Orientek.Net Domain Expired
The www.orientek.net domain expired today, too late to renew now. I'll wait for it to be released before buying back. I hadn't realised it would lapse so soon; time flies. Waiting is all I can do.
Archive
Founder of lesterchan.net, a Singapore tech and gadgets blog running since 2002. An engineering leader by day and a WordPress plugin developer since 2003, with a soft spot for gadgets, smart home, and a good deal.
Shoulder Aching
Thought there was no 5pm PCT lecture, thrilled, but confirming with the lecturer, there is. A six-hour break; no way we're staying in school. Bought two more books for $61: Director 8 and Lingo, plus VB.NET.
School Starts
School at 10am for breakfast, with a practical first lesson. The old labs upgraded to Pentium 4 2.40GHz with 48x24x48 Iomega writers, some with Philips 15-inch LCDs. All better than my machine; technology dates so fast.
School Reopens
A quiet day: fixed some code and played BroodWar with Lian, then called her in the evening for our chit-chat. Wanted new shoes at Queensway, but the carpark was full, as was the HDB one opposite.
Hair Cut
Famous minced pork noodles at BestWay building, months since I had it. A haircut at Everton Park with my grandmother, who wanted a wash too. $16 for cut and wash; I love the scalp massage part.
Site Updates January 2003
Here are the site updates I've consolidated over the past months: added a Related Stories feature, used site.php for content, replaced the previous/next links with vBulletin-style page navigation, and simplified the Archives page into something cleaner.
J-Friends CD
Fetched Lian from Kembangan MRT to my place, where she made a minor fix to my mom's website, 15 minutes' work. Back to Causeway Point for another look, since last time we hadn't covered the centre.
OCBC Bank
Went to the bank with my mom this afternoon to activate my account, done now. Lowered the debit limit to $1,000 from $3,000. My HWM magazine arrived too, with a microprocessor history feature and NVIDIA review.
Elective Modules Out
After a five-day delay, our elective modules are finally out; Lian and I both got the electives we chose. My Semester 2 line-up (Stage 2B): Technical and Business Communications, Visual Basic Programming, and Multimedia among others.
Happy New Year 2003
Happy New Year 2003. Dim sum at Lei Garden in Orchard Plaza with my parents and Lian; my mom paid the first bill at 4% GST. Things get pricier this year. Heeren for Lian's Kinki Kids.
2003 New Year Eve
Last day of 2002. Had chicken shredded noodles at my coffeeshop for lunch; while waiting for bus, one side of my headphones died, no sound on the right. So annoyed: first my speakers, now my headphones.
Speaker Problems
Expected a boring day, but it was busy. The site's up thanks to Abnormal; I spent the afternoon fixing code. A new PHP version meant rewriting bits. Played a round of BroodWar with Lian and friends.
Orientek Back Up
If you're reading this, the Orientek server on games.pacific.net.sg is back up; PHP, MySQL and Apache upgraded at last. I'd waited ages: PHP 4.3.0, MySQL 3.23.54 and Apache 1.3.27. Finally something for me to tinker with.
Went To Pray
A boring day, home doing nothing much. Went to the Waterloo Street temple to pray since school reopens soon; usually my mom takes me before and after school terms or exams. Afterwards, breakfast: Bak Kut Teh.
The Cat Returns
Out nearly twelve hours. Saw Far East Plaza's renovated area with Lian, the whole of Basement 1. Not much to shop, spacious, about five food stalls. Earlier, lunch at Scotts foodcourt, creamy chicken from Pasta Mania.
Unbeatables III Last Episode
Lian's last day of work. Lunch at Hans in Park Mall; Beef Hor Fun was nice. After sending Lian to bus-stop, I met my parents at Tiong Bahru Plaza for dinner. Checked my modules: core only.
Luminous Dices
After Lian's work, to Toa Payoh Central to buy luminous dice, thanks to a tip from Khabal Forums user. Spent $24.90: a big dice for $10.90 and two packs of six small dice at $7 each.
LOTR: The Two Towers
Lian worked half day. Ended at the Noodle Bar in Heeren; we'd considered Swensen's, then Sakae Sushi, but its long queue sent us to Noodle Bar. First time, food was good, thumbs up. LOTR: Two Towers.
Last Week For The Year
Week 52, the last of 2002. Next Monday, 30 December, kicks off 2003's first. Christmas in 26 hours. Lian brought me breakfast, McDonald's Sausage McMuffins; I thought them pricey, not realising McDonald's had a promotion on.
Of Jams And Buses (II)
Warning: long post ahead. Breakfast at the Scotts foodcourt: Creamy Chicken from Pasta Mania and soup from some stall I couldn't name, but it was truly great, one of the best western soups I've ever had.
Praying Tai Sui
Claypot laksa at Depot Road, long overdue, lovely and famous, so crowded at lunch we went after. The temple downstairs to pray Tai Sui, which the Chinese know; threw a couple of coins for the ritual.
Tired Yesterday
Too tired to blog yesterday, asleep by 11pm. Nothing much, usual weekday. Went to Suntec's Tower Records for Kinki Kids F Album with Lian; she heard it's out December, but not in Singapore yet, maybe Japan.