....... well, on the straight it cuts through water and puddles efficiently..... but when i am attempting to put the power down during sharper turns, i can feel them losing it...... and that is taking away some of my confidence.....

one particular case..... this afternoon i was trying to follow a lotus exige in the wet...... although i know i can do it but the tyres are not quite up to the task.... and that is such a waste...... of cos i know there is no way i can catch the exige on the straights haha.... it's just way too fast for my car......

deep down inside i knew it may not be the tyres.... it could be the suspension and the not fault of the tyres alone.... cos everything works in unison, a package......... up to 80%, the stock suspension feels fine...... only when things get nasty during hard driving, one needs more traction to handle the power.....

let's see if things improve......... cos traction is KING

need a jab...

i have no idea what is giving me a rash....

but what i am sure is..... the itch is really damn giving me fits.....

cos i have no idea how to get rid of it....

so no choice but to seek to doc's help for a jab.....

at least it's a reprieve.....

recipe for disaster...

i've noticed....

that some ppl wear their watch and bracelet on the same wrist....

well that is surely a recipe for disaster.....

cos both will end up scratching each other ........

intellectual property and what about watches...

this is pretty interesting..... do read about it...

http://ablogtoread.com/jaquet-droz/court-orders-f-p-journe-to-pay-jaquet-droz-for-intellectual-property-infringement/

not good at all... commercial

everytime the advertisement for orchard central shopping mall comes up on tv, i'll tell myself what a crap commercial it is....

definitely it wont help in attracting ppl to visit the mall......

moreover there are not many good reasons one will wanna go there....