the lastsplash

我又老一岁了。。。 Tonight, I had the honour to celebrate my birthday in advance with some good friends and dear wife. We had dinner at the new 7th Storey Hainan Charcoal Steamboat at Wilkie Road. It was somewhat similar to having reunion dinner but with good friends. :-) I thought I would have lots to say about almost reaching the next age milestone... but I guess I don't, at the moment. Just want to thank everyone for spending the evening with me and the very useful presents! I creatively divided the birthday cake into ten pieces. Ha... Whoever said birthday cake has to be equally cut? Life isn't fair and everyone has their preference. Some like it small, some like it big. hee. Some don't know how to cut cake and came up with lotsa crap. :-p And a round of pictures with my wonderful friends! Starting with Dear friend... and ending with Dear wife! Thank you and goodnight!

The exterminators estimated that there are 2000 of them. Incredible! How did they arrive at that figure? I have no idea. It is said that their nests are at the hill behind the building. In the night, above the ceiling and beneath the floor boards, are their highway around the building. I have never seen them before, but I have certainly seen traces of their activities. I consider myself lucky. Besides occasionally running across my desk, and knocking down a few items, they had been kind to me. Some other folks had been less fortunate. Other than stealing and eating food, two cubicles had become their communal toilets! Large amount of droppings appeared at these two cubicles. Perhaps each is dedicated to one gender? Well toilet-trained creatures. Over the past two days, I heard more stories! These intelligent creatures were able to eat the food set in the traps, without getting caught. In one case, surrounded by sticky pads, it was still able to jump out! Their gathering skills are equa...

Time files. It is just a few days to go and I urgently need to review and reveal my 2009 Birthday wish list so that my busy friends will not have to go on a "crazy shopping". I realised that what I want are things that can't be bought, maybe I will talk about that later... But having said that, as the Tea Queen said, "It is a standard for everyone, we will buy something for everyone's birthday." On with the traditions, here's the list (brought forward from 2008 ): 1. A chic Laptop Bag for 13.3" laptop . Why? >> Cuz my Fujitsu laptop bag is old and dull. Of cuz no need to get these high-end ones lah, I saw some really nice one at the Apple authorized store in Orchard Cineleisure as well. [Update: I got this for my birthday in 2007 and it is still serving me well! Thanks!] 2. A bottle of Designer cologne . Why? >> Cuz what makes one smell man enough is not his perspiration. Which brand of cologne do ladies like best? You decide! I tried D...

I managed to complete Item Two of Resolutions 2009 today, on my first try! I really can't imagine if I had to go thru' it again - the time and money! It is over now. I am feeling relieved and thankful. Thank you for your prayers dear, it helped me alot. While we are in the topic of resolutions... look like I have only completed one outta nine, and a quarter of the year had gone by. Not good not good...

I am quite happy that I was able to find the causes of two very difficult and intriguing problems at site today. These problems involved other systems whose teams were unable to support us on-site. With systems of systems, there are complex dependencies. Our trusty servlet, which always work, had failed. I had to put on my " Debugging Cap ", look beyond my system (beyond our codes and log files), and even look into the codes of others (with their permission of course). Such instincts paid off! It is crucial to have knowledge of systems connectivity and their processes workflows. So is the mastery of own system's mechanisms and architecture, in order to connect the dots. It is also important to not completely rely on others, although your system depends on other systems. Thus, the self-satisfaction was enormous. I told my dear wife about it and she made a very enlightening comment. She said that my role now should not be solving difficult problems, but to be able to pass m...

Tonight, I went to 琦琦 's concert with 琪琪 ! Cheer Chen was really impressive! She sang for three solid hours!!! That must be one of the longest concert I ever been. There were many encores and she sang for every single one of them till the fans felt kinda bad for making her sing so many songs! It was the first time I hear her sing live! Her voice was really powerful and her skills were remarkable! It was even better than listening to her CD. She started out in a beautiful white dress with tattoo on her left arm. One the the fans held a light sign of a little sun with the word " 琦 "! In her second outfit, she dressed like a painter! Mid way through, she suddenly appeared on the crane! Then she made her way through the audience!!! Everyone stood up and the Indoor Stadium rocked with her! Yea, finally everyone were off their seats, befitting for enjoying Cheer's rock-style music! In her third outfit, she was back as a rockgurl! Then there was fireworks! Guitarist 阿虎 perf...