jkaiser's still Breaking Rules..

It’s been a long time

jkaiser — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 02:46:28 +0000

since i blogged..and the break did not answer as many qns as i hoped it would.. but anyway… here’s a bit of trivial talk.

We all know that the National Stadium has been declared close, or so it seems. I paid good money to watch Sg play the aussies in the stadium-closing ceremony, and sat thru perhaps the cheesiest ceremony ever. However, officially closed means unofficially still can stage games. They staged a world cup qualifier there 2 wks ago on the pretext that it would attract large crowds, which didn’t really happen i guess.

Yesterday really is the best, they staged an under-23 friendly between Sg and Cambodia. I really wonder how many ppl went to watch…

Showing off geeky stuff

jkaiser — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:09:12 +0000

Just got a new pc and 22inch lcd screen recently. Dad paid for them and re-exported the old set to my grandma’s place in penang.

Huge casing

the good thing about running a macbook pro is that u can do a dual display, the 22″ forms the top part of the larger screen.. i just have to move my mouse upwards to move into the top screen where i work on my photos…ok messy table i noe…

Did i mention my new mouse, Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse..heh.. bluetooth baby! it’s a pure laser mouse, as opposed to the red beam LED mice which are inaccurate on some surfaces like glass.. my mouse now works from 10m away and on any surfaces, including my head

Anyway my parents got a fengshui master to our place, who said that our living room orientation is wrong..must literally flip ard..so its a mess @ home now..with painting, new furniture etc.
.

Ppl have been working hard…until they have to rest in weird orientations relative to each other

The best thing that the fengshui master said is that my sis and me would bring fortune to the family, and that i would get a gf soon who would also bring wealth to the family.. Cues in fortune cat action…

Work too hard become like this

jkaiser — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:59:00 +0000

1st yr associates from Drew & Napier LLC

Work until stressed liaoz…hah!

Novak Djokovic

jkaiser — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 03:18:25 +0000

It’s good to have someone in the professional sporting world with a sense of humour.

Meanwhile, over at aNUS..

jkaiser — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 04:02:35 +0000

From

Students were told of a new rule that no food n drinks are allowed in the School of Computing, and to use a pantry. But see what greeted them at the pantry

This is so bruce lee movie lah, the one with the sign that says “No Chinese and Dogs allowed”. Somehow i think this summarises how aNUS regards undergraduates

Blitzkrieg!

jkaiser — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:25:23 +0000

I think my life is interesting in a funny way, considering the things that i put myself thru… As you guys know, Comex07 just ended and I decided to give it a miss for the 1st 3 days (thurs-sat). Only today then i decided to cheong for my 22″ LCD monitor, and cheong i did. Was at Esplanade and left at 7.27pm, 1.5 hrs from comex closing time. Hustled down to Suntec by walking briskly and reached the fair by 7.35pm. Checked where Samsung’s booth is and reached there to check if the model that i wanted was avail or not. Too bad sold out, and new stock wouldn’t be avail soon, plus it would be back @ its orginal price of $660 and not $579. Decided to take the other one for $549 and the salesman said that i could test. The supervisor agreed too. Later the boss made noise.

I told him that 2 persons said that I could test, so I want to test. His employees represent his organisation, so yea… he lemme test and not the rest behind me. LCD was fine and i took it and went back marina sq.

Time: 7.59pm.. damn fast

Wandered ard Marina Sq for 1 hr b4 whacking sakae supper buffet..went back to esplanade to ponder how to go home on my bike carrying the lcd. Strapped it to my back seat with 2 bungee cords…n rode damn slowly on a longer route cos it has less traffic.. stopped 5 times to adjust the position, was feeling paranoid about it dropping off.. last 10 mins of journey, it was raining…

Got home in 1 piece…. 10.45pm.

Sometimes i amaze myself

Familiarity

jkaiser — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:58:48 +0000

I went back to an old hunting ground today. Memories came rushing back, of all the happy times spent there with the people and the fact that they are still supportive of my decision. The decision to switch hunting grounds seems so wrong now…

Risking life and limb

jkaiser — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:47:54 +0000

I think i get a kick out of doing dangerous stuff. From climbing into monsoon drains when I was 6, climbing staircase railings and rooftops in pri sch and sec sch…n riding my bike for 700km in 12 hours to kuantan and back.. I think i’m gonna do the most dangerous one soon.

3 accidents just happened recently, with a few dead so far…. and i’m doing it…how nice… i’m gonna take a long distance bus ride to penang on 3rd sep…

Wish me luck!

Finnish cover of YMCA

jkaiser — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:23:03 +0000

Something to make you throw up your lunch with…

The entire collection of Calvin & Hobbes

jkaiser — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:34:08 +0000

完蛋了, see what I found

The full collection of Calvin & Hobbes, all 11 yrs of it

http://www.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/index.html

don’t need do work liaoz, heh…

A brief history of 华初

jkaiser — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:39:42 +0000

I had the chance to visit my college today, the former Hwa Chong Junior College, and now sadly known as Hwa Chong Institution (College). I think that it is sad cos somehow, the history of the college has been wiped off with the renaming and merger.

I had the chance to visit the college library, and there was an Archive within the library itself. Took the chance to flip thru some of the old yearbooks that told the story of the college over the period of 33 years. The college wasn’t set up by TCHS, as opposed to common thought. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry wanted to have a JC that will have a very strong Chinese tradition. TCHS donated part of their land for the campus and the school was slated to commence operations in 1974, at NJC. This was because the campus wasn’t completed in time but it was scheduled for mar 1974.

The campus wasn’t completed in time, but we had to shift out from NJC. 所谓一山不能藏二虎. We shifted further down the road to old NIE campus at Bt Timah Road to carry on with classes. Eventually the campus was ready for us to shift in, and in order to save costs, the entire student population formed a human chain from NIE to the campus, a distance of more than 1km to pass all the tables n chairs to the new campus. The campus wasnt complete, in the sense that footpaths n some misc facilities weren’t ready. The students council organised the students to DIG footpaths. Finally the campus was ready, with the iconic u-shaped block that forms the central plaza. There was also a rooftop garden that stretched across the entire block. This garden was later removed to make way for classrooms in the later years of the 1st campus.

After Hotel New World collapsed in 1986, the govt wanted building management teams across the country to check the stability of buildings, and hwa chong was also checked. During an emergency assembly one day day in 1987, the principal of the college announced that the campus building was structurally unsound, and they were to vacate the school by the next day. One would expect ppl to run off quickly, but the students, many of them rushed home to get their cameras, and came back to take pictures around the campus. Many benches n walls were marked with the students’ writings and they served as memoirs of the old campus. Hwa Chong was forced to move again, this time to Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

We spent a few months at NP, before relocating again to 2 new adjacent school campuses in Woodlands. That place was a very new town that was lacking public transport. The college had to hire buses to fetch students from the other new towns so that they can go to school for lessons. In 1989, the school shifted to Bt Batok again to 2 new adjacent school campuses. It was only in 1991, when the new rebuilt campus was ready and we were ready to shift back. We din take buses back, instead we had an 11km march back to bt timah…

When I was a student there, my seniors always spoke fondly of the Hwa Chong spirit, and it was something that we felt but never really understood. We were united by something that remained foreign to many of us even today. However today, I learnt of the stories of the past, and these were the moments that defined the college and its many batches of students over the 33 years. The never-say-die spirit that exists in all Hwachongians, and how we sing the many songs written by our seniors, dance the same dances and shout the same cheers.

A school isn’t just defined by its ability to produce scholars and top results. It is also not about doing well in sports and other CCAs. It is about how the students regard it, and it says alot when we have seniors who have graduated 30 yrs ago making the annual trip down back to 黄城 for Mid-Autumn Fest or CNY. It’s about alumni making a big fuss of the merger, the name change and the loss of our crest. Its about embracing the many stories that come together to piece the history of HCJC. This is the real 华初精神

A Jaipur Wedding

jkaiser — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 02:21:17 +0000

Got this series of photos back in june in Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India. Basically I was hiding in my room at nite, trying to escape the 40+°C heat outside. At 11 plus pm, there was suddenly a lot of music being played on the street outside the hotel. A wedding procession was taking place, at midnight! So i quickly cheong down in my running shorts n singlets with my 50mm lens and flash unit on the camera..

1 of the band members

Supposedly the little star of the wedding, i guess he serves the same purpose as door opener in our chinese weddings…they were sitting on a horse btw

No horse for this kids, only horse cart

Groom, well-camouflaged

Musician who gamely volunteered to play a few extra notes for me

His job is to carry the giant lanterns on the pole to light up the path for the procession

Friends at the wedding

This one, ppl spray like free…

Confirm this one singapore doesn’t have, elephants!

Excitement at being shot

The little prince

A blessed wedding

The power of digital cameras became obvious in the next shot. After I took this photo, i showed the little gal the shot of herself and her brother..

instant happiness

Part of the wedding, for 30 seconds

Anticipating

jkaiser — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:26:11 +0000

One of the shots @ TnF finals, CCK Stadium

Still thinking of a nice name to use for my photography, thought that “JK Light Capture” is nice…what do u folks think?

Added a 300-ish preset using Adobe Lightroom on this next shot..

Upped the contrast, saturated reds and yellows

All the crazy Internet videos

jkaiser — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:38:55 +0000

All the crazy internet videos, combined into a 12min video.. Take ur time to watch, i watched 3 mins @ 1 go… Note, lots of painful falls…Not for the fainthearted

Protected: P is damn seh

jkaiser — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:43:02 +0000