Interesting Places in Singapore I wish had Internet Connection

These days, I find myself so used to being connected to the online virtual world that I think I feel lost without it. Surfing my favourite websites, blogging, searching for information on Google, Facebook, MSN, Twitter, playing my mmorpgs etc etc … these are things I can’t live without at the moment. Wherever I am in the real world, I want to stay connected. The virtual world and the community that I’m in, to me are as real as the one I have in the real world.

My beloved iPhone with 3g connection is always with me wherever I am, so that I could always be connected. I surf the internet in class, chat with my friends on MSN and tweet at the food court, check my facebook, emails and the latest news on my Straitstimes App in the bus, and many other stuff. These actions come so naturally to me right now that I wonder if could survive being out of my house without an internet connection on my iPhone.

So I decided to experiment. What if I don’t rely on the 3g connection and try to make use of the wifi connection around Singapore instead. Is it sufficient for me to satisfy my online needs? Together with my friend Alvin, who brought his laptop along to join in the experiment we went around Singapore last Saturday to find interesting places we wish we had internet connection. We tried to think of scenarios where we needed to use the internet at those places. Shawn and Wayne joined in the fun later that day too, and we ended our journey with some drinks at Harry’s @ Dempsey Hill. Too bad they had internet connection there or else it could be one of the interesting places.

These are the 5 places we wished internet connection was available …

1) Mount Faber
*Pant pant*… Phew… It’s such a long walk to catch a beautiful glimpse of Mount Faber. Here at Mount Faber with our backpacks on and catching a breather. Surrounding us are nature’s gift to mankind.. Insects!! I have never seen so many different breeds of insects in my life before! Nevertheless, I took out my iphone and started to scan for any wireless connection hoping to secure a signal. Well.. deep in the vegetation, I’m not surprised to see none… I wish I had internet connection here!!! I want to tweet about the giant insect bite I just got!

2) East Coast Park
Recalling a scene from the pirates of the Caribbean, we decided to head down to East Coast Park hoping to pick up a glass bottle with a note bearing 4 digits for me to try my luck this weekend… I was also thinking whether there is any wireless connection at the beach. Unfortunately, there was none. How nice would it be, if I can enjoy the sun and listening to the breeze of the beach while surfing the internet… Ouch .. Did I step on some seashell … I might be too engrossed looking at the rollerblading babes walking around…

3) Bedok Jetty
Fishing needs both patience and skills; these are traits which I certainly lack. However I do still enjoy fishing with my friends over at Bedok Jetty every once in awhile and if I have an internet connection there, I could play my favourite online games, while waiting for that big catch. I can also search for information on fishing tips to improve my skills. The only thing I managed to catch so far in my fishing adventures is a plastic bag!

4) Random Forest
Taking a natural walk is refreshing especially when you’re living in a fast pace city like Singapore. So here we go embarking on something we have not done since our army days. Wait a minute, the sky is turning dark and the rain seems to be coming to pay us a visit, definitely at the wrong time. Having walked halfway through the forest without any umbrella, I wonder what we should do to weather the storm. If only I could Wiki a forest survival guide right now!! But of course, we made our way out by doubling our steps.

5) Newton CircusAhhh … Newton Circus, the famous hawker centre in Singapore, which tourists all over the world love to patronize. Which of these stalls are highly recommended by the people over at the local food blogs and forums? Which is the stall with the $30 tiger prawn? Stall 42 or 43? I really need an internet connection now to find out which of these stalls are notorious for overcharging. I don’t want to be a “carrot head”. I need to make sure I have enough money to take a cab home!


Results of my experiment: The wifi spots in Singapore are insufficient to satisfy my needs. Life is not the same without being always connected. I’m glad I have my mobile broadband connection. =)

Live Life Online Anywhere with SingTel BroadBand on Mobile Youth Plan! Visit www.singtel.com/youth for details.

(Images Taken From: My digital camera)

No more exams!!

After 20+ years of studying, I had my last tutorial of my life on Monday. No more listening to my lecturers and tutors, no more doodling on my lecture notes, no more chatting with my classmates, no more playing with my phone during lessons, and last but not least no more secretly taking a peek at the girls I have a crush on hah. I’m going to miss those days haiz. In 2 days time, I will be having my final examinations of my life, which will end next Monday. This will mark the end of chapter 2 of my life, chapter 1 being the years before school he he.

The 7 chapters of My Life

• Chapter 1 - B.S (before school not bullshit).
• Chapter 2 - D.S (during school not the Nintendo console) – Current episode

Coming soon to a blog near you …

• Chapter 3 - W.B.M (working fulltime before marriage)
• Chapter 4 - W.A.M (working after marriage)
• Chapter 5 – W.W.K (working with kids)
• Chapter 6 – O.M.G (Old man with grandchildren)
• Final Chapter – R.N.B (Retire and beyond)

I hope everything goes well and I will be able to go through all chapters in my life. All I want is a simple life with a happy family. I’m only at my second chapter now so there is a long way to go for me. Chapter 3 of my life will probably begin in September, after my graduation ceremony =) Stay tuned …

Enough of the crap and back to the exams … After slacking for 2 days following my last tutorial, I will be studying hard for the next 5 days so I won’t be blogging except for posting the entry for the wonderful Singtel contest organized by Nuffnang. I have not finished writing the descriptions for the photographs taken last week yet, but will do so soon. I really hope I can win one of the top 3 prizes. First prize is a macbook!

Kimi, as usual, will be by my side when I study. She has been through more than 20 exams with me, and I really appreciate her company. Jackie used to study with me too, but she has passed away. I know she will be supporting me from above. Thank you Jackie and Kimi for keeping me awake when I’m studying, without the both of you, I would probably fall asleep every time I read my notes heh.

Sometimes, Kimi gets tired too and falls asleep while I’m studying ….The notes are more effective than sleeping pills, not only will it make the person reading them sleepy, those around them will feel the effects too ....Kimi gets so sleepy she doesn't have any reaction when I touch her tongue ....
Kimi ... even when you are sleeping, you keep me entertained with your cuteness.

My classmates are organising an after exams celebration of a trip to Hanabi for a wonderful Japanese buffet dinner and bowling after dinner. Unlimited delicious Japanese food … I’m so looking forward to that … Hanabi, Hanabi, Hanabi, I think I’m going to gain 5kg after the trip to Hanabi ha ha. I hope all of that will be lost after my intensive exercise regime which starts in a month’s time. I wish I had the universal remote control from the movie Click and fast forward to Monday …
I shall end this post with some funny exam answers I found to cheer myself up before the dreaded studying for exams process ….
For more funny exam answers click here.

Last but not least, I Just found out why girls perform better in exams he he ….

I hate the process of preparing for exams but love the satisfaction and relief after it. Love it or hate it, every student has to take it. Just think about the celebrations you will have after the exams and how happy you will be if your grades are good, and strive for that sense of achievement. To really enjoy the the rewards, hard work is needed. If your grades aren’t that good, just try harder for the next one unless you are like me taking my last exam ha ha. Those who are still studying, are you jealous? No need to be jealous, cause working life will be worse I guess unless you really like your job heh. Oh well, that’s life.

Wish me good luck for my exams!! (I really need it!)

Food I would be eating over at Hanabi .. yum yum

Study mode switch on. Fighto onz!

(Images Taken From: my iPhone, Weird Level, The best interesting news online, Robert's Inbox)

My Experience with iPhone OS 3.0

Wednesday night was an exciting day for me because the official release of the iPhone 3.0 software update was about to be available. I have read rumours in the HWZ (Hardware Zone) forum that it was going to be released at 12am, so I waited till 12am and clicked the update button for 5 whole mins. Nothing happened though …. So I checked the forum again and someone mentioned that the update might be at 1am. The eagerness of wanting to update my iPhone made me repeat the clicking process at 12.59am (Thursday), using all my mmorpg clicking kills to try to be the first to update.
I clicked for around 4 mins before something amazing happened…. the update screen appeared right before my very eyes … yahooooo!!!
Then there was the process of waiting for the download and installation of the new software…After around 30 mins, my iPhone is finally updated to OS 3.0 with lots of new features!! The feeling I had was like getting a brand new phone. =)
Let me go through some of the new features I tried during the past 5 days …

1) MMS, forwarding of sms and landscape keyboard for sms

Finally, I can do all these stuff without jail breaking my iPhone! I just love the mms function, it’s so pretty. All the images appear just like my normal sms, in speech bubble form, and if want to enlarge the image I just have to tap on it and I can see the image in its full glory! Contacts can also be sent through mms and all I have to do is tap on it and I can add it to a new contact, update an existing one or share it with others. The landscape keyboard and forwarding certainly makes smsing easier now. No more mocking by other phone users regarding the lack of mms and forwarding now heh. For those who have updated their iPhone, please take note that group sms and forwarding are somehow being sent as mms. There is actually a hack to make them smses instead, for Singapore iPhone users, go to the HWZ forum to find out how. =) Gotta love those helpful guys over at the iPhone Chat Room Room section of the forum.

2) Spotlight Search function

This function enables me to search for anything in my iPhone! All I have to do is type out what I want to find, and everything which contains the terms I search for will be listed out. Contacts, songs, apps, notes and even emails containing the terms will be shown in the results! Because of this search function, I can also install as many apps as I want as long as my iPhone has enough hard disk space. Previously, the amount of apps are limited to the number of pages my iPhone has (update increased the amount of pages), but now, because of the search function, I can install them even though all the pages are full (I wonder if the 32 gig iPhone3GS can hold all of the 50k apps). All I have to do is search for the app using the spotlight search function and the hidden apps not displayed will appear in the results. I don’t have to choose what app to delete to accommodate new apps now! By the way, I have 132 apps on my iPhone at the moment heh, a little more space to fill before requiring the spotlight search.

3) Copy and Paste

I used to be able to do this on my windows mobile phone, but now I can do it on my iPhone too. I feel that it’s actually easier to use then the windows mobile version of copy and paste. For more on the copy and paste function, go to: Copy/Paste in iPhone OS 3.0 kicks Windows Mobile copy/cut feature by light years!

4) iTunes and App Store enhancement

Before the update, I could only buy music from the iTunes store. Now with the OS 3.0 software update, I can also purchase movies, TV shows and music videos through my iPhone anywhere I am. You need a US iTunes account to access iTunes though. To find out how to get a US account, go to this link. As for the App Store, screenshots can now be viewed on the app page without having to tap on the picture to load up another page. Before the update, I had to connect my iPhone to my computer to switch between my 2 accounts, now I can switch accounts from y iPhone. It sure makes things much more convenient. =) I need to stock up more iTunes Gift Cards soon.

5) Internet Tethering

I have tried it on my iPhone with a Starhub line and it works! For Singtel users, I think the settings are already configured for you, so you do not need to change anything to use internet tethering. For the rest of us (Starhub and M1), we have to do it the hard way. To find out how to get tethering to work if you are using Starhub or M1, go to the iPhone Chat Room at Hardware Zone Forum, you will many helpful guides there. Remember to read the instructions very carefully. I did not, and spent 1 hour trying to configure lol. I have already set up my iPhone and now all I have to do is connect my iPhone to my laptop via usb cable (haven tried Bluetooth) and it automatically starts the internet tethering mode.

For other useful new features on the OS 3.0, you can go to:
How To Use The Best 40 Features of iPhone 3.0

For the list of apps that use the new push notification function, check this site out:
appadvise – apps that push you.
You can bookmark that page as it will be constantly updated with all the latest apps that have the push notification function.

I love my iPhone even more now with its free update. =)

(Images Taken From: my iPhone, my digital camera)

Must watch Zettai Kareshi on Channel U!

I just found out yesterday that Channel U will be showing one of the J Dramas I watched quite some time ago and loved. The drama is called Absolute Boyfriend aka Zettai Kareshi 絶対彼氏. It’s a really funny and touching drama and those who have not watched it before should start watching it tonight (11.30pm Singapore Time) on channel U!
Let me introduce this drama to you in the same way I did it for Mei-Chan No Shitsuji. Let’s begin …

What this drama is about?
This drama, like Mei-Chan No Shitsuji, is a romantic comedy (love this genre) about a lonely girl with no luck in relationships who was suddenly given an opportunity to have the perfect “boyfriend”. The “boyfriend” she was given is perfect in terms of personality, looks and loyalty. Too perfect to be true? Yes, there is no such thing as a perfect boyfriend. The “boyfriend” is actually not human but a robot that is built and programmed by a company sponsoring the girl for a top secret experiment to mass produce a robot that will fulfil every girl’s fantasy (relationship wise at least). Think male version of the anime Chobits. The robots are programmed based on the questionnaire their future owners has done, with questions like what looks, figure, personality etc. I think girls must be drooling now. This drama, like MeiChan No Shitsuji is based on a comic of the same name, and will be enjoyed by both guys and girls. I do hope that they will make a real life drama version of Chobits though, that would be awesome! Heh.

Why girls will like this drama?The main draw of course would be the “Abosolute Boyfriend” Night Tenjo, played by the tall and good looking Hayami Mokomichi who also acted in other shows I have watched like Gokusen 2, Densha Otoko and the recent Oh! My Girl! (All very nice too by the way heh). But wait … there is another guy to look out for in the show, his love rival, Asamoto Soshi, played by the S-ranked butler in Mei-Chan No Shitsuji, Mizushima Hiro! Asamoto Soshi is a young executive (and son of the CEO) in the company Riiko is working in who eventually falls in love with her (no spoilers here as it is quite obvious after you watch the ending theme).
Why guys will like this drama?The very cute and lovely Izawa Riiko played by Aibu Saki!! Riiko is so cute, so blur, so innocent and so my type of girl =) Once you have seen the first episode, I think you will instantly fall in love with her. Her hairstyle in the show really suits her and makes her so adorable. She also makes some funny expressions whenever Night treats her like his goddess. You really have to watch the show to see what a lovely character Izawa Riiko is. Most guys’ hearts will melt when they see her and girls might like her too, but you’d probably be jealous with her having 2 good looking guys madly in love with her ha. If you like her, you can also watch an old J Drama called Attention Please, where she acts as one of the JAL air stewardess in the show. I have watched it and of course love it as usual. I just love watching Japanese Dramas!Theme Song (Ending of each episode)

See the funny and crazy stuff Tenjo Night does to win Riiko’s heart. The obasan (auntie) landlord who likes Night and constantly tries to get close to him and the other robot created to compete with Night. So who will Izawa Riiko choose in the end? Night Tenjo, Assamoto Soshi or maybe the other robot?

I know I have watched it before, but I will probably watch it again he he. To better enjoy the show, I think you should switch it to the original Japanese voices if there is an option to.

Catch Zettai Kareshi every Friday nights, 11.30pm on Channel U starting today (19th June 09)!!

After finishing the entire series, you can also watch the Zettai Kareshi Special which came out recently.

(Images Taken From: Niyoung's Imeem, Goddesscarlie.com, Saudade, Drama Wiki)

Miracle: I'm in the Singapore Blog Awards Final

(Warning - contains shameless pleas for your vote)

Okay, this is totally unexpected, I somehow managed to be one of the top ten finalist in this year’s Singapore Blog Awards under the “Best Individual Blog” category. Omy sent me an email with this subject - “Singapore Blog Awards 2009 Finalist – Best Individual Blog”. I opened the email and saw this ..Congratulations! You are one of the top ten finalists in the Best Individual Blog category in this year’s Singapore Blog Awards!

Your blog is shortlisted from over 1500 blogs submitted and will now go through the scoring and voting phase (See http://sgblogawards.omy.sg).

Wow, how is this possible? My bo liao blog has been shortlisted from over 1500 blogs! Lol, miracles do happen, I think it’s because my beloved team Newcastle United has just been relegated and they thought this would be the perfect gift to cheer me up. Maybe those really famous bloggers like Xiaxue, Mr Brown and Dawn Yang cannot join (or can they? But know they sure win and give others a chance) that’s why ha ha. Sorry ah, noob in finals so a little excited.Wow, first time seeing my name in the newspaper and its not the singer Wu Jia Hui. For bigger pic of the article click here. Too bad i don't have the hardcopy or not can frame.

It’s been around 6 months since I came back from my 3 years break from blogging and this is the perfect motivation for me to continue blogging like forever. =) Even if I don’t win (surely lah), it’s good to know that at least the judges appreciate my blogging and think that I’m fit (not physically, I still need to exercise and slim down after my exams!) enough to be in the top ten. As long as there is someone other than me reading my blog, I guess I will continue blogging. Actually, even if no one reads it I think I will blog he he. It’s like a diary right? Maybe one day I will tattoo my blog’s address (boliaosia.com) somewhere and if something happens to me (touchwood), my family members and friends could see the tattoo, go to the address and read about my life story if they haven’t already been reading it heh. My posts are usually happy posts though as I think I rather keep the sad thoughts to myself, which is a good thing right?? Then they can remember me for the happy times I had ha ha.

This was what I wrote in my comeback post 6 months ago ...

Hello .. Mr Wu is back! Been feeling pretty bo liao nowadays so I guess I will start blogging again. This time I will try my best to keep blogging for a long long time.

Been reading my past posts and found them to be really bo liao. So I have renamed my blog "Bo Liao Sia"... Hope you like it. Future posts will be bo liao as usual with maybe a little more substance (I hope). The blog now has a simpler layout (will improve the design later) for easy reading and I will add labels from this post onwards for easy referencing. Due to modern technology even lazy guys can get organized!
Its been more than 2 years since I last touched my blog due to my very "busy" schedule. Have been watching lots of American, Japanese (not av) and Taiwanese dramas. Chen Shui Bien's case considered drama right? Also playing ps3, pc and iphone games. I guess in my future posts I can review some of the dramas I watched and games I played and maybe some other random reviews of other stuff I use. My life is pretty boring so I guess this blog will be full of bo liao lazy man's reviews. Lazy man review means it will be short reviews heh. For those who are lazy to read long reviews or maybe its because I'm lazy?

I guess I managed to honour my words then ha ha. Still blogging after 6 months! There are actually 5 sections in my blog now – my bo liao life, entertainment, news and articles, random videos and the recently (yesterday!) added iPhone section. Will make picture links to them at my sidebar soon.

Okay, enough of re-introducing my blog in an attempt to persuade first time visitors to come again (wink wink). Back to the Singapore Blog Awards!

I still can’t believe it ha ha. Of course I’m delighted with this top ten thingy. It’s like seeing my baby growing up and getting recognition =P I know it’s a miracle that I am in the list but if you want to see something more unbelievable, you can vote for me and contribute to the greatest underdog feat in history! The judges’ scores account for 70% of the score and the rest (30%) is based on your votes! All you have to do is register for an Omy account (free) and you can start voting! Oh yah, voters stand a chance to win prizes too!

Voters will stand to win a total of 5 Creative Vado (worth S$169) and 5 ST701 Portable External Hard Disk (250GB)!!

To assist you in your voting process, I will provide you with an idiot proof pictorial guide on how to vote!

Step 1 ...

Go to this link http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/category/

Step 2 ...

Login to Omy or register for an account if you do not have one. Link at the top right hand corner of the page.

Step 3 ...

After logging in, click on the "Best Individual Blog" category on the left hand side. All the finalist will appear and you can choose who to vote for.

Step 4 ..

After voting, there will will a voted sign which tells you that you have voted. Remember you can only vote once a day for each category so click mine first if you plan to vote for me =P. Yes, I have voted and will continue voting once a day for myself too ha ha.

That's all folks! Voting commences today and will end on 31 July, 2359hrs SHARP.

Actually no need to vote for me la, but if you do, I got a feeling you will be luckier and have a higher chance to win the voters’ prizes. =P

Friends and family, loyal readers (if any) or someone passing by, let us work towards the success of Very Random Posts |Bo Liao Sia| (boliaosia.com), the blog of Sean Wu Jia hui. Yes we can (help me win the really nice prizes)!

Lastly, I dedicate this song to myself ...


There will be miracles, when you believe!

(Images Taken From: Omy Sg Blog Awards)

After 6 months, I still love you .... my iPhone 3G

It’s been 6 month since I have gotten you, and I still love you as much as the first time I touched you. My iPhone 3G, I love you. In anticipation of your FREE software updates to iPhone OS 3.0 in 3 days time which will enable you to have 100+ new features (omg!), I shall dedicate this entire post to tell you why, unlike my previous mobile phones, I’m not bored of you after such a long time (long for me at least). After I have found you, I have changed from someone who changes the brand and model of his mobile phone frequently to someone who is loyal to a single brand. I still love you as much (if not more) after 6 months and will continue to love you until your younger and more powerful sister, the iPhone 3GS (super?) is out and my current contract ends (in October this year).

Before I go on about how much I love you, I have to remind others that, to fully enjoy your awesomeness, one must have an unlimited 3G plan and know how to use iTunes. If you do not plan to have 3G or use iTunes, I think you would be better off using other phones.
Now, here are the top 5 reasons why I love you so much and will not get bored of you.

1) You are so sleek and stylish

You are so perfect in terms of looks that your designer didn’t even bother to change the appearance of your sister, the iPhone 3GS. She looks just as hot as you but she is cleverer, has a better memory and better eyesight. Even if I get bored with your looks, there are so many companies producing beautiful looking cases for you to wear. These cases also protect your sexy body from scratches and knocks. Do you like the case I bought for you on our 4 months anniversary??2) You screen is so big and nice to touch

Your 3.5 inch widescreen Multi-touch display is gorgeous and easy to touch and slide across. Your screen and clear and bright, displaying everything perfectly. Although your screen’s resolution is not as high as some others, it is sufficient to display and word, image and video rather accurately without straining my eyes. Your multi-touch display is a class above the rest. While I did have problems with my previous touch screens and wished I had a keypad, my perception of a touch screen phone changed entirely because of you. Your interface is tailor made for a touch screen device. It is so easy to navigate around the menus and select an application. The Multi-touch ability adds another dimension to using those apps. For example I can enlarge a picture or the screen of my Safari browser with 2 fingers and play games with much ease, treating your screen as a controller, like moving around in a racing game with my left thumb and accelerating or braking with my left. I can also use your accelerometer for these apps. I do not miss the keypad and find it very difficult to use other touch screen phones now.
3) You are stable and easy to handle

Unlike my previous windows mobile phone which has constant mood swings and hangs up on me every now and then, you are much more stable. After using you for 6 months, you have only failed me twice, which is much less than the windows mobile phone. Your physical buttons although limited, are sufficient and very useful, it is all the physical buttons I need. The big button in front not only allows me to exit your apps, it can also bring me to your home screen, pressing it 2 times quickly also allows me to bring up the iPod function. The top button makes you sleep or wake you up, the side buttons allows me to control your volume and the small switch beside the volume control buttons lets me mute you instantly. The rest can be done on your touch screen.

4) You are not only a phone

You are not only a phone, you are an iPod Touch as well! Whatever the iPod Touch can do you can do it too! Music, videos, podcasts can all be played, and all albums are categorized nicely and can be displayed on your beautiful cover flow just be tilting your body. Videos are clearly displayed on your huge 3.5 inch screen; it’s so big that I can see the subtitles of my Japanese shows so clearly! Because of you, I can really enjoy watching my favourite shows wherever I want. The podcasts I subscribed for free - MrBrown Show, VH1 Best Week (video) and Dilbert Animated Cartoon (video) – are all updated automatically when new episodes are available on iTunes and synched to you whenever I charge you using my computer. There are thousands of other podcasts I can subscribe to if I have the time listen or view them. Everything is just so simple, so idiot proof. Recently, you have also become quite a game machine, with big companies making games for you, not to mention the thousands of other games already available. Your graphics are just as good as the DS and the games coming out are slowly approaching the quality of actual portable game consoles. Need for Speed Uncover, Sims 3, Dance Dance Revolution, Metal Gear Solid, Cooking Mama and Time Crisis are some of the more famous titles available for you and more to come in the future. With your 3.0 software upgrade, I can play a multiplayer game with my other friends who have clones of you. Imagine playing Doom in class!Now instead of bringing so many devices, I just bring you along. You satisfy my every need while I’m outside. Your camera has room for improvement though, luckily your sister iPhone 3GS will fix that.

5) Apps!

Last and most importantly, the thing that really sets you apart from the rest of the competition, your Apps!! All 50,000 plus of them!! Your nearest competitor in terms of the amount of apps is mobile phones on the Android platform which only have around 5,000 apps. I like this sentence I got from a site that provided live updates (macrumours.com) of the recent WWDC 2009 keynote

“50,000 apps on iPhone, 4,900 for Android, 1,088 for Nokia (total), Blackberry (1,030), Palm (18). He makes a joke about not being able to see the last company name (Palm)”

Lol, very insulting indeed. I sure you felt good then my iPhone.
Every time I get bored with you, I just change the apps inside you and you become a new phone, that’s the main reason why I think I can never get enough of you. I can change your apps anywhere I am because I do not have to use my computer to download them, with a single touch on your screen, I am brought to your App Store and from there I can choose which of the 50k apps I want to download. New apps (free and paid) just keep coming out for you. With over 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch users around I can see why app developers are rushing to come up with the next killer app. There are so many different kinds spread across your 20 categories of apps out there, one can never be bored. Educational, entertainment, gaming, lifestyle, news etc etc etc you have it all. Yes, even apps with sexy girls!!

I will blog about the apps I have used in the future.

To show my love for you, I shall dedicate an entire section of my blog to you. From now on, there will be an iPhone section besides the entertainment, news and articles, random videos and my bo liao life section.

Next iPhone post (This week) – my experience with OS 3.0

iPhone I Heart You

P.S 1: I’m no Apple fanboy. In fact, the iPhone is actually my first and only Apple product! The iPhone has really showed me how awesome apple products are though. I’m deciding whether to switch to a Mac in the future hmmmm

P.S 2: OMFG! I don’t know how in the world it’s possible, but I just found out today that I am one of the top ten finalists in the Omy Singapore Blog Awards under the “Best Individual Blog” category ….. More about that in my next post. Got to wipe the tears off my eyes. Hope you can vote for me if you are reading this post though =) You can vote at http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/category - Go to "Best Individual Blog" and click on the small box with the vote sign. Mine is the stickman with blue background "wusama". =)

(Images Taken From: My digital camera, my iPhone, Shuffle gazine, techlivez.com, Power Support, TECHFRESH.NET, IAPPS.sg)

Random Japanese Videos 1: Japanese Prank Shows

We all know that the Japanese are very creative, funny and sometimes crazy. These traits are certainly shown in the entertainment industry with all the wacky variety shows, mtvs, games, music, movies and ahem pron etc etc. There are so many interesting LOL videos that I can't possibly squeeze into one post. So from today onwards, I shall post some random videos from the land of the rising sun every once in awhile. I've got a feeling that the list of interesting videos from Japan will continue to grow and grow heh. Old or new videos, as long as they are funny I will post. Today should be the first of many posts of random Japanese videos, it's amazing that despite my love for anything Japan, I have not posted a single funny Japanese video. In anticipation of many posts following this, I shall name it "Random Japanese Videos 1", I wonder how many parts they will be a few years later.

Okay enough crap, for this episode lets watch some funny pranks ....

1) Prank at a Japanese Spa

Ultimate embarrassment.

2) 100 Charging Guys

I will pee my pants if I experience one of these charges

3) Be careful when you walk

Reminds me of my slip the other day, not as bad of a slip as some of these guys though.

4) When you think it's your lucky day, it probably isn't

That guy looks shocked and a little angry. Better be careful when you save a beautiful girl in the future.

5) Hugh Jackman on Japanese game show

Okay it's not a prank, but I think it's very funny haha

*This is not a weekly series, I will post random Japanese videos every once in a while.

(Image Taken From: Unreality Magazine)

This phone for elderly copy the concept of my hPhone project 2 years ago??

I was in my toilet shitting and reading the newspaper when I came across this article from The Straits Times .....

A phone for the elderly
Made-in-Singapore handset will make its debut at the PC Show starting today

A SIMPLE-TO-USE cellphone, targeted at the elderly and children, looks set to be the potential star of the PC Show.

The phone's maker, Foresight Technologies, a Singapore company, will be making its debut at the electronics fair, which starts today.

Unlike most current mobile phones that have tiny, dinky buttons, the iNo Mobile has buttons at least three times bigger, so the elderly can press them easily, as well as a torch.

There is a special SOS button on the back of the handset so that if an elderly person gets into trouble, pressing the single button will send emergency calls and text messages to four pre-programmed numbers.

And when the button is released, the phone will also sound a siren to attract attention.

The company's director, Mr Kenneth Lau, wants to 'aggressively increase awareness' of the $78 phone at this year's show.

Organisers expect more than one million people to stream through the doors over its four days.

The PC Show is the second major electronics fair here, following one in March. Two others are also usually held in September and December respectively.

More than 600 exhibitors, including familiar international names such as Epson, Apple and Lenovo, have taken booths at the Suntec City event, which has promotions on anything from pocket-sized projectors to home theatre systems and global positioning devices.

About 1.1 million people visited the same show last year, spending more than $51.7 million in total.

Source: The Straits Times - A Phone for the elderly

I was quite interested in this article because ...

Firstly, I just found out that there are actually Singaporean companies producing mobile phones. The featured company even sold 100,000 sets worldwide which I think is pretty good for an unknown local company. However in Singapore, it has only sold 1,000 sets.

Secondly, the concept of the phone is quite similar to the phone that my group mates and I came up with for one of our marketing projects 2 years ago!! We were supposed to tie up with a company not in the mobile phone industry and come up with a new mobile phone. We chose to collaborate with Osim (of course fake one as it is just a project) and come up with a phone to target the elderly.

This is what we wrote in our mini intro

"The mobile phone business, since its launch has never slowed down one bit. When we did some general research on the mobile phone market in Singapore, we realized that there was no phone that was singly designed for the elderly in Singapore. With the baby boomers in their twilight years, we agreed that we would design and market a phone to the elderly. To reach out to the elderly, we decided to collaborate with Osim- a household name for health products in Singapore."

Here is the poster I made for the phone he he.

Lets compare ...

Name

Their phone is called iNo Mobile ours is called hPhone both equally lame and seems to be inspired (ours obviously is) by the "iPhone". They use the "i" of the iPhone and we used the "Phone" lol. I think hPhone stands for health phone, forgot about the meaning but actually, the right name for an Osim product would be uPhone he he, forgot why we didn't use that.

Main Features

iNo Mobile:

• Big buttons
  
• Torch Light
  
• Special SOS button to send emergency calls and text messages to 4 pre-progammes numbers
• SOS button also acts as a siren.
• Digital Time announcer
• Shortcut dialing
  

hPhone:

From the poster you can see that ...

• We have big buttons too
• We have a similar SOS button called The emergency button. It does the same thing.
• We also have a simple to use speed dial which I think is similar to their shortcut dialing

Other features we have but not the iNo

• We have a bigger screen which large fonts
  
• The iNo Mobile has a digital time announcer but we have a Narrator program!

The phone is equipped with a ‘Narrator’ program that verbally announces each program or phone function that the user opens up or accesses. It is meant as an aid for users who are unable to read or understand certain words but can be disabled for users who have no need for it.
The hPhone displays and narrates text in English, Mandarin, and Malay as well, and is useful for those who are fluent in languages other than English. The volume of the ringtones and sounds are louder for those that are harder of hearing, though the volume can be adjusted.

• We have a rubber grip to ensure that they have a better grip on the phone
• Health Tips
• The hPhone can also store the user's particulars such as their blood type, allergies, and number of next-of-kin, name, as well as the contact number of the user’s family doctor or hospital. All these information can be accessed with a simple shortcut button.

Get me my lawyer's phone number! Just joking ... besides I don't even have a lawyer.

Anyway, I hope this company succeeds and go on to sell many iNo Mobiles cause it will prove that there is really a market for mobile phones for the elderly heh. It would be great for a local mobile phone to make it big too.

I do think that it would be better if they could somehow collaborate with Osim and release it under the Osim brand though. Better brand image he he, you know when you have a phone like this, it is important to give people the feeling that it is of high quality and won't spoil when the user needs it most. Osim has many retail outlets around Singapore too, easier to showcase the product. The Osim brand plus celebrity endorsement from TVB or local Celebrity uncle or aunty and you have a winner! You can sell it much more than $78 and people will still buy it! Just my 2 cents ha ha =P.

hPhone - It cares for you =)

(Images Taken From: The Straits Times online, my school project)

My last Group Project & Presentation

I have finally completed my final school group project of my life!!! Yesterday, together with my group mates this semester - Jiayi (sis), Rayne, Shawn and Wayne, I also did what may be my final presentation of my life (unless my job requires me to do so in the future). Due to my involvement with my project, I was not able to blog, sorry about that blog. Don't worry blog, I will be really free for the next few weeks and will try to update you more often.

So ... what have I been doing for the past 5 days since my last blog post about the awesome Bully Beatdown show?

Thursday
I slacked for a bit to prepare for the stress which my final group project will bring me. I also jogged for the first time in 2 years!! Oh my god!!! Darryl and Jasmine (wearing the Nike shoes I won) came over to my place to accompany and motivate me to lose weight. We jogged around the big field opposite my house and it felt great! Although I stopped and walked for around half of the route he he, I think it's a good start, considering that I have not had any form of exercise (okay maybe finger exercising when i typing) for the past 2 years. I thought I would faint after the jog!! Thanks Darryl (old boss) and Jasmine for coming all the way to my house to jog with me. Will be jogging more in the future and lose 10kg by September, the day I receive my degree in Perth!! Hope I look better in pictures then, my poly graduation pic sucks!

Friday
Did my part for the project + prepared customized PowerPoint template

Saturday
All my group mates came over to my house, the usual meeting place for most of my group projects in poly and now in Uni. After slacking around for a 2 hours, we finally started serious work after lunch. We had some discussions, laughed, goofed around, watched a little tv, bought some Scratch It cards and bet on the England match (4, 5, 6 goals - yes we won!), did our assigned parts, ate dinner, watch the England match live, continue doing our parts and finally finishing all the contents of the project at 2 plus am.

Just for laughs - When Shawn and I were walking out of the carpark, he slipped on a puddle of water and I laughed at him. When we came back I slipped on the exact same spot! So pai sei!! Luckily for us, no girls were around then, only a man washing his car and we did not fall on our butt. I wonder how many people slipped on that spot. The guy washing his car must be constantly looking over to see if anyone else slipped and laughing his ass off.

Sunday
I converted the content into PowerPoint slides for our presentation on Monday.

Monday
QC (quality check) and printing of slides (for tutor) and my final school presentation! I don't know why, but after so many presentations since my poly days, I still get nervous before presentation and need a stick of cig and some Mentos (why? See below, P.S section) to calm myself down before every presentation. I call this the "SPR - Sean Pre-Presentation Ritual".

I shall end this post with a picture of my last slide of my last ever school project presentation =)


Do you have any pre-presentation rituals to share? More posts about my projects in the future =) ....

A few more weeks of online discussion and 2 papers for my final exams and I'm done!

P.S: Ya, those Mentos commercials really influenced me to think that I could do anything after eating a mentos lol

Remember these????



"It doesn't matter what comes, fresh goes better in life, with Mentos fresh and full of life. Nothing gets to you, staying fresh staying cool, with Mentos, fresh and full of life. Fresh goes better, Mentos freshness, fresh goes better with Mentos, fresh and full of life!
Mentos - The Fresh Maker!"

With Mentos I will overcome every obstacle!!

Another episode of Fighting Spiders today yeah

(Image Taken From: My presentation slides)

Bully Beatdown: Bully your bullies!

Ever been bullied but can't do anything about it? Nope, this post is not about teaching you how to deal with these tormentors, but its the next best thing, let me introduce to you a show that is every bully victim's dream, MTV's Bully Beatdown. Those who are not bully victims can also enjoy watching this show as its really entertaining, who doesn't like seeing someone bully a bully? Unless you are a bully yourself heh ....

What this show is about

Every week in this 6 episode series (I hope there is more in the future), the host of the show (Jason 'Mayhem' Miller) will meet up with the victims who tell their sad tales and show him to their bullies. Jason will then offer the bullies something hard to refuse, the potential of getting US$10,000. All the bully has to do is step into a ring a take on a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter!

In case you have not watched or heard about any Ultimate fighting Championship (UFC), Affliction, Pride, Dream or other mixed martial arts events before, let me give you a brief introduction of mixed martial arts with the help of my friend wiki. According to wiki:

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete.

If you want to know more visit my friend wiki: Mixed Martial Arts

Anyway, unlike the WWE, this is real. In mixed martial arts you can basically use any technique you want with some rules like no head butting and kicks to the head when the opponent is on the ground, and of course no low blows. So you can see a Muay Thai fighter fighting against a wrestler, a full contact Karate black belt against a boxer etc etc. However, most of these fighters have to know a few disciplines so that they can counter the opponents attacks. For example, defending yourself from a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert who tries to submit you.

The fight in Bully Beatdown is split into 2 rounds. In the first round the bully has to avoid as many submission attempts as possible in 3 mins. Every time you tap out you give 1k of your 10k to the victim. In the second round, the bully must last 3 mins of kickboxing with the MMA fighter. If he does, he will get 5k, if he doesn't, all the money goes straight to the victim!

Victims include roommates, neighbors, girlfriends and even an older brother! Listen to their sad stories on the show. Poor guys.


They come in all shapes and sizes. Will any of these bullies manage to get the full $10,000?? Scary looking aren't they.


These fierce looking professional MMA fighters will help you bully your bullies away. Anyone dare to bully them?

Jason 'Mayhem' Miller, the victims' hero. I think without him, the show won't be as entertaining. He is funny, a little psycho, very entertaining. He got bullied when he was young and is a professional MMA fighter himself, he is probably better than the other fighters in the show. He just fought for the Dream Middle Weight Belt recently, unfortunately it ended in a no contest with an illegal kick to the head when the opponent is on the ground. He has great fight entrances like this one at the recent Dream 9 ...

Dream 9 Fight intro with Japanese School Girls!

Japanese School girls! My ultimate fantasy too!

Episode 1: Ryan the Family Favorite From MTV Bully Beatdown: Mayhem Miller comes to the rescue of Alan, by putting Tony "The Gun" Bonello in the cage with brother-bully Ryan for a little family therapy Bully Beatdown style.

Bully Beatdown - MTV Shows

Like the show, watch all the episodes!!
Episode 2: Vince the Roomate from Hell
Episode 3: Christian the Angry Couch Potato
Episode 4: Jonathan the Rollerblade Bully
Episode 5: Eriq the Bum Rapper
Episode 6: Dennis the Neighborhood Menace

One of these bullies managed to get the whole 10k! Watch the episodes and find out who!

Beat up your Bullies on Bully Beatdown!

(Images Taken From: MTV.com, THEGARV AND DINO KOSTAKIO)