Saru-kun says 'Irrashaii'

Apple by Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach

2010-08-18T21:41:00.003+01:00

Dinner(s) and a car

2010-07-10T01:47:00.008+01:00

Pictures of the last few dinners just to break the unplanned hiatus until I find 'inspiration' to blog about something more readable:

Pad Thai

Chicken Tom Yum

Thai Green Curry

Mushroom soup, minestrone soup, garlic cheese bread, coleslaw, potatoes and one roast chicken

Between two guys.

Random shot of our new car testing:

Dinner

2010-04-27T21:33:00.003+01:00

Today I made Hainanese chicken rice, with ready made mix out of a jar with boiled chicken mixed in a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil and ground black pepper. There were also ready made fried fish balls that were thrown into the rice pot to steam for a little while.

Yesterday I made pan-fried salmon steaks with rice and a fried egg.

Yesterday was also the first time I had a hot meal with rice in a week since getting back from Birmingham.

There is also a severe lack of vegetables in my diet.

I think I'll head downstairs and make a pot of green tea.

20 pages of final year report done. 10 more to go.

Currently watching: 2010's SuperGT @ Okayama Circuit replay on Youtube

Screw threads

2010-04-21T19:43:00.003+01:00

Today I learnt that the little hole at the base of all cameras meant for the tripod mounting plate to screw in uses a 1/4" x 20 TPI thread.

If that doesn't fit, then it's a 3/8" x 16 TPI thread.

Currently listening to: Grounds For Divorce by Elbow

Singer Sewing Machine Co. is BADASS

2010-04-14T21:37:00.000+01:00

Who would've thought that they had been awarded a production study contract to manufacture one of the most famous and iconic pistol of modern times eh?

A Marine Expeditionary Unit service M1911 sidearm

In total, 500 serialised pistol were produced in 1940 and these days, an excellent, genuine example of one could fetch in excess of $25 000. Compare this with a super custom shop 1911 like an Ed Brown or Nighthawk Customs which retails anywhere from a minimum of $2000 onwards.

For a more detailed history, follow the link below to read up Singer's involvement.

Singer M1911 Pistol Story

Note: Picture above taken off the internet a long time ago. I cannot remember where it was from, however, if the owner of the image stumbles across this humble site of mine and would like it removed, please shoot me an email and it will be done. Thank you kindly.

I'd love to handle and shoot one of these at least once in my lifetime. For awhile now I've been amazed and in awe at the engineering genius that is the designer of this firearm; Mr. John Moses Browning.

Single action only to provide a short, crisp and light trigger pull and intuitive thumb and grip safety which demands sufficient training for proper use of firearm under duress marks this out as a fighting pistol through and through. The .45 ACP chambering also provides more than adequate stopping power that a fighting pistol requires albeit at a reduced round count in the magazine.

The 7+1 round count has in some ways placed this pistol into the self-defence category instead of active war duty as the new generation Glocks, H&K, Sigs, Berettas and S&Ws pack more user friendliness, firepower in terms of round count and to a certain extent, reliability as well.

Anyway, I think its time for a trip to Thailand or the States for some shooting...

Currently listening to: 憨過頭 by 梁静茹

I bought new shoes yesterday...

2010-04-13T15:09:00.004+01:00

... as I was tired of tripping over uneven ground and bending my ankles the way they shouldn't be bent.

Behold! Scarpa's Terra GTX!

Oiled full grain leather uppers, Gore-Tex waterproof/breathable membrane lining and Vibram sole. For a 120 pounds, this Italian beauty should last for the next 6-8 years of daily urban walking.

On the plus side, I can now kick people in the face with far more effectiveness too!

Currently listening to: Kaisoroku, by Key

I'm like 'wow'

2010-04-05T21:23:00.002+01:00

People with reasonable internet connection should watch this:

These lot have wayyyy too much time on their hands...

HOMGWTF @ No. 3 I swear I'd run away as soon as I hear the jets...

I like this...

2010-04-03T23:24:00.002+01:00

...very much =)

How to impress a boy with baking

Currently listening to: One More Time, One More Chance by Yamazaki Masayoshi

Seems like it's been dammed...

2010-04-02T01:31:00.002+01:00

... I don't have any flow. Or I just can't find any.

When I do, they always end abruptly.

Somewhat like a quick flowing stream crashing into a dam made by an unexpected rockslide.

It's always been like this.

When will it finally run freely?

Bike Lust

2010-03-31T08:00:00.001+01:00

This time round, it came after an unplanned and uneventful drop-in to the local bike shop to say hello to the boys in the mechanics area. Displayed against the pillar, attached through the rear dropout to the wall was one of the prettiest prettiest prettiest frame I've seen since Cervelo's S3 (formerly known as the Soloist SL).

I haven't had one this severe since I had the urge to build a road bike a year and a half ago.... which I did... culminating in the birth of this one. And I thought I'd never want a replacement for my old faithful Fisher.

Alas, after 8 years, there's a worthy replacement for her... may I present the Tranny!

In your choice of Nude, Granny Smith Apple Metallic Green and Copper Metallic. I'd personally go for either Nude or the green. As for the components, I'm pretty torn between full XTR with Formula brakes... or SRAM XX the damn thing.

Now then... 1200 quid for the frame shouldn't be too hard to come by now would it?

*head desk*

Now listening to: Viva La Vida by Coldplay

iSad

2010-03-31T00:22:00.003+01:00

She cracked her sorry arse in to oblivion...

I now have no table lamp. Tsch.

conversation starter win

2010-01-27T02:15:00.002Z

So I was talking to an old friend on Googlechat a while ago:

Me: So what do you usually do at work? You seem pretty free'ish.

Friend: At this moment in time, I fly around the country and close banks.

Me: *speechless*

One cannot seriously consider a reply to that, in all honesty. Banks! Steadfast and solid institutions so entrenched into the concrete of modern civilization... and he closes them! My God man! People lose jobs and murder their families because of him.

I want a job like that too. Then I can make millions of people unhappy.

2010-01-25T19:42:00.001Z

Drag myself from my bed around 20 past 6
Get my kids up make breakfast 1 egg 2 toast 3 weetabix

And as I sit down I look up
And your standing in the doorway sun at your back
in my old brown dressing gown
Well no one can love you more than I love you now
but I

Gotta go running for the bus
Coat flying and i try not to miss it this time
But the drivers waiting and that's strange
Kids on the top deck quiet for a change
And theres no rain and no roadworks in the
Bus lane and all my hurts run away
And im smiling as I'm punching in

Chorus
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life

Secretaries they got a smile for me
and the in tray on my desks almost empty
I get a memo from executive joe
saying Rob the gob is getting kicked out
for embezzling funds from the company account
and i'd be lying if i said i wasn't chuffed
cos i always hated rob
and now they'll probably offer me robs old job

And in the park at lunch
Theres no whinos on my favorite bench
none of that drunk chatter none of that greasy stench
and the scrawney little pigeons with the gammy leg
decide to dine from someone elses sandwich instead
and there's something about the city today
like all the colours conspire to overwhelm the grey
and this close to the fire I can feel no cold
but a rainbow halo around my soul

Chorus
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life

So I leave work get to the high street and i miss my bus
Should I wait for another no I can't be arsed
I begin to walk and rush hour crowd seem to part
Like the red sea, and im stopping at the offy
20 cigerettes and a 6 pack to relax me
And as I cross back over the street
I guess i never saw that taxi

Chorus
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life

Hello 2010

2010-01-19T19:01:00.002Z

Uhh... dear readers:

Happy 2010. Hope everyone has a very nice and good and wonderful and honey-filled year planned out.

My trusty time-teller has returned to my side

2009-12-04T02:36:00.004Z

Although 'trusty' might be giving it too much credit...

The reason it was gone for some time was because it stopped telling the time.

Shall go to bed.

Sleep is good

2009-11-28T09:58:00.002Z

I've been awake for the past 50 odd hours and last night was one of my best sleeps evar.

Feeling woozy and light-headed with the tendency to fall asleep just about anywhere is quite amusing. I foresee this happening a few more times before the end of this academic year.

Wonder how the SAS guys do it... 7 days with no sleep?

Superman.

Say hello the next time you see a scruffy hair Chinese dude in black lolling off in a chair while sitting with a book open in the library.

New websites added to 'My reads' Section

2009-11-12T23:04:00.001Z

Check them out:

MotoIQ

Phil Saunder's blog

Cheerios~

When dinner has settled comfortably

2009-11-09T23:10:00.006Z

Today was a good day... one of the better ones I've had in awhile. I woke up a couple of minutes past 8 this morning a shivering wreck. Outside temperatures plummeted to 4 degrees C while I was in dreamland, it seems. Oh I haven't turned the radiators in my room on as well. Winter has well and truly arrived... or not, as the rest of the day turned out beautifully sunny and almost bearable.

Oh well.

It was a good start though, having woken up early enough to wash, make breakfast, enjoy a good cup of tea and leisurely make my way out to my uni's Learning Resource Centre (fancy schmancy name for 'library') for a group meeting for my Vehicle Engineering Design module. That went pretty well... me having been assigned to do the framework of the written report as well as some bits of CAD modeling. No one ranted and no one whined. One did complain from lack of sleep as he was busy screwing the brains out of a bird throughout the night.

Random. 'Bird' is a British euphemism for 'chick' or 'leng lui' but back in Malaysia, its just another word for aunties and ladies to refer to your penis.

Anyway! After a detour home to take a dump, I then proceeded to my lecture on thin plate bending theory. On rare occasions, having your brain bombarded with differential equations of the fourth order isn't completely bad. Very rare occasions I must add. I dropped by the Formula Student lab after class and 'took' a wheel off one of the racecars home with me... under the pretext of 'measuring the piece'. *cough*

So now there's a shiny 3 piece wheel with tired Avon hillclimb slicks sitting behind me against the wall. Mmmm... shiny.

Oh yes... dinner.

Courtesy of half a jar of Tesco's Finest Thai Green Curry sauce... which was everything but spicy. Still nice though. I liked my own dinner.

After-dinner Googling led me to Ahma-san's (of RE-Amemiya fame) personal blog and a site called Motoiq.com... which inspired me to come back to blogging (read: write crap for no one in particular to read). We'll see how long this stint will last this time round.

As a treat, I'm going to bed early. Tried to yesterday, but ended up falling asleep at five.

I must be hated in dreamland.

Currently listening to: Boomdeyada

Short change?

2009-10-05T22:43:00.003+01:00

I find it such a laugh that people would pay more money for a high pixel count camera and NOT run them at full resolution.

"Oh I want to fit more pics in my one and only memory card so I'll use 3 mp instead of 8

Currently listening to: Rock & Roll Creation - Spinal Tap

Moment

2009-06-22T13:03:00.002+01:00

There was a moment of immense calmness yesterday, where everything slowed down... sitting in the quaint, cosy dining room of a friend's home. I was holding a cup of hot tea. The skies were shades of steel. The air, cold...

Everything seems so peaceful and tranquil and all I could do was let go of all worries and anxiety and stare out the window.

I could use more of these moments. It's strangely addictive.

I feel smart

2009-06-13T18:01:00.004+01:00

A post about nothing in particular

2009-06-10T09:41:00.002+01:00

An old friend suggested I update this place more often. I felt compelled to oblige…

I think I’m still operating on autopilot this morning. Everything seems so vague and unfocused, something akin to a rainbow wash of water colour splattered on a white tile. I think.

Hmm… hot chocolate is nice though…

I’m now fairly immune to the failings of London’s finest in public transport. The Tube announced their decision to strike beginning 1900hrs yesterday evening and as a direct result of that, the streets and buses this morning were crowded with commuters who are usually found 100m or so underground.

Both my inbound and outbound trains were cancelled with little to no notice yesterday and the bus I was on today decided to abandon its route to Kings Cross, dumping all passengers at Euston, roughly 10 minutes walk away. Difficult to fathom their way of thinking, really. I still feel a little cheated that I lost a pound for that unfinished ride.

Looking on the bright side, Chee-kun has managed to land himself a part-time job with a Michelin-starred restaurant and we’re all happy for him. Good pay, so I hear. He’s perked up from his self-induced glum and has started discussing his wishlist again. ‘Yay’ for him. I haven’t heard from the Penguin in a while now. I wonder if she’s okay, as the last I heard from her was that she was coughing pretty badly. Shall pinch her cheeks if I see her this Saturday.

Tre-sama is coming in to Heathrow in a couple of day’s time. Another big ‘yay’. Temporary long distance relationships aren’t much fun. Can’t wait.

Many of my colleagues at work are of the opinion that I’m counting down the days until my placement is over. I suppose they’re right in some ways that I’m keeping track of the time left but I’m not obsessive enough to count them down to the days and hours. Or am I? I’m just thinking “Another ‘yay’ for finishing a year’s worth of proper work”… That’s all.

I think its time I start doing shopping for people back home. Mostly chocolates, a shirt here, a book there, some lingerie for her, a bikini for another her and a merino wool baselayer…

As an ending note, my boss just came up to me said “Ah, now I remember the word that you used in your interview 12 months ago which left a lasting impression on us which subsequently led to our decision to take you on”.

“Imbued”

Currently listening to: The whirr of the electric fan set on the lowest speed

Cuntwaffles (credit to Tobias for teaching me such bad words)

2009-05-30T02:59:00.004+01:00

I turned 23 yesterday.

The Taliban has issued threats to bomb Pakistani towns yesterday. North Korea has recently detonated two nuclear devices and has shown intentions to wipe South Korea off the globe. Swine flu swept through the world and is now leaving, as news reports would imply. We are apparently still in recession. Susan Boyle was reported to have been cussing at journalists due to extreme pressure.

Life's good eh?

Something of a more personal note: another complaint to the cuntwaffles who are in charge of the trains I take to work on a daily basis. Two of my trains were cancelled and the third one delayed with no previous information and due to 'electrical supply problems'. Keeping my cool as well as being late for work, I methodically filled in the delay repay compensation form (even this is a mouthful that fails spectacularly to roll of the tongue nicely) and dutifully handed it in to the ticket office. The fuckers better refund my money back.

London's finest red buses made me miss my train to Birmingham earlier yesterday evening. A full 25 minutes of waiting and the only one that went to Euston told me he wouldn't be going to Euston. The bastard. I hope he won't get laid for the rest of this year and next. I wasted another 26 pounds for a ticket to replace the one that expired by one minute. Then, when I got to Birmingham, I missed the last train home by a minute again! So there goes another 5 pounds for the taxi ride.

Little wonder then that Londoners rank tops in a survey of angry city folks.

I seem to have digressed. Quite a tangent away as well =.=

It's my birthday. I'm supposed to be happy. And happy I feel, everytime I look at my facebook page. Rather surprised that so many dropped by to wish me well. I thank you all sincerely. Oh and Auntie bought me cakes and gave me ang pau. That makes me happy too. Oh and I got a letter from the To-Ken Society notifying me of another meeting in about a week and a half. Is happy again.

Wish the other half was around to celebrate birthday with. Oh well. Another fortnight to go.

I shall sleep in preparation of the dim sum feast that is to come later.

An ode to the worst place in the world; London, Fuck you.

Currently listening to: Maria, by Rage Against The Machine

Why I like racing and racing cars

2009-05-27T22:00:00.015+01:00

I love racing. I love race cars.

Really, I do. As much as I don't write a lot or talk alot about this, racing technology, cars and automotive racing has a place in my heart.

The spartan functionality, directly a result of the form over function appeals to me. No nonsense, no assisted braking, no traction control, no driver aids. Just the plain basics.

Fastidious attention to detail, both in the engineering phase as well as the final execution of the design. The wonders of rubber technology that allows a 1100kg GT500 NSX to rail Sepang's Turn 5 at constant speeds of over 100 km/h. Imagine that, just 4 patches of rubber with a total area amounting to roughly an A4 sized paper holding up to 3 tonnes of lateral force.

Graceful patterns and bodylines, interspersed and accented by forms required by the demands of racing. Beautiful colour, tasteful placement of sponsors' names and logos. Well balanced, pleasing to the eye. Not all of them manage to achieve it, but Raybrig seems to have hit the jackpot with this catchy scheme.

As has RE Amemiya with their 2003 car...

Obviously, there's the driving sensation to consider as well. Dog engagement gearboxes, sequential shifting. Stiff and easily modulated brake pedal. A steering wheel which tells you what the fronts are doing. A positive clunk with every ratio selected giving marvelous marvelous marvelous feedback. Road cars from the late 90's to present day is just so... too cosseted, too refined, too soft, lacking all forms of enjoyable tactile feedback.

Unmuffled roar of exhausts and induction noises add in to the feast for the senses. Very little would come close to a 3 rotor screaming at 9000 rpm rev limit married to the high pitched whine of straight cut gears to the appreciative ear.

Lots more reasons but pictures speak of a thousand words, no?

The excitement...

The technology...

The people...

The girls...

Motorsports engineering companies in the West or East Midlands, hire me please. I graduate in 2010.

Currently listening to: 'Renegade' by Yanni

Traffic weaving is still awesumz!

2009-05-11T23:30:00.003+01:00

I managed to bring the road bike down to London despite failing to make a reservation on Virgin Trains (wahey wasn't my fault... their damn system was down).

The trip to St Pancras this morning consisted of 10 minutes of weaving in and out of rush hour traffic along Euston Road. Definitely brings back lovely memories of doing 40km/h on a bicycle with skinny rubber on the NKVE with Saiful~ 'Cept that over here, you do actually have to contend with red buses pulling out of stops with all intents to maul you and kill you =D

But it's still awesumz!

Yoshu~ is sleeps nao~

Currently listening to: No Tomorrow by Orson

Chaakkk!

2009-04-28T15:47:00.000+01:00

Digital SLR's are fun!

Reset this

2009-04-27T10:35:00.000+01:00

Every morning on the train, it’s always either murder or radical religious militants blowing themselves up (or more recently, the economic crash that sent everyone a tumbling) splashed on newspaper covers. Little wonder why everyone looks as glum-faced as the homeless chap sitting outside the British Library.

If ever there is a hung up computer or the dreaded blue/black screen of death (Heaven forbid =.= ), there is always always always always the reset button. Well, not quite for the BSOD but hey it works occasionally.

A single effortless click is all that’s needed for a fresh start. A clean slate. A white canvas. One that we’d hope to paint right this time round.

Too bad we don’t get a reset button for life and the world.

Hot off the press

2009-03-09T19:38:00.000Z

In the "write-in" section of this morning's papers:

"In response to Monty Phyton's text (Metro, Thu) - the Americans might be stupid for giving Brown a standing ovation but the British are complete idiots for putting up with him being Prime Minister"

The day someone scribbles something similar in the The Star is the day people in Malaysia should celebrate.

Why drive on left side?

2009-03-03T11:44:00.000Z

It's of some interest to note the reason why Japanese drive on the left side of the road has roots in the feudal age, where bushi (warrior ranks, samurai) wore swords by law as an indication of their position and status. This brought to light a situation termed as saya-atte, the unintentional (or intentional) contact or hitting of one's sword scabbard, the saya, an offence akin to insulting or punching said person in the face.

The consequences of this is bloody for most occasions, due in part to the above reason and the haughty disposition of the warrior class who viewed almost everyone else as an inferior being and woe befall any poor soul who had the bad luck of accidentally touching the saya of their katana.

Being the land of superb social conduct, it was devised that samurai or any swordbearing person to walk on the left side of the path, allowing oncoming travellers to pass on their right side, thus reducing the risk of saya-atte.

One of the few other countries that drives their automobiles on their left is UK, with a similar history. Falconers of the old have their birds perched on their gloved left hand which also holds on to the reins of their horse. This leaves their right hand free to draw their sword should the need arises.

What about Malaysia then?

*Inspired and adapted from the writings of Clive Sinclaire of To-Ken Society of Great Britain*

I'm amazing mlm nyaha

2009-02-19T15:55:00.000Z

Sitting here in office, I'm thinking that I'm having it so good in life. I've got an amazing girlfriend who's more or less ruined all girls in the world for me, I also have a BFF and/or boifren (as the girlfriend calls him =.=), an adorable pet penguin who sounds like a duck, depressingly dwindling harem of intelligent, pretty and lovely girl friends back home, some awesome guy friends and the innate ability of surviving in my current lavish-like lifestyle with little to no money by honest, down to earth financial borrowing and cunning manipulation of stupid people that I'm surrounded with (not anyone mentioned above).

I've been rereading far too much Tucker Max.

2009-02-19T01:16:00.000Z

When I was a child, getting sick was rarely ever a worry. Of course it sucked but it's not something to send me into a fluster often. Mother and Father (mostly Mother) would usually know what to do, with their old wives' cures and if all that fails, there's always the 24 hours clinic.

I remember the one time when I got really worried was when I woke up one morning to the unfortunate discovery of glued eyelids. Big cause of worry indeed for a five year old. Mother solved it by dissolving the crud that stuck my lids together with water-moistened wool.

These past five weeks not being able to breathe well, perpetual headaches, near-constant myalgia, dry coughs that threatened to herniate my guts into my ball sack and the pseudo-food poisoning that rounded it all up near the end pretty much angered and depressed me to a point where I began to be mean and judgemental to people in the vicinity. Talk about collateral damage.

It worried me very much this time round as it hit home that if anything more serious were to befall unto me, I'm more or less screwed, with one strained family relation (read; they think I'm crazy, or something along those lines) in a foreign country and currently with an unintentionally shady dwelling addresses history. Seeing a doctor here is far more painful than simply walking into a clinic back home. Major suckage.

Period cramps are awful.

Recovery. And some pointless details.

2009-02-11T23:29:00.000Z

The cough has died down.

In the midst of this one week off work, I have the girlfriend strumming guitar next to me with the boifriend singing along...

There are also jars of CNY confectionery sitting on the table next to the lappie. Pineapple tarts among them, half finished. Neil Gaiman's "Smoke and Mirrors" sit next to me, unopened because I don't feel like reading these past few days.

At this point I'm feeling that this is a pointless post with nothing of major importance or urgency. I'm disappointed with courier companies today for the first time in awhile. I suppose they have their reasons for not leaving a card *shoots them all dead*...

Oh well, at least I have the turbo trainer in my possesion now. Time for weekly interval training rides to start regardless of weather. Is wants my calves, glutes and quads back to their former glory. Nyam.

We made lamb burgers with special mint yogurt sauce for dinner today. Ama-bloody-zing. Too much work though.

Currently listening to: Dui Mien De Ni Hai Kan Guo Lai by Ah Nyu

Happy New Year of the Ox...

2009-01-29T18:02:00.000Z

...welcomed with style and sickness.

Meh I've been wheezing and snivelling for the past week and a half. Am terribly not happy.

Chinese new year passed like any other day with the exception of a couple of angpows and two massive ~~pig~~ eat outs. That was good. I'm really really thankful that while the mucus leaks on without relent, I've not lost my appetite and my sleeping patterns are still normal (read: mild imsomniac).

Work's been rather quiet of late with lots of repetitive activities that bore me down very badly. While it can understandably get like this quite often, this time round seems to be an all time low, what with the general feeling of unwellness and related anger. Rawr.

Recently, I've gotten back to building models...

Tre-sama gave me a kit over Christmas and I've already ordered the majority of the paints needed for it's completion. Shall slowly take my time over 2009 to build it up. In the meantime, work is also being done on a previous kit. A '99 spec RX7 by Fujimi, which I've primered last weekend. Shall clean up the burrs and dags this weekend with Mr. White Putty! Nyaha.

Am going to die...

*gets Chee-kun to help me get more drugs*

Currently listening to: Do You Remember by Jack Johnson

Question of the day

2009-01-17T11:01:00.001Z

Does the head of the body (in a coffin, obviously) face the front or the back of the hearse when it's being transported?

Hot tip of the day

2009-01-12T10:27:00.000Z

Remember to google yourself every once in a while, lest you find that you offer sexual favours for a price on the Internet unknowingly.

Today's hot tip has been brought to you by Chrissehs-kun.

Value added disappointment

2009-01-07T19:07:00.001Z

Sad that the 2nd post of 2009 had to be a rant.

Work resumed on Monday and after an eventful night's sleep, I made my way to St Pancras without as much as a hitch. 'It was going to be a nice day after all', or so I was lead to think.

At the ticket office:

81 pounds please

Oh it's gone up in price... from 75.50. Rather steep eh.

*Shrugs*

I thought 'okay maybe they need money for making the trains run on time or maybe the extra heating for winter'...

Btw, the First Capital Connect don't heat their trains. Or if they did, it's probably optimum temperature for penguins. Bastards.

2008 Giant SCR Saru-kun's Special

2009-01-02T19:59:00.000Z

About a month or three ago, I was in the market for a road bicycle. You know, them things with the weird looking bent down handlebars? Yahah so anyways, I gave up looking for one when there was none with the specs I wanted at a price ceiling of £450.

A few weeks later, this turned up on Ebay, at a price too good to resist:

£129.99 lighter in the wallet, the frame duly arrived 3 days later. A piece of paper was whipped out of thin air and a list of the parts needed to build a bike was made up. Back then, I was torn between either mixing and matching bits and pieces or going for a complete groupset. In the end I decided to bite the bullet and go for the all singing and dancing Shimano 105 10-speed group, which was released about 2 - 3 years ago.

Initially, the plan was to buy the bits one by one over a few months to lighten the financial load. I also enlisted the help of the BFF who was back in Malaysia then to help me purchase the groupset as it was cheaper. That, sadly, fell through the roof and crashed many many floors down, much to my dismay.

Hence a new budget was set at £600 with the aim of building it to be under 8kg. Parts were then purchased from CRC, Wiggle and numerous other online vendors as well as the good people at rock&road , addiktioncycles and Birmingham City Cycles.

Much to my dismay once more, it shot the budget roof by £189.77. I haven’t weighed it yet, but it feels to be under 10 kilos. Which is abit of a good news. It was supposed to have had its maiden ride last Saturday but yours truly decided to lie in and die on the bed because it was cold outside. Sniffle.

The spec list is as follows:

2008 Giant SCR4 frame – 46cm
Brand X aero carbon wrap front fork
Shimano 105 BR5600 front brake and Shimano R650 rear brake
Shimano 105 10-speed gear levers 5600
Shimano 105 10-speed front and rear derailleurs
Shimano 105 10-speed 12-25 cassette
Shimano R700 crankset 34-50 (170mm)
Shimano 105 Hollowtech II bottom bracket
KMC 10-speed chain
Shimano Dura-Ace shifter and brake cables
PRO PLT stem, 80mm 10º, silver
PRO PLT drop bar, 42cm width, silver
PRO PLT seatpost, 27.2 x 280mm, silver
PRO bartape – Floral Baby Blue
Charge Ladle Ladies saddle, black with baby blue trims
Shimano RS10 wheelset, black
Shimano A515 SPD pedals, metallic baby blue
Vittoria Rubino Tech Pro 120 TPI tyres and inner tubes

Meow.

Rather overdue autumn London

2008-12-31T22:15:00.001Z

Spongebob says hello from the window of a Nickelodeon office.

Merry Christmas, albeit belated and a good 2009 to everyone.

Monday morning

2008-12-08T10:06:00.000Z

I dreamt that I was waking up when I was meant to be waking up for real this morning.

All in a day's walk

2008-12-02T10:18:00.000Z

You know its not a good start to the day when you see your bus speeding past while you're still about 70 odd metres away from the bus stop...

... ending up having to stand in the Arctic cold for about 10 minutes before another came... but didn't stop. Because bus No. 29 to Wood Green blocked its way in the stop. So came another freezing 5 minutes...

... at least the bus I got on was warm. I arrived at St Pancras at 0716 hrs. My train was due at 0716 but was delayed by a minute. It pulled out of the station as I was halfway towards the platform. The next one was at 0732 hrs, but that was delayed at first to 0736, then to 0743. Typical.

I picked up a London Metro from the floor of the train and flipped it open, straight to an article entitled "Network Rail to reduce delays".

Yup, when cows fly they will...

The biting wind and bitter cold embraced me as soon as the train doors open. You'd never find a more clingy lover. Its sunny and the blue skies are cloudless.

Its also 0 degrees C.

Winter's here.

Akan datang!

2008-11-30T19:00:00.000Z

Happenings of the months

2008-11-25T07:52:00.000Z

To start off with, I managed to wobble my way to a UK motorcycle driving license. A full 'A' license at that, which means that I'm not limited by engine capacity. Which means I'm road legal on a 1.3 litre Suzuki Hayabusa with immediate effect. Which also means that the UK roads are not safe anymore. Bless them.

Lucky for the UK'ians then that the DVLA hasn't sent me the license yet...

The girlfriend's birthday was two weeks ago. That was awesome. A dinner date at ASK, where the risotto and al fondo was rather nice and where it was a shit place to have a romantic conversation. What was nice though (and still is), is just spending time together. Lying in bed with her head on my shoulder, her wet hair making my t-shirt damp. Happy 21st babe =)

A few days later, the Design Office manager, my colleague and yours truly were invited to PTC World 2008, held at the Heritage Motor Centre, in Gaydon. It was a gathering of sorts for PTC's customers, showcasing the latest and greatest that PTC had to offer. Great opportunities to network. I met the editor of Racecar Engineering, Graham Jones and Philip Darlington, who was involved with a reverse-engineering job with Carlin Motorsports. A former engineer at Ferrari F1, he designed their cylinder heads as well, if I'm not mistaken. That was pretty cool...

There were also lots and lots and lots of Jaguars about... typical of a place close to Coventry.

Oh and before I forget, we got a couple of friends round and had a steamboat dinner / party of sorts at Tre-sama's place. Nom. Almost 500 odd meatballs and fishballs were consumed, in addition to three packets of enoki mushrooms, almost 2 kilos of prime beef meat, a couple of eggs, one whole chinese leaf, fried beancurd, beancurd, fishcakes and a few blocks of noodles. Oh wait, lets not forget approximately 6 litres of pork soup that was boiled the previous night and left to steep. Muahaha...~

The chocolate cake from Costco. 'Tis the only time I gave up halfway through a slice of cake. It is that big a deal.

Currently listening to: Sleep Now In The Fire - Rage Against The Machine

The Butterfly Effect

2008-11-21T13:00:00.000Z

A mindfuck.

Good film. Watch it.

The long awaited aftermath...

2008-11-11T20:16:00.000Z

... and the third day...

The weather here is fickle...

It be snowing

2008-10-28T20:26:00.000Z

Real novel...

2008-10-27T13:49:00.000Z

I chanced upon this gem of a site while doing the usual trawl online and the author has a put forth an interesting application of the double wishbone suspension design; on the front of a motorcycle!

Bott 1000 Morlaco

A litre class bike with racecar style double wishbone front suspension and drop dead gorgeous styling. I can't quite see how the dampers are actuated but assuming that he wants to display his dampers on top of the fuel tank it's probably remotely pushed or pull by a rod or rocker of some form. Refreshing from the blingy Ohlins black and gold inverted beauties we're used to seeing.

He must have had quite abit of fun playing with instantenous swing arm length during his geometry optimisation phase. Lovely design and packaging as well. Good craftsmanship too.

Picture taken directly from the website. Rendered by a Mr. Jose Garcia. Please drop me a mail if anyone would like this taken down for intellectual property reasons.

I'll definitely be keeping tabs on this...

Honestly, don't they have more important things to attend to?

2008-10-19T17:19:00.000+01:00

I types this as Hamilton stands on the top of the podium at Shanghai during the replay of the race. Typical textbook race with nothing untoward and fairly uneventful.

The light-hearted mood wasn't to last for me as Chee-kun forwarded me the following:
I'm like what the feck?

How pissing off is this to the genteel and kind residents of KL and PJ and probably the majority of Malaysians?

The renaming of Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang to Jalan Kejora has to be one of the most pointless and baseless moves ever by DBKL, among many others.

And the government asks us why are we so unhappy. Diu...

2008-10-13T23:03:00.000+01:00

He stood next to the carriage, looking in through the window.

She was sat next to me in the carriage, wearing the most forlorn of faces.

As the train pulled out of the platform, he started running to catch up followed by a quick giggle and a flourish of waves ended with a kiss blown in both directions.

Little things like these sets off a chain of reminiscence to the beginnings of my relationship with Tre-sama. The hesitation, apprehension and naivety of it all. It didn't seem so long ago but yet it does at the same time.

While much of the 'doki doki' (lovestruck) feelings have faded unnoticed, they still surface on occasions a kiss lingers longer than usual or when we hug after being away from each other. It's nice stuff, this. On the same level as the adrenaline rush from rock climbing, mountain biking, going past 60mph for the first time on two wheels et al, albeit in an entirely different category.

Many a things reminds me of Tre-sama too, far too many to list. From songs, to colours and smells to cats, I think she's now thoroughly entwined in my day to day comings and goings that I don't think I can imagine living without her now.

I just wish I could make the money to support her lavish cuddling lifestyle. 'Tis calls for a sturdy hardwood bedframe, best quality king-sized mattress, tonnes of pillow and a down-filled duvet all enveloped in silk.

And have spare change for my toys...

The greater good

2008-10-08T23:37:00.000+01:00

I dislike ill-mannered kids. They should be slapped. They should have their foul little mouths gagged with cotton and hung from their ankles and whooped for being the mean, evil little monsters that they are. British parents are absolutely useless at bringing up their children well, ending up with snotty, racist, arrogant, thick and socially blind wastes of space and Earth's resources.

What the hell is so wrong with corporal punishment that it has to be legally banned in 24 countries? I was whooped silly by both my parents and I turned out alright. I never lied, ever again to my parents. And I turned out alright... sentiments shared with Andy.

I hate walking alone in England in case some demon walks past and mutters 'Are you blind, mate?', 'Go back to China, chink' et al. There's no war on terror... the terror is right under your nose. All efforts and money going into this hunt for that Osama fucker should be diverted to nuking every single chav town in the UK, which probably means every single one. We're not even sure if he's still alive.

Mahai, why are all the cheebai sohais out on the streets in the first place at night, congregating in the middle of nowhere in stupid cold weather? Are they demented? I hope they all freeze and die. This coming winter seems like its going to be a good one. Come on, bring forth sub zero temps...

Diu...

On the other hand, was I ever like that the last time? I don't quite recall hurling insults adult because then that would've been just sudden death. I don't remember throwing apple cores at pedestrians from cars either...

Hey you lot out there, beat your kids. It'll be for the greater good.

Another one

2008-10-08T11:34:00.000+01:00

01 Name: saru/kyunz

02 Sex: male

03 Email address: tenchijin100@gmail.com

04 Birthdate: 29 May

05 Family: Father, mother, me and sister

06 Height: 167cm

07 Weight: 59 - 63kg

08 Something good about yourself: Depends on how people view me.

09 Something bad about yourself: Depends on how people view me as well.

10 Describe your personality in one word: Crazed.

11 Celebrities that you like: A few seiyuus, a few singers and a few sports people

13 Fav. Season : Winter

14 Games you’re good at: Driving sims.

15 My ideal woman or man : Intelligent, sassy, fairly independent and attractive.

16 If you have to choose between same age/older/younger: +/- 5 years.

17 Your mood right now: Tired, weary, homesick.

18 What you have in your pocket right now: Nothing.

19 Sleeping out: Most of the time.

20 Alcohol tolerance: Low, I think.

21 Drinking habits: Don't drink.

22 How old were you the first time you drank: Can't remember. Too young.

23 When do you want to get married: When I make more than £28k per annum.

24 About my singing: Sing?

25 About my dancing: Dance?

26 Something I want these days: Abit more cash.

27 When you’re home alone: I go online.

28 When you’re standing in front of the mirror: Brush teeth, wash face, shave, cut nose hair etc

29 Clothes you’re wearing right now: NEXT shirt and Giordano trousers.

30 How much money do you have in your wallet: £15

31 What you want to buy for your girlfriend/ boyfriend : Whatever she wants.

32 Does height matter to you: My height does.

33 What song do you sing when you go to sing karaoke: Beyond. Try to, anyway.

34 What would you do if you had plans with your friend but they never showed up: Go home and hold no grudges.

35 What would you do if the person you loved cheated on you: Talk.

36 How long will you be able to wait for the person you love: I'm a very patient person.

37 First kiss: 15.

38 A feature you feel doesn’t need to be fixed: My personality.

39 Feature you feel should be fixed: I don't mind another 2 - 3" in terms of height.

40 People you miss the most right now: Tre-sama, family, some friends.

41 First love: Became someone I can't particularly stand.

42 When you cried the most: 2 years ago.

43 When do you feel you’re grown up: I never feel grown up.

44 What you don’t like: Many things.

45 When you felt happy: When I'm with Tre-sama, have money and surrounded with good food.

46 When you were most flabbergasted: I really can't remember.

47 Best looking person of the opposite gender you’ve seen so far: Many of my friends.

48 Why aren’t you going out with anyone: I am.

49 What you feel towards that person: Love big big.

50 What would you say to the people actually reading this: You will live long and prosper. And give me money.

51 Something you’re most worried about: Money.

52 When do you look most weak: I always look weak.

How do you NOT get dumped: Dunno.

54 3 things a person NEEDS: Money, money and uhm... ah yes, money.

55 Your grades in school: Somewhat like Brownian motion. Random.

56 #1 on your phone: Tre-sama

57 Phone company: Three

58 Phone bill : Contract

59 Place you want to go: Home, Japan, Australia, Japan, Japan, Japan...

60 Favorite TV program: Stuff on Discovery Channel and NGC?

61 Movie that pissed you off: Far too many.

62 Movie you watched with most meaning: Ima, Ai Ni Yukimasu (Be With You).

63 Most recent movie watched: Gundam 00.

64 Movie you want to recommend: Shin Seiki Evangelion - Rebuild of Evangelion.

65 If you could become a character inside a movie: Shinobu Morita.

66 How many net cafes are you a member to: None.

67 Which do you go to most often: Not applicable.

68 What you feel about this cafe? : Not applicable.

69 What you want to say to the starter of the cafe?: Not applicable.

70 You believe it is okay to marry someone else to save the person that you love: Dunno.

71 What would you do if your parents didn’t bless your decision to get married: Get married
anyway and convince them later.

72 Do you think you’re a player: Eli says I'm not heartless enough to be a player. I think otherwise.

73 What time do you wake up: Depends on what time I sleep.

74 When you go to sleep: Depends on circumstances.

75 If someone you met for the first time asked for your number: Ask why.

76 What would you do if you liked someone at a meeting: Say hello and smile.

77 Celebrity you want to go out with: Hirano Aya.

78 How many kids do you want: 2.

79 Something you really want to be good at: The arts.

80 What I want to be in 10 years: Earning more money and working less.

81 Someone you’re jealous of right now: People with excess money.

82 A word that you use a lot: Nom.

83 What I do when I first wake up: Laze around.

84 What would you do if you picked up a million dollars: Japan trip, play car, play bike, play
bicycle, design house, invest in land, go race.

85 What would you do if you became invisible: I'll second Chrisseh on this one...

86 Singer you think is the best singing live: Dunno.

87 Singers you don’t understand why they even sing: An unfair number, I must say.

88 A kind of man you don’t like: One who is full of himself.

89 A kind of woman you don’t like: Terminal blurcases.

90 What would you do if you found someone you love more than the person you’re dating right now: Possible?

91 What would you feel if you met someone you’ve broken up with: Dunno.

92 Most important possession: At this moment in time, laptop.

93 What you do when you first get online: MSN.

94 What surprised you the most: Strangers being nice. In London.

95 What you do when you can’t fall asleep: Stare wide-eyed at the ceiling.

96 What do you think you were in your past life: Probably a do-gooder. My current life is nice.

97 If you were to be born again: Someone blessed with happiness and extreme good luck.

98 What are you going to do after you finish this: Go lunch.

99 How honest were you: Honest enough.

100 What do you want to say: Nom.

i tag: Oh I can't be bothered. I don't think anyone wants to do memes if they've better things to do.

United Kingdom Plc's public transport is amazing

2008-10-06T23:28:00.000+01:00

It was sheer fluke that I managed to drag myself out of bed early enough to make it to St Pancras to catch the train that was scheduled before the one I usually take to work. It wasn't much fuss as I boarded one of the carriages when an announcement was made that this train would stop at Kentish Town, the next station. Busily engrossed with the morning's depressing newspaper in hand, I absent-mindedly assumed that the train would just make a stop, since the announcement made no mention of 'termination'.

The bitch ended up terminating at Kentish Town, much to my dismay. To add insult to rapidly souring mood, the train that I usually use on my commute passed by on the next platform as it was the fast train. An announcement soon followed, to the tune of "replacement train will come to pick you up to your destination".

Being very fed up, I crossed over and took the opposite train back to St Pancras and waited half an hour for the next train to work.

It was delayed at Kentish Town again for about 10 minutes...

I have already given up at this point and texted my boss to tell him I was going to be 45 minutes late. He rang back and to tell me he wasn't coming in due to illness...

Fairly eventful first 3 hours of the day, I must say. You would have thought a first world country would have had public transport operations sussed out by now. Typical that any reforms, changes, improvements and what nots have to be debated left right and centre till everyone's blue in the face, shelved on the backburner for years and finally put into place with tonnes of unnecessary faff.

I has been tagged...

2008-09-27T19:39:00.000+01:00

By way of introduction, Chrisseh's meme has been filled:

Name: Saru-kun/Kyunz

Sisters: 1

Brothers: none

Shoe size: UK 8

Height: 167cm

Where do you live: Nomadic

Favourite drinks: Builder's tea; ocha

Favourite breakfast: Muesli bar with a cup of Milo. In reality, this doesn't happen

Have you

ever been on a plane? Yesh

Swam in the ocean: Yesh

Fallen asleep at school: All the time

Broken someone’s heart: Possibly...

Fell off your chair: Yesh. Rarely though.

Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call: Not anymore.

Saved e-mails: Far too many.

What is

your room like: Smelly and not big enough.

right beside you: Depends where I am...

the last thing you ate: Bowl of cereal.

Ever had

chicken pox: Yesh

Sore throat: Yesh

Stitches: Nay

Broken nose: Nay

Do you

believe in love at first sight: Yesh

Like picnics: Depends on the weather.

Who was the last

person you danced with: Danced? The last person to throw me over the shoulder was a girl... if that applies...

Last made you smile: Tre-sama <3

last you yelled at: Can't remember.

Today, Did you talk to someone you like: Yesh

Kissed anyone: today ? Yesh

Got sick: Nay

Miss someone: Family and friends in Mareisha.

Best feeling in the world: Lots. Approaching Turn 1 on Sepang, bombing down Kiara, training with Adam Sensei, etc...

Do you sleep with stuffed animals: A saru.

What’s under your bed: Hopefully nothing that creeps and crawls.

Who do you really hate: Stupid people.

What time is it now? 1946 hrs.

Random: Is there a person who is on your mind now: Tre-sama

Do you have any siblings: Wasn't this asked at the beginning?

Do you want children: Possibly.

Do you smile often: Apparently, all the time. Maniacally.

Do you like your hand-writing: When I write them with a broad nib pen, yes.

Are your toe nails painted: Used to be in shades of black and white, but that was many years ago.

Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in: Japan host family's futon. In winter. With Tre-sama.

What color shirt are you wearing now: Blue.

What were you doing at 7:00 p.m. yesterday: Walking out of Chee-kun's house.

When did you cry last: About 3 odd months ago. I lost the will to live.

Are you a friendly person: Only to pretty girls.

Do you have any pets: I want a Norwegian Forest Cat and a Golden Retriever. Kthxbai.

Where is the person you have feelings for right now? Sleeping next to me.

Did the last person you held hands with mean anything to you now?: Lots.

What do you think?: In what sense?

Do you sleep with the TV on?: Don't have a TV.

What are you doing right now? Meme'ing.

Have you ever crawled through a window?: Yesh

Can you handle the truth?: I think so. Or I like to think I can.

Are you too forgiving?: Possibly.

Are you closer to your mother or father?: Both.

Who was the last person you cried in front of?: Tre-sama.

Do you eat healthily?: Try to.

Do you still have pictures of you & your ex?: Don't have an ex.

Have you ever cried because of something someone said to you?: Yesh.

If you’re having a bad day, who'd you most likely to go to?: Tre-sama

Are you loud or quiet most of the time?: Loud.

Are you confident?: I think so.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. enjoying training with Adam Sensei.
2. moved from JB to KL.
3. hating my aunt.
4. doodling alot.
5. watching Singaporean tele.

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. chocolates
2. Scoop's gelato
3. cheese Doritos
4. Haagen Daaz's Cookies and Cream
5. a slab of raw tuna

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. design and build my dream home
2. play with cars and bikes
3. buy katanas
4. sponsor my own race team
5. get moar money

5 of my bad habits:
1. lazy
2. stoning
3. internet addict
4. big mouth
5. nyomz

5 people I tag:
1. Huey Yi
2. Steffie
3. Po Leen
4. Che Wey
5. I have no moar friends. I would like to say 'June Chan' of Saiyuki cosplay fame, but I doubt she'd read this... =.=