Two pakcages in one day

Two packages arrived today. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Yeah, it made my day.

This is a very big bag. If you have bought chickens from
Ayamas, you know how 'big' the bag is.

At first, I forgot what it was as sometimes, eBay
sellers really do protect the goods when they do
send them by post.

But its not eBay this time, but from China. As soon
as I paid them, they sent this LED badge to me. And
this was delivered within 5 days. I could have gotten
it cheaper but I did not know about AliExpress. Not
only that, because I 'bought' a sample, they had to
charge me a 'sample' price. Unfortunately, I could
not let them 'sample' my money.

The LED badge is quite small and in specifically chose
this size for a reason. Anyway, this is what came in
the box; the Badge, the CD and the USB cable.

They used very strong magnets instead of safety
pins to attach it to your clothes. Let me show you...

Aw, crap. It was so strong, the metal piece came off
with one pull. Then again, the glue was not that strong
anyway. The instructions said to plug this to the USB
port for at least two hours (with the display off) to get
the batteries charged up for a 16 hour use.

I better not lose this cable as I am not sure if
I can replace the USB connector.

I chose the smallest display, which is 7 rows of LEDs
by 23 columns. Unfortunately, the sample was RED
LEDs although I wanted White. But it was all that
they had. As a sample, of course.

These SMD LEDs are very small, and are used
mostly for Mobile phones and other applications

What is so amazing is that they managed to cram
a Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery in there too.

Overall thickness (without the rubber coated casing)
was 7mm. I'm impressed!

There are four levels of brightness and different
types of scrolling and speed, all programmed by
the software. Unfortunately, the software does
not 'remember' your last setting so if you do not
want to erase your old text, do not overwrite it.
This version can hold up to three 152 character
text and 5 23-frame bitmap animation. The
software even came with a basic paint program
for you to make your own animation.

A lot of possibilities came to mind, especially
the Boba Fett chest display but it did not
work out the way I wanted it, though. So
I just created a new screen with tracing
paper. Of course you can do different
templates like LCARS but with RED
LEDs here, I was not enthusiastic.
Then of course, there was the idea
of using it for a Blade Runner Blimp

Anyway, this is how it looked like when I
finished. The tracing paper, in this case,
made the LEDs more pronounced and
well, better. To me, that is.

Its so easy to operate this with just three buttons.

Even Kaelynn got the hang of it after I showed
it to her for the first time.

The afternoon package arrived minutes before I came down to the reception. I wanted to get a few as test and they came in lots of 50. And do you know what it is?

It came in a normal padded envelope so this
means the item is very thin.

Yep. Its a set of LEDs from eBay, rectangular
2mm x 5mm x 7mm LEds to be exact.

One of them is orange and the other is white. I
had to use my Nokia 5800's flash to counter the
White LED's brightness (15000mcd) in order to
take this photo. Its amazing that the LED is so
bright even with 20mA current.

Trip to Pasar Malam

As there was nothing to do on a Sunday as a family, we decided to go to Pasar Malam in Bangsar. Oh, ok, we wanted to get some chicken but missed the morning market. When I was young, I enjoyed going to the Pasar Malam. This was because there were so many things to see. More often than not, there would be one or two surprises. But now, with me travelling all over Malaysia (for the past 5 years) and with so many shopping centres such as 1-Utama, Mid-Valley and The Curve (Sg. Wang does not count), there is nothing in the Night Markets that I have not seen nor express interest.

Well at least for another 3 years or so, that is.

While I was doing my banking, I noticed there
is a EPF kiosk. So, after I fed it my MyKAD, it
spit out all my EPF details. Wah lao. Now I can
go out and buy a *ahem* miniature Lexus car.

Can't remember or bothered if this was the Assam Laksa
stall which many people queued up all the time. So, I got
one packet of Assam Laksa and one packet of Kari Mee.

While they're packing it, Kristine and I noticed the fly
on the bowl of fish. So, I have to take the Assam Laksa
and give the Kari Mee to my wife. We cancel the order
as it was all ready within 5 minutes. Oh, and also I got
two cups of those longan drinks that had in their stall.

Saw some nice louvres in Bangsar Village

Because its hot and humid, I gave Kristine
the longan drink first. She drank up to half
the cup before giving it to me, which I
thought nothing of it until we reached home
where it actually tasted like shit.

I think she has my acquired taste for weird
food. Here is Kristine's own recipe: Lekor
with Metropolitan flavoured Ice-Cream.

Saw this at Pasar Malam. Looks nice but the material
is going to attract a lot of unintentional dirt in less than
10 minutes or so. But its so beautiful.... (not for me la!)

My Mauser

While we were at the PJ Old Town, we stopped by the place again and this time, they had some nice toy guns. Unfortunately, there were no revolvers of the 'right' size. But when I saw these mousers, I really went nuts and bought one. Ever since I saw Star Wars and realised that Han Solo was using one of these, well, yeah, I wanted one. But I am not an expert to tell the difference as all the details escaped me. However, I just wanted one and now, I have it. But I am not going to waste my time converting it to Star Wars as I have my own ideas.

Anyway, this one retails for RM12.00 and it shoots BBs

Here is a better picture once its out of the bag

There are two ammo mags and they fit perfectly into
the gun. Me, I have great delight in ejecting the mag
from the button located on the other side. One push
and it falls out of the gun.

The sights are useless. It doesn't flip up or anything

Its just a decorative piece. At first, I thought it was
a cover for where you pour in the BBs instead of
using the magazine. Chinese designs are very
weird sometimes.

Later, I found out that in order to 'load' the gun, I
had to pull the upper part all the way back. I had
to use force and I suspect the spring is very hard.

The hammer at the end (right) has no function
whatsoever but makes the gun feels more real
when you move it with your thumb.

Is it me or is the barrel bent? No matter, the barrel

is not in line with my modification ideas.

Two lunches in one day

OK, this is weird. We're actually having lunch in two restaurants. This was because we wanted to try the Subang SS15 Rojak but because they're 'hot', the girls could not eat them. And so, what we did was, as luck would have it (or curse), KFC was just next door. The girls started out with a kiddy meal, nuggets for Kristine and chicken for Kaelynn. It all went well until Kristine wanted chicken too. But the time we got it, I was almost stuffed due to my obligatory DBKL duty. Maybe I am hungry but the chicken rice this time tasted delicious.

Although we shared the cheesy wedges, there was a lot
to 'clean' up as I had to finish the rice, chips and drinks

After their meal, we went over next door for ours. This is the so-called famous SS15 Rojak from Subang which we got to know about it from Monday's The Star. The place is nothing to shout about and if it was not for the big "SS15 Rojak" sign, I would have mistaken it for a normal mamak eatery. Anyway, we ordered our rojak along with the cendol. Mine was the normal egg with sotong while wife's was with added noodles.

Kaelynn expressing herself in her new surrounding

Kristine showing the effects of Mirinda Straberry

My rojak arrived with the bowl of cendol. The cendol was
served with a metal bowl and it was so cold, the shaved
ice actually froze solid underneath. If you like those red
kidney beans, there's quite a bit in there.

Personally, the rojak has too much crunchy stuff with
too little cucumbers. In fact, they're too finely sliced. I
like to have the crunchy stuff 'fresh' but this one felt as
if it was deep fired too early in the morning or the night
before.

This is wife's with a lot of noodle. The sauce is nice
but its too sweet and not hot enough. Hours later,
we're still thirsty....

Trip to Pasar road

Today, there was only one reason I needed to go to Pasar Road. Someone wanted an antique green indicator/switch and all the shops I went, most of them said they do not have them anymore. Some even laughed. And one even suggested that I take a plane to China to order some. They did not snigger when I looked them in the eye and told them that it would cost too much to book AirAsia for a weekend trip. Moreover, my International Passport has expired and I can't even curse in Mandarin.

Then, as luck would have it, the ATM was out of cash. It said on the screen, after you logged in, that you can have any other services except making it spit out cash.

And so, I got two more blue 7-segment LEDs, a new
modern green indicator, and two bags of 'specials'.

This green indicator, like the switches I used to get,
has removable LED and Lens. In theory, just like
what I did, I can modify the green LED to use a
lower voltage instead of 12 volts.

As for the specials, they are cheap stuff. And to me,
they are great LED holders. Here, i took out a green
one to show you why I was so happy with it. The
label says, 12 volts.

But once you gently pry off the lower part, you
can see that it is using those 12 volt bulbs

Which is good because, now I can modify it
with some nice LEDs since as you can see
from the picture above, the legs are just
crimped on with bent metal. Not soldered.

The Arrival

This morning, everyone was excited except for myself as I really need the beauty sleep. My Aunt from Australia has arrived and so, everyone wants to go to Sentral to fetch her. And boy, when I woke up.....

The girls were instantly Barbie fans

Which is not a bid thing now, except like in
real life, I have to find the shoes and put it
back again. And again. And again. Sigh

My new place Part II

OK, so this is still a small part of my stuff. I have to
go back to KK soon to protect all my things because
now they have discovered termites there. Shit, man.
This is not good news as this means I have to use a
lot of trips to get my stuff back and wrap them in
plastic. Then this room would be too small because
all my stuff would completely fill it up. This also
means I have no space to do any projects of any
electronics for at least a few months until I get things
sorted out. Sigh. So close and yet no cigar.

I am very angry about this. Finally I have some space
to work and now this fucking termite crap comes in.

My new place Part I

OK, Wife helped clean up the storeroom and I do need to move all my things in there before Saturday morning. This was because we will be having a very important guest from Australia for three weeks or so. And this is also a good excuse for me to get the room ready. Now, with the room almost ready, I will be able to do my things in peace. But that is in theory anyway. Getting to have long term working space for my own again is not easy because there are a lot of interruptions. And this means I usually have to work in weird places from the dinner table to well, the lounge and so on.

Sigh. How I really wished I had a house of my own. Years ago, a few guys did talk about sharing to rent their own apartment unit a place where they can go to, for doing their modeling projects. but it never materialise because by then, The Outpost was created......

Kaelynn helped me with some of my things
earlier. The only missing item is a fan........

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland 2010

Finally, I have the chance to view Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland sans 3D, thanks to Uncle Ho. Initially, when it was making its runs on the local cinema circuit, there were a lot of mixed reviews ranging from Disney's attempt into 3D, high expectations of Johnny Depp's performance which turned out to be a controlled and subdued Captain Jack Sparrow and too much CGI and wooden acting. And yes, the eventual comparison with Avatar. Blah blah blah.

First, lets get this right. One, this is Alice's second visit to Wonderland (Actually, its Underland) as an adult. Two, she is always haunted by the same Wonderland dream which leaves her tired and weird. Three, Wonderland has changed ever since the Red Queen took over.

So, this is not a sequel to any 'Alice' story, not even 'Through the looking glass'. Nor is it a re-imagining. Its not even close to a re-boot. This is just another Tim Burton's version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Once you get this fact right, everything makes sense.

But for once, I watched this movie with those in mind and just let it flow. Then I sort of understaood why it was like that. It is actually a story about finding who you are and all that. But for me, its actually something else. Its not a love story, though. More like a story of a long lost and loyal friend patiently waiting for that day when they will meet up. Despite his joy, there is also sadness for he knows they will be separated again.

But remember another very important fact; Disney had to make sure Tim's vision did not scare kids. And so, yes, a lot of plots and well, flow gave the feeling of incompleteness or too rushed. Because I seriously believe, if Tim Burton went all the way, this would be a classic. Then again, nowadays, its the kids to 'pays' the money.

Depp went the whole works dying his hair and
making his face pale and yellowing his eyes, all
trademarks of mercury poisoning which is very
prevalent for miliners in that era as they used
mercury to treat felt. Mad? In this movie, he is
the only sane person around.

I love this Cheshire Cat, voiced by Stephen Fry as
I really did imagine him to be when and if they ever
made Alice. I like it a lot when it appears and goes
away, 'evaporating' they called it. Oh, and those big,
big cute eyes.

And so, throughout the movie, I felt very sad. I felt as if Hatter, who is a great friend of Alice, waited so long for her return. He does everything to make sure she is safe and all. He helps her and even protects her. But he also knows, that eventually, she will be gone. Maybe its just me but every expression and move by Johnny Depp reflected this. Or maybe its because the Jabberwocky screwed everything up and gave everyone a bad day long ago.

After the movie, go and Wiki it and then, you will understand.

Still, I really enjoyed this movie and has nearly all of Tim Burton's trademark. I say nearly because it seemed as if he is being held back. To me, its a sad story.

And its much better than Avatar. Yeah, really. Its much better than Avatar since none of them smoked in this movie except for Absolem (Alan Rickman). Not only that, it really gave me the feeling that I wanted to be in 'there', to be in that World, just like when I saw 'The Dark Crystal' for the first time.

But not Avatar. I mean, the very idea of using your own USB port to for 'plug and play' from sex to hooking up with animals is a bit too surreal. Never mind if that World is wonderful and all, with big trees, weird monument and floating rocks.