Oh!pEnions

London Swiss Roll

OK, so I tried some and wow! Its really really nice.
Its not those spongy dry crap but moist and well,
very creamy filling. So, Erra Fazira must be on to
a good product. I like the strawberry one best.

Eating curry

When I was about seven or so, I would have a big mug
of cold water by my side and a plate of rice with curry
chicken in front of me. Every bite would be followed
big gulps of cold water.

That's how I learn to eat curry by myself. And now, its
Kristine's turn. What made it very interesting was that
I did it on my own initiative. And no, funnily, so did she.

Drawing Evolution

As Kristine grows older, you can actually see some of her developments. For example, a year before, all her drawings of people are actually triangles with round faces. But now, its evolving...

When I asked her, did she copy the drawings from
anywhere, she replied, "No".

What a stark difference. And at her age, my drawings
were not even that detailed.

Compare this to her original drawing more than two
years ago.

And this is Kaelynn with her Musical Notes.
Something about tadpoles and other things,
which I did not take notice.

Crisps

The other day, I saw one of my colleagues with a bag of crisps. On closer look it has a new flavour which I was not aware of. Normal crisps would have TOMATOES, BBQ, Prawn and so on. But this one is a new flavour for me. So, for the next few days, I decided to get one if I can.

Finally, I got it! Of all the places, it was at
a Petrol Station.

Just look at the flavour's banner
Sweet Thai Chilli!

And so, I wonder, is it the same flavour as THE Thai Chilli sauce which we always buy? Or, is it something else? So, in order to test this out, I got a small bag of fries from MacDonald's (after telling them not to put in the salt, of course) and went home to test them out. At first, the first bite did not taste anything like the McD's fries dipped in the Thai Chili sauce. Because it tasted like some weird BBQ and Chili flavour. So, I got the girls to test them out, by not telling them it has chilli, of course...

And so, each one has to taste the fries first...

Then they switched to the crisps and tasted again...

While Kristine prefers the crisps

And Kelynn prefers the McD fries. with a miniscule
amount of Thai Chili sauce, of course.

And in conclusion? I prefer to have my can of Coke in the toilet.

Myvi LED Keychain

While I was at Rawang seeing a customer, I got this little key-chain. I don't know what made me do it but at that time, it was a good idea. Anyway, after sometime, I got not only 4 but 1 due to some technical glitch. And after looking at it, I was glad it was the only one. Ha ha ha ha.

So, this is the so-called infamous and rare Myvi
LED light key-chain.

And well, I was hoping more of a light switch
to light up the LEDs. But this was not to be.

Because, underneath was just a SLIDE switch instead
of the normal push-button. So, this cannot be a key-
chain anymore because if you put it in your pockets,
other stuff in there will cause the switch to turn on.
The people will look at the glowing bulge in your
pants/blouse/bum/ socks, head, etc.

OK, so, its easy to open too and the instructions
also teaches you how to replace the batteries.
That is, if you can find the batteries or just go
tear apart a ciggie lighter.

Now, here is one thing I would like to theorise. Look
at the faint lines on the bonnet and the roof. I think
the little car was created with the help of CAD. But
I could be wrong, though. Still, it does make sense
because the Myvi is only 'popular' in Malaysia and
you still do not see any plastic model kits for them
either, only the 1:32 scale die-cast toy car....

Is Vee-chai on diet?

I am not sure if this is true. Last week, I filled the tank
with RM50 worth of petrol (26.3 litres) and it showed
a full tank. Now, with just only two bars left, the mileage
is unbelievable. Then again, for the last two days, I was
on the Highway, which does not use much petrol. Yes,
its that time again, to wipe the dust off the screen...

Heck, while I was so excited, I accidentally pumped in RM50 worth of Ron97 (20 Litres) instead of the usual Ron95 (26.3 litres).

AMT Deep Space Nine w Fibre Optic

With the workshop coming up next month, its time to open up this model kit. OK, I was bored so I just want to open it up for the sake of opening it up. Many years ago, I did buy a Deep Space Nine Model Kit. Not that I liked the show, but that red glowing thing underneath the station, was the only reason I bought it. Later on, AMT came up with the Fibre Optic version and I did not know what happened but I missed it. However, thinking back, I think I was put off with the Fibre Optic version of the Enterprise-D. Maybe its because I keep thinking about the Fibre optics being round, but the Enterprise's windows are oval, so it was more like a con to the modeller. Anyway, thanks to viper of SFTPMS, I got it from him last year for a very good price.

If memory serves me right, this box is heavier than the normal version because it the 'extra bits' in it. So, let's open up the box...

This is the size of the AMT box and its just the same
like any other AMT Star Trek boxes. This is one of
the special series IMHO, where they gave out the
free Enterprise-A or Enterprise-D mini posters.

And boy, there were a lot of stuff in there. Its a
wonder that the whole box did not crumble.

Looking at the parts, there is nothing different apart
from the two sets of instruction sheets, the extra bag
of plastic parts.

However, if you open the white box, you will be presented
with a black battery holder, a string of fibre-optics, a silver
foil reflective sticker and of course, a mini drill where some
6 volt bulbs and the drill bit was hidden.

Here is a closer look at the extra bag of plastic sprue.
These are actually mean to help with the lighting. But
look a little closer and there is an orange transparent
sprue, which, I am very sure, was not in the original kit.

It was fun reading these two instruction sheets as they
really help you in building the model. However,I am
going to replace the bulbs with LEDs, I will not be
following some of the steps exactly.

Ingenius isn't it? This AMT's free drill. But there is
a slight bad news. Just look at the drill bit on the
bottom right. Its a single piece.

And the instructions telling you what to do next
if you're as clumsy as me.

Here again, is the battery assembly, where you can hide
them all inside the black enclosure. Again, I will have to
modify this or even get rid of it completely.

Here is a picture of how you will use the bulbs inside
the model. If you take some Christmas lights and put
it in, there is no difference except that some of the
'windows' will flicker every now and them. Which is a
cool effect but no one switched their room lights on
and off in a matter of seconds. But if you can find a
way to achieve this so the sequence runs for minutes,
it would look more realistic.

And here, is how AMT recommends you to put the
fibre optics. Which is fine for bulbs but bad for LEDs.
So, I might consider running a rounds of EL strings
instead.

So, there you have it folks. A very simple project. Simple that is, unless my EL strings do not arrive in time and also, I need to find a better drill too. The again, I still have to do some research to see which part does the station have blinking lights. Now, where can I get a 1/3708 Enterprise-D to dock at one of the pylons? Or is it 1/2500 scale? Or is it really 1/3300 scale?

Hmm.....

The Moebius MoonBus

Finally, after waiting for days, tonight was the chance for me to open this. So, with half an hour to spare, I have to take open them, take in the details and take the appropriate photos for the two boxes. Did I mention two? Yes, this is the first of the two, and the other is actually the AMT Deep Space Nine that comes with Fibre Optics.

The first thing that struck me was how sturdy the box was. This is very different from the two other kits, namely the Viper Mk II and the Battlestar Galactica where although the quality of the cardboard were better than AMT or Revell's, they still managed to get themselves crumpled in my Workshop. But as for this one, its going to take a lot more effort from the other dastardly boxes and sharp objects in that room.

This is the box of the kit. Although it looks compact,
you'd be surprised at the amount of sprues inside.

Just like the 1/350, Moebius definitely knows how to
pack all the goodness into a very small box. Please do
note which sprue comes out and their orientation. It
took me a very long time to put them back properly
into the box without breaking anything.

There are 9 sprues and three floating parts. And each
one of them is very detailed (to me, that is)

Looking at the clear part, they make me want to detail
them. But when the time comes, I want to try it with
the Future Floor Polish first.

Its so nice to look at the assembly instructions. You
can compare them with the modern ones and there
is a stark difference. Here, with just two pages, there
was enough information to get the kit built. The modern
ones, use a step by step guide, complete with accurate
drawings. Oh well. to each their own.

So, the problem with this kit is in its details and the reference pictures. Paragrafix has a photo etched set to make the model more realistic. But to make it more accurate, one would need to watch the DVD again and again since this model had appeared very briefly. Right now, all I know is that the cockpit has red lights while the passenger area has blue. Still, I was secretly hoping the two 'holes' in front of the nose are actually spotlights.....

So, should I get the Photo-etch set and part which costs a lot or not? That is a lot of money, man.

This is the photo-etch set which costs USD32.95
(image taken from paragrafix.biz)

And this bells and thrusters set for USD49.95
(image taken from paragrafix.biz)

Workshop Prototype PCB

After weeks of waiting, I got the prototype board back. However, because it took so long, I can barely remember the component's values at all. Worse still, the circuit diagrams are missing. But that is the least of my problems. My main problem is to test the boards and make sure my design is working before taking it to full production. And by my calculations, I have less than two weeks to achieve this.

This is the prototype board. Note the black lines on it.
This is the photo resist and must be removed before I
can start to solder the components.

The components do not fit exactly but this is not a
problem. I know what happened and its nothing to
do with the design since this is just a prototype.

But if this problem persist in the real production, I am
going to be in a lot of trouble.

OK, finally, after two hours of struggling, I managed
to finish the first board. And it works! Still, I might
need to change the design a bit. Heh.

So, for this workshop, there will be four PCBs to solder, with each relating to the presentation materials for the day. I think it will cost a bit more since I am incorporating four designs into one "lot" instead of one design into one "lot" each. And not only that, the cutting of each board is going to be another problem as each design uses different size. If I make them all the same size, the cutting problem could be solved but then, the design would look weird and not optimised. Once the design is finalised and then it comes back from the manufacturer, only will I know how many set of PCB boards will be available for the Workshop. Right now, I estimate it to be enough for 10 participants based on my last "top secret" design.

Sadly, this will be my first and last Workshop since my current work requirements for this year requires my full concentration and nothing less. So, you guys better ask a lot of questions and bring your models if you can. Its sad since everything for the past few years is starting to bear fruit, only to be nipped at the bud.

(But if anyone wants to order Corporate Diaries or Calendars, please let me know. Heh)

Kristine's Table Set-up

Kristine set up the table for lunch. Which is quite
impressive. I think it was inspired by last night's
outing to Itallianies. So, you have the utensils and
serviettes all laid out. Serviettes? I don't think we
bought any serviettes....

OK, so its toilet roll....
Still, full marks for being imaginative

The problems of counting with fingers

While waiting for Mommy buying some groceries, I took the girls to a nearby 7-11 and let them pick their choice of sweets. Also, because of Kristine's problems with money, I decided to teach her and also test her at the same time:

Me: OK, your sweets costs RM1.00 and Kaelynn's is RM0.60. How much is that?
Kristine: Erm..... One dollar... sixty sen.....
Me: Think of the one dollar as 10 and the sixty as six...
Kristine: .... its sixteen!
Me: Yes, and now, its actually, RM1.60. Now, if I give you RM2.00 for you to give to Koh-Koh there, how much will he give back?
Kristine: ... erm... sixten.... um... twenty..... (after a very long time...) But Dad, I don't have 20 fingers!
Me: ...

Kaelynn's writing exercise

While Kristine was busy with her class, Mommy got Kaelynn to practise her writing. This is because unlike her sister who writes using force, Kelynn was more of a light-weight just like me, In fact, most of what you see on her, is more or less my characteristics. Anyway, Mommy prepared a piece of paper for her to practice.