When in China, especially in ruraler areas, you'd bound to encounter Engrish. Here's some I've found on my journal through Tibet. Surprisingly, more than half were not within Tibet.
More can be found on my Picasa album.
25 September 2009
The Inevitable Photos from China
When in China, especially in ruraler areas, you'd bound to encounter Engrish. Here's some I've found on my journal through Tibet. Surprisingly, more than half were not within Tibet.
More can be found on my Picasa album.
21 September 2009
Here Comes the Beatles
Quite a handful of months back, I was looking for the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and I sure had quite a lot of trouble finding it. MJ, I was sure, does not have it; but it turns out that my favourite Sembawang Music Centre at Sengkang were devoid of that particular album as well. Looking high and low, I eventually found it tucked away in a quiet corner at Borders.
Later on, I was looking for another album Abbey Road, and even HMV at City Link doesn't have it either (though it had a few other Beatles album which I bought - such as Rubber Soul). It seems that the Beatles albums are really rare...
So I decided to purchase them through Amazon. Sure, there are hefty delivery costs to Singapore, but I think the savings in terms of time, import costs and hair (from all those frustration) are worth it. So I made an order late last month, and a neat package swooshed in a few days ago, carrying:
Whoopie! It wasn't too costly, by the way. The CDs themselves are quite cheap, with most of the albums either US$9.99 or US$12.99 (only The Beatles a.k.a. White Album goes up to US$18.99 because of its comparative length).
But it appears that this set which I've just bought - a remastered set, according to the description - is part of the release to promote The Beatles: Rock Band. And what's more, because it's a new release, they greeted me on the shelves of Sembawang Music Centre! Argh!
Fortunately, it all works down to about the same price, since price tags call for S$19.90 or S$25.90 or something in those ranges. And, whatever it is, I've finally have 'em all!
(Ya, the last one is a bit out of place, but whatever!)
Later on, I was looking for another album Abbey Road, and even HMV at City Link doesn't have it either (though it had a few other Beatles album which I bought - such as Rubber Soul). It seems that the Beatles albums are really rare...
So I decided to purchase them through Amazon. Sure, there are hefty delivery costs to Singapore, but I think the savings in terms of time, import costs and hair (from all those frustration) are worth it. So I made an order late last month, and a neat package swooshed in a few days ago, carrying:
Whoopie! It wasn't too costly, by the way. The CDs themselves are quite cheap, with most of the albums either US$9.99 or US$12.99 (only The Beatles a.k.a. White Album goes up to US$18.99 because of its comparative length).
But it appears that this set which I've just bought - a remastered set, according to the description - is part of the release to promote The Beatles: Rock Band. And what's more, because it's a new release, they greeted me on the shelves of Sembawang Music Centre! Argh!
Fortunately, it all works down to about the same price, since price tags call for S$19.90 or S$25.90 or something in those ranges. And, whatever it is, I've finally have 'em all!
(Ya, the last one is a bit out of place, but whatever!)
18 September 2009
Back to a Warm Wet Haze
Sorry for the absence - though considering that this blog has occasional breaks, this one shouldn't be anything worthy apologising over - but here's the deal: I've been away from Singapore.
Specifically, I've tagged along with my parents to Tibet, and hence the lack of updates while I'm swimming in the high altitudes and frolicking with the yaks. It's a real nice cool and dry over there, and that came in full force when I returned to Singapore's massive pile of humid and hazy air.
Anyway, here are some of the highlights of the photos I've taken:
This is a nice photo, though the focus of that spot is behind me: a sculpture of Buddha - about 10 metres high - into the cliff wall. I wished I had more time to capture a better composition, but some locals were about to walk into the picture from my left (it turns out that they were going to fertilise the pond).
The most amazing thing about this Yamdrok Lake is the deep blue colour - its most striking feature, especially when viewed from a mountaintop behind me (a typical tourist spot). I like this photo because the lighter colours of the fields in the opposite shore makes it appear as if light was shining through the clouds onto the village.
Sheep sheep sheep! (Or are they goats?) In any case, livestock are so common in rural areas, the coach we were travelling in had often to give way to them... cows, yaks, sheep/goats, boars, pigs and even dogs. It is the case in this photo: the coach is cautiously overtaking this army of sheep/goats.
Excellent photo, standard postcard picture. But still, nice to be there, proud to have it in my personal photo collection!
At certain tourist destinations, locals offer photo posing opportunities with Tibetan mastiffs for a small fee. I went for the free cat instead.
Strictly speaking, this is not in Tibet but in the neighbouring state of Qinghai (connecting by the railway in the first photo), but it's a wonderful sight to behold that I've decided to add this in.
More selected photos on my Picasa album.
Specifically, I've tagged along with my parents to Tibet, and hence the lack of updates while I'm swimming in the high altitudes and frolicking with the yaks. It's a real nice cool and dry over there, and that came in full force when I returned to Singapore's massive pile of humid and hazy air.
Anyway, here are some of the highlights of the photos I've taken:
This is a nice photo, though the focus of that spot is behind me: a sculpture of Buddha - about 10 metres high - into the cliff wall. I wished I had more time to capture a better composition, but some locals were about to walk into the picture from my left (it turns out that they were going to fertilise the pond).
The most amazing thing about this Yamdrok Lake is the deep blue colour - its most striking feature, especially when viewed from a mountaintop behind me (a typical tourist spot). I like this photo because the lighter colours of the fields in the opposite shore makes it appear as if light was shining through the clouds onto the village.
Sheep sheep sheep! (Or are they goats?) In any case, livestock are so common in rural areas, the coach we were travelling in had often to give way to them... cows, yaks, sheep/goats, boars, pigs and even dogs. It is the case in this photo: the coach is cautiously overtaking this army of sheep/goats.
Excellent photo, standard postcard picture. But still, nice to be there, proud to have it in my personal photo collection!
At certain tourist destinations, locals offer photo posing opportunities with Tibetan mastiffs for a small fee. I went for the free cat instead.
Strictly speaking, this is not in Tibet but in the neighbouring state of Qinghai (connecting by the railway in the first photo), but it's a wonderful sight to behold that I've decided to add this in.
More selected photos on my Picasa album.
03 September 2009
Earning a PHD with your Army Helmet
Yeah, that's right! Screw those long hours of research in a dank dungeon lab, slaving away at your pathetic sample or impossible equations. Your army Kevlar helmet can actually do that for you. The directions are simple: just denote a C4 some 5 metres away from your helmet, and sooner or later you may earn a permanent head damage.
Some medical physicists have done simulations on just such a situation: the long-term effect of a shockwave from an explosion, and it's supposedly slated for publication in Physical Review Letters (and that's a top-tier physics journal if there was ever one). They found that the gap between the head and the helmet - designed to prevent the soldiers from getting saucepan-ed on the head should their helmets get rapped - allows the shockwave to sneak to the head and rattle the cranium out of shape. What happens then is that the soldier will suffer from traumatic brain injury when they return home.
The blast doesn't even have to be deadly; in fact, it is the non-lethal blasts that causes this. Of course, lethal blasts understandably leaves no options for long-term damage. So until the time when ST Engineering or Chartered Industries comes up with a groundbreaking and earth-shattering helmet (just like what the latter did for the o'-so-wonder-yet-so-heavy SAR 21), I suppose we'll have to improvise. So will it be old newspaper or toilet paper for you?
Some medical physicists have done simulations on just such a situation: the long-term effect of a shockwave from an explosion, and it's supposedly slated for publication in Physical Review Letters (and that's a top-tier physics journal if there was ever one). They found that the gap between the head and the helmet - designed to prevent the soldiers from getting saucepan-ed on the head should their helmets get rapped - allows the shockwave to sneak to the head and rattle the cranium out of shape. What happens then is that the soldier will suffer from traumatic brain injury when they return home.
The blast doesn't even have to be deadly; in fact, it is the non-lethal blasts that causes this. Of course, lethal blasts understandably leaves no options for long-term damage. So until the time when ST Engineering or Chartered Industries comes up with a groundbreaking and earth-shattering helmet (just like what the latter did for the o'-so-wonder-yet-so-heavy SAR 21), I suppose we'll have to improvise. So will it be old newspaper or toilet paper for you?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
