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The Animals Save the Planet – Gassy Cows

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Apparently these short little clips were aired on the Animal planet channel, but managed to catch all of them online, so why not share some of the funnies while I am at it. The ‘The Animals Save the Planet” comprises of many short clips (11 in total) which aims to teach the green way of life and saving the environment, in a rather comical way. My favorite will definitely have to be the Glassy umm, Gassy cows one.

“the more meat we eat, the more cows there are, producing greenhouse gases!”

Maybe that can be a reliable alternative for our methane sources, not to mention replacing jet fuel for rocket satellite launches!

There are more videos from where that came from.

Source: animalssavetheplanet.com

New photo stitches, on the Henderson Waves Bridge!

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Here is the 2nd installment of the my review of the southern ridges park connector review, this time the panorama shot from on top the bridge itself with people like on a normal visiting day. This panorama is a 180 degree shot with Telok Blangah hill on the left and Mt Faber on the right. It comprises of about 6 overlapping 5 Megapixel shots taken with an N95 8GB and scaled down for web viewing.

sc hendersonwaves08 stitch

You can view more of my Photostitches at my Photostitch gallery

New Hortpark photo stitches!

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You may know of the southern ridges park connector review I wrote recently on the sights and sounds you can get on the 9km journey from Harbor front to West Coast park. Complimentary to that will be a photo stitch I finally got done on the Hyderabad Road’s Hort Park. This panorama is a 360 degree shot facing the visitor center at the end of the open multi-purpose halls and the start of the Hort gardens. It comprises of about 10 overlapping 5 Megapixel shots taken with an N95 8GB and scaled down for web viewing.

sc hortpark c08 stitch

Will able to get the Henderson Waves Photo up tomorrow. You can view more of my Photostitches at my Photostitch gallery

Team Fortress 2 Pyro Achievements Confirmed by Valve

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Here are some news for ya team fortress fans. Straight off the news oven from Computer and video games.com. The Pyro class is next in line to receive an achievement and unlockables upgrade in Team Fortress 2 as confirmed by Valve! Uh-oh just like the previous medic frenzy, won’t we be seeing more BBQs coming up then?

TF2 Pyro Frenzy!

As elaborated, the last class to receive the upgrade goods was the Medic, whom can now receive unlockable weapons for collecting specific Achievements based on its healing abilities. Earn all 36 of the Medic’s achievements and you can get your hands on The Ubersaw, which will take damage done in melee attacks and convert it directly to ubercharge. As said by Valve, we can expect equally useful fiery additions for the Pyro as well.

Speaking to PC Gamer, Valve also revealed that the ‘Meet the Sniper’ video is next in line on its comedy trailer release list. Unlockable weapons system are the main things of Team Fortress 2 classes now and will be introduced in the future to the other classes over time. Specifics of the changes weren’t clear, but you can be rest assured that the Pyro will definitely get more recognition for the fiery wrath and damage he can dish out after the next update:

“The Pyro doesn’t get lag compensation with the flamethrower in the same way which other characters do for their weaponry, which I think has a really subtle effect on perception, and it gets worse as your net connection gets worse. It’s one of the vagaries of multiplayer. Sometimes you think that what’s going on might not be what’s going on. But this is why we gather lots of data.”

That means assist points for lighting up an enemy? A non-cri flamethrower with an increase in range? A Fire Axe that gains health/ammo per hit? Your guess, only time will tell. Stay tuned for the exactly list of (another 36?) achievements to come.

Well, I was really hoping that Valve can introduce a cosmetic “icon tag” system which shows up on the scoreboard which identifies and rewards players who achieves 100% achievements.

Update: Valve revealed one of the new unlockables for The Pyro and it called The Axtinguisher.

Along with all of the new content, the Pyro will be confirmed to receive significant gameplay and damage/scoring changes regardless of whether you have unlocked any new items. For the record, The Axtinguisher does about half of normal damage to just like a normal fire axe for non-burning enemies, once you light someone on fire and hit them with it, it will guarantee a critical hit (and technical one shot kill), so prepare for lots of quick weapon switches and Axtinguisher ubers coming your way!

Dinner at Sakura restaurant (Clementi woods)

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Dinner today was at the Sakura Restaurant, particular the one at Clementi woods. Its a restaurant located right at the top of the hill within the park itself which stood there for quite a long time already. Previously it was a Chinese restaurant which now converted to the Sakura international buffet restaurant it is today.

Sakura restaurant entrance

Though enshrouded by the quietness and emptiness of the surroundings park, the hilltop restaurant is rather crowded when I visited it today. You can reach it by Westcoast highway making your way through the park or the main entrance from the Japanese School facing the NUS engineering faculty.

You can catch the sea and port views of the Pasir Panjang terminal in the distance from the restaurant carpark and hear an occasional ship’s horn as it departs from the port.

The restaurant only serves buffet and is rather popular among the residents and university dormitory students living nearby with an asking prices of $20++ for lunch and $24++ dinner for adults.

The buffet is spread over 2 floors, with a larger seating area at the 1st serving Chinese al-larte, western, seafood, together with the teppanyaki, laska, tim-sum together with The top floor is home to the Sushi, western BBQ, Italian Pizzas, Japanese salads and fruits/desserts area. The drinks and ice-cream sections are available on both floors. If quantity and variety is the selling factor for you, you are in, the Chinese selection of foods is already more than enough to tempt anybody and when you though you are done you are not only half way there.

Sakura at Clementi Woods
Rows of Chinese dishes
Sushi Spread
Sushi Bar
So-so food quality
Here we have pizzas!

The quality of the food is a mixed bunch. Commendable were the self help areas were the Chinese section, so was the Western, Tim-sum and the Pizza sections. The BBQ and Tepanyaki food quality were good as was the speed they were able to get the foods cooked and delivered to your table. The ice-cream and drink selection was descent and if you are creative enough will go make a green tea ice-cream float while you are at it.

However, on my visit, the seafood, Sushi and fruits section was in a very pathetic state- you get white-out muscles and watery calms, rotten Sushi as well as fruits which are all soft and water-soaked in the chillers you are supposed to help yourself from, it’s quite a turn off as a whole. So it’s a mix of relatively good and the exceptional bad which kinda muddles the whole experience.

Whether this experience is an isolated one, I have my mind open on that as I am not a regular there to comment on that. If seafood is your craving, I will recommend you to go for the cooked ones in cheese served by the table chefs, they are the ones you should go for, (unless you see it as a way to cover up for the unfresh seafood, I leave it to you). Most of the Tepanyaki was quite heaty as a whole, though if something quite expected of fried foods, not to mention the fried western food offered tucked in a corner. It’s something I will recommend eating in moderation or risk a sore throat which I am getting now. Thankfully there was free flow of drinks, particular green tea.

One of my biggest hassles was transition to the top floor for more varieties of food- there are 2 ways up one through the central spiral stairwell which will be quite a pain to enter and exit through the heavy glassdoors with your hands full of plates. The restaurant should know that we patrons won’t like to make so many trips up and down for food, (and we will mostly probably be loaded with plates if we do) only to be greeted to a door which only opens in one way and so heavy you have to slump yourself in to push it open, (unless theres a patron or staff there to open it for you). They should have at least have automatic doors or leave the door open with entrance air blowers to contain the air-conditioning The other alternative stairway have the glass doors opened all the time, only that you will have to pass near the toilets and garbage refuse areas before coming to your table, and will your food won’t feel so tasty thereafter.

Overall, the lowdown:
Good
– Large variety of foods and drinks
– Lots of parking space
– Short Tepanyaki waiting time
– Fast and good waiter service
– Excellent price
– Nice surroundings and ambiance
Bad
– The counter chief do not only English!
– Not very fresh salads and seafood
– Soft and watery fruits/desserts
– You need 2 pairs of hands for the staircases
– Dirty toilets

It is the $24++ price of the buffet which made the trip a more tolerable experience as a whole.In all, it won’t be fair to put this joint under the ranks of the Vienna restaurant I last graded as a whole, but if you are looking for a budget Seoul garden alternative without the hassles of cooking the food yourself at the same remarkable price point and don’t mind an occasional quirk or two to spoil your overall experience coupled with excellent service staff, the Sakura restaurant is a place I will recommend you and your friends to spend a night out.

Bumping up the runs

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Looking back at my runs last year topping a descent 1000km, runs for this year had been very much reduced significantly mainly because of other bigger commitments besides running, but things will only be temporary over this period.

Runs updates so far, not excluding those gym visits in school
Alexandra Park Connector Route:
4th April – 13.02km
29 May – 12.06km
2nd June – 12.26km
Total Mileage: 37.34km
Total 2008 Accumulative Mileage: 136.98km

On yes those wondering if there is any Standard Chartered Marathon this year, there will be and infact the event will get double the funding as it did last year. Registrations this year will come bit later in the year, around 21st July.

Details of my segment in the SP Open House talk tomorrow

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SP Convention Center

As part of the Open House on this week, I will be giving a short talk segment from 1 to 1.30pm at the Singapore Polytechnic Convention Center tomorrow. I thank the SP media communications department for inviting me to speak. It will be focused mainly on the life and experiences of choosing the Polytechnic route compared to JC with my experiences to share, having gone to both of them. It will cover largely from a student’s perspective.

We will be expecting an 1,200 odd full house in the convention center for this part of the day, also being the last day of the open house. So if you are an ‘O’ level leaver this year and still at the cross roads between these 2 routes between JC or Poly before University, feel free to drop by for a free tip or two which will help you decide on your choices.

Obama wins, Clinton wavers!

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Barack Obama Crowd

Barack Obama, have a lock on the Democratic presidential nomination. As things are looking up for their party, it’s time the wounds are healed between the party’s favorite candidates as Clinton maneuvers for the Vice President slot.

As quoted by Obama speaking in a packed sports arena:

“Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she’s a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she’s a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.”

“Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete” with her, he said.

Let be another chance for the 1st US lady president, this will be a founding moment for the Blacks in the US history. And will Martin Luther King, Jr will be proud.

The new north gas laws- a possible drifter for ties?

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A race to conquer tomorrow

Well there had been quite alot in the news of the new cross-border pump rules for Singaporean vehicles up north, let be those from Thailand similarly not able to pump subsidized petrol 50km from the borders. I remembered it being almost implemented and mentioned last few weeks only to be rumored to be scrapped, but revived again in today’s Straits Times. As with every new rule introduced, there will be bound to be flak and comments.

If you are to consider this new rule just another in the bag similar to those cross-border water issues of the past or let be fighting over rocks and islands on the South China sea, well that is open for anyone’s deduction, especially if you can see that coming (will cigarettes be next?). Notably official remarks on the issue from our side had been rather quiet as well.

Just as you can hear those petrol station bosses on the fringe of the 50km radius dancing with glee, with that comes many talk about it in town as well, let be coffee shop talk. You also can’t deny the possible social, geographical zoning and monetary implications of this already topic, especially with Singapore long standing 3/4 tank rule seeming rather irrelevant now as well.

with traffic clogging up the behind them!

This is to very much of dismay to those who work across or run businesses across the causeway as well. My dad recently told me how some of his Singapore-based friends who set up businesses and factories just across the border expressing deep dissatisfaction of the rules making life more difficult for them, given the already high prices of petrol.

The question looming in their heads right now is them questioning the recognition of their investment efforts in Johor itself (even I will give it some thought if I were in their shoes). There are also a handful of Malaysians I know as well who are affected by it, having own Singapore registered cars as well. So it’s not just a matter of who’s driving it, but where the car came from? Or will that be a possible area of exploitation? As ultimately, won’t it the owners/citizens themselves who are open for local tax related exemptions/issues?

Whatever the implications, just as how we respect any policies of the north, we should not take lightly the possible social implications involved.

Trilympics 2008 19-20th July (Organised by SMU, SVC and JJC at Toa Payoh Stadium)

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The Trilympics 2008 is a collaborative effort between Singapore Management University (SMU), Student Volunteer Corps (SVC) and Jurong Junior College (JJC), as a tribute to youth volunteerism and support for disability sports in Singapore. Inaugurated in 2006 as part of the Olympic Dream Series, it aims to reach a climax in September 2008 as part of a send-off party for Singapore Disability Sports athletes heading to compete in the 2008 Paralympics, Beijing.

Objectives
• To raise funds for SVC and Singapore Disability Sport Council (SDSC).
• To promote volunteerism among students and to bring awareness to disability sports.
• To show our support and a send off for our disabled athletes to the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

“Around the World in Just 1 Day”
Trilympics 2008 will see participants attempting to go “Around the World in Just 1 Day”, without leaving Singapore. The distance of 40,000 km will be clocked as participants run, jog, walk, and spin on stationary bicycles.

Event Details
Date: 19th to 20th July
Time: 1pm (19th) to 1pm (20th)
Venue: Toa Payoh Stadium
Address: 297 Lor 6 Toa Payoh (319389)

Events Lineup

School Challenge (Team Awards)
The “School Challenge” will take place on the 20th of July from 8am to 12pm. Schools can compete with teams of 25 to cover the greatest distance accumulated from both individual components; on the track and on the stationary spinning machines. Prizes will be awarded to the Top Five schools.

Trilympics Challenge (Individual Awards)
All Trilympics participants, including those involved in “School Challenge”, will also be eligible for individual awards under the “Trilympics Challenge”. “Trilympics Challenge” will last throughout the event. Awards include Trilympics Champion, Trilympics Winners, and Individual Champion Medallists. Also, complete 40km of spinning or 50 laps of running to receive a personalized certificate.

Fundraising: “A Pledge A Lap”
The organizers hope to raise a sum of $200,000 through Trilympics 2008 through donations and the sale of pledge cards. For every pledge card sold, a distance of 400m will be completed by the seller or other participants. The funds raised will go directly;
• To promote/sustain youth volunteerism in disability sports and youth development programmes.
• To promote participation and raise awareness of disability sports in Singapore.
• To support disabled athletes in their quest for sporting excellence in Paralympics 2008.

Spinning
The Spinning program is the original and most popular group cycling class. With no complicated moves to learn, and music that begs your legs to pedal, getting into the best shape of your life has never been more fun.
Expect Different with one hour spinning sessions by top-notch instructors from Star Trac, one of the world’s leading health and fitness companies, on their Spinner® bikes.

Boccia
A Boccia Tournament will also be held on 20th July at Toa Payoh Stadium. The two categories involved are Special (for people with disability) and Open. All schools and organizations are eligible for the Open category. 24 teams of three will compete in a round-robin knockout tournament.

Fringe Events
• President’s Duathlon
• Wheelchair handling clinic
• Food Vendors
• Boccia Clinic
• Appearances by Singapore Unicyclists
• Lucky Draw
• Performances by SMU and JJC

The organizers truly hope to build on this event platform to provide future endeavours aimed at championing social causes. In the likes of the New Paper Big Walk and various mass events, the organizers hope to spin off a series of related events on the national calendar, to be eagerly anticipated by both the able-bodied and disabled in Singapore.

Be a part of Trilympics 2008
You can help us make Trilympics 2008 a success in either of the two ways or both:
• By going “Around the World in Just 1 Day” with us,
• Pledging your support by selling our $2 pledge cards

Contact Information:

For more information, please contact

Ms Sarah Ng at:
Trilympics2008 [at] gmail.com
94314461
Mr Nicholas Oh at:
Trilympics2008 [at] gmail.com
94238960

Registration
Help out for a mission and cause! Register online now.

Official Graduation Photos Out!

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The official photos of last week’s SP Graduation are out! Haha these are the few good ones I’ve picked up. You can view more on the SP grad day photos gallery as well.

SP Grad Day Group Photo Shoot
Institute winners group photo shoot
SP Grad Day Group Photo Shoot
Institute winners group photo
Convention Center
Nice view of the convention center

Some photos shot during the post graduation food reception with my family:

Family Photo with RAdm Lui Tuck Yew
Family Photo with RAdm Lui Tuck Yew
Family Photo with our Principal Mr Tan Hang Cheong
With our Principal Mr Tan Hang Cheong
Family Photo with our previous SP Principal Mr Low Wong Fook
With our previous SP Principal Mr Low Wong Fook

Mizuno Wave Run 2008 (Bedok Reservoir)

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There we have it, the return of the Mizuno Wave Run 2008. The first few races from 2004-2005 were great, but last year’s one was really terrible. Looks like it’s deja-vu again this year as the 2008 run will take place exactly at the same venue and route. Here are some off-hand details of the Mizuno Wave Run 2008

Race Date: Sunday 27nd July 2008
Venue (Start/End Point): Temasek Poly (TP) Sports Stadium
Distance: 10km
Reporting Time: 0630hrs
Race Start Time: 0730 hrs

Categories and Pricing
(Prices are up from $20 last year)
Mens open
Womens open
Mens veteran
Womens veteran
(All Categories rates $30 before 6 June 2008, $35 thereafter)
There will be no on-Competitive Fun run this year
Part of proceeds will be donated to selected charities

Runner Entitlements
(For all categories)

  • Runners Bib
  • iTags for Electronic Timing (we have timings this year!)
  • Mizuno Shoe Bag (Worth $35.90)
  • Mizuno Event Running Jerey (Sizes S to XL, worth $32.90)
  • Lucky draw coupon
  • 30% discount on all regular Mizuno items (from the listed stores above) from point of registration

Race Route
Similar to last year’s race, distance about 10km, mostly flat terrain, trail and road. But expect very muddy routes on the Trail loop if it rained beforehand, so prepared to get dirty and wear shoes and running attire you don’t mind getting muddy in.

Mizuno Wave Run 2007 Route

Route Explanation: TP Stadium – Out TP East Road Gate (To main road) – Bedok Reservoir Loop – North along TP Main Road – TP Stadium (Yellow Line)

Registration Details
Registration closing date: Sunday 6th july 2008
Register personally at the following Mizuno & World of Sports outlets (VGO Corp):

  • Mizuno Paragon
  • Mizuno Marina Square
  • Mizuno AMK Hub
  • Mizuno Vivocity
  • WOS Plaza Singapura
  • WOS Jurong Point
  • WOS Toa Payoh
  • WOS Heartland Mall
  • WOS Takashimaya
  • WOS Velocity @ Novena Square
  • WOS Parkway Parade
  • Feder Sports
  • N-zone @ Queensway Shopping Center
  • Running Lab at Funan IT Mall
  • Running Lab at Velocity

Race day conduct
Reporting time: 0630
(Recommended time for ample warm up time, there is no need for pre-race registrations)
Race start: 0730
There is baggage deposit at the stadium itself, be sure to come really as the stadium will be very packed and will be hard to find your way around.

Getting there

If you are driving, TP carparks uses ERP charging system, there is no word whether parking fees are waived for the event day.

By Public transport:
Alight @ Tampines MRT Station, and transfer to Bus 8, 23, or 69 at the Tampines Bus Interchange.
Alight @ Bedok MRT Station, and transfer to Bus 69 at the Bedok Bus Interchange.

Direct Buses serving TP (five services):

  • Service 8 from Tampines Interchange / Toa Payoh Interchange
  • Service 15 from Eunos Interchange / Pasir Ris Interchange
  • Service 23 from Tampines Interchange, looping from Rochor Canal Road
  • Service 69 from Tampines Interchange / Bedok Interchange
  • Service 518 from Pasir Ris Interchange, looping from Orchard Road

Other nice to know stuff
Guest of honour (flag off): George Yeo, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Official drink: H-Two-O
Official timer: Sunnto

Run at your own risk and be prepared for the finishing line appearing how of nowhere! LOL! See you at the Race!