Saturday, September 25, 2010

Kanchanaburi 2003 - Ex Sapper Star

One of my army friends recently dug up a bunch of photos taken(with a film camera!) during our active days, on exercise in Thailand. Life was tougher but simpler then.


Plantation of something on the right, mountains in the background.


Approaching a FLB(Foldable Longspan Bridge).


That's me on the left, chilling out with a friend on the roof of a 5 tonner.


Our PC's Land Rover and a rainbow in the background.


"I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then." — Lewis Carroll



(Photos taken by Khew Jun Hao)

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Pokemon: Apokelypse

What happens if they wanted to make a grim and gritty reboot of Pokemon? Already Hollywood's track record is rather dim with poor adaptations of both Japanese animation and video games such as Dragonball, Speed Racer and DOA. Well with any luck the Hollywood Pokemon will look a lot like this:

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Next Best Thing

Since I am stuck in camp, the next best thing I can do is to blog from here. Pretty lobo day today since the actual mission only starts tonite.

Gonna be out finally this friday. So keep me informed of the usual activities.

Good luck and cya.

Friday, September 10, 2010

What the Protoss Really Needs

It has been a year since the last revelation.

PROTOSS NEEDS PYLONS...

Now one year after the great pylon battle, the new era enlightened one has spoken again.

TERRAN NEEDS FARMS!
- the Saying of John

Come fellow pylonites! Embrace the new teaching and head down to your nearest starbucks!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Vines Seafood and Steak Restaurant

Brought my mum out for dinner the other day and decided to try out this diner near my place. Although we have stayed in that area for such a long while, we have not frequent the vines restaurant even once.

Vines

Anyway it was a suprising lunch with pleasant food which is value for money. The place reminds me of an old western family diner, nice and cozy. Highly recommended for those who wants a nice meal at a good price and a familiar ambience.

Friday, August 27, 2010

What Would Happen If.... And Now For Somethings Completely Different

It did occur to national security personnel in light of the 9/11 attacks that terrorists might attack nuclear power plants by crashing aircraft into them much like they did on that tragic day. So they ran a couple of tests even though the engineers at the plants assured them that they over-designed the heck of the plants since well, there is always the off chance that they explode...



And now for something completely different...

By now, the Dragon Age 2 trailer has made its way around the internet. It has next to nothing to do with the Warden we played in Dragon Age Origins and the companions we got so attached to. However a lot of plot threads were left unresolved presumably for a sequel. Well since the sequel will not be able to tie everything together and more money is always good, Bioware is releasing some DLC meant to finish the story started in Origins.

http://www.1up.com/news/bioware-announces-dramatic-conclusion-dragon

Plus a video I promised to post some time ago. Its from a musical about muppets being naughty so beware strong language!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Worth Every Penny.

The best $3.50 I've spent so far in Aussie Land.

Happy Birthday Singapore

Happy holidays everyone :D

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Sunshine Coast 2010

The view from a lookout point on the Glass House Mountains.  The mountain range are all that remains of volcanoes that were in this area.  Erosion wore down the surrounding rock leaving the harder rock of the lava plugs.


The summit of Wild Horse Mountains, looking west towards the Glass House Mountains. In the middle are forests that seem a bit too regular to be natural, they are actually timber plantations due to be harvested in 10-20 years time.


Looking south from the summit of Wild Horse Mountain.  The road in the middle is the Bruce Highway, an inter-state motorway leading to and from Brisbane.


A waterfall somewhere in the Glass House Mountains.


A view from a ridge line in the Glass House Mountains.  The white house at the bottom of the slope is a farm.


The rocky shore line of the Noosa Heads, a nature reserve on the Sunshine Coast.


This is the "Hell's Gate", a cliff side on the Noosa Heads shaped some what like the gateway of a castle.  For an idea of the scale, the specks seen on the rocks in the middle right hand side of the photo are people.


Another view of "Hell's Gate", this photo simply doesn't do justice to the size of this cliff.


The summit of Mount Coo-Tha, on the outskirts of Brisbane, on a cloudy day.  Brisbane city is on the middle left hand side of the photo.

Monday, July 19, 2010

WE DIN START THE FIRE

I just got a new song for KTV!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Sunshine/Brisbane by Day & Nite

Some photos from the trip:

Starting with Nancy!








Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Combat Rations of Other Countries...

...in this forum thread below:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?164671-Military-Food

Pretty interesting read.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

More Photos

Here are some photos I took earlier in the year.



The typical Australian suburban train station.


Brisbane City Hall clock tower.









Old Parliament House.



Friday, July 9, 2010

A Return to Thedas

The Dragon Age II site has gone live! Trailer on the 17th of August.

http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/

Monday, July 5, 2010

Kids, Don't Try This At Home

Seriously, don't. Unless you're trying for a Darwin Award.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Cat and Ran for Down Under!

Ha ha beware little penguin...

We are coming!

Fill up your stock of bundy and beer!


What a week for me.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Some Games of E3

E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Exposition), the largest showcase of video game technology is in full swing and so far there has been good news and bad news.

The bad news? Project Natal/Kinect looks to be positively underwhelming since one of its launch titles is Kinect Sports. Now where have I heard that one before? If I wanted a Wii, I would have bought one and making the X360 a more expensive Wii would not have influenced my purchasing decisions. Considering its rumored 149USD price point, you might as well get the Nintendo Wii for another $50 and enjoy some Mario brothers on top of wacky motion controls.

Speaking of X360, the new model of the X360 was also unveiled. You'd think by now Microsoft would have fixed the hardware issues and not leave themselves open to class action suits. However the new X360 will mutilate discs inside if the machine is moved during gameplay and they avoid lawsuits with a small sticker on their disc tray. BRILLIANT!

The good news?

The Nintendo 3DS has some serious specs and outstrips the PSP in every way. Marvel vs Capcom 3 will feature Deadpool and Dante. New Assassin's Creed game. The Force Unleashed 2 and the Witcher 2 will satisfy fans of cutting people up with swords.

Some trailers:

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine is still alive and going strong. Hopefully it will be God of War in the 40K universe, with guns. And hopefully if it is, the awesomeness does not create a singularity out of which steps the Doom marine and Duke Nukem exchanging wisecracks.

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/29958

Star Wars the Old Republic is also on show and how is it that the trailers for an MMO can surpass the movies in sheer entertainment value? Apparently in the Star Wars universe, things like "tactics" and "survival instincts" are not the purview of soldiers since when things really go to pot, a Jedi (or dozen) will show up to save your ass.

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/29850

Finally Fallout New Vegas has been dated in this trailer. 19th October 2010 is when we'll get our hands on it. Obsidian's track record is rather spotty at this moment with Alpha Protocol being their latest release but they're at their best when they are not the ones building the engine. Here's hoping that it lives up to the very name these people once established.

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/29840

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The First Hundred Days

I thought I'd take a break in the midst of my exams to write a few words about my first hundred days in Australia.

Actually, it's been 115 days since my arrival on the 8th of February but I've never been happier.  Of all the major events in my life, coming to Australia to study has been one of the easiest transitions I've experienced.  And in the process, I've become less cynical and more optimistic.

Sometimes, it pays to leave your comfort zone.  Humanity progressed this far as a species by doing just that.  Also, be nice to immigrants, migration is to humans as water is to plants.  I am not that far removed from my migrant forefathers.

Three square meals a day is a privilege.  I realize that more than ever now that I have to buy and cook my own meals.  I take back every complaint I've ever had about SAF cook-house food and combat rations.  I should be grateful that even in the middle of a tropical rain forest, I have something to eat.

Being homesick is a waste of time.  Just thought I'll mention that.  I've never once felt homesick, just sick of listening to people moan and groan about being homesick.  Not eating rice regularly is NOT the end of the world.  When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  And eat as they eat.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Absolutely Speechless

Sunday, May 30, 2010

How does this fit into your idea of "Dream Job"?

After a request from CatnRice, here's a link to a newspaper article that made a certain Penguin rather happy.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_532544.html