Beer Is Good For You... The average pint contains 20% of your daily fibre needs and is packed with B-group vitamins. There are about 200 calories in a pint, which makes it less than a baked potato.The is no link between the amount you drink and the chances of developing a beer belly, a study has proven at University College, London.In Finland, scientists found that a bottle of beer a day could cut the risk of kidney stones by 40% because beer contains diuretics which help flush the kidneys.A moderate consumption of beer also protects against stomach ulcers, which can lead to stomach cancer.A Dutch study of the over-50's has found that people who had 1 - 3 beers a day had a 42% lower risk of dementia. (Unfortunately, the risk goes up again if you're a heavy boozer.)Darker ales, in particular, contain antioxidants that halve the risk of cataracts according to the University of Western Ontario.Beer is naturally high in silicon, a mineral that helps strengthen bones and protects against osteoporosis. The silicon comes from the grains used in brewing and is readily absorbed into the system.A study of 5000 British men found that those drinking a couple of pints a day significantly reduced their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.Beers also contain polyphenols, which cut levels of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol).Scientists in Portugal also discovered that one polyphenol found only in beer was the most effective at combating breast cancer - time to get the fairer sex onto beer.Beer is rich in vitamin B6, which stops a build up of homocysteine, a chemical linked to an increased risk of heart disease.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Who'd have thought that the average beer would have health benefits.Singapore Bar Manager, Issue 1, page 66. Irritants...... For the people out there who are still happily running their older Macs, please, try and stay away from the Mac OS 10.4.10 update, be it the Combo or the Delta update, just don't do it.Why? I found out the hard way.Am I really getting sick of Macs and OSX?Every time when Apple's about to roll out something new, the software updates released near then will somehow manage to fuck up the older machines. Like now, although there're some Mac users out there who didn't encounter any problems with the 10.4.10 update, I know of a lot of 'em who nearly threw their machines out of their bloody windows.I, for one, did it. Now I feel like a total fucking idiot for doing it. Yes, I knew full well that there're multiple problems with 10.4.10 and especially with the old machines, and I still went ahead with it. Stupid fuck!I was scouring the 'net for answers regarding that and found out that instead of getting the Delta Update via OSX's Software Update application, running a Combo update solved a lot of issues. But you'll have to go to Apple's website to download the Combination Updater image file to do that.Anyway. I downloaded the image file, 150MBs worth of it, installed it on my 1.25GHz PowerBook G4, and it all the shit flew up to the fucking fan. Installation errors, too many times to count. Just before the "Writing Files" bit reached 14%, Mac OS told me 'there were errors installing the software, please try installing again'. After those few times, I gave up, and I clicked on 'About This Mac' and found out my Mac OS's version was already 10.4.10 even though the installation didn't even reach 20%.And that's not the worst bit.Trash can't be emptied, every time I tried it, the Finder will force quit. Finder windows malfuntioning. FireWire port doesn't work anymore. When I connected my external hard drive through USB (FireWire port wasn't working), it's not recognized.What else? Let's see........Repairing permissions and then reinstall Combo updater; not working.Repaired permissions again, then run Software Updater; Software Updater quits unexpectedly, constantly.Tried booting up from 10.4 DVD installer through System Preferences; System Preferences quits, constantly.Tried booting up from DVD by restarting and holding down 'C' key; cannot, the DVD can't boot.Tried zapping the PRAM and restarting from DVD by holding 'C' key; cannot.Reset LogicBoard then try restarting DVD; at long fucking last, it happened.Then........Tried Archive Reinstall; cannot.Tried repairing permissions using the DVD Installer; still not fucking working.Fuck it, I fucking erased the entire hard drive, thus losing all data; and that worked.What the fuck!!!!!!So, as you can see, I lost all my data, thanks to Mac OS 10.4.10 and that's not all.One of my customers did it, he downloaded the image file from Apple, onto his desktop. He's hard drive was recently upgraded, so all his data was still in his older 30GB hard drive, which was in an external enclosure connected to his iBook via FireWire. Then he ran the updater, but in his case, the installer worked fine, no errors and all. Then after he restarted, he couldn't 'see' his external hard drive. After troubleshooting and all that shit, we found out that his hard drive ain't spinning anymore, but the external enclosure still works with other hard drives. Meaning? He lost every damn thing in that hard drive. Coincidental? I don't know, you tell me.Then there's another, wanted to upgrade the standard 80GB hard drive to a 160GB. Then, right after pulling the SATA hard drive out of the MacBook, the rubber guides popped out. Fixing everything back in took about an hour of adjusting, removing, readjusting, remove again, adjust again, until we nearly threw the fucking MacBook out of the fucking window of an apartment on the 21st floor.Quality? What quality?There were actually a lot more such fiascos concerning the splendid 10.4.10 update from Apple Computer, but I don't feel like talking about it anymore.The new Safari beta did absolutely nothing to make Safari better, Safari still suck, Firefox and Opera will still beat up Safari.Then there are those idiots out there buying a MacBook to run Windows OS entirely. I don't get it, the MacBook is a piece of low-end bargain basement Apple...... appliance. Why? Any Sony VAIO is of a better quality compared to a MacBook. VAIOs got no heat issues, VAIOs are lighter, the battery life of a 13" VAIO last longer then the fucking MacBook, and the best of all, a VAIO has a dedicated graphic card, the MacBook has fuck-all.I'm sorry, but the MacBook disgusts me, and that's not the worst, the people buying a MacBook and running strictly Windows is the absolute worst. I've seen one too many.I just wish that the legendary Apple quality will come back, and not the shit they're making now, like the MacBook. Another Classic... Classic too, from 1997...強く儚い者たち by Cocco.Yah, I agree that she's really skinny and she looked like she's high. Another Classic... Yes, this is another classic song on my list.I've always loved this track... Dreams? I just had a dream the other day, and I hardly have dreams 'cause when I sleep, I'm dead to the world. It's weird, at best.I was in some Armed Forces' uniform, definitely Army since none others have the patchy green stuff. With the rest of the men, I arrived at this island-like place, and we supposedly ended our day, except for a company meeting of sorts later in the night. So I went walking around, found this underpass that supposedly link where I was to another island. So I walked down the stairs, which was quite long, and wanted to see where it'll take me. The underpass was a little dirty and it reminded me of the one that connected the back of Mandarin Gardens to East Coast Park back in the 90s.Anyway, at the end of the underpass, it was really another island. I was practically in a bustling village, with tourists and all, much like a cross between Bali and Patong, just more crowded. The place was definitely asian although I have no idea where the hell that is, but it seems nice. I walked around, got something to eat, and continued strolling about. Then I came to another part of the island where I thought it was spectacular. I was on a higher ground looking down and it was nearing nightfall, the sun's setting and this part of the beach came alive, there were little pavilions and kiosks, with a bartop around each one and seats, well, more like benches, and serving drinks and snacks, on the sand. That's nothing new, I know, thing is, everything is about 1m in the water, and the water is crystal clear. And there were a few light posts that looked like stadium lights, shining down at everything, there were little fishes swimming around everything there. Everyone was in their swimming bits, bikinis, boardshorts, whatever. I went down, removed my shoes and walked around a bit at the shallower end. The sand was white, the water is clear, schools of little fishes darting around.Then I got a call to get back to the island where I was originally at. So I got outta the water, wanted to put my shoes on. I then found out what I was wearing was a pair of lowcut Adidas sneakers. Yes, I know it's weird, and somehow, I couldn't get the shoelaces right. Then the underpass was no longer there, I couldn't find it. The only thing out of the island is by boat. And the boat was on land and had to be moved into the water first. Then we found out that the boat couldn't get into the water because that were way to many people in it. I was in the boat, they were trying to get the boat into the water, then I woke up...Tsk......I couldn't make out what the heck that dream was about, or what it meant. But I know that I don't wear sneakers, I definitely know I can tie my shoelaces pretty damn well, and where did the Armed Forces bit come from?Then in the evening of the following day, one of my good friends told me someone ask how I was. That person who asked still has a significant impact on me, even though it was all over a long time ago.I can't help but wonder was that all connected, the dream and the asking bit. I think I need to drink... Still Is... To me, this song, from these guys, is still, one of the best songs ever created.Early '90s, still rule today, sez me... My Current Favorite Sure, of course I still love Chage&Aska, but these tunes are much better for riding. This is HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, and they rock.一輪の花 (Ichirin no Hana)PRIDEThese are 2 of those that I really like, enjoy. Recent Bits Haven't written in a long while, as usual, many things have happened and I didn't 'digitize' them.The most recent and exciting thing was that I was asked by a good customer to do a courier job for him. It was to collect something very important, from Grand Plaza Parkroyal at Jalan Sultan Ismail, in KL, back to SIngapore. Money's not great, only $300, but it's the ride that got me interested. That was also an opportunity for me to get something tested.I left home at 10am, and by 11am, I've past through both Singapore and Malaysian customs. It was a no nonsense ride, other than stopping for gas, it was a non-stop ride at a speed of between 130 to 140km per hour. Things to do during the ride? Gathering data. Reached the hotel lobby at about 2.50pm even though I was supposed to be there at 2.30pm. Fine, I got a bit lost. The item I was supposed to collect was brought to KL by another guy from Penang. Official courier cost was insane, guess that's why my customer asked me to do it, as he knows I've had long experiences as a courier.2 necklaces, total weight was over half a kilo, pure gold, don't know how many 'K', I wonder who the hell would wear something that heavy. A necklace that weighs over 300 grams each? You can be sure that it's not gonna be me even if I can afford to buy one. Plus, I think they look impossibly gaudy. Anyway, those 2 necklaces are still in prototype stages, waiting for some approval or some shit like that.Had some coffee, yes, some. I went to different places to have different coffee. Since I'm quite a boring person, so the usual iced coffee from Starbucks is a die-die-must-have. Coffee Bean, and Gloria Jean too. Not much of eye candy though, and since my friend in KL couldn't skive work to meet me, I decided to start the ride back at about 6pm.Speed was between 150 to 160km per hour, but mostly at 150, sometimes falling to about 130 plus, depending on the traffic. It was a gas and go affair, no taking longer breaks for a cigarette and such, just the occasional coffee-from-a-can. I wanted to avoid the night riding. The ride was good, plenty stable as well, and the range was almost excellent. All the way back, I gassed only twice. But in the end, upon reaching the state of Johor, there no longer was any daylight left.Tsk......The second gas stop was at Yong Peng, after that, it was a straight shot, from Petronas gas station, past the customs, straight to Wrench. And as usual, Foster's always seems to taste exceptional after a long ride. Data from the ride was gathered, right hand hurting really bad from the effects graciously provided by the metal grips. I need rubber grips, die-die.The necklaces were to be delivered by mid day the next day. Only then I could see the 300 bucks. Verdict from the ride? Well, Pattaya Bike Week 2008, bring it on. Phuket Bike Week 2007 (Last Bit) After the night at Club Lime, got ready the next morning for the ride back. I didn't sleep much really. And I actually woke up in time, or rather, way ahead of time. Not knowing that, I showered and did the usual bits, and found out the everyone was still asleep. Anticipating the ride, I couldn't get back for even a nap. Dammit.The gas station outside Phuket, it was quite a long break 'cause someone had to take a dump pretty badly.Some of the gas stop pictures, not all of course...Then we stopped over at Hat Yai again, for the night.Tourist Police? Well, this is the first time I see this. It was right outside the hotel where we will be crashing for the night. I saw this when everyone was meeting up to go for dinner and booze.After crossing the Thai and Malaysian border, this was the first gas stop for us.At the same gas station, we had to fix a really badly busted gas tank, the guys with the know-how and faster bikes stayed back to help fix the crack. 4 other riders and I headed off first, the rest will catch up once the fix was done.One of the stops after we headed off first before the rest.This was where I stood and took pictures of the place around me. Everything just look fabulous. There were actually even better ones, like at least 10 times better, just that we were riding pretty damn fast so there was no way for me to get the camera out. I couldn't leave the camera out also 'cause the rain comes on and off. Ride dry, get wet in the rain, blow-dry from the wind, well, almost, then pass another huge rain cloud, well, you get the picture..... That's why I couldn't keep the camera out. Anyway, the roadside stop was because one of the bikes' drive belt disintegrated. So the tow-rope was taken out. With hazard lights on, the Road King did the towing, the Dyna with working signal lights did the rear marking with hazard lights on as well. The Fatboy, together with the Sportster that I was riding, had no working signal lights, so we were asked to head towards the next meet-up point which was some 35 kms away. And when everyone arrived, which was the stop before KL, we waited for the tow truck where it'll pick the Sportster up and send it to a bike shop to get the drive fixed.In KL, waiting for one of the guys to lead us to accommodation for the night. Some boys go wild in the presence of toys.One of the bikes in the shop which we went to collect the Sportster. Fat tire, after market S&S engine, the works, nice......One of the gas stops, with almost an hour of break time. Fixes too, a Dyna almost had it's air filter and carb rattled off.This was the stop after what I thought was the fastest ride time in the entire trip. I didn't know how fast I was going 'cause the speedo on the Sportster I was on was dead. But from what I was told, it was about 150 to 160kmh. Then I thought "Huh? That's it?", 'cause during then, I felt as if the Sportster was gonna break, perhaps that was it's limit.The last stop before leaving Malaysia, and but into Singapore. Some of the boys headed straight home after passing the customs, the rest of us headed straight back to the best-est bar in Singapore. After all the boozing away from Wrench all those days, I missed the taste of Foster's beer badly, and I'm very sure I ain't the only one. I downed the first mug immediately, and it felt fantastic. The bar and the band of brothers, one of the only few good things in life and in Singapore, to me at least.And beer wise? Foster's taste fantastic. Tiger beer, eat your heart out, your beer suck. Phuket Bike Week 2007 (Part 2) The next day, some bikes were sent to the workshop at Nicky's Handlebar, yes, there's a workshop at the back, sells bikes too. Anyway, The bikes were there 'cause they got messed up, like bits falling off along the way, and a busted gas tank. Getting them fixed there.And this is Nicky's bike, I think. It's an absolute beauty. Extremely customized, long, low, shit load of chrome and a super fat 300mm rear wheel. I've not seen a better looking custom cruiser than this.There were some 'resident' cats at the place where we stayed, 3 of which are kittens, real cute. Here are 2 of 'em.Yes, it's Songkran. You can be showered nicely, fresh and dry, walk onto the streets, and you'll get wet again. People drive pass with huge buckets of water, splashing onto practically everyone. The huge buckets are big enough to put me in, with a lot of space to spare, and big water-guns as well. And I thought I had enough of getting wet from riding in the rain on the way there. Then we walked into this place called the Soi Bangla or something. My goodness, that was a war zone, everything that moves will either get splashed, or shot, with water for buckets or water guns and hoses, multiple times, no one was spared. But all I've gotta say is that it was a lot of fun.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The next day......The guys who've sent their rides to Nicky's were there to get 'em back, so those of us who's got nothing to do, the beach we went.Patong Beach, of course, my picture's not there 'cause I feel fat.Bikes collected, we're riding out for dinner and drinks. After that, we'll be paying a visit to the Phuket Bike Week.Some of the nice rides. I didn't take a lot of pictures 'cause the T1 has and ISO rating of only 400, so that explains the quality of pictures I took in the night.This is a really small customized bike at the place where we stayed. And I don't think the bike has an engine of more than a 100cc.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Next day, Kata Beach, got an invite to a bar so there we went......And since we were a lot earlier than expected, on the way there, we stopped by the Dino bar sort of place for a few beers first before heading there. At the back of this bar, the entire place looks as if it's in the Flintstones' era. Really cute, and I didn't take any picture of it. I don't know why either.This is the bar at Kata Beach, it's pretty nice and they use the beach sand for the place's flooring.I actually prefer this to Patong Beach. It's more peaceful here, to me, it seems. With waves too.The tsunami alarm, as I was told.Honda Magna, with very good looking body work done, frankly, I've not seen a Magna this good looking, and in Thailand, the Magna is pretty big, a lot of people are riding it there, and most, if not all, look really good. And I'm starting to like the bike.Some of the choppers there, most of them are using 650cc inline-4 engines from Honda. Those engines are fast, but they're mounted on rigid frames, meaning that there's no rear suspensions on the bike. Look real cool, but we you see the bikes ride, scary. It's as if they'll break 'cause they're bouncing a lot.Cute innit?Err....... I dunnno...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Then, the next day......Jap got some traditional Thai tattoo done.This ride belongs to the tattoo artist. Honda Steed, with a pair of inverted Kayaba forks off a dirtbike, and it's rear wheel is from a Honda RVF. End result? It looks good.Darren getting some tradional ink done too.Weird way to skewer a fish, no?That night, the lot of us went to Nicky's Handlebar for dinner...Ah.... the super-bling bike...Here's Nicky preparing the plaque for us and you can see it in Wrench now.Another really cool ride, with 240mm rear wheel.This looked like it'll shock somebody some day.After Nicky's, some of went back to the room to drop the plaque there, then joining the rest of us at Club Lime. Trust me, this joint plays the best music in Patong Beach. For those who like house music, there's nowhere else other than this.No aircon, but the place is cooling enough. The decor's nice and the music's great. After this, we went back in preparation for the ride back to Hat Yai. Sleep first, of course. Phuket Bike Week 2007 (Part 1) 10th of April, 2007, the ride to Phuket shall commence. I was supposed to drive since I don't think my RMX250 will make it there. Even if it does, I don't think I'll last there with the bike vibrating that much. Then again, the RMX is made for the dirt, not the highway.The schedule was that I'll make my way to Kuala Lumpur, via coach, collect the truck, meet the rest of the boys at Sungei Buloh or something, transfer their stuff onto the truck and we'll continue to Phuket. I'll be having a co-driver as well. Last minute, the supposed co-driver pulled out. Okay, I'll be driving alone then. 9th of April, confirmation came that there'll be no truck due to break down. Okay, no truck, no worries, 'cause 'somebody' promised that there's a Hayabusa on standby. I took his word for it, big mistake. It didn't happen, I was very frustrated and I was ready to pull out.You believe in miracles? No I don't, but coincidences seems the logical bit to me. One of the boys won't make it, due to work, and he loaned me his ride. I couldn't believe it, he's my savior. All we've got to do is to get the bike insurance made and after that, it's good to go.So my trip to Phuket is confirmed, by means of a Harley Davidson Sportster 883. I collected the bike in the afternoon, rode it to their usual workshop in Choa Chu Kang, got it serviced and checked for loose bolts and nuts. Rode back to Wrench to collect the insurance and log card and stuff, back home to pack and back to Wrench for the meet up.And this was my ride.All the boys met up at The Wrench Saloon, and of course there'll be one or two who will be fashionably late. The ride starts at 1.30am on the 11th of April, 2007.It was almost a non-stop ride, mostly gas and go. Though there were some stops where we stop for a drink and a cigarette. After that, we fire up the engine and ride starts again.Some pictures of the different gas stops along the way. Not all though, I miss out the ones where we just gas and go. The Sportster I was riding had the smallest gas tank of the lot, meaning that the Sportsters on the trip will have to stop for gas more often than the rest. This is somewhere in, or near, KL, where we took a long break, for more drinks, more food, shit, whatever, and waiting for 2 more riders from Malaysia. Note that we've been riding since 1.30am, and in the picture you see daylight. This was really early in the morning, I don't even wake up at this hour, this was 7 plus, I think. Once they arrived, we ride again.Fast ride and a few more stops, gas, food and drinks, we reached the Malaysian border.DFS, for booze of course. But no drinking on the ride.After clearing the Thailand customs, it's a non-stop ride, other than gas stops, to one of the hotels in Hat Yai. By the time we got there, it was sundown, at around 8.30pm or so. We'll be crashing there for the night 'cause it's been a long long ride and the rest was much needed by everyone. Met for dinner after washing up, some went for a massage after that, 2 others and I went for beer. I must admit that my back was aching but I don't think I need a massage that badly, I just need to sleep on a hard surface, namely, the floor. The only thing that bothered me was my right hand, reason was that I wasn't used to fat grips. Compared to the slim grips I've got on all of my bikes, both past and present, the grips on the Harley were really big.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The next day...After a few well-deserved beers and a good night's sleep, we're all really for the second leg, all the way to Patong Beach, Phuket. Met up at 11am, sort out our stuff, and the ride began.As usual, gas stops, drinks and cigarettes, nearly lost our way and by the time we reached the bridge leading to Phuket island, the sun took off.Here we stop for a few pictures, on the bridge, and we had to make things fast or the cops will show.Last gas stop before Patong Beach.And this was our first stop in Patong Beach, Nicky's Handlebar. A free Heineken will be offered to riders who ride there, so it's all good, another well-deserved beer. After that, check-in, wash up, dinner, and if any energy's left, party.This is what I see from outside my room. All the time I was there, I didn't soak in it once.The bike park? Don't know really, we just parked there. I took this picture the next morning 'cause if I do it at the same time when I took the picture of the pool, trust me, nobody will be able to see anything.Alright, that's it for now, wait for Part 2. New Promo at Spa-Nah There, 'nuff said. Go play...... Warzone at Wrench and Dead Computers... On the 9th of February, The Wrench Saloon let us wield our guns and kill without any hesitation.9 gamers, 8 Macs and 1 PeeCee, a 16-port Linksys router, loads of cables and 1 warzone, that night was a riot, really. That's practically no bars here that'll let anybody do anything like this. That's why The Wrench Saloon is the absolute coolest bar in Singapore.Ah Seng's 14" iBook G4, dented and cracked exterior, and a broken magnesium chassis inside, along with a dead hard drive. Someone dropped this iBook hard. But he said it ain't him. 3 Quicksilver G4 PowerMacs, 1 working and 2 dead. The working one's mine, the center one the one on the right, Shirlyn's and Nelson's respectively, are dead.Get back to work...... Girls' and Kids' Race The second part of the Enduro Race was held at the Punggol Marina, called a Punggol Picnic or something like that.The pit area, or that's what of it.Start of girls' race...Miller...That's the 'try-out' area for anybody who wanna play with dirt bikes...The kids' race, now this is the one event to watch, seriously...Watch for the little kid near the end of this clip, he's the cutest of the day...Ewan and RJ...The girls...And RJ got a medal....All the winners for that category....For the whole time I've been there, I've been wondering if the drinks are free...Miller again...Ewan and his chick......RJ and Jap......'Nuff said...... Jimmy's Wedding And of course, this is way overdue as well...... I've readjusted the date though.....Got the ribbon bit done for the Beetle that I'll be driving on Jimmy's wedding. After collecting the car, the ribbon flipped up while driving and Jap and I can't see a thing on the road. We had to get the thing fixed after getting back to Wrench, Jap and I thought it was not a very good job done.Wedding day, Jimmy's place.The church...The groom...The bride...The talk...The snog...The signing bit...And everyone getting ready to go to the lunch thing at the Orchid Country Club......This it is...Blurred picture...Not many people yet...Gerard, Jap and Jimmy's sister...I don't know why I took these...The couple, it's blurred again, I know...The excellent singer......The champagne bit...And the dance...After all the eating and sitting around bit, Jap and I went up to Jimmy's room and we hung out with the family. Jim's dad's way cool, and so is the grandfather, practically the whole family's great.I don't know why I did this, maybe it's Jan's poison. Anyway, here's how I look in my suit. Enduro, Round 1 Ok, I know this is long overdue, and these are some of the pictures for the first round of the Enduro Race.The day before the race, Jap and Ewan were out to test their rides.We got there way early, which is actually on time, but it was still too damn early. I reached Jap's place at 5.30am to get the truck which was loaded which bikes and stuff the day before.Everyone's still stoned...Early in the morning and Yus had to fix a flat......Checking the bikes before the race...Racers getting ready for their first 'sighting' lap, and that shall also be their warming up lap and practice lap, nothing more than that.The 'sighting' lap starts......And then the 'sighting' lap ended, and everyone had only the same thing to say, "tough", "super siong" and every other description along that line.After the 'sighting' lap, almost every single racer was drained, casualties too, machine-wise. Jap's KTM's gearbox seized and he had to complete the entire lap with only it's 1st gear.This Honda XR400R is in a sorry state. The bike looked like it's got totally questionable reliability, not forgetting ugly. But this rider have the spirit. His bike broke it's bits, he didn't even complete the 'sighting' lap but he was still trying to fix that bike to get ready for the main event. Now that's the spirit...Here, Ewan ate it, he didn't manage to get his 'Buttercup' started until about 10 other racers passed him, as I was told. At least some racers offered help.Here are some race 'footage'...The end of the race......Everyone's beat, more than half didn't finish the race, killer track, I don't know what else, but I think it's a good race day.The Wrench Saloon had a bar set up there and was sold out on food.Loaded up and ready to leave, then the bloody rain came down, and we had to wait for it to stop before moving off 'cause there people sitting at the back of the truck...Getting the bikes washed at a gas station along Macpherson Road. Not cheap, but they got the job done, albeit not being good enough. 10 bucks per bike is a lot of money for a half fucked cleaning.Force of habit, I just had to cover my fat face...There are actually a whole lot more pictures, all totaling at about 400, even loading up onto Multiply, not that I have one, is gonna be a bitch. Pictures are courtesy of a few people, and definitely the Terz, who's got some of the best shots taken. The rest are given to me by Ewan. Anyway, some have been uploaded to Matt Multiply account. 'Nuff said for now... Random Pictures Again, And Agian At last, my iBook's keyboard is working properly now, with a full-sized keyboard.See what Janise did to me yesterday? I was actually bullied.Fun? I don't know about y'all but I find it fucking stupid.The ID tag given to me by the Warpigs. First row says 'Warpigs MC', second say 'Suzuki' and the last row says 'Associate'. I got the chain from Bugis though. Yep, my nickname is Suzuki and I like it 'cause it fits my liking perfectly.Darren...Sunny... these are taken on the night which Matt and I got the tags from the 'Pigs. Anyway...... I really don't know what to choose anymore. I'm stuck, having absolutely no idea what I want my next ride to be.All the bikes are lined up here in the order of my liking. Favorite from top, moving down to least favorite.After riding dirt bikes for all these years, I don't know what I really want anymore. I'll still keep my RMX though, but I figured I need a 'decent' bike, meaning that this said 'decent' will not be used for hooligan riding. But then again, even my least favorite Burgman 650 can go balls-out fast. What should I choose? This was Ewan's belated birthday treat. The piece in the foreground was my 700 gram cow, Ewan's cow in the background is 800 grams. Mine's done rare, Ewan's was medium I think. And that was a lot of meat for one night, but it was great nonetheless.My 'rare' piece of cow, bloody amazing.'Nuff said. Warpigs MC 11th Anniversary Convoy with only 7 bikes, and in that 7, 2 are dirt bikes. Out of place? Nope, it's all good.This chalet is huge, 2 levels, 4 really big rooms, a kitchen, big dining area, and there're like what, 3 living room areas? And a TV upstairs. No cable though, just free to air channels. But no one watched it anyway. Aircon in all rooms too.As the boys were busy preparing the food and all, I went wandering around. Next to the BBQ pit was a long flight of stairs down, I took it.I never knew this place bloody existed. And I think it's really nice, although it's a little to peaceful for me at times. I've got no idea what those sticks are for anyway.All the beer, with absolutely no ice. Everyone was thirsty, be it for beer or soft drinks or even mineral water. But, NO ICE!!! The ice was late for at least 2 hours, and Matt was losing it already.Burning time and waiting for the damn ice truck...The ice truck finally decided to grace us with it's presence, and everyone moved really really fast to have the ice covering the drinks in order to get 'em chilled fast. You can see Matt's happiness......Some of them girls...and Matt......Food starts...Warpigs' 11th anniversary...Games started......One of the games was a "beauty" contest. Drag, more like. I was nearly into it until the old man showed so much "enthusiasm" that I was replaced by him. Thank goodness.The start.........in progress.........the final product......... and the showdown. I forgot who won though...Maz...And after the game, the old man just went to the side, dropped down sleeping on the tarmac.A contest where you've gotta down bottle of Foster's within 4secs....More games went on, but I didn't managed to take any pictures......After the games and all, as we were hanging around talking, Monday (really, his name's Isnin), starting throwing water bombs at us. Heis been secretly filling up balloons with water, lots of 'em. He was hiding upstairs, and had the room door locked, and targeting all of us for no apparent reason. We were determined to get him. And after his bombs ran out, he started apologizing profusely from the window where he was at. Too late, everyone was out to get him. But Monday somehow managed to unlock the door, dash outta the room and ran away very fast very far. None of us could catch him, searched and nothing as well. It was only when he walked back, attempting to surrender, thinking that the boys will let him off. No, he was then held captive, tied to a chair, got cold mineral poured on him and Jap was rubbing chilli padi on his nips. That's for tossing water bomb at us all......As I was about to leave, the old man switched sleeping spots. I didn't stay over as I've got stuff to do the next morning.During the Warpigs' meeting earlier in the day, Gerard, Matt and I got this, a Warpigs Associate pit shirt, each. These ain't for sale, but we were awarded due to our help and support for The Wrench Saloon and the Warpigs.Anyway, this ain't all the pictures though, I've uploaded everything else onto Matt's Multiply account. I took no pictures on the second day though, but we've the Warpigs from Japan off at the airport...... Random Pictures Again This is another 600 grams of steak done rare at the Hog's Breath Café. Killer, I love it. And after a while, there was a whole group of people arriving at the next table and 'Ting' was with 'em. I called Jan and nope, she ain't gonna be there.The Honda S2000 that was parked near Wrench, soooo good looking, and so fast. Took this picture with my cellphone though.I sold my old Sony Clié...........to get another Sony Clié. Yes, I know I hardly use 'em, but it's because, it's a Sony (say it like the TV ad).The external hard drive enclosure I got for a customer. 1.5TB of hard drive space, connected through FireWire 800. Fast? Yes. The FireWire 400 port was used for the iSight camera.Call me shallow if you will, but the boys, and some girls, will agree that this is the best iPod Shuffle advertisement ever.This is the screen of a 2GHz iMac G5 I've been trying to fix for so many days. The machine passed all tests, and it's still like this. I'm losing my patience, and I'm gonna send it in.Saw this Suzuki GSX1000R at Vivo City. Nothing special right? I took pictures of it because of the high-mounted exhaust pipe. There's no big deal with Leo Vince Exhaust but the high mount pipe just look so good.This is the cruiser, the Suzuki M109R, I've been looking at for a long long time. 1800cc of muscle and it looks real sleek. And my mind has been in a mess. So, will I be going for a GSX750R, DR650, Burgman 650, or the M109R? All those mentioned are Suzuki bikes though, as I can't seem to have a interest in other manufacturers' machines. Big headache......'Nuff said... NYE at Wrench New Year's Eve, at The Wrench Saloon. My party ammo, but I was left with only 2 'cause I was robbed!Matt somehow yanked his pants all the way up to look like a geek, and the star's on his left...The old man and Eddie...The girls...Jap and Tiff...Idah...Matt's trying some 'magic' with the balloon...Sanny, who's also the birthday boy...Janise, and everybody else. Note the scribblings on that balloon, alright boys, the wait is over. Do what y'all have to, or want to, I'll just stand aside and watch... hurhurhur............That's some bra-buster......Then we started talking and laughing, generally behaving and sounding stupid by inhaling helium......Idah again...There's Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Say No Evil, but the last one is......... Screw No Evil?That's one of my rider friends and his little daughter... cute eh?Kim, hope I didn't get her name wrong...Jap got sprayed with the party strings thing...Maz...Sanny's birthday, the last picture is the drink that all regulars will get on their birthdays, that's Wrench's tradition...Lawrence and Shelly...Tiff...I had no idea what Nad and Idah were yakking about...Some of the boys...Emily got fragged by them "string-guns"...Think my friend shouldn't do that when she looking, she might get the wrong idea...Then the boys started this shots thing, I admit, I'm no good with shots, and someone was holding my camera...Emily...Maz...Aww......Sanny, Emily and John...Wilson and Matt...That's Chris and his Logitech camera, with an iI-dunno-what memory card...Shelly...Sanny, the helmet, with a note stuck to it...Matt and Seb...And someone won a hamper, some lucky draw thing...Yes, these 2 are hoping back and forth between Wrench and the karaoke pub opposite, as usual...Maz again, now that's Sexyback...Maz and John...Janise and her fan-boys, from the karaoke pub opposite. They looked like they were in love......Anyway, the party was good and it went on till a lot later. I've uploaded most of the pictures onto Matt's Multiply site, go look it.Happy New Year to all. Desktop Work...... Today is the first time I fix a desktop at Wrench...The new iMac, yes, the Intel ones, and I was sorting it out at Wrench, note that it's still daylight.Shelly.Let's get ready for Wrench's NYE party. Christmas Pictures, At Last... Christmas Eve, 2006, at Wrench. Still early so not that many people yet...Sigh...... the damn weather was still a bit wet, but things are looking good, tiki lamps and all......Anyway, as for the following pictures, I'll be writing nothing much for most of 'em. Y'all probably know who's who......Jan and her model, Trillia. I took this picture at the karaoke pub opposite Wrench. They were jumping bars, between Wrench and the karaoike opposite.Joshua lost......Emily showed up, which was a surprise...Lawrence seemed really hungry...The gift exchange bit for the VIPs and the super regulars. Here I was trying to figure out what did I get. And the picture was taken by somebody else's Nokia.Tiffany...Guess who, heh......Sanny looked like he was singing and Lawrence looked shock.......Jan, and her model at that time, Trillia.I really don't know if Jan's really happy or half drunk, but it's all good when she's having fun...............Anyway, I think I've created an account with Multiply and stick all the pictures there. 'Cause not all of the pictures taken that night are posted here. I've posted a lot more picture on Matt's Multiply account, go look-it......Next up, New Year's Eve at Wrench, get ready...... The Bloody Rain It's been pissing all day, I'm all suited up in my rain gear. So, bring it on......Or so it seemed. I was fully geared for the damn rain, but when I rode out into the pissing rain. I felt water sipping in. Then I remembered, there are 4 ventilation holes on each leg of the pants, near the crotch area. That makes 8, altogether. The heavier the rain, the more water get in, ride faster, more water will be pushed in faster.I reached my destination, and I looked ridiculous, it looked almost exactly like I just pissed in me pants.Tsk............ Random Pictures The processor in a PowerMac G4 Sawtooth.This was from the chinese coffeeshop, the one opposite this Boozy Pub, at the back where Wrench is, and this dinner cost $13.40!!! For fuck sake, I was totally ripped off!!! 1 鱼片汤 (fish soup), a plate of kailan and 1 rice. This last day when Matt's left forearm is clean. And right after that, new ink.The 12" PowerBook which got a 1.25GB RAM and 120GB hard drive upgrade, and it's completely dead battery.The Koi Pond in the house of the 12" PowerBook's owner.Maggie giving Andrew a ride...Fat cat at the coffeeshop outside the driving centre in Ubi.Ewan's RMX250, got the headlight unit stolen in Hougang recently. That explains the Honda's headlight mounted. Looked damn stupid, but nobody's got a choice. Hope the guy who stole it gets run over by a truck.A customer's sister's Macmini, everything was working perfectly, even though she was using Sim Lim keyboard and mouse. Then one update later, nothing works anymore. She asked me to check, I plugged in all Apple parts, and everything was fine. Told her to simply get an Apple keyboard when I returned in to her, all's fine after that. Wrenched Christmas. As for the people who know me long enough, they know that I dislike Christmas, much to the point that I almost hate Christmas. But since there's a party, let's just have fun. Remember Tsunami... Show some support, go play:Bring your own booze if you wanna get wasted.Have fun... 2 Days at the BBTz Jap gave this to me then it's 2 days at the show. It's nice though, and even with the SITEX going on just in the next Expo hall, the crowd was still alright. 2 days of drinking shit loads, right from the middle of the day, till the end of it, both days.The following pictures are from the free for all area. Although there're a lot more things to see, I couldn't really be bothered to go walking around everywhere to see everything else actually...These are from the Drift guys...See, it says Malaysia, and Malaysia has been doing great in terms of support for motorsports. If you want a banner like that for Singapore, simple, just replace "Professional" with "On-Your-Own" and "Malaysia" with "Carpark" and there, you've got a drift series banner for Singapore.The same Nissan 350Z from the motorshow that just happened recently at Suntec City.This little car belongs to Richard, a friend of mine, cute eh?Inside the area where there's an age restriction. 18 and above only, but then again, there were nothing inside that has that requirement, except for the tattoos.This tattoo wasn't completed yet and it's getting it's continuation done at the show. This was on Saturday.I love the work on this car, on both the exterior and interior. The exterior was done mainly, if not all, using stickers.This one was air-brushed. This sakura prints are all paint, not stickers. This one wins my vote, if any.Although I love iPods, I'm sorry but I've gotta say this car looks stupid.This was also done on Saturday, but in the later part of it also a continuation,. The dragon looks gorgeous.Great Looking Nissan Sylsia S15.In my point of view, this girl, is the queen of the entire show. I can't seem to spot anyone looking better than she is. This same girl is also one of the Toyota girl at the previous motorshow.The gorgeous girl's colleague.Then on the last day of the show, there was a Cosplay type of contest. I think everyone looked like crap.This is the presenter for the costume show, and she is the best looking one on the stage. The rest of them, well, if I couldn't be bothered to take any of their pictures, you should get the picture. Trust me, after looking at all those cosplay contest, those that appeared on the stage are just plain lame.Continuation of tiger strips on Sunday...Jap's friend, and her tag says 'Press'.This is the show that got the biggest crowd, the Bikini contest or something. The petite chick with the 'green' dot was the second runner up. The stick with the 'blue' dot was the first runner up and the one with 'red' dot was the winner. She's also the only one running around asking everyone to vote for her, tsk tsk tsk...... no wonder she won. I voted for someone else.Polka dots on both her dress and shoes, tsk tsk tsk...... everything just looked wrong, she might as well do the same for her bag...That Jap, Joe and Simone...This was done by Simone, totally. I think it rocks, plus the little car is a Suzuki, that made everything even better.Then there's a last show, some Pimp-My-Ride-ish contest, called Duke Affair or some shit like that. The funny thing is, all the contestants are wearing the same uniform. I don't know, but are they all the same gang? An inter-company contest? I don't know, but seeing the same bunch of people onstage winning?And the prettiest chick was their model, oh well...Here she is, the queen of the entire show. Maybe Ive got a crush now, heh...........'Nuff said...... Tarots and Wakeboard Riding... You are The EmperorStability, power, protection, realization; a great person.The Emperor is the great authority figure of the Tarot, so it represents fathers, father-figures and employers. There is a lot of aggression and violence too.The Emperor naturally follows the Empress. Like an infant, he is filled with enthuiasm, energy, aggression. He is direct, guileless and all too often irresistible. Unfortunately, like a baby he can also be a tyrant. Impatient, demanding, controlling. In the best of circumstances, he signifies the leader that everyone wants to follow, sitting on a throne that indicates the solid foundation of an Empire he created, loves and rules with intelligence and enthusiasm. But that throne can also be a trap, a responsibility that has the Emperor feeling restless, bored and discontent.----------------------------Well, I saw this tarot thing at the Terse's blog and I wanted to test it out for myself. So, I ended up being The Emperor. Try it out and see what's yours.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I know this entry is way overdue. But I was a bit busy...Anyway, these are the pictures taken by someone else with my camera. This is Day 1 of the Wakeboard Tour...The following are from Day 2, all pictures courtesy of The Terse, and only 2 from me......Jap...This rider ate it, guess she spun too low. What I know is, hitting the drink at speed is pretty much the same as hitting the pavement.Maz...One of the Foster girls...These 2 should be the same person...One of the Japanese pro riders...Suntan oil, anyone?Another one of the Japanese pro riders...Sanny...The Foster girls...Some kid, cute eh?Yet another one of the Japanese pro riders... she's some got arms there.This one's gonna hurt her...Beer......The prettier Foster girl... says me...Nice one... I don't know why are there so many pictures of this rider, but he rides good, so who cares...Ok, we got a little bored so we started making fun of people...This is the guy that got everyone running to the beach when he was riding....Jap...The best ink I've seen on a girl for the entire day...There are actually loads more pictures, I just didn't put them up in here. Think these shall suffice.'Nuff said... The Beginning of The End? Reports on a new security flaw found in OSX.There is a flaw in the checking of disk images, so that a maliciously crafted .dmg file can cause a kernal panic on your Mac, possibly allowing for arbitrary code execution. The problem is that Safari is set to automatically open "safe" files after downloading them, and that means that clicking on a link that triggers the download of a malicious .dmg file will crash your machine.The best solution is to deactivate Safari's "Open 'safe' files after downloading" option (that's in Safari's Preferences, under General). And also, be careful before opening files that come from a dubious source.So there, all Mac users should know what to do and when to stop.Anyway, here's a little something for laughter...Have fun... Wakeboarding thing and Open Mics... This coming Saturday and Sunday......Go play, eye-candy and all...Erm....... Mike's birthday, but he got off good, we didn't really make him suffer...Anyway, Wrench started this jamming thing and it's been kinda fun, although I don't sing, a lot of people do get up there, croon some songs and have fun. The following pictures are taken over different days...There's Jap...Matt...Cheryl too...These are my friend Cheryl's computers, that's right, 'computers'. Her original 14" iBook was out off the picture but the bit are under the table. The one shown is her new 12" PowerBook. The PowerBook was in an exceptional condition and I was doing the hard drive swap at Wrench.'Nuff said.