Today is Chap Goh Mei, which marks the second week of Chinese New Year. Traditionally, young girls would throw mandarin oranges into the rive in the hopes of getting a good husband. Pshah!
Nowadays, you can't do this anymore because chances are, you could be fined for attempting to pollute a river and also, for being a litterbug. Not only that, whoever caught these oranges could be a target. For all you know, some overly-excited girls would implant GPS transceivers and bombs into the oranges and start tracking them. If they ended up in the hands of a not-so Mr. Right, the mandarin orange can be remotely detonated. So, be careful when someone gives you a mandarin orange out of the blue before running away......
But with the advancement of genetics, it is possible that in the near future, a mandarin orange that has been encoded with the girls DNA finds itself in the hands of a genetically compatible Mr. Right, will expand itself into a bio-cage trapping the unfortunate male until he has been visually inspected by the said girl. If he is handsome and all, the cage will disintegrate to open the prize and if not, well, suffice to say, that man will be all meat and bones. Literally. The cage is also another way of preventing other suitable girls from getting to the male since there is a very high chance that he is also compatible with other females at large. And what if he is married? Well, I am sure there would be a small competition between the Wife and the girl in a game of good old fashioned catfights in the mud where the winner gets the man. And so, Chap Goh Mei would be a very dangerous time for males, who will always 'disappear' for a day or two until things cool down.
Yeah, I know, its midnight and I need to sleep.
"Daddy, why are you doing this?" (Preparing the Yee Sang) Asked Kristine. "I am helping Mommy.", I replied. And so, Kristine summarised, "When I grow up, I will ask my husband to do this too." [Alamaks]
This just happened right after Mommy was about to take Kristine for a bath. After calming down, and making some calls, we realised its not measles. So, it might have something to do with the heat or maybe the prawns she ate for lunch. And she is still recovering from fever.....
I did this in just one sitting last night, after a few days of though. But actually, its not that difficult because from what I saw in the video clip, once I see the '4017' chip, its a no brainer. This is because the 4017 is a decade counter where you just give it some clock pulse, (even tapping the clock connection pin will do) and it will drive the LEDs, pin by pin. How fast or how slow, the clock speed is up to you. Being a lazy guy (for not wanting to calculate as simple RC timing), I got a '555' set up and connected it to the 4017. This two ICs are a very common combination for a lot of props, especially in Star Trek.
The '555' is often used where clock pulses are needed and its a versatile IC. Heck, since the 70's (I think) its still being used today compared to the LM3909 which was also (now) very highly sought after as its both a timer and single LED driver, all in one small IC chip.
Anyway, this circuit was done because Kal pointed me to a video-clip from the Internet. And so, after looking at the pictures and the video for a while, I sussed the whole thing out. But I did not want to use the resistor and capacitor combination, as I do not have the time to figure out the actual timing. Looping the video again and again, I think the timing was about 700ms but I am not so sure since I am hopeless at this. Moreover, I did not get the response if this video is taken off from a movie or an actual prop and so, I did the next best thing: guess.
If I were bored, I could have set up a alternative chest display which could scroll the 7-segments to read things like, "Ooh, I'm hit", "Shields at 70% Chestiness", "Chest hair loss ratio at 40%.", etc. But I was not bored. So there. And besides, Uncle Ho could not get me any copies of "The Empire Strikes back" and "Return of the Jedi" except for the Family Guy's "Something Something Something Darkside" which I doubt could help me on this.
To me, this is something completely new as I have never noticed that Boba Fett as a display inside his armour. I mean, the only 'electronics' I have ever seen on a Star Wars character, apart from R2-D2 and C-3PO, was Darth Vader and Lando Calrission's PC, Lobot or something. And so, there are two ways to do this, which the first was a cheap LED Bike Light (and after you have seen the video below, you will know why it does not work) while the second was through a 'proper' circuit, which is more convincing.
Anyway, Kal, see if this is the correct one or not, do not be taken by the fact what I have done it. Just look at it from a discerning prop guy. If its accurate, then its good. If its not, well, you'd need to tell me what needs to be improved. Plus, how big do you want the circuit to be since we have established its thickness is more or less, well below the half-inch requirement. And it needs to be credit card sized, it will have to be a custom designed PCB and not the normal stripboards.
One good thing about prototype boards is that you can rip out the old circuit (but take notes first) and do a new one. Took me some time to get the small RED 7-segment LED Display, though.
Unfortunately, due to the way the prototype board and the 7-segments were designed, it was impossible to put them the right way up. But on the left, the 7-segments are shown left to right but with 90ยบ clock wise. The other 5 rectangle LEDs are of the correct orientation. Don't worry if they do not flash in sequence as that is how they looked in the video.
And oh, here is the video. Don't know why but when I place my Nokia 5800 on top of the table magnifying lens, as a tripod tingy, it (the video) became clearer:
Wife said these oranges were from Cameron Highlands and they're been having them for years. Wel, for me its strange that an orange with a green skin was ripe. So much for calling an orange, orange. I can't call it green now. Maybe orgreen might be a better name........
Woo hoo! Its Saturday! And so, as early as 9:00 AM, I woke up and straight away drove to Pasar Road. Its a wonderful feeling going there in the morning as the shops are just opening and there were not many customers around. So, I get to get my things to the counter fast and also, have enough time to look around new things which usually want to buy more things. Heh.
There is also another reason why I need to go there so early. One, its a Saturday and so, a lot of college students would come into the shop, with their pick lists which tend to take up a lot of the staff's time. And secondly, when it comes to Saturday morning, its a very beautiful feeling and you feel you need to finish things as soon as possible so you can move on to other things on your list.
And so, for close to RM200.00, I got some LED bike lights, LED RGB and White strips along with a remote RGB controller, more programmable chips for the Navigation & Strobe Lights project, QC stickers (yes, they have QC and warranty stickers there), more components for Kal's Boba Fett Chest Display and some SMD components as I am now going to design the second circuit for the 1/350 Enterprise:Photon Torpedoes....
The RGB Controller While I was there, I bought a White LED strip just to have a look at nexus's Celestine project. But its not the right solution because as Rm25.00 per strip and we're talking a minimum of 18 strips, the budget is Rm450.00 or thereabouts. Moreover, I am not too happy about this either. It does meet the required brightness as compared to Electroluminescent wires but I could be much more expensive. The other way, I could do is to buy 216 yellow LEDs and build my own. However, because of the 1.5 inch thickness of the whole thing, each side has less than 0.7 inch. And because LEDs have a very narrow viewing angle, I would need more LEDs closer to each other or else the frosted tube would show spots instead of a long beam of light.
So, while looking at the White LED strip, I noticed that have an RGB version as well. The RGB is where all the three RED, GREEN and BLUE LEDs were manufactured in a single LED chip. But in order to create or mix them to give a certain colour, you will need to adjust the voltage/current for each RGB component. And so, this is where PWM comes in. And also, this is where my next next next 1/350 Enterprise project will be based on. The module takes in a standard 12 volts and everything else is done for you.
Knowing that it would be some Saturdays before I come again, I justwent and bough it. But luckily, we test it as the shopand he said that the wires inside the controller mustbe crossed since the colours did not follow the remote
This is the remote which allows you to turn the controller ON and OFF, different colours of the RGB, its brightness and also, different flash or colour modes. Which, to me, it cool.
The controller box's underneath has a cover which could easily be prised open. Initially, I did not want to but because it stopped working after I got it home, I had to open it and there, discovered a dry solder join to the voltage regulator.
And just as I suspected, its using maybe a PIC chip with a normal voltage regulator, some transistors and also an IR remote receiver. This means I too could have done it but this would take months to achieve such feat since my PWM programming is still very weak. But all is not lost as without a real teacher, this is an essential tool for me to learn all about PWM. Yeah, this circuit can be reverse engineered but not the chip's programming which I am not too concerned about.
Since the controlled is opened and I got the power problem solved, its time to look at why the LED colours did not respond to the remote. Yeah, why turn off an already warmed up solderin iron? Heh. Using a multimeter, I figured out which cable were for which LED in the RGB assembly.
And after I resoldered the two wires into their correct places, the circuit was ready
And why stop there? One of methods how a PWM works is how much voltage/current is supplied each LED of the the RGB module. This way, you get the colurs you want. So, using a 'calibrated' digital meter, I got all the voltages measured for all possible colours in the remote, including the 8 brightness levels. When I meant 'calibrated', it was the only measuring device which I deemed was accurate enough as both my Digital and Analogue meters game me inconsistent reading. This Digital meter, although the voltages jump about, got me a close enough reading. One day, maybe I should get a proper (read expensive) Digital meter for my projects, apart from a proper Power Supply
Here is the Video, you might not see it properly since the Nokia 5800 could not capture the RGB LED's effects like a human eye.
In my old days, work was very simple. Just some in, do some work, take your calls and go out to see the customer, service their PABX systems. Then I was 'promoted' as Product Specialist and had to stay in the office most of the time. Man, that was a nightmare as I was so used to going out and driving my car all over the place. Sitting there, doing nothing but thinking was something new. And a torture. But, yeah, I got fat very fast too.
My second job was more or less the same except that we worked beyond normal working hours, even on a Weekend. It was work, work, work. But then again, as a Technical Manager, I also had people under me which puts me in the 'responsibility' chair. For the first time in my Life, when I make a decision, it affects others too. But basically, it was still work, work, work. Still, it allows me to go to a lot of places and see a lot of things, where to buy good stuff and services. Still, with a growing family to take care for, its not easy to get a good pay as I could not wait that long for the company to thrive back in the black.
Now, this is my third job and since this is something completely new. And man, its so exciting working there! My brain has been working non-stop, observing a lot of things and by the time I came back, I was mentally exhausted. (Yeah, this is also one of the reasons I can't think of anything to blog). Tank goodness for car air-cons and MP3s on my Nokia 5800. But what made me realise is that I now tend to cherish Saturdays more. This is because for the first time in my working Life, I do not have to work on Saturdays. OK, so we had alternate Saturdays in my first job decades ago but this was the best.
So, don't be offended if I could not 'help' you much on Saturdays since I want to enjoy my freedom going to Pasar Road and so on. Ha ha ha ha!
I had to get this from the Internet a few weeks ago. The Tamiya Underground at 1-Utama did not have them. And no one can specifically tell me if they're are going to order it or re-stock them. They're more interested in sitting at the counter, talking and fixing their RC cars.
And so, after some two weeks, it came. Luckily, I ordered two sets and they arrived safe and sound.
The package from Hong Kong was very secure
Each pack has 144 crew (but in 6 poses). By ordering two, I now have 288 crews. But I am not going to put all 500 crews in there. Just a few, next to the windows and the botanic garden in the 1-metre long 1/350 Polar Lights StarTrek Enterprise NCC-1701A model kit.
At 1/350 scale, these little men of plastic were about 5mm tall. I could order the same 1/350 in etched metal but I do not have confidence nor the tools to handle them. Anyway, you have to use paint to make them look more 3-Dimensional. If you want to, that is
OK, I think I am still not used to the new schedule yet and so, my project is now limping slowly as I can only do them in the weekends. During the weekdays, I was so tired, I just want to come home, have dinner, surf a bit, and sleep.
Blink... blink... bli.. oops
But I had enough energy to turn on the soldering iron. Oh yeah, I had to turn my brain on too as they're needed to detect the fault on my Nokia car charger.
After thousands of miliseconds, I located the worn power cable which is coming off. A little bit of soldering, as its working fine. Otherwise, I would have to pay RM12.90 for a new one
While clearing my things on my Notebook, I took a glimpse of my old tool pouch. Unlike the (old or ex) working files on the Notebook which I can just pack and archive it on DVDs, I cannot do the same with my tools. Everyday, I carry them, if not on the hips, it was in the car boot. And everyday, I used them and just placing my right hand in it I know which tool to use and so on. It feels so.... well, so complete.
I started to carry tools with me ever since I was on my first job. At first, I put them all on a vest, which made me look more like a baggy photographer minus the camera. Not only that, since I was a pillion rider on the back of technician's bikes, the vest could be a potential organ puncturing device should we fall off the bike. And so I put them on a fanny pouch but constant zipping and unzipping wore them out quickly. Always the one with the tools on hand, I finally stuffed them onto a big toolbox, which not only serves as a ladder but enough to kill a person if I swung it. And so, when I came to the actual second job, I had to leave the toolbag in the car since most of the time I would be climbing ladders and such. And so, I invested into the more practical hip pouch. Which, to me is very comfortable and logical since with this design, not only can I leave both hands free, I can just quickly reach for my tools with just one hand.
I caught on the hip ouch design after seeing some Military photos on the Internet and quickly got a rugged one. At this time, although the hip pouch were on sale here, it took quite some time before it caught on. But when even now, I rarely see them except that the contractors have now adopted a more conservative pouch design which is a small rectangular or ammo pouch, usually on the waist. No, these are not for tools but more on their own stuff which I am not even sure that is inside.
For me, not only does it serve its purpose, most time, it was also a conversation piece which some thought I looked like some Military guy. But now, if I were to wear them again, now minus the jeans, but with black pants, it would look awkward. Very, very awkward. Wearing them when going shopping is the next best thing, I suppose, only problem is, I don't even know what to put inside it. But I really do miss that hip pouch.....
Meet Mr. Tool-pouch the Third, who is taking a well- earned rest. I hope to use it again sometime this year...
While my Mommy was mopping the floor, Kaleynn passed by her as she wanted to take a pee. After that, she wanted to help Mommy to mop the floor. Maybe she had seen how Mommy rinsed the mop and also how to mop, she convinced my Wife to let her have a go. Wow.
Well, OK, so the floor was really wet after that but this shows Kaelynn is willing to help where her elder sister just would not.
Today is Sunday and as usual, I get to sleep late. Normally, I would get up early and do some of my stuff since everyone was still sleeping. But today, I really want to sleep late. Not because I went to bed at three in the morning but with the Gout and all, I want to have as much rest as I can. And so, when I woke up, everyone was already up. And so, with a few lazy stretches, I dug my nose and ........
WHAT THE HELL!
Seems like I had nosebleed while I was sleeping! While brushing my teeth, I snorted all the remaining gunk in my nose and cleared them through my throat and there it was, more semi-dried blood mixed with phlegm.
Later on, my Wife calmed me down a bit because she reasoned, yesterday was reasonably hot and so, my body has a lot of 'yit hei' which led to the nosebleed. I was skeptical because all I ever did yesterday was to sit on the table and sweat my fat juice out. And drinking water. And sweating. And hopping. And sweating. And....... well, you get the idea.
However, there is another theory. In many instances, men tend to nosebleed after seeing a naked girl. You can see this in most Health Documentaries called movies and graphical facts called comics. So, this means, I was dreaming of a naked girl. But then, you have to remember this fact as well: People do dream when they sleep but most of the dreams would be forgotten when they wake up.
Just what the Doctor ordered.(heh) I decided to sit down and watch a/some movies. One of them in particular were the Harold and Kumar series which I got it sometime back, just as soon as I read some comments about John Cho when he was given the role of 'Sulu' in JJ Abram's 2009 Star Trek movie reboot. Right now, there are only two movies made with the third coming out in 2008. But alas, it did not happen because John Cho was busy with Star Trek and Kal Penn, in his April 2009 announcement, is now furthering his political career as Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. So, there goes his role as Lawrence Kutner in the House TV series too, which, as usual, I did not get the chance to watch. Anyway, I am still not sure why they're so famous even though I hardly necognise the writers. I mean, I did not know they did "Dude, where's my Car" and I did not even know much about the movie except for some revoltingly sagging grandma breasts and a fainting dog. Ha ha ha ha.
Harold and Kumar goes to White Castle (2004) This is the first of the two movies. Harold Lee is a shy and insecure guy who works as an analyst while his best friend and roomate, Kumar is well, the opposite of Harold. But we learn later on, Kumar is a Medical genius but who does not want to be in the Medical Profession. He's only there for the interviews to please his Dad or he will be cut off. Anyway, Harold promised Kumar that they will have an evening of getting stoned but during the last minute, he was given 'extra' work from his shirking workmates. And so, in that evening, after getting stoned, they saw the 'White Castle' ad and their real adventure starts from there. And yeah, someone got the girl too.
Its quite a funny movie and more like a 'journey' type where after their journey, everything worked out well and Harold changes. But there are some moments which really made me laugh out loud despite the blatant nudity and strong association with drug taking:
1) Kumar's pubes and Harold's scissors 2) Getting the cheetah high and what they did afterwards.
Image taken from www.impawards.com
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) This is the sequel and could possibly be the last movie despite the producer's enthusiasm. As both actors have gone on to different careers. Apart from the normal nudity, drugs and racism, this movie now centres more on how racism and terrorists are linked together. The second movie takes off right after the first where Kumar has booked a flight for the two of them for Harold to go Maria after since '10 days' was a bit too long. The 'journey' starts when Kumar decides to have a joint in the plane with his new smokeless bong invention. One thing led to another, his 'bong' became a 'bomb' and the duo were sent to Guantanamo Bay as terrorists. The only way to escape is to get help from Colton, who is marrying Kumar's ex, Vanessa.
Here, we learn more about the character's history and the highlights: 1) How Kumar became who he is from Vanessa 2) What Kumar did to Harold's toothbrush 3) Smoking weed with the President 4) The Square Root of Three
Image take from www.collider.com
And here is the touching poem (OK, I think its brilliant), as reveal to Venessa by Kumar which is very nice (this was taken from David Feinberg, who wrote the poem)
I fear that I will always be A lonely number like root three
The three is all that’s good and right, Why must my three keep out of sight Beneath the vicious square root sign, I wish instead I were a nine
For nine could thwart this evil trick, with just some quick arithmetic
I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321 Such is my reality, a sad irrationality
When hark! What is this I see, Another square root of a three
Has quietly come waltzing by, Together now we multiply To form a number we prefer, Rejoicing as an integer
We break free from our mortal bonds With the wave of magic wands
Our square root signs become unglued Your love for me has been renewed
And so, I gave in. The pain is unbearable and worse of all, it has spread. It all started on Tuesday night which I did not notice until the next morning. I knew it wasn't a sprain because I haven't been exerting myself. Heck, for the past few weeks, the most I could do was to work up a sweat by just walking. Anyway, fast forward to today, I woke up with pain on my wrists. Yeap, it seems that the Gout has gone from the legs to my hand.
And so, I gave in. I mean, everyone was asking when I would go and see the Doctor. Actually, I hate going to the Doctors mainly because it costs money. You go there, tell you sob story, get a painkiller jab on your butt and then beg for M.C. on the way out. But no. Not this time. This time, I am going to go in there like a man who has Gout. I will go in there and tell the Doctor I have gout and no sob stories. And then, well, if I can, I will walk out like a normal person.
That is, until the got the wrong patient card. I told the Doc, "That's not me." and he looked surprised. "That's not me." I repeated. They (the nurses) got my card wrong. And so, he called out to the Nurse and got the right one.
[This apparently came from the file system that had which, by coincidence, my number is same as the other patient's. But later on, I told the Nurse, who knew me, that I was formerly from XXX company but resigned. Yep, they found my card, which by then, had grown thick. I am surprised that did not give me a VIP card either. Ha ha.]
"So, what's the problem?" asked the Doc when everything got sorted out. "I have Gout.", I admitted. "Have you have this before?" he asked.
It was not his fault as he has never seen me before and I did not visit the Klinik so much, thanks to my Wife's cooking to make sure I stick to the diet. And so, I summarised, "Yes, I have this since the late 90's and I come here as much as a few times a year.", without tolling my eyes at the ceiling.
"Mhhmmm...."
"Have you taken Xyloric before?" he asked. "Yes, since 2004." I replied. I know this so-called expensive but wonderful drug which sort of keeps the uric acid level low. But I do not like using me because a lot of sufferers just take them before a 'Danger' meal. I mean, its just to keep the attack at bay while you go on binging on the Sin food.
"Really? Why?" He looked as me as if I had rabies.
"Because my Wife is a wonderful cook." I replied, beaming with pride.
"Huh?"
I explained, "Well, OK. Because I controlled my diet to mainly veges and chicken meat". "Oh. Very good, but now this happened? What happened to your diet?"
Sheepishly, "Oh, I drank some alcohol.", "Tsk tsk tsk tsk." he looked down at his Notepad. "But the sake is delicious!".
Really?
"Man, its 18% and its warm and smooth."
"18%!!!!" and his eyes widened.
"Its the 14% wine that I have trouble with. I got headaches and all from it." "Or, it could just be the prawn soup I drank." I continued.
"OK, can I see you hand? Yeah, just unwrap the bandages"
He had to ask after seeing my slightly swollen foot. And so, I unbandaged my hand for him to examine. And he told me to clench into a fist and some other test before feeling the hand.
"This is just acute and so, for the time being, I'll prescribe some pain-killers for you and some anti-inflammatory medication. You should take two or three days of rest, watch some movies in the Bed and so on. But after that, I want you to take Xyloric. Now, its too painful and might just increase the uric acid level in the body."
"Uh-huh. Well, this 'acute' thing, is it because of the liver?" "Why?" "Every morning, when I take my first piss, its dark brown" "That dark brown is you not taking lots of water" "But I drank 2 litres everyday. " He looked at me as if I was lying like a small kid. "Really." "I have Gout myself too.", he admitted. "So, you want the painkillers now? I can give you a jab...". I know where this going and said, "Uh, no. I'll take it orally this time. I have this fear of the needle breaking halfway inside my butt." (OK, so its not true but jabs sure cost extra.)
"Well?" "Well, I went in, talked to the Doctor and got my medication. He said I should rest for a few days, la." I said as a matter of fact. "Did you get an M.C.?" She asked. Damn! I frogot about the M.C. "Nah, with these painkillers, I should be up and running soon." "Go get it. You can cancel it when you're well" "But... but..." "Go. Afterall, you have paid for them" Sigh. And so, I limped back to the Klinik and 'begged' for an M.C. which the nurse. I hate this because asking for one is like begging for it. I just hate doing this because it sort of shows everyone that I am lazy or something. Or maybe, its just me.
Maybe its just me but when it comes to Wallpapers, somehow its very hard to have the ones you like. Initially, it would start with those fancy sports cars or hi-tech spaceships but after a while, it tends to get boring. And distracting. Then, after Marriage, its photos of the Wife here and there. And with the kids coming, its the photos of them. Yes, it tends to get boring after a while and as a conversation ice-breaker, it can go either way too.
But now, once in a while, I would get bored and do my own Wallpapers, both for the Notebook and the Nokia 5800. And it was just today, that I saw one of those drafting pen, I decided to play with them a bit. I love drafting pens and I did have one or two when I was a kid since my Dad uses them a lot.
Ok, so this pen leaks and I just found out that my 0.7 Mitsubishi ballpoint pen's tip is finer than this o.3. On a normal shot, its boring.....
Ah, but once you switch the camera to negative mode, it opens up a whole new World. BTW, this is a circuit of my Enterprise Navigation and Strobe lights. So, the Mitsubishi Pen is quite good as the circuit is about less than 2 inches.
have the chance, do look for the Movie script.OK, to tell you the truth, when I comes to movies, I just watch it like a gleeful kid. I am not those who are critical of the movie's flow, its direction, tributes, etc. Those are nonsense. I mean, for example, who the Hell cares about some Director who was being compared to his earlier works of how the movie is set in a dark tone. Movie dissections are just of the anal. For God's sake, its just entertainment. And so, in every movie, I just watch it like a wide-eyed deer who has just seen headlights for the very first time.
Maybe its my short attention span or my habits of watching bits of films here and there. But details are always lost to me. For example, after the movie, my friends would discuss about it and I feel lost. I mean how the Hell did I miss the 'hats off' tribute of one crew to a great actor/stuntmen. Or even in-jokes for that matter.
Anyway, I just got this DVD about a few days ago. Yes, I was one of those who got suckered by the amazing trailer last year. In short, its about a reporter, Bob Wilton, who wanted to write a story about Irag after his wife left him for his editor. There, he discovered Lyn Cassidy, a member of The New Earth Army, founded by Bill Django after his vision in Vietnam. I am not sure how the movie tried to portray itself but it went from fact to humour to fact and off tangent to dark comedy and so on. Yeah, I like this movie. A lot.
That 70's Jedi Warriors In actual fact, this is a movie about a book about the real (yes, real) First Earth Batallion. Much of the movie's facts are quite true and which got me thinking, is it real. But then, in the 70's there were a lot of weird ideas coming form the US Army during their "Be all that you can be" slogan. So, in effect, these new Army are trained as Psychic Spies. And what is so funny is that Ewan McGregor, who was portrayed as a Jedi in Star Wars series, kept asking about these Jedis. Also, note how each actor age as the movie flips fowards and backwards between the 70's and now.
"We have asked Angela Lansbury.", "And?", "She doesn't know where General Noriega was." Whether its true or not, the movie spots a lot of great one-line and quotes. If you can search for the movie scripts. Now, I am searching for the original Book by Jon Rohnson.
Anyway here are some links:
Image taken from movies.ign.com
Wiki Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Earth_Battalion
However, there are some controversies about this movie where credit were due: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-sergeant/how-i-was-airbrushed-out_b_362356.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/clooney-caught-in-crossfire-as-war-breaks-out-over-latest-film-1813635.html
And you can also download the New Army Field manual here: http://arcturus.org/field_manual.pdf
The original book review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/07/books/07masl.html?_r=1
And some videos here: http://docu.injpn.net/Documentary/Military-War/Crazy-Rulers-of-the-World.html
Not sure if it was the alcohol, the prawn soup or just too much seafood in the last three days. But my foot is so painful, I can barely walk. Got my Wife to rub but this time, no effect.
As I hobbled into the car and drove to the office, I was chuffed that I arirved 15 minutes early, only to find a closed gate and empty
Apparently, I missed this Friday's notice since I was as the other office and unfamiliar with the notice board there. Then again, in the afternoon, I was out at a MOU signing ceremony. Haih.
OK, back to sleep and I can't even disturb the Wife.
Today is another family gathering day, and this time, I was lucky enough to be part of it. The trip to Star Hill's Jogoya has been planned since last week as on their first (taste-finding) trip, it was overwhelmingly delicious. The only Japanese Buffet I have ever been to, and liked, was Shogun at Sunway Piramid. So, going to Jogoya is something new for me. What's more, I have not been to Star Hill since the late 90's......
Here, at the entrance, there was a slight fuss.
Kristine was just 2 cm over the limit and so, had to pay half-price instead of RM10.00. Maybe I should have trained her more on the art of deception.....
I do not understand the significance of gold bars and Tigers. For a moment, I thought the scupltor could not get those full size hand-waving cat....
This is a dark place. Everything is black as if the whole place was designed by this Lim Kok Wing fella. Oh, the floor is your normal 'just finished' el-cheapo cement look.
Walking through this dark place is so surreal, as if you have just arrived in Hell or some deep cave Nuclear shelter where dozens of food counters just pop out with glaring lights.
And because of pillars and corners, do watch out for last minute appearances of people around the corner and those damn fast food trolleys pushed by waiters who can see in the dark like bats in daylight.
Anyway, once the girls have settled, everyone went out to get some food and at every table, there is a small stove for you to make soup.
You can tell the girls ae famished because once I got the plates of food for them, the dug in.
(L-R) Durian puffs, popiah, other puffs and dhal cakes (don't ask me)
The crab thingy is quite nice but its too dry and too much spices. The satay, sausages and corn were for the girls.
After that, I was my turn, which I took lots of salmon sashimi, kimchee baby octopi, potato salad and some abalone (which is surprisingly very good)
Cold Half-boiled egg. Very very nice but lacks taste.
Very diluted Herbal Chicken soup I got for Wife which hated it after a few sips. I tried it and tasted like piping hot but refined longkang water.
For more than an hour, the Yee Sang sat in the middle, untouched save for some choice bits which the girls kept picking on.
Although its 'complimentary', no one istouching it as everyone was busy lookingfor decent food. I was after this raw fishbut seeing them (rest of the Yee Sang) sitting at a counter, I gave it a miss.
So, its more raw salmon for me.
This paper/hair/tie clip is very useful and instrumental in getting food to your table courtesy of the daredevil trolleys.
Yes, my friends, it got us some burnt, dead fish.
But there is a surpise over at the New Zealand Natural Ice-cream section, which was across the Haagen-daaz. Everyone came here instead since it was not 'guarded'.
Oh, the surprise? Rum and Raisin Ice Cream, my fav flavour,which I have not tasted for years. And its almost empty too. Of the rasperries, rich chocolates, oranges and mangoes, not to mention buttersotch, everyone chose this.
The girls and their ice-creams. By this time, that are starting to get full, and most of the sugar are now in their bloodstream........
And so, they are starting to get very 'alive' while everyone is still having their meals.
This is a very nice piece of cookie and everyone is trying to get as much as possible. Heh heh
Note to self. Do not stare at these amazing Lava Lamps. Time does stop. Must buy....
Oh-oh, the girls are getting high.....
And so are some selected nephews and nieces.
After the meal, everyone sat outside for a breath for fresh air and some clowning with mobile phone cameras.
While some ran and ran on makeshift circuits
Until they exhausted themselves.
Not sure what the commotion was, but I couldn't help but to take this photo.
Just across Jogoya, this Japanese restaurant had a very nice main entrance.
The design of this restautant is very unique too. I like the stairs
This is priceless...... Just see the expression
Almost 'Kung Fu Panda' like decorations at the Pavillion
And so, as we go back home, a Happy Kong Hei Fatt Choi to you all
[Update 16.02.2010] And later in the evening, we had our own Dinner as well, this time with a special 'Lou Sang' and a lot of stuff to eat, especially the noodles and duck. But because I am still stuffed from the lunch, its not easy to eat anything more than a few bites. But we have to hurry too as there is another Chinese New Year event at Big SIL's house which is about 40 minutes away. So, by the time we got all got ready, time factor was very important.
Yes, I have a lot of photos to upload
And by the time we finished our own CNY Dinner, it was time to go to Big Sis-in-Law' House where we missed Jit Huei minutes ago at 10PM.
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"Daddy, why are you doing this?" (Preparing the Yee Sang)A.jpg)
Lou Hei! Lou Hei!
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