October 2005 Archives

We fly to Saigon today. I prefer to call the city the way its locals call it.

I consider myself a fairly seasoned traveller. The biggest dilemma for me is deciding whether or not to bring the newly-polished* VanPod II, as well as my digital camera charger.

My main bag will be small, because I don't need a wardrobe of clothes, and I don't like to shop.

I will bring a dainty backpack, but will keep it in front of me in crowded places so the pickpockets don't get me. A local will take us around, and I hope to see the Cuchi tunnels as well as some markets and art galleries. And to partake in fine cuisine. And take lots of photos.

*I bought iDrop, which was about all that AppleCentre Orchard had in terms of scratch removers. It removed one big scratch but another still remains. Lots of little scratches disappeared, poof. View the night-before and morning-after pictures.

Went to HMV and picked up several CDs by James Blunt, David Gray, Beth Orton, Beck, Beautiful South, Clementine, Lee Ritenour, Nik Kershaw, and Youssou N'Dour. Since I had to take some $#(*% work home to make up for the holiday I'm taking this week, I decided I should at least listen to some new music.

[ I recently learnt that Blunt was from the same university as me, though he's a couple years older. He (a student of aeronautical engineering) was probably in the building next to mine (Law). It is so inspirational. Of course, in law school we had a Cypriot junior who represented his country in Eurovision and has a few albums to his name... see the things we have to study (for our day jobs) so we can live out our dreams? ]

[Correction: According to the University of Bristol Alumni newsletter, Blunt did not study engineering but sociology. ]

Met up with Krisalis, Wuyuetian and Tribolum. We each whipped out a camera, and geeks that we are, started discussing their features. Also, we learnt that some Isetan staff didn't even know there is a Dome in their building. And it's been open for months. Bollocks.

Played 9 holes of golf (finally!) and didn't do too badly either - I actually managed a bogey for one hole. My joints were creaking, though, and it was disturbing to see how many children there were on the course - and some of them were probably better than me!

Anxiously await the arrival of a good friend's baby girl ... here we go again!

Bonjour and ¡Hola! It appears that my recent post on a certain Arsenal midfielder's misadventures in a recent match, has attracted attention from Google searches all over the world. This is what my Mint stats say:

On further investigation, it appears that those favourite search keywords, combined with a keyword from another post (to do with Apple's latest iPod) became a winning combination.

Sorry guys, but you have to look elsewhere. Maybe this wallpaper of Monsieur taking the first kick the right way, will appease some of you.

I hadn't heard about teen mag Vainquer until I read about it in the Sunday Times today, but this lad is going far. Congratulations to Kristiano Ang, who even has a Wikipedia entry about his magazine. I particularly like what he said in his Founder's letter:

Vainquer Teens is an international magazine. Despite whatever criticism that might come to us for not focusing on a local context, let it be known that we have more than 5,000 online readers that reside in the United States alone. Vainquer Teens doesn’t seek to be a Singaporean entertainment magazine, it seeks to be a magazine that offers international youth perspectives, that entertains as much as inspires.

He is right not to focus on a local context, because the outreach would be extremely limited. Collaborations with youths around the world ensures a greater depth of perspective and variety in the style of writing.

As in any other context, once you strip away local 'dialects' (i.e. slang/content), a common language remains, and that is the essence of the matter. A great magazine will strike a common note with its intended readers, regardless of which country they're from.

[ Side rant: I was concerned at how local teen blogs seemed to write only about exams, school, their friends and other issues without seeming to take an interest in the wider world around us. I also wondered how they could break out of the cultural/social/educational system which has perpetuated this mindset. These youths are our future. That's why I'm so glad that one of our youths has done something different and brave. ]

For one so young, Kristiano is far more mature and enterprising than many of us, who are still afraid to step out from behind our desks and challenge the status quo.

[Update: Kristiano has emailed me. Everyone, let's go to HMV or Borders to pick up a copy of his mag! ]

This evening I watched two different matches at the same time: Man United versus Tottenham Hotspurs and Arsenal versus Man City.

Man United looked good in the first half. Smithy put up a spirited show, though I and my boy-cousins weren't too sure what Scholes was up to. Things looked topsy-turvy when a defender scored, and Rooney dropped back in defence! However, Spurs started more strongly in the second half [at this point, I changed over to the Arsenal-Man City match] and equalised. One point each.

I've already accepted the fact that Arsenal may not win any honours this season or even the next, because their squad is lacking in depth and attitude. After watching the Pires penalty, I thought, OK, they need to score another goal to secure themselves. And what do they do? Screw up the next penalty. Of all people, Pires botched it up by tapping the ball instead of firing into the net. What a frickin' waste. I'm not sure if that got Bergkamp annoyed (I would be, if I saw my team-mate squander a penalty that I earned). I'd love to hear the locker-room talk.

Elsewhere, it looked like 2-0 was the magic number - Fulham beat Liverpool, Wigan beat Aston Villa, and Blackburn beat Birmingham. I quite admire little Wigan and like reading their striker Jason Robert's columns. This one is funny.

Tomorrow, the slaughter begins (Chelsea versus Everton).

I watched Goal, the first in a trilogy about a poor illegal Mexican immigrant, Santiago, who plays football in Los Angeles for fun. An ex-Newcastle player spots him, and the rest is history.

Sub-plots: 1)The hardworking father who has never watched his son play football, and does not think he should bother flying to Newcastle for try-outs. Thank God for grandmothers (reminded me of my own).

2) The playboy agent who's always too busy to watch Santiago play while in LA. However, when Santi makes it big, he's suddenly interested and wants to oust the ex-Newcastle player as his agent.

3) The girl. Now this part was hard to believe. Never in my three years in England have I seen pretty nurses! And meeting her again while clubbing is another big coincidence - is Newcastle that small? However, I think the dilemma that Santiago faces (faithful girlfriend versus bevies of scantily-clad babes whose names you won't remember when you wake up in the morning) is quite real for many young footballers.

But that's it. If you're a footie fan, you have to watch this show. It brought tears to my eyes. It reminds you that there was a time, not too long ago, when boys played football for the love of the game, not for money or fame. (It also helps if you like Newcastle FC, which I do)

For those who don't ever plan to watch this show / want to know the spoilers, read on.

As part of a promotion, I was treated to a free full body massage at a new spa today, right after work. How refreshing!

However, soon after the massage began, I realised I had forgotten to cancel my regular appointment with a foot reflexologist. But it was too late to get up - I was already lying, topless, face down on the mattress and my masseuse was applying cream on my back! However, the phone didn't ring for a while.

So I decided to forget my long-term 'relationship' and just enjoy my little fling with this new spa. After all, you wouldn't know if another spa can offer you something better, until you try it ;-)

(Read more about the whole steamy affair, and to find out if the spas have been telling us a load of bullshit)

[ Update: 9 of us so far! I'll send everyone an email this week. In the meantime, read about what my co-organiser RamblingLibrarian has to say about the meetup. ]

A few of us were thinking of setting up blogs in our organisations. Then we thought, why not have an informal Gahmen Bloggers Meetup?

There are no hard and fast rules, apart from the fact that you should be a civil or public servant, listed in the SGDI. Also, if someone shares some info with the rest of us, but asks to keep it confidential, do respect that. No recording or surveillance devices will be used; no Minutes will be taken (yay!). However, in line with official policy, bar top dancing is permitted.

You don't have to be a blogger, but should be interested in exploring blogging as a new medium. Those who have already started blogs can share their experiences with the rest of us.

Those interested can email me via the usual form. Please include your Gahmen email address so I can add you to the 'Lotus Notes' mailing list. We might hold the first meeting in November. [Update: I have disabled this feature in the form.]

[ See also: Some tongue-in-cheek ideas from Blinkymummy about setting up proper Gahmen blogs. Don't worry, we're not that evil. ]

I had lucid dreaming last night. Thought I'd better write about it...

You know how you start off doing one thing in a dream, and it slowly modulates into something else?

First, I dreamt that I was with a group of friends in a studio, watching a band play. But I ended up playing in the band because one of the members (the drummer) had gone somewhere during the break and was held up. Just as I struck the snare and cymbals, he walked back in with an Apple bag.

[Subconciously, I must have been thinking of Steve Job's forthcoming announcements.]

Since he was going to be busy playing, he handed his bag to me and told me he had just purchased Apple's latest product, which had arrived at the AppleCentre and was not due for release until the next day. However he had friends at the store who let him pick up the product early.

And what was the product I dreamt of? No video iPod ... but the coolest typewriter in the world. It looked like it was made of the same plastic material as the Apple mouse - transparent with a whitish base, and slightly wider than a sheet of A4 paper which you could fit in. I even typed on it and held it in my hands twice - it felt like I was holding something real!

Later on, my dream modulated further and I was now in a semi-heaven, walking through a peaceful area where my yuppie uncles and aunts stayed. I bumped into an aunt who was driving a golf buggy on the road (Apparently, in this dream city, people drive small vehicles to conserve fuel and reduce pollution). So I hitched a ride and she took me to a newfangled cafe which served a concoction of coffee. Inside the cafe, at the counter, the barista pointed and named each unusual type of coffee beans they had. As this was a dream, every name I heard was probably invented because I didn't recognise a single thing.

Intriguingly, each type of bean was turned into liquids of varying colours, such as mustard yellow. My aunt explained that she liked this place because they had beans which were different from any other cafe, and you could mix different pots of coffee to create your own cuppa. I agreed it was a very innovative concept. Shortly after that, I woke up.

In summary: Apple 'vintage' typewriters and multicoloured coffee.

It's time for me to go to sleep.

"Everything from Morph to Creature Comforts to Wallace and Gromit was there. It had all the film sets, the props, the models, everything. It really is a bit of tragedy." Read on...

Considering other recent world calamities (which I don't need to write about), this is rather minor, but I still felt a pang of sadness to hear that Aardman Animations, home of Wallace & Gromit, has burnt down. Strange about the timing - just when their latest movie made it to the box office number one. Jealousy, perhaps? Or blame it on the old Victorian structure.

I didn't realise the studio was near Temple Meads, which was where I'd take the train to and from Bristol occasionally. What a shame indeed.

Not a convincing win for England. Even if I were an England fan, I wouldn't be happy with this win. England fizzled out in the second half, and anyway Austria didn't have anything to lose. Their goalkeeper was very good. Without Wayne Rooney, there was no finishing, with many good passes ending up as missed opportunities.

Refereeing was erratic. Though I'm not a fan, David Beckham should not have been sent off. Austrian no. 4 was a troublemaker who didn't get booked. A second penalty should have been awarded as the foul was worst than the first (which did get awarded).

Read the MacRumors.com report. Arghhh... why couldn't VanPod have died a little later. Or, why couldn't I have waited a little longer?

Oh well... I've never been a big watcher of TV or movies, so I won't die without video capabilities. But a thinner iPod would definitely have been nice.

Also, I wonder if Apple will consider switching to a harder type of plastic so that iPods won't scratch so easily.