i don't understand..

Couple of days back, my dad received a letter from AIA Insurance saying that the
premiums for one of his policies had been cut by a whopping 15%! Given his age, it really
isn't going to be easy for him to get another policy and better premium coverage.
Just yesterday, my mum asked me sign to upgrade my existing hospitalization plan.
Well, I am not a believer of insurance. Period.
As such, I was very hesistant to put my signature on the document (I am not the one paying).
Firstly, I read through the policy benefits but found myself unclear of the terms.
I turned to my mum, who was so eager that I signed, for clarification but she couldn't help.
Indeed, insurance has its merits.
But how do you expect me to sign for something I do not understand?
Do I really need those merits and, is the cost and compensation terms justifiable?
Given the commonly ignored clause "Premiums are non-guaranteed", aren't you worried?
Do you really know what are your entitlements given you are in an dire situation?
Do you have a black and white documentation so as to be protected by the law?
Some people still do not learn from the recent "Mini-bond" Saga.
Also, on previous occasions, our insurance claims were not paid in full nor rejected.
By doing some simple math, you can understand that being disciplined to store fixed
amounts of money away periodically in the bank beats buying an insurance policy.
This is also why I lost confidence in this thingy called insurance.
If you do not make the effort to protect yourself, no one will.

slack is good, but work is better..

It has been almost a week since I last thought of work during my internship.
Since last Monday, I have been nua (slack)-ing at home accomplishing nothing great.
Watching TV, surfing net, streaming anime, facebook, listening to songs, sleep, eat.
I know of many people who love this kind of lifestyle.
Fortunately, I am not a fan anymore.
I am beginning to detest the tiredness from during nothing.
And, having to think of what to do next. If not, doing the same old things as yesterday.
My life has suddenly transcended from being full of milestones to one filled without purpose.
Perhaps this 1 week break is too long for me. Or, I have been working for too long.
Anyways, I am still glad I extended my internship. No regrets.
I am looking forward to the start of the new semester. I know it will a treacherous journey.
Since it will come eventually, why not face it asap..

Wii-ing down Angela's place..

It was Saturday.
No need to go down to the library to study for my MCTS exam.
No need to write my 8000+ word internship report.
No need to wake up early for whatever reasons.
I went to bed at 3.30AM but found myself wide awake at 9AM. What can I say.
Can someone teach me how to turn off my biological clock?!
Uploaded pictures to my web album. Watched Bleach. Idled. Finally, it is 1PM.
Met up with Lynn, KU, Angela at Kiddy Palace before heading to Old Town for brunch.
The food looked great, but mine certainly did not taste as heavenly as I was told.
And their signature white coffee was no match for my favourite Kopi-O gao from Toastbox.

Bought tidbits and fruits. Met up with Han Ying and Jiali. Although it was only one
stop away, we took a bus to Angela's place because Lynn's kid, Hao Hao, was fast asleep.
Played Wii the whole time, kind of almost hogging to the controller. Hehe..
Too fun, too unbearable to put that controller down. So it went on from 2+PM till dinner time.
Angela's family prepared a spread. So much food that it seemed as if it was Chinese New Year!
The cereal prawn's were huge but great! Loved it the most! Had about 5 pieces of it. Haha..
Right after dinner, Fuman and I continued Wii-ing again. Too addictive I agree.

Till about 9+PM, Jiali left. She was looking pretty sick. Down with a headache I believe.
Take care, girl. You seemed quiet that I almost missed your playfulness. =p
Wii-ed until about 11+PM when I knew I had to stop. My right arm felt like dislocating!!
Too much bowling. Too much tennis. Too much volleyball. Too much karting.
So, I stopped playing and went into the room and chatted with the girls.
Now I know, I wasn't the only one who felt that "it was a mistake from the beginning".
If only I knew about that earlier, probably things might very well be different for us now.
After that, I carried on with Wii again!! This time with Han Ying and James too.
Played on until about 2AM before deciding to leave Angela's place.
OMG, almost 9 hours of Wii-ing in one day. That's a record for me! LOL..
Thanks Angela and family for your hospitality!!


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Sleeping early, because I have a high tea session tomorrow!!! Food, oh yeah!!!

i survived 7 months of internship..

My internship is officially over, which also means 7 full months have past!
I was constantly busy with stuff to do then that I feel time passes quickly. Really.
Today, I feel abit lost because I have nothing to do but idle.
Probably also because I missed the fun during the past 3 days. Every day was great.

Had lunch with Micheal Choy on Thursday. Friday was his birthday, but unfortunately,
I can't take time off to celebrate for him. Gave him a treat, but I know that is not enough.
Happy Birthday Mike! Hey, can't have lunch with you guys anymore..

Friday was my last day, I tried to complete as much as I could and eventually
had my lunch only at about 2.30pm! That night, there was a critical deployment
for the work I had been working on for the past few months. Although I can't witness
my project go live fully in the servers, but at least I could participate in deploying it.
Anyways, I know my efforts will be paid off and appreciated.
"It is a beautiful architecture". And I agree!
Left Production room at 7pm. Headed to 6th floor to take some farewell pictures
with my nice colleagues and bosses. You guys will always be remembered. :)
Then, I rushed down to OCBC Recreation Club @ Raffles Place for the Farewell Party
organized specially for interns. I am jealous! This event was much better than mine!
Nonetheless, had my last chat up with Lok Pin and Kevin Yeo. And not forgettting the
photo taking sessions with my Tampines lunch kakis. There was just so much of fun!


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After the party, I met up with my dear friends for a fish spa session! LOL..
The fishes were huge! The fishes rushed over the moment I stuck my legs into the
water. The sensation was SO ticklish that I had to periodly take my leg off the water.
The persistent suckers clug onto my legs even after my legs were out of the water. OMG..
But after some 10 minutes of so, I got used to it and found myself enjoying the "service".
The only one thing I disliked was the fishy stench that remained after I washed my legs. Eww...
I took a video of my virgin fish spa experience. Catch it on my Facebook!

We had planned for prawning at the nearby prawn ponds. But looking at the crowd, and
the bored faces of the ladies there, we eventually decided not to join the crowd. So, we
headed to Holland Village for supper. That time, it was almost 1pm already. Luckily,
Swenson's was still opened. Ordered finger food and ice-cream. I was too greedy. I ordered
a brownie sundae, when there was already so much to go around. Ah, it doesn't matter.
By about 2pm, we were all exhausted and had no plans in mind, so we headed home.
Took a cab back with Melody. Ok, I was alittle too un-gentlemanly when I directed the cabbie.
I instructed the cabbie to first go to my place before Melody's! Thankfully, I realized it quickly.
Chatted up with Melody in the cab, and also in Facebook.
Anyways, we were both waiting for our hair to dry. Can't use the dryer at that hour la.
The next day, Angela knew about the cab thingy and got alittle "jealous". Hahaha..
Cos whenever we shared a cab back, I was always the one who first got off!!
Oops, I know what to do next time! I know it's useless to defend for myself now...


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summing up my HSPA+ mobile broadband experience..

So what's my take on the upcoming Starhub's HSPA+ mobile broadband service?

It has been really convenient using the service, and the installation was a breeze.
Generally, it was a pleasant experience for me. The speeds were fast enough to perform tasks
like streaming and downloading. Definitely, the quickest mobile broadband service that money can buy.
I had done some benchmarking of the speeds and posted them in my previous posts, so go check them out.

I have been using the service while traveling on the train from the West to Eastern Singapore,
and the coverage has been generally good. However, in Jurong West, the coverage was unsatisfactory.
I used the mobile broadband service to surf websites, download stuff, check email, facebook,
youtube, and much more. The internet experience is no different like from home, and now,
with the comfort of doing them anywhere at your convenience!

starry starry night..

I was long gone. I know. But I am back now, and will be.
Next week is my last week for my internship! After a good 7 months!
Yeah freedom returns at last. I would like to enjoy myself thoroughly before
heading back to school on 10th August. Maybe Indonesia, or some destination nearby??
Air fares are dirt cheap now man!! Now's the best time to fly!!
Long working hours have made me understand the happiness from just doing nothing,
and taking things at my stride, and relaxing over good food, and going places.
Anyways, I know very clearly how much I have neglected my family and friends during this time.

The past weeks was pretty busy for me. Almost burned out.
Also had to return to school on numerous occasions for my FYP project discussions.
Then I had to drop by Ripplevox to return the HSPA+ dongle, speaking of which, you guys still
have not posted to me my movie tickets and other goodies?! Come on..

Pre-birthday celebration for Mum..

My mum's birthday is round the corner, and since we had dining coupons to
O'Learys Sports Bar & Grill, we headed there for a simple dinner.
The restaurant was located within the Singapore Flyer complex, and so happened,
today was the Preview Day for this year's National Day celebration. Needless to say,
there are loads of people and barriers all around, which forced to walk further than we liked.
We were greeted by the marching contingent from the SAF, as well as parachutes! Great.
We then headed for our food, and while waiting, we took pictures of the decor of the place.
It was nicely done up and bore the sports theme. However, it really isn't attractive enough to
make me want to return there again for any reason. And partly, it was due to the price of the food.
Night came pretty quickly. The surroundings at the Singapore Flyer changed completely.
The lightings of the outdoors, restaurants, and the backdrop of tall buildings at Raffles Place,
and most importantly, the colourful lights that illuminated the Singapore Flyer. Beauty!
The finale of the celebration ended with fireworks!! Well, from the onging National Day preview.
Although the celebration was simple, it was eventful and we really bonded.
Ashamed, I spent less time with my family ever since my (endless) overtime run began..


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i am now a MCTS!!

I took my Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) exam today and I PASSED!!
Hooah!!! Damn surprised, damn happy now. Honestly, it was totally unexpected.
Just yesterday, I felt I was going to fail the exam because there was just so much
material to cover for the exam, and there are still so many MCQs I couldn't answer to.
My dedication to burn my weekdays over the past 2 months to study for this exam had paid off.
The MCTS 70-431 exam (MS SQL Server 2005) has 2 sections - MCQ and Simulation questions.
Each section had a total of 1000 marks, of which you need at least 700 in both to pass.
I performed well. My MCQs scored 859, while the latter scored 880. Both well above the mark!
This was only the report sheet. The real certificate will come shortly, and I read that it was ugly.
Whatever. It will definitely prove useful to me in future when I look for my first job.
That's all that matters. Job well done!

benchmarking the speed of HSPA+ network..

Here I am, back and fresh from two consecutive nights of overtime till midnight.
That explains why I have not been posting new test results of Starhub's HSPA+ connection.
Anyways, I have performed some preliminary tests at my residence - Western Singapore.
I mentioned previously that I am unable to establish any HSPA+ broadband network,
but today, I finally can connect to the network but the signal is weak. Maximum 2 of 5 bars.
My review of Starhub's HSPA+ broadband service includes testing out the actual download
and upload speeds as a usr of the service. For my download tests, I have even tried to
take timings for downloading from both local and overseas server hosts.
I have reached the advertised maximum speed of 21Mbps (or 2.625MBps) but lasted only
briefly before collapsing. You can see this from the numerous speed charts in my screenshots.

I point worthy of mention is the speed counter shown in the control screen. The speeds you see
there are completely unrealiable! For my tests, I basically want to find out the actual average
speeds on the mobile broadbad service. I used both the windows task manager, as well as,
the browser's download manager to monitor the transmission speeds and time taken.
My tests do not require statistics to be 100% accruate. Anyways, there are so many external
factors around me that are beyond my control to accurately test out the true transmission rate.

Speaking of which, do not be fooled by the numbers you see in advertised.
Since the speeds are usually in Mbps, you must always convert that speed to be in terms of
MBps by dividing that number by 8. This is the speed unit you see in internet browsers!

Perhaps due to the weak signal in my area, it affects the tranmission speeds in my tests.
Download speeds are on average on 70+MBps, while upload speeds average at a mere 11+MBps.
These speeds pale out when compared to the speed of my MaxOnline Premium connection.
But this is expected, despite being touted to be of a higher speed.
A wireless connection is always vulnerable to interference, especially from other wireless
networks, buildings and structures, number of concurrent mobile users and distance from the
nearest transmission radio tower. The interference is evident from the wild
fluctuation of the transimission speed you see in the my benchmarking screenshots.
The best speed is when you are in the open!

With a good 70+MBps, you are almost guaranteed a reasonable internet experience, and
best of all, internet on the go! Even in the toilet, it's your best friend man! Haha..
The one thing you won't enjoy is when you use it to play online games.
The point is, you will also need to lug around your laptop or netbook to enjoy this service.


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On the whole, I find that the transmission speeds are really too slow for me.
But perhaps that is because of the weak HSPA+ signal that is causing the sluggish-ness.
I will test out the connection speeds across different parts of Singapore before I can make
a better conclusion of the broadband speeds. Until then!

figuring out the HSPA+ dongle..

Hi guys, here I am with my HSPA+ modem and SIM card, courtesy of RippleVox. =)
I will doing a series of reviews, and of course the good and bad experiences I encounter
when testing this gadget and more importantly, the mobile braodband service from Starhub.
Ok, I want to be as honest as I can. If not, why bother about having a pilot test?!

My dongle package came only with the modem and a user manual, nothing else.
Oh, the USB port can be retracted into the body of the device. Nifty!
In case you are wondering about the device drivers, it is already stored in the ROM.
Just plug the device into a USB port, and it will greet you with the install the setup screen.
Unfortunately, the device currently will not work on the Linux OS since the manufacturer
did not embed drivers for use on open-source environments. There's only .EXE applications.
This may be disadvantageous to the small group of netbook users running on Linux environment.

Notice the left-most green circle at the taskbar? It is the control screen for the modem.
You can view information about the device, the connection, network statisitics. In addition,
you can view all of your phonebook contacts and SMSes stored on the SIM card. Cool!

On the actual usage on the broadband service. I am surprised to find out the HSPA+
network service is quite poor in my residential area - western Singapore.
I am unable to surf the internet at all. I am getting timeout errors!
This is evident from the signal bar on the control screen.
It also switches continuously from HSPA+ to the WCDMA network, and back.
From what I know, the WCDMA transfers at less than 3Mbps, compared to 21Mbps on HSPA+!
I guess as of now, the HSPA+ infrastructure has not been fully implemented throughout Singapore.

Nonetheless, I will continue my tests using my laptop as I commute on the train.
Fortunately, and unfortunately, and travel daily from the western to the eastern areas.
This should be a good and wide enough test bed to try out the availability of the HSPA+ service.
Oh, one last thing, after half an hour of using the modem, it felt pretty hot!
As a user, I will be worried if the heat would damage the modem.


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