Rantings of Mine

2006-08-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

Sydney....From Watson's Bay

2006-08-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

Think the picture speaks for itself

2006-08-24T05:14:00.000-07:00

Under The Bridge

2006-08-24T05:12:00.000-07:00

The Harbour Bridge and The Opera House

2006-08-24T05:10:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn

2006-08-24T05:02:00.000-07:00

Sydney's Blue Mountains

2006-08-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

Sydney August 2006

View of Sydney By night

2006-07-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Brighton

Photos from Brighton

2006-07-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

Melbourne...

2 weeks in melbourne for placements, makes me wanna move over there.

2006-05-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

Was at windy point tonight, got a view of the city in all it's flourescent glory

2006-04-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

Bags

I've just counted the number of bags i own, and it's shocking...

The bags i own come in 2 varieties, Crumpler and STM. at last count, i have:

1) Crumpler Faux Deluxe with Bunion insert
2) Crumpler Weeton
3) Crumpler Limited Edition Camera Bag
4) Crumpler PCS medium
5) Crumpler Thirsty Al XL
6) Crumpler Winkler for iPod
7) Crumpler Winkler for iPod Mini
8) 2 Crumpler Thirsty Al XS
9) STM Small Drift
10) STM Baby Brink

See attached photo:

Why the need for so many bags you ask? Well, i didn't mean to buy that many, they just kinda, fufilled a need that arose in the course of my daily life, hence the purchase of a bag. One after another, before i knew it, i had the collection you see above.

Crumpler is a Melbourne based company that started making messenger bags back in 1995. The Seedy Three was the first bag designed for the Urban cyclist, with a stablizer to hold the sling bag in place. They have diversified into laptop and camera bags.

1) The Faux Deluxe

this blue beauty was my first Crumpler, and judging by the color, you can guess that it's been through a lot. this was one of the first generation, the 'big brother' to the original Seedy Three. I first got this almost 3 years ago, in 2003, and still find it a joy to lug around.

The thick padded shoulder strap distributes weight evenly, so as not to cut into your shoulder., the interior has enough space to hide an elephant, if you know how to pack it and the design allowed me to run after public transport without hindering movement. One thing i love about shoulder bags is that you can reach into the bag without having to put it down.

This bag has seen me through a trip to New Zealand, 8 months of daily use in the army, 4 return trips between Singapore and Adelaide, 3 trips to Melbourne and constant use throughout my first 4 semesters at Uni. It has held a powerbook, enough clothing and essentials for a 5 day road trip, university textbooks and even groceries.

The major drawback of the Faux Deluxe was that it lacked the protection i wanted for my laptop and camera, this was solved by the use of the bunion insert, the insert was padded all round and had a sleeve for the lappie as well as plenty of room for photographic equiptment. This has addressed the major bugbear of the Faux Deluxe

2) Weeton S

While the Faux Deluxe was perfect as a carryall, sometimes i did not want to carry all. In Febuary this year, while i was back home in Singapore, shopping with Mom in simlim, i chanced upon the Weeton S going for about S$18 in a clearance sale. It comfortably holds my mobile, compact camera and ipod. Perfect for running about town.

The bag was designed as a camera bag, hence it is padded, and generally i'd use it if i was going to be carrying the compact camera.

There is a belt clip, but considering the weight of the camera, phone and ipod combined, it'll be pretty uncomfortable to wear it on the belt, i always use the shoulder strap.

3) Crumpler Limited Edition Camera Bag

No Mystery about this one, i got when i bought my DSLR. It's a limited edition made as a promotional gift for the Canon EOS 350D kit, but i saw it and twisted the salesman's arm into selling it to me for A$30. It's comparable in size to the 4 Million Dollar Home, which retails for A$80.

This bag comfortably holds my Pentax ist*DL2 with one lens attached and a spare lens in the main compartment, my Canon Ixus 400 in the netted lid and a lens cleaning kit in the small front compartment.

As with the Weeton, the main compartment is padded to protect its precious cargo.

4) Crumpler PCS

I got this for US$5 off ebay, haven't found a use for it yet tho...

Slightly smaller than the Weeton, holds 2 of my 3 most connomly carried items, the ipod, mobile or compact digicam.

5) Thirsty Al (XL and XS) and Winkler for iPod and iPod mini

I got these at a clearance here in adelaide, along with the winklers at A$10 each, the Winklers hold the respective iPods, the Thirsty Al XL holds my compact Canon, while my mobile resides almost permanently in one of the XS ones. These all go nicely on the belt.

6) STM Baby Brink

I got this one back in singapore the day i picked up my 12in iBook. It fits the iBook and nothing else, so i was forced to either bring nothing else along for classes, or carry the babybrink along with the Faux Deluxe, which meant having to keep an eye out on 2 bags.

Which is why the last bag comes into the picture;

7) STM Small Drift

This is probably the most used bag at this point in time.

STM is a Sydney based company that has been hailed as the new Crumpler. It is to the digirati today what Crumpler was to bike messengers in 1995. Their designs have the end user in mind, with well thought layouts and plenty of internal pockets for all the gadgets i carry around.

The top flap zips open to reveal a mesh pocket, coupled with a slit for headphones, this compartment is ideal for an MP3 player.

The main compartment is padded, and divided into 2 sections, one holds my 12 in iBook in the included sleeve, while the other holds notebooks and stationery. The internal pockets hold my power adapter and mouse. All in, my entire mobile setup fits into this one bag, with room to spare for the other things i might need for the daily commute to and from uni. The bag zips up and is water resistant. I really appreciate the all round padding.

BTW, there's an XS Drift, which holds a camera, that's an option i'm exploring for a small camera bag, along with the Crumpler 2 Million Dollar Home.

Crumpler Australia

Standard Technical Merchandise(STM)

2006-02-27T05:45:00.000-08:00

Found this while wasting internet credit. Typical POM wankers.....

2006-01-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

Dad really drives me crazy. Seriously.

I'm in the market for a Laptop. In fact, i have the perfect lapie in mind, a 1.33 GHz 12.1 inch Apple iBook. I scour the internet classifieds, meet some of the sleaziest dealers, send numerous SMSes to some of the most arrogant sellers on the web and spend an entire day walking the malls of sim lim and funan. My conclusion, the price is fixed, and that it'll NEVER fall below what it is right now.

Dad's response: (after talking some guy to sell the lappie for S$1.1K from the asking price of S$1.3K) "Why didn't you ask for S$900?"

On finding out that his friend can get the same thing brand new for $1575, down from the retail price of $1788: "Just wait."

I know it won't go any lower, and i need a computer so as to get out of the house and get some work done, but dad seems to like the Wait and See position....

2006-01-08T00:52:00.000-08:00

Hey Fern,

Just a little something-something i had for supper the other day.

Seeya on the 10th

2005-12-21T23:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, i know there's been a haitus in the food pics, and there's a good reason for that.

I've been sick for the past 2 weeks, and it's all been black soy sauce and porridge. No point in posting that, is there?

Anyways, i'm racing down the road to recovery, and hopefully more food shots will appear;)

2005-12-07T04:21:00.000-08:00

I just had to take this photo, at the Marine Parade Central Multi Storey Carpark.

If you can't already see, it's 3 hondas in a row, from small to big. The center one's mine by the way.

2005-12-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

Yong Tau Hoo for Lunch on the 3rd, been a little slack in posting...

2005-12-06T19:40:00.001-08:00

Lunch and Dinner

Chicken Rice from Marine Parade Hawker Center and Wanton noodles from the Famous Dunman Road Food Center

2005-12-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

More Food Photos

Nasi Goreng Ayam, from Jalan Kayu, one of the worst experiences so far. I had to wait 40 minutes for a dry plate of fried rice without any soya sauce, 2 miserable drops of Chilli, and attitude when i asked for more chilli sauce. Did i mention that it was horrendously expensive as well, at S$4.00......
Breakfast was fried Bee Hoon, or as the Aussies call it, Singapore Noodles. At S$2.00 with egg, luncheon meat and fish cake, i'd say that it was a much better meal, the service was excellent, considering that it was self service :)

Not pictured was the Chwee Kway i had. it was made on the spot and melted in my mouth without leaving the sticky feeling in your mouth unlike some factory made ones. And the Chye Poh, flavourful without being salty, with hints of garlic, pepper and cloves.

2005-12-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

Dinner and supper for the day, (left) Prata at the Thompson Road Crispy Prata shop, (right) Nasi Lemak at Changi Village.

Forgot to take a photo till i was halfway through the Nasi Lemak, that was how hungry i was...

Didn't get lunch photos as i was with mom, she'd have something to say if she saw me taking photos of my every meal....

2005-12-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

As seen at Changi Airport....

More Food Photos to come

2005-12-02T11:13:00.001-08:00

Beef Noodles (Funan Food Court) Orh Lua and Sup Kambing (Adam Road Food
Center)

Food For thought

I know i'm a bastard, showing off my meals on this, the second day in singapore....

lunch was Mixed Beef Noodles Dry in the Funan Center food court washed down with fresh watermelon juice.

Dinner was Orh Lua and Sup Kambing at the Adam Road Food Center, pity the nasi lemak place was closed for the day.

I was invited to join another group for fish and chips, but something told me that it wouldn't be the same as the Oyster Shop in Glenelg, so i declined, with apologies.

2005-12-01T18:04:00.000-08:00

HOME!

Just flew into s'pore yesterday. cant' stand it already.

I dunno, maybe it's the 95% humidity, the rude drivers, or my mother, can't really put a finger on it.....

Also, i had Kway Chap for breakfast, pictured above.....

2005-11-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

Echo Tango, RTB, ETA 7 days

As i blog this, i'm less than 12 hours from the Final Exam of this series. yeah, that's right, 2nd year is soon to be OVER...

In a week, i shall be on that little red dot at the southern tip of malaysia, eating all the fried kway teow, ice kachang, orh lua, chendol, bak chor mee, laksa (the REAL stuff, with REAL cockles, not the watery chilli flavoured shit that passes for it here), yong tau hoo, chicken rice, mee siam, wanton mee and not forgetting my absolute favourite, KWAY CHAP....

Yes, KWAY CHAP, all that salty, soy sauce soaked pig's innards.....

This year has been eventful, meeting new people and all, and i feel that i've learnt a lot more technically over this year compared to last year.

In a way, i want to be home with my buddies, throwing back a coupla cold ones, chewing on a proper satay, with pineapple and not peanut butter in the sauce. On the other hand, i am reluctant to leave the vast expanse of this country that i've come to appreciate, if not love. i mean, the alcohol in OZ is cheap, the weather is agreeable and the people i've come in contact with are very much friendly and accomodating in a way singaporeans aren't. If only they knew how to prepare a proper meal.....

the more i think of it, the more i find that the singapore system just doesn't agree with me, i'm not trying to change the world (GOD FORBID), but i've experienced a society that agrees a lot more with my beliefs and to be frank, i've never felt more comfortable in my life, maybe it's the weather, or the laid back pace here, but i've always felt there was something missing when i was in s'pore....

Ah well, back to the books....

2005-11-10T02:24:00.003-08:00

Important Notice

Fern is missing...... And along with her, all my clothes, which was to be laundered at her place. If anyone sees the person in the picture, please let me know.... I need fresh underwear....

2005-11-08T06:09:00.000-08:00

Life's Pathways

Just found a blog of an army mate of mine. It's pretty scary seeing how our lives have diverged in 2 years. He's comtemplating marriage, and i've not even thought about lunch tomorrow...

Speaking of army buddies, who can forget Kartik, who, amongst other things, inflated a lifejacket in his bunk, or Stanley the APNN (Ah Pu Neh Neh :P), who never failed to be on MC evrytime he was on weekend duty. Then there's the MO who took a coffee break when there was a resus patient on the gurney....

Ah... Days were the those.

2005-11-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

The military applications of silly string.

Interesting how a cheap party favor can potentially save lives.

from: http://cockeyed.com/citizen/silly/silly.html

I know... It's not too interesting for many people, but i am a military brat after all....

2005-10-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

It seems that smurfs are not spared the horrors of war...

From www.chicagoboyz.net/archives

Cute...

2005-09-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Legal Action

Interesting thing today, Fern rings me on the mobile, apparently someone's offended by her blog, and has threatened action against her, It was forwarded to fern and then to yours truly via a mutual friend who was unfortunate enough to be the object of this particular person's fancy. After the rejection, this person directed his energies to blogging about how big a dissapointment our friend was.

In defence of the poor girl, who was too much of a lady to confront him directly, Fern went to her aid, thereby making her the object of attention, inciting a couple of malicious emails, culmulating in one particularly nasty message in which yours truly was named, even though i've kept my nose out of this matter.

This however, is pure comedic gold. I'll quote directly from the SMS:

"I might take up some action against Fern for publishing my personal mail online without consent".

that statement is wrong on so many levels, it's not funny.

First of all, there's no punctuation.

Looking at the SMS, it is easy to see that the sender is emotionally distressed, and probably has been thinking about nothing but the blog entry. I don't know if fern should be happy that someone's paying so much attention to her ranting, or disturbed at the fact

I'll do something out of character, and assume. I've assumed that the action mentioned means something legal. And we all had a good laugh at the possibility.

First of all, there isn't any law stating that it is illegal to publish private email sent. An email sent to me becomes my property, meaning i can do as i see fit. I could forward it to everyone in my address book, the mainstream press or as fern did, post it in HER blog. No permission is needed.
The message doesn't come under the Official Secrets Act, as it does not contain, as far as i can see, any military, commercial or industrial secrets. If you did not want your dirty laundry aired, you shouldn't have sent an email of that nature in the first place.

If that message was meant to be private, there should be a disclaimer, level of confidentiality and a classifying authority. As far as i'm concerned, if the sender was not acting on official duties for a government, commercial or military organization, and the message contained nothing that can be loosely classified as an official.If the message contained confidential material,the sender should bear the brunt of the blame, seeing that there would have been nothing to write about if the message never got out in the first

From what I see, the sender was deploying scare tactics, trying to repress the awful truth, that he/she was desparate for someone's attention. Making threats against a close friend would give that kind of attention, the wrong kind though.

Sliming her friends does not make her like you more, it just shows your lack of social skills. If you claim to move away swiftly, then i would suggest that you take your own advice deal with it and move on.

Sending SMSes, threatening to sue and generally making a fool of yourself, is childish and is conduct unbecoming of a gentleman.

2005-09-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

You know, I hardly write in here, because my life is pretty much mundane, and I know that everything i commit to a blog DOES become public domain.

this morning, actually afternoon, I was awaken from the midst of an alcohol induced sleep, thanks to the Forensics Pub Crawl, which i might add was GOOOOOOODDDD!!!.

Fern rings me up to rave about an email a dinosaur sent to her regarding comments she made about him on her blog. She's done it a couple of times, so i just listened, as i had just turned the computer on, i clicked on the bookmark to the blog, just to get a perspective on things.

As i scrolled through the email he sent her, i saw my name:

'For your record I can reassure you I am not a fucker. I don't dwell like Eugene or someone else. I just move away swiftly.'

Up to this point I've exercised my right to remain silent when commenting on the relationship between a close friend and an asshole, and we all know what i'm talking about. I've NEVER given advice, comments or even passed wind over this issue, because a gentleman does not involve himself in matters like these.

However, the most important thing about being a gentleman, is to know when to stop being one.

My friend, what were you thinking when you sent that email, with my name in it? I very seldom take things personally. However, when you put my name, and the word 'fucker' in the same paragraph, and make a comment on my relationship with another, I WILL take it personally. It doesn't matter whether or not the issue is valid, you have no business whatsoever to say anything to anyone about it.

For THE record, I am NOT dwelling on anything, everything i've done for her, I would gladly do for any of my friends, male or female, straight or gay. I've never refused anyone, any assistance they might ask for, that is within my ability. Maybe altruism is a concept a person of your caliber finds hard to grasp, but that is your problem, not mine.

And we're commenting on each other, let's keep the momentum going....

Not everyone is as intelligent as you, and i'm sure that there are people who ARE more intelligent than you, however i would be hard pressed to find someone more self absorbed in the entire faculty.

And what about the fiasco with a certain residential coordinator, last year, sound familar?

Her fiance's parents said that you were having an affair, which you were. She's engaged to the guy, you knew that. Yet you chose to continue with the relationship. What were you expecting?
That she'd drop the guy and come running into your arms?

That only happens in Hindi movies and maybe in your wildest dreams.

And you telling the world about all your failed attempts at a meaningful relationship? I mean what are you trying to do, garner sympathy so that some unsuspecting young thing would take pity on you and give in to your advances? Might work in TCS dramas, this is real life Australia, even Neighbours scriptwriters don't use that.

You like people to think that you are a morally upright patriot, well, remember the Singapore Student's Association in Flinders? How you achieved a coup de etat, by calling an AGM, then standing for election as President, without informing the incumbent? From my perspective, it looked like the affair was treated like an election in some African Banana Republic, not a student body in a legit University. Who gives a Flying Fuck that you are a PhD student? If you looked around, I'm guessing that they're a dime a dozen in the Faculty. It does not mean that you're more qualified than an undergrad to be the president of a club.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, and i'll let it go at this. However if i do recieve anymore updates, we'll go into deep detail, and i promise, everything Fern has written on her blog will look like compliments compared to what i have to offer.

eugene

2005-09-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

02 may 2004...

that's the last time i wrote something in this.... a really long hiatus.

well, a lot has happened in the past year, and in some strange twist, nothing has happened.

i'm back at uni, this semester has been good, not as much drinking as last year, been hanging out with some new friends, as well as some old ones.

the car's been trashed, andrew, in a strange twist, crashed it while drunk. something i've not done, and he doesn't have a licence. well, at least no one was hurt.

corny, well what can be said about that character probably a myraid of contradictions?? he's like phua chu kang, only gay, but fundamentalist christian, with a lecherous undertones. I mean, he chases everything with a skirt, no discrimination there. he tries to impress girls with his intimate knowledge of fashion, only problem is, his sense of fashion is best described as homosexual ah beng, a walking contradiction. and not enough can be said about his ego. i'm still wondering what indestructible material his skull is made of, it's able to withstand the extreme pressures of his expanded ego, without blowing up.

in fact the people interacting with him have dedicated a blog just for him. it's at howcorni.blogspot.com.

then there's fern, she's like the nympomaniac little sister, with a little of the horny NS boy thrown in, that i never had. I mean, the only other person i know that talks as much about sex is encik neo....

Milla's fern's wife/friend/partner/whatever, she's from norway. Just about as P cased as fern, though a little X rated, she's pretty cool to talk to, though with that accent, i do miss a little of what she says...

Got a new car tho, actually, it's Ann's S13 silvia, pretty good shape for a 14 yr old. Hmm.. Silvia, 14 years old... I must sound like a pedophile.... (If you didn't get it, IT'S A CAR)

then there's rita, probably the most complex character i've met so far, or maybe just one i don't really understand. she seems to know what she wants, yet she looks lost, at the same time. the best analogy i have for her would be the pi cloud of an aromatic system, with the 3 electrons being shared by the oscillating double bonds amongst the carbon atoms.... it's kinda unstable if you think about the individual atoms, but in that particular system, the resonance stabilizes everything. it seems that the only way to maintain that equilibrium is constant change.

Of course, with an system like that, everything goes to hell in a handbasket as soon as there is a shift in the equilibrium. which just about sums up my relationship with her.

On the home front, rob's moved in from next door, there's carvin from HK and tim from the UK, who grew up in ADL anyway. Plus the usual gaggle of people who walk in thru the glass doors without invitations... too many, head hurts to think abt them... and the mess these guys leave the house in....