Age of Tera-sours

I rarely go to PC shows and only pop in when I have something in mind to buy. With one every quarter, we are really quite spoilt here in Singapore, as we are allowed to bide our time in finding the right bargain on the wide variety of latest tech gizmos. Yet, the PC Shows never fail to attract a crowd, a spectacular crowd that is, everyday single time. Maybe this is one way the men gets back at their gf/wives who drags them to every Robinson sale.

Anyway I was there at the Comex'08 last weekend with the intention of buying a CF card for my upcoming trip. Entering the exhibition hall on the 6th floor, I couldn't help noticing the many booths selling external hard drives. The minimum storage is now 160GB, selling below $100 (and I bought an 80GB for my office a year back at almost the same price), and behold ... 1TB ... Tera?? ... a trillion bytes??!! Woah, we have moved so far from the age of 1.2MB floppy disk to this age of monster data storage. These 1TB ext drives are about the size of a bible but could probably contain copies of the bible in over 200 languages plus audiobook, with plenty of space left to spare. Leaving the hall with my puny 8GB Sandisk Ultra II CF Card, I was left wondering what I could do with one of those monster Tera drives.

I guess there lies the trap set by the many consumer goods maker, knowing that we consumers are always willing to spend more money on bigger and better products, with our expectations growing with each snazzy advertisement or sleek looking gadget. Maybe in the not too distant future, I'll lament on how times have caught up with the modest 1TB drive ...

For now I just hope my IT dept will move with the times and expand my inbox storage limit. How can you survive with 100MB nowadays??

Forty five minutes away

That's how long it takes to reach this Indonesian island, south of Singapore. Batam.

Memories of Batam before this trip - two distinct trips, poles apart. One day trip to a plastic moulding facility on a hot sunny day, passing through parched empty lands. And another an overnight disco -hopping reverie that left my ears ringing through the next day.

Well I was back again two Saturdays ago courtesy of Vicky's well laid plans. It was raining when we got to Sekupang, located on the north western tip of Batam. We were greeted my Mitra, Matt and Andrew, who then promptly whisked us off on a short tour of the island before taking us to lunch at the old Batam town. Our lunch stop was an ordinary-looking chinese coffee shop, much like those you find abundantly in Malaysia towns. Then came our treat, two fish dishes - Sup Ikan (with delicious yam-sweeetened soup) and Fish Curry (not the asam type). This was enough to whet our appetite for more of Batam.

With full stomachs, we headed next towards Batam Center. I must admit that the island now look better with more planted trees and the rain did help by providing a cool island breeze. Shopping was next on the cards. Don't expect great bargains but some of the labels are indeed cheaper compared to Singapore. We both bought a pair of jeans each.

Our home for the night was at the Holiday Inn, located at a remote corner of the Island, near the Waterfront City ferry terminal. For about $110 a night, this place was a steal. F1 visitors should consider this alternative accomodation if they find Singapore too expensive in September (but first they have to find a way back to Batam at night). Once we checked in, we took to the bed for a short afternoon nap.

For dinner, we were introduced to more of the local seafood. Andrew picked out live white-shelled crabs and crayfish from the small tanks while Matt lingered to play with the rest of the crabs. Prawns and fish were later added on and we feasted on a splendid seafood dinner.

The next day, we got to enjoy a slow breakfast buffet at the poolside before heading off to take our 11.40 ferry back to Singapore.

A big thank you to our host. This trip has gave me a chance to see a side of Batam not commonly revealed to day-trippers. Maybe we'll come back for more ... I hear there are roads leading down south to the smaller islands ...

Photos of Holiday Inn, Batam

Two weeks to Paris

We are going off on our honeymoon in two weeks time. Yes, the countdown that started when we first made the intial flight booking in June, is finally down to just 14 days. That comes to just 10 days in the office, and part of that time will be reserved to equipped my colleague with the necessary background, knowledge and short-cuts to handle my work. Good luck to him :P

Back to our plans. We are targetting just three European destinations, ie. Paris, Rome and the Bernese Oberland (Switzerland), in the 12 days that we are there. That will give us ample time to do the highlights (in a less hurried manner), while finding time to discover the city. It's going to be free and easy all the way. We've got our inter-city train tickets, backpacks, money-belt and Rick&Steve's Guidebook all ready.

I guess the planning and anticipation also makes up the whole experience. So I will savour the next two weeks to make the experience last a little longer.

Telling time

How do one tell time when all three IKEA-made clocks in the house have ceased ticking?

Here's a good TV guide to time ...
Reruns of 'Friends' on AXN - 8 plus
Channel 8 Chinese Serials (it was good while Beach Ball Babes lasted) - 9-nish
Sportscenter news - 10s
CSI (yawn..) - time to go online

And it's time to get new batteries too. BTW, what's with the batteries nowadays or is it the energy draining clocks?

Follow the narrow ridge road