Thinking about my aircon makes me feel sad. Mr. Electric Fan is back in my room again. I thought it was repaired already but it seems to only want to work when it feels like it.
I got my mother to help tend to the technicians while I am at work (can't wait for the weekends anymore or I'll go crazy). They can't seem to figure out the problem and would suggest ridiculous ideas like replacing the whole thing, which almosts entails to renovating my room. Every trip they make is an easy $50-$80 for servicing some new-found 'problem' that does nothing to fix my aircon. And this is their 3rd trip already. I am beginning to feel it's one big con job. (I think I just made a pun; air-CON-man!)
No longer wishing to be their 'carrot head', I decided to hop online and get a different company to come check things out: http://www.coolserve.com/ . Once again, my mother tended to them while I was at work. She said they looked real professional when they dropped by with their uniforms and assortment of gadgets. After a thorough examination, they said that the gas may be leaking but they didn't want to start work on it and charge us when our aircon was still under the service guarantee of the previous air-(con)man. And they just left like that. My mother even offered to pay for their transport but they turned her down. They came and left empty-handed. No payment, no nothing. Just like that. And I felt that was pretty damn awesome.
As of now, my airconditioner still remains in a semi-broken state, though I think I am beginning to see a pattern. Whenever my brother is home and uses his aircon, my room would instantly become a sauna.
Anyway, I am trying really hard to put this behind me. It feels terrible to brood over my aircon every day for the past two weeks. Maybe I really should get used to a fan. I keep telling myself it's 'just an aircon' but I still feel distraught because my once perfect room is no longer perfect. It no longer has that 'everything is the way I want it' kinda homely feel to it whenever I come home from work.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Guitars and Nasty Little Robots
I went to check out the E-Life Gaming Challenge at Suntec on Saturday. I was accompanying Rhyfe because he wanted to participate in the Guitar Hero 3 qualifiers. First thing I realized was that there was a new underpass leading to Suntec. Something felt different, though; either I couldn't find the way to the old overhead bridge or it was really gone. Hmm.
I had a hard time finding the place which was actually one whole section on the 2nd level of Suntec with a bunch of IT stores. As for the event... Rhyfe was the only one who participated (??!!). I guess all the participants are spread out over a couple of weeks. He ended up having the set to himself since there was no one else. He happily practiced away since he didn't own the game/console (that may change if he has what it takes to place top 3 in this contest). I played a little, too. I hope the staff didn't think we were being hogs. Meh. I guess I should have come when the finals are held instead.
Anyway, it wasn't too bad. We hung around and watched the Halo 3 competition in the earlier part of the day. It was mostly one-sided matches, though.
I spent the rest of my weekend at home playing Viking: Battle for Asgard (which was pretty okay) and Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (link).
Yup, Penny Arcade; that webcomic. They have their own game now, available on the PC and costing a whopping $30++ on Xbox Live.
Most. Expensive. Downloadable. Game. Ever. And this is just the first episode of four in total. The price turned me off and I was a little disappointed after hearing that it was only a 6-hour long game. I don't really consider myself a big fan but I read Penny Arcade a whole lot. (Recognize that Prinny pic?)
I hated to give the game a miss so I gave in and purchased it. The game is an RPG with frantic battles and lots of Penny Arcade humour. You get to fight hobos, psychotic clowns (who show you the birdie a lot), killer mimes and... of course, those lovable Fruit F**ker robots with their hip-thrusting, fruit-humping antics.
I finished the game in two sittings on Sunday and now I am left wanting more. Dammit, bring on the next game already.
I had a hard time finding the place which was actually one whole section on the 2nd level of Suntec with a bunch of IT stores. As for the event... Rhyfe was the only one who participated (??!!). I guess all the participants are spread out over a couple of weeks. He ended up having the set to himself since there was no one else. He happily practiced away since he didn't own the game/console (that may change if he has what it takes to place top 3 in this contest). I played a little, too. I hope the staff didn't think we were being hogs. Meh. I guess I should have come when the finals are held instead.
Anyway, it wasn't too bad. We hung around and watched the Halo 3 competition in the earlier part of the day. It was mostly one-sided matches, though.
I spent the rest of my weekend at home playing Viking: Battle for Asgard (which was pretty okay) and Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (link).
Yup, Penny Arcade; that webcomic. They have their own game now, available on the PC and costing a whopping $30++ on Xbox Live.
Most. Expensive. Downloadable. Game. Ever. And this is just the first episode of four in total. The price turned me off and I was a little disappointed after hearing that it was only a 6-hour long game. I don't really consider myself a big fan but I read Penny Arcade a whole lot. (Recognize that Prinny pic?)
I hated to give the game a miss so I gave in and purchased it. The game is an RPG with frantic battles and lots of Penny Arcade humour. You get to fight hobos, psychotic clowns (who show you the birdie a lot), killer mimes and... of course, those lovable Fruit F**ker robots with their hip-thrusting, fruit-humping antics.
I finished the game in two sittings on Sunday and now I am left wanting more. Dammit, bring on the next game already.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I'm Melting!!!
Tuesday night was a real bitch. My air con was not working properly (again) and released a constant stream of warm air into the room. And it just got serviced for leaking water (again) last week. I have more or less resigned to the fate that my sucky air con is forever irrepairable and the only way to solve my problem would be to move out.
Back to crappy Tuesday night. It was so hot that I actually missed being at work which was wrong in every way (the day that work > home is the day the Earth implodes). The heat got to my head and actually made me forget what I was planning to do for the night. I ended up missing CSI on TV. I forgot to check out the sites that I visit daily. Couldn't even draft out a proper blog post (note: I am posting this from work). I did force myself to play my Xbox but it wasn't very fun when I was probably sweating as much as my in-game character, running around a vast island on foot in Viking: Battle for Asgard.
I opened my windows and had a little fan running but it was still hot. And the thing about open windows; they scare me. I live on the 8th floor but I keep thinking that some random projectile or stray animal is going to fly right in and hit me in the face. Maybe an airplane blows up in mid-air halfway across the world and the wind carries a chunk of its debris to Singapore and flings it right through my window (I got quite an imagination there).
I can go on to whine about not being able to call the air-con repair people myself because they get off work at the same time that I do, but never mind, I just feel overly disgusted that a perfectly fine day at home got wasted. Time to endure anothre 8 hours of work before I earn the right to go home again.
Back to crappy Tuesday night. It was so hot that I actually missed being at work which was wrong in every way (the day that work > home is the day the Earth implodes). The heat got to my head and actually made me forget what I was planning to do for the night. I ended up missing CSI on TV. I forgot to check out the sites that I visit daily. Couldn't even draft out a proper blog post (note: I am posting this from work). I did force myself to play my Xbox but it wasn't very fun when I was probably sweating as much as my in-game character, running around a vast island on foot in Viking: Battle for Asgard.
I opened my windows and had a little fan running but it was still hot. And the thing about open windows; they scare me. I live on the 8th floor but I keep thinking that some random projectile or stray animal is going to fly right in and hit me in the face. Maybe an airplane blows up in mid-air halfway across the world and the wind carries a chunk of its debris to Singapore and flings it right through my window (I got quite an imagination there).
I can go on to whine about not being able to call the air-con repair people myself because they get off work at the same time that I do, but never mind, I just feel overly disgusted that a perfectly fine day at home got wasted. Time to endure anothre 8 hours of work before I earn the right to go home again.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Saturday Night Movie Marathon
This weekend was pretty exciting for me as I had a sorta impromptu movie marathon.
On Saturday, I went to AMK Hub in the evening to watch Iron Man with Akira, Max, Kyo and Yonghao. I kept hearing good things about it so I knew I was in for a good time. I was quite surprised that the show was quite popular since Iron Man seemed pretty obscure when compared to mainstream names like Batman or Spiderman.
After Iron Man, we went for dinner and everyone was making their way home. I actually kept passing by FunZ to shop around because I was being indescive at buying something I want. haha. I ended up chatting with Michael & Yonghao and... I don't know how it happened but suddenly, we talked about catching the late-night show for Speed Racer. I was very reluctant because it would mean staying out real late and reaching home at 3 am. Oh well, Speed Racer was the next on my 'to watch' list and, since I am always complaining I hate staying home on weekends, I decided to give it a go. haha.
I did reach home at 3 am and, by the time I was through with my usual net-surfing routine, I went to bed at 6 am. At least there was the new McGriddles breakfast waiting for me when I got up. I love that.
Here are my little impressions for the two movies!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I want a Cheeseburger."
The story in Iron Man was pretty good. It touches on serious issues like war and the weapons-making industry. Robert Downey Jr. played the perfect Tony Stark! Heck, he even said he IS Tony Stark in a magazine interview. He is funny and has a lot of amusing one-liners. The Iron Monger was... a little boring for a super villain (I didn't even know 'it' had a name!) but I guess he was a much-needed key character to introduce backstory of the series.
The mention of SHIELD towards the end was a nice touch (Security Homeland... wha?). As we left the cinema, Akira pointed out that there was supposed to be a surprise after the end credits; Samuel L. Jackon appearing as Nick Fury and hinting at a future Avengers movie! Doh. Why do they like to trick viewers by putting such things after ten-minute long credit rolls. Hope there will be a video of it on Youtube or something.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Go, Speed Racer, Go!"
I got quite a pleasant surprise. I did not have high expectations for Speed Racer but I must say it was pretty good, too! I knew the movie was by the Wachowski Brothers but I did not expect it to remind me of the Matrix movies. haha.
The entire show had an eye-catching cartoonish/anime look with bright colours and somewhat absurd-yet-cool character designs. There were a number of memorable funny bits and they all made me laugh out loud. And the fighting scenes... wow, I thought stylish, eye-popping fight scenes belonged only in the Matrix trilogy. I am really a sucker for the over-the-top fight sequences. The plot may be pretty generic but I found Speed Racer to be a fun ride. Definitely worth checking out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh yes, both movies I watched were 2-hour movies! I am beginning to see a pattern here.
2-hour movies == good movies.
On the subject of movies, here's a first look at the upcoming ang mor Dragonball movie. Oh my god... I think that's Chow Yuen Fatt there.
On Saturday, I went to AMK Hub in the evening to watch Iron Man with Akira, Max, Kyo and Yonghao. I kept hearing good things about it so I knew I was in for a good time. I was quite surprised that the show was quite popular since Iron Man seemed pretty obscure when compared to mainstream names like Batman or Spiderman.
After Iron Man, we went for dinner and everyone was making their way home. I actually kept passing by FunZ to shop around because I was being indescive at buying something I want. haha. I ended up chatting with Michael & Yonghao and... I don't know how it happened but suddenly, we talked about catching the late-night show for Speed Racer. I was very reluctant because it would mean staying out real late and reaching home at 3 am. Oh well, Speed Racer was the next on my 'to watch' list and, since I am always complaining I hate staying home on weekends, I decided to give it a go. haha.
I did reach home at 3 am and, by the time I was through with my usual net-surfing routine, I went to bed at 6 am. At least there was the new McGriddles breakfast waiting for me when I got up. I love that.
Here are my little impressions for the two movies!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I want a Cheeseburger."
The story in Iron Man was pretty good. It touches on serious issues like war and the weapons-making industry. Robert Downey Jr. played the perfect Tony Stark! Heck, he even said he IS Tony Stark in a magazine interview. He is funny and has a lot of amusing one-liners. The Iron Monger was... a little boring for a super villain (I didn't even know 'it' had a name!) but I guess he was a much-needed key character to introduce backstory of the series.
The mention of SHIELD towards the end was a nice touch (Security Homeland... wha?). As we left the cinema, Akira pointed out that there was supposed to be a surprise after the end credits; Samuel L. Jackon appearing as Nick Fury and hinting at a future Avengers movie! Doh. Why do they like to trick viewers by putting such things after ten-minute long credit rolls. Hope there will be a video of it on Youtube or something.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Go, Speed Racer, Go!"
I got quite a pleasant surprise. I did not have high expectations for Speed Racer but I must say it was pretty good, too! I knew the movie was by the Wachowski Brothers but I did not expect it to remind me of the Matrix movies. haha.
The entire show had an eye-catching cartoonish/anime look with bright colours and somewhat absurd-yet-cool character designs. There were a number of memorable funny bits and they all made me laugh out loud. And the fighting scenes... wow, I thought stylish, eye-popping fight scenes belonged only in the Matrix trilogy. I am really a sucker for the over-the-top fight sequences. The plot may be pretty generic but I found Speed Racer to be a fun ride. Definitely worth checking out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh yes, both movies I watched were 2-hour movies! I am beginning to see a pattern here.
2-hour movies == good movies.
On the subject of movies, here's a first look at the upcoming ang mor Dragonball movie. Oh my god... I think that's Chow Yuen Fatt there.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV is Out!
Like most other gamers in the world, I really looked forward to the worldwide release of GTA IV in Singapore on Tuesday. The MDA started putting ratings on video gams, which is why this once controversial title is now freely available on our sunny little island.
I was so anxious that I went all the way to FunZ Centre to pick it up during my lunch break that day. While I was at the shop, things were sure busy. The phones kept ringing and Chriz & friends would pick them up and promptly reply that GTAIV was in stock. There was also a constant stream of people coming in to purchase the game and go off. I settled on getting the normal edition since the special edition was more than double the price and I would end up leaving the goodies untouched in the corner of my room.
I had to endure the rest of the day at work before I could finally go home and play the game. First thing I noticed was that 99% of the people in my Friends List, and even their friends, were all playing GTA IV on launch day. haha.
I would say the game is very good and addictive but doesn't really deserve all the online hype (every single video game site gave it a 10/10 rating and IGN even proclaimed it the "best game in the last 10 years"). GTAIV certainly has its fair share of problems and, in my honest opinion, the much-touted multiplayer mode is rather bad. The single player mode is still the real star of the game. It is a totally immersive experience with tons of things to do, backed up by a plot and script that rivals Holywood blockbusters.
By the way, it is official and you may have seen it in the local newspapers: Microsoft has slashed the prices of all Xbox 360 packages in Singapore (cos' MS love us!), making it the cheapest of the next-gen consoles. The standard Pro console set is now $499 and I just bought mine for $620 two weeks ago. Meh.
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