Today I went looking for saws. 26 inches or longer. Out of 9 companies I enquired, only two sold anything like what I asked for. One did have 26-inch saws. They had a Stanley 26" one priced at $12.30. That was all. No longer? None, the woman said. So I continued down the list and found SCA Industries. The uncle who answered the phone was enthusiastic enough to invite me over to his establishment to see for myself the range of saws he had. So I did.
The company was located at Ubi Road 1, quite some distance from my house in Bukit Batok. I was of the type who didn't bat an eyelid at having to traverse the whole island to find what I wanted, so I went there, by MRT and bus. It took me about an hour and 15 minutes to reach the place.
Upon arrival, an auntie asked, "Are you here for the interview?" I replied negatively, and enquired what interview was it. The auntie did not give any intelligible answer, so I went into the office. There was a Dravidian man there, on the phone. When I asked him about saws, he promptly put down the phone. He also thought I came for the interview. It was for the position of Operator, whatever that was.
But the company didn't have 26" saws. They only had 24 inches maximum. The boss himself then came out and asked what I was looking for. To cut a long story short, he then instructed the Dravidian man to lead me to the back of the premises, where a machine to cut teeth into sheet metal was. I was supposed to test out the different lengths of saw that came out of the machine, but I remembered what the boss said earlier, "We can cut for you a 26" or whatever length you want, but usually, if customers request only one or two pieces, we won't entertain."
Well, if there wouldn't be any chance of getting a custom-made saw, then I shan't waste my time. So I left amiably.
As for the company that had a 26" Stanley saw, they had closed for the day. Oh well.
I think I shall continue my search in Malaysia, since my family would be holidaying there next week. There certainly should be greater variety there.
Oh yes, I haven't properly said why I need 26-inch saws (or longer). I need them to make music. Just bend them properly, and know where to hit or bow them.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Muzikarama 2006 - Les Musiciens
Muzikarama 2006 was quite strange! If I were the audience, I would find it okay as a whole, except for a few parts, which would be quite memorable.
In this event, I played the role of musician, along with four or five other SSP mates: Jad, Shamil, Jeff, Didi, and to a lesser extent, Efin. He sang most of the time. (I didn't remember hearing auxiliary percussion, which he was supposed to play.) [Didi, Efin and Jeff are not visible in the picture.]
I had to contend with the piano, accordion, melodion, musical saw and whistle. Usually the piano was used, which I was most familiar with.
Muzikarama's scene changes were quite long for the audiences' comfort, so we musicians had to play something to ease the tension. Some were remarkable improvisations by Shamil, whilst some were early starts of scenes from me. I began playing the song for Act 3 a tad too quick, intending it to fill the silence, but i forgot that three people depended on this cue!
Thus the Lighting Woman, the Singer and the Actress started the scene. It must have been a bit distressing for them. Luckily Act 3 didn't have so many props.
The main thing about Muzikarama 2006 that wasn't so good was the tempo (no pun intended). It was quite slow.
In this event, I played the role of musician, along with four or five other SSP mates: Jad, Shamil, Jeff, Didi, and to a lesser extent, Efin. He sang most of the time. (I didn't remember hearing auxiliary percussion, which he was supposed to play.) [Didi, Efin and Jeff are not visible in the picture.]
I had to contend with the piano, accordion, melodion, musical saw and whistle. Usually the piano was used, which I was most familiar with.
Muzikarama's scene changes were quite long for the audiences' comfort, so we musicians had to play something to ease the tension. Some were remarkable improvisations by Shamil, whilst some were early starts of scenes from me. I began playing the song for Act 3 a tad too quick, intending it to fill the silence, but i forgot that three people depended on this cue!
Thus the Lighting Woman, the Singer and the Actress started the scene. It must have been a bit distressing for them. Luckily Act 3 didn't have so many props.
The main thing about Muzikarama 2006 that wasn't so good was the tempo (no pun intended). It was quite slow.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The First Few Visitations
Hari Raya, it seems, has arrived again, and I have just completed a day’s worth of visitations. They weren’t very extensive, though. We only visited about six houses. The day after Hari Raya was a school day, and so visitations late into the night were frowned upon.
Important relatives were prioritized. First was my maternal grandfather’s late brother’s house in Choa Chu Kang (well, we visited his widow), then the same grandfather's late sister’s house in Teck Whye (we visited the other distant relatives living in that house), then to Holland V, to visit a cousin’s grandmother. After that, we were off to Pasir Ris to visit my paternal grandmother; to Tampines, another cousin’s grandmother; finally to Yishun, to visit my maternal grandfather’s sister. It was Maternal Relatives Day, you see.
This Sunday would be Paternal Relatives day, if I’m not wrong. Saturday would be a continuation of Maternal Relatives Day, which was cut short due to the next day being a school day, as I stated earlier.
Right.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
The Scène at Jurong Regional Library
There are certain colourful characters of Jurong Regional Library.
First are the security guards. There is a Malay security guard, who is very kind. There are two Dravidian ones as well. One has white hair and the other, a black turban.
All these guards do is walk around looking sinister. The Malay security guard, on the other hand, was kind enough to offer us a table.
They are all very useful guards.
There is one old female Chinese mopless broomless dust-panless trolley-less cleaner, who only carries herself around. She brandishes a piece of cloth, with which she passes lightly over certain places as she deems fit to be cleaned. Most of the time she just perambulates leisurely around, like some Empress from an Imperial Palace.
She is also useless. Soon to be jobless.
Of course, there are the librarians. They appear with astonishing regularity, floating up and down the escalators, carrying bags as if they had just gone shopping, and conversing merrily amongst themselves. That is about all they do.
I must remember not to bring my wallet during my next class BBQ.
I suspect that there is a generator in the JRL basement which generates 3D images of librarians at specific intervals. Those librarians seem artificial to me. Once my associate and I were wondering why no librarians had been sighted lately. As if on cue, the lift close to us chimed. As the door opened, we could see that it was chock full with librarians. They all somehow decided to take the lift!
The escalators of JRL are of an interesting design. They are open-air escalators, meaning you can see whoever is on them at a glance. They are a central feature of the library, and have one property most escalators don't have: efficiency.
Usually escalators are placed in the same position on every floor of a bulding. So once you have ascended one floor, you have to walk one whole round to the other escalator (in the same location on that floor), where you can climb further up to the next floor. Examples of this placement can be found in West Mall, Esplanade Mall, and Woodlands Regional Library, to state a few examples. The escalators in these buildings are placed on top of the other, so from a side view, each escalator is parallel to the ones above and below it. This inefficient design makes us waste a lot of time walking.
However, in shopping malls, this can be justified. Because shoppers would have to walk a certain path to get to another escalator, the owner of the shopping mall can charge more rent for shops that lie along this path. However, for libraries, this reason does not hold water.
The escalators in JRL, on the other hand, are placed rather in a criss-cross pattern. Meaning, once you have ascended one floor, you only have to turn around, and there the next escalator would be! This is extremely efficient, and is much faster than taking the lift (for the lift in JRL is extremely slow). This design is analogous to a flight of stairs; in this case, one flight enables you to climb one floor. Thus, to climb to the 3rd storey one would only have to climb two escalators, one from the first floor to the second; then turning round, another escalator from the second floor to the third. The same procedure applies when going down. Escalators with a similar placement are also found in the OUB Centre.
First are the security guards. There is a Malay security guard, who is very kind. There are two Dravidian ones as well. One has white hair and the other, a black turban.
All these guards do is walk around looking sinister. The Malay security guard, on the other hand, was kind enough to offer us a table.
They are all very useful guards.
There is one old female Chinese mopless broomless dust-panless trolley-less cleaner, who only carries herself around. She brandishes a piece of cloth, with which she passes lightly over certain places as she deems fit to be cleaned. Most of the time she just perambulates leisurely around, like some Empress from an Imperial Palace.
She is also useless. Soon to be jobless.
Of course, there are the librarians. They appear with astonishing regularity, floating up and down the escalators, carrying bags as if they had just gone shopping, and conversing merrily amongst themselves. That is about all they do.
I must remember not to bring my wallet during my next class BBQ.
I suspect that there is a generator in the JRL basement which generates 3D images of librarians at specific intervals. Those librarians seem artificial to me. Once my associate and I were wondering why no librarians had been sighted lately. As if on cue, the lift close to us chimed. As the door opened, we could see that it was chock full with librarians. They all somehow decided to take the lift!
The escalators of JRL are of an interesting design. They are open-air escalators, meaning you can see whoever is on them at a glance. They are a central feature of the library, and have one property most escalators don't have: efficiency.
Usually escalators are placed in the same position on every floor of a bulding. So once you have ascended one floor, you have to walk one whole round to the other escalator (in the same location on that floor), where you can climb further up to the next floor. Examples of this placement can be found in West Mall, Esplanade Mall, and Woodlands Regional Library, to state a few examples. The escalators in these buildings are placed on top of the other, so from a side view, each escalator is parallel to the ones above and below it. This inefficient design makes us waste a lot of time walking.
However, in shopping malls, this can be justified. Because shoppers would have to walk a certain path to get to another escalator, the owner of the shopping mall can charge more rent for shops that lie along this path. However, for libraries, this reason does not hold water.
The escalators in JRL, on the other hand, are placed rather in a criss-cross pattern. Meaning, once you have ascended one floor, you only have to turn around, and there the next escalator would be! This is extremely efficient, and is much faster than taking the lift (for the lift in JRL is extremely slow). This design is analogous to a flight of stairs; in this case, one flight enables you to climb one floor. Thus, to climb to the 3rd storey one would only have to climb two escalators, one from the first floor to the second; then turning round, another escalator from the second floor to the third. The same procedure applies when going down. Escalators with a similar placement are also found in the OUB Centre.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
The Stubborn Conductor's Chair
I realise that I am a bit funny. Some of my friends say my mechanical abilities are quite good for an IT student. I do not think too much of it, but it is amusing. Why shouldn't an IT student be proficient (somewhat) in hands-on work? (Well, mechanical in this case doesn't have to mean literally nuts and bolts, but any work that does not need a computer. Quite broad.)
About 2 months ago I assisted in assembling the SP band conductor's chair (Mr Tan's chair). That stubborn chair took at least four people and a sitting model to complete. The model was interchangeable (even I sat on the chair at one point), and was used to apply weight when screwing the screws into the bottom. The sight of four people screwing into the bottom of a chair with someone sitting on top was a sight to behold. Ikea must measure products properly. Someone, I think it was Audrey (a section mate) was surprised that I took to this kind of work.
Then there was the MIT Nightwalk Props. The MIT Nightwalk Props. Creating sadakos, fixing dolls, making bendable arms complete with hands and movable fingers with just masking tape and newspapers (I'm not joking).
Same sentiments expressed here as well. The fact that I seem to take very well to this kind of manual labor was quite interesting. Well, perhaps an IT student like me can think of other, more technological ways to portray sadakos, sudokus and what-have-you. Maybe 3D projections...?
About 2 months ago I assisted in assembling the SP band conductor's chair (Mr Tan's chair). That stubborn chair took at least four people and a sitting model to complete. The model was interchangeable (even I sat on the chair at one point), and was used to apply weight when screwing the screws into the bottom. The sight of four people screwing into the bottom of a chair with someone sitting on top was a sight to behold. Ikea must measure products properly. Someone, I think it was Audrey (a section mate) was surprised that I took to this kind of work.
Then there was the MIT Nightwalk Props. The MIT Nightwalk Props. Creating sadakos, fixing dolls, making bendable arms complete with hands and movable fingers with just masking tape and newspapers (I'm not joking).
Same sentiments expressed here as well. The fact that I seem to take very well to this kind of manual labor was quite interesting. Well, perhaps an IT student like me can think of other, more technological ways to portray sadakos, sudokus and what-have-you. Maybe 3D projections...?
Friday, June 02, 2006
Update: FOC Miscellaneous Items List
It is now the 2nd of June, a long way away from the FOC, in April. I will give an update as to the Miscellaneous items list.
A foldable chair has been bought, about a week ago. The price was remarkable. $1.50! About the same price as the Mee Soto from SP FC6 Stall 1.
I could not get a penknife in time for the camp, but it didn't matter; I don't usually eat kaya anyway.
Stationery was much needed, especially permanent markers. And the whistle, too.
As for fans, I already had a satay fan, but just in case, I bought a black chinese fan. There were only three left in the store; my associate took two, I took one, and the shopkeeper auntie was happy.
The fate of the fans? One of my associate's ones broke. My satay fan bent. Learning from the experience, I made sure my Chinese fan was not used roughly by anyone else.
The fans provided much needed ventilation especially during the NightWalk and trip to Sentosa. More on these later.
Thus, the Miscellaneous Items were very useful.
A foldable chair has been bought, about a week ago. The price was remarkable. $1.50! About the same price as the Mee Soto from SP FC6 Stall 1.
I could not get a penknife in time for the camp, but it didn't matter; I don't usually eat kaya anyway.
Stationery was much needed, especially permanent markers. And the whistle, too.
As for fans, I already had a satay fan, but just in case, I bought a black chinese fan. There were only three left in the store; my associate took two, I took one, and the shopkeeper auntie was happy.
The fate of the fans? One of my associate's ones broke. My satay fan bent. Learning from the experience, I made sure my Chinese fan was not used roughly by anyone else.
The fans provided much needed ventilation especially during the NightWalk and trip to Sentosa. More on these later.
Thus, the Miscellaneous Items were very useful.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
MIT FOC: The Miscellaneous Items List
The Singapore Polytechnic School of Media and Info-communications Technology Freshman Orientation Camp is coming. MIT FOC, in short.
I have created a list of items to bring, which are actually mostly redundant. The criterion for the list: if something that we need isn't there, it goes into the list.
Thus the list has things like scissors, assorted stationery, can openers, fans (satay or battery-powered), tiny foldable chair, whistle, and the like. Things that you don't bring because you think it would be provided.
But no, the MIT seemed to only have three pairs of scissors (officially). We had to use a can opener from a penknife, which was lousy of course. Goodness knows how we would have eaten the nyonya kaya if there wasn't such a thing. Stationery; because it is the sort of thing that gets lost easily, and who brings these things anyway? It is assumed that they are in abundance somewhere.
It seems to me that such small things are held in low regard, simply because they are easily replaced. I am not one to waste, or throw away something without thinking of how it may be reused.
A foldable chair earns a place in the list because I have been suffering from a sore bum and back pains. It feels as if someone has done a karate chop to my back. My right hip joint is sore everytime I rise up from a cross-legged position. Strangely enough, I don't get pins and needeles, just pains here and there. Moreover, a foldable chair can provide you with a seat anywhere you want, and it is cleaner, too.
A whistle is needed, because we AgressAs are in charge of games. It's hard to keep shouting for people to stop when the time limit's finished, so a short blast from a whistle would do.
As for fans, it goes without saying. A battery operated one would be more silent, but a big satay-man-type fan would also do. Of course, if I want a manual fan, I would be better off using a more compact foldable Chinese fan, but it doesn't seem singular enough, compared to a satay-man fan.
I'll see what I can do. More on the other things in the list, if possible.
I have created a list of items to bring, which are actually mostly redundant. The criterion for the list: if something that we need isn't there, it goes into the list.
Thus the list has things like scissors, assorted stationery, can openers, fans (satay or battery-powered), tiny foldable chair, whistle, and the like. Things that you don't bring because you think it would be provided.
But no, the MIT seemed to only have three pairs of scissors (officially). We had to use a can opener from a penknife, which was lousy of course. Goodness knows how we would have eaten the nyonya kaya if there wasn't such a thing. Stationery; because it is the sort of thing that gets lost easily, and who brings these things anyway? It is assumed that they are in abundance somewhere.
It seems to me that such small things are held in low regard, simply because they are easily replaced. I am not one to waste, or throw away something without thinking of how it may be reused.
A foldable chair earns a place in the list because I have been suffering from a sore bum and back pains. It feels as if someone has done a karate chop to my back. My right hip joint is sore everytime I rise up from a cross-legged position. Strangely enough, I don't get pins and needeles, just pains here and there. Moreover, a foldable chair can provide you with a seat anywhere you want, and it is cleaner, too.
A whistle is needed, because we AgressAs are in charge of games. It's hard to keep shouting for people to stop when the time limit's finished, so a short blast from a whistle would do.
As for fans, it goes without saying. A battery operated one would be more silent, but a big satay-man-type fan would also do. Of course, if I want a manual fan, I would be better off using a more compact foldable Chinese fan, but it doesn't seem singular enough, compared to a satay-man fan.
I'll see what I can do. More on the other things in the list, if possible.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Why Do Lift Doors Have Those "Windows"?
The "windows" in lift doors are there for three reasons.
They provide a novelty for those curious kids (who gravitate towards the doors).
They prevent claustrophobia.
And also, these windows help prevent crime. No criminal worth his salt would perform such acts when there is a viewing glass on every floor.
They provide a novelty for those curious kids (who gravitate towards the doors).
They prevent claustrophobia.
And also, these windows help prevent crime. No criminal worth his salt would perform such acts when there is a viewing glass on every floor.
The first entry in a blog is usually to test the thing. Thus, with the proper setting up of The Black Book on a legitimate (if not renowned site), I hereby declare The Black Book (version électronique) open.
Enough of this nonsense. For those who mayn't know, the Black Book, for me, began in 2003, as a written journal (or notebook, rather.) I began its first sentences in my Chemistry class (where I usually fall asleep in 10 seconds). The Book was a way for me to remain awake. When I wrote those first sentences, I envisioned that one day, they will appear on the Web, for others to read. After all, what you write must surely be read, shouldn't it? Well, these blogs have made this possible. (Remarkable stuff.)
I call it a notebook, because it isn't updated on a very regular basis. Rather, if I feel something needs analysis (a bit cheem here, but that's how i write), I will enlighten the pages of the Book. Or if I come across a Highly Singular Occurrence. More on that later.
So, at times I will write about more present occurrences. Or, if I don't have anything to write about, then I will publish some excerpts from my Black Book (version écrite), which I had originally intended to do. Some entries will contain little mentions of events as they happen and as they occur to me, whereas some will be full-blown discussions on a particular topic.
I end the testing here.
Enough of this nonsense. For those who mayn't know, the Black Book, for me, began in 2003, as a written journal (or notebook, rather.) I began its first sentences in my Chemistry class (where I usually fall asleep in 10 seconds). The Book was a way for me to remain awake. When I wrote those first sentences, I envisioned that one day, they will appear on the Web, for others to read. After all, what you write must surely be read, shouldn't it? Well, these blogs have made this possible. (Remarkable stuff.)
I call it a notebook, because it isn't updated on a very regular basis. Rather, if I feel something needs analysis (a bit cheem here, but that's how i write), I will enlighten the pages of the Book. Or if I come across a Highly Singular Occurrence. More on that later.
So, at times I will write about more present occurrences. Or, if I don't have anything to write about, then I will publish some excerpts from my Black Book (version écrite), which I had originally intended to do. Some entries will contain little mentions of events as they happen and as they occur to me, whereas some will be full-blown discussions on a particular topic.
I end the testing here.
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