Nseries WOM World has selected me to help Nokia beta test N-Gage and they even sent me a Nokia N81 8GB all the way from UK to Singapore by DHL.

According to the user agreement, the phone will be on loan to me for 2 weeks, but hopefully they can extend it for me as I am still waiting for my Nokia N82 from Nokia Singapore (it has been 3 months, sigh).

The N81 come with 4 fully unlocked games. Space Impact is a plane shooting game, Block Breaker is like Pong, System Rush Evolution is a futuristic racing game (similar to Wipeout). Among all these 4 games, my personal favorite is the Block Breaker. It is quite additive and I am stuck at the 1st boss stage!

Feel free to add me as a friend on N-Gage. My N-Gage profile is 1stGamerz.

I would like to thank Donna from WOM World for selecting me =)

DHL Parcel

DHL Parcel Opened (Bubble Wrap Protecting The Phone)

Nokia N81 8GB

I was not at home when the delivery man came at 11am as I was in school and when I got back home about 9pm, I called the DHL hotline and I am so surprise that a real human answered my call immediately. I always have the impression that those large corporations always use machine voice asking you to press this and press that before you can speak to a real human. While I was on hold with the customer service staff, I heard my door bell ring and when I opened, it was the DHL delivery man! He was making his 2nd attempt delivery for my parcel. Thumbs up to DHL for the excellent service.

Went down to Singapore’s Adobe office located at Suntec City Tower Three, #06-02 for an hour worth of Photoshop CS 3 tips. The title of the workshop is called “Exploit Photoshop CS3″ and it is conducted by Shirley Tan who is a Adobe Evangelist at ACE Training Pte Ltd.

There are a total of 6 tips in the workshop which took my breath away.

1. Making your images “Shout” by changing blending mode to “Soft Light”
2. Bright out Details by using Hight Pass Filter (Filter > Other > High Pass Filter)
3. Remove Colour Cast by using “Average Blur Filter” (Filter > Blur > Average), followed by inverting the layer and changing the blending mode to “Color”
4. Perspective Crop by checking the “Perspective” checkbox located below the top menu after cropping
5. Using Blend If (Layer Style > Blending Options > Blend If
6. Image Stacks (Layer > Smart Objects > Convert to Smart Object) followed by (Layer > Smart Objects > Static Mode > Median)

Last but not least, I learned a new shortcut, by pressing Ctrl J, it will allow you to duplicate (the technical term is called float) a layer.

They wanted to keep this workshop very small and hence there are only 5 people that is invited. Adrianna, Li Xiang, Me and 2 other guys.

After the workshop, we had dinner at Imperial Treasure which is just located at the basement of Suntec City.

I love the goodies bag that Adobe gives:

Adobe Paper Bag Front And Back View

2008 Calendar, License Brochure, Small Figurine

Cheers to Audrey Too, Bruce Persaud and Fiona Ng from Adobe, Steven Chua and Shirley Tan from ACE Training.

Thanks to Sue Lynn from TEXT100 for the invite =D

Caught “What Is Man?” yesterday at the Esplanade. It will only be on for 2 days (yesterday and today) at the Esplanade Theatre). The performance starts at 8pm and lasted till about 11.30pm, including 20 minutes intermission break. There is a total of 28 scenes of which 15 are be played before and the remaining 13 scenes are played after the intermission break. There is also a post show dialog session which lasted for about an hour with the director (Edward Lam) and the actors and actresses.

Nine men coincidentally named after nine outlaws from the Chinese classic The Water Margin audition for roles in a gangster movie. Through nine monologues, the would-be heroes struggle to assert their manhood in their RPG (role-playing game) underworld, revealing the frailties and foibles of the unique creature called man.

Directed by Hong Kong’s eminent director Edward Lam and starring a cast of talented actors from Taiwan, this production is produced by the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center & Edward Lam Dance Theatre.

Advisory: This production contains coarse language and adult themes. Recommended for audiences aged 16 years and above.

Ticketing (SGD): $38, $48, $68, $88

(Performed in Mandarin, with English subtitles)

The tickets cost $26 (student price) and on top of that we need to pay $2 SISTIC fees. And no matter which channel of booking you made (online, phone, counter), YOU WILL still need to pay the SISTIC fees. SISTIC must be earning huge loads of money just by selling tickets.

Overall I would say the show is quite value for money (I will not pay $88 to see this - most expensive ticket) and funny at some parts, but after the whole show, I realize that I don’t know what is going on.

Perhaps if the whole show is performed in Hokkien, I would find it better. But that would never happen as this show is for the Singapore Chinese Festival of Arts 2008.

Happened to both of us that we are thirsty during the intermission break and we decided to get a drink. We got a shocked of our life when we discovered that a can of Coke/Sprite cost SGD$4.00, a bottle of small Evan mineral water also cost SGD$4.00 and 1 glass of orange juice cost SGD$7.00. We bought the can of coke eventually and it is definitely no doubt the most expensive can of coke we have ever drink in my 23 years of life.

You can get a similar can of coke for only like $0.60 in supermarkets or provision shop. The profit margin is at least 600%.

By the way Esplanade Co Ltd, the company who run Esplanade is a non-profit organization and registered as a charity under the Charities Act. How ironic.

Chinese New Year Day 1
I think Chinese New Year is getting more and more boring because all my cousins are getting older and they have their own family to attend to and the gathering time is getting shorted and shorter each year. Last time when I was still a kid we would played till at night for the first and second day of Chinese New Year, now before the night approaches on the first day, I would already left my paternal grandfather place to return home.

We wanted to watch movie but all the movie regardless of timeslot is sold out (left the first row) and GV website was undergoing very heavy traffic and I am unable to book any movie even for the next day.

We went down to VivoCity for dinner and on the way bought tickets for Ah Long Pte Ltd for the next day at 11.20am.

Almost all the restaurants in Vivo had very long queue and end up we settle our dinner at Hog’s Breath Cafe where there was no queue and the restaurant was practically empty maybe due to the steep price. I ate the Sirloin Steak which cost $29.90 and it does not come with any sauce. it is just plainly marinated meat, salad and curly fries. The portion was huge. I still prefer Outback’s Steakhouse. I would not say Hog’s Breath Cafe is lousy.

After dinner, my mom and I paid a visit to Li Xiang house. It is the first time my mom went to her house after we got together for almost 4 years and spanning a total of 4 Chinese New Years (including this year).

Chinese New Year Day 2
Caught Ah Long Pte Ltd at GV VivoCity. The movie is kinda long about 2 hours and it was good. I have no ideas why those movie critics gave poor reviews for it. There is humor, storyline and it even causes you to reflect on the society, all in this movie. It is definitely one of the better Jack Neo movie since a long time ago. His previous movie Just Follow Law sucks.

Went to Li Xiang house after that and paid a visit to her auntie house at Bukit Panjang later in the evening.

Chinese New Year Day 3
Went to my Uncle Terry (my mom’s younger brother) house to celebrate my cousin birthday (I can’t remember how old is she, I think she is in Primary 4 or 5).

After that went to National Library to meet up with Li Xiang where she is doing her research on Art while I clear my homework which has been piling up since Chinese New Year. I don’t understand how can people study in such a quiet environment where if you made some sound, the people there will be turning their heads looking at you. Makes you feel like you are in a zoo.

Left the library at about 7pm and we went to Raffles City to have Mos Burger for dinner. The basement of Raffles City has changed a lot since I last been to there. I am not talking about the extension there, rather it is the renovation of some parts of the basement.

Got myself a new Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home bag for $112 to replace my almost tattered Nike sling bag. I also bought a tiny Crumpler matchbox for $1 for Li Xiang.

Li Xiang bought 3 cute plastic rings (Scooby Doo, Penguin and Superman Logo) for $10 at Inbox. It is cute and very iconic.

We went to Marina Square after that to watch CJ7 as my brother has problem booking for us the tickets. I just love Visa Platinum priority queue!

We spend 3 hours walking around Marina Square and Esplanade. Li Xiang and I bought a bermuda for $21.90 each from Samuel & Kelvin (S&K). My bermuda is exactly the same design but different color to the one I bought for $43.80 2 months ago! It is really 50% off as stated on the poster. Li Xiang also got a double sided belt for only $9.00.

CJ7 was rather short about 90 minutes and I think it is a crap show. The lip syncing was way off and the only good thing about the movie is the cute little alien dog and the boy’s girl’s expressions. Just in case you are wondering, that small boy who acted as Stephen Chow’s son is a girl actually. I really could not tell it.

Chinese New Year Day 4
Had a lunch buffet at Holiday Inn Park View’s Windows on the Park Restaurant. It is a buy 1 get 1 free promotion by UOB Credit Card. And the food kinda suck period.

Dinner was together with my dad’s brother and sister at Pasta de Waraku. They changed the menu. Now every dish has 2 sizes, a mini version and a regular version.

School Resumes
This is going to be a very busy week for me (as usual) with lots of assignments and tutorials due. I wonder does the professors here know that we are NOT only taking his/her module.

Speaking of module, I regretted taking CS3216 which some of you might know it as the Facebook Module in NUS. The workload of this module is more than the workload of 2 of my core modules added together. I have like 4 assignments (with sub assignments) and 1 major project within the short span of like 13 weeks and it is only worth 4MCs. And I am taking this module as my Unrestricted Elective (UE)!

It is the year of the rat, which is my year. I was born in the year of the rat in 1984 which is like 24 years ago (I am turning 24 next month).

I hereby wish all Chinese a happy and prosperous lunar new year. HUAT AH!!!

I have “Twitterlise” this site (via Remy Sharp), my WordPress site (via Twitter for WordPress), my Facebook profile (via Twitter Application For Facebook), my Windows Live Messenger (via Twessenger) and my Messenger Plus! Live (via Twit4Live)

Check out my, Twitter Profile - GaMerZ.

Busy With School
I am so god damn busy with my school. My assignments and tutorials keep coming, I hardly has time to breathe. As Chinese New Year is just next week, I got like 1 assignment (1x CS3216) and 4 tutorials (2x CS2301, 1x MA1312 and 1x CS2106) due on Tuesday. Damn stress. This is definitely my most busiest semester in NUS and it is only the 3rd week of school!

Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000
Got myself a webcam, a Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 for SGD$89. I was quite skeptical about the whole webcam thing when it first got popular. I was like, why the heck do I need a webcam for, it is like invading my own privacy. But ever since Li Xiang got a 3G phone, I would video call her at least 3 times during the weekdays as we don’t get to see each other for the whole 4 to 5 days. Then the day has come that Li Xiang desktop computer was rather unstable and hence she switched to her laptop which as a built-in camera. So instead, she video called me over WLM, and I am able to see her on the video, but she can only see what I type. So I decided it is time to invest in a webcam and save on my mobile phone bills.

PS: MSN has been known as Windows Live Messenger (WLM) for quite sometime. So try not to use MSN abbreviation anymore, instead use WLM.

The Mist
Caught The Mist today, and I think this is so far the best movie I watched for the year. The plot, acting and suspense are all good. The visual effects was just average but still acceptable. But the best part of the movie was the twist at the end, IT WAS FANTASTIC. I was going WTF and I really didn’t expect that to be the ending.

Cloverfield
Personally, I find the show is not that bad. I know many people after watching it is feeling unwell or even vomited due to the filming techniques used is the Blair Witch Project. Worst still, I witness some of them after 15 minutes into the show, they just walked out of the cinema. I think that the sickness is called motion sickness. Even Li Xiang after watching it, was feeling giddy for the whole night. I think guys like us who play FPS games have no problem adapting to it.

Michael Clayton
This is the first time I went into the wrong cinema. I went into the cinema showing The Darjeeling Limited by Owen Wilson. Apparently both of the movie timeslot just differ by 10 minutes and also the seats are also not taken in the cinema that I went wrongly and hence we did not know we went into the wrong cinema till the movie actually starts and I see Owen Wilson name instead of George Clooney. But anyway, I think this show kinda suck. I don’t understand what is going on.

The latest MRT & LRT Track line system map. This includes the latest annouced MRT route, Thomson MRT Line and Eastern Region MRT Line, by Transport Minister Raymond Lim on 26 Janurary 2008.

Singapore Future MRT/LRT Map (Updated On January 2008)

Source: Wikipedia

I found this poem entitled “My Spelling Checker” very interesting during my CS2301 lecture today, just thought I share it with you all.

Wrong Version (But Pass The Spell Check)
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequertolled me sew.
~ Sores unknown ~

Correct Version
I have a spelling checker
It came with my PC
It plainly marks for my review
Mistakes I cannot see
I have run this poem through it
I am sure you are pleased to know
Its letter perfect all the way
My checker told me so
~ Source unknown ~

School Started
This week is the first week of my new semester. I am currently in year 2, semester 2. If everything goes well, I will be graduating in year 4, semester 1, which is around end of 2009.

Here are the modules I taking for this semester:

CS2106 - Operating Systems (4 MCs) [1 PT]
CS2301 - Business And Technical Communication (4 MCs) [1 PT]
CS3216 - Software Development on Evolving Platforms (4 MCs) [N/A]
CS3254 - Introduction To Computer Networks (4 MCs) [778 PTS]
MA1312 - Calculus with Applications (4 MCs) [1 PT]

Module Code - Module Name (Module Credits) [Points Bidded]

Mom’s Cousin’s Daughter Wedding
My last week before school starts was pretty busy for me as my mom’s cousin (from China) came down to Singapore because his daughter is getting married to a Singaporean. They are not those usual PRCs/FTs who come to Singapore and snatch our job because they are like 921380123 times richer than my family and secondly they speak hokkien as their main language instead of mandarin. You might be wondering how rich are they? They brought in SGD$50,000 in cash and got stop by air port custom, own several casinos in Asia and own a resort and a helicopter in Philippines. The daughter wedding dinner was held at Fullerton Hotel, if I am not wrong it is about SGD$2,000 per table (total of 30 tables). But the food at Fullerton Hotel was just average and all the food served are cold.

My Family, Photo Taken Before The Dinner
(From Left To Right: Me, Li Xiang, Dad, Mom, Hui Mi and Leroy)

Nokia N82
My mom and brother finally changed their handphones. My mom changed from Nokia 7610 to a Nokia N82 from Singtel for SGD$588 and my brother changed from Sony Ericsson W800i also to Nokia N82 from M1 for SGD$598. As for me, I am still waiting for my Nokia N82, hopefully I can get it before Chinese New Year (*hint* Dinesh *hint*).

Family Of Nokia Phones
(From Left To Right: My N93i, Mom’s N82, Bro’s N82 and Dad’s N73ME)