Aha, it’s finally done. Behold, one of the largest updates to the photo galleries in a long time. The university photo gallery has been online for sometime since early this year, but I’ve not actually found time to update anything nor caption any of the photos till my breather time this summer holidays.

Thankfully for that done now, though I actually take quite some musings in updating the galleries than actually seeing it as a chore :]. This post serves as a bookmark and table of content in logging all these album entries before I go about revisiting my travel dairies for each of the individual trips in detail with their own respective blog posts each, going more in depth of the photos in the galleries itself. There are also additional photo stitch panoramas which I am still in the midst of compiling, so I guess that’s something to look forward here under the travel section!

Glad I had one of these many chores looming over my head cleared before term starts in a month’s time. In the meantime, do check out the various new galleries I have listed. You can also access it directly by clicking on “university” on the links on the left under the gallery section.

Musings in London, with time to spare!

London for a walk!

Natural history museum

Sights along the Thames!

These photos in the first section encompasses random photos I take on my regular trips to London, which is not too far off where I stay in Cambridge. The city is always buzzing with events and parades, let be meeting up with friends studying in the various city colleges there as well. London is a relatively safe world class city with an ethnic melting pot and many things to see, their museums are no exception either.

Cardiff wales and Christmas with Aunt Jenny

Cardiff castle

Christmas stayover!

1207 Oaiham castles

These next photos are taken last winter during my trip to Cardiff in wales followed by a Christmas stay over at at an old family friend’s place for a Christmas dinner. It’s also the first time I get to stay with a British family, so it was quite an eye opener for me.

Trip to Alton towers.

There is no roller coaster too scary for me! much to the others on the trip too who never quite saw the thrills you get from the fantastic coasters alton towers have to offer. Alton is widely know to be a pioneer in few of their roller coasters still in operation today, like be the first diving, inverted and flying coasters (That includes the first corkscrew coaster in the world too, now defunct)

Nemesis rocks!

Oblivion

Flying on Air!

The Lake District

Ambleside beaches

Steamer in Ullswater

Mountains of Keswick

The lake district is one of the most scenic sights in the whole of Britain, possibly said to be the “yellowstone of UK”, the views offered in the vicinity are breathtaking given the number of lakes and mountains around the area, providing endless opportunities for mountain goers and trekkers alike.

That is not all, you can view all of them and more at the university photo gallery.

Upon my return back to Singapore for the summer holidays, the Marina bay sands resort is one of my few places must visit places before I head back to the UK for my next university term. I remembered passing by the ECP from the airport ogling at the newly glass-cladded monstrosities, standing on a once large undeveloped piece of reclaimed prime land, which never quite saw the light of development until the conceiving of the IR and construction more than 3 years ago.

It’s one to brag about too, the Marina Bay Sands in a nutshell is an integrated resort (IR) fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. Developed by Las Vegas Sands, it is billed as the world’s most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion (US$5.7 billion), including cost of the reclaimed prime land.

A good way to get started off the Sands is to arrive offsite, let be taking public transport such as the MRT to the Promenade MRT Station on the Circle Line or parking around the flyer/millennia walk area and taking a short walk over to the resort- where you can really appreciate the sights along the way to your destination. The resort will be served by the Bayfront Station on the Downtown Line in 2013.

The helix bridge link

Peeks of the IR through the Helix

CBD from the Bridge

You will see yourself hitting the Youth Olympics park, presumably not a one-off item created for the games but I believe a place marked in stone as the venue of the world’s first Youth Olympics. The Helical bridge, widely known by engineers as one of the most structurally stable designs conceived from nature is flaunted in full glory over the marina bay. A dedicated road bridge runs parallel and serves the IR directly together with few active bus services.

You will have the option of the main entrance to the shopping complex or the bay-side pavilion at the end of the bridge. A 120,000 square meter, convention center resides adjacent to the shopping complex. There is also an Art & Science museum, the iconic Lotus shaped amphitheatre, sands theatres, complimented by two floating pavilions and six “celebrity chef” restaurants.

Impressive and large was the shopping area on first impression only to be greeted disappointingly, largely by unfinished works despite it’s official opening nearly 2 months ago. The shopping centre is still largely under renovation, with half of it only open and accessible to shoppers.

Convention center, shops & casino

Inside the main building

The casino entrance

I guess Sands might have their operational objectives in place. With the casino and convention center possibly being the biggest revenue draws, it’s not surprising to see them all primed and operational in stark contrast to the sawdust still around most of the other less important attractions.

Humorously, a small “river” spans the width of the shopping area, which could be mistaken for a fountain/canal. Unlike most Casinos in Vegas, I was still torn to finding a theme for the Marina Sands resort. It’s not quite Venice with the boats but not in any way “Singaporean” in any way too with a few Asian themed boats to add to the “oriental feel”. With a casino nearby, I guess the stores around the area have quite a fight to share for when punters.

The Casino is undeniably the major highlight of the attraction, let be exclaimed to be one of the
a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. Given strict gambling rules in Singapore, the design of the Sands resort involves having the casino as a separate isolated entity as with the hotel and the convention center.

The iconic hotel blocks

Hotel front facade

The tower interior

In contrast, I remembered the Casino gaming grounds in Vegas notorious for being just about everywhere, even a simple trip to the restaurant, hotel or lifts involves cutting through lines of jackpot machines and dealer tables, passing by most of the Casino at a go. You can either love or hate this.

I’ve not personally been into the Marina Sands Casino, despite the many recommendations from people I know we’ve been in there, citing that it as a once in a lifetime-experience, even if you do not gamble in there. It looks big, with one of the most modern gambling facilities I’ve seen to date, but I think I have better uses for the $100 Singaporean entrance fee.

Come to think about it, if I were to have any affiliation with a Casino, chances are I will be working for them, knowing the science and workings of Casinos myself. It’s an interesting subject combining the musings of mathematics, probabilities, psychology (human greed) & business elements such as gaming/jackpot revenue optimisation, beats actually throwing my money on the floors. I personally do not gamble on the grounds of the odds, the Casino is just a novelty here.

Looks awfully similar to Mandarin hotel

The Rise Cafe

The CBD from the shops

The hotel blocks across the road is one of it’s kind weighing in with 2,560 rooms spanning over 3 towers each 55 floors high, all topped by a 340m-long sky park with their trademarked infinity swimming pool, which spans half the total length of the sky park itself. The sky park have capacity of 3,900 people and is too home to the world’s largest public cantilevered platform, with an overhang of 67m from the north (third) tower.

Interestingly, I remembered a remark from one of the engineers who designed the platform on the vibration analysis of the cantilever itself- despite it’s capacity to take on an excess of 1000 people dancing and stomping on it at a go (the cantilever is heavily counter-weighed on the other end of the tower 3). They even tested crowd vibration resonance tuned to various contemporary songs itself which can be played in a gig, and yes, there is actually a song blacklist for DJs.

The main hotel entrance and atrium is located at Tower 1. The atrium forms a long continuous span at ground level linking all three tower blocks through a glass covered walkway which tapers downwards towards tower 3. The cavernous open spaces in the Tower 1 lobby looks almost like that in Marina Mandarin, (which noticeably is just a few blocks away). Food-wise, there are 2 notable restaurants in the hotel itself, serving Chinese & international cuisines respectively. The latter located within the hotel’s main atrium café (rise) offers an impressive international buffet spread at $80 per head. It is so packed, the restaurant have a stand against reservations. No wine is served, unlike that at Ritz Carton with a better ambience a finer spread with a rate not too far off either.

Helical bridge all lit

Fireworks!

The IR at night

The views offered from the bay area are ones you will never see yourself getting sick of. Guests staying in the hotel will be treated to fantastic views of the Singapore skyline, whether you are on the north facing block towards the CBD or the south side overlooking the barrage, sea and the gardens by the bay. There are also occasional fireworks displays, coupled with a synchronised CBD light show.

That’s all I have of my first trip to the Sands Resort, I guess I might be back possibly next year for another peek where everything is nearing completion, not to mention also checking out the Sentosa resort as well. Cheers.

More photos of the Marina bay sands

The video essentially starts after the National anthem and lasts through the whole 5 minute firework show, ending with the president’s leave from the Padang.

This was of course contrary to my initial plan to just spend the long weekend at home watching it, seems the unexpected kind honours of attending this year’s parade at the Padang itself came very much impromptu!

Getting there was not much of a problem, with the exception of the rather packed MRT stations. The tube is in fact one of the few best ways to get there with all the crowds above ground and contrary to the bus route I taken (which actually made diversions further than what I’ve expected from the venue itself). Nonetheless I arrived on time at the venue with a good selection of grandstand seats to choose from.

Found a good seat, now wave your flags!

The bad goodie bag pile

The Durian & Sands IR from the Padang

Prior to being seated there were of course security checks and the distribution of famed goodie bags. I was not surprised that my bag items and funbox were all damaged, with their faces dented & corners ripped, considering how the logistics have them all piled up in mountains. Guess my box is not that lucky in the handling department despite it’s serial number ending with 0888 . On a bright side, thankfully there was ample food for always-hungry people like me, not to mention enough drinks in the packs to last the whole parade proper.

Having toured some parts of the marina bay since I returned to Singapore, I was initially puzzled by the fact that both the Padang and the floating platform had performing stages decked on them, so I thought there were going to be 2 concurrent venues for this year’s event. Later do I know from some of my contacts on the YOG that the floating platform was actually used for the opening ceremony the day before. In other words, given the smaller seating capacity at the Padang this year, there are actually much fewer tickets and thus more exclusivity to this year’s parade as I was told.

Overview of the flag flypast.

Neat shot of the F15 flyover

Great views with the fantastic CBD skyline

Looking back, the last time I’ve attended a live NDP parade in person was more than 10 years ago, in 1997 to be exact where I participated as a performer in the combined school choir- something which I never actually see myself doing but got to understanding and appreciating the workings into bringing about a successful NDP performance. I’ve been much of an NDP critic over the last few years then, with a benchmark of the next always being better than the last. This is also particularly true towards the NDP songs, which are always notoriously known to be too cheesy for their own good. The ones over the last year including this present one are commendable indeed.

The mobile column

Midshow fireworks

Night lighting

The parade was rather short in my opinion, lasting about 2 hours tops. I remembered past NDPs being slightly longer, or maybe the considering of the mobile column segment eating considerably into some performance time, therefore fewer performances this year.

With the exception of one band parade member fainting, performances are good, the floats this year are at least proper ones too and not some “pick up truck convert”. The lighting throughout the performances were nice as well, with the exception of those situated in front of the green grandstand, where 2 sets of coloured floodlights were constantly on blinding all the audiences sitting on the yellow grandstand.

Noticeably is the animated projection on the city hall which I last saw at the Cambridge University’s 800th Anniversary courtesy of Projection Studio London, wondered if they are responsible for the ones at this NDP too.

Forming the flag

Some of the performance pieces

The finale fireworks

The ending fireworks lasted about 5 minutes, not the longest NDP fireworks to date, but one of the most diverse with new launch points on top of buildings as well as whole new sights of the central business district and the marina bay sands. Crowd control after the event was well managed too, with everyone moved on steadily out of the venue. Humorously a looping audio reel constantly playing the background reminds you of the respective MRT station directions to head to from the event, with smooth calming instrumental jazz music.

In all a great event, fitting for Singapore’s 45 years of independence.

As what Tychus Findlay would say “Hell, it’s about time”. Yes indeed, with 12 years in the waiting since 1998, Starcraft 2 is finally released and in the hands of gamers as part of a 3 series story starting with the Terran campaign- “Wings of liberty”. The official launch party in Singapore was on today afternoon at atrium of Funan the digital lifestyle mall. Long queues snaking around the building can be seen right before noon today, with the first in line said to be camping in the mall for the last 48 hours.

I usually see great value in the games Blizzard publish, namely from their 3 flagship games and universes- Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo, I am not really a fan of the Warcraft series, particularly getting hooked on World of warcraft, despite playing the series since WC2 and all their expansions. Besides Diablo too, Starcraft has always been a series which stood close to my heart during my growing up years, let be the endless multi-player sessions with friends right after school everyday via our 56kps dial-up modems. Those were indeed the days.

No stores in Funan were stocking the game as of yet today, with the launch party being the only exclusive source of the game today. Boxed versions of the game will be available in store tomorrow with or without additional freebies/goodies depending on the store you brought your game from. Had a chat with Brian Kindregan from Blizzard who was there for the launch as well, a nice chap who also had no problems with photos!

Brian Kindregan from Blizzard- SC2 lead writer

The queues outside

And we have boxes! & boxes

The thought of Starcraft 2 is indeed nostalgic, with thoughts of reliving the good old days in pure high definition glory or visuals. Graphics had definitely improved, though anyone familiar with the old Starcraft interface will be disappointed with nothing really new introduced in the game- mostly everything being a fancy repacked remake of what is currently existing with a few additional units. On the contrary, that was exactly what Blizzard had in mind too, so that old players can simply just jump right into the game and play it just like the old game, 2 sides of the story.

The game is highly optimized for performance too, the game runs flawlessly at Ultra settings (1920×1200) with a high respectable frame rate on an i7-950 and GTX280 setup as well as a dated Q9450 and HD3870 setup at home. Will be trying the game out on my tri-screen setup at 3600×1920. Sure beats the old game fixed at 640×480.

With Wings of liberty released, Blizzard was unable to comment on the launch of the boxes campaigns for the Zerg and Protoss campaigns as well, only time will tell where more information will be released in public. In the meantime, the next Blizzard game to put your crosshairs on next will be Diablo III.

Head on!

Not an everyday scene

Wolf-off!

Showcase talk
Located in the underground bowels of the National museum, the display was made out of 99 individual replica wolves and were produced in Quanzhou, China in 2006 (from January to June). The wolves are made to follow a continuous circle, running off in a pack before leaping off into an orderly floating frenzy before coming head first into a glass wall. The glass wall symbolizes the invisible roadblocks and challenges we face in life due to miscalculated risks or greed, which will inevitably stop you dead in your tracks.

No wolves were harmed in the making of this showcase- The workshop commissioned in manufacturing these remarkable, life-sized replicas of animals are local in Cai’s hometown. First, small clay models were created as movement studies, out of which Cai subsequently developed Head On’s artist editions of cast resin wolves. However, the realistic and lifelike 99 wolves that grew out of these models and drawings possess no literal remnants of wolves. No wolves were harmed in making the exhibit. they are fabricated from painted sheepskins and stuffed with hay and metal wires, with plastic lending contour to their faces and marbles for eyes.

A running start

Take off!

Bonk!

There are two other works on display as well, Illusion and Vortex:

Illusion II (2006)
The destruction of a small exploding house packed with fireworks, exploring the contradiction between beauty and violence.

Vortex (2006)
One of Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder masterpieces, depicting thousands of wolves chasing one another in a ciruclar motion as if sucked into a vortex. The pack of wolves moves with grea tengery force and determination, simultaneously demostrating a perfect unity with organic power of the gunpowder.

About Cai Guo-Qiang
Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou City, Fujian, China. He was trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theater Academy from 1981 to 1985. Cai’s work is scholarly and often politically charged. Cai initially began working with gunpowder to foster spontaneity and confront the suppressive, controlled artistic tradition and social climate in China.

Double Bonk!

A pile of wolves

A gun powder piece

While living in Japan from 1986 to 1995, Cai explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, an inquiry that eventually led to his experimentation with explosives on a massive scale and the development of his signature “explosion events,” artistically choreographed shows incorporating fireworks and other pyrotechnics. In 1995, he moved to New York with a grant from the New York-based Asian Cultural Council, an international organization to promote artistic exchanges between Asian countries and the United States.

Be sure to check out the displays before August!

The Singapore national museum had changed quite a lot since I last visited the place a few years back. The front lobby area is still left largely intact, but though seemingly nothing much has changed on the exterior, the magic comes when you enter the building. The compound now spots an extended basement exhibition hall area, effectively increasing the exhibition floor area by a substantial amount.

Decked in modern-ish white and black it’s like the perfect showground for contemporary media- whether it’s the vast open spaces for large sculptures or the high walls to deck large paintings on. The two most interesting exhibits for the day are located in these two basement level exhibition halls, namely the Singapura 1960s exhibit and Cai Guo-Qiang’s controversial art.

The 1960s Singapore showcase
This exhibit “Singapore 1960″ celebrates a year on after 50 years of self-government. The display takes the form of a vibrant and colourful ‘live’ show set interjected with both noteworthy and quirky news articles throughout that year, all lined along the curved walls of time, separating the main exhibit partitions. Interesting to note are the news, advertisements and even comics shown on the papers then, some do really stood the change of time. The show features over 300 artifacts will be presented in the manner of art installations.

Interior of the museum

1960 Singapore exhibit

Clothing of the yesteryear

Featured too in the exhibit is a 100-year old Strohmenger grand piano which used used in the composing of the national anthem, sexy sarong kebayas, the Aw Boon Haw jade collection, fully sequinned Chinese opera costumes, hundreds of popular vinyl records and publications, two pairs of sweat-stained boxing gloves and a kitschy diorama; these were some of the icons that dotted post-WWII Singapore’s socio-cultural landscape.

The display is free for viewing and rather professionally done in my opinion. There are some cultural spaces familiar to Singaporeans then such as the eclectic Haw Par Villa and the defunct neon-lit ‘Worlds’ amusement parks. The whole display is rather small in my opinion and I believe could be expanded to show more of Singapore’s part than just that particular year, but that is just mostly it, would love to see more.

Passage through time

Niffy displays

Wall of vinyls

Commendably, in comparison to several museums I’ve been in London, particularly the Tate, British, Natural History and Science museums, which I can vouch for are world class museums, the Singapore national museum in my personal opinion not bad on that standard, with the exception of the smaller exhibition space.

I will touch on Cai Guo-Qiang’s gallery in a separate post.

And so the exams are over, the party’s out and I am back in Singapore for another type of party. I never saw myself coming home so soon, but time really flies. Looking back, the flight back was not too much of a killer too and I guess I have much of the airline on-board flight entertainment system to keep my sanity at bay. Think I am starting to get rather accustomed to the 13 hours odd long flight from London and it will be a journey I will see myself traveling more often these days, really beats the traumatic near 18 hour flights I’ve taken to the states.

On yes, I’ve visited few cool places before returning. Got the visit few of my favorite theme park attractions as well as catching some sights at the Lake District. The views there are spectacular! I will be posting a massive update of my holiday trip in the UK- that provided if I can actually find time to get all my photos and blog posts sorted, not to mention getting some panoramic photos stitched for the albums.

So what I can say after spending about a year abroad in UK? Well for starters I guess the environment is definitely different. I guess the same can be said for those in the states as well. The people abroad are more sociable, friendly and courteous. It’s surprising what you can end up chatting with a stranger at the pub, train, bus or even at the grocery check-out counter. This culture is literally non-existent in Singapore. Moreover, I’ve got to meet many people from all over the world in my college, picked french as a new language and survived my first year in college!

The thing which I really looked forward to upon my return is the food, my family and yes did I mention food? Eating out in the UK is ridiculously expensive, a plate of chicken or char siew rice in Chinatown London can set you back about $10SGD and it’s the same everywhere. The humidity is quite a killer here too, and just when I was really starting to love and appreciate the weather in the UK, it’s sweat town here again.

After more than a week back home, here are some minute observations I’ve made:

Singapore oh Singapore
- Place is not necessarily cleaner, but spit is more evident on the streets.
- The waiting time for public transport is very fast (30 mins min in UK)
- Will never cycle on the roads, motorists have no respect for cyclists here.
- MRT and bus rides reach their destinations trailblazing fast.
- It takes getting used to not greeting people in public (being more unfriendly)
- The urinals here are on average mounted 10-20cm lower. *Bends lower*

Language was a very interesting thing, not many people in the UK can actually understand Singaporean English- I was told we do have an ascent which is distinctively different of that of the Chinese nationals. It’s so unique that we even use it as a tool to sieve out the Malaysians and Singaporeans from a pile of Asians!

Time and again, I often see our British friends eve and awe at the simplicity of the sentences which completely made no sense in English but carried more weight than the few words we use to describe what we actually meant. “Got already?”

Nonetheless, the longer you stay abroad, you will start to pick up the proper English language and pronunciation, now it’s time to unlearn that and switch myself to Singaporean mode and just… Enjoy Lah!

Looking back over my blogging absence (and my backlog of blog draft which I never see myself getting typed out for publishing), yes alot had happened. Exams literally kept me in the library nearly 18 hours a day studying. Before that, May was a month full of events and birthdays & I was literally in London almost every other week.

So that might possibly be the reasons for the long lack of updates here. Seems the opportunity cost to blog got the better of me. Somehow, to make matters worst, I’ve caught on the Dr Who bug as well, not quite a particularly good time to start on a habit 2 weeks before the exams.

And yes I will be back in Singapore on the 22th June, with my flight planned on the 21st June. I do hope that the rush of humidity and tropics don’t catch me by too much of a surprise then, as I am starting to get real adapted to the temperate climate here.

More to come.

7 day work week, 9am to 2am, no work or health benefits

Haha, that very much describes my employment benefits on my current occupation. Life as a student do have their ups and downs and I bet no one can deny that exam time is one of the main nightmares one can face. Where it’s not the long late nights studying, surviving only on coffee or energy drinks.

The picture on the left is my college library at 2am today, something I myself will see more often in the coming days. There are usually many sides to this at this time of the year, most will start studying, some will just laugh at it in their face only for reality to set in later, some just don’t study at all. Ironically, for most overseas students including Singaporeans, it’s the “mugging season” (a term strangely only synonymous among Singaporeans).

Everyone here all have an ‘A’ level background and most Singaporean students here are either scholars and/or top students from their Junior colleges. With it comes their own set of expectations and habits which in my observation can be quite hard to break! Not to mention the perception of relativity as well. For instance saying “fail” does not physically mean failing, it means that they did not get their string of “As” which they are so accustomed to getting, go figure!

I still have lots to learn about them, just like an anthropologist curiously discovering a new sapient species- somehow what I’ve discovered so far are that they are able to withstand spending all their time studying locked up in their room without any social interaction & they most often do it in secrecy. It really interesting for a Polytechnic kid like me to see how they “tick”, considering I am the only of my kind here!

For my effective study methods, I tend to prefer group studies, as it allows interaction and able to “know and learn what you don’t know” but it seems that the culture here (or maybe in my immediate group of Singaporeans) things are rather different, everyone here is like all out for themselves. I did manage to form a study group with some locals and Malaysians but strangely it seems that most Singaporeans here prefer to study alone, well until I drag them out of their closets! Blunder!

Time ticks towards the exams I never thought would come so soon, time is as precious as something money can’t buy even there are opportunity costs for typing this blog post now even at 4am after my night revisions and lacking sleep the next day- a viscous cycle. I never saw myself studying so hard before, I have 4 papers to take in a little more than a week’s time and I am no where close to even finishing revision let be having enough time to do past year papers. Then there will always come the time where you just keep asking yourself why are you doing this to yourself, or how the heck did you get yourself into this shit, is really studying so hard all that matters? In the end, does it even matter?

All my seniors seeing our state will simply smile and shrug us off, telling us to relax, it’s only our first year! But mind you I am not looking for a reason to be complacent and the thought of the workload being harder next year is simply not reassuring as well.

It’s a fact that given more than enough time, anyone can get good grades in an exam. It’s the ability to do well with a given set of restrictions, in this case a breakneck lecture pace and lack of time which sets students apart, irregardless of their intelligence or abilities. Somehow it seems not about being the brightest of the lot but the most exam smart (which makes you wonder whether is it against exam objectives) and one of the reasons why I personally prefer coursework and projects (Seconded by my director of studies too). We do get projects on the third year, but there are still exams! After all, the exams here as exclaimed by lecturers are “designed to tax even the most capable students”. Bummer!

Anyway, the grades for the first and second years here in Cambridge don’t count to the final grade. So somehow the thought of just being able to get on the second year is a simple objective for many here, including my of the local British kids here (who are still partying and playing this time of the year). Few medics I know in other colleges are still playing computer games with exams just next week.

I hate studying!

“I tried so hard and got so far. But in the end, it doesn’t even matter” – Linkin Park

Today marks the date where I finally finished all my example papers (tutorial homework) for my freshman year. These little buggers always try to get the best of you as homework in it’s worst form, they just sap the life out of you when you try to tackle them all day long, to the extent of sometimes taking a week for the to be done. What’s more these homework just keep coming, with about 10 of them for this last term in Easter, with only 5 weeks of curriculum, I never thought I did get them all finished, with time to spare for exam revision. With that, I can formally start on revision for my exams which is due sadly in 2 weeks time.

I never saw myself working so hard before, well not that I can actually remember myself doing so neither did I ever saw myself doing in Polytechnic as well. Back then I was strictly an afternoon worker with my evenings for leisure, I was flexible with my time for my commitments such as working part-time or track & field training. Presently, I often seeing myself taking sacrifices from my personal time to get work done. Currently, my sleep pattern’s screwed and I always see myself working ploughing through school in the mornings and working on school work in my room or library till late. Even time on hour-long train journeys are good time for revisions!

I am not here to complain the obvious, these are of course, part and parcel of university studies. The pace of learning is very fast indeed. In comparison, something which takes 1 semester (6 months) in polytechnic (e.g the CAD course) are all taught within 1 month here. And it’s generally the same for all the other subjects as well. Go figure! And catch your breath while you are at it!

Coming from a polytechnic background did somewhat give me a headstart in some of the content taught here. As a matter of fact, I was actually familiar with about 60% of the content taught in school. With the exception of myself having forgotten most of what I’ve learnt (my bad, that’s why I have my poly notes here too!), most of the content are more theoretical as I come to realize- Much of the content learnt in Poly is down and dirty and straight to point application of methods or formulas to get things done. University engineering goes very much deeper on the surface of what I’ve learnt, such as in-depth derivations & theories, which often always seems to have to uncanny ability to derive powerful formulas from first principles (or literally nothing)- something which will make any poly student squirm if they encountered it in the poly curriculum. Well, at least that’s making sense into all the formulas which I used to take for granted.

On the other hand, much of my current studies focuses on theories and not much of practical applications and processes, something which I only have the advantage of being exposed to in the polytechnic. For instance, for engineering techniques, “injection molding”, “CNC milling techniques”, “radiography non-destructive testing”, “3D printing”, or “Investment casting” are just plain text on the notes without any substance to most students here, particularly those without a technical background.

With the exception of the availability of such facilities here only on special request or specialist university engineering clubs (such as my engineering eco-racing club), to most students here (particularly most Singaporean ‘A’ level students here) they are only focused on just exams, memorization and route learning, who can get really freaky if you see how they study (or “mug”) at times.

I can’t deny all study gives you the good grades, but that makes you a dull person nor a better engineer. Sometimes, I wonder am I putting myself at a disadvantage by being more of a practical person- preferring tackling real engineering projects, research than studying for exams (belch).

Well, I guess it’s back to study then, if that gives you the grades, then I guess I have to be in for it, after all there’s only less than 3 weeks before the exams, when I will be too finally done with my freshman year.

Before ending I would like to quote an anonymous but rather popular-wise college saying: “Getting into the university of your choice is one part of the story, surviving your freshman year is a whole different thing!”

How true, haha!

As I was told by him, he will be doing engineering science in place of liberal arts. Looking back, I remembered him as a humble junior who sought my advice for overseas university applications last autumn, presumably where I guess he was busy with all his university applications. He’s a guru in the electronics engineering lab and almost everyone I talked to in the polytechnic robotics laboratory knows of the legendary Kuriakin. Ironically, I have not met him in person!

He’s all over the Straits times too. Somehow, after reading the article and coffee shop talk among my peers, it gave many an impression of “first” as in the first polytechnic student. Though I think in the context of the article, it’s actually meant only Singapore polytechnic’s first student. So I am not particular sure of the accuracy of the report by Amelia Tan in the papers- I do know of polytechnic students who are studying undergrad in Harvard, so I am not particularly sure of the context of the “first” claim.

Nonetheless, we do have quite alot to learn from these stories. Particularly about rejects, personally I was rejected by NUS and NTU for 2 consecutive years. I never looked back nor accepted any of their offers when I was given the offer to study at my current university. It goes to show that sometimes, there will never be a roadblock on the road. Just keep trying and you will make it in life, and that’s how it should always be.

Well done for Kuriakin, I believe his achievement is not only a milestone for his family and himself, but for the polytechnic as well. My only small gripe is that he broke my polytechnic record for distinctions (which stood for only one short year!) obtained in the polytechnic by only subject (Grrrr) .

Strangely somehow I often get pats on back from students in my graduation year (jokingly) comforting me about the shattering of the distinction record, often citing along the lines of: “For your time, you were the best”, well not that it actually bothers me. Haha, guess the old will always have to make in for the new, which can only get better!

Anyway records are meant to be broken right? GO SP!

You can read more on the ST article here.

Cheers

The event is supported by companies such as Siemens, Ford, Prodrive and Sembcorp just to name afew, the program aims to advance education in the subjects of sustainable engineering and technology to young people.

Building the car
The thought of participating in the competition under representation of Cambridge university eco-racing club, their most prominent creations being Infinity and Endeavor solar cars which competed in the world solar challenge in Australia last year. This Greenpower race is a subset of the eco-racing events we all participate in.

Chassis done!

Looking finished already !

Loaded and ready to go

The car was first conceived through in campus discussions near the start of term, mainly through pen and paper talks over coffee or planned meetings by our workstations, where the final plans are put on CAD model and evaluated before putting the solid plans down for the planned final build.

We were fortunate to have Jan from Tag-on, a friend our team manager got us in contact with. He had participated in the Greenpower race for many years before, with lots of experience on the races behind him. He serves much as a technical consultant in my team’s build with his engineering and technical expertise, as well as sponsoring supplies, tools and providing a sizable and equipped workshop for us to work in.

We started off with purchased tubular steel tubes where they are all marked, band-sawed and bent to shape and size to form the whole steel chassis and roll cage. Thereafter the sub assemblies such as the drive train, steering mechanism and brakes are individually custom fabricated with off-the-shelf parts are bolted onto the main chassis. The steering column was interesting as we planned on an anti-Ackerman design with reasonable camber and caster angles for less over steer on the corners. We employed a composite home made carbon fiber body shell laid over painstalking made foam molds for the body work.

At Goodwood!

Pre-race scrutineering

Shaun’s not the Stig!

Jan is a nice guy, to the extent of allowing us to work on the car in his home yard over the weekend and providing transport back to Cambridge (when we work too late and miss the last hour-long bus ride home) as well. The lunch treats prepared by his wife were always something to look forward to after a whole long day of fabrication. Did I mention he have 2 nice dogs (a lad and a collie) as well?

We entered the Greenpower race as a corporate challenger, on the same line as the manufacturer teams such as Jaguar land rover. The car build took approximately 100 man hours of work, it was completed in time for the race on 25th April 2010 and transported via trailer to the Goodwood track early on race day for the afternoon race.

The race
There where about 30 teams who participated in our race event. There were the favorites, veterans, defending champions as well as rookie newcomers like us. To us the race was all completely new to us, particularly the experience to plan and manage a racing team with team strategies, pit stops and driver changes, it was literally almost racing poetry in motion. The best part is that it’s all pure fun for a motorhead like me.

The busy pit lanes

Grandstand pass

It did well.

We got through the pre-race scrutineering in time on race day for a picture perfect flag off and race. We started the race with a 3 driver strategy with one battery swap (refuel) in mid point of the 4 hour race. Our build mate, Fred got to go first at the starting grid, followed by myself and Jan finishing the third of the driver shift for the checkered flag.

Our car broke down a few times, but it’s quite a fighter with our quick MacGyver slap on fixes which got it back in running in no time. It finally succumbed after 3 hours of continuous running when the motor burned out on Jan’s stint where he pushed the motor for overtaking.

We didn’t expect to win, but to let this participation be an eye-opener and to gain as much experience for next’s year’s race- where we have a better understanding of the race functions. There were limitations too in this first race too, considering the lack of time and a rush job to actually have any final finishings for the car. There are lessons to learn for many too, especially for most students in the team not street smart with technical or practical expertise and only armed with theoretical knowledge of the A levels- what you learn in the text books will not always apply and work in real situations. And I am glad my path in the Singapore Polytechnic served me greatly- simplicity is the key! But it all went better than expected, anyway, it could had been worse.

It was my first time racing at Goodwood too and I can say, it’s not a bad race after all.

View more photos of the racing weekend trip in the Greenpower photo album.

It was meant to serve the power requirements by the Thames and built in two stages between 1947 & 1963, it closed in 1981 and was converted into a modern art gallery and tourist attraction by architects Herzog & de Meuron and contractors Carillion, retaining much of the station’s trademark features such as it 99m tall smoke stack. The building still retains some (but not much) of it’s power grid functionalities too- The southern third of the building was retained by the French power company EDF Energy as an electrical substation.

The iconic facade

The vast turbine hall

Special displays

Tate is a name synonymous with many brands, such as the Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, and Tate Online, part of the group now known simply as Tate. The collections in Tate Modern consist of works of international modern and contemporary art dating from 1900 onwards and are housed in 3 of the 7 available floors the building have to offer.

Turbine Hall (Level B1)
In it’s active days, the Turbine Hall houses electricity generators of the old power station, the area is cavernous and is five floors tall with 3400sqm of floorspace, giving it a rather neat industrial feel and ambience typically found in large warehouses or airplane hangars. The place is usually employed for the display large exhibition items or trade/exhibition shows, including specially-commissioned works by contemporary artists. The large entrance gates leading to the turbine hall is the only limit to the size of the works which can be featured in here. The first floors also serves as the main entrance to the museum (as well as an escalator leading straight up to the galleries on the 2nd floor) and the ticketing counters to few of the paid galleries are located here as well.

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View of the interior of the Tate from the 1st floor Turbine hall.(Fullsize)

Gifts and Tate café (Level 1)
The museum main gift shop is located here featuring a library of contemporary art books for sale as well as Tate specific merchandise, cards and toys. The shop space is reasonably big. Staircases serving all the above floors can be found here and can be accessed by the gift shop entrance. The Level 1 Gallery is a smaller gallery located on the north side of the building which houses exhibitions of cutting edge contemporary art. Its exhibitions normally run for 2 – 3 months.

Contemporary Art Gallery (Level 2 & 3)
The Tate Collection is on display on levels 2 and 3 of the building, while level 4 houses large temporary exhibitions and a small exhibition space on level two houses work by contemporary artists. Here you can find a variety of wall paintings, as well as nice open concept sculptures. The main lobby areas leading to the galleries have this neat timeline printed near the top of the ceiling showing every single bit of achievement in the arts scene all etched into a chronological timeline.

take on human geography

like my dorm laundry pile

The open displays

Some of the displays are hilariously funny- something which can be uniquely only found in modern art and in stark contrast to the more serious kind of detailed type of artworks and painting evident in the medieval era. There was even a room completely filled with Lithographs giving it very retro feel.

Controversy are some of the fuelings of modern art, some will just make you go huh? while some looks better possibly if it were done by an eight year old. Not to mention mind bending air works which require you to really see art is a distorted perspective or play mind games with you, I guess that’s the magic of modern art I guess. The beauty of art very much lies in the beauty of the beholder and it’s interesting that such art brings the idea of perception to a whole different new level.

The café on the top floors not only serves to fill you up, but the outdoor seating also offers great unobstructed views of the Millennium bridge over the River Thames, as well as St Paul’s in the background. It provides a rather good vantage point for photo opportunities by the Bankside.

Major temporary exhibitions (Level 4)
As with levels 3 and 5, level 4 is broken into two large exhibition areas. This is used to stage the major temporary exhibitions with an entry fee (museum passes/members enter for free). These exhibitions normally run for three or four months at ago, often with a full re-themeing of the floor’s lobby attracting visitors without the museum passes to walk-in for an entrance fee. These two exhibition areas can be combined to host a single exhibition, in retrospective to the size and number of the works to be featured. (E.g. For the Gilbert and George exhibition).

Members & corporate only areas (Level 6 & 7)
Level 6 houses an exclusive members area where supporters are pampered. The 7th floor is a corporate hospitality area spotting floor to ceiling glass walls and corporate function suites offering great views overlooking the London skyline and the River Thames. These places are open to members, exhibitors or company bookings on a reservation basis.

Overall, the Tate is a great refresh from the more traditional take on art, particularly being saturated by historical displays on the many older museums on my last visits. These days, modern art is becoming far from unacceptable as a form of mainstream art and I am glad, if not thrilled to see what kind of contraptions modern artists can serve up next on the platter (sometimes literally). Not that I am particularly sick of medieval art, but it’s a take from the conventional definition of an “art piece” often filling up the highs and lows of what one can perceive as reputable art given it’s unpredictably and the controversy it draws- typical traits of modern art these days and that is what the Tate aims to bring forward.

View more photos of the museum in my Tate trip photo album.

The big question whether the phone is a geninue item is still open for debate. Gizmodo even dissected the phone to find quality Apple-labeled boards and circuity inside, typical that of apple products and reaffirming that it is not some China clone or rip off. Most of the parts are minitureized, including the introduction of a micro-sim card, all to make way for a larger internal, non-removable battery. Not only does it show up in iTunes, Xcode, and System Profiler, but it has different product identifiers than the 3G or 3GS.

Unfortunately, the phone was wiped and they couldn’t get it to boot out of recovery mode, but a number of new features and changes are evident just by holding it. Obviously, it’s thinner than the 3GS, with smaller internal components and a larger battery inside the metal frame.

Here is a list of the observable features in the new 4th generation iPhone:

I had been considering the 4G iPhone as my next phone, with Android as a very suitable contender. I’ve always had my eye on Android phones even before I’ve got my 3Gs, the 3Gs failed in many ways to make my expectations of a modern smartphone, I mean I was real fad up that I could not even use the phone as a mass storage device, nor even put PDF files into it locally to read e-book (I have to email them to myself to get them on the phone). It does not support Bluetooth stereo controls, (something even my 5 year old phones can do), not to mention unable to change message ringtones as well. The iPhone was just rubbish. However, it does make up for it for it’s style, substance, usability and shitloads of fun and crazy apps, maybe that is just the reason why I am still using it today.

Hello Android!
Android is really catching up on the race with Apple, with almost 50%-50% smartphone share in the US. Even when seeking opinions for my next phone, almost everyone recommends me an Android without a doubt- Strangely.

On the Android area, I did have the HTC Incredible in sight. This phone can be what I call a worthy upgrade from my Nokia N95 8GB and iPhone 3Gs (which was not much of an upgrade in anyway). It sports a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 8GB of internal storage, 748MB of ROM, a microSD slot (with support for up to 32GB cards), an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and autofocus, 480×800 AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, and most importantly, Android 2.1 with HTC’s Sense UI on-board. It records video up to 800×480 resolution at 30fps with that 8MP sensor.

One of the key area where Android phones shine is the price, the operating system, provided by google is open source, which cuts down the price of the phone by a considerable bit, a lower version of the HTC incredible, the HTC desire goes at about £350 without a contract here in the UK, the same can be said for the Incredible when it releases end this month too. The cheapest iPhone costs £450, with the 32GB 3GS going at £550, expensive!

It is true that Andriod do not have as many established apps as Apple has and I did mention that apps are what I really like about the iPhone. But what you get on the apple app store is severely regulated, which can be like a double edged sword. The Andriod marketplace may be smaller, but it’s operated on a more free-rein basis and is speedily growing larger everyday!

Remote wipe? A possible anti-jailbreaking measure?
The thing which strikes me the most on the iPhone is the need to Jailbreak it to make the phone is anyway useful beyond the scope of the common idiot it was designed for. Apple had long been fighting the battle against jailbreaking phones, whether it’s the harsh warranty voiding of jailbroken phones, or bricking phones with updates. The ability to wipe this new iPhone NAND memory remotely does paint some interesting speculations of what Apple have in store for potential jailbreakers. Maybe jailbreaking could even be hardware prevented in this new phone, just like the newer generation 3Gs phones. I mean when I spend almost a fortune on a phone, I want it to work how I want it to me and not use it as if I am a criminal or something. That’s another tick for me in the Android department.

This new iPhone does look real good and sleek, but based on these preliminary specs, the HTC incredible trashes it completely. Currently I am leaning and maybe might go Android afterall, impress me Apple.

I was at the science museum early this month in London, it’s one of the few museums which I really wanted to visit in a long time, (considering what they have on display actually floats my boat!) but never always been able to make the opening times (which closes usually at 5pm-6pm). This is so as learnt on my last visit to the nearby National History Museum- you do really need almost a whole afternoon to explore the place. I guess I was too ambitious trying to visit 2 museums on the same day!

Nonetheless I had the chance. Located in the heart of South Kensington, London beside the Imperial college London, the museum does looks old and colonial on the outside, but it is a whole different beast on the inside. It is bursting with modern glass facades, animated and LED displays. Even the lifts have an open concept, with all the innards exposed and tunneling in between the stairwells which circle the lift shaft, serving all full 7 exhibition floors (including basement) of the museum.

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London Science Museum Main Atrium. (Fullsize)

Entry to the museum requires some basic security screening, such as bag checks, etc. Thereafter you will be greeted by a long front museum walk (called the energy hall) which spans from the entrance along the main atrium of the museum. There are plenty to explore, each with their own unique sections to float any science-going enthusiast.

The main museum walk

The flight section

Engines galore!

On the ground floor, there are the space sections as well as another huge area called “the making of the modern world” which features all the key technologies and machines which made the world it is today. One which particularly caught my eye is a genuine Ford Model T on display which is the world’s first production car, it’s pure eye candy for any engineer!

There are many hidden surprises throughout the museum as well. There is even a full IMAX 3D theater hidden in the building, as well as the Force field ride which is essentially a motion simulator ride offering an “ultimate multi-sensory experience with sight, sounds, touch and even smell”.

There are also smaller capsule motion simulator rides on the 3rd floor for about £2.50 per ride for those on a budget. Nearby is this large area called the launch pad which is essentially a large play area for children- there are loads of gizmos, gadgets and simple machines setup like the a science center to teach children some physical principals of science through play and discovery.

The place is popular with children and adults alike, with displays situated for all ages and geek/nerd levels- Meaning it caters to anyway who gawks at the awesomeness of a spaceships, antique cars, motion simulator or a thermionic valve computer- a place for everybody. Other sections includes the ship (marine) section, energy, computing & mathematics, agriculture, telecommunications, health, Medicine and veterinary. There was a special exhibit on during my visit, called the 1001 inventions, brought in association with the Jameel foundation. Bringing people into 1000 years of science & technology with the Muslim heritage in our world.

The Force Field

Early mechanical automation

To infinity and beyond!

The marine section was rather impressive, with all the detailed and intricate scaled models of large cruise ships, naval vessels as well as engines on display. However, the place which I really liked will have to be the flight section despite it being mostly just a collection of old propeller, jet engines and aircraft all hung form the ceilings in a hangar-like environment.

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The Museum’s aircraft display hangar. (Fullsize)

One particularly thing I really love about Museums in London is the absence of admission charges. There are still many more museums to visit in London, the VA museum, the imperial war museum and so on. So far the only others I’ve been will be the National History & British Museum. And come to think about it, I had not actually totally explored these museums either, which only mean possible revisits too.

More photos of the Science Museum visit.

Good that I am still exercising with the exams coming in a little more than a month’s time. After all, a healthy body is a healthy mind!

The entrance to Granchester is surprisingly not a far walk from my college, all you need to do is to take a shortcut through few blocks of houses from Barton road past the college main gate and you will be greeted by the distinctive park gantry gates in no time. My dorm block mate and myself cycled to the area in a quickie, meeting a senior from queens who have her dormitory located inside the housing estates. It’s a very isolated and remote old block which used to be a school until it was brought over by the college to house senior students out of the campus grounds and into the nearby residential.

From there, there was a shortcut through some park and mashes before hitting the river’s main trail. There we met few more others from the trekking group of the morning and off we started on the walk into the heart of Grantchester itself. The path trail is a popular route for joggers and trail bikers alike. We passed few iconic eateries and pubs, namely the Green Man and the main town. The highlight of the trip will of course have to be our breakfast spot at The Orchard tea house.

The Orchard tea house is a small English garden seemingly located in this corner of England where time stands still as the outside world rushes by. It started as a plantation orchard, conceived in 1868. The Orchard then became a Tea Garden purely by chance- a group of Cambridge students who often visited the orchard for tea in the house one day asked the then carekeeper Mrs Stevenson of Orchard House if she could serve them tea beneath the blossoming fruit trees instead. It was then, on that spring morning in 1897, that the iconic Cambridge tradition started and been around ever since, particularly for Cambridge students ourselves! The tea house survived 2 world wars and still stands today over 100 years old.

The place is frequented by quite a number of famous people too. It’s a clam chill out place excellent for morning coffee or a light luncheon, with an atmosphere of a bygone age, in adherence to the footsteps of generations by sharing in the great English tradition of afternoon tea. A large garden, with tables and chairs (many deckchairs) around tables among the trees. Although it gets crowded, there are some relatively peaceful corners among the apple trees in a deck chair.

You can read out more of The Orchard Tea Garden and Coffee House located at, 45-47 Mill Way, Grantchester on their website.

The Orchard Coffee House

Lunch at the outdoors, picnic style!

Tea anyone?

It’s does get exceptionally busy during lunchtime, especially when the weather is good even in winter! Our morning breakfast visit had a reasonably light crowd, with the exception of our big group of 10 over. The food there is not cheap, but it’s still well worth a visit given the quality, prices are of reasonable value.

The menu is not extensive and focuses more on quality rather than quantity. Tea with a huge scone with jam and clotted cream sets you back about £5, freshly baked daily and very tasty. The bread for the baguettes is also very fresh. Tea or coffee for two was served in a small pot, but the staff will be happy to provide another pot of water on request. Tap water and ice is freely available with plastic glasses. You will be given an electronic call device when you order hot food- it flashes when your order is ready for collection back at the counter.

Great sights at Granchester

Looks like my WinXP wallpaper

A little fun on the greens!

The tea garden is not all what Granchester have to offer too, our walk back on a different route by the River Cam saw many breathtaking views with vast open greens, plains and countryside- sights we never even thought existed in our own backyard! Of course what the least we can do but go trigger happy on our shutters for some great shots of our trip.

The trip to Grantchester was sure a blast, it’s a place of my personal recommendation and one I will see myself patronizing again, let be introducing visiting guests too. It’s part of the Cambridge experience.

Held right at St Pauls

Fight! Bap Bap Bap Bap!

Say cheese!

The event started out cleanly with most of everyone’s pillows sustaining most of the blows. It’s not until where it’s about 30minutes into the fight where everybody’s pillows started falling apart, showering the whole place in a sea of white feathers and other synthetic materials. And was the event the highlight of everyone passing by, tourists, passer-bys and people on buses all stared at us in disbelief on what’s happening in front of them. It was crazy, yes crazy, retarded you can put it, but most importantly, fun.

Free for all!

A pool of feathers

Whacked at the pillow fight

The fight was all orderly and well. It’s not long where the whole place become engulfed with white feathers, transforming the whole area into a scene indifferent to a white Christmas, or an asthmatic nightmare. Some even tried making snow ummm, feather angels in the pile. The paramedics were called in at one point in the fight, presumably with somebody having a concussion or something, but all’s well and the medics hung around the event for a while watching and smiling in disbelief of the carnage unfolding before them.

I was prepared and brought a helmet to the event, as well as some body armour. But I did not wear it until I saw the need for some serious moves. Then later do I know that it turned out to be a doubled edge sword- Wearing protection simply just screams: “HIT ME”- everyone will seems to be coming over to bap you with their pillow whenever you have additional shielding on. It’s like: “he’s protected and safe, everybody bap him!”. That’s where I found out that getting hit on the head with a soft pillow actually feels better than getting hit on the head with a helmet on, it was painful!

I remembered being all white almost like a chicken, I think to the extent of even returning home with feathers still stuck on me. That day at the event was part of a long day in London with several other events I’ve attended as well. Will be touching on my visit to the science museum on a separate blog post. For now, take care!

And so as told by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Soon after the news broke, we were informed that the next-generation iPhone would be announced on June 22nd (a Tuesday, naturally) and would be dubbed the iPhone HD (a name that has been tossed around before). That certainly makes sense given that Apple almost certainly has to up the pixel count in order to rival the EVO 4G, HD2 and all of those other high-res handsets, but we’re still reserving judgment until we see that fateful media invite hit our inbox.

There had been speculation of the phone spotting a 5 Megapixel camera as well, (a much needed improvement considering how bad the current 3.2MP camera is) given a large mysterious order for 5MP CMOS to a Chinese firm last year. The form factor will still remain largely the same, candy bar with a non-removable battery body. The only difference is just a bigger camera hole at the rear and a discreet video conferencing camera at the front near the earpiece, so as the pictured by the release of the 4th Gen internal housing shells by Chinese OEM mobile parts maker as few months back, where production could have already started.

WSJ’s John Gruber also weighed in with some more tidbits, in his characteristically polite way. Gruber says the next model will have an A4-class SoC, a 960 x 640 display, a front-facing camera, and that iPhone OS 4.0 will enable third-party multitasking. A pretty safe set of predictions, in all, but Gruber’s done pretty well in the past, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Shaun’s Birthday 2010

Got Cake?

Cut the Cake?

Apparently all vegetables are served as salads in Spanish cuisine, veyr much a welcome to compliment the ribs and various meat assortments as well. Oh yes, there was cake and a very large knife for the cake cutting too! Glad everyone had a fantastic evening!

There are quite an assortment of nature scenic shots as well as the horde shot of the 2010 Countdown at London. Here is one in Cardiff I have of Cathay’s park, Wales:

The galleries had outgrown the single page, so I’ve sub caterogesd them into 3 main pages now focusing on a region each. You can navigate through them via the sub dropdown menus on the pages too. Check out the galleries here on the site:
UK Gallery | Singapore Gallery | Malaysia & Indonesia Gallery

And so this is my first time celebrating my birthday overseas in a new environment, but the party seems to be on a different continent! I won’t be expecting anything fancy this year here (so as not to keep my hopes too high yet). But hey I was lucky to receive stuff from home, particularly this neat birthday card my family had sent me.

Confusingly, I’ve started receiving birthday greetings and well-wishes from yesterday afternoon onwards, wondering whether people are getting ahead of themselves, only to realize that it’s already the 25th of march in Singapore (where it’s 8 hours later here). Ahha and so it was! Commendably too, I am surprised that some greetings came from Singapore spot on at 12 midnight London time (8am SGT) as well, that’s impressive! Sooo, guess that’s what you get for long distance birthday greetings, nonetheless still very cool. I am glad everyone remembered, does make you all warm and fuzzy thinking about it.

Definitely goes in hand as quoted in my card with niffy hand drawings by Sheena: “Although we may be miles apart, no distance is too far”.

How true.

Just some fun for thought, I’ve compiled a short list of some famous people celebrating their birthday today too. Well, of course maybe excluding the few other thousands around the world celebrating too, but hey of course am not the only one!

I once heard this anonymous saying: Cool people have their birthdays in march. As how flattering it can be, I guess there might be some truth in that remark based on general opinion- we march babies can be quite a fun bunch indeed!

Just as how I like to I always like to use the quote: A year older, a year wiser! I do hope the same can be said for me- I just tend to find myself rather too bogged up to actually get anything properly done these days, let be even working on my short term memory (I think the lack of coffee have to do with this). Having said that, to wrap it up here on this post, as tradition on my birthday, I will be dumping all my work for the day (something which I never see myself doing since school started) and taking a chill out for some quality work-free time.

Man this feels good, bring it on day!

Ah yes, so much for mentioning the British Museum & 39 Steps in the post title, actually the whole reason for me to be in London last Saturday was an invitation to a lunch seminar at Royal Garden Hotel organized by PS(D) for SAFOS, SMS, DMS and DSTA Scholars studying in UK. It was a rather small lunch event, held in one of the seminar rooms with an attendance of about 50 people tops filling up about 5 tables. The best part is that we had some form of “local cuisine” at the event, namely Laska, Char Kuay Teow, Siew Mai, Chicken Rice, not to mention a weird reproduction of Ice Kacang.

Nonetheless, got to meet catch up with familiar faces, not to mention meeting up with quite a number of new ones as well. There, I had an opportunity to voice some concerns over the lack of availability of first year internships for scholars, glad I got that cleared to big boss who was at the event to take note of any problems and suggestions.

The day just literally started after fueling up with the lunch buffet. With spring around the corner, it’s not usual to see anyone dressed with a shirt and suit walking round London- and that was literally my attire for the day! And I say, this suit was made for this weather- no way am I able to pull this in Singapore without even soaking through all my clothes in sweat.

The British Museum

The Great Court of the British Museum

Case Exhibits

My first stop was the British Museum, to meet up with some friends to do some planned figure and still life drawing on the statues. The museum is a short walk from Russel Square station and park. Going around London is quite a no brainer for me, even when visiting new places. In the worst case scenario, I will always have my phone’s GPS and tube map to guide me through. That Saturday was my 2nd consecutive weekend in London, I say, I am starting to get the hang of traveling through and fro between London and Cambridge through rail. A rail journey will set me back only 40mins on a high speed rail and it’s made more worth while with my railcard to boot the prices down. Definitely gone was my impression of long boring journeys so as I came to know of about from my first bus trip from London Heathrow airport to Cambridge.

The Greek section

The Egyptian Section

Walls of stone!

And so yes, the museum, you will be greeted by this huge glass sky roof upon entering the front doors. Known as the great court, this was a magnificent upgrade to the museum which was once to be an open air court yard surrounding the reading room. With only time to tour the first floor, the museum has quite an extensive of prominent Egyptian and Greek sculptures together with a collection of Chinese, Greece, Roman and Ancient Cyprus objects. The things which really stand out will be the Egyptian stone statues which is part of a theme the museum was showcasing at that particular time. These statues proved to be a rather popular piece with many artists seen littered all around the museum sketching the various poses and practicing anatomy drawing on their sketch books and canvases. Met up with my group and started drawing for about an hour until the museum closing time at 5.30pm. Time to meet my college mates for dinner!

We met up with my college mates together with some new friends studying in LSE at the station, they recommended this Korean joint near Totterham station called wu jung. The restaurant is like a typical 2 floored shop house which is no different to that of the 5-foot walkway stalls in Singapore. They serves some rather niffy Korean BBQ chicken and pepper mix which goes awfully nice with rice and the omelette sides we ordered. Having brought tickets the day earlier, we hit the tubes again after dinner towards criterion theater at Piccadilly circus to catch the musical for the night: 39 steps

Catching the 39 Steps muscial!

Piccadilly Circus at night

The criterion theater

39 steps the musical is based off an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, first published in 1915 by William Blackwood and Sons. This theatrical adaptation by Patrick Barlow opened in London’s Tricycle Theater, and after a successful run, transferred to the present location here in Piccadilly. This comical version is exceptional and is really full of laughs, the thing which makes this carnation of the story unique is that it is only performed by a cast of only 4 actors and actresses, often with all of them, except for the protagonist playing multiple roles through the musical, which was really laughable in a way given the way they switch through the roles right on stage. No wonder the Broadway production received six Tony Award nominations, winning two—Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design with the London show winning an Olivier in 2007 and two Tony Awards in 2008. The play also won the Drama Desk Award, Unique Theatrical Experience. Recommended indeed.

My only gripe was that the tickets actually costed cheaper by buying them at the theater (£22.50- lucky for those in the group who wanted to join us at the last minute) compared to £29.50 per head when I initially brought them in bulk online. Despite being told that these £22.50 tickets are lower class tickets (usual £45 walk in rate), but they are indifferent and right on our seating row as well, go figure!

The play was 2 hours long ending 10pm. Would be planning to catch Avenue Q next. Then it’s a short train journey back thereafter to the Cambridge station and a cycle back to college by midnight to end a day well spent.

It’s the start of the easter term break and no what other better way to start it but getting all engrossed in building an electric racing car to compete in Greenpower. Greenpower is an annual racing event organised by the Institution of mechanical engineers (iMechE). It electric car racing for schools, colleges, apprentices and youth groups. colleges, apprentices and youth groups. The event goes in the aims of IMechE Greenpower- To promote engineering and technology as exciting careers.

There are few categories for racing, namely the formula 24 and corporate challenges, where manufacturer teams such as Ford & Jaguar LandRover get to compete as well. Schools can either design and build their own cars or use customised kits to compete in regional endurance heats using standard motors and batteries. The final race at Goodwood lasts 4 hours and is an exciting event with 75 finalists competing.

Our team managed to get a workshop out of Cambridge to work in, the car was literally built from scratch, starting today with nothing but some newly procured 1.25mm mild steel tubes, a band saw and a mig welder. That pretty got all 3 of us busy with lots of cutting, grinding and welding- literally getting our hands dirty.

Zing!

Welds on spot!

Vroom vroom!

With packed lunch and lots of coffee (we had to wake up early to travel over 2 hours to get to our workshop) to keep us going, surprisingly we all managed to get our chassis space frame up in one day! There will still be much done tomorrow, namely getting all the other fine bits done up, welded installing the drive train and steering for the car.

Next week will come to real messy (& choking part) of dealing with fiberglass and carbon-fiber for the car body shell, part of the aerodynamic works planned for the 2nd phase of the race car build.

Hope all goes well!

It was devastating, nine days after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake killed hundreds of people in south-central Chile, relief efforts were beginning to reach those in need, rescue missions became recovery missions, and rebuilding is already under way. In the days since the February 27th quake, nearly 150 aftershocks have been recorded, including thirteen above magnitude 6.0.

Despite the rush of humanitarian aid to all affected areas, the government has been criticized by Chileans, who say the response was slow and inefficient. One recent government action was to grant a short amnesty to looters before sending troops out in search of stolen goods. Nearly $2 million worth of looted items were returned, often dumped on roadsides, by Sunday.

Collected here are photographs from the past week in quake-affected Chile.

Credit – Boston.com, Read more: Chile, nine days later

Welcome the year of the tiger! A whole new year on the lunar calendar. There had been much talk among the Chinese group here in Cambridge with regards to the new year, particularly how it is celebrated in various countries, with experiences of their own, let be in China or Malaysia.

Things here in the UK are very different from what it will be at home- No fancy Chinese new year lighting, blaring music from homeland shops, the endless looping of Chinese new year songs in most public areas, let be departmental stores. Things here are just as it is of a normal work day, not a single piece of decoration on the streets and bummer it’s not a holiday too. Angbaos were literally non-existent.

Though most Chinese new year festive and event lineups can be found in most Chinese cultural clubs in the university, there was an obvious lacking of the fun and joy of Chinese new year we all grew up with anticipating every year back home. The main sizable celebrations closest to us will be the Chinese new year celebrations in London itself- to our dismay an event held smacked right in the middle of our school term, so we can’t do anything much about it. There are of course some exceptional few I was told about from China who literally flew back home just for 3 days so they can have reunion dinner, that’s crazy but I dwell more about that.

Personally I did not have any festive plans lined up over the Chinese new year weekend, with only plans to attend a Chinese new year formal (dinner) in college on the Friday (12th) before Chinese new year. Planned for the actual day with be only a video conference (virtual pai-nian) with my family, wishing them a happy new year and calling it done by rewarding myself with a good home cooked meal in the evening. Little do I know things won’t go quite as intended.

College CNY formal (Fri)
The formal hall I planned on going was quite a bunch. And I am glad my college did have Chinese new year specific plans and a Chinese menu for that day as well and man was the turnout exceptional as well- full house! We had a 6 course meal with appetizers, Peking duck, chow mien (fried noodles) and bean sprout vegetable mix. Though much attempt had been tried to make the dishes as authentic as possible, it still does not taste as good as the ones prepared by Chinese chefs back home. Desserts, coffee and fruits followed after. Free flow of Wine, Champagne and port (dessert wine) was served as well.

Queen’s reunion dinner (Sat)
Just few days before the weekend. I received an invite to an engineer’s reunion dinner on that following Saturday from a fellow 1st year course mate in Queen’s college. Apparently we will be having a steamboat style dinner with all the year one Engineers as well as some 2nd year Singaporean lawyers. The setup was simple: 4 rice cookers (which doubled up as boilers for the steamboat), a spread of food for about 10 persons and lots of Chinese new year songs from a laptop courtesy of Youtube. It was a rather fun informal steamboat dinner all huddled and eating from our temporary “floor table” in the host’s dorm room, which was remarkably large and able to hold over 10 guests with ease. The dinner was simple, but served it’s purpose well as a reunion dinner and I say, a rather proper one.

Steamboat at Queens

Malaysia Steamboat Dinner

Drunk on CNY!

CUMAS Steamboat Dinner (Sun)
Just when I thought 2 events were enough. This 3rd event was held on the actual day (14th) of Chinese new year itself at Pembroke college. I got to attend the event courtesy of my roommate who unexpectedly offered me an invite to the event just few days beforehand. He is a committee member of the Cambridge Uni Malaysian society (CUMAS). There was another small Singaporean cookout which I could not attend as I’ve already RSVP to the latter. I was not disappointed as well- this event was much bigger than the one I went the day before, not to mention with a larger variety of foods and larger turn up as well (about 30 odd people). The food spread was commendably good and comparable to that of commercial steamboat joints. Did we had such a good time, a Chinese new year’s day dinner (aka V day as well) worthy for the occasion itself.

There were yum-sengs and lots of chatter with new friends. With the exception of the absence of yu-sheng not only in this event, but in the other 2 events too, apparently this is something only unique to Singapore and Malaysia. Oh yes then there was the feat of sobering up a few after the event as well.

Seems that my Chinese new year weekend turned out rather more eventful than I initially expected! And I have largely my fellow course and room mates to thank for a fantastic Chinese new year lineup to user in the year of the tigger!

Guess what we get to do in the engineering laboratories today, well it’s not everyday where you get to use the words “copper, steel and liquid nitrogen” in the same sentence nor being able to work with them in the lab at a go. But not when you are during destructive testing of material specimens in the materials laboratory. This experiment investigates and studies the metallurgic properties of ductile metals in extremely cold temperatures.

Our lab technician in charge has some crazy whack for liquid nitrogen, not to mention an immunity to it as well, exclaiming his long years of working with the substance had made his skin so tough, he is immune to it’s gut freezing effects even after completely immersing his hands in a pool of liquid at −196 °C. Humorously, he always does the pour and “finger stir” each time comes over to fill our liquid nitro receptacles, much to the gawking of the students I guess he intends to freak out in the first place!

Notably, the tensometers used here in the labs are ancient. I mean hand crankingly ancient (you even have to dot plot the stress-strain curves out while cranking the specimen) amazing! There is not even a single bit of automated machinery in the aid of conducting the experiment. I remembered the lecturer in-charge telling the class that this will possibly be the first and last time you get to touch these (primitive) tensometers, which is rather true too having used digital automated ones back in Singapore and is already an industry standard worldwide in material destructive testing.

Liquid Nitrogen!

Frozen stiff!

Coolingly woot!

Old? and I mean whoa, even the Vickers hardness testing machines are all hand cranked, I remembered the modern industrial ones I use which takes readings at a touch of a button with digital readouts. Even the tensometers as computer assisted which automatically plots and prints a yield stress strain curve upon specimen failure and data collected. I guess that’s what you get studying in a university department almost a few centuries old. So much for an eye-opening whacky experiments, and I think this is just more of such to come.

I’ve signed up as a helper for the food festival since early last term. So that very much grants me “free” entry to the event, which by itself costs £7 for members and £11 for non-members, not that actually was part of the agenda! I was rather clueless when I placed my name down to help. The day started out with some supervisions in the afternoon (yes I know it’s a bummer to have supervisions over the weekend). Little do I find myself prepared for the daunting task ahead to prepare dinner for well over a 100 guests.

Cumsa Asian Food Festival 2010

Food’s out

More cooking to do!

Nonetheless, that Saturday afternoon was spent preparing Chicken rice, as well as cooking all the chicken. Chicken rice is one of the main courses to be served for the event, which goes hand in hand with Pak choy (vegetables) with other local dishes such as Bak ku teh (pork rib spices soup), Loh bak (black sauce meat and eggs), as well as Laska. There were also appetizers, servings of the famous rose syrup bandung as well as bobochaha for desserts. I opened the place up in the late afternoon so that phase 2 of cooking can be done at the hall venue, where they have a kitchen which we can use too.

Besides cooking the rice and chicken, the hard part was myself doing most of the cooking for the vegetable dish, which easily saw me through over 25-30 packets of Pak choy and having to separate, wash and cook over 100 stalks of the vegetable. I guess that will keep me away from it for sometime. We did encounter quite problems ourselves too, such as being unable to reheat the rice, so it was quite a pain to serve all the guest cold food, particularly the rice. But I think everyone received that as OK, with no complains as I know of.

Chicken Rice!

Laska

Bobochaha!

The event was a success, and the guests were all generally happy with the food from the feedback we get as servers. The same can’t be said for all of us though. Sadly, we ourselves as organizers literally have nothing to eat from mid afternoon onwards to late. It’s not until about 10pm where the guests start leaving where everyone started to have dinner.

Well not that we actually prepared dinner for ourselves, but rather savaging-ly dined with whatever food is left in the kitchen as well as those collected/cleared from the guest tables. Not that was bad, but hey at least we get to try what we cooked! We had enough food leftover for everyone (with excess to spare) mainly from the bulk of the leftovers from the last few dishes where many guests could not finish, coining out the term “serve the dishes you want to eat, last”. Much of the the leftovers were all meats and rice, not to mention some half eaten bobochaha, which wasn’t too much of my liking contrary to some who just slurpped them all. There were no left overs of the vegetables I’ve prepared too- they were all wiped clean!

Looking back at what we had prepared, that was really quite some feat we had pulled out, not to mention the number of bowls of food we all went into making for the all the guest. We have pretty much have each other to thank: the committee and the helpers for a job well done.

It interesting that such technology and capability already existed ages ago, but no one seemed to put it all together for the consumer. Apple seem to always get that right, this time they are doing it again with a new slate tablet computer called the iPad.

At first glance, it looks like an over sized iPhone, which the distinctive bezel, form factor and home button. It’s not running the full workstation-capable version of OS 10 contrary to much speculation, but rather a portable-enhanced version of OS 10 which is largely similar to the interface on the iPhone, for a larger screen. It comes in 2 favors, Wi-Fi or one with additional 3G in 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB capacities on flash drives.

The fun device seems to cater for a void in the market which tries to be neither on both ends, namely a phone nor a work-capable computer. If you need an, it will only truly shine for it’s wireless capabilities and size, so it will be wise to get the one with 3G. Otherwise, it will just be a regular slate with no noticeable selling points. To me, the iPad seem to fit into the market for people looking to have a device around the house for quick access to emails and the internet, but not much one being a full-fledged computer, something which might rival the iMac or iBook. So technically it’s in a class of it’s own filling the void between the iPhone and the iMacs.

Though multi-touch may be a selling point, capacitive touch screens are good for gesture based commands and navigating menus. Not exactly that impressive for writing, something a tablet must be good at. Capacitive touch screens are just simply something notorious for precision. Moreover, I don’t see a need for a slate, being a tablet user myself for almost 5 years, having used on screen digitizers (wacom penabled screens) on convertible slates as well as traditional pen based drawing tablets (intuos4) from wacom, I find the lack of precision of the screen a big turn down for a promising product- It is just not as practical as I’ve expected it to be too. In short, the precision offered on dedicated tablets is very important and is something I don’t see the iPad fitting well into my needs as a student who needs to use a tablet for lectures as a student, let be precise enough to take down notes or do drawings accurately on.

The iPad is after all, a fun product not intended for work. Like, the iPod touch bigger brother. An expensive toy.

Hardware-wise, it does bags 10 hours of battery life. But big no nos will be the lack of a user-replaceable battery and a small resolution XGA screen- You can’t really call the slate an internet machine with a screen resolution of 1024×768! The 1Ghz A4 processor of the iPad is adequate, despite not being as speedy as most mainstream tablets on the market now. This apple designed processor is largely tailored to the basic needs of the device and OS, thus would be adequate for the basic functions it aims to serve, don’t expect it to be much of a production computer though.

The really cool thing I like about it is that it can run literally all iPhone apps on it out of the box, so that will allow many users to port over from existing iPhone platform and also establishing a good base for the new product to grow on.

I can’t deny that the device is indeed very pretty, but it will never be powerful enough to be justifiable to do descent work as a proper computer or for school, etc, yet too big to conveniently carry around as a portable device. It’s trying to be something, but not really found it yet. Anyway, with apple aggressively promoting the iPad SDK since it’s launch, it will be fair however to give it some time for iPad dedicated apps to grow on it where it’s functionalities can be truly realized. But for now, and for me, I will be putting my money for the next gen iPhone maybe coming out in June, that will be a better choice.

Video of the iPad at the click: