Physics at 33°C

When you struggle through those massively complicated mechanics equations, you just wish sometimes that instead of sitting under and apple tree, Newton sat under a Durian tree. Enter Durio dulcis, Durio graveolens, Durio kutejensis, Durio oxlevanus, Durio zibethinus…they all point to the same thing, the Durian.

Consider the following:
A typical adult durian tree grows up to about 40 m in height. A durian can weigh 1 to 5 kgs.

So according to F = ma, that should give a nice bonker of 200 Newtons on his noddin’.
But IF the durian had really crashed atop his precious noddin’, then there wouldn’t be F = ma would there? BUT that doesn’t change the fact that there are times one’d just wished the author of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica just plain simple sat under a Durian tree. Doesn't matter what variety it is, D24 or some other wild clones...just as long as it weighed 5 kg and above...oh...just make sure it isn't D70, D70s or D2H, D2X...but that's Nikon...not Newton we're talking about. I'd better quit this...it's getting to look silly...

Work essentials

Writing's on the wall. Gourmet coffee needs S90. S90 needs gourmet coffee...work is hectic these days....been feeding off one of these in times such as this...dire times. But it is good to know, that this little gem can deliver where it counts at the click of a button...a high pitched whine of the grinder, the characteristic "click-clack", the pump building up the pressure, then comes the perfect cup of espresso with the obligatory Crema.

Mobilfunkgeräte

What's that got to do with this Blog? Nothing. Just the sight of 'funkgeräte looked good. It's late, 1030 pm and I am packing up...ready to head home. Tomorrow will be another early day...6 am start...then drive through the countryside...but I am not complaining. Times like these I know I will miss, when I head back to the city concrete, urban beat. Good night folks. More logs when day breaks. Strange I get memory lapses every now and then....perhaps a task list would help...now where did I put my Palm Direlict Apparatus....those PDAs...

Quick Updates

And so, everyone's all over the place. One of the random XS's key influences, Dr. Titanium and family, are off to Boston now. On the very day they took off (morning flight), the Random XS had his in the night...(yes, the one with almost a platoon load of Singapore Girls in civvies). Belgianchocs was back as well, so the Random XS got to meet her at Starbucks, and got himself a local version of the Starbucks City mugs...pity it was a 20 oz mug...not the standard 16 oz versions....oh well, everything in that tropical island along the equator is supersized. One-up they say. Ok, this is Random, so it ends here.

Next shift

What's more remarkable than having to take a dump in a plane going through turbulence? Well, having your entire front row seats filled with off duty Singapore Airline girls dressed in their civvies and slowly taking turns to transform into their Sarong Kabaya self does create quite a spin in your mind, especially when you are drifting in and out of sleep, taking occasional "oxygen stretches" then go "Oops!" as you accidentally hit someone walking down the aisle...realising a couple of moments later that it was the stewardess serving your sector that just floated past you. Doh! And so, after an approximately 12 hour flight, some turbulence, sleeping through your warm towels and almost missing some meals (not to mention being dehydrated despite gallons of O.J), the Random XS arrives at his destination...then he goes to figure out the trains...which is another one of those enigmatic entities that never seem to arrive on time.

Dr. Ti's Bike

Where this:

Get's fashioned into this:

The District Attorney has deemed this frame registered under Dr. Ti as of 22nd June 2005. World meets NHL04331. NHL04331 takes on the trail.

Reverse Chronology

It's another late night...early morning vigils...reports and proposals abound...but let's take a look at the day's events...well, a couple of days ago...

It starts with a national staple....Cai Tao Kuey!

And here is where you get it. In the past, the queues used to snake wayyyyyy out into the car park...

...of a place called BTM Food Centre..

Now, allow the Random XS to introduce another key person in the scheme of things. Meet Dr. Titanium and his latest plumbing works...

No, he didn't pluck it out from the sky, but well, in a way, it did fall from the sky. The wonders of e-trading these days...
As usual, the jet lag gets the better of one....dazed, hungry, and just wanting to Blog off...so there you have it.

P.F.R

Pray For Rain. That's what it is. I hear thunder, the skies are a purplish hue. And it looks like it is going to rain. Hurrah!
The weather here is hideous. Absolutely hideous. It's worse, when you get into the gents, and then stay in there even just for the minimum amount of time...beads of perspiration begin to form on ye' brow...and it ain't...well, it's just THAT HOT! Welcome to the tropics, welcome to soaking wetness from perspiration just STANDING there not doing much...the Random XS does not, unfortunately, have the wonders of Split-Unit air conditioning. Cantankerous compressor hulks that protrude from one's window frame (well, it's actually a hole gouged out from the window/walls) he has, but one can forget about sleeping to the not-so-silent drone of the compressor chugging away, choking on the humidity it is trying to draw out from the room. Welcome to the Equator.

H.O.T!

Hyper Oven Temperature....H.O.T...that's what it is alright. A sure sign that the Random XS is back in town, is the fact that he is sweating like a pig. Yes, sweating, and NOT perspiring. Cos' when one is sweating one's guts out, then no other word describes it. It's a sweltering 30 degs' out here. The food is good though. And the flight was definitely bumpy. The Random XS will roam the streets of the little red dot along the Equator for the next few days, before he speedily makes his way back to Wurstland, where Summer's high season has commenced. Stay tuned, for a severe case of photo diarrhoea...time to let those pixels work.

Cruisin'

Coffee at the Airport :)

Plane at the airport...all in good time...


Between William Peterson, and Gary Senise....

Somehow, Gruesome Grissom makes the cut. Random XS still prefers the orignal.


Daybreak.....Aurora? Well, just.

Breakfast....salty noodles with lots of MSG....
All in all, the flight was good. Couple of bumps here and there....seat belt signs on all the time...worst thing is, when you decide to visit the loo....and well, decide to visit for an extended period...and the plane goes into turbulence...or how about, when the plane is about to land... and the air stewardess hammers desperately at the door going "Sir/Ma'am, please return to your seat"...now THAT is an experience.

Been a while...

It's been ages since the last update, but rest assured the Random XS will pepper this Blog with more pics and bits soon. Will be on a short trip back to the Equator. Just back from a trip to France (the Vosges mountains), and not forgetting a trip to the Rhine river (Cologne) a week ago. Tons of pics, too little time, up to one's neck with work, reports, administrative necessities etc. But amidst the storm, rest assured that out of the 1000+ pictures that were taken, some will appear here.

Crash Boom Bang!

Lots of plastic sprues went flying. Revell's Easy kit lives up to it's name. Easy to build, easy to play with, easy to fall apart. Having watched Episode III, I do confess that some of the designs actually look rather neat. TPM and AOTC did sport some really "far out" designs...and with exotic names like Naboo fighter...it really did keep me off the kits for a while. But hey, the recent offerings by Revell have got me hooked onto these pretty good. One evening's worth of work, getting acquainted with a pedicure set and a trusty NT Cutter pen-knife, and voila! One goes zipping around the living room, starfighter in hand and going "whooshing" about and playing the part of Obi-Wan --- it isn't long before "the difference between boys and men are the price of their toys" starts ringing in your mind...

ARC-170 Fighter

It's been a while, but the Random XS has been busy. Tis' the season for trilogies, and whilst many out there fail to live up to the reputations that they had created, improvements in technologies pertaining to making plastic sprues definitely has.
The slew of new releases from Revell AG is quite impressive. Granted, it's a simple snap fit (or sqeeze fit...depending on how you look at it) kit, prepainted and all, it does provide one with a fair deal of "Whizzing" action once you put it together. This ARC-170 Starfighter from Star Wars III is, to be honest, a rather fun kit. So fun, I shattered the canopy less than an hour into finishing it, courtesy of my random attempts at making some corny video of the ARC-170 to the tune of Top Gun's anthem. Well, the clone pilots never knew what hit them...the whole assembly literally fell apart as it hit the ground...fuselage, wings, laser cannons etc...all over the place. Well, then it was refurbished and now sits perched atop the mantle, mounted on a toilet roll cardboard insert...