The Heartlander
just finished Hayate no Gotoku.

halfway through Ouran High.

Just submitted 2nd attempt for practice log 6.

1 episode through Kannagi.

many more to go. this was the list from last update.

1. Hayate no Gotoku

2. School Rumble OVAs

3. Ouran High Host Club

4. Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu

5. Kannagi

6. Shakugan no Shana Season 2

7. Itazura na Kiss

8. Honey and Clover

Ongoing and upcoming

1. Toradora

2. Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka

3. Akikan This just sucked too much :P

To be updated...

perfect living on 2009-02-03, 11:50 p.m.


Tomorrow is my day to perform. in fact, I feel I'm being assessed this entire month.

There has been rumour that I'm being targetted by scs. I don't think my participation in this upcoming project is coincidental. rumour is the boss of the maintenance team somehow chose me.

maybe I'm just thinking too much and making up all this. but I really hope this is true.

If I get an offer from scs, I'm so going to jump boat. especially since my campmate is joining AT as well and he's going to ask for the same pay as me. Frankly, I think I'm slightly more qualified than him... but that's just wishful thinking. I hope my investment in my CCNA did not go to waste. CCNA is worth at least $2000, just that I chose to slug it out and self study, hence costing me only $300+.

climb the ladder i shall.

perfect living on 2009-02-02, 7:55 p.m.


Triathletes Banned

Yes, Mr Mok, if you're reading this, please know that I'm here to defend you. although you may not like the way I do it hahaha.

Having been a classmate with Mr Mok for 2 years in JC (and more distantly a schoolmate for 4 years in secondary school), he is someone who would rather order take-out Yong Tau Fu from the food court on the top floor of Junction 8 than to join the rest of the class at KFC.

He trained 11 times a week (or so he claimed, I'm betting it was more). Before school, he's at the track. During lesson breaks, he's in the library. After school, he's either swimming, cycling, running, or having his sports massage on Fridays. If I didn't remember wrong, he ran half-marathons every weekend and rides at night on Tuesday and Thursday along coastal road. Until today, I'm still amazed by the strict routine and spartan lifestyle he had adhered to. It was so routine and clockwork that I could still describe with details today.

He is someone who would rather *ahem* dump (read: reject) someone than look for a girlfriend.

His self-discipline is one of its kind in this world. I do not believe such unparalleled determination and discipline will lead to the events as speculated by the many uninformed gossipers.

To the rest of us, he has no life. But to him, triathlete and training is life. Whoever's fault it is, please know that there are always fans like us behind you!

or maybe I overvalued myself. I am not worthy!

perfect living on 2009-02-01, 8:26 p.m.


A cyberstalker is I! And proud of it!

It was some detective work, but I've managed to find Ayako fansub for Kannagi on irc xdcc bots. muahahahaha.

Please follow my quest to Kannagi. You might learn something.

Went on to Jimaku Hikaku　字幕比較 to find out which Fansub I'll like to stalk. Preferred Ayako's cos there's nice karaoke for OP and ED :P I can't read romanji for nuts.

Anyway, found the fansub group here. But useless, cos they don't host any xdcc bots. Here is where the hunt starts.

ran a Google search. If you follow the link, it should be the last entry on the first page (correct at time of writing). Which led me to an xdcc listing containing Kannagi by Ayako.

I went to do something extra which ended in a dead end. I did a nslookup on 91.121.152.132 and it gave me pew.irchan.org. punched that in the browser and I got redirected to Nollog's XDCC lists. dead end as none of the bots serve Kannagi.

anyway, back to the Fox.txt. note the Top and Bottom lines. The name of the bot is most likely FoxBot and the bottom indicates it's at #FTP-Anime. My guess is it's on Rizon. Joined the channel #FTP-Anime and found no FoxBot. Ran a "whois" for FoxBot on mirc and found out that it's in quite a few channels that I frequent. in fact, it was on #Ayako as well but I overlooked it. Anyway, xdcc msg-ed FoxBot and I'm on my way to 160KB/sec direct downloads.

ok... if you've clicked the "whois" link there and got freaked out, which I doubt so, I'm sorry XD. the naughty side of me wanted some cheap thrills... although i'll never know who kenna-ed.

so there, ask me to hunt any anime, I'll fetch it like a good dog.

perfect living on 2009-02-01, 5:38 p.m.


just watched toradora 17.

toradora is too damn good. it leaks story and plot at a rate that keeps me wanting for more but not too draggy. now it has become like school rumble but 3 times more emo. Aisaka still likes Kitamura, Kitamura is thankful to Aisaka, everyone else in the class thinks Takasu likes Aisaka, Takasu thinks he likes Kushieda but at the end of the show somehow hints that he may actually like Aisaka. Kushieda begins acting weird, not that she's not weird in the first place, but now weird in the other extreme, becomes super emo and avoids Takasu, she likes Kitamura as well? It seems like a harem party for Kitamura as another minor character, Kihara likes him as well and wants Takasu to get together with Aisaka, so that she has a chance. poor Takasu, no one wants him.

wooooooooo...

the problem comes. I have no one to talk to about this exciting twist of events. so sad... no one is as excited about the things I'm excited about.

Aisaka acts super cute in this episode. She sounds like Nagi from HnG sometimes. I guess even Kugimiya can't draw the lines so clearly between the voices.

and I have to miss Joyce's birthday party today because I do not have anyone's contact at all. no directions to her celebration place. feeling very guilty now for not arranging earlier...

and Kevin's is tomorrow. I hate this year, so many people turning 21 and making a big deal out of it. either I hate it or love it. I can use this chance to let people know that I remember their important date.

STI falls 20 pt after a crazy 80pt surge yesterday. This really confirms a pattern... and everytime it does.

haiz...

perfect living on 2009-01-30, 8:42 p.m.


holy crap, STI shot up 80 points on the first day after CNY. probably "new year optimism" again.

I'm running out of Hayate no Gotoku to watch soon. Downloaded first 2 volumes of the manga, shall begin deciphering soon. japanese manga is always better uncooked. :)

oh, and my bird's birthday just passed. but i'm too lazy to do anything about it.

perfect living on 2009-01-28, 11:38 p.m.


just watched toradora 16 subbed. watched the raw two days back but only catched a few bits about kanou going america and aisaka not forgiving her.

anyway, right from the start of the series I had thought something was wrong with kushieda. she's too bubbly to the point that I was suspicious of her background. and I guess ep15 dropped some hints. takasu said kushieda was a kind girl and she almost cried (did she cry?) and said she's not, and she's dishonest. I guess for living a lie everyday.

and ep16 kawashima walked past kushieda in the final scenes and she said

罪悪感はなくなった？
(ざいあくかん) (yay, leart new word, no this is not the translation)
(this is: 不内疚了吗? Guilt is gone?)

and kushieda's eyes widened and gasped. damn... how can kawashima know so much?

ultimate teaser in the show. i'm so craving for ep17 now.

aisaka must be pretty devastated when kanou admitted she liked kitamura when aisaka went to beat her up, expecting kanou to say she has no feelings for kitamura. and kena subsequently suspended for two weeks. lol. perfect pair with Takasu the pseudo-Yankee. i hope that doesn't no chibi-taiga for next week :( i'll cry.

somehow this reminds me of the a*star scholar who jumped after being rejected by a china chinese girl. irrationality is the most dangerous thing on earth. 1 million (if not more) of taxpayer's money just vapourised without any returns. sorry for being not sympathetic towards the guy at all, but honestly, he's stupid. like kitamura now, especially when aisaka is there all the time for him.

another trivia... I've noticed the only line Horie (kushieda) spoke in ep16 was during the fight between kanou and aisaka when she appeared at the door and said "Taiga".

perfect living on 2009-01-25, 1:09 a.m.


YES!!!

STI falls below 1700... finally. drop back to Oct 08 values. come on... you can do it! go to 1500 in April! gogogo!

I'm actually surprised that it dropped after the budget was announced yesterday (Thursday) night. No trust in gahment? I was expecting at least continued growth for a few days. Perhaps the measure were really targeted at mid and long-term and investors weren't convinced of any short-term benefits.

I wonder how the economy will perform after such a big "bailout" on employment. 5 billion spent on dishing out money to employers to keep jobs.

Anyway... a perfect "bailout" for everyone.

read this.

so the gahment is taiwan is going to prop up the economy by dishing out money for people to stimulate consumption, which in turn will stimulate production. although I'm no economist, but I shall call this "phoney demand". Money is spent to consume, and when the initial buzz dies down, all that is left is the bubble back at the start before everything happenned. square one. worst, it might be a bigger bubble, now loaded with nuclear capabilities for bigger fireworks. ultimately, it is the entity that starts the series of unfortunate phoney demands that will pay the price, literally. I won't say Taiwan is making a terrible mistake (how can I? who am I?) but I'm seriously worried about where this could lead to.

all the best for my entrance into the market in May 2009! I'm turning 21 at the perfect time.

perfect living on 2009-01-24, 1:38 a.m.


damn tired. no time to update these few days and I have so many things I want to talk about.

first was last sunday. it was the unhealthiest day of my life. Played basketball in the morning, then bought burger king. ate the luscious tendergrill AND a bk fish for lunch... and for dinner another chicken sandwich. that's all I ate for that day, 3 bk meals. holy cow...

SGX is teasing me. whenever it's almost breaking 1700, it will (as though deliberately) go up by a few points. today it went up 4pts to 1708. wth... just break 1700 already and play in the 1600s.

First, it's Mr Tan Yong Soon. Initially when I read the article, I was sympathetic. I mean, it's his own private life and money. How he spends it isn't up for us to say. A smart spender would have accumulated wealth during the boom periods of the economy and spend a portion during recessions when everywhere is a buyer's market. I would have probably done the same, store up cash and attack stocks/properties/cars/anything when the prices take a nosedive.

However, a few days later, I read this. Refer to the last paragraph.

Quote

Agreeing that the rebuke in Parliament was “harsh”, MP Charles Chong noted that Mr Tan didn’t “brag” about how expensive the trip was in the article.

“Maybe it made lesser mortals envious and they thought maybe he was a little bit boastful,” he said. “Would people have taken offence if his wife (a senior investment counsellor at a bank) had paid for everything?”

Unquote

Ok... this pissed me off. Mr Tan and Mr Chong are b@stards now. He could have put it in a much neutral and humble way but he chose to call us "lesser mortals". I don't have to explain the implications behind this usage and as I read this on the bus, I had this sour taste in my mouth as the "lesser mortal" in me tries to break free its shackles. I couldn't be more "lesser mortal" sitting at the back of a packed SBS bus, folding my Today paper into quarters so as to not obstruct others, hunching my shoulders and pushing up my black-rimmed plastic specs as I read about this haughty mannerism displayed by out very dear "greater mortals".

Kudos to Today for shedding some light on the real sentiments of some civil servants. This is one reason why sometimes I don't trust the motives of the public service. No million dollar, no minister please.

Another articles. Click on the thumbnail to read.

I am an open-minded person but I will state my personal stand on this issue. Arts = waste money. No money = stop arts funding.

Funding for arts during a recession can be argued in a different way but the way he did it, he shot himself in the foot. He correlates Arts with Culture and implicitly implied that culture brings about a sense of identity.

I will just have to say one thing... That Art that you're performing, is not MY culture! I believe "culture" isn't something that can be funded, that can be moulded by external artificial forces. It is a natural evolution of daily social interactions and behaviours. While HIS culture may be to listen to Rachmaninoff, MY culture, the Singaporean culture, involves sitting at the coffeeshop with your best friends and griping the shit that we went through during NS and whining about how lousy the government is but deep inside we know we can't do anything about it cos there isn't a better around, yet, and we're really not into politics, we'll just care about ourselves like the typical Singaporean we are.

in my eyes, that's culture. Free and readily available throughout the country, the Singaporean culture. No funding needed. It might not a very glorifying, but the Singaporean Kiasu culture is one of its kind in the world.

Culture can sometime bring in revenue for the gahment too. Take example from our "Fine" culture. It has become the first thing tourists noticed when they stepped on Singaporean soil... or maybe before if there is a "No durian" sign in the Airbus A380

No matter what people say, if he's a Singaporean, deep down inside, he loves the Singaporean culture even with all its imperfections.

There's no need to infuse classy musicals or orchestra. Look at Japanese culture, it has become an industry by itself. funding for arts? or funded by arts?

there's no shortcut to culture. It is evolved over time. No amount of funding would produce a fine culture that we can call out own. At the end of the day, there isn't any "sense of self" for me in the arts. because my culture lacks arts.

In totally unrelated news, work is so freaking boring that I've started talking to myself. The whole day I will be in the network comms room all by myself, sometimes dislocated from mobile communications if the room is underground. I talked to Cisco Catalyst switches, Alcatel Omnistacks and Juniper Firewalls.

today was a pretty interesting day at work though. the entire company went back to the ubi office for lunar new year celebrations. plenty of food and drinks. received my advance payment and a small angbao from boss. I realized after sometime, I've stopped whining about the monotony of the job, the long and irregular workings hours, and saikang. I think it's because after some time, I've made acquaintances, and knowing that there are people going through the same shit as you makes you feel slightly important. if you're to quit, everyone else has to do more shit, even ever so slightly. so heck man, economy is bad anyway, just do it.

Just as I gave up any thoughts of changing my job, heard some rumours that rekindled my desire for better job/pay/hours/food/transport/house/... But I find it contradicting... nah, shan't discuss that too much. Sekarly it never happens. hah.

perfect living on 2009-01-23, 1:32 a.m.


downloading windows 7 from microsoft. beta test ftw!

I'm quite interested to find out what can they do "based on Windows Vista and Server 2008". Is it going to be worse than Vista?

I'm a minimalist gamer. oxymoron? (oh I love that word) I may not be a minimalist in the true sense for using windows... a true master may be using some Linux distro and writing his own games or something. After briefly trying out Vista, I quickly retreated back to XP. Games in Vista generally run slower, have lower FPS and it feels more sluggish. and the extra gadgets are memory hogs... which I've turned off. but there are thing like the search function which you can't. I believe it maintains some form of indexing which takes up resources... again.

I guess XP is too entrenched among windows users that anything more seems bloatware and anything less is "Linux". I'm leaving out apple in the comparison because 1. I never used Apple. 2. I'm not fanboy. 3. It's a very niche market. 4. and because of that, snob brand. 5. and jobs is sick.

anyway, things I'm going to test out.

1. Video codecs. It says it comes with H.264. That would mean some of my mkv animes can play without any codec packs.
2. Company of Heroes. I'm not sure whether the Beta supports DirectX 10. But I wanna feel how different it is from Vista.
3. Dota with bro on his laptop. To see how difficult it is to get a network going. Of course, transferring files too.
4. Then I'm going to poke around the registry muahahaha.
5. Maximizing and minimising it. Throw in all the transparency and aero and whathaveyou. whine abt the sluggishness and take out all the visual effects. And make it as XP as possible, 2000 even better.
6. Internet Explorer 8. Who the hell uses IE other than for Windows Update?
7. DOS support. I still have my trusty snake game I've programmed in Turbo Pascal somewhere in my archives...

it looks too vista. Can I get back my XP or classic windows look?

perfect living on 2009-01-16, 10:36 p.m.