XBOX 360 with Kinect!!!

Yes!!! I bought it!!! Finally!!!

My birthday is coming soon (30 Dec) and I have got myself a XBOX 360 with Kinect today as my birthday gift.

My birthday present

Had wanted to get it for quite some time but was put off by the price (it costs $500 plus initially with only 1 game).

This time, there is a Christmas bundle and it comes with 3 games and 1 free wireless controller. The total cost $469 nett. I also got a power adapter using my friend's Challenger membership. :-) The best thing is it is free because I paid for it using my 10-year long service award given by my company.

Had started exercising with the Kinect. It is fun, really fun!!!

OK. Am going to continue with the game.

N/B: I have work in the same company for 10 years as of 15 Apr 2012.  The company gives cash award for long service and I use this $$$ to buy a new washing machine, xbox and makeup sessions for my brother's and cousin's wedding.  I can say I didn't not waste any of it and was happy with the spending. :)

Oh yeah ... I passed my erhu exam

Actually, I really didn't expect to pass.  Because I didn't have much time to practice with the preparations for my brother's wedding and project at work.  I am a bit pai sei that I can scrap through this exam.

I know I should have choosen a better time.  This year Nov is really hectic.  Boy, I am glad that I managed to pass this erhu exam.  Grade 9, finally I cleared this hurdle.

Aiming for the next level?  Hmm ... don't noe yet.  Let me think about it first.

Oh yah ... I need to go and thank 观音 for blessing me.

Busy November

These 2 weeks will be very busy. Firstly, is the preparation for my brother's wedding. Yeah, finally 1 member of my generation got married. My parents had given up on my sister and I for being married, so they are very glad that my brother is not following our footsteps. Boy, I am glad too, now the 2 old ones won't keep harping on the marriage thingy for the time being.

Secondly, is my erhu exam. It's graded 9 and yeah the pieces are difficult and damn long. Each piece lasted for 12-15 minutes except for the practice song, which lasted 4 minutes. Actually, I am very nervous because I did not practice much with the preparation and shopping to be done for my brother's wedding. I tried to practice whenever I got the time in the evening, but I don't think it is enough. Have to work very very hard after brother's wedding. But it is only a short week. Hopefully I can pass this exam.

Ciao ....

Next target - Helmet (Power Rangers vs Storm Troopers)

I know it has been more than 4 months since my last update. I know the helmet was bought long long ago. I know I should update the blog long long ago.

The helmet was bought 3 months ago. Went to website to search and found that there is a helmet shop near my place. Went there to choose a basic helmet around $60++, but the only colour available is white. No choice just took that and my sis can use the current red one.

When I came back home and placed the 2 helmets together, I saw a very contrasting image. Suddenly, the power rangers and storm troopers came to my mind. Believe me, see the picture below and you will know.  

Face off - Power Rangers vs Storm Troopers

Latest update:

Went Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou recently. Will update my feelings on the trip when I am free. At the moment, I will be busy practicing for my erhu grade 9 exams. 兰花花、新婚别、练习曲 ... 兰花花、新婚别、练习曲 ... 兰花花、新婚别、练习曲 ...。

Stress!!!! :(

My Warrior has got a BOOT

My Warrior's Boot

Finally, decided to zing my warrior by adding a boot to my Warrior's backside. Ha ha ... more space to put lup lup zup zup ... Costs me $250 to install it, but worth it. :)

It is very handy. Imagine I don't have to hang NTUC plastic bags on the handlebar, just dump everything in the boot, just like a car.

OK, I admit it is not as big as a car boot and I can't dump things like toilet paper and big items but at least I can dump milk, instant noodles, tidbits, etc, etc.

Next target to buy a helmet for my sis, so that we can ride out together.  :)

A series of nightmares ...

Yeap, it is launched. Launched and having a blast of problems. For the past 2-3 weeks, I am like a robot, troubleshooting problems with the website, working on 24-48 hours shift without sleep.

I have 3 weeks of nightmares after the launch. The website cannot cope with the load, performance became an issue. After investigation, it turn out that cache settings were not configure properly and there are too much visuals to be displayed, resulting every request hitting my web servers and databases. This cause the whole website to slow down to a crawl.

After figuring out the problem and arguing with the vendor on the quality, we need to run performance tests to ensure that all is well. These tests has to be done in the middle of the night, so I can't sleep at night, and I had to work in the day.

I need to comment on something too. Surfers are really busybodies. They want to check out everything that is new. When the announcement was made, there were a hugh jump in the number of people coming to the site. We thought only the punters will be interested, it turn out every tom, dick and harry is coming in. Now with the ease of mobile connecting to the Internet, everybody start using the mobiles to access our website.

Finally, most of the performance issues were rectified. Now is to optimise the codes and ensure that they don't take up too much server resources and allow the rendering of web pages to be faster.

After the ordeal, I came to a conclusion. Never compromise performance with users' requirements. They want everything to be display yet they cannot understand that for all visuals, esp those high definition ones, comes with a price on performance. When the website came to a crawl, then they accept the fact there are too much visuals and trimmed down on these.

Another thing ... I am not young any more. My body cannot cope with the tiredness. I have to admit I am tired ... dead tired.

It's launched ... finally

Yeap ... the new revamp website is up and running.  Teething problems here and there, but still it is officially launched.

My company's website new look

Yeah ... ^_^

Waiting for the launch ... 02 Apr 2012

Remember beginning of the year, I mentioned that I have a project to revamp my company's website? Well, after months of sweat and blood, the website is going to be launch ... yipeee

See the new website on 2 Apr 2012.

My Warrior

My Warrior with Red Helmet

Another month passed since Chinese New Year. I have got used to riding my Vespa (also known as my Warrior) to work.

After buying my Warrior, I had learned to pump petrol and pump air into tyres. The fuel tank is only about 8 litres, but the fuel guage meter will start to show empty and blink when there is only 2 litres left. My Warrior fuel consumption is about 25km per litres, therefore when the fuel gauge is blinking, I can still go to work for about 4 days. The cost of pumping a full tank is less than $20, but it lasted me about 1 month. If I can the public transport, $20 will only last me 2 weeks, so it is a bit of savings. :)

As for pumping of tires, the front tyre will need 160kpa and the back tyre will be 200kpa. However, the problem with the back tyre is that it is so near the engine that I have a hard time turning the knob after pumping the air and ended up some air is lost. Hence I rather pump 210kpa of air instead.

After these baby steps, I now need to learn how to gauge the brake oil, engine oil, hub oil (whatever that is). Then I have to learn what kind of oil to buy and how to top up these oils. Once I reach 800km, I have to send my Warrior for servicing, ie changing of the oils, inspection, etc.

Oh gosh, there is so many things to handle with my Warrior. Blappp .. **make face**

On the last day of February, I have travelled 259km, another 531km to go ...

=====
Updated on 13 March: tyres should be pump at 160kpa and 210kpa, not 160psi and 210psi. :)

恭喜发财

恭喜发财、万事如意、大吉大利。

龙年的第一天就这样过了。吃完晚餐，现在正悠闲地啃着瓜子，一边游览 Internet，顺便 update 一下这个blog 。

今年的新年过得真早。圣诞才刚结束就要忙着大扫除。还好一切都顺利完成，虽然有一些些小瑕疵，不过大致上都蛮清洁。

今年新年过得蛮轻松，下午还骑着Vespa到处逛，希望这是一年来的生活！！！ 许多人都说今年属牛的人会顺顺利利，我希望这会是真的。

祝我自己：身体健康、事事顺利、家里和和气气、发财加薪。

Welcome 2012

A new year has begun.

Today is the day when I reflected on what I have done in the past 1 year.

OK. Seriously, last year, I am in a really laxed mode. Other than buying a new laptop (my old one died) and touring with friends from chinese orchestras in SG, HK, AU and MY, nothing much was accomplished. 

I know I did not make any resolution last year. I am going to keep it this way for the this year. You know how stressful it can be to make resolutions and then find out that you couldn't keep it when the end of year comes.

However, I am going to summary what I have done last year.

1. Bought a new toy, HappyCall Pan, so that I can fried fish without the oil spluttering.
2. Went on a trip to 四川康定. Made a lot of friends.
3. Helping my sis with her house renovation.
4. Started my company website revamp project.

For this year, I hope the following will happen.

1. Learn to use my new toy, HappyCall Pan. At least should somehow cook some dinners.
2. Buy my own house. So I will need to cut down on my spending and save more $$$$.
3. Buy a scooter/bicycle to commute. Transport fares is getting more expensive and crowded.
4. Complete my company website revamp project. Learn Sharepoint, very tang jia (good money) one. :D
5. Grade 9 Erhu exam. (this one is the least priority).
6. Pick up pop piano. (this one also least priority, remember point 2).

There are reports saying that the end of world will arrive in year 2012. Whether the end of world will come or not, it doesn't really matter to me.  I will cherish my family and whatever I have today.  I hope everyone will enjoy their new year, live the year to the fullest.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!