Another Failed Chinese Product...

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Recently I have bought a decent pair of headphones purely for aesthetics values but I was rewarded with problems and defects from the start. Dang...Why are Chinese Made products so darn inferior I asked myself but in less than a nano second, I moved on without giving in to the slightest protest by the Chinese. Yeah straight death sentence without the possibility of a trial.

QC can only get that far but I'd guess it's the Chinese mentality that is plaguing the giant nation at an alarming rate. In fact I AM making a sweeping statement so if you aren't happy about it, than prove me wrong. But I can assure you that each time you prove me wrong I would probably find another 10 issues of the same reference. I myself being a Chinese would really really hope for the day when the Chinese from China can save their dying grace...at least for the sake of other Chinese who aren't born in China.

*sigh* it's gonna be a lengthy post and no doubt my mood would be soiled so I shall skip it altogether and enjoy the Vocal Trance along with my Made in Japan Audio Techinas.

Fragments of Time - Cerebral Constitution

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Pardon the poetic rants of the title which is simply a more subtle way of misplacing my much needed sarcasm. Alrite that aside...I shall divulge for the very first time my mental constitution while I race against time day in and day out. You see my job in Japan is hmmm...to say it's simple would be a serious understatement. I really do not know why a Degree is needed to secure such a position when all I do daily is not much of a difference from some school drop out working at Mac except the fact that I do in fact make tweeny meany more pennies.

Well, all that idling time had got me rusted up and I craved for challenges but yet I am unwilling to leave my comfortable No Fly Zone. So with a justifiable amount of inflows to finance my 'extravagant' lifestyle and yet leave me with plenty of "Go-Make-Yrself-Useful" time on my hand...I had to conceive something before I more precious youth is wasted.

24 hours a day less of the misc. feast, crap, and sleep cycle, further taking away the redudant "stoning" time in between cleaning up and brushing my teeth, I have realised that the time that I actually spent on productive work is inproportionately skewed as compared to the time I spent on entertainment. Hours of PSP, Lost series, music and movie downloads have sunk me deeper in to the wells of procrastination and I contemplate so much I am almost bitching about everything else except myself.

A little shook of my head, a little whack that left 5 stitches and ounces of blood spilled later, I have woken up. A single spark have triggered a massive defragmentation of my brain. Time is broken up into fragments so that I can manage and my visions have become somewhat clearer but still murky and unrefined at the edges. Deeper to my understanding that if there is a way to reap in external funding, the only way to rake in exponential figures is to incorporate an equivalent amount of risk.

Beyond my wildest imagination, against my own believe, I have betrayed myself. Once I was only confident in making my move only if I am certain. But now, I choose to take leap of faiths and that had "opened" my senses to redefine my methods. The methods of time versus money. Training I am right now but rolling in SGD13,000 in a couple of days to a week is not impossible although sometimes, that figure seems to have a weird negative sign in front. It not a matter of luck, it's about patience, consistency and obedience. When you have a grasp of the technical fundamentals, it's simply the discipline you have to abide to that will get you far.

Alrite the defragmentation is nearing 97% now and I am going to empty the recycle bin in my head next. Hmmm it sure feels good to be free...

Coincidence or simply ignorance...

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Not too long ago, just a day after Christmas...the raging nature brought the entire human race to a standstill where more than tens of thousands were summoned to God's santuary for a private function I presumed. That fateful day brought many to their knees which also demostrated the bonds between the human race across races, borders and religions. When nature harvest people, the forces beyond our control cannot be attributed or faulted but when terrorists strikes, fingers start pointing and bullets start flying and in the end, more lives are lost.

But since we, the human race likes to attribute consequences to causes so that we can make sanity out of our perception and to give meaning to the order of different mediums...it is only natural to attribute such misforgivings to a single cause or causes when tragedy strikes. But a little point to ponder here is that you can blame and find fault to a cell or terrorists in general, nature claims more lives in a single tragedy than any other man made disaster.

So it comes to a point where people begin to question whether the relationship between religion, karma and disasters are related. Well I may not be the first one to think like this but when the pictures and news of how the peaceful and harmless buddhist monks of Myanmar were brutally killed by the military junta, the following weeks of news were the grisly body counts in the wake of the raging nature. Coincidence you might say but it's definitely more than meets the eye. Ok let's presumed it's an isolated incidence with no connections to what so ever and maybe Mr Karma didn't "zero"ed the scythe of death which explains why the innocence lost of lives.

And then the Tibetans monks were slaughtered by the Chinese government right before the most prestigious sports event with a history of some 3000 years. Ok once again Mr Karma shows up uninvited and glamourously whisked away a frightening amount of innocent children. Well maybe there is the need or a strong instinct to attribute these horrific tragedies to a cause or causes but I say it's definitely not a coincidence. It's funny how I told mum over skype that the killings of the monks might have some relationship to these events and she simply brushed it off as "if you believe it then it's probably true but if you don't then maybe it's just coincidence.".

Alrite my imagination running wild but dear Miss Sharon Stone came up and said the exact things I said. My my another coincidence you might say but how come striking lottery isn't all that smooth. Whatever the case may be, now it seems like more SG bloggers are talking about this issue. I cannot say the same and I simply cannot fathom the what the others are thinking when they made the speech or scribbled these weird incidents but all I can say is that God, be it an apparition or a the real deal works in ways we cannot explain. Signs are all over the place to be interpreted differently by different people with different perceptions.

The China Olympics will be another event to look for significance signs.

Live and let live.

The Missing Link

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Japan as everyone knows is a country which uniquely sets itself apart from all other Asian countries. The histories, cultures, food, anime, cars, etc...well literally you get the point don't you? Afterall, the Samurai regime did shut out external influences to Japan for some 600 odd years until the Meiji Restoration. This very well preserved the country and her priceless history.

Can't seem to find a little Japan town in San Franz or in Toronto, oh wait...how about in Milan or Amsterdam? See the point...Chinatown are everywhere which shows how far our early forefathers have travelled which is obviously a good thing but that aside...the point I am trying to make here is that sometimes being all over the place is not as good as being in one location and be appreciated.

And so back to the main topic about how Japan is so special in it's own way. Now here comes the controversial part...Japan is basically like a subsidiary of the America. No I am not going into a political warfare but just stating my own opinions. Why do I say that...well from what I have known the Americans did set up the entire constitution of the Japanese cabinet after the war, much less contributed to the huge western influence on the Japanese folks. American alleys, streets, cars food, culture and practically in any aspects, here in Japan you cannot simply deny the existence of the American influence. It has been deeply rooted in the hearts of many Japanese especially the younger generations.

Sometimes to the extent that they do lose their own identities. Not being preachy, I myself was and am still a strong follower of the Japanese movement so I shall not shoot myself in the foot if I condemn the Japanese. Luckily for me, it's pretty personal less a few crazy renegades like me in SG. Here in Japan the scale is way beyond my measuring scale...it's almost phenomenal. But look at it in both the macro and nano details and you will probably understand why.

Almost all kids are exposed to textbooks, periodicals and mediums that surround 90% American and 10% the rest of the world. American English are taught to be the "supposedly" correct English and other deviations of English are not correct. American vocabulary are isolated from British vocabs and faults are penalised if British vocabs are used. Well not all the schools are like this but in particular, a rather high percentage of the public schools are. So given that the "forced" exposure to the Americans are so great, most Japanese kids slowly lose the interest in other less prominent countries. Take Singapore for example...for the rural part of Japan, most will think that Singapore is like Vietnam or Indonesia which portrays a bad image. Since most Japanese do not travel outta the country, the truth will always be out there.

So for people like me who come from the "outside" world to more rural parts of Japan, I bring with me the pride and wealth of information about my country. Nah...I simply do not see myself as some noble avant garde ambassador or something but rather I am just doing my part to let the Japanese know about other amazing countries that are the size of peas, negligible natural resources but ranked among the 15th richest countries in the world while I am doing my stint here in Japan.

Argh...to much straying! The whole idea of this post wasn't meant to be like this! I am delighted this morning as the news on Channel News Asia webbie got me grinning from ear to ear. Mr Obama, as the world less the blind American folks see it, being the most suitable candidate fot the next President have won the Democrats' sacred seat to vie with McCain. This ought to the the expected outcome some countless months ago as seen and by many...why put on the Broadway Obama Vs Clinton play. As if the movie industries are lacking blockbusters like Ironman and Indy. Along the same line here, my heartfelt condolences goes to the burnt Universal Studios' treasuries like original props of Jaws.

Ok ok...I am happy that Obama has won and he of all people will lead the next big immediate impact on Japan that is, IF he gets the throne in the White House. Go Mr Obama...

日本語の勉強について

- Never Stop Dreaming -

今まで、僕は最後の日本語クラスに行って以来２年前でした。しかしこちで毎日日本語の会話をよく聞いたけど、教科書はほとんど使わないだ。僕は自分の日本語レベルアープが欲しいのために、日本語能力試験２級の本を買った。最初から僕はとても熱心な勉強するけど、新しいなPSPを買ったら段々勉強しないだと思う。

最近ね僕は色々なことが日本語で話したいだ。それから早く日本語のレベルアープが欲しいだ。日本語能力試験２級の本ですばらしい言葉が入って勉強は楽しいだ。実はね似ている語が多いんけど、間違いも多いんだ。しかし僕は時々難しいって「ありえないはありえない」ということをよく覚えた。だって、やればやるほどおぼえられるよね。

僕は頑張る、シンガポールの皆さんはどう？日本語のクラスも行く？とにかく自分は何を探している前にあきらめないで。これはちょっと日本語の質問があるです。じゃできれば、下の部分をつつけてください。正しい答えはないです。

「君さえいれば...」

僕の答えは「君さえいれば僕は完全しているです。」

Resurrected 2000 CW

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Having lost my 3 year old MADE IN JAPAN PSP and my beloved headphones to some jerk which I will never know his face, I can only put some blind faith to Master Karma to deliver him a punishment worst than death, leprosy would be ideal.

Living thru some troubled times here, my strength have indeed taken a beating but it has not wavered. I am still going strong and my dreams are still pretty much keeping me alive.

Years ago, the abscence of colors are my prefered choice of association as it simply blends and pollenate mystery. Overtime, I have taken a rather deep interest in purity and simplicity which presumably started when the 1st white PSP was added to my cause. Then the Macbook, the seasons and the snow came to extend that affection further.

Being robbed against my will of my precious form of entertainment, LOST the series seems to be a good substitute until the ISOs and CSOs start creeping into my dreams. I knew I had to resurrect it, the white PSP. But no it will never be the same because I had held it, kissed it and nurtured it for almost 3 years with tender loving care and not a scratch or chip because it has never been fallen. Encased in Logitech Polycarbonate case, decorated with intricate Tokidoki designs and polished with a microfibre cloth, it was my favorite toy since my Minidisc Player.

So for the sake of "The Resurrection" and despite my harsh verbal desocration of MADE IN CHINA (MIC) stuffs, my constant propaganda and blasphemy, I am forced to walk the humble route of shame. My face sunk deep in my hands, my head held low in disgust and my ego crumbled to nano pieces, I settled for a MIC PSP and Ipod TOUCH.

Not something that I can be proud of and not something that I would want to promote, I simply have absolutely ZERO faith in Chinese products. The lingering thought of these gadgets failing are so regular it has almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy if that day of the LAST JUDGEMENT should ever come.

2 full weeks of research to "custom firmware" my PSP had proven that I have not lost the blazing trail of Dark Alex's wonders. From the initial research, to the memory card purchase to the final PSP purchase, I have spent a considerate amount of effort. Even when checking the physical PSP before purchase, a full 10 minutes was expanded to magnify every detail, lines and screws to uncover any flaws.

Finally, the white glossy PSP 2000 Ceramic White (CW) woke up to continue the legacy of the Great PSP 1000 CW. Tweaked as I did, the minutes and hours simpled ticked away but there is still no progress to defy SONY's Official 3.90 firmware. Holding on to the legacy, I perserved and researched and researched. My efforts eventually paid off when the answer came in a string of DOS prompts - "mspformat" and "msinst F msipl.bin".

These were the necessary commands to de-partition and format the memory stick and to write the code so that the PSP will be able to boot externally with the help of the recovery aka "PANDORA" battery. As the percentage rolls steadily, the "Complete" status eventually appeared in the MS-DOS command box and I knew this was it. Memory stick, "checked!", Pandora, "checked!" and "VIOLA!". The options screen appeared and an "X" button was entered where the flashing and installation of the scripts scrolled in white texts on the PSP's screen.

Welcome to 3.71 M33-2 which was later updated to 3.80 M33-5. Now the new legend begins...

Point Break 2

- Never Stop Dreaming -

I can't believe my eyes when I saw that startling news sometime ago. Now I can finally put those ney sayers to rest. Point Break 2, the sequel to the original iconic movie that gained an instant cult following will be produced by a Singapore company. Not much is revealed as we speak but the original one was possibly the best ever surfing movie written by Peter Iliff. So I am pretty surprised that he actually decided to reprise the master piece with a part 2 as most sequels sucks.

The original Point Break was one film that locked in a huge pop culture success that thrived for many years. Ever since then there were not even a single surfing movie that came close. 1991, more than 15 years ago...I could still recall the scenes of the final journey where Keanu watches Bodhi sets out to ride the biggest waves ever.

Yeap indeed I am proud that the little island where I was born is constantly spinning crazy tales that still continues to drop jaws internationally. The Integrated Resorts, The F1 races, the first A380 monster to arrive in Narita Airport and now Point Break 2. *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* Way to go SG...I have to salute you on these.

Ok ok, aside the celebrations and international recognition, I have come to ponder over some uncertainties to quench my pessimistic nature.

1. With regards to the recent tragedies brought by Tsunamis, what impact or significances does surfing movies have?

2. Of all the known surfing spots, where exactly does Singapore fit in?

3. Why the 15 year break before a sequel?

4. Of all the production companies, how did the SG one secure it?

Well these are my 2 cents worth of thoughts so far but of the 4 I guess the one that deserves the most brain damage would have to be no. 2. How was Singapore even consider for a SURFING MOVIE where all I see are the impressive SGreans' ability to surf the internet. A vibrant and advanced country where paper chasers are the common norm, minorities like our friends, neighbours and colleagues who chose to skim board and pursue other talents are often frown upon...my my my I seriously see a parody of disparity here but hey, that's just my own perception.

ALrite conflicting interests aside, the bottomline is that I would be anticipating the upcoming Point Break 2 with an open mind. Thumbs up for SG on this one though.