People say its wrong to stereotype/generalize or put people in categories. But hey, everyone stereotypes others to some extent, and as long as one is not a bigot, I guess there really isn't much harm done.
I realise, from having intellectual conversations with others, that people can really be divided into 3 categories: Those who read The Economist, those who do not read The Economist but read the papers regularly, and those who do not really read any form of news. Oh, and reading the New Paper doesn't count in the second category....
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Friday, September 16, 2005
Good service at last!
I had dinner at Dome Cafe at Shaw Center (Lido) tonight. The service was pretty good, although the check was really slow to come, though the waitress was quite apologetic about it. She actually asked me how was the food, whether I come here often, have I tried this dish before, etc, and for a moment there I thought I was in another country! They probably sent her for some customer service course after all that hoo-haa in the press about bad service lately. What really spoiled a great night was the Ang Moh sitting at the next table. He whistled (rather rudely) for her to come over and serve him as she was talking to me, as if she was his dog or something! And they say Ang Moh's make much better customers than locals.....
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Price of Peace
Yesterday marks 60 years since the day the Japanese surrendered Singapore to the British after 3 years of occupation. I happened to visit Changi War Museum and was reminded of the atrocities committed and the brave troops that fought the northern front till the very end even though they knew they were no match for the incoming Japs. May we never forget the price of peace!
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Google Earth
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Looting
Let's say you are stuck in a town which has just been hit by a hurricane and its all flooded all around you. Everything is messed up, your house is gone, your family is missing, and there are dead bodies floating around everywhere. You are cold, hungry, wet, tired and need medical attention. The authorities were slow to respond, so nobody's there to help. Then you see a Wal-Mart. The shelves are all messed up by the flood, and the store's probably gonna be torn down anyway. So you go in and help yourself to the half soaked food and get some clothing.
Should anyone really blame you for "looting"? Come on, the merchandise is not sellable anymore anyway, and you still need to survive! I'd be damned if you actually stood outside the Wal-Mart and die of starvation because of "upholding the law" or some bullshit.
Some people compare it to Sept 11 where there was general law and order in the aftermath. Well, a few pointers:
1. Sept 11 affected a small area of the city. Survivors could still walk to the unaffected parts to get some food, medicine and aid. If your entire city is destroyed and there is no place to go, that's a whole different story.
2. The authorities were fast to respond in Sept 11. Most people could get some form of help within a few days, if not hours, of the incident. If you ain't getting any help, you gotta help yourselves.
Should anyone really blame you for "looting"? Come on, the merchandise is not sellable anymore anyway, and you still need to survive! I'd be damned if you actually stood outside the Wal-Mart and die of starvation because of "upholding the law" or some bullshit.
Some people compare it to Sept 11 where there was general law and order in the aftermath. Well, a few pointers:
1. Sept 11 affected a small area of the city. Survivors could still walk to the unaffected parts to get some food, medicine and aid. If your entire city is destroyed and there is no place to go, that's a whole different story.
2. The authorities were fast to respond in Sept 11. Most people could get some form of help within a few days, if not hours, of the incident. If you ain't getting any help, you gotta help yourselves.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Someone's getting married (Again!)
It's hella late, I need to wake up early tomorrow morning so I gotta sleep real soon. But I've got to post this blog. Someone's getting married! OMG, I can't believe it!
All I can say is that this Saturday, we're gonna party till the sun comes up! Congrats guys! :P
All I can say is that this Saturday, we're gonna party till the sun comes up! Congrats guys! :P
Saturday, August 27, 2005
chicken wings
Yesterday we had dinner at Hooters to celebrate my good friend's bachelor's party. Hooters, as we all know, is the great american sports restaurant well known for its chicken wings. I had a choice of medium, hot or 3-mile. I picked hot, since I figured this is Singapore, so hot should be pretty hot, for me at least. Turns out that hot is really only "mild" by my standards. Sheesh..... No kick at all! That got me wondering: why is the last category called 3-mile? It was only a few minutes ago that I recalled what 3-mile is. 3-mile island is the large nuclear reactor in North America, where there was some nuclear accident some years back. Ah, it must have been pretty hot in there!
That just gets me thinking about another chicken wing place, University Chicken in Santa Clara. University Chicken, also known as UC (not to be confused with the real UC) serves chicken wings coated in spicy habenero sauce. There are multiple grades of spicyness (10 i think?) with the hottest called "global thermonuclear". I tried the second hottest, thermonuclear, and it was so hot i couldnt get past the first one! Wonder how anybody can finish a plate of the hottest one....
Habenero just reminds me of the time when JM and Rory challenged me to finish that Habenero in the ASCE office. That just cracks me up! Ines totally freaked out man....
That just gets me thinking about another chicken wing place, University Chicken in Santa Clara. University Chicken, also known as UC (not to be confused with the real UC) serves chicken wings coated in spicy habenero sauce. There are multiple grades of spicyness (10 i think?) with the hottest called "global thermonuclear". I tried the second hottest, thermonuclear, and it was so hot i couldnt get past the first one! Wonder how anybody can finish a plate of the hottest one....
Habenero just reminds me of the time when JM and Rory challenged me to finish that Habenero in the ASCE office. That just cracks me up! Ines totally freaked out man....
flash set
Hmm. My friend says that flash setting could be the reason for the concrete not setting. Flash setting due to excessive gypsum that is. Something to consider....
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Concrete setting
I attended a course last week on contract management. The speaker started talking about concrete, which happens to be something I am quite passionate about (read the blog description). So Calcium Chloride is an accelerator while sugar is a retarder. And if you know your concrete, Calcium Chloride is not that good for concrete, because Chloride attack causes corrosion of steel rebar, and Calcium encourages alkali-silicate reaction (if you have reactive aggregate) which deteriorates your concrete in the long run.
So what's the point anyway? Well, the speaker, some expert, said that there was a lawsuit involving some contractor whose concrete could not set during construction. And after checking the site log, it appears that during casting it started raining and the workers ran away. So according to him it's the contractors fault cos anything could have fallen into the concrete, e.g. soft drinks with sugar, when they ran away, causing the concrete to not be able to set.
So what's the big deal anyway? Well firstly, if its just a couple of soft drinks, only a small area would not be able to set, not the whole slab. Secondly, sugar is a retarder, but unless u put a whole lot in, I think the concrete will still set if you just wait it out yah? I don't know the facts of the matter, but seems to me like the guy missed the point entirely. I don't think it was contaminants that caused the concrete not to set at all. In fact I think it's most likely a combination of poor concreting and mix proportioning that caused the concrete to HEAT UP too much during casting. I think what happened was "Delayed Ettringite Formation" also known ask "Internal Sulfate Attack" which occurs quite rarely because the concrete has to heat up till over 70 degrees celcius during casting. And yes, concrete can get that hot in Singapore, you'll be surprised. That's why we usually cast in the morning.
So, what's the point again? It just baffles me that the expert won the court case without having to actually find out the actual cause of the concrete not setting. He just pointed to the site log that the site was unattended. Which means there might have been some undesirable practices that were not discovered and corrected....
Interestingly enough, I wonder how many of you civil engineers out there even know what "Delayed Ettringite Formation" is? First time you heard of it? Even in a place where setting concrete can potentially reach 70 degrees celcius?
So what's the point anyway? Well, the speaker, some expert, said that there was a lawsuit involving some contractor whose concrete could not set during construction. And after checking the site log, it appears that during casting it started raining and the workers ran away. So according to him it's the contractors fault cos anything could have fallen into the concrete, e.g. soft drinks with sugar, when they ran away, causing the concrete to not be able to set.
So what's the big deal anyway? Well firstly, if its just a couple of soft drinks, only a small area would not be able to set, not the whole slab. Secondly, sugar is a retarder, but unless u put a whole lot in, I think the concrete will still set if you just wait it out yah? I don't know the facts of the matter, but seems to me like the guy missed the point entirely. I don't think it was contaminants that caused the concrete not to set at all. In fact I think it's most likely a combination of poor concreting and mix proportioning that caused the concrete to HEAT UP too much during casting. I think what happened was "Delayed Ettringite Formation" also known ask "Internal Sulfate Attack" which occurs quite rarely because the concrete has to heat up till over 70 degrees celcius during casting. And yes, concrete can get that hot in Singapore, you'll be surprised. That's why we usually cast in the morning.
So, what's the point again? It just baffles me that the expert won the court case without having to actually find out the actual cause of the concrete not setting. He just pointed to the site log that the site was unattended. Which means there might have been some undesirable practices that were not discovered and corrected....
Interestingly enough, I wonder how many of you civil engineers out there even know what "Delayed Ettringite Formation" is? First time you heard of it? Even in a place where setting concrete can potentially reach 70 degrees celcius?
It's the little things
It's the little things that we share
The sound of joy that's in the air
Children's laughter everywhere
and all our favorite things....
The sound of joy that's in the air
Children's laughter everywhere
and all our favorite things....
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
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