and looking longingly back.
Read More!Monday, May 29, 2006
Free Stuff I cannot do without: Online Chinese Input Method Editor
I think the Online Chinese Input Method Editor (IME) ought to have a name change. It is too unwieldy a name for such an efficient and powerful java programme. With this programme, which does not require any downloading as all the work is done online, you can type out Chinese characters even if you don't have a Chinese input programme on your computer.
Just type in the han yu pin yin (that is, the romanised Chinese), choose which character you want, and select the number. If the characters are part of a commonly used phrase, you could save time by typing the han yu pin yin of both characters together. I love this input method because I am brilliant with multiple choice (how do you suppose I passed Chinese all the way up to `A' levels?) so I can usually choose the right character from a list, while not necessarily being able to write it off the top of my head. :) I am brilliant like that.
This IME is actually a sub-page of a Chinese-English dictionary that is quite versatile. You can type in English (for example `flower') and it will tell you how to write it in Chinese. You could also type in Chinese characters, and it'll tell you how to read it and what it means in English. Very useful if you can't remember how to say something in Chinese.
I actually wrote a post in Chinese a while back but for some reason Blogger couldn't pick up the Chinese characters. That is why this post is in English, really.
It is a sleepy and discombobulated Monday
My CD is stuck in my computer. I think I will shut down my computer and go get some coffee now. I substituted my coffee this morning for a yoghurt with mango, lychee, bannana and nuts, which was really good and healthy and all, but now I look like I just got out of my bed: my eyes are puffy and there are bags under my eyes, and it is 12:50PM already.
Oh crud, it is the first day of the school holidays isn't it? Does this mean that the school canteen is closed? No 60 cents coffee for me?
Woe! Woe! Woe!
Update: Restarting my comp caused a corruption in one of my drivers, which I eventually resolved, but it also caused the loss of all my firefox bookmarks and custom quick searches. Pppth. It only goes to show how important having coffee in the morning is for lubricating the day's activities.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
On plugs and stuff
All the voltages and electric plugs in the world here.
The thing is, I remember frying my sister's US-made palm when she was in Singapore last, and I remember being so cock-sure about plugging it in only because I had plugged in Singapore-made appliances in US without any apparent problems. Am I correct? Is stepping down from 230V to 120V ok, but stepping up from 120V to 230V disastrous?
For Australia, a simple adapter is sufficient.
United Kingdom, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are our twin sisters.
Why does US and UK have to be so stubbornly different?
Saturday, May 27, 2006
The Lord's Prayer in the Original Greek
Our Father in heaven
Let your name be hallowed )
Let your kingdom come___) On earth as it is in heaven
Let your will be done_____)
Nurture us for your kingdom work
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us
Lead us not into testing
But deliver us from evil
The first word of this prayer puts us in relation with those around us, from the most distant aquaintence to our loved ones -- God is "our Father", and so we are "brothers and sisters", even if we are not all Christians.
When we pray "Let your name be hallowed; let your kingdom come; let your will be done -- on earth as it is in heaven", we are praying that we will be in that posture of life to make it happen. This means that every thing we do, every one we meet, every thought, every bit of us is for God and for the fulfilment of God's kingdom here on earth.
"Give us this day our daily bread" is really better translated "Nurture us for your kingdom work", because even as we pray the lines before, about wanting to be the vessel of God's work, we realise that we are woefully inadequate, so we ask God to nurture us every day.
"Forgive us as we forgive..." puts us in relation with the people in our lives as well.
The Lord's prayer ends with "Lead us not into testing," where testing refers to God testing the hearts of men, which we fail; and so we plead for God to keep us from the evil in our own hearts, the sin that is so close.
~ Adapted from Rev Dr Robert Mullholland's sermon Read More!
Regrets
Handsome brit: "Hey, could you make me more manly in the next section please?"
(what I should have said): *grin* "You're manly enough."
(what I did say): "Er, so I increase the `low' on the sound system, right?"
Friday, May 26, 2006
Free stuff I cannot live without: Konfabulator
Except it is not called Konfabulator ever since Yahoo bought over it. It is now called "Yahoo! Widget Engine". Konfabulator rolls off the tongue so much better though, but thanks to Yahoo!, Yahoo! widget engine is almost exactly the same as Konfabulator (just with a few name changes) and it is FREE.
Why can't I live without this nifty programme? Because of a widget that pulls out my events and to do list from outlook and puts it on my desktop. This is a screenshot of my desktop.
This widget, formerly known as PIM overview, is my personal secretary. It reminds me of lunch appointments I've forgotten about, little things that I need to get done, and with one click of a button, tells me the schedule for tomorrow as well. I am atrocious about keeping track of what day and date it is, so by pressing F8 once, it brings all the widgets to the front, including my calendar widget.
There are as many widgets as there are personality types. Folks are constantly creating new widgets: you could get one for itunes, a werewolf monitor (that tracks the phases of the moon), the weather, a fancy wastepaper basket, all kinds of clocks, RSS news headlines, notepads, blogpads, and practically anything, really. What I would really like to see is a Chinese input widget, but unfortuantely, neither my programming nor my Chinese is good enough. :)
Have fun!
(Tip: To adjust the opacity of the widget, right-click the widget and select "widget preferences". I think translucent widgets are cool.)
Thursday, May 25, 2006
How do you measure a day?
"Remember to eat your food today."
"You are going to eat my food? Huh?" I asked, incredulous.
"No, I said, remember to eat your food."
"You mean the pantry is still at the back of your car?" (Don't even ask)
"No! Remember to eat your food! Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner!"
"Haha! I get it. What a lot of food!"
"NOT AT ONE GO! Breakfast, then a few hours later, lunch, and a few hours later, dinner.."
"Oooh. It sounds like a good day already." :)
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Singnet Broadband now only $29.95
I've been waiting for the price of unlimited broadband to fall under the $30 mark for possibly 4 years now. It is now (drum roll) 5 cents less than $30! Whoopeee! That's quite a deal, considering my last month's dial up cost me $48.
I'll probably wait a few months to recoup my losses with my $5 dial-up plan before signing up.
It can only get lower right? ;)
[Check it out here.]
The History of the Siege of Lisbon, by Jose Saramago
I don't have very much to say about this book because I didn't have the patience for all that history so I leafed through it and read only the choicest parts, and I'm not telling which I consider the choicest parts, but the choicest parts were really good. Read More!
The best western food money can buy
Is found at Ang Mo Kio Central S11.
For $7, I had the Sirloin Steak which came with coleslaw, baked beans, french fries and a piece of garlic bread. Every bite of the succulent steak sent me to seventh heaven. This steak had practically no gravy, but it was so well-marinated that every piece oozed with taste and tenderness. I ordered it "ban shou" (auntie gave me two choices: "shou" or "ban shou", i.e. well-done or medium) and it was perfect! Pink in the middle and slightly crusty brown on top. Ooh... Can I go back there again tonight?
My doctor friend says that is too much meat to eat in one day 'cos you are supposed to consume only a palm-sized amount of meat, while the serving at Ang Mo Kio was palm-plus-fingers-sized. My doctor friend also tells me that the rich rind of fat is not good for my heart, but I know that if I wasn't so concerned about grossing my doctor friend out, I would have eaten the entire rind, lock stock and barrel. But I didn't and now my dear rind of sizzling fat is being eaten by a stray cat somewhere. Boohoo.
The chicken chop is really good too, by the way, and it costs $5.50. You can get your chicken chop with spagetti for $6 and lamb chops for $6.50. They sell fish and chips too but I didn't check the price because I am not into fish. All the above comes with the best sides you can get at a hawker centre. The coleslaw and beans were not watery and the garlic bread awesome. The only thing that wasn't worth gushing about were the french fries, which were just okay.
I love the Hainanese people!
Monday, May 22, 2006
Keep passing the open windows
I was afraid last night. It is funny how at night, fear feels so tangible, corporeal almost, but in the light of day, it evaporates like a bad dream. I was afraid of losing my mind and jumping out of the window, so I slid them shut, and lay under two pillows, cocooned in my pink room.
And then I dreamt of death. Of a 21 year old girl who suddenly collapsed after a bout of simple fever. Of the frantic madness of her family. I dreamt of this fever spreading, insidiously felling everyone I love. An old frail woman was hooked up to beeping machines in a cold white room staring at the back of her eyelids as her children and gradnchildren wept.
Perhaps it wasn't a dream.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Running matra #4
About 7pm today, I ran past this long line of tired-looking people with groceries waiting in line for the taxi, and my first thought: "Don't queue lah! Come run with me!" And then I realised they couldn't, because they were carrying too much stuff. Which is the inspiration for running mantra #4:
"The less you are carrying, the less encumbered you are."
Between my sweethearts
I thought of them before I fell asleep last night, and of them again on the way to work, and I am tempted to dump them both. I am afraid that having too much information will spoil the romance of the run, and the experience of the run will be reduced to a mere statistic. Will I be distracted from the "here and now" if I have a constantly changing number on my wrist, yelling "Speed up! Too slow! Too short!"
There is the "science" of running: speed, distance, hills, repeats, time, improvement; and there is the "art": the breeze, the sound of the foot on gravel, the sweat, the regular breathing, the feeling of your heart as you push yourself just a little harder. Runner's World has a column "Waddle on, friends" for those who take it slow, and in the last issue I read, the columnist was emphatic in saying that no two runs are every alike, the way you can never put your foot in the same river twice. That is what I am afraid of losing.
I think I think too much.
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