I was touched

Dear Mr Mike

Min ga lar bar! I just would like to say thank you very much for being such a cool lecturer and so far I understand what you taught. I am not sure if I passed the mini test you gave last week. To be honest, I know nothing at all about computers and ironically I do not know why I applied for IT in the first place. In fact, I struggled doing the CARC Case Study project and had quite a hard time doing my part for the project. Thankfully, I have great team members! That said, after learning CARC, I find PCs kind of interesting and I applied what I learnt to everyday life. Well, that is all I have to say. Once again, thanks!

Yours truly


Well, my students have made my day. Greeted me in my mother language too; burmese and "Mingalarbar" means "Hello". I was quite worried that my feedback would not be over 90% (which our diploma goal is 95%; I didn't fulfill last semester).

CARC has been one of the toughest subjects I've taught so far as it's all basics about computers and we assume no prior knowledge of computers for the students. I have been harshed on them; given them a lot of work to do; case studies and quizzes to build up the foundation. Without IT, life would be a mistake, wouldn't it?

Our school renaming towards Informatics & IT also plays a major role on my passion to start relating computers with what we interact everyday; our life. Look around... you will see more and more gadgets intruding into your personal space.

Nevertheless, I was touched by my students; they have made an effort to write to me and made my day. I am truly rejuvenated again. Thank you all and wish you guys all the best on the Term Test.

APCS Crew

Photo (from Left to Right): [Backrow] Shima Rayej, Irving Stern, Martha, Marko Stankic, Diana Seymour, Mike Anderson, Sam Junge, Adam Hiatt, Anil Shrestha [Frontrow] Sarah, Meredith Liu, Chris Echave.

I dug out some photos and found my old APCS (Advanced Placement Computer Science) crew photo. Check out Mr. Stern (Einstein looking guy). Wonder where he is now.

Five Worst Things

Here are five meeting offenses that will not only drive your co-workers crazy, but will also damage your reputation within the workplace.

1. Show up late - Occasionally there is an emergency that crops up that forces you to go into a meeting a few minutes late. But usually the culprit is poor time management. Consistently arriving late implies to your manager and your co-worker that you are either extremely disorganized or don’t really respect the rules that everyone else follows.
2. Bring your cell phone - Again, there could be special circumstances that would require having a cell phone in a meeting, such as a call from a doctor or your child’s school. But if your cell goes off at every meeting and it’s just your spouse needing to know if you’ll pick up some Pudding Pops after work, shame on you. This behavior shows a lack of respect as well as a lack of commitment to your job.
3. Have a side conversation - Nothing rankles a meeting leader more than two people having a whispered conversation separate from the topic at hand.
4. Don’t focus - Believe it or not, I’ve been in meetings when attendees have leafed through clothing catalogs or balanced their checkbook while the leader is talking. Trying to multi-task in a somewhat dull meeting might be tempting, but it’s very rude. And don’t think people don’t notice.
5. Talk just to hear yourself speak - It may be your way of raising your office profile, but hogging much of the meeting spotlight with philosophical ramblings will not do it. Be brief and succinct. Meetings are for communication; they are not your personal stage.

Cited from Tech Republic Blog. Sadly, we all see this in our meetings, especially in Singapore.

Read Exam Answers

Real Exam Answers - no kidding folks.

Question 1: What is high level format?

Answer:















Question 2: What is Parallel Processing?

Answer:















Now you want to blame me for failing them???

Panoramic Shots

Just shooting around my school with my W810i Sony Ericsson Walkman phone. Really need to get a DSLR soon.

(Across from the school)
(Bedok Reservoir as seen from top of the TP's 9 storey library)

(Horseshoe Plaza)

Feasty Mikey

Okay, for those of you who have seen me outside would comment, "so skinny sia". Yep, they're right. I'm standing 179cm with only 68kg on top which is considered underweight (supposed to be 75kg at least). But do not mistaken my looks with my eating habits. Ask my friends around, they'd say I'm like a beast; particularly addicted to rice (high carbo, I know). Anyway, for the past month I've been eating out a lot here and there and I can't seem to stop eating at home either. I make nice cheese and egg pratas at home (with onion flava!) which goes very well with Iced Cafe Mocha, of course, also homemade. So here are the updates on what has been happening to Mike's lunches and dinners (sorry I'm not a morning person, I usually skip breakfast on weekends, believe it or not).

(Cherry, Natasha, Hanyoung, Sean, Me at Villa Bali)

(After the first round -- believe it or not -- damn good butter chicken!)

(So full! Yum Yum!!!)
(Another indian cuisine again. This time was at Holland V with Mark, Therese and Amanda. I had 3 pots of biryani rice!)

Patterns

I'm so obsessed with patterns. Here are some I've taken in the past month.



















Another one
















The first one was taken at Tampines Mall, the decorations on the lift doors. The second one was at the restaurant at the cineleisure.

10 Signs You're a True Blue Singaporean

1. You order chilli with everything
2. You'll find somewhere to shop, even if you're in the middle of a desert
3. You queue for hours (even days!) for a big sale
4. You'd rather enrol in a slimming centre than work out to lose weight
5. You say "lah" a lot ... and you're not even singing
6. You have to be the first in the line at a buffet
7. You know that "Want to buy a house together?" is boyfriend-speak for "Will you marry me?"
8. You say something's "not bad" when it's actually quite good
9. You let your man carry your handbag
10. You "chope" a table at the hawker centre with a packet of tissue paper

Exam matters

My paper had the finals on Wednesday last week. Within two days, we had to finish marking the nearly 200 scripts AND come up with all the statistics AND ERRORS are NOT tolerated whatsoever. What are they thinking? We're robots? I propose an online exam, fully computer based multiple choice questions. What? The "credibility of the knowledge tested on multiple choice exams"? Oh please. Even vendors like Cisco, Microsoft, ISC2 and others are using MCQ as their choice for the "Professional" level exams and they're not cheap; ranging from S$200 to over one grand in some cases (such as CISSP, RHCE, MCSE). And you can't go and say, "Dude, your CISSP is crap". I mean seriously, you're not that dumb to do that right? It's the pain in the ars* to mark, error check, manually enter in the results and generating the results manually. Aren't we supposed to automate all these since we are the school of information technology. Use of IT ease the lives of people but excluding lecturers?

"iROBOT"

"Taking a break, I need a vacation!"

Oh and you haven't seen the amount of paper we had to waste to generate the reports. Why not we do everything online (it's more environmental friendly anyway) and NEA (National Environmental Agency) would appreciate it greatly =)

Usual weekend

Friday evening, called up Kyle and met up around 11 to have dinner. Kyle also roaming around Paragon hoping that the stores will give him 90% late night discount :P Anyway, I end up eating twice; once at Pasta Mania and again at a Macau Restaurant at Cineleisure. The Cream of Chicken pasta was horrific; worst I've eaten in years so I chose to eat the garlic bread and soup only. Kyle said he hasn't seen a horror show in years so we decided to watch 1408 which is supposedly scary. Since we got there late, and it's Friday night, no surprise that 1408 sold out. Have left with no options, we took whatever it had, Dead Silence it is. I think the movie is not scary; just a bunch of sounds and eerie dolls. Half the theater is screaming though when Mary Saw (ghost in the storyline) chasing people and biting off their tongues (ouch!)

"The Iced Coffee was nice"

"Left: Me, Right: Kyle"

Saturday was a trip down to meet up with my friends to do some work (rather playing around though). I was testing out two software for NMS (Network Management System: www.zabbix.com) and Security Monitoring (OSSIM - www.ossim.net) both are free. Alan decided to try out Ubuntu Linux instead of the RedHat clone CentOS 5 so there are a lot of dependency issues for the packages I need to install, such as httpd/apache, mysql, net-snmp, etc. Since I'm so used to "yum" -- an updater on CentOS -- it took me a while to get used to "sudo" and "apt-get" commands (apt-cache to look for specific package names).

"Four Sexy Laptops ;)"

Later we went down to eat dinner. All the hawkers near Bugis have delicious food with a very inexpensive price.

"Sky View from a high rise HDB in Bugis (you can see the DHL balloon)"

"Two Thumbs UP"
"Fried Tofu"

Drool the "Fried Tofu" with very nice Thai Style Sauce. Yum Yum!

Count on me (him) Singapore

He has a vision for tomorrow
We must believe in PM Lee
He has a dream for Singapore
He will succeed
He’s PM Lee
Anything
He wants, he’ll get
If not he’ll give you
One tight slap
Because you see, his father’s you know who
Not Lee Kuan Me
But Lee Kuan (point to the audience...)

Count on him Singapore
Count on him Singapore
Count on him to do his best and more
Together him and minister mentorrr
And don’t go to Taiwan anymoreee...!!!

Don't you love Dick Lee?

Weekend

To continue with my endless food pursuit, went to Penninsula the day after I ate my buffet lunch (Friday evening). Couldn't eat much since all my friends finished eating by the time I got there (yeah I know I'm unfashionably late). After dinner, Phil wanted to go to some live band and listen music (*roll eyes*) and the rest wanted to see movie. Mrs. Phil wanted to escape home but we managed to secure her from doing so :P


So after roaming around the CBD area, we finally decided to go to Cineleisure (yeah make a guess) and got ourselves tickets to Rush Hour 3... ahem. Not to our surprise, we've got the second row from front so that we can see 9 meters tall Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. As you might have guessed, the movie is hilarious. Will spare the details because I don't want to spoil the plot for those of you who haven't seen it.


On Saturday, we cooked at William's place to sing Karaoke and have some home cooked meal. Wunna, Phil and I have to fight for the microphone as usual! I'll upload the video of Vanessa getting drunk with wine and laughing nonstop! *evil*


On Sunday, I met with a friend at the airport to have some ice cream and coffee. Took some photos at the Airport, guess where they were taken?

Weekends burn so quick that before I know it, it's Monday again. *sigh*

Minutes to Midnight

1. "Wake" – 1:40
2. "Given Up" – 3:09
3. "Leave Out All The Rest" – 3:29
4. "Bleed It Out" – 2:44
5. "Shadow of The Day" – 4:49
6. "What I've Done" – 3:25
7. "Hands Held High" – 3:53
8. "No More Sorrow" – 3:41
9. "Valentine's Day" – 3:16
10. "In Between" – 3:16
11. "In Pieces" – 3:38
12. "The Little Things Give You Away" – 6:23

Birthday Update

It's been over a month since my birthday and now I'm officially 25.1 years old! My other Leo babe Claire also turned 23 on the 18th of August which she celebrated at the Burmese Buddhist Temple in Toa Payoh. Poor Claire accidentally "wet" her phone the next day and got herself into series of troubles; but as you know, we lucky Leos have someone who will always be there for us so her best mate Rach lended her the V3x. Cool! I'll think about dropping my phone in the rain also and see who'll help moi :P Talking about rain, it's been nonstop since about a week ago and I'm too lazy to get up early in the morning; dragging my feet to the shower everyday :(



Anyway, I've gotta thank my friends who celebrated my special "25th" birthday together with me. I've got gifts and presents of all sorts (if I forgot please condemn me!)

1. Asics Casual Shoe
2. Boss Selection 90ml Perfume
3. Bvulgari Extreme 90ml Perfume
4. Tommy Hilfiger Polo Shirt
5. GAP Polo Shirt
6. Celio Polo Shirt
7. Body Shop Gift Set for Men
8. cK Calvin Klein briefs
9. CISSP and CAP Prep Guide
10. iSetan Vouchers
11. A small miniature guitar
12. Two cakes!
13. 2 bottles of Vodka
14. Microwave Oven with Grill Function

Thank you all for your presents! I meant it from the bottom of my heart.

Our reporter Ms. Rebecca Henry (aka Becky) got the full story here on her blog.

Crush

Lately I'm having a crush on ... eh ... a song (haha, not a girl, doh!) by Paul van Dyk which is now my second most favorite song of PvD (short for Paul van Dyk) next to his early hit "For An Angel" in 1998. Ironically, the title of the song itself is Crush.

Just like all other trance songs, this one comes with a huge and stunning break in between tossing and pulling your mind out of your body. The impact is sort of like a shot of some drug (not that I have tried .. okay, bad analogy). Also, just like "For An Angel", "Crush" is mainly composed of instrumental but it has bits and pieces of vocal here and there ... "tell me you want me" "you can't escape me... I wont just disappear" "I know you want me". The highest momentum should be where there is a bridge between... simply blowing your mind away.

Greetings goes to one of my best friends, Tartee, who shared his early trance collections with me when we were building kick-ass high end gaming machines at his house during the summer of 2001. "Mate, you have to try dosing yourself with Trance, I guarantee that you'll addicted to it." Dude, you're right! I just found the song from my music backup CD (my 160GB external HDD just died a couple of weeks ago) and been having a real crush to it again since then.

The MV of Crush is available on YouTube :D

Asparagus Fever

For the last few weeks, I've stocked up variety of groceries in my fridge and one of them is my favorite green asparagus. I have two reasons for it:

1) I usually cook either pasta or spaghetti frequently, just because it tastes good, fast and healthy, most of the time I add chopped asparagus along with other vegetables.
2) Lately I've been obsessed with bacon and asparagus stir fried in olive oil.

"In their simplest form, the shoots are boiled or steamed until tender and served with a light sauce like hollandaise or melted butter or a drizzle of olive oil with a dusting of Parmesan cheese." -- Asparagus, Wiki

Mike's Kitchen proudly presents 10 minute guide to tasty asparagus stir fried recipe.

Ingredients
1 pack of small/medium asparagus
2 slices of meat only smoked bacon
1 teaspoon of vegetable or olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preparation:

Clean the asparagus until the skin is peeled off. Then chop them in small or medium slices. Slice the bacon accordingly and set aside.

Cooking:

Heat the frying pan at 325 degrees. If the pan is fully heated, add the vegetable or olive oil (Remember the rules of engagement; never pour the oil until the pan is fully heated). After the bacon is changing towards red-brownish color, add the chopped asparagus. Add salt accordingly and stir nicely. You can add the water if you want additional softness in the stems (for large or medium sized stems). Stir cook for about 5-7 minutes until the stems are soft and you can sense the asparagus smell.

Serving:

Serve with steamed rice or as a side-dish to any main course.

Mike's Kitchen

I'm moving my old post from my friendster blog to here and found something useful. ;) Check it out.

Since I've moved to Temasek Green, eating at home became my mundane task. It is simply because there are nearby supermarkets which sells all sorts of vegetables and varieties of groceries. I've always had passion for cooking; even in the days that I've lived with my grandparents back in the US. I have learned that my grandmother's casual tellings when I accompany her for shopping actually helped when I go out and shop for real groceries on my own.

Now I want to share my bit of spaghetti recipe which I've cooked and served many in the past. I've originally obtained this from one of my best pal William and modified to fit myself (since I'm a pure meat eater and he's more of seafood person; with prawns and everything).

So, without further delay, here is the recipe.

Mike's Kitchen Presents...

Italian Style Spaghetti Recipe

1 tin of luncheon meat (pork/chicken/beef)
1 pack of hotdog (only need 3 stick)
1 pack of fresh ham
2 red/green/yellow capsican
1 pack of asparagus
1 cube of butter
1 pack of 500g spaghetti noodles or macaroni
3 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
1 Prego or Raguletto Pasta Sauce with mushrooms (glass container)
1 Prego Pasta Sauce (tin)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pack of shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

1 tin of luncheon meat must be sliced into small little cubes size of the tip of the finger. 3 sticks of hotdog must be sliced into slanted slices. Fresh ham must be sliced into medium slices and make sure they're not too small. Cut the capsican accordingly and set aside. Clean the pack of asparagus, chopping off the unwanted parts and slice them in the way you want.

1 pack of 500g spaghetti noodles or macaroni must be heated for 10 minutes until they're soft and set aside. Applying layer of butter over the noodles would make the smell more presentable.

Cooking:

Preheat the nonstick pan or bowl to 375 degrees and pour 3 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil. Add additional 1/2 inch thick of butter slice after the oil is hot.

Make sure you clear the way before you add sliced meat into the bowl because the oil may blast towards you. Fry until meat is red and add all the vegetables afterwards. Add additional 1/2 inch thick of butter slice and cook until the vegetables are fully cooked. Add pasta sauces and clean the containers using a bit of water, and flush them into the bowl. Cook for another 5 minutes and add shredded cheese onto the layer of spaghetti.

Mix the spaghetti and sauce; add mozzarella cheese on top and serve.

Best to accompany with Red Wine.

Recipe intended for cooking enthusiasts only =)

Mike's Music

I'm obsessed with Hed Kandi for now. I've made a background for my friendster account using Jason Brooks' concept art. I hope he won't sue me for using his artwork as my background and modifying it to fit my needs. Don't ask me what I used to compile the images: same old mspaint ;) Yeah, it works. I can't afford to buy a legit version of Photoshop CS3 which is way out of my budget.

Check out the two cool stylish and artistic work of Jason Brooks; official illustrator for Hed Kandi and Fierce Angels (Fierce Angel is the new record and events company from Mark Doyle the creator of Hed Kandi.)

"Modern Living Room"

"Nice Eh?"

Thanks to William who bought all the Hed Kandi collection and shared with us (me and Phil).

Three tracks to recommend:

1. Give it back - Gaelle (Eric Kupper Mix)
2. Tokyo Disco 2: Rise - Samantha James (Eric Kupper Mix)
3. Tokyo Disco 2: No Promises (Revocal) - with Hott 22, Bonnie Bailey

Buffet Lunch at Sakura

It's been a long time since I went to Sakura for any kind of food. I wasn't really a fan of sushi or sashimi but I got used to the Japanese food somehow and now I have no problem eating raw fish (I would have thrown up if I were to eat this kind of food a couple of years ago). Although I prefer smoked salmon with a bit of lemon, it's nice to try variety of sushi and sashimi. One of my favorite is the one with tuna on top; yeah I know... I'm lame and cheated a little. It's not real sushi, and tuna is not raw.


Don't know what to cook for dinner today. Most probably I'll eat outside since it's Friday and pamper myself with some more food. A colleague said I'm getting fat (especially in the tummy area) but I really don't give a damn though. I play tennis, jog, swim and team up basketball with my other colleagues so burning fat is not an issue for me. Yet still think I'm skinny; need to beef up about 5 more kilos ;)