iPhone For Ass(es)

4 October

I am never a fan of Apple but this time I was quite excited to await the news about the latest iPhone release. With all the hype and speculation regarding iPhone 5, I believed that there was equal chance for either iPhone 4GS or iPhone 5 to be released. Instead of iPhone 4GS, it is called iPhone 4S (read: iPhone for ass). Kinda expected the dual core system so I thought it was quite a huge upgrade and deserved to be called iPhone 5. Despite the upgrades (dual core, 8mp camera, the kinda useless voice command Siri thingy), it looks exactly like an iPhone 4 and hence it is not considered a newer generation which deserves a '5' on it.

I hope this deters people from buying. With that, I may consider buying. Price is one thing. The other thing which makes me not really interested in getting iPhone is that more than half of the people here are using it! It is sort of -__- when everyone else around you on a bus or on a train is also playing their iPhone. Sorry.. no matter how premium the price is, it still feels like a phone for the mass and that makes it feel rather cheapo.

5 October

This is an unrelated, but equally, shocking news: Steve Jobs died today. Everyone knows that he is battling a rare form of pancreatic cancer and it is just a matter of time. It is so unfortunate that that time came 1 day after the big announcement from the company which is synonymous with him. Some people joked around that iPhone 4S is just crap and he died after hearing that the new iPhone is just "like that".

Anyway, I don't really care. To me he is just another human being. Yes he may revolutionise the use (and marketing) of devices which were present but not popular previously. As genius and creative as he is, unfortunately, to me he is just another money-sucking businessman. The price tags of his items are just exhorbitant. And it is kinda "ewww" to market the items as "premium items which deserve premium prices". Well the rich can do whatever they like with their money. But for me, it is kinda lame to pay for a phone, a computer, or a music player for 2x or 3x more than those from other brands. A phone is a phone. A computer is a computer. An mp3 player is an mp3 player. A brand is a brand. How good can a phone be which deserves to be priced 2-3x more than a similar phone? Oh well let the smart alecks with powerful vision, sense of touch and sense of time who can differentiate the significance of the different megapixels and displays, the different types of touch screens, as well as the the few milliseconds faster processing.

But who cares, I am just a tech noob. I just want something which can function according to what I need at the cheapest price. So Apple stuff is just not for me.

Looking at this event, it made me feel quite sad about this life. Steve Jobs made lots of money but in the end, that cannot buy him health and life. I feel very sian working now. Days change to weeks to months to years. Before I know, it is time for me to spend the hard-earned money for declining health and then for funeral. What's the point of living if I cannot even enjoy it? Sigh...

Anyhow, if only Apple items are more reasonably priced and hence are more affordable to many more people, Steve Jobs may be held more dearly by many more people. For now, only the certain "elites" who are crazy over his "premium" items would care about him.

Feast Days

I was too tired for the past 2 days to do my daily readings. I only had the time today and I forgot that 29th September is the feast day of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. More significanly for me, yesterday (30th September) is the feast day of the patron saint of my choice! Ouch.. Sorry, Sir, I forgot about you :(

As I try to remember about him, I discovered his words below:

"If the apostles and martyrs, while still living on earth, could pray for other men, how much more may they do it after their victories? Have they less power now that they are with Jesus Christ?" 

 

I am amazed. And at the same time, I am proud of him. I know the variant of this quote which is usually used when Catholics and Protestants disagree about asking the dead to pray of us as well as to pray for the dead. It goes like "When we are alive, we ask our friends to pray for us and they ask us for our prayers. What different does it make when we ask our (dead) friends to pray for us or when we pray for our (dead) friends?". I am sorry to the Protestants out there but I think your thinking is just hypocritical. You argue that rather than pray to the saints, why not directly pray to God because after all He is the source of everything. My answer is: why do you ask your friends to pray for you when you are in need of God's help? You can directly pray to God, can't you?

For me personally, I will still honour the Saints and martyrs. They are nearer to God and with their holiness, God may find their prayer more preferable than mine. So please pray for me, Mother Mary, Saint Jerome, and all other Saints :) I, too, will pray but the more will be the merrier. Lol..

NEX

If not because of my rotation, I would never ever visited Nex @ Serangoon. Despite hearing all the good food there, I am lazy to specially travel there just to look and see. Now it has become my regular chill-out place after work. Haha.. The first time I stepped my feet there, I was a bit disappointed. I thought it was cramped and only had 2 levels. But I was actually only on the B2 and B1! Lol. So yeah, it is a pretty nice mall but the low ceiling makes it feel just like "any other shopping centre in the neighbourhood". If only their design includes high ceiling, that will definitely add an "oomph".

I am gonna share some of the interesting shops I find there. On top of my list is the Green Pumpkin Japanese Bakery. The "Japanese" is not only the name. They had interesting things like Miso Karage, various Melon Pan, Green Tea Pan, and Sakura Pan, Edamame and corn on baquette, okonomiyaki bread, etc. Really genius! The best seller #1 is Green Pumpkin bread. The flavour is there although the thing got stuck everywhere on my teeth. Haha.. Best seller #2 is White Cheese bread. It is my favourite. It is cheesy but not over-cheesy (Lol??). Best seller #3, Melon Mango Pan, is a disappointment to me as I can taste neither of the 2 of my favourite fruits. I tried of one of the green tea-based bread but the green tea taste is not strong enough. Today I am trying their Durian Cream and I expect something good!! Haha... Price-wise, a bit pricey in my opinion as most are $1.60 or more. But I don't mind to buy because their flavours are unique and are not mere copycat from other bakeries.

Next is Broaster Chicken. I believe it is a local fast food chain. Unfortunately it is just next to McDonalds. Sometimes I wonder why people wanna fight for queue at McD while the shop next to it is not that crowded. Does brand really matter? The price is very decent. I only tried their chicken strips. It was $5.95 (or maybe $6.95? I forgot because it was a week ago) for 5 pieces chicken strips + meal! That is much better than 3pc chicken strips from Popeyes. The size is normal so 5 strips are filling. Of course it is not perfect because I find it rather bland. But would I come back? I surely will. It is value for money.

Lately I am craving for Japanese food. Last week I entered a wrong shop. Haiz.. I was craving for ramen but I entered a shop with no ramen -__-". I saw the price wrongly too. I thought $13+ was already including rice but when I read the menu (after I sat down), I saw that rice and bla bla bla would need additional $4+. Crazy. I bought a set with udon (the closest I can find to ramen...), some weird sushi with black pork slices, and 3 slices of sashimi. Almost $25. Gosh! The only good thing about the shop is the cute male waiter.

Today, being the last day of the month, I decided to eat more extravagantly. I tried Ramen Play. I had the most expensive instant noodle in my life! Bleah.. I expected the ramen is like from Ajisen Ramen type, not the instant noodle type. Bleah... I ordered a standard pork tonkatsu curry ramen. The pork meat is good but the batter is too thin. It is not "Japanese" enough. The curry is also good but it tastes very much like instant noodle seasoning! And here comes the worst part: before the dish arrived, I was served with stir-fried spicy chives to give a try. Soon after that, the waitress came to take it away -___- It seems like they only have a few jars of the thing and have to share it among the customers. Pathetic man! So even with the $10 voucher (to be used next time if I eat more than $30), I am not gonna go back anymore. To be fair, the food is pretty good. But witth the same price, I rather have a more proper Japanese-style taste (like Ajisen Ramen) rather than instant noodle kind of taste.

Enough about food. I am happy to find MCKY Collection there. As the name suggests, it is a Disney shop. They have lovely original Disney stuff there. Lol.. Too bad the plushies are still not as cute as my sister's Mickey and Minnie at home. Those she has are still the most original-looking one haha.. Or maybe because I am used to them for so many donkey years that any other things look less like a Mickey and a Minnie.

LG shop is there too. I am happy to see Lollipop phones are still available. But urgh.. the price really makes me vomit blood. Seriously it is a bloody old phone. Why don't the price drop! At $248, it is equal to Android-based phones like Optimus One, for example. Nobody in the right mind will buy Lollipop..

So 2 weeks left in PSC. I am gonna treasure the last few opportunities to go to Nex after work. My aim is to at least taste all the interesting flavour from the Green Pumpkin bakery. Yum yum  ^o^

Inspirations

The picture above was taken in 1999 when a group of surgeons performed an operation to a 21-week-old foetus. The baby had spina bifida and would not survive unless an operation was done. The womb was removed from the mother's body, the amniotic fluid was drained, the operation was done, and the womb was placed back to the mother's body. Before it was sealed, the baby's hand was seen holding onto the surgeon's hand as if shaking his hand as a gratitude. The baby is Samuel Armas (born healthily in December 1999) and surgeon whose hand in the picture is Dr Joseph Bruner.

I was stunned when I read this. You know what, I read something like this from manga Godhand Teru. Is it a coincidence?? Haha.. I guess not.. I think the mangaka was inspired by this real life story. Anyway, I cried like a baby on this story. It is really touching indeed.

Pencil: I'm sorry

Eraser: For what? You didn't do anything wrong.

Pencil: I'm sorry cos you get hurt bcos of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you're always there to erase it. But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.

Eraser: That's true. But I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. Even though one day, I know I'll be gone and you'll replace me with a new one, I'm actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad. :)

I found this conversation between the pencil and the eraser very inspirational. Parents are like the eraser whereas their children are the pencil. They're always there for their children, cleaning up their mistakes. Sometimes along the way... they get hurt, and become smaller (older, and eventually pass on).

Though their children will eventually find someone new (spouse), but parents are still happy with what they do for their children, and will always hate seeing their precious ones worrying, or sad.

"All my life, I've been the pencil.. And it pains me to see the eraser that is my parents getting smaller and smaller each day. For I know that one day, all that I'm left with would be eraser shavings and memories of what I used to have..."

this is dedicated to parents.

Credits to my facebook friends who share these things so that they appeared on my newsfeed. Haha..

World Pharmacists Day - 25 September

I have bounced back from my emo-ness yesterday. Yes it sucks to have difficulty doing the cases. Yes it scares me that if competency exam will be like that, failing will be easier than passing. But I really should not be discouraged and feel that I am more stupid than my hospital counterparts. After all, they do this day in day out and of course they should be better than me for these kind of things. So I don't give a damn, after all competency exam will be an exam. An exam is mug-able and when the time comes, I should just start my mugging days like the old university days..

Today I was so suay and got called to answer the case. Sigh.. My friend who is currently attached to SGH passed to me that hospital guidelines so I just read out the answer. The presenter knew it was from her place so she wondered why I could give the correct answer. I told her I got it from my friend (my friend is only attached there but her training is with NCC so I am not sure whether the paper she passed to me belongs to which organisation). So she asked again it came from which guideline. I totally had no idea, man! I just answered that it fits into the guidelines given in NUS days, so I think should be okay. Then came the irritating part when she said "So if doctor asked you will say it is from your colleague?". Bleah zz.. Fuck man.. If you want hospital standard kind of answer then jollywell ask someone from hospital sia. I honestly don't give a damn with where the guidelines come from. You spent your last 5 days doing renal everyday so you know better. I never touch any renal in my setting and doing the questions alone already gave me headache so yeah who cares about where the guidelines come from.

Anyways when I said my 2nd answer, the whole 100+ people broke into laughter. I don't know whether they laugh because my reply was funny or because it was dumb. Well, power of POSITIVE THINKING: at least I gave the opportunity for the rest to have a good entertainment and laughter. Haha..

I never know 25 September is World Pharmacists Day. I was given a nice gadget by my training site. Too bad it is of no use for me ba. It is a USB hub with 3 USB ports and 4 card readers: for MS/MS Pro Duo, SD card, Micro SD card, and M2 card. All within one gadget. Cool! And guess what is more cool: the organisation logo is engraved on the gadget!

Too bad I am not in a positive mood on the special occasion. I wonder why I am in this sector: low pay, low job satisfaction, very demanding in terms of time and brain power, high risk, everyday got scolded by patients (at least I don't get scolding from doctors as well as fellow colleague at my place, I pity those in other places). And I am still sore about what happened this morning. Arrogant hospital people! Jeez. Again I want to reitterate my point for those arrogant people: 

"You are not smarter than anybody else. It is only because you do all the "clinical" things everyday that you are "better" in the "clinical things". Come to different places with their own prescribing and medication use  patterns and see whether you can still be smart aleck. Come to the community settings and see whether you even remember what items are available as P-items, what supplements are good for what, and whether you can serve customers. There is no fair comparison and thus the notion that you are smarter is just your own pride. If you really wanna talk about "being smart", lets just compare our university results, shall we? After all, that was when we were all on equal ground: same lecturers, same lecture notes, same lab sessions etc."

 
And to the arrogant seniors who like to bully the trainees: "You old twits have been doing this day in day out for the past donkey years so no point showing how you are better than I who am only here for awhile. Please compare with someone equal to you because obviously I am less experienced. But remember that perhaps when you were a junior, you were as stupid or perhaps even more stupid than I am right now. And wait in a few years time, I may be as smart or perhaps even smarter than you are right now".

Thank God for the nice colleagues I have currently. And thank you, my preceptor and my fellow pharmacists at my institution who are treating me as a fellow colleague, rather than as someone to bully. Wishing you all a good Pharmacists Day. To those sucky pharmacists, don't worry, you'll get your karma from your patients so have fun :)

Envy

After 2 weeks of hiatus from Mass, the prodigal son was back to the church at last weekend. I am really grateful for the apt Gospel readings about the master of the vineyard, the workers, and the wage. 3 years ago was the first time that this passage struck me. Yep that was not too long after my baptism. At that time, the homily related the passage to being Catholics: that God will reward us with Heaven after our death with no regards to how long we have been Catholics. At that time, I was like the workers called at the 3rd hour. Lol.. I agree that being Catholic is a "work". It is really not easy to observe God's commandments like fasting during Lent, going to church every Sunday, avoid sinning, etc. After all, it is mentioned in the Bible that God will punish people who knows His teachings but do not follow more than people who do not know His teachings and do wrong. So while I may be "luckier" as compared to those born Catholics, I am still jealous with those "deathbed Catholics" hor.. :p

Back to the present, this time the homily was angled towards job/work and that struck me like a lightning. I am currently emo about my work. I DON'T hate it! Sigh.. I am just emo because I am jealous of my friends. Sigh.. I studied so hard in university, I still have to study now, I do not have enough time for my games and my sleep, I get scoldings everyday from people whom I wish to help, I am "responsible" of  people's life, but my pay is so low. I am not really satisfied. Other people earn more than me, no need to study anymore, and everything seems to be better. Haiz..

And paraphrasing what God says: "My friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did we not agree with your pay at the start of the day? I choose to pay other people more than you with less work. Have I no right to do so? Why are you jealous because I am generous?". =X And I am dumbstruck. I really got nothing to say. I enrolled myself to this stupid course, I chose to do pre-reg and indirectly agree with the shit pay and the shit career ahead.

But the ultimate message is not about God suan-ning me. It is about envy. To be honest, if I just look at myself, I am quite glad with what I have now. It is better to have a job (and income) rather than looking for a job after all. And as bad as I think my job is, other jobs may be worse and other training sites are obviously worse. It is only through comparison with other people that the envy and disatisfaction come :'( And to put things into perspective, I think the song below sums it all. After all the most important things in life are roof over the head, food on the table, shoes on the feet (though I rather they change it to clothes on the body.. I don't want to walk around naked but wearing shoes haha) , fine family, and God's love. And guess what, I actually have it all and I should be thankful for those. Who cares about money after all as long as you have all the above?

So perhaps, the proverb should not be "the grass is greener on the other side". I should be "the grass ONLY SEEMS greener on the other side". Maybe the grass on the other side grows on a land of smelly shit and I will only know that after I jump to the other side.

Forgive me Lord for my ungratefulness :(

One Pound Gospel/One Pound no Fukuin

 

Synopsis:

Hatanaka Kosaku is a talented boxer who turned pro at the age of 19, winning his debut match with a first round KO. He is talented, but he has no guts. His uncontrollable appetite is an even bigger problem. He can’t put himself in the right weight class, he runs out of energy because of hunger, and he gets knocked out while his eyes are set on food at the ringside. However, Kosaku’s life changed when he met Sister Angela, a novice nun in the convent near his boxing gym. She became the source of his power, and Kosaku fights only to win her heart. --NTV

My opinion:

The first time I came across this dorama was when I was into KAT-TUN last year (or was it 2 years ago?). I am not a fan of Kamenashi Kazuya so the 'wow' factor for me is more due to the fact that the story is based on a Takahashi Rumiko's manga. I enjoy her Ranma and Inu Yasha very much (Although I did not buy the manga for this one because the manga is kinda "oldies" :p). In addition, boxing is quite a rare sports theme to be featured in anime, manga, or TV shows. So perhaps I can learn a bit more about it while watching this.

I have a high expectation because I know it is gonna be a romantic comedy + sports, my 2 favourite genres.  Plus Ranma caused me to cry in laughter so I am hoping something of that level of craziness  and hilarity. Unfortunately, it is more of "trying to be funny" rather than "naturally funny". I get the feeling that the producers are simply using Kame's star power and let him do all the job to make the audience laugh. I have to agree that there are some funny scenes but most of the funny scenes are quite akward with Kame alone shouting and trying to be funny while other characters don't seem able to act funny. End product is corny, instead of funny.

The plot itself is quite weak. I do not see any development from the start. There isn't much about boxing, the matches are not exciting, and the love story development is unclear. Throughout the series,  it keeps repeating the same pattern: Kousaku eats too much -> failed weighing -> had to lose weight -> pre-match emo-ness -> Sister Angela comes to the rescue -> back to the start. Just replace the "->" with whatever lameness  for the sake of  filling the airtime. The final championship match was terrible and the victory came in a very anti-climatic manner.
 

Overall, it is a mediocre show, sometimes to the verge of being boring. Not funny enough as a comedy.. not sporty enough to be a sports dorama.. not sweet enough as a romance. I do find Kame's acting excellent and I find Meisa Kuroki very interesting to watch as she can be strict, angry,  sweet, funny, lame, and she is very pretty! In fact, I find that she is prettier in the habit than in the normal clothes. Lol.

My afterthoughts:

A few weeks ago, I tried boxing in Wii. It was damn tiring although I was only punching air and I played only for a shortwhile. Imagine a real boxer has to fight for 10 rounds (if  there is no KO) with all the physical impact of punching and being punched. Seeing how they sweat when they box or how groggy they become after a punch does not seem very fake now. Lol.

I am jealous of Kame's body!! How can he be so scrawny but he has the muscle strength to do the various physical manouvers/exercises shown here!! It also makes my heart ache when I see how much he has to undergo to lose weight T_T Liddat no way I can be slim with the kind of exercises that I do. Huhuhu :'(

I am also jealous with Kousaku's personality. He is a simple guy. He is happy just seeing the girl whom he loves happy. No matter how shit the circumstances he is in, he never loses his cool, never shouts and never curses to express his anger. It must be nice to be positive like that. Haiz..

Some lessons of life now. To me, this series underscores the importance of hard work, strong will, people's support and miracle/God's blessings/luck as a formula to success. Although it is very cliche, Kousaku is always on the verge of losing but somehow he managed to hold on until the opportunity comes when he can KO his opponent. Without his hard work, he may not be able to physically withstand the blows until the time when the golden opportunity comes. He may not get up when he is down if not because of his supporters cheering from the side of the ring to encourage him to get up. And lastly, he has the will and the focus to win, although initially it is because of his love for Sister Angela. I think that is similar to our own life. To be successful, we need the all 4. I don't know what my life will be now. I am lazy, I have no good reason for doing what I am doing, and it depends on luck whether I will be surrounded by people who will support me :( How to be a succesful person like that?? Haiz..

I will end with a quote that I like. These are the words by the Mother Superior to Sister Angela who is confused whether to remain in the convent as a nun or to quit the convent and be together with Kousaku.  I think this is applicable for everybody since as humans, we are always afraid of changes. It is always not easy to decide: to stay or to move on??

"You can remain here and nothing will change. Or you can take a step outside and everything will not be the same. Both are equally scary, aren't they?"

Toys update

Aaah suddenly I wanted to really really get Squall Dissidia Play Arts Kai. I spent the last 3 days going around to various places (Plaza Singapura, Sunshine Plaza, China Square, Bugis, Iluma, Chinatown Point, Funan IT Mall) to compare prices. Since it is still 3 months old, the price still ranges from $80-$100 T_T However, I found other cheap loots :D

1. Nendoroid #117 Ciel Phantomhive

This is my first time buying Nendoroid series as previously I only know them selling various anime girls. I am not a big fan of Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) but when I saw this I was like "OMG so cute!" because of the chair. Haha.. And I like the super irritating expression that Ciel has here. Lol.. To my disappointment, his butler's Nendoroid was released 1 year ago :'( It is kinda difficult to find it now although I think they should somehow reproduce it because what's the point of giving Sebastian's extra hands and the drink tray if people cannot find Sebastian anymore.

The boxset

In a shop in Funan IT, I saw it selling for $70. Holy shit! I bought it  from Pan-in-the-Box at Chinatown Point for $29.90. Not sure whether the shop really gave discount since it is moving somewhere (the mall is going to be torn down) or the former shop is just a rip off.

2. Final Fantasy VIII Play Arts: Selphie Tilmitt

I promised myself to only buy the main guy and main girl characters for Final Fantasy Play Arts because I am running out (in fact, I already ran out) of space in my cupboard. But when I saw this selling for $25, I bought it! Haha.. I bought this at the shop just outside Kinokuniya Bugis.  It is called Absolute Comics. That is the shop from where I bought my Tifa, Cloud, and Rinoa 4 years ago. Looks like nobody liked Selphie to buy her even until the price was slashed this badly.

Unfortunately, this is a huge disappointment for me as it shows a great sign of aging, I believe because it has been in the shop for many many years. I know light will damage the colour but that shop was pretty dim le :( Anyway my Selphie looked like she just had a sun tan.. The discolouration was quite bad that when I opened the box, I thought I had been wrong all this while: Selphie actually wore a khaki/beige long pants! Of course I was not wrong, Selphie just wore the yellow overall. The discolouration made it as if she was wearing long pants.

3. Kingdom Hearts II Play Arts: Sora

4. Kingdom Hearts II Play Arts Special Edition: Sora Final Form

To be frank, I am not a fan of Kingdom Hearts. The one that I want to buy, ironically, is King Mickey. Too bad he is $90, even more expensive than the latest Final Fantasy XIII Kai and Dissidia Kai. That is surprising. Sora cost me $30 each, again from Pan-in-the-Box. There is significant wear and tear in the box so I really thought these are 2nd hand product and hence explained the price. But when I saw there was one stack of them with similar conditions, I think 2nd hand is unlikely.

I am disappointed in both as they lack in articulation/pose-ability. I can only move the arms and neck. I cannot do anything with the feet, bend the knee, rotate the hips, etc to change the pose.. Sigh :( I hate Sora's baggy pants too as the plastic is kinda flimsy there.. Bleah.. Oh well :(

So yeah, close to $120 spent and I am only happy with Ciel. Lessons learnt:

1) Do go around to compare prices as the price can differ quite crazily. Take for example the shop in Funan which sells the latest Dissidia Kai for $100 and FF XIII Kai for $70. In Plaza Singapura, one shop is selling all FF Play Arts for $80. Again in Funan, there are one game shop next to an anime shop. The anime shop is selling FF VII Crisis Core Aerith for $59.90 and the game shop is selling it for $80.

2) There is 1 anime shop left at Sunshine Plaza so there is no point going there to hunt for anime stuff anymore. China Square Point is not worth visiting too. They have many action figures shop but mostly if tailored for the USA products i.e Marvel Comics, DC comics, Star Wars etc. However, I need to mention one shop with awesome display of super duper expensive Square Enix collections. On display are: Lenneth Valkyrie Diorama (I check eBay is selling it for a whopping US$599), 1:1 scale Gabranth's Dissidia helmet, various Final Fantasy dioramas with average height 3x of the Play Arts or Play Arts Kai figurines which make them of at least 50cm in height. Cool stuff to see!

3) Should I buy new figurines (at least $60) or should I wait a few years for the price to drop but the colour may have faded and the plastic may not be in the optimum condition anymore?? Haiz.. I am in big dilemma..

For now, I cannot wait for Anime Festival Asia 2011 which starts on 11.11.11. I really wanna buy my Dissidia Kai Squall, Zack + Aerith from FF VII Crisis Core, Zidane + Garnet from FF IX, and perhaps Hope and Serah from FF XIII too.. T_T No money.. No space in luggage to go hone.. No space in the room too keep.. No space in the cupboard to show off...

Rankings: Fast Food

1. McDonald's

Prior to my arrival to Singapore, I hated McD the most among all the fast food chains. I was biased because I found McD to be very overpriced, small in portion, and not that nice in Indonesia. Haha.. During my first few years here, I remember that I only purchased McD to get 2 Hello Kitty small toys (nope.. this was not the super huge Hello Kitty fever). Things slowly changed as I found McD here to be very innovative. For example: Twister Fries and Beef Prosperity in conjuction with Chinese New Year, Shaker Fries, the forever $2 double cheeseburger, special glasses to commemorate special occasions such as Youth Olympic Games, Olympic Games, Coke, monopoly games, and many more. The tipping point for me to favour McD perhaps is due to its presence in NUS campus and the students price there. But no matter what, the $2 double cheeseburger is always "best buy" for me if I want to save money on meals.

2. Long John Silver's

I was not really attracted to LJS at the start because their seafood is like their main attraction and they cost a bomb. I end up always eating the chicken lol. However, I have to give kudos to their unique fries :) That is still the biggest pulling factor for me. The remnants of crunchy batter come second. Their innovation of Thai-style chicken was actually quite good and now with their $4.50 meal offers, I think they can match up with the other fast food chains in terms of price. The $4.50 offer also allowed me to taste their prawn which was quite nice. Haha.. Despite their elusiveness (it is quite difficult to find LJS branch) and my experience of the crunchy batter derailed my braces, I still place this as number 2 and sometimes I travel just to eat this. Too bad they are no longer present at Toa Payoh Central =x

3. Subway

Similar to McD, I only fell in love with this because its presence at NUS. While the idea of "healthy" fast food and hefty "personalisation" of the bread, vegetable and sauce choice, I find Subway to be relatively more expensive than the others. 20% off students price in NUS really made a difference to bring the price down to a more reasonable level. Because their toasted version gives me sore throat, I now prefer untoasted version or even the wrap version. I am not a big fan for their innovation (the latest being Chilli Crab) as the price tends to be more expensive and somehow it is quite difficult for them to come out with something better with their current menu. 2 thumbs up for their current menu which is wide in variety. And interestingly, I don't find them boring (I wonder why) and I keep buying the same few things (the cheaper ones) without feeling sick. Maybe the freshness of the vegetable does make a difference. Oh ya, I almost miss out the best thing from Subway: the COOKIES!! Yum yum...

4. Popeye's

I knew this during my JC and at that time there was only one branch which was in the Airport. I find the price to be very expensive but due to it only having one branch, I did not mind to specially go to the Airport to get it. The coleslaw, the fries, and the biscuit are good. The main meals are actually so-so. I stopped patronising it for awhile when suddenly they further increased the price by removing one side dish from their meal set. Previously I can always fulfil my appetite for both coleslaw and fries but now I had to choose :( Now they have more branches, but still comparably less than the others. And that may be the factor which makes me seek after it even though the food is not really fantastic and the price is quite expensive.

5. Kentucky Fried Chicken

As the name suggests, it still serves the BEST chicken products among the rest. It used to be on my number 1 as nothing beats the joy of having that huge Zinger burger plus yummy Cheesy Fries for $5.95. It lost my favour as its price hike is the most significant. Firstly, they replaced the Cheesy Fries to Mashed Potato (which I hate) for the $5.95 meals. To replace the mashed potato to cheesy fries, I need to top up $1.70. And imagine now their basic meals cost $6.50.Thus what cost me $5.95, costs me $8.20 nowadays. Zz.. Not to mention that the Zinger is growing smaller too.

6. Burger King

This is a dethroned king. It used to be my number 1 because it used to be banned in Indonesia (the last time I had BK was back in early 1990s when my family collected Lion King figures from their Kids' Meal). As a beef lover, I liked BK because they have mostly beef and bacons. Plus they are the only one to sell onion rings and Hershey's pies. Unfortunately, I find their lack of innovation to be a bane. All their burgers almost taste the same and it does not really help to have additional menu of single vs double patty -_-". The good thing is that it no longer charges additional fee to change from fries to onion ring for the meals, although the onion ring is no longer as good as last time. Their latest innovation is BK Shots. In the picture, it looks like 2 mini burgers. When I bought, it was even smaller than 1 normal-sized burger. Haiz.. I realised that it actually looked like a number 8. But based on the innuendos used in their ads, the shape is actually inspired by females' boobs. What a desperate marketing effort -__-"

7. Pastamania

Not really considered as fast food but I used to be addicted to it until I realised that I was gaining too much weight because I had this too often. My favourite was Alfredo and I was a bit anal when they increased the price by mere $1. Surprisingly, the price remained the same until now and actually their price increase is the most reasonable as compared to other fast food chains. I just had this on Sunday (after so many years) and I find the quality is still maintained. Wow! Too bad I am worried about my weight. (and my money) .Otherwise, this will be somewhere up high on my list. Creamy pasta, unlimited cheese, wide varieties in the menu.. What else can I ask? Can't be helped to have a higher price but that is another minus point because it just does not make sense for me to spend close to $10 for a meal that frequently right?

8. Carl's Jr

They market their burgers as the biggest, most filling, and of course indirecly it means they are the fattest in terms of cost and the most fattening. Unfortunately, bigger does not always mean better. For me, the serving is just too big to the point of being sick after finishing a burger (don't even imagine finishing a meal!). And it is a trouble to get all my fingers dirty (although their ads are along the line "Let's get messy" or something). Most of their meals are above $10 so I rather have Pastamania anyday. Similar to BK's problem, they fail to innovate and all their burgers almost taste the same that it is quite boring to keep eating here.

Gadgets

I went to Best Denki trying to look for mp3 player. It seems that the store does not sell mp3 players. I ended up drooling over laptops and netbooks because it was really shocking to see how low the prices are right now.

To put things into perspective:

- MP3 players $100-$250

- iPod touch and above $300-$600

- Digital camera $150-500

- Low entry handphones cost $200-$400

- Portable gaming devices $300-$500

- Netbooks can go as low as $400-$500.

- High-end handphones are $600-$800

- Tablet computers are $600-$800

- Discounted laptops can be as low as $800-$900

- Normal laptops are usually $1200-$1800

- Macbooks are $1300-$2000

With limited money and so many wants, it is difficult to choose what to buy. For laptop, macbooks are completely out for me. Without being biased against Apple, it just DOES NOT make sense to buy Apple products of any sort. For an example, Macbooks come in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. With their price tags, laptops from other brands will come with even 500GB harddisks. So is it really worth to get Mac? With the same amount of money, might as well get a discounted laptops (with capacity 250GB or 320GB) PLUS a netbook (with memory 250GB). One for home use and one travelling purpose. Isn't it better than ONE Mac? Discounted laptops will be my choice as latest laptops can be 1.5x than older models and to be honest, for normal daily usage, the difference is just not significant enough.

Tablets are "quasi-laptop" and I seriously see no value in them. For gaming, portable game devices like Nintendo DS or Sony PSP are definitely better. For connectivity and work-related stuff, netbooks are more capable and cheaper than tablets. Now with cheap laptops to be as low as $800-$900, tablets are seriously worthless.

Handphone is the huge grey area! The high-end phones are more expensive than netbooks and now is almost comparable to discounted laptops! Phones should be mainly used for making calls and sending smses. But with all the apps-fever, I agree that it maybe more convenient to have handphones for online access when I am on the move. Additionally, phones are multi-purpose with their capabilities for gaming, music, and camera. So I am alright for forking a bit more for phones. However, I am still anti towards $800-ish phones. Come on, is it really necessary to have a super duper display, a super duper processor, etc?? For goodness sake, it is still a phone after all! It should not and would not be able to replace the role of computers.

I used to be a fan of netbook when the cheapest laptops were still in the $1000-ish range. But now with laptops going down to $800-ish (and that includes the 11 inches ones), it may be more worthwile to get a laptop. However, with $400 price tags, I don't mind getting a netbook for work-sake due to its lightweight. But unfortunately, I don't need to move around that much and require computer access that much in my work that I think netbook is out of the picture for now.

Moving on to digital camera. I think their functions justify their price tags. Computers can't take photos and camera phones pale in comparison to digital camera for taking pictures. For normal use (to take pictures of interesting things and upload in my blog or facebook), I find my 3.2MP and 5MP camera phone to be good enough. But they are lousy when I go overseas or when there is low light. Ironically, I never own one. Reason being: I hardly travel so I hardly see the need of high quality camera. If I am someone who travels a lot, I will definitely own a digital camera.

Gaming devices are a niche area so whatever the price, they are still sort of "irreplaceable". You can play games on handphones but those games are just to kill time. Phones cannot beat the image quality and control experience from a gaming device. It is the same case with laptops/netbooks/tablet. Even though they may be able to produce better graphics, they cannot match the control experience from a gaming device. So gaming devices are definitely a yes for me.

Lastly, mp3 players. Some may argue it is "replacable" with phones nowadays. I beg to differ. Phones batteries kinda suck nowadays and I don't want my phone to die on me when I need it most for calling someone or messaging someone. So unless phones batteries can have awesome lifespan after a single charge, I still see a value of owning an mp3 player PROVIDED that I travel a lot. Lol. Again, I am not bashing Apple but I think it's stupid to get iPod. For similar price, mp3 players from other brands offer double or triple the capacity which iPod offers. iPod classic is actually the top with 160GB capacity. But come on, mp3 players are meant to be something portable. 160GB is like hundreds of hours of songs. Will you be travelling that much to be able to listen to hundres of hours of songs??

I am not a tech geek so of course these are broad generalisations as it does not really take into account  different brands, tech specs, memory capacities, features, etc. And the prices I mentioned are based on the notable brands eg. Apple, Creative, ASUS, Acer, Sony, Samsung, etc. I don't give a damn about random made in China mp3 players, for example. 

And for me the best combinations of gadgets are:

High-end mobile phone (with camera and internet) + gaming device + cheap laptop

+ mp3 player if I travel a lot

+ netbook if the laptop is not portable enough

+ digicam if someday I travel oeverseas a lot)

And sadly, based on what I own right now, I only have a good gaming device :( My mobile phone has a terrible camera in low light and connectivity is as good as being absent altogether. My laptop is dying but I shall wait until cheap laptops are equipped with new windows OS and USB 3.0 port or until my current laptop dies (whichever comes first). And I am craving for an mp3 player now.. In less than a week, I will have my rotation. And I need to spend 2 hours bus journey DAILY. T_T