My Replacement Needs a Replacement

My one-week ICT ended last week. I am beginning to feel that low-key ICTs are the same every time. I still have a 3-week ICT this coming April. It's going to be terrible but for now, I shall rejoice at the fact that I have cleared another ICT. 1 high/ 2 lows down. 7 more to go.

I returned to work on Monday and was pleasantly surprised to see that my boss had managed to hire a replacement for me in my absence. By now, a majority of the people at work know that I will be leaving the agency at the end of February.

My replacement was a 30-something-year-old lady who had prior experience as an admin assistant. She sounded like she was from Myanmar or something. It was her first day on the job so I started teaching her about the stuff I did. Halfway into the day, I started to feel that she was a bit (for the lack of a more suitable phrase) "cannot make it".

The first hint came when we were talking about her previous job at a car company. The expression on her face changed when she learned that what she used to do was a mere fraction of what I am currently doing.

The second hint came when I was trying to teach her stuff after lunch and she stopped me, saying that she was starting to have a headache and needed a break. I left her alone for the rest of the day, thinking to myself that I'll leave the other stuff for tomorrow. After all, I had the entire month to teach her. There was no hurry.

But then the next day came and she totally went AWOL. She refused to pick up her phone when I called her. Hours later, she SMS'ed me to say that she has decided to quit because the job was not suitable for her. Oh yeah, and due to "personal reasons". What a brilliant excuse. This is totally ridiculous. It made me realize that out there, there are probably lots of people pulling this kind of shit and getting away with it.

Anyway, I spoke to a few colleagues and they also felt that she "couldn't make it". Oh, well. I hope the next one will be better.

MTG: Elder Dragon Highlander (Commander)

Having less time for video games (due to health reasons) mean that I recently have more time for cards! I am currently just waiting for Mirrodin: Besieged's release and dabbling more in Elder Dragon Highlander, or EDH for short. It is a casual variant format which I have been playing for several months. It is possibly one of the most fun I've had in M:TG in years!

In EDH, each player builds a 100-card deck using only a single copy of any card (hence, highlander) including one Legendary Creature that the player chooses to be his General. The cards used in the deck has to share the General's colour(s). This General starts the game outside of the deck and can be cast into play. There are other rules of course but this is just the gist of it.

Due to the nature of the game, the format is all about casting big spells and watching crazy card interactions/combos unfold. As such, seemingly unplayable cards and junk rares have a home now. The fact that the format does not rotate makes it very accessible to former players as well who have lots of old cards lying around.

I am playing a Mono-Black EDH deck at the moment and it is very fun to use the best Black cards in M:TG, past and present. It feels like a trip down memory lane when I play old favourites that were popular during the time that they were Type II legal.

Wizards of the Coast have decided support the EDH format by releasing 5 precons this year. Apart from the name change (it will be officially known as "Commander" instead of EDH), the game will be untouched and will remain as a community-run format. Mono Black is cool but I'm looking forward to delve into the realm of multi-colour generals once I get my hands on the new Black/Green/White precon (my favourite 3 colours of MTG).

New Year 2011

Today was finally my first day of work in the new year. My boss was nice enough to give me Monday off so that meant no Monday Blues for me. Somehow, it doesn't feel like a brand New Year to me (I don't really know why).

Just a quick recap of how I spent the last day of 2010 and the first few days of 2011.

Friday (31st DEC 2011)
- Went to my boss' place for agency BBQ after work.
- Countdown at home!

Saturday (1st JAN 2011)
- Met up with Addict at GameHaven for M:TG. Played EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander), followed by dinner at Arnold's Chicken.

Sunday (2nd JAN 2011)
- Went to Mutoren's house to watch Scott Pilgrim and played some Kinect with the Xbox gang.
- Dinner and window-shopping at Funan.

Monday (3rd JAN 2011)
- Rested at home!

By now, most people already know that I have tendered my resignation at my current job. I plan to work until the end of February, followed by a one-month break in March before I go for reservist in April. After that, I'll start job-hunting again. Looks like it's going to be quite an eventful year!

New Year Resolutions for 2011

I have not done this in quite a while but here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2011 and I hope I can at least try to accomplish some of them.

(In no particular order of importance. Well, except for the first one.)


1) Take better care of my health.
- No more thinking "it won't happen to me lol". My unhealthy lifestyle of long gaming hours and late nights had resulted in my recent illness (dry eyes & blurry vision). I need to control how long I spend gaming/using the computer and trying to sleep early for a change. I hope this will lead to speedy recovery.
- In addition , I aim to get more exercise this year and hope to lose a couple of inches around the waist. As for the kind of exercise, I was hoping to keep it indoors and in the comfort of my home (*koff*Kinect*koff*). I'll see how this turns out.

2) Get a new job.
- I am hoping to switch jobs by the middle or 3rd quarter of the year after my one-month-long reservist. I've been at my current job for nearly 3½ years and it has become very routine for me. I feel that I should try something different. A change of environment is always good.

3) Personal Makeover?
- Gonna try and be more sociable. Open up a bit. Talk to more people. Befriend strangers. Learn some people skills. I am not sure how but I'll try. Who knows, I might finally find someone to settle down with. Perhaps a personal makeover is in order.

4) Do something about my room.
- I have been procrastinating this for like two years now. My room is always in a mess. I've been wanting to throw out a whole bunch of junk and replace the cupboard/shelves in my room. Maybe I'll get it this time.

5) Get working on my blog.
The idea of starting a gaming blog has been on my mind for over a year now. The lack of inspiration to write and laziness keeps it from happening time and time again. As with above, maybe I'll finally get it this time.

6) Game Less.
- Nuff' said. And also to stop buying every new game out there thinking that I can easily sell it off if it sucks. I need to start looking into the second hand market myself more.

Penguin is Moving

After a 2-week life-or-death struggle (I am serious!) deciding whether or not I should change my blog host, I decided to switch to Wordpress.

New Address:
http://penguinsnest.wordpress.com/

Have a nice day!

How the iPhone has Changed my Life

Ever since I bought my iPhone, I feel that my life has changed a lot. This may sound like a huge exaggeration but, as this is my very first internet-enabled phone, it is very much true! I know 3G phones have been out for a very long time but I am a (very) late adopter when it comes to these new-fangled gadgets. The first week I spent with my new phone felt pretty much like the time when I got my very first PC eons ago and discovered the Internet.

(Before I go on, I need to add this disclaimer: This is not about how great the iPhone is. I know that there are other similar/better 3G phones on the market. And yes, I do know the the iPhone's battery life is HORRENDOUS!)

Here we go...

I no longer feel that 'my life is not my own' from 9 am to 6 pm
A little background: the PCs at my office are strictly for work purposes only. With my iPhone, I am able to performs tasks during office hours that I normally could only do after I knock off (like surf the net and check e-mails). My life doesn't feel so 'disjointed' during work hours anymore.

I am now able to stay connected with people more.
I feel that I am able to keep in touch with friends better thanks to social networking apps like Facebook and IMs like eBuddy. Likewise, it is easier for others to reach me as well. My social life is no longer confined to after office hours as with the above point.

Twitter!
I actually started using Twitter proper because of my iPhone. The convenience of tweeting anytime and anywhere is just so... er, convenient (dammit!). Tweeting also makes me feel less guilty of my infrequent blog updates (lol). As that wonderful Twitter in Plain English video has taught me, Twitter complements Blogging nicely as it tells the stories between blog posts.

I cab less now and don't mind taking the MRT as much as I used to.
Those long journeys are lot more bearable since I have everything that I need (music, games and Internet access) when travelling. This has significantly cut down my cabbing expenses! (I am not kidding)

Games Games Games!
The fact that the iPhone also has games on it is icing on the cake. Truth be told, I never thought I would bother playing games on the iPhone (I prefer console gaming). Its library consists mostly of 'casual' games but there is no denying that there are some gems. Apple is also launching Game Centre (think Xbox Live for iPhone) with OS4 and this shows that they are keen on promoting iPhone gaming.

I now kinda wish I had bought a 3G phone earlier. I feel as if I had missed out on a lot all these years. At least it's better late than never!

Birthday 2010

As with every year, I took leave on my birthday which fell on the 31st of March.

I initially planned to watch Kaiji with Kyo in the evening since it was its last week in cinemas. Unfortunately, the last six seats were all stolen from right under our noses while I was parked at the booking screen and making my choice. I was so annoyed.

I ended up staying home for the day playing video games.

In the evening, my father paid me a visit and ordered Pizza Hut delivery.


My mother was overseas but she still sent me a red packet and got my maid to buy me a cheese cake.

I was a little surprise when my guardian gave me a gift. I never thought he would buy me something. I kinda guessed that it would be a watch (he told me before that he was in the watch business before he retired). It was a Casio G-Shock 4778.

My first reaction was: "OMG! It's an analogue watch! Those long & short hands..." -_-

Fortunately, there is a setting to enable digital time on the display. It's very tiny but at least better than nothing. I guess this is bye-bye to my old 15-minute fast watch that I have been using for the past ten years. I will sure to be more punctual from now on (I am always too early).

Games of March 2010

March had been a busy month for console gamers due to the sheer number of releases. I picked up six titles this month alone.

Surprisingly, I managed to complete most of them at least once (BFBC2's campaign doesn't count! It's strictly multiplayer for me.) I only have have FFXIII and Resonance of Fate left on my backlog. Thankfully, the upcoming months' high profile releases are spread further apart so I can catch a breather.

Just thought I would sum up the games in semi-witty one-liners!

BattleField Bad Company 2: Tactical squad-based multiplayer awesomeness. Until the next big thing arrives.
Dragon Age Origins - Awakening: More of the same but also a tad lacking. A worthy expansion to my favorite Western RPG of 2009.
Resonance of Fate: Very unique JRPG with a challenging and never-before-seen combat system.
God of War III: Feels like more of the same but the angry man series never fails to impress.
Heavy Rain: Plays like a movie. Plot twist cheated my feelings. :(
Final Fantasy XIII: Graphics so good that I sometimes can't tell cut-scene from in-game. Excellent presentation. Highly repetitive linear gameplay.

Sometimes I wonder if I should create a separate gaming blog on Wordpress where I can post about the games I play in greater detail.

Oh and before I forgot... there's something about that little Chocobo Chick!



So cute!!!

The Nosebleed Saga

It started happening around two weeks ago. I was experiencing nosebleeds every day. I actually thought nothing about it; nosebleeds were quite a common thing after all.

I only started to get worried after the first ten days and decided to go to a clinic. The doctor said he was unable to help with my problem and ended up writing me a referral letter to see an ENT (Ear-Nose-Throat; I Googled) specialist at Mount Elizabeth. I felt very nervous about it all. I called up Brett ENT Surgery and arranged a morning appointment on Saturday (20th March).

During the night before the appointment, I could not sleep at all. I kept tossing & turning in bed, thinking that something might be wrong with me and they would have to cut me open. :(

On Saturday morning, my guardian drove me to Mount Elizabeth. The specialist's office was located on the 14th floor. After briefly explaining my problem, I was then instructed to lie down on a chair. Without any prior warning, the specialist suddenly sprayed something into my nose (probably something to sedate me) and told me to keep still as he carefully inserted a thin wired scope. It felt very uncomfortable as he was skilfully navigating the instrument inside my nose.

He told me to look at the LCD screen in front of me. I refused at first but he insisted so I took a peek and saw the inside of my nose. It was kinda disgusting. I didn't even know what I was looking at. The specialist told me that the interior of my nose was all dried and cracked up which resulted in my constant bleeding.

He then proceeded to move the scope deeper. At this point in time, I decided to close my eyes shut when he told me to "look at my throat/stomach on the screen". He remarked that I had a sore throat and a bit of stomach discomfort. I don't wish to know how my insides look like thank you very much.

When everything was over, I went out to collect my medication and left. I was just so relieved that it was a minor problem and not some disease.

iPhone 3GS - The Tweety Penguin

I realize that I have not been blogging much ever since I got my iPhone 3gs (16 GB). I rarely change handphones so this is only the 3rd handphone I have ever owned in my life (first one was during NS, second one was during NUS studies).

I went to the SingTel shop on a Friday at 7 pm and took a queue number. I had to return later at 9 pm when it was my turn (there were like 70+ people in front of me). After talking with the sales stuff, I went with the cheapest plan (iFlexi Lite) and topped up $528 for the iPhone.

I could finally use my iPhone on Saturday evening when they activated my new simcard. I was like a kid with a new toy. I tried out the various functions and downloaded a lot of apps. It was so exciting. I have grown to like Twitter a lot. It's fun to tweet on the fly. Previously, when I feel like posting stuff on my Facebook/blog, it is not as newsworthy by the time I get home late at night. Not anymore with the iPhone!

February: Simply Mass-ive for Gaming

I was kept busy at home this month playing two new titles that I picked up.



Mass Effect 2

One of my most highly anticipated games this year. Being a huge fan of the series, I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition and picked it up on its release day. Needless to say, I was utterly hooked and touched no other game for the two weeks that it took to see ME2 through to its conclusion.

Trying to talk about the epic space opera that is ME2 is actually more difficult than it appears since everything that makes the game great is a spoiler. The story and character developement are excellent. Combat has received a major overhaul and now plays like a standard third-person shooter. The writing/script is truly amazing and is backed by a stellar cast. I am sure it will be something that I remember for years to come.

Oh, and in case this phrase catches on and becomes a bad Internet meme...

Try Googling it. lol


MAG (Massive Action Game)

Probably better known as "that 256-player console shooter". For me, I would best describe MAG as a MMO/FPS hybrid. You pick one of 3 competing factions and acquire skill points through leveling which you use to unlock talents/gear on skill tree. You fight on very large maps (up to 128 vs 128) with several fronts and numerous points of interest/objectives.

The thing that seperates MAG from other FPS is its command structure. Each team is broken down into 8-man squads led by a Squad Leader. His duty is to assign targets for the squad to attack/defend and he also has access to special abilities (like air strikes and UAV). There are other higher positions like Platoon Leader and OIC as well.

WoW players will probably start to realize that this is all starting to sound familiar. All these command positions are like WoW raid positions (raid leader, 2IC, class leader) and each match is comparable to a raid/BG (Alterac Valley).

I actually enjoy it when I get assigned as Squad Leader. It is very satisfying when you know you have a part in leading your team to victory. On the downside, if you get in a squad full of morons who run about doing their own thing, you will feel like you just wasted 30 minutes of your life.

However, after playing the game for about a month, I found the maps to be limited and lacking in variety. I am near the max level but I felt like I have been seeing that same gate and that same bunker for an eternity. Hopefully, things will be more refreshing once I hit the max level and do a faction change.

Chinese New Year 2010 - Trip to JB

This year's Chinese New Year holiday was different for me. I did not have to go for house visits at all because my father was busy and my mother was overseas. I didn't really mind because I knew I would only be annoyed by relatives who would ask me the same "Do you have a girlfriend?" and "When are you finding a new job?" questions again every year.

I ended up spending most of my time at home playing games. The only program I had was to go to Johor Bahru on Sunday night to visit my mother who is there on a business trip. This may sound strange but, as far as I can remember, this was my first time going to JB. (My parents took me to KL and Genting when I was very young so it did not leave an impression.)

My guardian, Lim would be coming along too as he would be driving me there. We left for JB on Sunday night at around 11:45 pm (to avoid the traffic, he says). True enough, there weren't many cars crossing the Causeway and we reached the New York Hotel in JB in a little more than an hour.

The hotel was actually in quite a 'ulu' area with a whole row of car workshops right in front. We met up with my mother and had a late-night supper at the hotel's restaurant (which surprisingly was still opened at this time). We chatted a lot and went back to our rooms.

On Monday morning, we woke up to a buffet breakfast at the hotel's restaurant again. The plan was actually to go shopping at Pelangi Plaza nearby but since it was the CNY holidays, only a fraction of the stores were open. The shopping centre was deserted. Doh.


We then went to the massage parlour/spa near the hotel. My mother says she always recommends her business friends to this place for a massage whenever she is in JB. I had a full-body massage which took an hour. It was actually quite painful as it felt as though the PRC masseuse was grinding my body with her knuckles, elbows and (in my mind) a rolling pin. With spikes. When it was over, I didn't dare to look in the mirror; I might be blue & black all over.

Unfortunately, I could not take any pics of the massage parlour as it might be an invasion of privacy (other guests were lying around). haha.


After that, we went to the cafe next door for lunch and ice-cream. We chatted a bit more before it was time to go. My mother's next stop would be KL after she settles stuff in JB.

The journey back to Singapore was much longer this time due to the looooong line of vehicles at the customs and Causeway. It look close to 2 hours.

Nevertheless, it was a short, fun trip and it was nice to see my mother again since my Hong Kong vacation.