PIzza Milano

[12032010 2142]

And so, after the haircut, I called my Wife regarding dinner. Since it was almost 9 when I finished my business, it was too late to drive back home and get them all here since most shops close at 10. After 30 minutes, Wife and kids were here while my Dad and brother escaped elsewhere with Mom at home. She was dehydrated and could not take in any solids for a while. Yeah, this is what happens when the season is hot.

We saw this the week before, and they were located
just exactly behind Pizza Hut. This was formerly
another restaurant which I forgot the name, where a
guy was killed in a robbery. Either it was closing time
or he was opening the restaurant.

The Atmosphere
Well, this is a new place and they have practically renovated it to resemble a cheap fast food restaurant serving moderate Italian meals. And if you hate green, do not go in there. Although there were two floors, we advised not to go up since it was not ready. And just like a new restaurant, the staff there were all smiles and eager to please. But however, I felt it was weird. For example, apart from Japanese shops, no one would shout 'Welcome' or "Goodbye, Come again" when you enter or leave the place. And the smiling gets to me after a while too. When we're finished, out waitress would come and asks if everything is OK, which my Wife commented, 'Its a bit too salty'. Maybe because I have not encountered such conversations, the waitress replied, smilingly, that they 'Will put less salt then next time we come'. Well, I was stumped. I mean, how would she know we would be coming back? What if we did come back and it was not on her shift? Or, if we ate at another place where she also serves, would she remember not to put too much salt? This is so wierd.

Anyway, since it was still new, some of the items on the menu were not ready, so do ask beforehand so that you will not be too disappointed.

Ah, now, about the food. They came very fast.

And I am wishing I have a microwave detector.
Still, the Chicken Lasagne is great. Wife said it
was too soft and salty. Me? Its food, what.......

OK, so both girls do not like Lasagne.
Come to think of it, they don't even like Garfield

But they love the Banana Split

Since we're on the subject of menus, please do take heed that you need to remember what you have ordered as the food that arrive on your table does not resemble much as what was shown in the menu.

For example, my delicious blob of cream and meat.
Looked like chicken meat floss on top of a creamy
salad.

Until you remember what you ordered.

The pizza look quite accurate except for some few slices
of salami.

And so, you go look up the menu again. Sigh.......

We ordered the seafood Aglio Olio, which we told them
no spices and they actually did that. And it tasted OK.
Since I was still feeling a bit hungrier than usual, I
ordered the Creamy Seafood Olio which I shared
with Wife. Once they put in the spices, wow.

And yes, this spicy Olio rocks!

Overall, for two soft drinks, one Large pizza, one Lasagne and two Olios, the bill came up to less tan RM60.00. So, its a good dinner and a very special one too. Still, would I go back there again? I heard they have a branch in 1-Utama or someting. Well, one day.....

But stop with all the smiling already. This is not a mental asylum for would-be Italian chefs.

RM34.99 or RM24.95?

[12032010 2058]

After my RM15.00 haircut (no more RM5.00 or Rm3.75 now, since the hairdesser is starting to recognise me, knowing when my last haircut was........), I decided to pop by Toys r Us to get something for Kaelynn.

This is because tomorrow is Saturday and this is the time where she will be in the baby pool in the evening. I promised her that if she does put her whole face into the water, I will get her one of those water squirts. She saw this last week when on e of the children had one. These are, effectively, a air pump where you pull one end to suck in water and push it to force the water out. Its safe because the whole pump is wrapped in soft sponge. So there is no fear of 'accidents' in the pool.

And just as I predicted, she did dunk her head and for the rest of the evening, we practised shooting at Kristine to make her swim faster. So, for the rest of the time, although the same kids were there with their water pumps, they sat and watched us play because *ahem* we were shooting with much accuracy and more than 30 feet.......

Although I was tempted, but at about RM10.00 per
inch, this is very expensive. Yeah, I never did have
a Batmissile and missed them at every chance.
Bwaaaaaaaaaa........

Rm24.95 for a big 'un or the little quirt?
Big one means more water but too big for Kaelynn's
hands. Small one has little oomph but just right for
her hands. Of course, bigger firepower rules, OK!

Oh no! Its Friday!

[12032010 1835]

Oh no! Its Friday! People hate Mondays but I hate Fridays. In other jobs, I love Fridays but not this one. For one, I just asked and there is no 'casual Fridays' which means I cannot come in to the Office with shorts, Ah Pek singlets and a pair of Crocs. Heh.

But actually, why I hate Friday is because this is the last working day of the week for the Selangor (and maybe, slowly, KL too) state. And hence, everyone would on the road exactly after 530 in the evening. Buy time time I rushed out and into the Federal Highway, its a race to get back home. Every second lost means a few minutes added to the jam. And its the first time I am starting to see, traffic jams in Bangsar too......

Rain and Federal Highway (or even KL roads)
just do not mix

Kaelynn's First Nosebleed

[11.03.2010 19:32]

When I came back home, the girls were as their normal self. But it was not until much later, I noticed Kaelynn's nose was a bit too red. She had her first nosebleed, of course. But when I asked her, if she dig her nose or something, she claimed that Kristine hit her head and nose with a book. But Kristine denied it. This set me in panic mode because I kept cleaning her nose with wet tissue paper and the blood still came out.

This is Kaelynn moments before she sneezed.........

Yes, I know its booger mixed with semi-clot
blood. But I really panicked when I saw this.
Funnily enough, the only action I could do
was to take her picture by reflex. Shame la.

After cleaning her up, she sneezed again but this time,
the booger came out of her other nostril, which has no
blood. So, there is no serious injury. Then I realised,
we're still in the middle of a heatwave...... That is why
she had nosebleed. Same as me years before.

By the time I realised everything has gone back to normal with just a normal nosebleed, Wife came back and she took over. Phew.

OVI Maps Racing

[08032010 2208]

I've been looking for a proper Nokia 5800 software to capture the pictures on the screen (i.e. screenshots) for quite sometime. And when it came to downloading, I always forget about it until when I am too sleepy to move a muscle. This is because for a touchscreen phone, the buttons are limited and in most applications, they are either used up or, not to be used in case you want to get back to the main screen for instance. Anyway, getting the Screensnap from the OVI store was a good idea. Anyway, let's put this to some use:

This software allows you to customise the shutter
button on the Nokia 5800. For my case, I used the
screen lock slider switch instead of the camera's
as this function was not available to me.

NOKIA OVI MAPS RACING
And with the OVI Maps being free, the next best thing was OVI Maps Racing which allows you to race your little car in your location, wherever you are. Nice? No? Ok, lets go through this.

This is a game where you can choose from a 15 pre-set tracks or use the OVI GPS to get a fix on your location and hence a map for you to customise your own tracks. Then you can race down on it.

Just like the title says.

Here, this is where you can choose to go online or
select the tracks already in the game.

And so, I chose the ONLINE version and fired up
the OVI Maps. As soon as it gets a GPS lock, I am
ready. The last time, I did not do this but switched
on the WIFI instead (well, it did say 'ONLINE' ma)

Yep, I got the nice GPS satellites relaying info
to my Nokia 5800 now.

And then back to the game.......... aw shucks. Fail.
And I am so not driving all the way to KLCC for
it to generate the map either. Or even Genting.

So, now I went to the 'OFFLINE' mode and choose
my little car instead. Yeah, the yellow one is more
manageable as I crash a lot with the other two.

In the pre-selected tracks, you can test race your
car and after the first lap, you will be racing with
yourself, i.e., your 'ghost' car from the previous
lap. At first, I thought I picked up another racer
via Wifi........ then I noticed the stupid crashes and
silly mistakes of the ghost car, which was , well, me.

And so, after awhile, I got bored and created my own
track. Bear in mind, the pre-loaded tracks are limited
and I suspect, so is the location map if I successfully go
get a map for my location. Anyway, the route making
stage is fairly simple. You just tap on the arrow at each
junction to signify the route while the top left would
show you the rough track you're making.

After that, its time for a 'Test Drive' and unlike
Perodua's Alza, you do not need to pay RM100
deposit.

OK, so now, I decided to make a Paris track since
the one above was boring. Too bad I could not make
the track pass through Arc De Triomphe. You could
not even do this in real life.

And so, on to the 'Test Track'. As usual, I crashed,
went 'off-road', crashed, and well, crashed again.
And I hate the narrow streets which allows only
one car per side, which makes me crash a lot.
Plus, the turn warning was too fast or short
which made me go to the wrong street if
there was a fork in the road.

But hee hee, I passed Arc De Triomphe!

And so, its a nice game and the controls are either touch-screen, which I was afraid of cracking since in some corners, you tend to get too excited and might press harder than usual. Still, its a nice game for when you need to pass the time. But there were other features such as sharing with your friends which, on the Internet, said, you need to send the track file via email and not just share on-line or something. Plus, because of the map or your location, the radius is probably less than a mile.

Almost a Hero today.....

Summary: Crawled around and found broken fuse.
Replaced and machine worked again. Then the
Leader discovered the blade not working and
now, my name is mud. Ha ha ha ha

Trip to Pasar Road

[06.03.2010 22:00]

Well, here we go again. Pasar Road. This time, and like the time before, I have a mission. This time, I am going to look for some battery casing and also suitable LEDs for someone's halo project. And this time, I got sidetracked.....

First and foremost, meet the RM200 plus
spotlight LED. Its bright.

And yet, its cool to the touch. I was so tempted to
get one but since its running on 240v mains, its
not such a good idea after all. But this is suitable
as garden lights or something to that effect.

Do you remember those video lights that the
cameramen used when they come up to your
table during a wedding dinner? Its that bright.

Not sure how many Watts is in there but if there
is any indication within this 1cm by 1cm square,
I would say its 9Watts unless each LED element
is more than that.

Once I got my main shopping done, it was onwards to
next door where I need to have a look at those battery
casings. They have variations from 4AA's to 3AA's to
2AA's, but no AAA battery versions. So, I took one of
each.....

Including this 9volt battery holder, which might
be the same used in Joker's remote detonator
in Batman Begins, if he uses it, of course.

So tempted to get these but I am out of budget already

Lunch
As far as I am concerned, having lunch in Pasar Road is difficult. There are so many shops and roadside stalls to choose from. Because this is predominantly a Chinese area, you have a lot of Chinese food. But for old time's sake, I still go to the Malay stall in Pudu Plaza. This was the place we (my techs and I) use to eat when we're in Pasar Road.

My Lunch costs me Rm8.00 including the Ice Coffee.
One thing I like this type of Malay food is that its
full of chilies and other hot stuff.

But that is not all, they also have potatoes and
tempei as well, which are my favourite.

Another tempei dish which I am not sure what this
round thing was called. Its not petai, though

Lastly, the fish. Yes, I love this type of dish. But
for the fish, I would prefer those 'catfish' types.
Still, with this type of sauce, any fish would do.

The Haul
OK, wiht the kids safely in bed, its time to open my treasures.......

(L-R) Components all in a bag, Battery cases and
some 'new' red LEDs

The LED bargraph is for me to test on the Boba Fett
display but with four LEDs per segment, its going to
drain the battery fast. Then the small SMD white LEDs
for a halo (but later on, after some discussion, they're
not suitable. Damn. Money wasted) and the square
red LEDs. There are four LEds in there, which accounts
for the 8 pins.

Using the flash, you can see the 'wasted' white
LEDs. In the foreground, I bought more white
LEDs and also, they're not going to be used for
the Halo too. That's RM30.00 gone to waste.
If only my Y!M and E-Mail was working well.
Maybe I should not be buying these until its
confirmed for testing......

Someone's feeling happy...

[06.03.2010 1526]

...because I downloaded more games
for my Nokia 5800. So, Winnie the
Pooh is safe for the moment.

The crossing of legs

[05.03.2010 2232]

Well, I am stumped. There she was, doing her homework all by herself while Mommy was helping Kaelynn, when I decided to check on her.....

See anything funny?

Yeah, she is crossing her legs!
How and where she learnt this
I do not know. Or is it a natural
thing for girls?

Meanwhile, for the tomboyish
Kaelynn, she has her own style....

Rainy Friday

[05.03.2010 16:36]

Today is Friday. And also, today is the last day I will be at this particular department. Its a nice but dangerous place where I get to learn a lot of new things. However, there is a downside, in the sense that this place is hot. With temperatures fluctuating between 34º to 36ºC, I sweat so much that I did not have anything left to contribute to the common urinal. But if you're looking for salt, its on my shirt.

Still, this place is a lot of fun as its entirely a new experience for me. Then came the rain, which cooled down the place. And also my mood. Don't ask me why but for that particular afternoon, I just felt so nostalgic and lethargic too. Yeah, its a tiring place.

And with the rain, the temperature dropped to 31ºC
which not only cools the place but my feelings as well.

Why I am so busy

[05.03.2010 10:45]

Being in a new place is sometimes scary. And sometimes, its fun. But most of all, its interesting. In my old job, the main agenda of the day is usually get the service calls sorted out and then go out and see the customer. And of course, the perks are that you get to go almost anywhere. And when you reach the customer, you can observe the nature of their business and if you're lucky, they might happen to be dealing with things that you are interested in, such as unlicensed nuclear accelerators, perfumes, male enhancement products and so on. Its like being a working tourist in Malaysia.

Now, circumstances has changed and so are my priorities. This new place is fun. And the things they do, well, its really an eye opener for me as I though I have seen everything. I learn new things there, almost everyday and when I come back, my brain is still on overdrive. So, by the time I wind down and all, its time to sleep.

Anyway, its time to move on, and hopefully, torwards to a better future.

Unfortunately, I am not authorised to show
you the things in there. And so, after passing
the Company's Intelligent Censor Filters,
I really have to apologise for the photos.

Here, you can see someone walking towards the
secret entrance to the secret department where
they do secret things behind those secret doors.

My parents went to an AGM...

...and all I got was this fried rice cupcake......

Busy... busy... busy...

Sorry there's no update for this week as I as literally up to my eyeballs on the Navigation&Strobe circuit board. Its one of those last minute snafus. The story is that I used some numbers from the Internet for this and finally, after fighting with myself, I decided to do my own timing instead. So, after hours and hours of watching Star Trek:The Motion Picture, I more or less got the timing. Its no that accurate but its close enough.

This first movie's timing is particularly difficult and trying to simulate it with a microprocessor took up more memory compared to the other timing options. Just a difference of one to four milliseconds really screwed up the whole timing. And not only that, different movie have different timing as well. And sometimes, inside the movie, I was told, the timing also changes. So, this is not a nice thing to hear.

And for the rest of the day, I was going nuts trying to calculate and convert the timing into proper flow for the program. I think, for a Form Four student, this is easy-peasy but it took me hours. It did not help either with the two girls running all over the house naked.

Anyway, its 130 in the morning and the code is finished. In a few day's time, I will program it into a microprocessor chip and we'll know if it works or not.

Anyway, this is a nice one, from one of the Forums:



Your Duck is Dead--


A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."

The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet..

"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the
duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on
its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman..
The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$1000!" she cried, "$1000 just to tell me my duck is dead!"
The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry.... If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $50, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $1000."

No more CCFL!

Whoa! Hey, wait a minute........ this is it!