The Fitness Guru

Yes, that's me:

SIT-UP(rep) - 33
STANDINGBROAD JUMP(cm) - 239
CHIN-UP (rep) - 5
4X10MSHUTTLE RUN (sec) - 9.9
2.4KMRUN(min:sec) - 12:28

OverallResult - Incentive

So, after a grand total of 6 RT sessions, I've managed to pass my IPPT during the 7th session, and thus do not need to attend any further sessions! (Although I nearly died while sprinting the last lap in order to pass.)

What's even better, my next deadline for passing IPPT again is 23 December 2008! Woohoo! :)

But will need to keep exercising I guess. I'll really suffer if I wait till November 2008 to start training. Sigh.

humour of the day

The following list of phrases and their definitions might help you understand the mysterious language of science and medicine. These special phrases are also applicable to anyone reading a Ph.D. dissertation or academic paper:

"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN"...
I didn't look up the original reference.

"A DEFINITE TREND IS EVIDENT"...
These data are practically meaningless.

"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS"...
An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.

"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY"...
The other results didn't make any sense.

"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"...
This is the prettiest graph.

"IN MY EXPERIENCE"...
Once

"IN CASE AFTER CASE"...
Twice

"IN A SERIES OF CASES"...
Thrice

"IT IS BELIEVED THAT"...
I think.

"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT"...
A couple of others think so, too.

"CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE"...
Wrong.

"ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS"...
Rumor has it.

"A STATISTICALLY-ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS"...
A wild guess.

"A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA"...
Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of soda.

"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS"...
I don't understand it.

"AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES"...
They don't understand it either.

"THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO CINDY ADAMS FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS"...
Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Adams explained to me what it meant.

"A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY"...
A totally useless topic selected by my committee.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD"...
I quit.

interesting concept...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

a full circle...

After more than 6 months of relaxed attempts at seeking out alternative interior designers, we have finally returned to Sean of Ciseern. For a glimpse of Ciseern's portfolio, click here.

Ad and I met him at the Ciseern showroom after dinner yesterday, and after more than 2 hours of discussions, we finally signed on the dotted line for our interior design and renovation package, which would include everything except for stuff like lighting, curtains, mattress, etc.

We managed to seize the opportunity of the ongoing Modern Homes exhibition to secure the promotion of 10% + 5% rebate off the basic package, and also a free gift of either an L-shaped sofa or a dining table set. Will be popping by the Expo on Sunday to view the samples and decide which free gift to choose. Should be a fun trip, since there'll also be the Metro warehouse sale, Popular Bookstore warehouse sale and Mega Carnival (whatever that is) going on at the same time.

Shall not reveal the cost here, since there's some vague confidentiality clause in the agreement, but suffice to say that I felt it was a reasonable price, even though it exceeded our original budget by a couple of thousands. The effects of inflation and rising costs were certainly felt though, since the quote was a whole thousand more than our original quote just one year ago! Better to secure this price before the new GST kicks in on 1 July 2007.

I'm glad to have Sean as our ID, he seems personable and sincere, but let's hope all that will not change now that we have committed ourselves to Ciseern.

Well, that's another item settled then. We're left with booking a photographer and videographer for the wedding day, and that should be it! (save for all other minor details of course...)

Most exciting. :)

And the winner is.....

Yep, the O2 XDA Atom Exec. I am most pleased with it on the whole. Full details of my new toy can be found by clicking here.

In the meantime, here are more views of this nifty gadget:

The package also came with an infra-red keyboard as shown below, but I don't really like the idea of carrying a bulky (albeit leather-bound) package around with me, so I doubt the keyboard and leather pouch will be of much use. Maybe only at times of desperation when I'm at home and the Macbook is down and so is every other computer.

Oh, and I have to thank Ad for forbidding me to buy anything at the IT Show on Friday, coz when we went back on Saturday to get it, the package had mysteriously grown to include a 2GB mini-SD card, street directory software, screen protector and bluetooth earpiece! Would have been most upset if I had bought it on Friday and realised later that all the goodies only came out during the weekend.

Haven't really explored the phone fully yet, but so far it just seems to be a faster and smaller version of my HP iPaq which I used several years ago. Managed to download some useful tips and software off the net, and am looking forward to maximising the capabilities of this tiny wonder.

Ok, shall stop before I puke over the geekiness of this post. :)

joke of the day...

A man was stopped by a game warden recently with two ice chests full of live fish in water, leaving a river well known for its fishing.

The game warden asked the man, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?"

"Naw, my friend, I ain't got no license. These here are my pet fish."

"Pet fish?"

"Yep. Every night I take these fish down to the river and let 'em swim' round for a while. Then I whistle and they jump right back into this ice chest and I take 'em home."

"That's a bunch of BS! Fish can't do that!"

The man looked at the game warden for a moment and then said, "It's the truth. I'll show you. It really works."

"Okay, I've GOT to see this!"

The man poured the fish into the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to him and said, "Well?"

"Well, what?" said the man.

"When are you going to call them back?"

"Call who back?"

"The FISH!"

"What fish?"

The Toy Shop - IT Show 2007!

Shall it be this?



Or this?



Or this?



Hmmm.... I favour the 1st option at present.

Before I get accusations of being extravagant, let me add a quick disclaimer that the new toy is a most pleasant welcome gift from my new employers. Might as well, right? ;)

The Mystery of the Cheaper Milk Powder

Spotted in today's Straits Times:

"Milk powder sold at Cold Storage in Sengkang cheaper than that sold at Centrepoint outlet

Recently I bought a can of 1.8kg of milk powder, Enfakid A+, at Cold Storage, Centrepoint, for $40.05. The same can of milk powder was sold at $38.90 at Sengkang branch.

Neither branch was having any promotion for the milk powder.

When I enquired about the price difference of $1.15, both the duty manager and deputy/store manager of the Sengkang branch replied that the company practises two different pricing strategies for different branches.

Those branches which are at the heartland malls have a lower pricing whereas those in towns and where expatriates live have a higher pricing. They even advised me not to purchase in towns.

I believe there are more items sold at Cold Storage with different prices at different outlets. Is this allowed?

Jenny Law Yan Chee (Mdm)"

If I were in a nastier mood, I would have sent a response to the ST Forum as follows: "I refer to the letter (blah blah blah). I believe the letter is retarded and a waste of ink. Is this allowed???"

This is a classic example of the numerous letters in the ST Forum that elicit a huge groan and smack of the forehead. Doh!

geek analysis

Following the earthquake, I was dogged by a persistent dizziness for most of the afternoon, and I think I have found the answer here: http://www.borderlands.com/newstuff/research/infra.htm

An extract from the link above:
"Earthquake infrasound manifests only at intermittent intervals, producing drastic and sustained negative modifications of consciousness. The human organism continues to reel under intermittent infrasonic assault for numerous reasons. After less than a five minute exposure to low intensity infrasound of 10 cycles per second, dizziness will last for hours. Infrasound of 12 cycles per second produces severe and long lasting nausea after a brief low intensity exposure." (emphasis added)

Most interesting phenomenon, albeit highly uncomfortable.

lunchtime excitement

I was merrily doing my work late this morning, when the whole office started shaking. I thought it was some renovation work or something, but soon realised that the whole building was shaking.

The secretaries flew into a mini-panic, grabbed their bags, and fled the office. The lawyers stood around discussing what to do, until the funniest initial announcement was made by the building management over the P.A. system:

"Attention please. We have unconfirmed reports that an earthquake is striking Singapore. If you feel uncomfortable, please evacuate the building."

That brought some laughter to break the tension, but for safety, we soon left the building via the stairs. Headed off to meet Ad, since RP was also evacuated, and we bumped into Nav & ET, and decided to lunch at Coffee Club Express.

All went well, till I got back to my building, only to find that everyone was downstairs. Apparently there had been a second quake and the building had been evacuated again. Sat at Lau Pa Sat for a while, and eventually went up when we got the all clear.

Thank God everything is ok. I must admit that, this being the first time I have felt an earthquake, I was quite shaken (no pun intended) by the first tremor, and had a bit of an internal panic as to what to do if the building was going to collapse. A prayer shot up to God instantly, and well, the prayer was answered! :)

Oh, just FYI, here's an "official" report of the quake: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007zpah.php#details

Pong!

Here's a recent extract from The New Paper:

"Mr Kelvin Lim, who lives in Punggol, is worried that the more mahjong is seen as socially acceptable, the more damage it may bring to our society.

Said Mr Lim, 40, salesman: 'The community club may be seen as endorsing social gambling. Will Singapore become like Hong Kong one day? What if underground mahjong clubs start popping up in the heartlands?

'Although mahjong keeps the mind active and is said to help prevent dementia, I feel that in this case, the ill effects outweigh the benefits.'

Another Yishun resident, Madam Dulcie Lim, feels that the mahjong tournament is a good way to get more Singaporeans to participate in a charity event.

Said Madam Lim, 60: 'Many Singaporeans enjoy playing mahjong. It is more a recreational game than gambling."

You know how Singapore is always seen as being too uptight and excessively restrictive on her citizens? It's because of people like Mr Lim.

Following his line of argument, let's scrap cars. Why? Because Singapore may be seen to be endorsing global warming. Will Singapore become like Bangkok one day? What if traffic jams become a daily feature of life? What if smog covers the city? What if more people die of car accidents? What if our children become too pampered and spoilt to walk anywhere? Although cars move people from point A to point B, and is said to help reduce travelling time, but nooooo, the ill effects "outweigh" the benefits.

Don't be daft, Mr Lim. Mahjong is a recreational game for young and old alike. It makes for good social interaction, and the money involved is merely to add a bit more fun and excitement to the game, and the stakes are deliberately kept very low (at least for recreational players) such that the reason for playing the game will never be for the money. You can probably make more money spending your time picking rubbish to sell to the karang guni man!

Look, if people really want to gamble, they don't need mahjong. True-blooded, hardcore gamblers can do it with anything. They can play Monopoly with real money (yes, there is an element of chance involved - you throw dice), they can play scissors paper stone with stakes involved, heck, they can even bet on the number of cars to pass by in one minute! (assuming we haven't banned cars due to the social evils)

Mahjong is a great game to help develop quick thinking and analysis, and to top it off, it's fun and great for social bonding. So please, Mr Lim, chill out a bit yea?




(yes, ang mohs play mahjong too...)