Oh!pEnions: November 2007

Litt Tak Warehouse Sale (30112007-02122007)

When I was young, I was very excited whenever there was a warehouse sale. I would go along and watch everyone going in and out, inspecting the warehouse and sometimes, carrying away huge bags of stuff. But usually, the no one bought the warehouse because after a few days, it was still the same warehouse.

Hey. Wait a minute. Warehouse. Sale. Warehouse Sale.

Oop. Wrong intro.

Let's start again. One thing you must always remember is that when you go for a warehouse sale, you must expect a few things:

1) There are a lot of people
2) A lot of people means no space to move about
3) A lot of people means traffic jam
4) A lot of people also means high humidity
5) High humidity means touching sweaty people
6) And air-cons are just giant fans

Those are the main reasons why I never go for these warehouse sales, let alone those PC Fairs. Its just a case of too many people and not enough bullets. This was different because I wanted to go. But I have to keep in mind that whatever I wanted in the sale would never be there. And sometimes, whatever I did not want, would turn up. And if I am lucky, there would be some nice surprises. Anyway, this Warehouse Sale was by Litt Tak, which was renowned for their Gundam models, Power Rangers and also Tomy stuff. The Sale would be on from 30th of November to 2nd of December, 9AM to 6PM. Click here for more info.

By the time I arrived, there were a lot of people which I could count with my fingers (I couldn't use my toes because I was too lazy to take my socks off). The place is your typical warehouse and office but during the sale, they only allocate a certain area (most probably their showroom) for you and never the actual warehouse. Still, it was full of parents buying for their kids (and sometimes for themselves *ahem*) and the usual pock-faced, oily haired, anal Gundam fans. The poor staff had to open the door countless times to prove the only Gundam models for sale are already on the shelves and there was nothing more. But what caught my eye was the loads of Kamen Rider SmartBRAIN toys stacked on the staircase.

I had to get the Kamen Rider toys because when they came out on the shelves years ago, it was too expensive. So now with the Warehouse sale, I can have my revenge. But the real reason is that I can maybe turn them into other designs (when I have the time, that is) as they were a few ideas in my head when I first saw them. I could not get the Kaizer Phone though, since it was not there.

Left to Right
1. Kamen Rider Kaiza Pointer [RM20.00]
2. Kamen Rider Faiz Watch [RM15.00]
3. XYlophone for Kristine [RM11.00]
4. Himem Brain Powered Model Kit [RM25.00]
5. Winnie the Pooh toy for Kaelynn [RM8.00]

The girls with their own toys.

And less than half an hour later, Kristine broke hers

The scary things my techs do

Sometimes, when there is a specific instruction for my Techs to complete it, they will complete it. But how they do it, is up to them as long as no one gets killed/hurt/slapped/electrocuted/kissed, etc. And just today, my Boss wanted them to complete the CCTV cabling for the remaining points. The problem started last week because the ceiling contractor has plastered all the roof and this mean other contractors could not finish their jobs. So, we had to wait for them to open up the ceiling (for air-cons and lighting) before we could continue. And as usual, when I leave my techs to their own devices.......

OK, this is the same view but with Sunshine

This is dangerous but he still does it

I wanted to be up there too but I am scared of heights
Yeah, I am a coward

I know he is doing this just to give me a Heart Attack

Heavy Rain in the Evening

I was stuck with a customer when it rained heavily. And by the time I got to the van, the parking area was already seeping with water. It was so heavy that the normal drainage system was insufficient to expel them. And so, it started to flow down to the other floors. And that's not all. All the road in KL was so jammed up, even the NKVE was affected too. By the time I got home, I had to force my Wife to massage my legs....

This is not Genting Highlands but Mid-Valley's The Garden
The "mist" are the heavy rain. And if you look closer, all the
three buildings resembles Chinese joss sticks. I am sure a lot
of Fung Sui people are going to comment on that very soon

The rush of water was too much for the "drains" and so,
it spread to the floor and also down the ramp

I only see this type of jam when I am from the opposite direction
in the morning. This lasted for Kilometres and tired my legs

But once I get home, it is nice to be with the Family

Kaelynn and the basket

Years ago, when my camera was not so cacat, I could at least take some good photos. Kristine did it with a pail and now, Kaelynn did it with a basket.

Here she is, doing the same stunt like her elder sister
Just before her bathtime

Before I could take more pictures, she got bored

Finally, when the camera was ready....

And now, she is using the toy box for another stunt....

Blue Screen of Crap

Something happened to my Windows today, just when I was rushing to complete a task. And I need more RAM! Running Windows XP at 384Mb just isn't going to cut it. Even from hibernation, it took minutes and I mean, minutes for it to stabilise. And if it freezes (usually), I'd have to reboot which would even take longer.

Sounds like I'm not the only one who is about to break down.

Dear User, you have shoved something up my USB port which I do not like.
So, I am going to crash now. Bye bye

Highly pressured

I am not sure what it is but its meant for
keeping something in high pressure

Houston, we have Air-con

After the Tan Chong Service has repaired the air-con,
it was great to have it back in the van. But we did not
service the fan which is dying, since it is very expensive
But since I am so used to rolling down the windows, I'll
only use it in the afternoon. It really affects the petrol
consumption, you know. Anyhoo, now I can point the
air-con vents to blow into my armpits when I am driving...

Playing at the Clownhouse

Right after their meals, we took them to the play area. We had to make sure Kristine eat something because she did not eat much for the past week. She was so excited that it was a difficult task since her mind was already set on the play area.

Kristine at her normal self
(She did not do anything to the girl. The girl was just posing)

Kaelynn's first time at an indoor play area
Which is more colourful than outdoor version

Mommy helping Kaelynn down

Kaelynn's first attempt at the slide
with Mommy's help

Lost at MacDonalds

It was the first time Kaelynn ever came to MacDonalds (I think there were more but I was not there) and all of a sudden, she is very quiet. We took the two girls there after the Doctor has certified Kristine to be fit and healthy (except that she still coughs and has a running nose. Weird Doctor). So, being in a weird and colourful place, Kaelynn just sits there and observe the environment.

This is a funny place, isn't it?

I can see some children playing

And I can see some people eating

Then, Mommy and Daddy gave me these to eat
which is delicious! But they won't let me have Coke

Jusco's Hotwheels

After dropping the van off for its schedule maintenance service, I decided to drop by JayaJusco Kepong (since it was already lunchtime). At the toys section, I saw some 2007 Hotwheels and some of the designs were quite nice. Others were so-so like the 1960's Batmobile and a new helicopter design (Killer Copter) where the front looked like someone's pair of silver butts. I did not buy them because I do no like the 60's Batman and yeesh, for the copter, I'd say you really have to be there.

The reason why I was so interested (again) was because of the "Buy 2 & get 1 free" promotion that runs up to this coming 2nd December. The prices for a Hotwheels car has risen from RM3.50 to RM3.90 to RM4.90 to RM5.90. But if I buy two, and have a third, the cost per car would then be RM3.93, which is about 2003's prices, I think. However, there is a downside because you cannot choose the free car from the shelves but from a box at the Toys Counter. So, I had to take the best of the worst.

This are the three cars I bought from Kepong's JayaJusco

They call this "Cloak and Dagger", which
reminds me of the 1989 Batmobile and
once you open the top, well, I was hoping
there was something better underneath

This was last year's Iridium but now, with a new paint
scheme. I was about to pry the body off but the metal
black wing at the top prevented me from doing so.

This is the free Hotwheels, called the Fast Fortress
In a sense, it looked like someone took a model B52
mashed it on top of a classic car. Still, the cockpit is
very nice.

Sleeping Angels

Sometimes it is fun to see both girls sleeping. One minute, they will snore and then the next, there would move about. When Krsitine was young, she would smile when she was sleeping. Still, I could just sit there for hours and watch sleep, well, I would if not for Kristine's karate kick every now and then. Watching them is just so peaceful and you feel as if you have done something right for the first time. (reminds you of Bob Caslisle's - Butterfly Kisses)

Presenting the Karate-Kid stance

And here, we have the Two Finger Open-Belly stance
I think, in another few months time, Kaelynn will start
to sleep on the bed with Mom and Krsitine while poor
old me would have to find someplace else. Haih

Shooting flowers

Just when I was going off after seeing a customer, I noticed that someone has done a very nice job maintaining the bushes near the car-park. So, I decided to have a go with my cacat camera...... I always like to shoot things which have a sharp subject with a very our of focus background. So, when you look at the picture, you tend to focus on the subject instantly.

I forgot what this flower is called by its more common than
our National Flower. But there were too many flowers to
distract you and so, you would not want to see the
subject straightaway.

If I am not mistaken, when I was young, I took the stems out and
put them on my tongue because there were some sweet liquid

I don't even know what this is but I just kind of like the
shot as the background is all out of focus

After that, its time for lunch. I bought some Asam Laksa
and crispy banana fritters. Good thing they separated the
soup as I like to have very little soup with the laksa, but
this also depends on my mood.

New mini-cakes

These mini-cakes are so common by now. Where ever you go, you can see them either being sold openly or packed in bags. And as usual, I hated them. They're nothing more than dry and/or hardened min sponge cakes. And oily too.

However, during the weekend, my Mom bought a new version. Its really different. Or, maybe everyone is sick of them and the seller/maker came up with something new. Its easy to do that but why wait until more than a decade?

I tell you why. We as Malaysians are no different than monkeys in a zoo. As soon as one gets a good idea and starts to market it, everyone would follow. Ah, but here is an interesting fact. The first monkey did not bother about copyrights. And so, for years, the other monkeys just follow and copy his idea. Its so easy too.

Then now, another monkey decided to mix the batter to have more flavours. And I can bet you, sooner or later, there would be a lot of flavours to choose from. And the rest of the other monkeys would just follow. I'll bet, if you just ask them, how they did it, their answer could very well most probably, loosely, in this form, "I dunno. THEY did it, so I also want to do lor." And its illegal to hit them on the head until it cracks, monkey or no monkey.

Still some of the flavours would be:
1) Strawberry/Blueberry/Raspberry/Orange jam fillings
2) Durian/Pandan/Coconut/Red Bean fillings
3) Coffee/Chocolate flavours

But what I am interested in are:
1) Chicken pie/Tuna fillings
2) Orange and/or Vanilla mix flavours
3) Chocolate coated vanilla flavours, and so on

And no, I do not want to be the next monkey since I know nuts about making these

[Left] Coffee flavour with chocolate bits
[Right] Normal flavour with raspberry fillings

Hi-5!

Dear Uncle Rex,

Thank you so much for the Hi-5 DVD which you got for me. I have finished all your chocolates too and I want more! I like your DVD so much that everytime Daddy puts for me (or when I try to put it on myself), I will wear my favourite pink skirt and dance around. Kaelynn is very interested too but we have to make sure she is not sitting too near the telly when it is on. That's all for now, ta-ta!

Where is the monkey?

Kristine is still sick and we still can't find the monkey. And her fever goes up and down a few times a day. And about four in the morning, she will wake up and cry. And throughout the whole day, she will whine and whine. She does not want to take any medication so we have to resort to putting them into the yogurt drinks (hee hee) and other medicine which we have to be very anal about it.

This is Kristine. See Kristine smile

Kristine is did not eat her medicine this morning and it is running out
See Kristine change her mood

The medication has worn out. See Kristine frown

Why is Kristine frowning?

Yeah, if I were her, I'd frown too

You have moisture in your gas tank!

I was at the Petrol Station yesterday evening and while I was trying to get RM10 of petrol, one of the staff approached me. He tells me he knows how to help me save about 20% more fuel. The gist of the whole conversation was, that there is moisture inside the gas tank and one of the tell tale signs are the discolouring of the fuel tank cap. Because of the changes in pressure every time you open the cap, cold air would rush in and hot air rushes out. Because of that, condensation forms. In order to prevent such things from happening, there are two ways: Get the mechanic to do it, who will empty your tank, throw away the petrol and then change your carburettor, all for RM120. Or use his way (ta-daaa!) which any customer can do, which is to use Bardahl and it will work up to three months.

OK, I have been using Bardahl on my Satria with no problems and so, it was easy to convince me to get this too. (OK, I have nothing else better to do because of the evening jam). But getting it was a problem. I only have RM20 and the station would not accept my Maybank ATM card for non-petrol purchases (and when I insisted, their card reader could not read my card). So, the staff recommended me to wait for another customer who will fill up with RM30 worth of petrol and we will exchange the cash with my ATM entry. Smart.

And then, all of a sudden, there are no more customers coming for the next ten minutes. So I had to walk all over to a Maybank ATM just to get RM50. Sheesh.

How do I feel after using Bardahl this morning?
The van feels "energetic" and has a lot of power.
Yeah, right. Must be the tires I filled up with more
air yesterday. But fuel tank indicator shows a very
worrying sign. I'll know better on the next three
tankfuls. I hope.

Milk on a Tablet

Just saw this and bought two for ten sen. Reminds me of those Horlick tablets I used to have when I was young. And I always ended up chewing them to pieces instead of waiting for them to melt. Maybe they're not supposed to melt like chocolates. But it smells great, though.

Ingredient: Maltose, Milk Powder, Milk Extract
It still won't make any difference if you drop it into your cup of Coffee

Boxing

And while I was still in Pasar Road, I saw some project boxes which looked attractive to me. Never mind if I don't have a project to fit into those boxes yet, but neverthless, I wanted some since they're priced quite reasonable. I could go for smaller boxes but I need those that are big enough to fit a 9volt battery yet small enough for my hands. The more expensive ones have cavities which you can put in the battery without taking any screws off but they would have cost too much and also, too big.

This one was a big surprise for me. When I opened it up, it is actually splash-proof! Here, where the screws are to go in, actually have metal housing moulded into the plastic. Not only that, they also give you a white plastic (spaghetti) rubber to make it water-tight. But unfortunately, once I drill a hole for a switch, it would not be water-tight anymore. Still, for this price, it is worth it. But for six ringgit less, same-size equivalent box has very thin plastic walls. Even the screws are not provided.

The second box, however, is not so "exciting". I half expected it to be a normal box anyway. This is one of those casing which is meant more for those proximity card readers. As you can see, there is already a hole for the 3mm LED. And I because its plastic, I would have to be very careful when screwing it close for fear of damaging the screw threads. I am not sure if the box came with a plastic flap to cover the bottom hole. I guess I would have to go back there to exhcange for another box. This means another trip to Pasar Road for me! Yippee!

1 WATT WHITE LED

I was at Pasar Road unintentionally yesterday. Oh, OK. I went there because my last customer was nearby.

Anyway, I went to my fav shop and they have now set up a "branch" at street level. While I was browsing for some SMD LEDs, his son told me about the Luxeon-type of LEDs I was after some time ago was now available. This was the 1Watt White LED which was being sold at about RM30 at one time (RM58 by RS and Farnell) next door and now, he is selling it to me at a far more reduced price.

Woo hoo!

I don't care if its original or Grade 1 quality since the projects I am doing are not critical of such matter. So, now, some of my projects are much cheaper to make after all.

At this price, I think I can buy lots of them and then
turn them into a table lamp of some sort. Ha ha ha

Aggressive Kenari

I dunno la. It looked nice but somehow, the front wheels
does not agree with me. Makes me think like it wanted
to be a Kembara instead

Its a BUG!

Its using an ARM processor with 128MB RAM, has USB interface, built-in Wifi, camera, GPS, audio player, touch screens and any other things you can think of. In fact, it could be anything you can think of. This is a fully hackable Linux computer and it comes with various modules you can you integrate into you ideal gadget.

For those who are well into Linux, you can build your own gadget/application.I am interested because now, I do not have to search for Mobile phone that has a GPS, camera, MP3 player, etc. I can possibly now, build my own device. Go over here for further developments.