Garrisonism - All about Garrison

2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - Sunday

2009-04-26T23:30:00.002+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix (Sakhir Circuit-Manama)

Sunday Race (2000hrs - 2200hrs, Singapore Time)

01. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:31:48.182
02. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) +7.1 secs
03. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 090 +9.1 secs
04. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) +22.0 secs
05. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) +37.7 secs
06. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) +42.0 secs
07. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) +42.8 secs
08. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) +52.7 secs
09. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) +58.1 secs
10. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) +65.1 secs
11. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) +67.6 secs
12. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) +77.8 secs
13. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) +78.8 secs
14. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) +1 Lap
15. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) +1 Lap
16. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) +1 Lap
17. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) +1 Lap
18. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) +1 Lap
19. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) +1 Lap
DNF NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) +9 Laps [Oil pressure]

Comments: It's Jenson Button at the top step of the podium again. This time with his merit, not behind Safety Car (Australian Grand Prix) and not behind Red Flags (Malaysian Grand Prix). It is truely the Brawn GP packagae that gave Jenson Button, his deserved win. Note that Jenson Button's car is not the fastest car in the pack. Sebastian Vettel picked up another podium finish, closing up on Jenson Button on the Driver's Championship. Lokking on the Constructor's Table, Brawn GP is now on 50 points at the top of the table with Toyota and Red Bull Racing behind, with some more than 20 points away. Ferrari finally picked up some point, courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen. It is also worth noting that the BMWs were last of the packs, without any updates to the cars. This shows how dynamic Formula One is as if development stays status quo, the cars could be falling behind in the race. The next race will be back at Europe and BMWs are having a major upgrade. We'll see if there's any shift in power then...

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - Saturday

2009-04-25T23:00:00.001+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix (Sakhir Circuit-Manama)

Saturday Practice (1600hrs - 1700hrs, Singapore Time)

01. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:32.605 [+0.000] 16 Laps
02. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:32.728 [+0.123] 20 Laps
03. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:32.906 [+0.301] 18 Laps
04. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:32.975 [+0.370] 16 Laps
05. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:32.986 [+0.381] 18 Laps
06. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:33.176 [+0.571] 19 Laps
07. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:33.195 [+0.590] 13 Laps
08. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:33.302 [+0.697] 17 Laps
09. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:33.397 [+0.792] 19 Laps
10. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:33.415 [+0.810] 14 Laps
11. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:33.443 [+0.838] 16 Laps
12. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:33.478 [+0.873] 12 Laps
13. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:33.482 [+0.877] 13 Laps
14. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:33.534 [+0.929] 17 Laps
15. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:33.586 [+0.981] 17 Laps
16. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:33.686 [+1.081] 17 Laps
17. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:33.720 [+1.115] 15 Laps
18. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:33.726 [+1.121] 14 Laps
19. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:33.962 [+1.357] 15 Laps
20. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:34.990 [+2.385] 7 Laps

Comments: Now, just before qualifying, the top 15 cars were all lapping within a second from each other. That's how close the teams were. But then again, it may not be a sign to come as different teams were evaluating their cars differently. I'm referring in particular to the Brawn GP cars as they were probably running a heavy fuel load simulation with the timing they'd posted. Note that for this race, the BMW were using KERS on both cars (Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld) as they consider this track to favour KERS with the 2 long straights within the circuit. I would suppose the BMW use it more for defensive purpose as it generally seems they lack the pace for attack. Qualifying next...

Qualifying (1900hrs - 2000hrs, Singapore Time)

01. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) Q1[1:32.779] Q2[1:32.671] Q3[1:33.431] ; WT[648.5kg]
02. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) Q1[1:33.165] Q2[1:32.613] Q3[1:33.712] ; WT[643.0kg]
03. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) Q1[1:32.680] Q2[1:32.474] Q3[1:34.015] ; WT[659.0kg]
04. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) Q1[1:32.978] Q2[1:32.842] Q3[1:34.044] ; WT[652.5kg]
05. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) Q1[1:32.851] Q2[1:32.877] Q3[1:34.196] ; WT[652.5kg]
06. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) Q1[1:33.116] Q2[1:32.842] Q3[1:34.239] ; WT[649.0kg]
07. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) Q1[1:33.627] Q2[1:32.860] Q3[1:34.578] ; WT[650.5kg]
08. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) Q1[1:33.297] Q2[1:33.014] Q3[1:34.818] ; WT[664.5kg]
09. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) Q1[1:33.672] Q2[1:33.166] Q3[1:35.134] ; WT[670.5kg]
10. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) Q1[1:33.117] Q2[1:32.827] Q3[1:35.380] ; WT[671.5kg]
11. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) Q1[1:33.479] Q2[1:33.242] ; WT[678.5kg]
12. NAK (WIL-TOY, car 17) Q1[1:33.221] Q2[1:33.348] ; WT[680.9kg]
13. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) Q1[1:33.495] Q2[1:33.487] ; WT[698.6kg]
14. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) Q1[1:33.377] Q2[1:33.562] ; WT[696.3kg]
15. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) Q1[1:33.608] Q2[1:33.941] ; WT[677.6kg]
16. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) Q1[1:33.753] ; WT[678.5kg]
17. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) Q1[1:33.910] ; WT[652.0kg]
18. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) Q1[1:34.038] ; WT[656.0kg]
19. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) Q1[1:33.722] ; WT[679.0kg]
20. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) Q1[1:34.159] ; WT[667.5kg]

Comments: It's a Toyota 1-2 for Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock. However, it is worth noting that both are running very light. Looking further down, there is Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen, who are relatively heavier and hence had a more flexible strategy should the Toyotas got held up. Lewis Hamilton, the best of the KERS car starts 5th and could probably leap frog to 3rd or even 2nd by Turn 1 with KERS. There's 2 very heavy cars in the middle of the pack that belongs to BMWs. They could probably be running 1 stop and hoping for Safety Car periods. They were probably using strategy more than racing as their pace were still no match to the current top teams. Adrain Sutil was penalised for impeding Mark Webber's flying lap and was moved down the grid by 3 spots. Exciting race by first corner. It won't be raining during race day, but there is a possibility of sand storm.

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - Friday

2009-04-24T23:00:00.002+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix (Sakhir Circuit-Manama)

Friday Practice 1 (1500hrs - 1630hrs, Singapore Time)

01. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:33.647 [+0.000] 19 Laps
02. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:33.907 [+0.260] 17 Laps
03. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:33.938 [+0.291] 17 Laps
04. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:34.227 [+0.580] 24 Laps
05. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:34.434 [+0.787] 15 Laps
06. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:34.502 [+0.855] 24 Laps
07. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:34.531 [+0.884] 18 Laps
08. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:34.589 [+0.942] 17 Laps
09. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:34.827 [+1.180] 21 Laps
10. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:34.827 [+1.180] 19 Laps
11. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:34.880 [+1.233] 24 Laps
12. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:34.938 [+1.291] 21 Laps
13. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:34.974 [+1.327] 21 Laps
14. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:35.021 [+1.374] 18 Laps
15. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:35.036 [+1.389] 22 Laps
16. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:35.042 [+1.395] 16 Laps
17. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:35.333 [+1.686] 20 Laps
18. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:35.348 [+1.701] 24 Laps
19. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:35.353 [+1.706] 22 Laps
20. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:35.369 [+1.722] 15 Laps

Comments: It's good to see more non-diffuser teams at the top of the time sheet for the practice. However, as usual, being the first practice, the times set were not significant in any ways. The BMWs were probably back on familiar territory as they did their winter testing at this circuit prior the season opening. It is still, however, still early to find any significant or useful trend thus so far. Let's wait for more practice to come.

Friday Practice 2 (1900hrs - 2030hrs, Singapore Time)

01. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:33.339 [+0.000] 36 Laps
02. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:33.530 [+0.191] 25 Laps
03. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:33.616 [+0.277] 37 Laps
04. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:33.661 [+0.322] 29 Laps
05. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:33.676 [+0.337] 32 Laps
06. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:33.694 [+0.355] 35 Laps
07. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:33.763 [+0.424] 30 Laps
08. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:33.764 [+0.425] 37 Laps
09. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:33.885 [+0.546] 30 Laps
10. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:33.899 [+0.560] 36 Laps
11. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:33.994 [+0.655] 30 Laps
12. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:34.025 [+0.686] 23 Laps
13. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:34.127 [+0.788] 37 Laps
14. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:34.366 [+1.027] 26 Laps
15. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:34.411 [+1.072] 29 Laps
16. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:34.564 [+1.225] 34 Laps
17. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:34.605 [+1.266] 31 Laps
18. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:34.670 [+1.331) 28 Laps
19. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:34.764 [+1.425] 35 Laps
20. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:34.790 [+1.451] 33 Laps

Comments: The first 13 cars were within a second and that's how close the teams were. It seems that Red Bull, in particular RBR, was doing a good job without diffusers and KERS. They remain competitive and is amongst the top of time sheets. As usual, the big teams were no where close. It is believed that McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault had brought updates to their cars, but not BMW. It is expected to see the BMWs off the pace as there's totally no upgrades to their cars. They were expecting something major though for the next race (Spanish Grand Prix). It is hot at Bahrain and another potential exciting scenerio are cars getting into trouble due to technical issues. We'll see...

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

ICT

2009-04-23T10:06:00.000+08:00

OK. I'm wearing green again for a 2 days call-up. So I won't be doing much updates for both today and tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be back early tomorrow to post the Friday Practice Timings for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

See ya.

Garrison's E-Mail

2009-04-22T22:00:00.000+08:00

GETTING MARRIED

A young man went to his father one day to tell him that he wanted to get married. His father was happy for him. He asked his son who the girl was, and he told him that it was Julie a girl from the neighborhood.

With a sad face the old man said to his son, "I'm sorry to say this son but I have to. The girl you want to marry is your sister, but please don't tell your mother."

The young man again brought 3 more names to his father but ended up frustrated cause the response was still the same.

So he decides to go to his mother. "Mom I want to get married but all the girls that I love,dad said they are my sisters and I mustn't tell you."

His mother smiling said to him, "Don't worry my son, you can marry any of those girls. You're not his son!"

Garrison's SMS

2009-04-21T22:00:00.000+08:00

金玉（凉）言

懂得生活的人:
看破 ~ 不会计较
欣赏 ~ 不会嫉妒
放下 ~ 不会贪心
开心 ~ 不会生气
快乐 ~ 不会失败

快乐或悲哀成功或失败靠的是自己

人生未必很累看你如何品味
每天多寻快乐烦恼别去理会
短短数十寒署何不潇洒面对

Garrison's SMS

2009-04-20T22:00:00.000+08:00

金玉（凉）言

• 一山不能容二虎，除非一公和一母。
• 水至清则无鱼，人至贱则无敌。
• 骑白马的不一定是王子，可能是唐僧。
• 钱不是问题，问题是我没有钱。
• 宁愿相信世间有鬼，也不能相信女人的嘴。
• 我和超人的唯一区别是：我把内裤穿在裤子里面。

2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Sunday

2009-04-19T23:00:00.003+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix (Shanghai-China)

Sunday Race (1400rs - 1600hrs, Singapore Time)

01. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:57:43.485
02. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) +10.9 secs
03. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) +44.9 secs
04. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) +63.7 secs
05. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) +65.1 secs
06. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) +71.8 secs
07. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) +74.4 secs
08. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) +76.4 secs
09. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) +84.3 secs
10. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) +91.7 secs
11. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) +94.1 secs
12. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) +95.8 secs
13. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) + 106.8 secs
14. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) +1 Lap
15. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) +1 Lap
16. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 080 +2 Laps
17. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) +6 Laps [Accident]
DNF NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) [Transmission]
DNF MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) [Electrical]
DNF TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) [Accident]

Comments: Well deserved victory for RBR-Renault, for a car without diffuser and KERS. They manage to keep the Brawn GP cars at bay. It was a wet race throughout and only the wet tyres were used for the whole duration of the race, except Nico Rosberg, whom gambled on the intermediates during the late part of the race, only to have off track excursions as the track is still pretty wet. Ferrari eneded with no points again. Force India has a chance to score a single point towards the end of the race, but unfortunately, Adrain Sutil spun the car and has to nd the race with only 6 laps to go and with points on hand. With the 1-2 victory, RBR-Renault has replaced Toyota for 2nd spot on the Constructors' Championship table, closing up on Brawn GP.

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Saturday

2009-04-18T23:30:00.004+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix (Shanghai-China)

Saturday Practice (1100hrs - 1200hrs, Singapore Time)

01. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:36.133 [+0.000] 17 Laps
02. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:36.272 [+0.139] 22 Laps
03. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:36.330 [+0.197] 17 Laps
04. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:36.463 [+0.330] 16 Laps
05. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:36.464 [+0.331] 16 Laps
06. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:36.528 [+0.395] 18 Laps
07. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:36.547 [+0.414] 13 Laps
08. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:36.560 [+0.427] 17 Laps
09. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:36.568 [+0.435] 17 Laps
10. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:36.642 [+0.509] 17 Laps
11. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:36.702 [+0.569] 14 Laps
12. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:36.742 [+0.609] 14 Laps
13. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:36.742 [+0.609] 16 Laps
14. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:36.834 [+0.701] 17 Laps
15. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:37.330 [+1.197] 8 Laps
16. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:37.349 [+1.216] 7 Laps
17. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:37.534 [+1.401] 17 Laps
18. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:37.732 [+1.599] 18 Laps
19. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:38.003 [+1.870] 6 Laps
20. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:39.110 [+2.977] 6 Laps

Comments: For the first time, we saw 6 different cars on the top 6 position of the time sheets. The 3 diffuser cars, an updated McLaren-Mercedes, an updated Renault and then Ferrari. Has Ferrari found something overnight to catch back the leaders? I don't think so. Unless they had found some mechanical advantage to negate the aerodynamic advantage, held by the diffuser teams. This would also not meant well for the Ferrari team as mechanical advantage could be quickly lost in the race over the duration. Qualifying next...

Qualifying (1400hrs - 1500hrs, Singapore Time)

01. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) Q1[1:36.565] Q2[1:35.130] Q3[1:36.184] ; WT[644.0kg]
02. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) Q1[1:36.443] Q2[1:35.803] Q3[1:36.381] ; WT[637.0kg]
03. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) Q1[1:35.751] Q2[1:35.173] Q3[1:36.466] ; WT[646.5kg]
04. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) Q1[1:35.701] Q2[1:35.503] Q3[1:36.493] ; WT[661.0kg]
05. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) Q1[1:35.533] Q2[1:35.556] Q3[1:36.532] ; WT[659.0kg]
06. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) Q1[1:36.308] Q2[1:35.645] Q3[1:36.835] ; WT[664.5kg]
07. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) Q1[1:35.941] Q2[1:35.809] Q3[1:37.397] ; WT[650.5kg]
08. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) Q1[1:36.137] Q2[1:35.856] Q3[1:38.089] ; WT[673.5kg]
09. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) Q1[1:35.776] Q2[1:35.740] Q3[1:38.595] ; WT[679.0kg]
10. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) Q1[1:36.284] Q2[1:35.965] Q3[1:39.321] ; WT[673.0kg]
11. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) Q1[1:36.525] Q2[1:35.975] ; WT[679.0kg]
12. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) Q1[1:36.646] Q2[1:36.032] ; WT[697.0kg]
13. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) Q1[1:36.178] Q2[1:36.033] ; WT[690.0kg]
14. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) Q1[1:36.673] Q2[1:36.193] ; WT[682.7kg]
15. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) Q1[1:36.906] ; WT[690.0kg]
16. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) Q1[1:36.908] ; WT[697.9kg]
17. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) Q1[1:36.966] ; WT[659.0kg]
18. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) Q1[1:37.669] ; WT[648.0kg]
19. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) Q1[1:36.364] Q2[1:36.066] ; WT[652.0kg]
20. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) Q1[1:37.672] ; WT[679.5kg]

Comments: Pole and 3rd on the grid for RBR-Renault. Alonso stole 2nd on the grid during the last minute charge to prevent a RBR-Renault 1-2. Perhaps the modified Renault has found some time with the modified car. However, note that the top 3 cars are much lighter than the other 2 cars (Brawn GP) behind. And given the past performance of the Brawn GP cars, the Brawn GP cars could still steal the spot light for the race tomorrow. So it all plays down to the strategy. Robert Kubica, not running on KERS, was knocked out from Q1 and ended his qualifying session very early. Kimi Raikkonen, the best of the Ferrari starts 8th, with Lewis Hamilton, best of the McLaren-Mercedes, starting 9th. Nick Heidfeld starts 11th.

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Friday

2009-04-17T23:00:00.004+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix (Shanghai-China)

Friday Practice 1 (1000hrs - 1130hrs, Singapore Time)

01. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:37.334 [+0.000] 22 Laps
02. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:37.450 [+0.116] 18 Laps
03. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:37.566 [+0.232] 19 Laps
04. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:37.672 [+0.338] 23 Laps
05. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:37.752 [+0.418] 20 Laps
06. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:37.764 [+0.430] 19 Laps
07. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:37.860 [+0.526] 24 Laps
08. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:37.894 [+0.560] 21 Laps
09. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:38.089 [+0.755] 19 Laps
10. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:38.195 [+0.861] 24 Laps
11. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:38.223 [+0.889] 23 Laps
12. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:38.274 [+0.940] 20 Laps
13. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:38.307 [+0.973] 26 Laps
14. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:38.319 [+0.985] 18 Laps
15. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:38.418 [+1.084] 20 Laps
16. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:38.456 [+1.122] 21 Laps
17. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:38.460 [+1.126] 19 Laps
18. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:38.463 [+1.129] 18 Laps
19. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:38.730 [+1.396] 25 Laps
20. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:38.825 [+1.491] 20 Laps

Comments: It's only the first practice and yet the lap times posted from the top 14 are within a second. The pack is very close at this moment, even the track is still green. Looks like the cars are all evenly edged. Robert Kubica run he KERS for the first time in this session and will then decide to use KERS for this race in his race car. The Renaults are fitted with a temporary diffuser solution, which will probably aid the drivers round the twisty part of the circuit. McLarens-Mercedes are using a new aero-package car, which incorporate the rear diffuser with their new triple deck front wing design. This reap rewards as for Lewis Hamilton topped this time sheet, above Jenson Button. Still too close to have any good conclusion though...

Friday Practice 2 (1400hrs - 1530hrs, Singapore Time)

01. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:35.679 [+0.000] 35 Laps
02. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:35.704 [+0.025] 36 Laps
03. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:35.881 [+0.202] 35 Laps
04. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:36.105 [+0.426] 32 Laps
05. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:36.167 [+0.488] 22 Laps
06. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:36.217 [+0.538] 42 Laps
07. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:36.377 [+0.698] 32 Laps
08. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:36.548 [+0.869] 40 Laps
09. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:36.674 [+0.995] 34 Laps
10. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:36.800 [+1.121] 34 Laps
11. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:36.829 [+1.150] 30 Laps
12. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:36.847 [+1.168] 34 Laps
13. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:36.941 [+1.262] 28 Laps
14. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:37.054 [+1.375] 33 Laps
15. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:37.219 [+1.540] 34 Laps
16. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:37.273 [+1.594] 36 Laps
17. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:37.491 [+1.812] 34 Laps
18. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:37.544 [+1.865] 28 Laps
19. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:37.638 [+1.959] 28 Laps
20. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:37.750 [+2.071] 31 Laps

Comments: After the second practice, the usual diffusers team were on the top of the time sheet. However, after all these several rounds of practices, it's common to find the RBR-Renault amongst the top of the time sheets. The cars, designed by Adrain Newey, seems to pay off, despite not having diffusers or KERS! However, one thing to note, Adrain Newey's cars are generally suffer more technical problems, due to his on the edge design, which is on the limits. Lap times, in general, improved as more rubbers are laid onto the track

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

我是真的付出我的爱

2009-04-16T23:00:00.002+08:00

唱:周华健曲:周华健词:周华健

别走开给我一个时间对你说爱
手触着心缓缓呼吸
深深地感觉心在说我爱你

哦Baby 给我一个时间对你说爱
用我的心化做星星
填满你寂寞的夜里

从来不曾有过这样的感觉
迫切渴望拥有每一个永远
就让转动的世界停留在眼前
让我对你说对你说

我是真的付出我的爱
从今以后不会再更改
哦让我拥有你到未来
我是真的付出我的爱
从今以后就不会再更改
让我拥有你全部的爱

别走开给我一个时间对你说爱
手触着心缓缓呼吸
深深地感觉心在说我爱你

哦Baby 给我一个时间对你说爱
用我的心化做星星
填满你寂寞的夜里

从来不曾有过这样的感觉
迫切渴望拥有每一个永远
就让转动的世界停留在眼前
让我对你说对你说

我是真的付出我的爱
从今以后不会再更改
哦让我拥有你到未来
我是真的付出我的爱
从今以后就不会再更改
让我拥有你的爱
我是真的付出我的爱
从今以后不会再更改
哦让我拥有你到未来
我是真的付出我的爱
从今以后就不会再更改
让我拥有你全部的爱

我是真的付出我的爱
从今以后不会再更改
哦让我拥有你到未来。。。

Wo Shi Zhen De Fu Chu Wo De Ai - Emil Chau

FIA Court of Appeal - Diffuser Saga Vedict

2009-04-15T23:00:00.002+08:00

The verdict is out. As I'd expected, The FIA rules in favour of the 3 Teams, much to the disgust of some of the people. Now, the other teams will have to spend time and money to utilise diffusers to their advantage. The 3 teams concerned will carry on as per what they'd been doing.

I would seriously think this will have a bad repercussion down the road between FIA and Car Manufacturers. It's clear that it's the fault of FIA with vague rules in the rule book. And now the majority of the field will have to bear the brunt of the faulty rules. And at such a time of economic downturn with FIA proposing cost reduction actions, this action seemed to put FIA at the back foot. Furthermore, lap times will be faster and fingers crossed not to see another major accident in F1.

FIA Court of Appeal - Diffuser Saga

2009-04-14T23:00:00.004+08:00

Alright. Enough of numbers for the time being and focus right back into Formula 1.

Today, 14 April 2009 is the date for the hearing of the F1 Teams with regards to the diffuser issues at the FIA Court of Appeal. The 3 teams concerned are : Brawn GP, Panasonic Toyota F1 and AT&T Williams Toyota F1. These 3 teams were of concern as their interpretation of the rules were different from the others by exploiting a loophole. I'd roughly mentioned about the discrepancy previousy and shall not go into it again.

What concerns is the outcome or verdict from the FIA Court of Appeal

Scenerio 1: The 3 teams were found guilty. They could possibly lose all their points earned previously and were forced to use the diffusers as stipulated without other interpretations

Scenerio 2: The 3 teams were not guilty and can resume with their diffusers. This would lead to the other teams to play catch up and re-look into the interpretations

The outcome effects: Should Scenrio 1 happens, the 3 teams will start all over again with zero points bagged. In this case, these smaller teams (except Toyota) will face it hard to compete with the bigger boys. The 3 teams had looked deeply into the rules and manage to find something that will not be penalised when used. And this works very well, over the other teams that didn't. This will prompt designers not to be innovative to come out with different radical components and hence, cap the spirits of creativity. Also, sposors for the 3 teams were definately not be too please with such a penalty to move teams from hero to zero.

Should Scenerio 2 happen, the other teams will then have to re-look into their cars once again to use the diffusers to their advantage. Of course, most of the other teams were big car manufacturers and can surely find a way to use it as soon as possible so that they can do catchup with the other teams

Honestly, whichever scenerio, I think all the teams are on the losing end. Should Scenerio 1 happen, smaller teams were heavily punish with their genius creations and could stop being creative and innovative. Should Scenerio 2 happen, the other teams will need to up their budget to re-look and use the diffuser to their advantage. With the season on-going, things will need to move fast, and that will incur a substancial cost to most of the teams. Furthermore, the initial agreement by the teams to slow the cars down were defeated with the introduction and legalising the diffuser. It's just like slapping yourself with your own hands.

The verdict will be out tomorrow. I would like to have Scenerio 1, but the teams will not have all the points taken away, but halved. This will give them some headstart and they will not have to start from zero again. The other teams will continue where they left off

However, I got a gut feel that FIA will go for Scenerio 2, as they need to protect their interest, as the stewarts for both Australia and Malaysia had cleared the cars. Besides, FIA needs smaller team to join the F1 umbrella and penalising the teams will have a serious setback to their plans

We'll wait for tomorrow then for the verdict.

The Wonders of Numbers

2009-04-13T22:00:00.002+08:00

1 × 1 = 1
11 × 11 = 121
111 × 111 = 12321
1111 × 1111 = 1234321
11111 × 11111 = 123454321
111111 × 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 × 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 × 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 × 111111111 = 12345678987654321

The Wonders of Numbers

2009-04-12T22:00:00.002+08:00

9 × 9 + 7 = 88
98 × 9 + 6 = 888
987 × 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 × 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 × 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 × 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 × 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 × 9 + 0 = 888888888

The Wonders of Numbers

2009-04-11T22:00:00.000+08:00

1 × 9 + 2 = 11
12 × 9 + 3 = 111
123 × 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 × 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 × 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 × 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 × 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 × 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 × 9 + 10 = 1111111111

The Wonders of Numbers

2009-04-10T22:00:00.000+08:00

1 × 8 + 1 = 9
12 × 8 + 2 = 98
123 × 8 + 3 = 987
1234 × 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 × 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 × 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 × 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 × 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 × 8 + 9 = 987654231

The Wonders of Numbers - Introduction

2009-04-09T23:00:00.000+08:00

I'd came across a couple of Mathematical "scenerio" recently and that sparkle me off to start a mini sharing of what I'd seen, though some of you might have know about them.

For the next 4 days, I will just quote a few that I'd seen and share it with you guys.

If you guys had any other interesting "findings" with numbers, please feel free to drop me an E-Mail, so that I can post it on to share with everyone.

Thank you.

Garrison's E-Mail

2009-04-08T23:30:00.002+08:00

Funny TRUTHS about Life in Singapore

Note: This is coming from a foreigner who previously stayed here for a decade.

1. Night - Sleep with air-con; Day - Bathe with heater on

2. Day - Cannot Wake up; Night - Cannot Sleep

3. Cigarettes - Convenient to buy; not convenient to smoke

4. Chewing Gum - Can Chew, Cannot buy?? (Restricted to buying)

5. Smell Of rubbish besides letterboxes; Rubbish inside Letterbox

6. Private Cars - Cheaper & Cheaper to Buy, harder & harder to Maintain

7. Education - Teachers teaching Less but expects students to learn More

8. High-tech barbaric Singaporeans - know how to use state-of-the art equipment but dunno how to use a simple dustbin or a toilet

9. There are quite a number of rich/poor in Singapore - They have Car, Credit Card, CPF .... but no Cash and lots of loans

10. Translation is needed between Singaporean Chinese and Mainland Chinese

11. Singaporeans never like to vote, but like to complain

12. Half Singaporeans rushed to buy Hello kitty, but the other half busy killing stray cats

13. Public Bus - Half the Crowd squeeze in front section of the Bus, Second section is for Carrying Ghost

BMW X5 M & BMW X6 M

2009-04-07T23:00:00.004+08:00

BMW has launched their new ultimate driving machines with both BMW X5 M & BMW X6 M. Both cars are massive in size, more than 2 tonnes, yet 0km/h to 100km/h takes a mere 4.7 seconds. Insane! Comparable to the BMW M3! Even faster than the BMW M5

Both are powered by 4.4 Litres V8 BMW M TwinPower Turbo Engine, with maximum performance at 408kW / 555hp, a max torque at 680Nm. Awesome cars!

More about them at the BMW official website.

Garrison's E-Mail

2009-04-06T23:00:00.003+08:00

一個 16 歲的女孩跟她母親說她已經 2 個月沒來了 ……
母親一聽不得了趕緊去藥房買了驗孕劑來確認一下 ……
結果女孩真的懷孕了！

母親又哭又罵的問到："到底是那個渾蛋干的好事，你給我從實招來！"
女孩只好打了通電話 ……

半小時后，一部全新的法拉利跑車疾駛到了女孩家門，而跨出車門的是位全身名牌衣著又風度翩翩的中年紳士。

紳士進入屋內與女孩及她的父母雙親在客廳坐了下來。

"午安！" 紳士禮貌的向她們問候並說道："令媛剛剛告知了我這個大問題，但是因為我的個人家庭問題，很抱歉我無法娶令媛為妻，不過我會負該負的責任！"

"這樣好了，如果生的是女孩，我會留 3 家店面， 2 間房子， 1 棟海邊別墅及一個 200 萬美金的帳戶給她。"

"如果生的是男孩，我會讓他繼承 2 家公司再加上一個 200 萬美金的帳戶。"

"如果生的是雙胞胎，那就每人繼承 1 家公司還有各 100 萬美金的帳戶。"

"但如果不幸流產了 ……"

此時在一旁沉默已久的父親，突然站起來，並把手緊緊的搭在紳士的肩上后說：

"那就再麻煩你一次！"

2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix - Sunday

2009-04-05T23:30:00.000+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix (Sepang - Kuala Lumpur)

Sunday Race (1700hrs - 1900hrs, Singapore Time)

01. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 55:30.622
02. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) +22.7 secs
03. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) +23.5 secs
04. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) +46.1 secs
05. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) +47.3 secs
06. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) +52.3 secs
07. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) +60.7 secs
08. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) +71.5 secs
09. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) +76.9 secs
10. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) +102.164 secs
11. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) +109.422 secs
12. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) +116.130 secs
13. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) +116.713 secs
14. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) +142.841 secs
15. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) +1 Lap [Spin]
16. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) +1 Lap [Spin]
17. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) +1 Lap
18. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) +2 Lap [Spin]
DNF KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) [Engine]
DNF KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) [Spin]

*Scheduled for 56 laps but stopped early due to heavy rain. Half points awarded.
** Only 32 Laps completed, but results as of Lap 31.

Comments: Heavy rain for the Malaysian Grand Prix. The race was red-flagged and stop. But due to the late starting hours, the sky grew dark and a restart is not possible. Hence, the race ended at Lap 32, but results taken on Lap 31. As the race took place not under normal conditions, it's not easy to determine the potential of individual cars. Normally, Malaysian Grand Prix, being the 2nd race on the calendar, was a good indicator of teams' performance, as Melbourne cirucit is a street circuit. And also, eyes were observing for the potential of how KERS can benefit the teams that were equipped with it as the long straights can be used extensively during the race to monitor the KERS usabilty and durability. Anyway, nothing much unusual on the top apart from Nick Heidfeld, whom benefitted the most as he was on 1 stop strategy, which leap-frogged him to 2nd, and with the race ending prematurely. It's mainly the diffuser teams on the top of the sheet. It's clear that the diffusers are playing a big advantage as Jenson Button's Brawn manage to pull away about 2 seconds a lap during the opening stage of the race, even though he was much heavy the those behind. Anyway, the hearing of the diffusers from the FIA Court would be available next Tuesday (14 April 2009) and the verdict will most probably be out on Wednesday (15 April 2009). We shall wait and see what happens next.

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix - Saturday

2009-04-04T23:30:00.001+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix (Sepang - Kuala Lumpur)

Saturday Practice (1400hrs - 1500hrs, Singapore Time)

01. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:35.940 [+0.000] 19 Laps
02. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:36.048 [+0.108] 13 Laps
03. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:36.089 [+0.149] 13 Laps
04. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:36.132 [+0.192] 21 Laps
05. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:36.189 [+0.249] 22 Laps
06. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:36.194 [+0.254] 14 Laps
07. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:36.322 [+0.382] 14 Laps
08. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:36.325 [+0.385] 18 Laps
09. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:36.519 [+0.579] 19 Laps
10. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:36.541 [+0.601] 17 Laps
11. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:36.563 [+0.623] 18 Laps
12. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:36.657 [+0.717] 15 Laps
13. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:36.742 [+0.802] 13 Laps
14. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:37.004 [+1.064] 16 Laps
15. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:37.026 [+1.086] 18 Laps
16. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:37.032 [+1.092] 18 Laps
17. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:37.118 [+1.178] 18 Laps
18. BUE (STR-FER, Car 18) 1:37.282 [+1.342] 17 Laps
19. Bou (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:37.322 [+1.382] 16 Laps
20. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:37.398 [+1.458] 19 Laps

Comments: It's the last practice before the qualifying session. Noting that rain are expected for late afternoon for today and tomorrow (Race Day). Every team should be finalising their strategy for the race. Again, Rosberg topped the time sheet, indicating the Williams do have a good package this year, however, we will have to see if there were any reliability issues as the season unfolds, otherwise, they were looking good. Another thing to note are the RBR cars. They were quick in this circuit for all 3 practice sessions. So they are also looking good. Next up, qualifying. It is believed that rain is expected during late afternoon.

Qualifying (1700hrs - 1800hrs, Singapore Time)

01. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) Q1[1:35.058] Q2[1:33.784] Q3[1:35.181] ; WT[660.0kg]
02. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) Q1[1:34.745] Q2[1:33.990] Q3[1:35.273] ; WT[656.5kg]
03. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) Q1[1:34.907] Q2[1:34.258] Q3[1:35.690] ; WT[656.5kg]
04. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) Q1[1:35.083] Q2[1:34.547] Q3[1:35.750] ; WT[656.0kg]
05. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) Q1[1:35.027] Q2[1:34.222] Q3[1:35.797] ; WT[656.0kg]
06. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) Q1[1:35.166] Q2[1:34.562] Q3[1:36.106] ; WT[663.0kg]
07. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) Q1[1:35.476] Q2[1:34.456] Q3[1:36.170] ; WT[662.5kg]
08. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) Q1[1:34.681] Q2[1:34.387] Q3[1:35.651] ; WT[664.5kg]
09. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) Q1[1:35.260] Q2[1:34.706] Q3[1:37.659] ; WT[680.5kg]
10. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) Q1[1:35.110] Q2[1:34.769] ; WT[692.0kg]
11. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) Q1[1:35.341] Q2[1:34.788] ; WT[683.4kg]
12. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) Q1[1:35.280] Q2[1:34.905] ; WT[688.0kg]
13. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) Q1[1:34.935] Q2[1:34.276] Q3[1:35.518] ; WT[647.0kg]
14. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) Q1[1:35.023] Q2[1:34.924] ; WT[688.9kg]
15. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) Q1[1:35.507] Q2[1:35.431] ; WT[670.5kg]
16. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) Q1[1:35.642] ; WT[689.5kg]
17. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) Q1[1:35.708] ; WT[681.9kg]
18. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) Q1[1:35.908] ; WT[680.5kg]
19. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) Q1[1:35.951] ; WT[655.5kg]
20. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) Q1[1:36.107] ; WT[686.5kg]

Comments: It's pole position for Button again. And the thing is, he's not the lightest car in the front row. That again reinforce the dominance of Brawn GP cars over the rest of the field. 2 Drivers were shifted down the grid due to penalty. Vettel qualified 3rd, but got to go down to P13 for a 10 grid penalty for coming together with Kubica at the closing stage in Melbourne. Barrichello qualified 4th, but moved down 5 grid due to a change in gearbox. This year, the gearbox has to last for 4 races. Any changes will incur a 5 grid penalty. (After Vettel's penalty, Barichello is in P3, and add 5 to it, Barrichello starts in P8). Vettel has the lightest car, but was pushed down the grid. We'll probably see Vettel overtaking the heavier cars and moving up the order. Also to note, the top 3 starters are non-KERS. At P4, Rosberg has a good chance to slighshot ahead for turn 1 should the KERS be functioning well. Heidfeld, the heaviest car on the grid, will probably do a 1 stop and will probably be able to get into the points. However, the most important thing atthe back of everyone's mind is about the weather. Should there be rain or heavy rain during the race, the finishing order is going to be very unpredictable.

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix - Friday

2009-04-03T23:30:00.001+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix (Sepang - Kuala Lumpur)

Friday Practice 1 (1000hrs - 1130hrs, Singapore Time)

01. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:36.260 [+0.000] 27 Laps
02. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:36.305 [+0.045] 25 Laps
03. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:36.430 [+0.170] 20 Laps
04. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:36.487 [+0.227] 22 Laps
05. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:36.561 [+0.301] 21 Laps
06. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:36.646 [+0.386] 18 Laps
07. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:36.699 [+0.439] 16 Laps
08. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:36.703 [+0.443] 23 Laps
09. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:36.747 [+0.487] 25 Laps
10. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:36.980 [+0.720] 27 Laps
11. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:36.982 [+0.722] 26 Laps
12. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:37.025 [+0.765] 20 Laps
13. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:37.039 [+0.779] 18 Laps
14. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:37.199 [+0.939] 20 Laps
15. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:37.241 [+0.981] 18 Laps
16. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:37.395 [+1.135] 12 Laps
17. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:37.634 [+1.374] 22 Laps
18. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:37.640 [+1.380] 17 Laps
19. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:38.022 [+1.762] 19 Laps
20. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:38.483 [+2.223] 07 Laps

Comments: It's the first practice session in Malaysia, and all the teams are out for their very own evaluation and assessment, collecting useful data and information. As the starting time of the qualifying and race this weekend is at late afternoon (1700hrs, Singapore Time), and also with possible chance of rain, there might be a good chance to mix up the grid. Usual suspect with the diffuser teams on a slight upper hand.

Friday Practice 2 (1400hrs - 1530hrs, Singapore Time)

01. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:35.707 [+0.000] 40 Laps
02. MAS (FER-FER, Car 030 1:35.832 [+0.125] 38 Laps
03. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:35.954 [+0.247] 40 Laps
04. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:36.015 [+0.308] 39 Laps
05. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:36.026 [+0.319] 36 Laps
06. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:36.161 [+0.454] 37 Laps
07. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:36.254 [+0.547] 31 Laps
08. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:36.290 [+0.583] 35 Laps
09. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:36.397 [+0.690] 40 Laps
10. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:36.401 [+0.694] 35 Laps
11. HAM (MCL-MER, CAr 01) 1:36.515 [+0.808] 30 Laps
12. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:36.516 [+0.809] 34 Laps
13. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:36.628 [+0.921] 32 Laps
14. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:36.639 [+0.932] 29 Laps
15. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:36.640 [+0.933] 20 Laps
16. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:36.875 [+1.168] 36 Laps
17. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:37.267 [+1.560] 38 Laps
18. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:37.278 [+1.571] 30 Laps
19. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:37.432 [+1.725] 27 Laps
20. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:37.930 [+2.223] 37 Laps

Comments: Both Ferrari 1-2 for Friday Practice 2. They could have probably find a good setup for the car here in Malaysia. However, it's still too early to tell as different team were doing their own evaluations and lap times are not to be read too deeply. Notice that both BMWs were not on pace for both Friday Rractice sessions. They might be struggling with grips or they are simply doing their own data collection, since testing is ban during the season.

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

Formula One

2009-04-02T23:00:00.000+08:00

2009 Petronas F1 Malaysian Grand Prix

First free practice session is on 03 April 2009 (Friday) at 1000hrs.
Second free practice session is on 03 April 2009 (Friday) at 140hrs.
Third free practice session is on 04 April 2009 (Saturday) at 1400hrs.
Qualifying session is on 04 April 2009 (Saturday) at 1400hrs.
Race Day is on 05 April 2009 (Sunday) at 1700hrs.

情非得已离开你

2009-04-01T23:00:00.001+08:00

唱:郭富城曲:陈大力陈秀男词:刘虞瑞

总在这个日子想起一些心事
遥远的你万长的相思
欢笑藏在心里汗水留给未来
难忘等待着我的你

我情非得已离开你放不下你的心
我朝思暮想牵挂你又何尝愿意
但是你要相信相见总会来临
为我请好好珍惜自己

总在这个日子想起一些心事
遥远的你万长的相思
欢笑藏在心里汗水留给未来
难忘等待着我的你

我情非得已离开你放不下你的心
我朝思暮想牵挂你又何尝愿意
但是你要相信相见总会来临
为我请好好珍惜自己

我情非得已离开你放不下你的心
我朝思暮想牵挂你又何尝愿意
但是你要相信相见总会来临
为我请好好珍惜自己

我情非得已离开你放不下你的心
我朝思暮想牵挂你又何尝愿意
但是你要相信相见总会来临
为我请好好珍惜自己

但是你要相信相见总会来临
为我请好好珍惜自己

Qing Fei De Yi Li Kai Ni - Aaron Kwok

Formula One - Intro, Part 2

2009-03-31T23:00:00.001+08:00

Yesterday only provide a small little area of focus of F1 racing. But I'll also bring up about the diffuser thingy that happen right now in F1, since we are now at aerodynamics...

The diffuser is a small little cuts, slits, holes and flip-ups at the bottom rear end of the car. The diffuser act similar to wings - using air flow to press down the rear end of the car, giving grip to the rear tyres in the process. F1 cars are rear wheel driven cars (cars with engine power driving the rear wheels of the car. The front wheels are free from the engine and are not turning with the energy churned out from the engine - more about FWD Front-Wheel Driven cars, RWD Rear-Wheel Driven cars and 4WD 4-Wheel Driven cars maybe later in the blog)

The current situation arises due to the following... It is known that F1 cars are lapping quicker and quicker round the circuits with lap times tumbling down. This also pose as danger because as cars go round quickly, should an accident occur, the impact force will be relatively greater, which might harm the driver. The solution is to have amended rules each year to slow the cars down. And for this year, the FIA would like cars with less dependent on aerodynamics - longer, lower front wings and taller, narrower rear wings. This will lessen the amount of downforce generated by the cars. And to compensate this loss of downforce from wings, the FIA re-introduce slick tyres, which allow the team to gain back a little in terms of traction. So, the idea is simple. Produce a car less dependent on aerodynamics, and thus a slower car than previous years.

However, the FIA rules are not too precise enough and that 3 teams found a loop hole and develop diffusers, which will reduce their loss of downforce due to the wing changes this year. Also, the FIA would like to promote overtaking so that there are more action on track, which will please viewers. The diffusers are devices at the rear end of the car, which creates turbulance to the air flow. And should a car follow behind closely, the aerodynamics of the car behind will be affected. This will cause the car behind to lose downforce and hence unable to overtake. This situation happend in the past as cars are unable to overtake because if the car behind follow closely to the car in front, it loses its performance.

As such, majority of the teams go with the spirit of not developing the diffuser and developed further into other areas of the car. So can you imagine when cars with diffusers turn up on the track. The other cars were sort of handicapped, so as to speak. And going slightly deeper, FIA also introduce movable front wings and KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). The adjustable front wings can be used by the driver for overtaking the car in front by simply adjust 1 plane on the front wing. KERS is an expensive new toy in F1 where it uses energy, recovered during braking, stored in a cell and utilise it when the driver wants it. This KERS is believed to boost the car, raises the car with extra 80bhp for a short duration of time. Also in spirit of overtaking. More about KERS some other time, so as not to bore you to death.

So, why are the other teams so angry and all the appeals and stuff. Take for instance, a KERS car behind a diffuser car. During the straights, the KERS car could boost the car and draw closer to the diffuser in front. But he has little or no chance to overtake it when it comes to a corner. The diffuser car simple open up a gap again as it can take corners at higher speed. The KERS car will then fall back further down. But on the straights again, the KERS car can close up the gap and this cycle continues. Unless there's a mistake made by the driver in the front car (leaving enough open space for the rear car to get pass), a pass is rather unlikely.

So in view of all these, the diffuser teams claimed they followed the rules closely and did not break any of them (due to loopholes), whereas the non-diffuser teams insist that the diffuser teams were rather unsporting knowing the general objective of the regulations.

Anyway, the results for the first 2 races are provisional and not exactly finalised as the Court of Appeal will happen after the 2nd race (Malaysian Grand Prix). Verdicts will rule either the diffuser are legal, which you will see other teams desperately coming up with diffusers for their car for subsequent races (which is dumb, as it increases cost again, which the teams and FIA are strongly against); or diffusers are illegal and that points might be stripped off from the 3 diffuser teams (which is double whammy as the teams on diffusers are low budget teams and at such situation, their commercial exposure are higher. And that the other big teams could have easily close up their deficits pretty soon, so why not let them have some points rather than no points at all as this would spice up and make the championship much more interesting)

Alright, I think that's enough for now. Hope that gives you a little gist of what to watch out for, for this seasons's F1 races...

Formula One - Intro, Part 1

2009-03-30T23:00:00.004+08:00

OK. I notice that many of you are not very into F1. Well, there might be some of them who don't know, but would like to find out a bit more; fret no more... I'll try my best to do some explanation here to just give you a gist of the idea, as well as what are the new things introduced this year and why so much "noises" made...

First of all, F1 (Formula One) is a name given as it follows a set of guidelines for teams to follow and to compete in. There are also other series of racing, which uses a different formula, and hence you have other kind of racing - GP2, A1GP... All these motorsports are under the governing body, known as FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile)

Now, the formula. Car racing is not just about building a car to race. It's about lap times. It does not mean a very fast car with the most powerful engine will definately win a race. It's all about how you manage to get a car round the track with a fast time that will allow you to complete a designated number of laps with a faster time. Now, that is provided you are racing alone on the track. But it isn't. With all the cars on the track, you must be able to lap quickly round it. So, to cut things short, apart from fast speed, you'll also need a car that goes round corners quickly as well. And to do that, you'll need to know about grip.

Grip is all about how well your car is planted on the ground and energy from the engine is driven to the wheels and wheels to turn and make the car move. No grip, the engine will spins the wheels at the same spot. Simple as that. In order to achieve grip, there are mainly 2 areas: Aerodynamics and Mechanical grip (traction).

Aerodynamic mainly means using wings or wing-like fixture, to generate either a lift or downforce, using the principle of air pressure. For instance, an aeroplane uses its wings to generate lift. Lift is generate when the wing, attached to the aeroplane cuts through the air as the aeroplane accelerates down the runway, with higher pressure below the wing and lower pressure above. So, at the right speed, the higher pressure build-up below the wing is sufficient to carry the wing upwards, and there you have a lift - the aeroplane takes off. F1 uses the opposite theory, whereby the wing is used inverted. The creates high pressure on top, low pressure at the bottom, which will press the car down, hence ensuring the wheel is always on the tarmac, gripping the road. As such, during a high speed cornering, the car is pressed to the tarmac and the car can turn corners quickly.

So far so good? Now you may think... Fast on straight line speed and corner speed is the way to go. But don't forget, having angled wings to press the car at high speed also creates drag. Imagine you are running with a big cardboard perpendicular to the ground. You'll feel that a force is pushing you backwards as you running and you cannot run with ease. Same principle, and that's drag. So, at the end of the day, it's about balancing.

Then comes the Mechanical grip part. That has got to do with tyres, and suspension, torsion bars, beams, push rods... Which might bore you. So let's just focus on tyres (rule change this year from groove to slicks). So, as you know, the only contact surface between the car and the tarmac are the tyres. In order to have better grip or traction on the tarmac, there must be as much contact between the tyres and the tarmac. Slick tyres are tyres that have totally no tread patterns on the surface of the tyres, and these give better traction. Groove tyres are tyres with four grooves that runs parallel to the tyre rotation. These grooves reduces the contacts between the tyre and the tarmac and hence provide less grip or traction for the car.

Previously, cars were focused on aerodynamics development and was standardised with groove tyre, so that the cars speed were controlled, and hence the lap times. However, aerodynamics research and development works are costly as teams build wind-tunnel to try out the effects of wings, winglets and appendages. And as we know it's about budgeting and with lately, the financial situation, the focus is switched around again - focus on traction, and less on aerodynamics.

Which explains why you see uglier cars this year with longer and lower front wings, taller and narrower rear wings, and slick tyres. The slick tyres gives the cars traction to go round corners with reduced aids from the wings.

Hey... That's a lot of stuff already. I guess I shall continue tomorrow... Notice that this is just a small fraction about F1... So, can you see how big F1 is all about? It not only involves engineers and technical people, but people from all walks of life. There are lawyers, nutritionist, dieticians, physiotherapist, doctors, businessman, marketing consultants, accountants... All working in each team. That's a lot of people and commitment...

2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix - Sunday

2009-03-29T23:30:00.004+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix (Albert Park - Melbourne)

Sunday Race (1400hrs - 1600hrs, Singapore Time)

01. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:34:15.784
02. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) +0.8 secs
03. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) +1.6 secs
04. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) +4.4 secs
05. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) +4.8 secs
06. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) +5.7 secs
07. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) +6.0 secs
08. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) +6.2 secs
09. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) +6.3 secs
10. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) +7.0 secs
11. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) +7.3 secs
13. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) +01 Lap
14. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) +02 Lap [Accident]
15. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) +03 Lap [Accident]
16. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) +03 Lap [Differential]
DNF MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) +13 Lap [Suspension]
DNF PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) +34 Lap [Spin]
DNF NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) +41 Lap [Accident]
DNF KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) +58 Lap [Accident Damage]
DSQ HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) +2.9 secs

Comments: Finally the actual race. Race pace for some of the teams were OK, some were still struggling and some ran into reliability issues. Since the circuit does not exhibit any good straights, KERS for overtaking is not very significant for certain cars. (KERS car vs Diffuser car). The KERS car can pull right close up down the little straights to a non-KERS diffuser car ahead. But during the corners, the diffuser car with the extra downforce available, can corner at higher speed, hence negate any advantage for the KERS car. The reverse is true too. The non-KERS car can close right up a KERS car at corners, but can't any way pass round the corner. The only way for a sure pass is a KERS car vs a non-KERS non-diffuser car, or a diffuser car vs a non-KERS non-diffuser car. It seems like Williams has the package - KERS and diffuser. However, it's the reliability that let it down. Tyres do play a part as well as during the closing stage of the race, Kubica, on the harder Bridgestone slicks is performing up to 2 secs a lap quicker than the drivers ahead (Vettel and Button, who were on the softer compound). But during an overtaking maneuver with Vettel, both Kubica and Vettel crashed out of the race. It is believed that Kubica might have won the race. 1 change to the final classification of the Australian Grand Prix: Trulli was penalised for overtaking under Safety Car and was handed a 25 secs penalty, which dropped him from 3rd to 12th. Hamilton was promoted from 4th to 3rd, and the other finishing drivers moved up respectively. Vettel was to relegate 10 grid slots down after the qualifying for the next race (Malaysian Grand Prix) for creating the crash with Kubica. Other things to note: Amongst the big teams, Ferrari and BMW Sauber went home after th Australian Grand Prix with 0 points. It is crucial at this stage for damage-limitation as the outcome for the diffuser saga is pending till end of Malaysian Grand Prix. Whatever points savaged is important. Both Renault and McLaren suceeded in doing so.

*Yet more changes again. After a review of new evidence, the FIA has excluded Hamilton from Australian Grand Prix, giving him a disqualified, while Trulli regained his 3rd.

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix - Saturday

2009-03-28T23:30:00.005+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix (Albert Park - Melbourne)

Saturday Practice (1100hrs - 1200hrs, Singapore Time)

01. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:25.808 [+0.000] 21 Laps
02. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:25.811 [+0.003] 19 Laps
03. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:25.981 [+0.173] 20 Laps
04. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:26.020 [+0.212] 17 Laps
05. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:26.078 [+0.270] 18 Laps
06. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:26.348 [+0.540] 19 Laps
07. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:26.355 [+0.547] 16 Laps
08. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:26.410 [+0.602] 25 Laps
09. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:26.514 [+0.706] 18 Laps
10. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:26.555 [+0.747] 19 Laps
11. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:26.652 [+0.844] 13 Laps
12. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:26.714 [+0.906] 18 Laps
13. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:27.009 [+1.201] 12 Laps
14. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:27.062 [+1.254] 12 Laps
15. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:27.152 [+1.344] 16 Laps
16. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:27.192 [+1.384] 17 Laps
17. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:27.357 [+1.549] 18 Laps
18. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:27.492 [+1.684] 20 Laps
19. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:27.739 [+1.931] 22 Laps
20. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:28.801 [+2.993] 05 Laps

Comments: It's the last practice session before the first qualifying of the 2009. Every team should be finalising their strategy for the race. It is this practice session that we can see a lot more of the potential of the cars, just before qualifying. The 3 diffuser teams were quick all for both Friday sessions and againn for this Saturday session. So, somehow, the diffuser worked to their advantage. The only car with problem was Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari, Car 04) with hydraulic issue.

Qualifying (1400hrs - 1500hrs, Singapore Time)

01. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) Q1[1:25.211] Q2[1:24.855] Q3[1:26.202] ; WT[664.5kg]
02. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) Q1[1:25.006] Q2[1:24.783] Q3[1:26.505] ; WT[666.5kg]
03. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) Q1[1:25.938] Q2[1:25.121] Q3[1:26.830] ; WT[657.0kg]
04. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) Q1[1:25.922] Q2[1:25.152] Q3[1:26.914] ; WT[650.0kg]
05. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) Q1[1:25.846] Q2[1:25.123] Q3[1:26.973] ; WT[657.0kg]
06. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) Q1[1:25.844] Q2[1:25.319] Q3[1:27.033] ; WT[654.0kg]
07. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) Q1[1:25.899] Q2[1:25.380] Q3[1:27.163] ; WT[655.5kg]
08. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) Q1[1:25.427] Q2[1:25.241] Q3[1:27.246] ; WT[662.0kg]
09. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) Q1[1:25.827] Q2[1:25.504] ; WT[691.5kg]
10. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) Q1[1:26.026] Q2[1:25.605] ; WT[680.7kg]
11. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) Q1[1:26.074] Q2[1:25.607] ; WT[612.5kg]
12. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) Q1[1:26.184] Q2[1:25.726] ; WT[690.6kg]
13. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) Q1[1:26.454] Q2[No Time] ; WT[655.0kg]
14. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) Q1[1:26.503] ; WT[675.5kg]
15. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) Q1[1:26.598] ; WT[694.1kg]
16. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) Q1[1:26.677] ; WT[689.0kg]
17. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) Q1[1:26.742] ; WT[684.5kg]
18. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) Q1[1:26.964] ; WT[662.5kg]
19. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) DSQ ; WT[670.0kg]
20. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) DSQ ; WT[660.0kg]

Comments: It's a 1-2 for Brawn GP despite being their debut season. And more significantly, their fuel load were not light at all, comparing with position 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. That is incredible. They have a good car and we will likely to see them winning the race should reliability be of not an issue. Generally, the KERS cars are not doing as good as those who are non-KERS. However, this could probably change during a race, and that might be useful for overtaking. Something to note, Lewis Hamilton did not clock a lap during Q2 as he suffered from gearbox related issue. If he changed a gearbox, he would have to start at the back of the grid. Both Toyotas had their qualifying times removed as their rear wings were found to flex too much, thuus giving them advantage at the straights. So both Toyotas will start from the back of the grid, with Hamilton. The other drivers were correspondingly promoted up the order.

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix - Friday

2009-03-27T23:30:00.005+08:00

FIA 2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix (Albert Park - Melbourne)

Friday Practice 1 (0930hrs - 1100hrs, Singapore Time)

01. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:26.687 [+0.000] 19 Laps
02. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:26.736 [+0.049] 21 Laps
03. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:26.750 [+0.063] 24 Laps
04. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:27.226 [+0.539] 21 Laps
05. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:27.453 [+0.766] 15 Laps
06. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:27.467 [+0.780] 12 Laps
07. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:27.642 [+0.955] 24 Laps
08. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:27.710 [+1.023] 24 Laps
09. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:27.993 [+1.306] 20 Laps
10. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:28.123 [+1.436] 16 Laps
11. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:28.137 [+1.450] 20 Laps
12. TRU (TOT-TOY, Car 09) 1:28.142 [+1.455] 21 Laps
13. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:28.511 [+1.824] 22 Laps
14. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:28.603 [+1.916] 16 Laps
15. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:28.785 [+2.098] 27 Laps
16. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:29.042 [+2.355] 18 Laps
17. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:29.081 [+2.394] 07 Laps
18. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:29.461 [+2.774] 25 Laps
19. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:29.499 [+2.812] 21 Laps
20. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:32.784 [+6.097] 04 Laps

Comments: It's the first practice session of the year, plus the track is green. Nothing much to comment on. Every team is sorting out their own individual programme. However, it's a good indication benchmark of the teams with the diffusers (Toyota, Williams-Toyota & Brawn-Mercedes) on their times. Problems for both Mark Webber (RBR-Renault, Car 14) with drive-shaft issue and Sebastien Vettel (RBR-Renault, Car 15) with hydraulic issue. Reliability problem with RBR-Renault? Too early stage for comment, but possibility not ruled out...

Friday Practice 2 (1330hrs - 1500hrs, Singapore Time)

01. ROS (WIL-TOY, Car 16) 1:26.053 [+0.000] 36 Laps
02. BAR (BRA-MER, Car 23) 1:26.157 [+0.104] 38 Laps
03. TRU (TOY-TOY, Car 09) 1:26.350 [+0.297] 42 Laps
04. WEB (RBR-REN, Car 14) 1:26.370 [+0.317] 30 Laps
05. BUT (BRA-MER, Car 22) 1:26.374 [+0.321] 38 Laps
06. GLO (TOY-TOY, Car 10) 1:26.443 [+0.390] 42 Laps
07. NAK (WIL-TOY, Car 17) 1:26.560 [+0.507] 33 Laps
08. VET (RBR-REN, Car 15) 1:26.740 [+0.687] 19 Laps
09. SUT (FOR-MER, Car 20) 1:27.040 [+0.987] 29 Laps
10. MAS (FER-FER, Car 03) 1:27.064 [+1.011] 35 Laps
11. RAI (FER-FER, Car 04) 1:27.204 [+1.151] 32 Laps
12. ALO (REN-REN, Car 07) 1:27.232 [+1.179] 28 Laps
13. FIS (FOR-MER, Car 21) 1:27.282 [+1.229] 32 Laps
14. HEI (BMW-BMW, Car 06) 1:27.317 [+1.264] 34 Laps
15. KUB (BMW-BMW, Car 05) 1:27.398 [+1.345] 36 Laps
16. BOU (STR-FER, Car 11) 1:27.479 [+1.426] 36 Laps
17. KOV (MCL-MER, Car 02) 1:27.802 [+1.749] 35 Laps
18. HAM (MCL-MER, Car 01) 1:27.813 [+1.760] 31 Laps
19. PIQ (REN-REN, Car 08) 1:27.828 [+1.775] 35 Laps
20. BUE (STR-FER, Car 12) 1:28.076 [+2.023] 33 Laps

Comments: All diffuser team, with RBR-Renault, were the only cars below the 1:27.000, with Force India-Mercedes doing relatively good as well. Nico Rosberg topped the timesheet again showing that the possibility of combination of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and diffuser means they might have a good start for the season scoring good points or even maiden win for Rosberg. But again, too early to tell. Reliability could be an issue, just like for all the teams. The usual big teams, Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault and BMW Sauber were at the bottom half of the timesheet, possibily struggling for grip and pace

*Time courtesy from 1999-2009 Formula One Administration Ltd.

Formula One

2009-03-26T23:00:00.003+08:00

Yes, the FIA 2009 F1 World Championship starts with the usual Friday Free-practice tomorrow! What I'd plan to do, is to do some coverage of the races and write my own personal opinions on them.

Starting tomorrow with the Friday Free Practice sessions, I will post the official times and then my analysis and comments about it. Well, should anyone magazines like this, I might as well do an editorial article for a magazine! Dreaming...

Anyway, I will be using codes for my F1 related post, so as to save some space. Some might find viewing my blog difficult as the spacing on my page might not be properly optimised for your computer. So to minimise that, I'll condense my writings as such

Team and Engine Code (Alphabetical Order):

01. BMW - BMW Sauber / BMW Engine
02. BRA - Brawn GP
03. FER - Ferrari / Ferrari Engine
04. FOR - Force India
05. MCL - McLaren
06. MER - Mercedes Engine
07. RBR - Red Bull Racing
08. REN - Renault / Renault Engine
09. STR - Torro Rosso
10. TOY - Toyota / Toyota Engine
11. WIL - Williams

Drivers (Car Number Order):
01. HAM - Lewis Hamilton
02. KOV - Heikki Kovalainen
03. MAS - Felipe Massa
04. RAI - Kimi Raikkonen
05. KUB - Robert Kubica
06. HEI - Nick Heidfeld
07. ALO - Fernando Alonso
08. PIQ - Nelsinho Piquet
09. TRU - Jarno Trulli
10. GLO - Timo Glock
11. BOU - Sebastien Bourdais
12. BUE - Sebastien Buemi
14. WEB - Mark Webber
15. VET - Sebastian Vettel
16. ROS - Nico Rosberg
17. NAK - Kazuki Nakajima
20. SUT - Adrian Sutil
21. FIS - Giancarlo Fisichella
22. BUT - Jenson Button
23. BAR - Rubens Barichello

Garrison's Timeline - Part 7b

2009-03-25T23:00:00.002+08:00

Now, after my free-lancing for about a year, I began to settle down on a full-time job. I was then offered a job as a Product Specialist, and shortly Product Manager, specialising in Chocolates. Yes, chocolates... Envious? I got to eat chocolates everyday! Luckily I'm not too fat to start with!

Well, it was predominantly a sales job, doing wholesaling of chocolates. I would also need to do some marketing aspect of it, doing brochures and catalogues, plus doing a bit of other food comodity that the company has. But that is to a lesser extend. I would also need to meet up with customers, understand their needs, build rapport with them and also doing delivery should urgent circumstances arises. I would also need to work out and plan with other colleagues for major events, such as exhibitions. And later part, to meet up with suppliers to design and come up with packaging for our range of ready-to-eat products. Well, I was still a rookie in this area and I'd gotten a good superior in this job, whom assist and guide me through along the way. Quite a good and fun job. I also did a part-time property agent course at this period of time, thinking that I might be able to do part-time, earning extra income. But I was wrong... F&B industry has no days, no nights, no weekdays, no weekends, no public holidays, no nothing... It's a fast-paced industry where things happen quickly. That's why it's also considered as a FMCG (Fast Moving Consumable Goods) industry. So as you might have guessed, no time to do part-time work, let alone self upgrading, doing my part-time further studies.

Oh, and it's at this period of time where I'd gotten myself into a liability... My car. For the purpose of work, I would need a good and reliable car, comfortable, value for money and of course, not an ugly car. For this, I'd chosen the Nissan Latio Sport. I got mine in black colour. Anyway, not to digress into cars...

At the end of the year, after I'm done with the Christmas sales for the company, I was actually asked by a friend, whom then introduce me to his other friend, whom own a F&B (Food & Beverage) establishment. It is quite a well-known confectionary, or some might call it a bakery, whom specialises in doing cakes. So after spending about a year with the Chocolate Company, I was poached to the Confectionery Company as a Business Development Manager. Pay rise of course, plus bigger responsibility, bigger room, bigger freedom of planning. And lots of proving...

I work around the branding and marketing aspect first, as I find nothing significantly wrong with the products. My idea was, no point mending things that aren't broken. Since the products are quite well accepted by the customers, why change? My focus and aim was then to improve on it's awareness and value, and probably go into corporate clients, a new venture, breaking out from the usual retail shop concept. So I worked a lot on the promotion mechanics, tying down with credit card companies, doing a lot of publicity work and rope in the aid of media. Not too bad for a start. And people were delighted. But then, it's not smooth sailing... It's a family business and there's 1001 directions given by the family members. And to make things worse, the directions were opposing. For example, 1 said launch a new product, the other said no. 1 said do more agreesive promotions, the other said stop. And to make things real miserable, both were major decision makers. And after gotten stuck and putting up with the nonsense, some promotion activities still worked out. Eventually, came the rising cost of food materials and ingredients, which makes profit margin thinner and thinner. Measures were thought of to control cost, and again, 1 agree, the other don't. At last, after a year plus of working with this company, I was retrenched. I guess my cost in the company was easily written off, as compared to the food ingredients.

Never thought of getting retrenched at such early age, but I'd gotten it. My ex-colleagues from the confectionery were helpful and they knew I'd done my best for them and for the company. Soon, I was refered by one of these ex-colleagues to the friend, whom gotten me into my current job, after 1 month of sitting out, doing nothing after the retrenchment. My family knew nothing about as I only revealed this to a couple of good trusting friends... With a big liability (car), unemployment spells disaster and it can drain up your savings very quickly and significantly. It's only when I'd gotten my next job, which is my current job, then my family knew about it.

About my current job, I guess I would have to leave it till the next blog. I guess it would be pretty long as well. And to just give you a slight preview, the job has got nothing to do with F&B, which I'm doing all along... It was an Engineering field of work. What a change!

Featured Video

2009-03-24T23:00:00.000+08:00

Well well well... I think some of you would have thought I'd gone crazy. Yes, it's real, it's true... I'm putting up a video clip of McLaren-Mercedes!

To be honest, I think this advertisement from McLaren-Mercedes is very well done. This clip was taken 2 years ago, where both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were in McLaren-Mercedes. Both were good and competitive. But alas, the relation was strained. As what the Chinese says "一山不能藏二虎", the competition is so immense that favouritism became apparent to the driver whom perform slightly better. This result in Fernando Alonso leaving McLaren-Mercedes at the end of the season to join back his former team, the team that earned him his World Champion title - Renault.

Anyway, enough said... Hope you like the video too. And oh... the man at the end of the clip is Mika Hakkinen, also a former World Champion from McLaren-Mercedes.

Well well... At the end of the day, sad to say... BMW Sauber F1 Team is always better!

Garrison's E-Mail

2009-03-23T23:00:00.005+08:00

有錢仔的作文

我出生在一個非常貧苦的家庭，記得小時候，爸爸的生活很無聊，整天只能數錢，媽媽也是，整天都在掃錢；我家住在深山中，每次要出去買東西，都相當麻煩，開保時捷要5小時，開賓士也要4小時；雖然家裡有直昇機，但是開到那邊很難找到停車位，相當的不方便；我偶爾也會出去逛街，爸媽怕我被綁架，隨身有20多個保鑣保護著，大家看到我都嚇跑了，所以我從小就開始被排斥........ 因為家裡是在深山，每次到了冬天都非常冷，爸爸也說，出去買東西很麻煩，所以冬天沒有暖爐... 沒有棉被... 每天只能陪著爸媽燒錢取暖... 而睡覺的時候，也只能蓋著錢睡覺(我覺得英鎊比較溫暖)。

記得小時候，有一次，因為房間太大，還來不急跑出房間，就尿褲子了，所以，爸爸在我房間放了一台小綿羊機車，好讓我能在10分鐘以內，衝出1000坪的房間，穿越5公里的走廊，到達800坪的廁所(我常常在走廊迷路)；爸爸又另外叫人加蓋了20間600坪裡面有著250坪小廁所的破房間，說:以後如果尿濕了，直接換房間，如果房間不夠或是太小的話，再告訴爸爸，爸爸再叫人來多蓋幾間，我們的生活很辛苦，你要忍著點!! 現在想起來，爸爸真是個善良的人!!

還記得有一次，家裡遭小偷，因為他用炸藥炸壞了我爸的保險箱，使得裡面的金幣不斷的往外滾出來，結果竟把那個小偷壓死了...... 我覺得那個小偷好可憐...... 金幣壓死人是很痛的!! 他不像之前那個被鈔票悶死的小偷一樣幸運。

媽媽也常常告訴我，我們家生活非常困苦~~要我學著吃苦~~所以我從小養成了刻苦耐勞精神，我將來的志願，是要找200隻會吃錢的怪物，好把家裡的錢都吃光，為那些可憐的小偷報仇!!

老師評語: 去死啦!!

Formula One

2009-03-22T23:00:00.002+08:00

1 more week to the 1st race of the FIA F1 2009 Championship!

Who will win the 1st race for 2009? How will each team measures up for the new season? Will there be a shift of power due to the new rules and regulations? Dark horses?

Oh, it's all going to be exciting...

First free practice session is on 27 March 2009 (Friday) at 0930hrs.
Second free practice session is on 27 March 2009 (Friday) at 1330hrs.
Third free practice session is on 28 March 2009 (Saturday) at 1100hrs.
Qualifying session is on 28 March 2009 (Saturday) at 1400hrs.
Race Day is on 29 March 2009 (Sunday) at 1400hrs.

Garrison's Timeline - Part 7a

2009-03-21T23:30:00.006+08:00

Next up, my working life. Yes, working. Which means it's going to be a lengthy one as some of my friends had already observed that I changed a new name card almost once a year. So in order to shorten the reading, I'd broken it down into sub-parts as well.

Immediately after leaving NUS, I began to look for jobs. With the aid of my diploma, I had been searching for a short period of time before joining a company which is sort of linked to the entertainment company I'd previously worked, after my NS, before going to NUS.

It was a newly established Franchise Consultancy firm, whereby my job is sort of like a bridging consultant, whom match-make Franchisors and Franchisees. Franchisors are those people who have successful business model, looking to replicate and expand thier business via Franchise Opportunities. Now, normally, there are 2 ways to grow and expand a business. Either, opening outlets by yourself to expand, or via the Franchise option. For a Franchise, the business model has to be proven replicable, as well as a set of system has to be in place so that the Franchisee can follow the model and become equally successful. Now, having said that, a Franchisee is a person whom would like to start a business, that is already been around in the market, so that his/her investment will be more secured. My role is to search for potential Franchisors and give them the option to Franchise their business, as well as look for Franchisees, whom are rich with money that they do not know what to do, and at the same time wanted to start a small successful business.

That job took me about a year before the parent company of this Franchise Consultancy firm has asked me to join them as an Administrative Manager. You see, for a business to go into Franchise, there are a lot of paper work to be done. And during my stint in the Franchise Consultancy firm, I'd been quite good at it, and hence the opportunity to join the parent company as an Admin Manager. However, as I'm the sort of person whom can't really sit still, working in the office for the whole day seemed like a disaster. And for about half a year later, I quitted.

So, what's next? Free-lancing. Perhaps that's a very generous way of saying, out of job. Or what some of my friend describe me as "measuring the road". It is during this period of time where I did a bit of video-editing, making short clips... Which is more of the creative aspect of me. Earn a little, but hey, no working hours. All at my free time. And then came a good opportunity. I was asked to be a PA of one of the MediaCorp famous male artiste for about a month. The original PA was going overseas and needed somebody to stand-in for this period. Now, that's something different.

For a start, I'm not too sure of what my role as a PA would be. However, the PA was kind enough to guide me through and the scope was interesting. I would need to have a eye for details. For example, the shooting is not in chronological order of the serial, but rather depending on the location. So, I would need to go through the script thoroughly. For instance, the morning shoot on site was for episode 6. I will need to know what happen before and after this shoot, so that the artiste will be wearing the same items or clothes before and probably after the scene. Let's take an example, before going to the zoo, the artiste was at home, wearing T-shirt and jeans, claiming that he's going to the zoo and leave the house and head for zoo. Now, for the zoo scene, I will need to use back the same sets of items and clothes for the shoot. The scene at home could be taken days before the zoo shoot, so there's a lot of details to be taken care of. Especially true for sponsored items, like necklaces or watches, which has to be worn correctly. Correctly as in the sense of wearing at the right place. It will be funny for the artiste to wear the watch on the left hand on one scene, and then on the right at the next. Now, you might have wondered... Who cares! But then, there are a lot of eagle-eye viewers whom can pick up all these little details and complained to MediaCorp. Yes, such people exist!

How exciting. But then, doing free-lancing without a steady flow of income hurts a lot. Especially I'd quitted NUS to have an early headstart as compared to my peers. So, I knew that's not going to be the way, and I started looking for proper full-time jobs again.

And oh, it is also this period of time that I gotten to know TWT, another member from the Credit List.

Alright, I'll leave the other part of my working life till next entry...

Garrison's SMS

2009-03-20T23:00:00.002+08:00

没钱的时候养小猪，有钱的时候养小狗。
没钱的时候家吃菜，有钱的时候外吃肉。
没钱的时候想结婚，有钱的时候想离婚。
没钱的时候老婆兼秘书，有钱的时候秘书兼老婆。
没钱的时候装有钱，有钱的时候装没钱。

人啊人，都不再说真话。
说股票是毒品，都在玩。
说金钱是罪恶，都在捞。
说美女是祸水，都想要。
说高处不胜寒，都在爬。
说烟酒伤身体，都不戒。
说天堂最美好，都不去。

当今社会。。。
穷吃菜，富吃肉。
男想高，女想瘦。
狗穿衣裳，人露肉。
过去把第一次留给丈夫，现在把第一胎留给丈夫。
乡下早晨鸡叫人，城市夜里人叫鸡。
旧社会戏子卖艺不卖身，现社会演员卖身不卖艺。

Formula One Updates

2009-03-19T23:00:00.004+08:00

After some waiting for the final confirmation of the Teams and Drivers' line-up for the FIA F1 2009 Championship, the following are the official entries:

01. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren - Mercedes)
02. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren - Mercedes)
03. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
04. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
05. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber)
06. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)
07. Fernando Alonso (Renault)
08. Nelsinho Piquet (Renault)
09. Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
10. Timo Glock (Toyota)
11. Sebastien Bourdais (Scuderia Toro Rosso - Ferrari)
12. Sebastien Buemi (Scuderia Toro Rosso - Ferrari)
14. Mark Webber (Red Bull - Renault)
15. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull - Renault)
16. Nico Rosberg (Williams - Toyota)
17. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams - Toyota)
20. Adrian Sutil (Force India - Mercedes)
21. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India - Mercedes)
22. Jenson Button (Brawn GP - Mercedes)
23. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP - Mercedes)

Garrison's Statistics:
Total Number of Cars on Grid : 20 (10 Teams)
Total Number of Mercedes Engines : 6 (3 Teams)
Total Number of Ferrari Engines : 4 (2 Teams)
Total Number of Renault Engines : 4 (2 Teams)
Total Number of Toyota Engines : 4 (2 Teams)
Total Number of BMW Engines : 2 (1 Team)

Garrison's SMS

2009-03-18T23:00:00.002+08:00

So, you tried the SMS quiz yesterday? Want to know the secrets behind?

1. Choose a number between 1 to 9 (ie, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9).
[Let's choose 3]
2. Multiply this number by 2.
[3 × 2 = 6]
3. Add 5 to it.
[6 + 5 = 11]
4. Multiply another 50.
[11 × 50 = 550]
5. If your birthday had passed this year, add 1759, otherwise, add 1758.
[Assuming birthday passed, 550 + 1759 = 2309]
6. Finally, subtract the year that you are born with the number you obtained from Point 5 above.
[Assuming born in 1981, 2309 - 1981 = 328]

So, if the person is born in 1981, he's now 28 years old, which is true. First number chosen was also 3.

Amazing? Not really, now let's take a second look.

Assuming the number you chose is x.

So,

1. Choose a number between 1 to 9 (ie, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9).
[x]
2. Multiply this number by 2.
[2x]
3. Add 5 to it.
[2x + 5]
4. Multiply another 50.
[50(2x+5) = 100x + 250]
5. If your birthday had passed this year, add 1759, otherwise, add 1758.
[Assuming birthday has passed, {(100x + 250) + 1759} = 100x + 2009]
6. Finally, subtract the year that you are born with the number you obtained from Point 5 above.
[Assuming born in 1981, {(100x + 2009) - 1981} = 100x + 2009 - 1981]

Isn't it obvious that the equation will give you the hundredth place is x (first digit of your final answer), and 2009, which is this year, minus the year that you are born, which equates to your age?

Ha... Not so amazing after all!!!

Garrison's SMS

2009-03-17T23:00:00.001+08:00

I came across this SMS that sort of amaze some of my friends. I would post the SMS, and then reveal the logic behind tomorrow...

"Super accurate! I can know what you are thinking and also determine your age! Don't believe me, try this!

1. Choose a number between 1 to 9 (ie, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9).
2. Multiply this number by 2.
3. Add 5 to it.
4. Multiply another 50.
5. If your birthday had passed this year, add 1759, otherwise, add 1758.
6. Finally, subtract the year that you are born with the number you obtained from Point 5 above.

Now, you'll get a 3 digit number. See what I mean, the first digit is the number you are thinking of! The last 2 numbers are your age! Fascinating? Ha ha..."

Garrison's E-Mail

2009-03-16T23:00:00.003+08:00

當我向老板請假的時候，老板寫了這封信這樣回答我：

“你想請一天假？看看你在向公司要求什麼？一年裡有365天你可以工作。一年52個星期，你已經每星期休息2天，剩下261天工作。你每天有16小時不在工作，去掉170天，剩下91天。每天你花30分鐘時間喝咖啡，加起來每年23天，剩下68天。每天午飯時間你花掉1小時，又用掉46天，還有22天。通常你每年請2天病假，這樣你的工作時間只有20天。每年有5個節假日，公司休息不上班，你只幹15天。每年公司還慷慨地給你14天假期，算下來你就工作1天，而你他媽的還要請這一天假？”

我的回信內容：

“你怎麼不說--- 每天8:30分上班，我8:10就要從家中出門（這段時間我為公司做事，但是沒有給我錢）。每天17:30下班，我要到18:00才會到家（這段時間我為公司做事，但是沒有給我錢）。公司規定不能隨便穿，要穿襯衫西裝庫皮鞋，偏偏我最討厭穿襯衫西裝褲皮鞋，這我要花自己的錢去買，公司也沒有給錢。每天看電腦，對我的眼睛是一大傷害，我近視平均每年增加至少100度，將來的醫藥費還要自己付，為了工作傷害自己永久的健康，公司也不做這方面的補助。每天用滑鼠鍵盤，害的我肩膀酸痛的要死，回去還要自己買沙龍趴思來貼，這部份公司又不提供沙龍趴思，又得我自己出錢。每次有案子，你一句話丟下來，我就要花盡心思，怎麼打一份讓你交差的企劃書，隨時隨地走到哪裡連半夜作夢都夢到，公司也沒給我加班費。客戶不爽，打來公司對著我的耳朵狂吼，弄的我精神衰弱、食慾不振，還要開夜車趕案子，開紿懷疑我會過勞死，公司也沒給我錢和保險。每天希望同事和客戶在工作上能夠配合，所以自己出去玩的時候，還要買個紀念品給同事和客戶以打好關係，這紀念品的錢還是要我自己出。

我不過多請一天假~

你媽的還不讓我請這一天的假”

Garrison's E-Mails

2009-03-15T23:00:00.000+08:00

I think apart from SMSes, I'd received quite a handful of E-Mails with good jokes or riddles. So, apart from sharing Garrison's SMSes, I'd decided to share Garrisons E-Mails as well. If you find the article interesting, copy and paste, and send it via E-Mail to your friends and brighten up their day!

Garrison 讲鬼

2009-03-14T23:00:00.002+08:00

老林是个巴士司机。有着驾了三十多年巴士的丰富经验。

这晚深夜，老林正驾驶着最后一趟巴士车返回巴士总站。巴士仅剩一名穿着白衣的女子，就坐在巴士最后一排的椅子上。

老林继续开着巴士，无意中看倒车镜时，竟发现那女子不见了。老林吃了一惊，赶紧刹车。他回头一看，那白衣女子仍还坐在那最后一排的椅子上。老林又看了一看倒后镜。那女子出现在那倒后镜上。

老林这时傻笑了一阵，认为自己应该是累了，眼花，吓了自己一跳。毕竟都开了这么多年的巴士，从未遇见鬼。接着，便继续开车。

又过了一阵子，老林又瞄了一瞄倒后镜。糟了，那女子又不见了！老林张大眼睛，仔细地看着倒后镜。那女子的的确确不见了。老林又急忙地刹车。战战兢兢地回头一看，那女子依然还坐在那最后一排的椅子上。这时的老林已经冒了一身冷汗，心想事情不妙。随着，便赶紧又开着车，想赶紧回到巴士总站。这时的车速也明显的快了许多。

由于是心理上的好奇心在作祟，老林又望了一望倒后镜。女子真的不见了！老林崩溃了，又紧急刹车。接着便心惊胆战地慢慢回过头。只见那白衣女子缓慢地朝老林走了过来，头发凌乱，满脸是血。老林这时身体已僵硬，不能动弹。也发不出任何声音。

那女子走到老林的眼前，用低沉的声音说：“老娘根你有仇啊？老娘一蹲下绑鞋带，你就刹车！”

Someone once said...

2009-03-13T23:30:00.000+08:00

人在成长的过程中，难免遇到挫折。
懂得保护自己，也要懂得爱自己。
生命的乐章，要看你自己如何去谱写。
躲避，不一定躲得过。
面对，不一定最难受。
得到，不一定能长久。
失去，不一定再拥有。
转身，不一定最软弱。
别急着说别无选择。
别以为世上只有对与错。
事情的答案都不只一个，所以永远有路可以走。
你能找到理由难过，也一定能找到快乐。
懂得放心的人，找到轻松。
懂得遗忘的人，找到自由。
懂得关怀的人，找到朋友。

Facebook

2009-03-12T23:00:00.001+08:00

OK. I'm finally in Facebook now. Thanks to all those who keep persuading me to convert from Friendster to Facebook... And all the "upgrade with times" and "keep up with the rest" talk... Anyway, hope to find everyone there...

Now, having said that, I'll still be keeping my Friendster account. It has been with me for quite some time and also via Friendster, I manage to keep in touch with some of the long lost friends...

Well, if you have a Facebook account, feel free to add me. If you still haven't got a Facebook account, go create one and have fun finding your friends and keep in touch.

如果这是情

2009-03-11T23:00:00.003+08:00

唱:黎明曲:K.Tamaki G.Motsui 词:向雪怀

如果这是情我竟不清醒
莫非真的爱从来没说明

如果已注定难避这段情
是非多波折长存未了情

让我的美梦换你一世情
始终都等到一寸好光景
愿你可快乐象我痴情
谁是最爱不必再验证

人生似为情究竟应不应
遇到心所爱如何又冷静

如果已共鸣何用太无情
梦好多曲折似醒心不醒

就算风已静热爱不要停
痛苦只因不必要的反省
让我拥抱着热爱不要停
寻获最爱不必怕任性

让我的美梦换你一世情
始终都等到一寸好光景
愿你可快乐象我痴情
寻获最爱不必怕任性

就算风已静热爱不要停
痛苦只因不必要的反省
让我拥抱着热爱不要停
谁是最爱不必再验证

Ruguo zhe shi qing (If this is love) - Leon Lai

Garrison's SMS

2009-03-10T23:00:00.000+08:00

HUMAN fall in love,
that's NORMAL.
COWS eat grass,
that's NATURAL.
But when a PIG can read messages?!
It's INCREDIBLE!
Still reading?
UNBELIEVABLE!

Garrison's SMS - Introduction

2009-03-09T23:30:00.000+08:00

Well, it is obvious that being a blog that is general, and has no focus on any subjects or topics, it is important that the contents has to be innovative and interesting. And being in the marketing line for quite some time now, I'd decided to start something new.

Have you ever came across funny SMSes or SMSes that will not fail to impress you, or maybe jokes for that matter... Well, I'd decided to share some interesting SMSes with you guys. Be proud if your SMS is captured here. This item will start tomorrow, and it shall be rotated amongst the regular topics that I used to have.

Countdown to Formula One Season 2009

2009-03-08T23:30:00.001+08:00

Alright! 3 more weeks to the 1st F1 race for 2009. Can't wait for it. The schedule as follows:

01> ING Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne (27, 28, 29 March 2009) - 58 Laps.
02> Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang (03, 04, 05 April 2009) - 56 Laps.
03> Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai (17, 18, 19 April 2009) - 56 Laps.
04> Gulf Air Bahrain Grnad Prix, Sakhir (24, 25, 26 April 2009) - 57 Laps.
05> Telefonica Spanish Grand Prix, Catalunya (08, 09, 10 May 2009) - 66 Laps.
06> Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo (21, 23, 24 May 2009) - 78 Laps.
07> ING Turkish Grand Prix, Istanbul (05, 06, 07 June 2009) - 58 Laps.
08> Santander British Grand Prix, Silverstone (19, 20, 21 June 2009) - 60 Laps.
09> Santander German Grand Prix, Nurburgring (10, 11, 12 July 2009) - 60 Laps.
10> ING Hungarian Grand Prix, Budapest (24, 25, 26 July 2009) - 70 Laps.
11> Telefonica Europea Grand Prix, Valencia (21, 22, 23 August 2009) - 57 Laps.
12> ING Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps (28, 29, 30 August 2009) - 44 Laps.
13> Santander Italian Grand Prix, Monza (11, 12, 13 September 2009) - 53 Laps.
14> SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, Singapore (25, 26, 27 September 2009) - 61 Laps.
15> Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka (02, 03, 04 October 2009) - 53 Laps.
16> Brazilian Grand Prix, Sao Paulo (16, 17, 18 October 2009) - 71 Laps.
17> Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (30, 31 October 2009, 01 November 2009) - 55 Laps.

Schedule is correct as of time of post.

Garrison's Timeline - Part 6

2009-03-07T23:30:00.003+08:00

Life after Army... When you are in the Army, you'll look forward to ORD (Operational Ready Date), where you'll be discharge from full-time National Service. However, looking back, I think life in Army is not too bad as well. Food and lodging provided with allowances to be banked into your bank account promptly every month... Where to find?

After 2 and a half years of National Service and upon collecting back my pick IC, my next destination is the University, NUS. As I'd already been accepted by NUS for the upcoming academic work year even before my Army enlistment, all I need to do is to get myself ready and geared up for the academic year. Now, it will be quite a while till the start of the academic work year, so, I'd decided to do some short term work so that I can earn some money to help offset the cost of my studies.

During this period of time, I'd been working in an entertainment and events company to do data entry, as well as to help up to run certain events. From here, I get to know and feel how the entertainment industry functions. The stardom and glamour, as well as the hard work behind the scene. Quite a good learning experience though.

Soon, it was time for NUS. As my stint in NUS was rather short, I will cover it in this part of my timeline as well...

I was accepted for a 4 year full time course in NUS, doing an honours degree in Food Science and Technology. Sounds grand and good. Indeed. But due to some reasons, after a mere 2 months, I quitted. Sounds familiar, right? Yup. I did that in my Junior College days as well (Garrison's Timeline - Part 3c). Reason to quit... Plenty! If you want to know more, ask me about it. Not too nice to blog here! (Gives you a chance to buy me coffee to hear more stories!)

Well, I had a good feel of how University life is like. So far, I'd been to a Primary School, Secondary School, Junior College, Polytechnic, University. I would say, my Secondary School days were still the best. The friends and environment...

After quitting NUS, it's time for the next milestone... I suppose this milestone will stretch for a good couple more years before the next... Until I got rich? Or retired? Got married? Got children? Oh well...

Working. I had a close friend that tells me... "You know, I met you about once a year and everytime, you presented me a different name card!" In fact, he's not the only one saying this... Well, find out more on my next update.

Garrison's Updates

2009-03-06T23:30:00.001+08:00

Alright, just a bit more about current situation before I continue with my timeline stories...

It's been about a week back to office... Back to the hectic world. It seems like the situation has changed from bad to worse. The global economic situation has been infiltrating into work and the effects were felt more prominently now... Missed the days in ICT... The canteen breaks, the slack periods, and of course, my fellow comrades.

Well, I guess it's about time to be on a look out again, so anyone with any good opportunities to introduce, kindly let me know.

And by the way, would like to wish another member from my Credit List, a Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday GYL! Best wishes and best of luck for the days ahead!

十句

2009-03-05T23:30:00.001+08:00

第一句

如果我们之间有1000步的距离，你只要跨出第1步，我就会朝你的方向走其余的999步。

第二句

通常愿意留下来跟你争吵的人，才是真正爱你的人。

第三句

付出真心，才会得到真心，却也可能伤得彻底。保持距离，就能保护自己，却也注定永远寂寞。

第四句

有时候，不是对方不在乎你，而是你把对方看得太重。

第五句

朋友就是把你看透了，还能喜欢你的人。

第六句

就算是 "Believe"，　中间也藏了一个"lie"。

第七句

真正的好朋友，并不是在一起就有聊不完的话题，而是在一起，就算不说话，也不会感到尴尬。

第八句

没有一百分的另一半，只有五十分的两个人。

第九句

为你的难过而快乐的，是敌人；为你的快乐而快乐的，是朋友；为你的难过而难过的，就是那些该放进心里的人。

第十句

冷漠，有时候并不是无情，只是一种避免被伤害的工具。

感言

2009-03-04T23:00:00.002+08:00

人与人的相遇，就象是一个随机抽样。在不同的时间空间之中，彼此相遇。

有些时候，你会发现你一开始最看不顺眼的人，竟然不知不觉变成了你的好友。因为你发现了他的好。有些时候，你根本不想去认识一个人。你觉得无趣。后来你却发现他却是你所想要认识的那种人。有些时候，你非常喜欢一个人。但是缘分的交错让你们只能相遇，而不能在一起。或往往你爱的人，不爱你。而你不爱的人，却是那样爱你。这复杂的习惯总是如此的跟着我们，解不开也算不清。

有些人，你就是有一见如故的感受。有些人，你怎样就是说不上几句话。象是一部公车，大家在这一站上车，又在另一站下车。事事总是充满变数与未知。曾经感情很好的朋友，即使感觉还在，可是因为各自都有自己的前程而疏离。然而某些记忆，就算多年以后，也难以忘记，深藏心底深处。

缘份，是很奇妙的东西。他把原本陌生的两个人牵引在一起，可以相互认识，交往，到最后成为朋友。有缘千里来相会，无缘对面不相识。人与人之间的相遇，如果缺少了缘份的安排，又怎能从相遇中相识呢？

峰回路转

2009-03-03T23:00:00.003+08:00

唱: 刘德华曲：巫启贤词：邢增华

喜欢一个人追求心中所想
岂管别人笑我如何痴狂
没有牵挂不能放没有创痛不能忘
唯有豁开方能超越沧桑

喜欢去作梦因为梦想很美
满足了心灵忘记了疲惫
与其整天去怨对不如专心去面对
唯有宽怀方能微笑入睡

坦坦荡荡月华星光
一片清辉相映入眼怡然
简简单单轻风云淡
伴我上路潇洒远走四方

近水绕远山芳草连着天边长
人间处处尽是峰回路转

喜欢一个人追求心中所想
岂管别人笑我如何痴狂
没有牵挂不能放没有创痛不能忘
唯有豁开方能超越沧桑

喜欢去作梦因为梦想很美
满足了心灵忘记了疲惫
与其整天去怨对不如专心去面对
唯有宽怀方能微笑入睡

坦坦荡荡月华星光
一片清辉相映入眼怡然
简简单单轻风云淡
伴我上路潇洒远走四方

近水绕远山芳草连着天边长
人间处处尽是峰回路转

坦坦荡荡月华星光
一片清辉相映入眼怡然
简简单单轻风云淡
伴我上路潇洒远走四方

近水绕远山芳草连着天边长
人间处处尽是峰回路转

近水绕远山芳草连着天边长
人间处处尽是峰回路转

峰回路转 - Andy Lau

Garrisonism Media History

2009-03-02T23:00:00.000+08:00

Alright, there has been some enquiries with regards to the older "Current Media" that I'd previously embeded in my blog. So to make everyone happy, I'd attached and re-linked the various media with respect to the various post. In other words, you will be able to hear the songs once again at its individual lyrics post, by clicking on the "Play" button.

There'll be 2 media per month, so you can run through the blog using the the "Blog Archive" on the left hand side of the blog to scroll through the various months for the media. I'll also create a "Media History" so as to keep track which media is played on which month.

Well, all feedbacks are appreciated, and I'll try to make this blog as lively and friendly as it can be.

Cheers.

Garrison is back!

2009-03-01T23:00:00.002+08:00

Yes, I'm back. And finally get to pen down the thoughts I had for the past couple of weeks. It has been a meaningful "Getaway". Knew a couple of interesting people, done a couple of stuff.

Anyway, It seems like not much "Expected activities" in here as my income didn't come in steadily. Hmm... So know what to do, OK...

Now, where shall I begin? Should I continue with my Garrison's Timeline -Part 6? Or maybe before I continue with that (Next post), just a quick run through on what happened for the past couple of weeks.

Of course, military stuff I shan't elaborate as I don't want to land myself in any forms of trouble for violating any of their finest terms. However, I got a couple of quotes from a couple of interesting people.

The Chinese phrase "命中注定" means fated or destined to certain outcomes or results. This phrase came out from a Malay bunkmate (Yup. He speaks rather fluent Mandarin too, and is heard convering with Chinese foreign workers!) and is widely observe in the Army context... And we all knew that.

Another interesting taunt, also from the same Malay bunkmate. When come to a decision to execute something unfamiliar... "Ah! Scared? Chicken? Bok bok bok..." I think it's rather hard to imagine the taunt, but if I got the chance to show you 1 day, you'll probaby laugh till you roll on the floor...

I also witness the skills of "Smoking", or some calls it "Bull-shitting". I mean, for a reservist personnel, if you dunno, just say dunno... But some people like to talk until got dragon got tiger... And also the skill of "Evasion". Some big shots coming from the North and you'll see the personnel evading to the South. Always dodging and hiding.

Anyway, it was quite a "Getaway". Away from my normal hectic work schedule and into something unfamiliar, yet familiar. All the fun and pain. Anyway, 1 important note... Also glad to know a new Credit List personnel, GYL.

Well, that's about all for now. Business as usual... More coming up...

Garrison's Mobile Update

2009-02-22T17:00:00.001+08:00

Hi. This blog entry was entered via a laptop on a mobile internet connection. So, as promised, I am going to do an update as and when I can... I'm a man of my words, OK...

It has been 2 weeks into my ICT and 1 more week to go. Even though this ICT was not with my original unit and I'm on a make-up training with this new unit, I feel so closely knitted with the people in the unit. Anyway, found another person whom is joining in my Credit List - GYL.

OK, cut things short... I will be back from next week. A lot of things happen during my past 2 weeks during ICT. More time to think through a couple of things, so do keep tuned to read about them...

Well, it's about time to book in...

Garrison's Update

2009-02-06T23:00:00.000+08:00

Looks like this is going to be my last post for the daily continuous streak, before my house renovation and ICT. I will still try my very best to post a few articles along the way when I manage to find the spare time and internet connections, of course. Well, in the meantime, don't forget to help me earn a bit of money.

See ya

三個忠告

2009-02-05T23:00:00.001+08:00

一對新婚夫婦生活貧困，一天，丈夫對妻子說：“親愛的，我要去很遠的地方工作，直到我有條件給你一種舒適體面的生活才會回來。我只求你一件事，我不在的時候要對我忠誠，我也會對你忠誠的。”

很多天之後，他被一個莊園錄用了。他要老闆答應他一個請求：“請允許我在這裡想幹多久就幹多久，當我覺得應該離開時，您要放我走。我離開那天，您再把我賺的錢給我。”雙方達成了協議。年輕人在那裏整整工作了 20年，中間沒有休假。

一天，他對老闆說：“我要回家了。”老闆說：“我會照協議辦事的。不過我有個建議，要麼我給你錢，要麼我給你3條忠告，你好好想想再給我答覆。”

他想了兩天，然後找到老闆，說：“我想要那3條忠告。”老闆提醒他說：“如果給了你忠告，我就不會給你錢了。”他還是說：“我想要忠告。”

老闆對他說：“第一:永遠不要走捷徑。便捷而陌生的道路可能會要了你的命。第二:永遠不要對可能是壞事的事情好奇，否則也可能要了你的命。第三:永遠不要在仇恨和痛苦的時候做決定，否則你以後一定會後悔。”老闆接著說：“這裡有3個麵包，兩個給你路上吃，另一個等你回家後和妻子一起吃吧。”

在遠離自己深愛的妻子和家鄉 20年之後，男人踏上了回家的路。一天后，他遇到了一個人，那人說：“這條路太遠了，我認識一條捷徑，幾天就能到。”他高興極了，正準備走捷徑的時候，想起了老闆的第一條忠告，於是他回到了原來的路上。後來，他得知那人讓他走的所謂的捷徑完全是一個圈套。

幾天之後，他走累了，發現路邊有家旅館，他打算住一夜，付過房錢之後，他躺下睡了。睡夢中，他被一聲慘叫驚醒，他跳了起來，走到門口，想看看發生了什麼事，剛剛打開門，他想起了第二條忠告，於是回到床上繼續睡覺。

起床後，喝完咖啡，店主問他是否聽到了叫聲，他說聽到了店主說：“您不好奇嗎？”他回答說不好奇。店主說：“您是第一個活著從這裡出去的客人。我的獨子有瘋病，他昨晚大叫著引客人出來，然後將他們殺死埋了。”

年輕人接著趕路，終於在一天的黃昏時分，他遠遠地望見了自己的小屋，屋子的煙囪正冒著炊煙，還依稀可見妻子的身影，雖然天色昏暗，但他仍然看清了妻子不是一個人，還有一個男子伏在她的膝頭，她撫摸著他的頭髮。看到這—幕，他的內心充滿了仇恨和痛苦，他想跑過去殺了他們，他深吸一口氣，快步走了過去，這時他想起了第三條忠告，於是停了下來。

天亮後，已恢復冷靜的他對自己說：“我不能殺死我的妻子，我要回到老闆那裏，求他收留我，在這之前，
我想告訴我的妻子我始終忠於她。”

他走到家門口敲了敲門，妻子打開門，認出了他，撲到他懷裏，緊緊地抱住了他。他想把妻子推開，但沒有做到。他眼含淚水，對妻子說：“我對你是忠誠的，可你背叛了我……”

妻子吃驚地說：“什麼？我從未背叛過你，我等了你20年。”他說：“那麼昨天下午你愛撫的那個男人是誰？”妻子說：“那是我們的兒子。你走時我剛懷孕，今年他已經20歲了。”

丈夫走進家門，擁抱了自己的兒子。在妻子忙做著晚飯的時候，他給兒子講述了自己的經歷。接著，一家人坐下來一起吃麵包，他把老闆送的麵包掰開，發現裏面有一筆錢———那是他20年辛苦勞動賺來的工錢。

人們...

總習慣用自己的角度去看事情，直到... 瞭解了真相...

Garrison's Update

2009-02-04T22:00:00.001+08:00

Alright, a bit more on current situation. A couple of things on hand currently. As you guys know, the nation is calling and I'll be going for my ICT this month. And then concurrently, my house is under some renovation or upgrading of some sort by the government. So I'll be pretty roof-less for a period of time. But luckily, I got my ICT. But wondering what to do and where to stay during my booking out... Anyway, will get that sorted out in a matter of days. So any kind soul out there who don't mind harbouring me, kindly let me know, OK?

Oh look, I got to congratulate one of my VIP from my Credit List. Happy Birthday HTW! All the best for the upcoming year, and for many many years thereafter!

BMW News

2009-02-03T23:00:00.001+08:00

Here are some snippets of BMW news:

1. BMW M GmbH Car Sales up 50% - Delivering 24,186 BMW M Automobiles to customers in the 2008 business year, BMW M GmbH has scored the second-best result in the thirty-year history of the company, increasing sales by approximately 50 per cent over the previous year.

2. BMW named as greenest premium manufacturer - BMW has the lowest average CO2 emissions of any premium car manufacturer for the second year in a row according to new independent research.

3. BMW Group scores double victory - BMW 7 Series voted first in deluxe class; MINI was voted best premium brand in the small car segment for the ninth consecutive year.

4. xDrive increases its lead over the competition - In 2008 BMW has once again asserted its status as the world's most successful supplier of all-wheel drive automobiles and has once more moved significantly ahead of its main competitors. 323,293 vehicles fitted with the intelligent all-wheel drive system xDrive were sold throughout the world. This means that the market leader was able to increase sales of all-wheel drive automobiles by around one per cent in spite of tough market conditions. This positive development shows that customers are becoming increasingly aware of the system's superior qualities as compared to the competition. xDrive's lead over the manufacturer in second place in the segment was almost doubled as compared to 2007.

New Featured Video Clip

2009-02-02T23:30:00.001+08:00

Well, the old clips have been around for quite some time already, as it shows the roll-out of the new BMW F1 challenger, the F1.09. OK, I know there aren't much Formula 1 fans out there, so I'd changed my Featured Video Clip into something more applicable to our daily life. The new clip shows how BMW conceptualise, brainstorm, design and improve on the existing concepts to come up with a car, that's not only practical, but retains the BMW style. Enjoy...

Garrison's Update

2009-02-01T23:30:00.002+08:00

Alright, I'd been talking about the past for quite some time for now, and people are wondering, what am I doing currently. Am I retrenched? So free until I can blog everyday! So I've decided to insert a "Garrison's Update" every now and then to highlight some snippets of current situations.

Ah... It's February now. There are a lot of activities coming up on this February... For me... There're 3 Birthday Boys this month: SYM, HTW and HKH. Then, I gotten a new mobile phone for my Reservist In-Camp Training (ICT). No camera or image capturing devices are allowed in military institutes. Then, of course, my ICT, which is starting soon and ending ending February. (Wow. I'm amazed I'd use 2 "ending" consequtively and it works!)

Now, everyone who knows me for quite a while will know that I have been carrying the Nokia Communicators. Previously the Nokia 9500. And currently the Nokia E90. Both are rather hugh phones, massive in size. And it's a tad on the heavier side as well. But functionalities wise, both are excellent. Now, I've gotten myself a Nokia E51 Non-Camera version. Its functions are similar to those of Nokia E90, minus the camera, minus the QWERTY keyboard, minus the bulkiness, minus the weight, minus GPS module. Today marks the first day I'm using this E51 phone. So far, it is working brilliantly. But when it comes to composing text messages or keying in of information, the Communicators are still the ace of the pack.

Moving on, I think my entries for February will be significantly reduced as I would probably not have internet access during my ICT. Therefore, the updating might be delayed. So please bear with me during this period.

That's more or less what I have in place for February...

相信她关心她

2009-01-31T23:00:00.003+08:00

唱: 张学友曲: 黄庆元词: 陈乐融

迷乱的城市迷乱的人像个孩子
找不到路回不了家
我在梦里见过她不带一丝的伪装
她仿佛无所谓她仿佛不会爱上别人

谁都会害怕害怕世界天天变化
忘掉最初说过的话
我在心底保护她永远活得不一样
她仿佛有点累她好像诉求一点安慰

有谁相信她有谁相信她的真假
要不是脸上写满泪水
有谁会在乎一个女孩无依无靠
有谁关心她有谁关心她的梦想
我已经作好所有准备
要用我一生反反覆覆亲吻她

谁都会害怕害怕世界天天变化
忘掉最初说过的话
我在心底保护她永远活得不一样
她仿佛有点累她好像诉求一点安慰

有谁相信她有谁相信她的真假
要不是脸上写满泪水
有谁会在乎一个女孩无依无靠
有谁关心她有谁关心她的梦想
我已经作好所有准备
要用我一生反反覆覆亲吻她

夜色太黑我用眼神说服她
欢乐太少我用生命照顾她
没有了明天也要用心体会今天

有谁相信她有谁相信她的真假
要不是脸上写满泪水
有谁会在乎一个女孩无依无靠
有谁关心她有谁关心她的梦想
我已经作好所有准备
要用我一生反反覆覆亲吻她

相信她 Believe her, care her - Jacky Cheung - Jacky Cheung

小哲理

2009-01-30T23:00:00.000+08:00

和尚与屠夫

从前有一个和尚跟一个屠夫是好朋友。和尚天天早上要起来念经，而屠夫天天要起来杀猪。为了不耽误他们早上的工作，是他们约定早上互相叫对方起床。

多年以后，和尚与屠夫相继去世了。屠夫去上天堂了，而和尚却下地狱了。

为什么？因为屠夫天天作善事，叫和尚起来念经，相反地，和尚天天叫屠夫起来杀生……

小哲理：
你做的东西是不是都是你认为对的，却不一定是对的。

一道终身受用的测试题

你开着一辆车。在一个暴风雨的晚上，你经过一个车站。有三个人正在焦急的等公共汽车。一个是快要临死的老人，他需要马上去医院。一个是医生，他曾救过你的命，你做梦都想报答他。还有一个女人/男人，她/他是你做梦都想嫁/娶的人，也许错过就没有了。

但你的车只能在坐下一个人，你会如何选择？我不知道这是不是一个对你性格的测试, 因为每一个回答都有他自己的原因。老人快要死了，你首先应该先救他。你也想让那个医生上车，因为他救过你，这是个好机会报答他。还有就是你的梦中情人。错过了这个机会。你可能永远不能遇到一个让你这么心动的人了。

在200个应征者中，只有一个人被雇佣了，他并没有解释他的理由，他只是说了以下的话：

“给医生车钥匙，让他带着老人去医院，而我则留下来陪我的梦中情人一起等公车!”

小哲理：
是否是因为我们从未想过要放弃我们手中已经拥有的优势（车钥匙）? 有时，如果我们能放弃一些我们的固执，狭隘，和一些优势的话，我们可能会得到更多。

皮鞋的来历

很久很久以前，人类都还赤着双脚走路。

有一位国王到某个偏远的乡间旅行，因为路面崎岖不平，有很多碎石头，刺得他的脚又痛又麻。回到王宫后，他下了一道命令，要将国内的所有道路都铺上一层牛皮。他认为这样做，不只是为自己，还可造福他的人民，让大家走路时不再受刺痛之苦。但即使杀尽国内所有的牛，也筹措不到足够的皮革，而所花费的金钱、动用的人力，更不知凡几。虽然根本做不到，甚至还相当愚蠢，但因为是国王的命令，大家也只能摇头叹息。

一位聪明的仆人大胆向国王提出建言：“国王啊！为什么您要劳师动众，牺牲那么多头牛，花费那么多金钱呢？您何不只用两小片牛皮包住您的脚呢？”国王听了很惊讶，但也当下领悟，于是立刻收回成命，改采这个建议。据说，这就是皮鞋的由来。

小哲理：
想改变世界，很难；要改变自己，则较为容易。与其改变全世界，不如先改变自己--将自己的双脚包起来。改变自己的某些观念和作法，以抵御外来的侵袭。当自己改变后，眼中的世界自然也就跟着改变了。如果你希望看到世界改变，那么第一个必须改变的就是自己。

"心若改变，态度就会改变；态度改变，习惯就改变；习惯改变，人生就会改变。"

Garrison's Challenge - GC1 - Review

2009-01-29T22:00:00.000+08:00

Hi all. Sad to say, GC1 was postpone due to a couple of reasons, in which to list them out, it's going to bore you. But rest assure, it will be done sometime soon.

It's great to have quite a few friends advising me what to do for the trip, what to look out for, some even advise me what to prepare and help me anticipate what will happen during the challenge. Thanks for all the inputs. I will remember them all and will put them to great use when GC1 is revived.

Cheers everyone!

Garrison's Challenge - GC1 - Latest Updates

2009-01-28T23:00:00.001+08:00

Alright, about another 3 hours time, I should be initiating my GC1. Till now, I'd yet to decide if I am to emabark on this challenge.

I shall be leaving that to the weather condition, as well as road situation later. The poll has closed and I would like to thank all those who voted. Anyway, in the event tha conditions were unfavourable for GC1, I will still be sticking on to the GC1. It will be postpone, but not cancelled.

That's about it. It's all about wait and see now...

Garrison's Timeline - Part 5

2009-01-27T23:30:00.001+08:00

Well, after my studies in SP, and after a few months of temporary work, it's time to do my National Service.

I was first sent to Pulau Tekong, an island off the North Eastern coast of mainland Singapore. As for the other minor details, I suppose I cannot reveal more. Basically, I underwent 3 months or so of Basic Military Training in that island, and after which, posted to School of Military Medicine (SMM) to convert me into a Medic, for the Singapore Armed Forces.

SMM was the place where I spent my 21st Birthday in, doing Guard Duty! As I was on course during the period where SMM was still in Ulu Pandan, I celebrated the occasion with a buddy while on Guard Duty, facing the main gate, facing the cars that zoomed past, heading towards Holland Village. So sad. Oh, the buddy was SYM, one of the VIP in my Credit List. In fact, I knew him during my SP days. We were in the same course, but differnt class. Now that in the Army, we get to know each other better. Another buddy I met during this period was EYS. He was also posted to the same unit as me after SMM.

During the trainee days in SMM, the most dreadful activity was having live infusion. Poking each other with a thick needle was no joke! Anyway, to cut the story short, I graduated from SMM, emerging Platoon best, and then posted to PLCMC, with EYS.

PLCMC was a 24 hour Medical Centre and hence a lot of manpower was needed. As PLCMC also covered other outfield activities, there were a lot of attachments to vaious units as well. Within months of being posted to PLCMC, I was then sent back to SMM. Nope. Not for re-training, but for up-grading. I was sent back to SMM for Specialist course, in which, after graduation, I will attain a rank of 3SG.

SMM was then re-located to a camp along Upper Thomson Road. This time, the faciities and living conditions were much better as compared to Ulu Pandan. However, I still like the Ulu Pandan camp more. Perhaps it is the run-down state and basic simple failities, that I enjoyed more. The new state-of-the-art facilities are good, but it lacks a certain kind of feel, that's hard to explain. Or maybe, just to illustrate... Imagine living in a kampong and in a modern HDB. Living in the HDB will have all utilities (water and electricity) readily available. However, it's living in a kampong that require neighbours to help and assist each other for simple chores, and it is precisely this, or what some calls it the "Kampong Spirit" that actually stands it out from the rest. So, Ulu Pnadan and the new camp. Same analogy, same situation.

After more live infusions, attachements to fire station ambulances and hospitals, I graduated again from SMM and back to PLCMC.

Life in PLCMC was pretty OK. I spent close to 2 years in PLCMC alone out of my 2.5 years Army life. The only ctirical times was during SARS, where health care personel like us, were under more pressure than during normal times... Body temperature taking became part and parcel of life. I was lucky enough to spend some time with some of the top officials to establish certain in-house and zonal procedures for SARS.

SARS over, and it's now back to basic safety. Again, I was working with some of the officials again to work out on some Medic Handbook so that it bacame a quick reference guide for the Medic as it came in handy during sticky situation times.

During my stay in PLCMC, I met up with another 2 more VIP in my Credit List, SSM and SBS. Both were my good Medics, asissting me back in PLCMC.

2.5 years passed like a breeze. Even though it was tough during the Army, time seemed to be better utilised. In fact, a lot of things were achieved during this 2.5 years. I learnt mostly on Medical knowledge and applications, but there are certain unspoken skills learnt as well... Human and time management.

All in all, Army life was fulfilling and time was best utilised during this period. Next up, post Army life, University life and work life...

Happy Lunar New Year

2009-01-26T23:00:00.002+08:00

It's the first day of the Lunar New Year. Wishing everyone reading this, a very Happy Lunar New Year!

Now, time for a change on my Featured Video Clip section. The last one featuring the Toyota Pruis and the BMW M3. It was actually a test conducted to determine the fuel consumption of both cars under the same set of conditions. Well, in short, it's not what you drive the car, but how you drive the car that matters when it comes to fuel consumption or fuel economy.

Now, my next clip, or in fact, 2 clips, are about the newly launched BMW Sauber F1 Team 2009 championship challenger, the F1.09. The clips roughly brings out what's new with the new car as compared to the old ones, due to the new FIA regulations. For example, the introduction of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), the wider front wing, the narrower rear wing, the slick Bridgestone tyres... Both clips are rather similar, but the YouTube clip is longer and has more "music" to the ears! The sound of the 2.4 Litres V8 engines!

So, let's rev it up for the new year! All the best for the new year!

Garrisonism Milestone

2009-01-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

Hello. Welcome to this blog's milestone entry. You see, this blog was started on 25 December 2008. And it's now exactly its first month anniversary. And to add icing to the cake, it's Lunar New Year eve today. Ah... You didn't see that coming... Did you?

It's about half an hour to the new Lunar New Year. The year of the Ox? Or is it the Bull? Or is it the Cow? You may think there's no significant difference. But in fact, there is...

The Bull is the fully functional male; the Cow is the fully functional female. As for the Ox, it is a castrated bull. So, you prefer the year of the Bull or the Ox? Or Cow?

Anyway, that aside. I would like to thank those whom had been kindly and patiently following up and endured my rubbish entries previously. We'd made it for the first month. And I'm definately humbled by the fact that I'd more than 500 impressions just on it's first month. Earned a bit of donations by the kind souls whom did the right things...

With regards to Garrison's Challenge 1 - GC1, I'd yet to decide if I'm embarking the journey up North. Thanks to those who had polled so far. I'm starting to wonder who voted the option, not knowing what's GC1? That's very funny... Anyway, I wouold suppose it's a matter of time to go up North. It can be as schedule or delayed, but definately not cancelled...

Aright, it's moments to the Lunar New Year... Wishing everyone a very Happy Lunar New Year. All the best for the new Lunar Year ahead. Good health and good wealth!

Garrison's Story 3

2009-01-24T23:00:00.002+08:00

After 2 stories in Chinese, here's an English story. Sometimes you read something and it makes you stop and think...

There was a blind girl who hated herself just because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend.

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and she could see everyone, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, "Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?" The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him.

Her boyfirned walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying, "Just take care of my eyes please."

This is how human change when their status changes. Only few remember what life was before, and who has always been there in the most painful situations.

Garrison's Story 2

2009-01-23T23:00:00.001+08:00

有一个人在森林中漫遊的时候，突然遇见了一只饥饿的老虎，老虎大吼一声就扑了上來。他立刻用生平最大的力气和最快的速度逃开，但是老虎紧追不舍，他一直跑一直跑一直跑，最后被老虎逼入了断崖边上。站在悬崖边上，他想：“与其被老虎捉到，活活被咬、肢解，还不如跳入悬崖，說不定还有一线生机。”

他纵身跳入悬崖，非常幸运的卡在一棵树上，那是长在断崖边的梅树，树上結滿了梅子。正在庆幸的时候，他听到断崖深处传來巨大的吼声，往崖底望去，原來有一只凶猛的狮子正抬头看着他，狮子的声音使他心颤，但转念一想：“狮子与老虎是相同的猛兽，被什么吃掉，都是一样的。”

当他一放下心，又听见了一阵声音，仔细一看，一黑一白的兩只老鼠，正用力地咬着梅树的树干。他先是一阵惊慌，立刻又放心了，他想：“被老鼠咬断树干跌死，总比被狮子咬好。”

情绪平复下來后，他感到肚子有点饿，看到梅子长得正好，就採了一些吃起來。他觉得一辈子从沒吃过那么好吃的梅子，找到一个三角形树丫休息，他想著：“既然迟早都要死，不如在死前好好睡上一觉吧！”

他在树上沉沉的睡去了。睡醒之后，他发现黑白老鼠不见了，老虎、狮子也不见了。他順着树枝，小心翼翼的攀上悬崖，终于脱离险境。

原來就在他睡著的時候，饥饿的老虎按耐不住，终于大吼一声，跳下悬崖。黑白老鼠听到老虎的吼声，惊慌逃走了。跳下悬崖的老虎与崖下的狮子展开激烈的打斗，双双负伤逃走了。

由我们诞生那一刻开始，苦难．就像饥饿的老虎一直追赶着我们，死亡，就像一头凶猛的狮子，一直在悬崖的尽头等待，白天和黑夜的交替，就像黑白老鼠，不停地正用力咬着我们暂时栖身的生活之树，总有一天我们会落入狮子的口中。

既然知道了生命中最坏的情景是死亡，唯一的路，就是安然地享受树上甜美的果子，然后安心地睡觉，存着这样单纯的心、少欲望、多一点赤子之心。最近常常听到朋友的戚友去世的消息，除了安慰了几句外，好像什么都不能做了。恐怕有一天自己亦会成為为別人口中的坏消息，所以你们有沒有好好的享受你在世上的每一分每一秒 ?

Garrison's Timeline - Part 4

2009-01-22T23:00:00.001+08:00

Now, after the end of my relief teaching at CCHSM, I headed back to school, SP. Being a student once again.

In fact, my polytechnic days were pretty monotonous. Didn't exactly spend a lot of effort studying. Most of the time, giving part time private tuition, and back to CCHSM for my CI duties.

My first year in SP was a piece of cake. The first year modules were kind of general and that it's not too difficult to understand the concepts and hence, their applications. Also, with the academic advantage over the rest (I think my course requires a maximum of 18 points for entry, but I entered using a single digit), scoring excellent results is not an issue for a start.

Also at this same time, my participation in CCHSM NPCC was immense. In fact, I spent more time and effort in CCHSM NPCC than in my school work. It was also, at this point in time, that the people in my credit list as mentioned, were becoming NCOs for the unit. Unfortnately, it was also at this point in time where there is a change in command of the officer-in-charge. Normally, you can expect new leader with the zest and vibes to carry out a lot of activities. It was not the case in this situation. Initially, things were rather OK. But towards the end, things get bitter. The story is so long that I would not be able to move on, so that portion of memory is dedicated to those who knew about the incident, and those whom are involved.

Moving on, for my second year, I got to choose a major of study. There's "Industrial Chemical", "Food Technology" & "Polymer Technology" options. Initially, I'm very keen on the "Industrial Chemistry" option. But somehow, I changed my mind and went for the "Food Technology" option. Reason being, for "Food Technology", I can venture into business and F&B aspect, and not totally very Science oriented. And that's how I am who I am now.

OK, there's no more CCHSM NPCC for me for my second year due to some issues. I didn't do anything much but focus a bit more on my studies and more onto observation. Observing more of the people and things around me. Blah blah and blah.

Final year. Final year project. I'm working with 2 other classmates on formulation a new age beverage. I'm not too sure if you guys recall of a kind of soft drink, with jelly beads suspended in it. Yes, suspended. Not floating or sinking. When you shake the can of bottle around, the beads will still be suspended. Spent most of my time in the laboratory doing trials and conducting tests and then preparing some business proposals and reports, and conducting surveys and sensory evaluation for the product. And finally, the packaging and marketing of the product. All work, but it makes time flies.

Although there's no more CCHSM NPCC, I still make it a point to keep in touch with the people in my Credit List. That explains why we were still togther as a group till now, and that's more than 10 years ago!

After graduation from SP with a Diploma in Chemical Process Technology (Food Technology)(With Merits) (Yes, that's how long my diploma is, can you imagine when I was asked to fill in my highest education level in the various forms), I began to work for a fair bit before moving on for National Service next. I worked in a private tuition centre, marking papers and so on. Earning a bit of money along the way.

Next up, about my life in National Service. Because of its sensitivity, it will be just some interesting snippets. So stay tuned...

BMW Sauber F1 Team F1.09

2009-01-21T23:00:00.003+08:00

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has launched their 2009 F1 Challenger, the F1.09 in Valencia, Spain on 20 January 2009 (Tuesday).

Technical Specifications:

Chassis : Carbon-fibre monocoque
Suspension : Upper & lower wishbones (front & rear), inboard springs & dampers, actuated by pushrods [Sachs Race Engineering]
Brakes : 6-Piston brake callipers [Brembo], Carbon pads & discs [Brembo, Carbon Industrie]
Transmission : 7-Speed quick shift gearbox, longitudinally mounted, carbon-fibre clutch [AP]
KERS : Electronic system [BMW Sauber F1 Team]
Chassis Electronics : [MES]
Steering Wheel : [BMW Sauber F1 Team]
Tyres : [Bridgestone Potenza]
Wheels : [OZ]
Dimension : Length - 4 690 mm
Width - 1 800 mm
Height - 1 000 mm
Track Width, Front - 1 470 mm
Track Width, Rear - 1 410 mm
Weight : 605 kg (incl. Driver, tank empty)

Engine : BMW P86/9 Engine
BMW P86/9 Engine : Normally Aspirated V8 Engine
Bank Angle : 90 Degrees
Displacement : 2 400 cc
Valves : 4 per Cylinder
Valve Train : Pneumatic
Engine Block : Aluminium
Cylinder Head : Aluminium
Crankshaft : Steel
Oil System : Dry sump lubrication
Engine Management : Standard ECU [MES]
Spark Plugs : [NGK]
Pistons : Aluminium
Connecting Rods : Titanium
Weight : 95 kg
Maximum Engine Speed: 18 000 rpm

Garrison's Story 1

2009-01-20T23:30:00.000+08:00

有个老魔鬼看到人间的生活过得太幸福了，他说：“我们要去扰乱一下，要不然魔鬼就不存在了。”

他先派了一个小魔鬼去扰乱一个农夫。因为他看到那农夫每天辛勤地工作，可是所得却少得可怜，但他还是那么快乐，非常知足。

小魔鬼就开始想，要怎样才能把农夫变坏呢？他就把农夫的田地变得很硬，让农夫知难而退。

那农夫敲半天，做得好辛苦，但他只是休息一下，还是继续敲，沒有一点抱怨。小魔鬼看到计策失败，只好摸摸鼻子回去了。

老魔鬼又派了第二个去。第二个小魔鬼想，既然让他更加辛苦也沒有用，那就拿走他所拥有的東西吧！

那小魔鬼就把他午餐的面包跟水偷走，他想，农夫做得那么辛苦，又累又饥，却连面包跟水都不见了，这下子他一定会暴跳如雷！

农夫又渴又饿地到树下休息，想不到面包跟水都不见了！“不晓得是哪个可怜的人比我更需要那块面包跟水？如果这些東西就能让他得溫饱的话，那就好了。” 又失败了，小魔鬼又弃甲而逃。

老魔鬼觉得奇怪，难道沒有任何办法能使这农夫变坏？就在这时第三个小魔鬼出來了。

他对老魔鬼说：“我有办法，一定能把他变坏。”

小魔鬼先去跟农夫做朋友，农夫很高兴地和他作了朋友。因为魔鬼有预知的能力，他就告诉农夫，明年会有干旱，教农夫把稻种在湿地上，农夫便照做。結果第二年別人沒有收成，只有农夫的收成满坑满谷，他就因此而富裕起來了。

小魔鬼又每年都对农夫说當年适合种什么，三年下來，这农夫就变得非常富有。

他又教农夫把米拿去酿酒贩卖，赚取更多的钱。慢慢地，农夫开始不工作了，靠着经营贩卖的方式，就能获得大量金钱。

有一天，老魔鬼來了，小魔鬼就告诉老魔鬼說：“您看！我现在要展現我的成果。这农夫现在已经有猪的血液了。” 只见农夫办了个晚宴，所有富有的人都來參加；喝最好的酒，吃最精美的餐点，还有好多的仆人伺候。他們非常浪费地吃喝，衣裳凌乱，醉得不省人事，开始变得像猪一样痴肥愚蠢。

小魔鬼又說：“您还会看到他身上有着狼的血液。” 这時，一個仆人端着葡萄酒出來，不小心跌了一跤。农夫就开始骂他：“你做事这么不小心！” “唉！主人，我们到现在都沒有吃饭，饿得浑身無力。” “事情沒有做完，你们怎么可以吃饭！”

老魔鬼见了，高兴地对小魔鬼说：“唉！你太了不起！你是怎么办到的？”

小魔鬼说：“我只不过是让他拥有比他需要的更多而已，这样就可以引发他人性中的贪妄。”

这篇文章分享給每一个在为梦想努力奋斗的你，提醒我们在努力追求梦想的同时，千万不要忘了最初的本心。

Garrison's Challenge - GC1 - Even More Updates

2009-01-19T23:00:00.001+08:00

Alright, about 10 more days to the challenge... Things were not promising.

First of all, budget. At this crucial stage, I would not like to be accused of spending extravagantly on a personal trip. I just don't want to appear on any media, claiming that I'm insensitive to the current economic downturn by spending a lot of money on personal challenge trip! (Ring the bell? For those who are reading this some time later, a civil service personnel recently spent a bomb on a tour and the trip was covered in the papers, citing the lavishly spent money on the current economic plight.) On top of that, some would describe my trip as insane. S$400 just spent within a day! And the thing is, I'm torturing myself by always paying attention on the road, straining myself. S$400 to go throught that!

Next up, the driver. 24 hours to cover about 2,000km or on average 84km/h. That's easy, but not realistic, as I would have to do nothing, but drive constantly at 84km/h for a full 24 hours. Or, if I reduced the time to a mere 18 hours drive (with some time to rest and toilet breaks) it would be a constant 112km/h. Oh, and that's above the speed limit by the way. And that would invite to "unforeseen circumstances" that will burst my budget. At this point, I would like to thank the people around me, whom knew about my GC1, and asking me to take care and be careful, giving me some advises and so on... I appreciate your inputs.

Next, the machinery. Now unfortunately, after the servicing, there is 1 incident. 1 incident that might cost me dear should it relapse during my trip. My car was not able to start on 1 occasion. Nope, not flat batteries. But something in which at this point in time, unable to determine, as it only occured once. Perhaps, it was a sign from my car that is telling me "Hey, I don't want to go for this insane trip!"

Then comes the traffic condition. I had a couple of Malaysian friends, in which, I tried to gather more information from them. They would think that my journey up north would be pretty OK as it is during the wee hours in the morning. Just watch out for buses and trucks and I would be fine. However, they were more reserved for my return trip, my journey south, back to Singapore. As it is still festive season over in Malaysia, there might be a lot of travelling within the country. So, my return bound trip might be hindered by slower traffic due to the traffic volume, especially during the day.

All in all, that pretty sums up the real challenge. After giving some thoughts, I would very much love to continue with GC1. It's my first challenge anyway. But considering the various advises and opinions from everyone out there. I might consider to post pone the challenge to a later date. A more suitable date perhaps. I've not confirm on my decisions yet at this point in time. And definately, I'm not going to cancel this idea altogether. It shall remain.

Well, I guess I got to come up with a decision soon. Perhaps, if 1 of the issues raised above is not going to be an issue anymore, I might consider again to embrace this GC1 on the initial date for set off. For example, if the entire trip was sponsored. Or a new car was there for me should my car died after the trip. Or the NSHW is closed to traffic except me, speeding up and down.

Anyway, a poll was created on the left column of this blog. Kindly indicate your response then. Thank you.

Cheers.

All About Marketing

2009-01-18T23:00:00.002+08:00

1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" - That's Direct Marketing

2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: "He's very rich. Marry him." -That's Advertising

3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: "Hi, I'm very rich. Marry me." - That's Telemarketing

4. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car) for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say: "By the way, I'm rich. Will you marry me?" - That's Public Relations

5. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says: "You are very rich! Can you marry me?" - That's Brand Recognition

6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. - That's Customer Feedback

7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" And she introduces you to her husband. - That's demand and supply gap

8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her: "I'm rich. Will you marry me?" and she goes with him - That's competition eating into your market share

9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say: "I'm rich, marry me!" your wife arrives. - That's restriction for entering new markets

Garrison's Timeline - Part 3d

2009-01-17T23:30:00.003+08:00

Continuing from Part 3c...

During my period of relief teaching, my Vice-Principal asked if I were to join my former ECA (NPCC) to continue as an ECA for my polytechnic. Now, that's an interesting option in which I'd never thought of before. But after giving some thoughts about it, I decided to take up the offer and challenge, and I went for the June 98 NPCC CI (Cadet Inspector) course, with the Vice-Principal and the teacher-in-charge's recommdendation.

The course was rather tough back then, but otherwise, meaningful. I gained more exposure to what other secondary schools had done for their NPCC activities, and hope to bring in some for my school. My Vice-Principal back then, was very supportive of ECAs and he gave good advices on how we could progress. My teacher-in-charge for NPCC was also very supportive, but because she was expecting, she was trying to look for another teacher to take over her role. And that is a disaster. In which, it didn't influence at that point in time, but somehow later. (Will cover that next in Part 4).

Working with the good old familer faces... The important people from my "Credit List". This is the period of time where the bond between us strengthened. Working together to plan and execute the NPCC activities, going for lunches, meeting up for movies and playing computer games... Fortunately, they were a bunch of good sensible people, as they didn't neglect their studies while doing all these together.

The most common things we'd done... Staying back after NPCC activities for meetings, soccer games, lunches... Common places we went: coffeeshop at the corner of the road which leads to our school, LJS at PP, a place call "Octopus" in PP, playing computer games / LAN at gaming shops in KSC. Games played were TF and CS. And for a period of time where we each played at home and connected through modems for a game called WC98.

This period of time didn't lasted for very long, but it seemed a lot of things were done and accomplished.

Apart from school, I also did private tuition. At least, my memory was fresh from the secondary school syllabus and I could give some tips or techniques to my tuition students. I'd a couple of students but 2 of them were from my VIP list: CWW and HTW. Both are doing fine with what they are doing currently and I'm happy for them.

To sum up, my deicison to leave TJC and move on to a path that's less ventured into, had provided me more insight and exposure on what's practical, what's not, what's an ideal and only an ideal, and what's empty promises. Looking around my peers of the same age, I'm proud to say, I'd been there, done that. And to overcome the odds, the odds where people think you might be crazy to do something that's not the norm, is a rather tedious process. People will throw funny stares at you, question your plans, laugh at your options and some even think you're degrading. Nevertheless, I'd manage to overcome that and proved that it is also an alternative way to life. Life is dynamic and robust and everyone just don't have to follow a common normal path to think that it's the one and only path. I wouldn't say I'm successful till this day, in fact, still far from it. But I'm still alive and surviving. And thankfully, in current context, this path that I'd treaded were followed by a lot others and they, too, were making good progresses. Of course, I'm not the only person on this track in the past, but at least, I'm one of them, and here I am, penning this down, to show that it's possible and plausible.

Garrison's Timeline - Part 3c

2009-01-16T23:30:00.002+08:00

For those who waited patiently for this post... This portion is kind of complicated as it involved a lot of radical decisions, decisions that were not the expected norm.

Well, just before the GCE 'O' Levels, all secondary schools will conduct a preliminary examinations (also know as prelims) on thier own to aid students in their revisions, and at the same time, geared them towards the GCE 'O' Levels examinations. The results of this prelims will also enable the students to enter the junior colleges for the first 3 months on the next year should their results be competitive and accepted by the junior colleges. Maybe just a bit of background. The results of the GCE 'O' Levels were release on March the following year. As such, in order not to waste precious time for the students in their 'A' Levels, the prelims results will grant the student an early entry to the junior colleges, so that they can move on with lessons, and when the results were released, they can choose to stay, or upgrade to another junior colleges, or other choices availabe to them.

My prelims were rather satisfactory, and it granted me into TJC. TJC was one of my desired planned destination back then. I was settling down fine in TJC, and then I realised that it was not exactly what I wanted. Therefore, I quitted even before the GCE 'O' Levels results were released. There was a bit of commotion while making this decison. My family, relatives and friends were rather shocked. Simply because, I decided to go to a polytechnic instead. I would prefer more hands on than theory.

Now this decision was tough. Junior colleges were considered a direct route to university. There is only a fine slim chance for poytechnic students to enter university. Back then, going to the university was a must and if you're a university graduate, you're good. If you aren't, you're otherwise. What illogical reasoning is this!

Anyway, I'm firmed into going into a polytechnic. So, I enrolled myself into SP after my GCE 'O' Levels results were released, doing a Diploma in Chemical Process Technology. And my GCE 'O' Levels results back then was considered good. Good enough ti stay in TJC, should I had remain in there.

Now, since polytechnic school term started in July, there's a long gap from getting the results to the actual beginning of studies. It is this period of time that's getting more and more interesting.

I was given the opportunity to go back to my secondary school to do relief teaching, and earn a bit of money of course. That sounds interesting and exciting too. And that's how I went back to CCHSM. The place where I'd previously mentioned as the place where impacted me the most.

Doing relief teaching back in CCHSM was an eye-opening. Imagine working with my teachers whom had taught me merely a few months ago. The teachers were all helpful, but most of them were interested to know about my decisions. Familiar place and familiar faces. Such a conducive place to work in! On the other hand, imagine the juniors had to call me "teacher" or simple "cher" (This term is most probably used amongst Singapore students as they "eat" up the first word and emphasize on calling just "cher"). It feels a bit uneasy too especially relieving the Secondary 4 students. They were just 1 year younger than me and they called me like as if I'm generations older than them. And I did relief teaching in some of the classes where the "important people" (People in the credit list, which I'd also listed previously in Part 3b) are. But the most funny incident happened amongst the Secondary 1 students. Since they had not seen me previously in CCHSM, they wouldn't know about my age. And during 1 of my last lessons with the class, they asked for my autographs and took some pictures with me. And then a magical question came. "Teacher, how old are you?" And when I asked them to guess, the range spanned from late twenties to early thirties... That's what I am now! Not 10 years ago during then!

Oh well, normally this is the part where I would say I'm done with this part of the timeline. But for this case, it isn't. The above was only about half of this portion of timeline. But because of the lengthy text above, I'd think I'll better split the next half into Part 3d.

See... I told you the importance of my secondary school life. There's simply too much things happening then.

遗忘过去

2009-01-15T23:00:00.006+08:00

1985年新加坡广播局《咖啡乌》插曲
唱: 巫启贤曲: 巫启贤词: 木子

对生命你不必存有怀疑人生它本来像一出戏
故事的结局是悲是喜自己总会有些决定
看朝阳又带着希望升起岁月的脚步从来不停息
等到那星月走进你梦里生活变得更美丽

工作上有多少不如意让明天去好好忘记
道路上总有许多不平的遭遇化着点点滴滴
把它全部遗忘在回忆里

我忘不掉心碎的过去可是我必须面对我自己
生存还要靠自己去努力我不再忧郁
我挥不去昨日的恋情可是我必须面对我自己
未来生命该用什么代替靠自己争取

对生命你不必存有怀疑人生它本来像一出戏
故事的结局是悲是喜自己总会有些决定
看朝阳又带着希望升起岁月的脚步从来不停息
等到那星月走进你梦里生活变得更美丽

工作上有多少不如意让明天去好好忘记
道路上总有许多不平的遭遇化着点点滴滴
把它全部遗忘在回忆里

我忘不掉心碎的过去可是我必须面对我自己
生存还要靠自己去努力我不再忧郁
我挥不去昨日的恋情可是我必须面对我自己
未来生命该用什么代替靠自己争取

霓虹里埋藏了几许叫人们迷失自己的骗局
漫漫长夜静听我告诉你
漫漫长夜静听我告诉你

遗忘过去 - Eric Moo 巫启贤

Garrison's Challenge - GC1 - More Updates!

2009-01-14T23:30:00.000+08:00

It's roughly 2 weeks from now till the challenge. With the goals and objectives define, it's now time to look into detail the programme.

Let's start off with, the car. I had just gotten serviced. Changed brake pads, engine oil, fan belts, brake oil... All the necessary works. Cost more than S$300 bucks! The next thing I got to do, is to shed some weight. This reminds me... I've got tonnes of rubbish in my boot that is occupying space, increasing my car body weight and that translate to poorer fuel economy. Well, on this note, any kind soul here would like to help me store my car items, kindly drop me and E-Mail. Thanks.

Next up, the budget. Now, a quick check on just the toll fees. The cost of trip from first toll at the southern tip to the last toll on the northern tip would cost RM120. The return trip cost the same as well. That makes RM240 or about S$110 for the entire challenge. Well, apart from that, is the petrol. I would reckon it will require about 4 fill-ups at the gas stations. So all in all, I would cap the budget to S$350 or even S$400. So, any kind soul out there who wishes to offer your donations or sponsorship for this challenge, you are very much welcome to drop me an E-Mail... And money of course!

Then comes the driver. Nothing to say about myself. I would suppose I'll be driving non-stop and that's adding stress to both man and machine. Presumably, I would like to have a navigator on board. A human navigator. Perhaps, any sponsors who would like to come onboard with me, you're more than welcome. You can sponsor the toll charges, or even petrol. In return, I'll do a sticker of your name to stick it at my rear quarter windows... Just like the rally cars! Oh... More about the driver. The driver intends to shed some weight, so that the overall weight of the car is reduced. But of course, if the sponsor who wants to come onboard is a sumo wrestler, I'll welcome that as well... What can I say about sponsors! Well, the driver would have to shed even more weight perhaps...

Having another person on-board is a good idea as if things go wrong, another helping hand is good and useful. Who knows what lurks along the trip!

Anyway, keep sending your suggestions to me. I'll be more than happy to go through them.

And oh... Wait... Another way to help me raise funds for this Garrison's Challenge... Look around my blog and do the necessary!

Cheers!

New English Definitions

2009-01-13T23:00:00.001+08:00

Atom Bomb: An invention to end all inventions.

Boss: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.

Cigarette: A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool on the other.

Classic: A book which people praise, but do not read.

Committee: Individuals who can do nothing individually; and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Compromise: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.

Criminal: A guy no different from the rest... Except that he got caught.

Dictionary : A place where success comes before work.

Diplomat: A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

Divorce : Future tense of marriage.

Doctor: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills.

Etc: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

Experience: The name men give to their mistakes.

Father : A banker provided by nature.

Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either.

Miser : A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.

Office: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Opportunist : A person who starts taking bath if he accidentally falls into a river.

Optimist: A person who while falling from Eiffel Tower says in midway 'See I am not injured yet.'

Philosopher: A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead.

Politician: One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.

Smile: A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Tears : The hydraulic force by which masculine will-power is defeated by feminine water power ...

Yawn: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.

Chinese Sayings

2009-01-12T23:00:00.000+08:00

1 岁时出场亮相

10 岁时功课至上

20 岁时春心荡漾

30 岁时职场对抗

40 岁时身材发胖

50 岁时打打麻将

60 岁时老当益壮

70 岁时常常健忘

80 岁时摇摇晃晃

90 岁时迷失方向

100 岁时挂在墙上

Garrison's Timeline - Part 3b

2009-01-11T23:30:00.000+08:00

OK. This is the biggest bulk of my timeline as a lot of people, events and decisions took place. Which is precisely why I'd got so many "rubbish" entires before this. (Need time to consolidate!)

The transition between primary school and secondary school was pretty significant. Now, academic aside, ECAs (Extra Curriculum Activities) at primary school were less intensive. I joined the Computer Club back in primary school and it's on a 1 morning per week basis. In contrast, ECAs in secondary schools require more attention.

In Secondary 1, I joined NPCC (National Police Cadet Corps) and English Drama Club (Don't laugh. I know you are laughing...). NPCC was my main choice of ECA. Perhaps the uniform and the desire to wear one was the driving force behind to make me join in. The activities conducted varied from week to week, but without fail, you will have to put on the uniform once every week. The activities for NPCC is on every Saturday morning and last till 12 noon or so. Remembering for the first year, every Friday night was sort of disaster. Ironing of uniforms, kiwi-ing of boots... Loads of preparations. And especially during the promotion test. Bonkus.

And now, English Drama Club. I joined in during Secondary 1, aim is to enhance my English learning process. Shortly after joining, they had an audition for some public performance, known as Young Peoples Theatre (Hope I got it right). I was chosen for a minor role in it. I think was a son-in-law role, with a couple of lines, some acting. It was held in the Drama Centre off Fort Canning for 2 nights. I think the tickets were at $8 or $10. Anyway, activities for the English Drama Club also varied from having debates, role-play...

Life was rather enriched as apart from mingering from your classmates, there's mingering amongst students from all levels as well.

Secondary 2 was a bit of the same. NPCC and English Drama Club. More vibrant activities in NPCC than English Drama Club. I would say, at a certain point, it became a bit too boring with English Drama Club. Nothing particularly interesting. NPCC, on the other hand, had field camps, various competitions to earn badges to decorate your uniform with, fancy arms drill, foot drills, physical training...

Secondary 3. Nope, not as usual anymore. I was still with NPCC. But I joined the AVA (Audio Visual Aids) Club as well. 3 ECAs! Bascially, the AVA Club was a newly formed so as to called, ECA. You see, previously, the Prefects were in-charged of the AVA systems. But, as you know, back then, there is a wonderful word that had been used extensively almost everywhere... Every successful businessman will always use this one word... ... ... And in case you don't know the word, the word is known as "Outsource". So, the Prefects had outsource the manning and setting up and tearing down of the schools AV properties to a group of people, known as the AVA Club.

Ah, side-track a bit. Talking about Prefects. I was a Prefect during primary school days. Prefects were considered role model back then. What we had to do was like policing other students so that they behaved, and helped the teacher to keep and eye on the students, where necessary. During secodary school days, I was offered the role, but I rejected it as I'd heard that there were more things to do. Things are are not pleasing, that is. So I continue to stuck on to be my comfortable class monitor, as well as my 3 ECAs.

And soon, I was advised by some of my teachers to let go of 1 ECA as it would be too draining for me to go for activities for all 3 of them. So, I dropped the English Drama Club, and focus on the remaining 2 ECAs. Furthermore, since AVA Club was a new club, there were plenty of room for exploring in this club.

It's also in this year where I met a bunch of important characters that stayed with me till to date. Quite a number of the were on my credit list. They were my juniors from NPCC. Let's run through them in alphabetical order: CCH, CWW, GFS, GJY, GPN, GZW, HBL, HKH, HTW, KCQ, NTH, TSF and ZCW. I suppose there are more, but these were the few that I recalled and stuck to me till this date (Except one). They were in Secondary 1 while I was in Secondary 3. We been through a couple of activities together and later became their NCO (Non Commission Officer).

In the middle of Secondary 3, we were handed over the roles of being leaders for the various ECAs so that the Secondary 4 seniors can focus on their GCE 'O' Levels. I was appointed the Vice-Chairman for AVA Club, and Vice-Chairman (Training) for NPCC. Big role, big task, big responsibility! This was the period of time where the only difference between day and night is merely with sun light and without. Staying back after school for ECAs. Planning and executing activities... Balancing academic and ECAs... Going home and going to school... This year brisked by so quickly that you haven't got a clue as it passed.

Secondary 4. The final year. This was the year where we would have to prepare to hand over our leadership roles to the juniors. Now, AVA Club has established itself from a small AVA Club to a bigger entity, and with a new name... known as "Media Resource Team". It comprises of 3 Division: Sound, Video and Photography. Sounds pretty enterprising... 2 of my NPCC juniors followed me into Media Resource Team, CWW and HTW. Both were hardworking and reliable. They were then appointed the role of Chairman and Vice-Chairman in recognition of their hard work as well.

Leaving is always the painful part of the journey. It will bring back memories, good and bad, as well as the future. Treasure the people around you well and they will respect you equally as good.

Well, actually, there's loads to write, but to keep my blog entires nice and neat, the above was a summarised and condensed version. However, do keep a look back often at this post as there will be things added...

Garrison's Challenge - GC1 - Updates

2009-01-10T23:30:00.002+08:00

Alright. The news of GC1 is out for quite some time now. Here are a few updates on GC1:

A: Primary objective:
1. The trip will tentatively begins at about 2am.
2. Entering Peninsular Malaysia by the 2nd Link, the entire journey up Peninsular Malaysia will cover from Tanjong Kupang Toll Plaza, all the way up North till the last toll, Bukit Kayu Hitam Toll Plaza. Literally, Toll-to-Toll, first to last.
3. Will turnaround at last time and hit back to Tanjong Kupang Toll Plaza, and back to Singapore.

B: Secondary obective:
1. Entire journey within 24hrs. (OK, only 2 voted in the poll, 1 day and 3 days. But that doesn't equate to 2 days! I'll stick to 1 day instead to go with secondary objective 3 below.)
2. Average fuel consumption figure for entire trip. (i.e. How many fill-ups required.)
3. Minimum budget for trip.

If you would to share your experiences or advises with me, kindly drop me and E-Mail at garrisonism@gmail.com

Oh, donations and sponsorships are welcome.

Simple Tests - 2

2009-01-09T23:30:00.001+08:00

First, identify yourself as right or left brain person:

1. Hold your hands together, as if you were praying. Look at your hands. If you see

Left thumb is below the right thumb ---> left brain
Right thumb is below the left thumb ---> right brian

2. Fold your arms in front of you (as if you are angry)

Right arm above left arm ---> left brain
Left arm above right arm ---> right brain

Based on 1+2 (order important), below is the interpretation of your personality:

Right-Left
==========
Considerate, traditional, indirect type

Can instinctly read other's emotion, and respond friendly by natures. Although not very into taking intiatives in moving forward, but this person will always take a step back in supporting others. Stable personality and considerate, give others a being protected feeling. But the weakness is they cannot say no; regardless how unwilling they are, they will take care of others.

Right-Right
===========
Loves challenges type

Straightfoward. Once they decided on one thing, will take action right away. Very curious, and love challenges. Dare to face dangers without thinking through (Sometimes foolishly). Their weakness is they dont listen to others, will filter in only what whey want to hear in a conversation, and very subjective. However, because of their straightforward attitude, they tend to be fairly popular.

Left-Left
=========
Dedicated, cold, perfectionist

Very logical in all aspects. The only way to defeat (or win over) him/her is through reasons. Has a lot of prides, and feeling strongly about doing the right thing. If they are your friends, they are very trustworthy. However, if they are your opponets, they will be very tough to deal with. Because they can be very "anal" as a perfectionist, they usually leave a bad impression of being hard to deal with when first met.

Left-Right
==========
Likes to take care of others, leader type

Has a cool and keen observation ability to see through situations, yet still can be considerate in others needs. Because of their cool and calm nature, and strong sense of responsibility, they tend to become head of a group. Popular among people. However, they may not be able to help themselves in meddling because they want to take care of others too much. Very concerned about how others view them, and always on alert.

More things to ponder

2009-01-08T23:00:00.000+08:00

In this 21st Century...

Our communication - Wireless

Our dress - Topless

Our telephone - Cordless

Our cooking - Fireless

Our youth - Jobless

Our food - Fatless

Our labour - Effortless

Our conduct - Worthless

Our relation - Loveless

Our attitude - Careless

Our feelings - Heartless

Our politics - Shameless

Our education - Valueless

Our follies - Countless

Our arguments - Baseless

Our boss - Brainless

Our job - Thankless

Our salary - Very less

Mistakes

What they actually means:

If a barber makes a mistake,
It's a NEW STYLE

If a driver makes a mistake,
It is a NEW PATH

If an engineer makes a mistake,
It is a NEW VENTURE

If parents makes a mistake,
It is a NEW GENERATION

If a politician makes a mistake,
It is a NEW LAW

If a scientist makes a mistake,
It is a NEW INVENTION

If a tailor makes a mistake,
It is a NEW FASHION

If a teacher makes a mistake ,
It is a NEW THEORY

If our boss makes a mistake,
It is a NEW IDEA

If an employee makes a mistake,
It is a MISTAKE

Something to ponder

2009-01-07T23:00:00.005+08:00

I came across this interesting and captivating marketing idea:

Our company offers 3 kind of services:

1. Good
2. Cheap
3. Fast

You can pick any two of the above.
1 & 2 - Good and Cheap service. But it won't be Fast.
1 & 3 - Good and Fast service. But it won't be Cheap.
2 & 3 - Cheap and Fast service. But it won't be Good.

Garrison's Timeline - Part 3a

2009-01-06T23:30:00.002+08:00

Secondary school days... Though it's a mere 4 years, it seemed much longer than the 6 years of primary school education. And it's precisely this, I need more time to write this secondary school days entry... The previous 2 posts are there just to buy me time... If you did the questions and get all wrong, don't despair. On the other hand, even you got all correct, don't be too happy... That's only a "commercial break"!

Alright, back to my secondary school, CCHSM. It's not my first choice, neither last, nor 2nd, nor 5th, nor 4th... So, it's my 3rd choice (Did you manage to get this right?). This was the place where I was forced to make a lot of decisions. Decisions of actions that made an impact, not only to me, but those around me were made at this point. I would say this place holds an important role in my life.

Now, since this period of time (Secondary school days) is what I considered as an important or crucial stage in my life, I will split it into sub-parts... On school academics life, ECA (Extra Curriculum Activities) and post secondary school (Yes, post secondary school... A lot more stories on it too).

My secondary school classes as follows: 1C, 2C, 3D, 4D. CCHSM is a SAP (Special Assistance Plan) school. No. Not the "Special Assistance" that you are thinking of... SAP schools are schools that preserve the Chinese culture and tradition. Meaning, Higher Chinese is available as a subject in this school.

I did not take up Higher Chinese, so I was an Express student. OK. For those who are not sure about the Singapore education system... Back in my time, there were 3 main streams of students in the secondary schools. They were "Special", "Express" and "Normal". "Special" and "Express" students were similar, took 4 years to complete secondary education and attempt the GCE 'O' Levels at the end. The difference is "Special" students took up an extra Higher Chinese subject. "Normal" students had a much slower pace of curriculum. They would take the GCE 'N' Levels at the end of the 4th year, and then the GCE 'O' Levels 1 year later.

Anyway, back to myself. Secondary 1 was already full of activities. Well, for the sake of keeping my entries short and neat, I'll leave the non-curricular stuff for the other entries. Academic-wise, apart from English and English Literature, other subjects were pretty alright. Class 1C was the first Express class (1A and 1B were for the Special stream students) and hence the pressure was already pretty high. A couple of smart lads in this class as well. So competition was really tough. it's also this year, unfortunately, that I was arrowed to be the Class Monitor. Well, having been a class monitor for a couple of years in primary school, I was thinking, how hard can it be... It turns out... Insane. Class Monitor in secondary school was like a maid. And rather different from primary school.

Secondary 2 was again, the same old thing. This time, apparently, the classes were sorted into the order of merits somehow. We will be stream at the end of this year, into Science stream or the Arts stream. As I realised that I'm more science and mathematics inclined, I would go all out to get into the Science stream, which is, of course, tough and challenging. However, it's English that's giving me the most problem. Getting "A"s for the other subject and a "C" or even "D" for English. And again, for the 2nd year, I was being saboed (A term used in Singapore, meaning being purposely "elected", for a task, which is normally tough or difficult to accomplish. Commonly used in negative aspect) to be the class monitor. Sigh... Anyway, at the end of the day, I managed to get into Science stream. I can opt for the triple pure science, but I go for the double. Just to save up some time for me to brush up my command of English. (At this point, do you find my entries difficult to comprehend? If so, you'll probably know why my English is poor, since then...)

Secondary 3... 3D. 3A is for Special stream triple Science class, 3B for special stream double Science class, 3C for Express stream triple Science class, 3D for Express stream double Science class, and so forth... And it is this year where I truely understand what "Express" stands for... Things were going hard and fast! I took everything in double. Languages (English & Chinese), Sciences (Pure Chemistry & Pure Physics), Mathematics (Additional Mathematics & Elementary Mathematics) & Humanities (Geography & History). Study, study and more study.

Secondary 4... The final year. The final leg of the 10 year education system. After which, we would part ways and head towards a different route… JC (Junior College), Pre-U (Pre-University), Poly (Polytechnics), ITE (Nope. It doesn’t represent “It’s The End”, but Institute of Technical Education), Uni (University)… … … Eh… University? Yes… Social University… In other words, working… Majority will opt to go to JC so that they can enter Uni after 2 years of JC studies and getting the right grades for the ‘A’ Levels. A minor group will choose Poly, and then to the Uni. Some will opt for Pre-U, where curriculum-wise, it's similar to JC, but instead of 2 years for GCE 'A' Levels, they will take it after the 3rd year.

The difference between parting ways after PSLE and GCE 'O' Levels lies in the communications with friends. After PSLE, we could only get each other's residential phone numbers or even addresses to keep in touch. Most of the time, there isn't much calling as talking on the telephone is considered as a luxury (Unlike the children today!). For secondary school friends, we kept in touch by giving each others' pager numbers (Yes, pager! Those days, carrying a pager is the best that a student can get. And the latest model then was one with alpha-numeric functions!).

How many secondary schools had you still kept in touch with? And how many primary school friends?

OK, I think that's enough for secondary school days. For me, post secondary school days were rather interesting too. Don't believe me, read up on it on the subsequent entries...

Answers to Simple Tests - 1

2009-01-05T23:30:00.002+08:00

First Question
Answer: If you answered that you are first, then you are wrong! If you overtake the second place person, and you take their place, you are second!

Second Question
Answer: If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again. Tell me, how can you overtake the LAST person?!

Third Question
Answer: Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100. Don't believe it? Check with your calculator!

Fourth Question
Answer: Nunu? NO! Of course not. Her name is Mary. Read the question again!

Bonus Question
Answer: He just has to open his mouth and ask. He's blind, not mute - so simple.

Simple Tests - 1

2009-01-04T23:30:00.003+08:00

You might need a pen and a paper. Below are 4 questions and a bonus question. You have to answer them instantly. You can't take your time. Answer all of them immediately and jot down your answers. Answers are supplied at the next entry. Let's find out just how clever you really are.

First Question
You are participating in a race. You overtake the second place person. What position are you in?

Second Question
If you are in a race, and you overtake the last person, then you are?

Third Question
Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. now add 10. What is the total?

Fourth Question
Mary's father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?

Bonus Question
There is a mute person who wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing one's teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done. Now if there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses, how should he express himself?

Garrison's Timeline - Part 2

2009-01-03T23:30:00.002+08:00

My primary school days served as the beginning of "awareness of the outside world". I studied in ZPS, one of the school that used to be located at Jalan Bukit Merah, at the bottom of SGH (But has now relocated to Jalan Membina. Hopefully I got the new location right).

My classes from Primary 1 to Primary 6: 1A, 2AA, 3D, 4C, 5F, 6F. Starting from Primary 1, the familiar feeling of studying gets stronger, as I brisked through Primary 1 easily, topping the cohort. This is also the year where I started taking the school bus to school. Waking up very early in the morning just to catch the school bus to school, even though the school was just a mere 5 minutes drive down the road. The school bus will round up the whole neighbourhood to pick up all the students before heading to school, which is why the journey took a starking 45 minutes! Anyway, school buses in the past were non air-conditioned and that they cramped lots of children in the bus. It was also much cheaper as compared to current days.

For Primary 2, I was in the afternoon session. To contrast the classes for morning and afternoon session, an additional alphabet was added to the end, and thus, 2AA. It's also this year where I begin to "reach out" more to the outside world. In other words, I became more active. Starting with simple project work, I began to hang around in my friends house... Well, took half an hour for project and a couple of hours playing... Ha ha...

For Primary 3, it was my first disappointment. I was assigned to Class 3D. D?? But my results were OK... Why "D"? Well, it was a random assignment from the school where everyone were allocated in a random manner to the various classes. Good students may not end up in the "A" class and vice-versa. In this way, there is a good mix of various calibre students and this may help to improve the standards of the classes. It was also in Primary 3 where we had our streaming. And it was in Primary 3 where I got a buddy, LWT. Doing projects together and playing about. Life was simple and good. No pressure and no worries...

Primary 4, another year of streaming. The MOE has changed their policy and changed the streaming from Primary 3 to Primary 4. And we were to take the streaming again for Primary 4. What the... The streaming will stream the pupils into EM1, EM2 and EM3. EM1 and EM2 were rather similar, except EM1 will be taking higher chinese as an extra subject. EM3 will be of a lighter curriculum. I ended up in EM2. Normal curriculum, normal studying pace, just a normal me. But still enjoying the companion of my buddy.

Primary 5... Class 5F. What? F? Such a lousy alphabet. Well, my school decided to reverse the alphabets with "A" being the last class and "G" being the first class. Class G is for the EM1 students, while "F" is considered the best of EM2. True enough, the competition in the class was rather fierce. The teachers were gearing us up for PSLE next year and the homework load was ridiculous. No more hours of playing, but hours of doing homework ay home!

Primary 6. The final year. It was the point of merely waking up in the morning, going to school, staying back for extra lessons, going home, having meals, doing homework, sleep. The monotonous life ended with the last paper of PSLE. Finally, the days of the monotonous life were over, and it's going to be endless of playing time till secondary school days! But it was also the last day of the PSLE where everyone felt a bit sad. We were be parting ways and heading to various different secondary schools. We were each given 6 choicecs to indicate our preference for secondary schools. Unfortunately, my buddy and I chose different secondary schools. And in the end, I was posted to CCHSM, while my buddy to CTSS.

All in all, even though there's 6 years of primary school education, time seems to brisk by without a trace. What will happen during secondary school days? Secondary schools days coming up next...

Garrison's Challenge - GC1

2009-01-02T23:30:00.005+08:00

I just gotten to know that I'll be starting work on the 8th day of Chinese New Year earlier today. So it means that there's some spare time for me to do something different with the extra bits of time.

I'd planned to set up a challenge for myself and my poor little car. You see, I travelled a lot in my car. It's a Black Nissan Latio Sport, with a 1.5L inline engine, producing a maximum power of 109ps or 80kW. Max Torque peaks at 148Nm. It's a pretty decent family car (Not a sports car!), with good fuel cosumption (FC) figures, with mine averaging around 14km/L. It's about 2 and a half years old, but clocked a total of 140,000km to date! And all this distance was covered in Singapore only!

Now, my challenge is simple. Drive all the way up North and hit the Thailand border, and turnaround. Sounds pretty simple, huh. Well, not really.

I'll be filling my car with petrol to the brim just before the 2nd Link, try to get as far North as possible before the next fill-up. And then repeat the same until the turnaround and back to Singapore. So, do stay tuned to look out for my FC figures!

I planned to do the above in the shortest span of time possible, 1 day (That's pretty impossible and insane!), 2 days (Schedule looks tight, but fine), 3 days (A bit of luxury in terms of resting time). This, in which, I'd yet to decide on.

Anyway, I'd planned to do this alone, but my car can sit up to 4 comfortably (Including driver). So, anyone out there who would like to be part of the challenge, please feel free to drop me an E-Mail at garrisonism@gmail.com and I'll try to figure out how the trip can be arranged. Oh, and at my discretion, of course!

In the mean time, I'll be accepting feedbacks or advises from anyone out there with regards to this challenge. Or any sponsors too for that matter. A poll has been set up (On the left side-bar on this blog) in case you would like to give any opinions, but shy to E-Mail me.

Good luck to me!

*Garrison's Timeline - Part 2 will be coming up next...

Garrison's Timeline - Part 1

2009-01-01T23:00:00.003+08:00

First of all, a very Happy New Year to everyone! Welcome 2009 - a year of double the changes, and double the excitement from 2008!

Well, to re-cap, a few entries ago, I mentioned I would like to do an autobiography of myself. Now, here it is... Presenting to you, Garrison's Timeline - Part 1, My Childhood Days.

Born on the 70th day of 1981, to a family 3 (that's 4 now, including me), I was considered due later than expected. Normally, a baby would be due in about 90 days (divided into 3 phases of 30 days each, with each phase known as a trimester). I think I'm way beyond the 3rd trimester and genuinely what the Chinese calls it '十月怀胎'. To make matter "worse", my mother was already slightly more than 4 decades old by the time I was conceived. Or what the Chinese claim as '高龄产妇'. So, there's a natural tendency for everyone to think that I'm probably born as an idiot or retard (Hmm... Maybe it's true huh...). To make matter "worse" "worse", as I was long overdue (Look, overdue is not expired... Expired means ghost is writing this blog!), it was very very hard for me to be conceived naturally. So various methods were proposed. Caesarian, clamping me out... Anyway, I'm not a Gynecologist, so to cut short the story, I was born naturally, successfully. Kudos to my mother!

My father was the sole breadwinner of the family. My mother was a housewife. I have an elder sister, half a decade older than me. My first 4 years were a bit worrying for my family as I don't really speak! At one point in time, they thought I'm probably a mute, and to a certain extend, deaf! Seen a few doctors, and they were assured, I'm normal! Sigh... It's really tough to be a man of a few words...

At the same time, I was basically visiting the doctor on a weekly basis, as I fell ill easily. Diarrhoea, flu, fever, cough... Poor immune system... It became such a predictable trend that it's like a woman having their period. My family could predict that I'll be coughing next week and prevented me from having cold drinks or whatever. But, the truth is, I'm still coughing the following week... Now, you can't stop a woman from having a period next week by preventing her, right?

Well, it wasn't until when I turned 5 and entered kindergarten, when I start to "shine". I realised that studying is something so familiar to me! 2 years of kindergarten life flew by easily. Remembering the 2 friends that I get to know during my kindergarten days, KLE & QJH. They are the 2 friends that I got to know first...

OK... That's about it for my childhood days... Any more details will be too boring... Next up, my Primary School days...

Garrisonism Featured Video Clip

2008-12-31T23:30:00.000+08:00

Well, it's the last day of 2008 - a year full of changes and excitement. A year full of ups and downs... Yeah... Cost of living going up, bills going up... And shares prices going down, companies going down...

As a professional driver, I would love to share some fuel saving tips with the rest of you guys. Now, me being me, I would not like to do the conventional points listing tips, telling you what to do, what not to do, what to look out and so on and so forth... So I'd decided to add in a featured video clip on fuel consumption. Watch it on the Featured Video Clip on the left of my blog and enjoy.

And oh... For those who stayed tuned to read about my timeline, I'm sorry, but you gotta wait till tomorrow, as I'm still looking for my childhood days...

Oh, and not forgetting, Happy New Year. Welcome 2009! For yet more crazy changes ahead!

Garrison's Autobiography

2008-12-30T22:00:00.001+08:00

All right, I think the previous entry about myself was utterly rubbish, as it speaks little of my true self. So, I've decided to write an autobiography about myself... ... ... Well, sort of...

Right, I know you'll be laughing. Barely 3 decades of things to write! Well, I thought I'm late in this bandwagon already. Look at Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) who is barely a quarter century old! Or even Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes), with only slightly more than 2 decades to write!

Well, to cut the long and short of it, I'll probably be penning my timeline in multiple stages. My childhood days, primary school days, secondary school days, tertiary school days, working life... So for those of you who are keen (Hmm... Are there any by the way...), do log in often to read about it. I promise to be as detailed as possible...

About Garrison

2008-12-29T23:00:00.012+08:00

I'd notice that I've put the Blog title as "Garrisonism - All about Garrison" and I find nothing much about myself till date. So I've decided to pen a few things about myself, including, my interests. Let's start in Alphabetical order. I think this list will still grow, so do keep looking back for changes...

Ambition: World Peace (No. I'm not a participant for Mr Universe, handsome pageant or what-so-ever. I'm dead serious about this OK.) I would like to be able to travel round the World to help up as much needy people as possible, getting involved in humanitarian missions as so on...

Brands: BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke ; Bavarian Motor Works).

Cars: BMW M5 Touring, BMW 750Li, BMW X5 xDrive48i, BMW X6 xDrive50i. (Cars that I would like to have). I'll need the X5 or X6 for my ambition! But I'm driving a Nissan Latio Sport for now. Hey... Nissan can be good too... A Nissan GTR is good to have too. So is the Nissan Murano.

Diploma: Dip. in Chemical Process Technology (Food Technology) (With Merits).

E-Mail: garrisonism@gmail.com

F1: My favourite sport! My supporting team: BMW Sauber F1 Team.

Garrison: That's me, of course.

Horoscope: Piscean.

Income: What a question to ask... Well, for the purpose of this blog, keep looking around this blog. My partial income lies there... Wonder when will it be able to support me for my ambition?

Junior College: TJC (For 1 month only).

Knighthood: Not yet.

Liability: A lot. Too many to list. Some kind soul would like to help me with this?

Marital Status: Single.

Nissan Latio Sport: The car that I'm driving now.

Occupation: Currently as a Project Sales / Support Manager.

Primary School: ZPS.

Question: What did you not know? How the heck would I know what I don't know??

Rubbish: Yeah, I generate a lot of these. Be it physical or blog entries... Ooops...

Secondary School: CCHSM.

TV-Shows: Top Gear (By Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May) (Why can't we have a show like this?).

University: NUS (For 2 months only).

Verdict: I'm amazed you're still reading up to here!

Watch: Tissot T-Touch Expert Titanium (The watch that I'm wearing now).

X-Men: Yes. I'm part of it...

Yawn: You're still reading??!??

ZZ: My initials.

爱不疚

2008-12-28T22:30:00.002+08:00

TVB剧集《溏心风暴之家好月圆》插曲
唱: 林峰曲: 郑智伟词: 张美贤

收藏在眼眸常徘徊左右爱猜到没有
愉快玩笑后能全然退后你开心就够

这种感觉太亲厚讲一千句也不够
假使讲了你听到后或会走
这种恋爱太罕有不需真正拥有
成全衷心祝福然后就放手

放手放开所有彼此更自由
放手其实我绝非爱得不够
放手豁出所有还有这个好友
已经已经足够

遥远是宇宙静静在背后去看守就够
这种感觉太亲厚讲一千句也不够
即使一刹有过冲动挽你手
这种恋爱太罕有不需真正拥有
成全多舍不得仍然是放手

放手放开所有彼此更自由
放手其实我绝非爱得不够
放手豁出所有还有这个好友
已经已经足够

放手我的牵挂找不到尽头
放手期望你幸福甚麽都有
也许爱很深厚然而我早看得透
放手至可拥有

Insufficient Love - Raymond Lam

Current Media & Current Media Article

2008-12-27T12:30:00.005+08:00

I'd created a dedicated sidebar for media playback (Current Media), in which, a media (songs, music, speech...) will be played back as a background media to enhance your reading experience. The media can be of anything in nature, be it language, genre... The content will be changed on a monthly basis. So, stay tune to keep track...

I'd also created a Current Media Article in which the lyrics and singer of the song will be incorporated, or a short write up about the Current Media.

I intend to incorporate visual media in future so as to share any interesting visuals that I came across to share with all.

Hope you guys will like that.

Garrisonism - All about Garrison

2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - Sunday

2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - Saturday

2009 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - Friday

ICT

Garrison's E-Mail

Garrison's SMS

Garrison's SMS

2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Sunday

2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Saturday

2009 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Friday

我是真的付出我的爱

FIA Court of Appeal - Diffuser Saga Vedict

FIA Court of Appeal - Diffuser Saga

The Wonders of Numbers

The Wonders of Numbers

The Wonders of Numbers

The Wonders of Numbers

The Wonders of Numbers - Introduction

Garrison's E-Mail

BMW X5 M & BMW X6 M

Garrison's E-Mail

2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix - Sunday

2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix - Saturday

2009 F1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix - Friday

Formula One

情非得已离开你

Formula One - Intro, Part 2

Formula One - Intro, Part 1

2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix - Sunday

2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix - Saturday

2009 F1 ING Australian Grand Prix - Friday

Formula One

Garrison's Timeline - Part 7b

Featured Video

Garrison's E-Mail

Formula One

Garrison's Timeline - Part 7a

Garrison's SMS

Formula One Updates

Garrison's SMS

Garrison's SMS

Garrison's E-Mail

Garrison's E-Mails

Garrison 讲鬼

Someone once said...

Facebook

如果这是情

Garrison's SMS

Garrison's SMS - Introduction

Countdown to Formula One Season 2009

Garrison's Timeline - Part 6

Garrison's Updates

十句

感言

峰回路转

Garrisonism Media History

Garrison is back!

Garrison's Mobile Update

Garrison's Update

三個忠告

Garrison's Update

BMW News

New Featured Video Clip

Garrison's Update

相信她 关心她

小哲理

Garrison's Challenge - GC1 - Review

Garrison's Challenge - GC1 - Latest Updates

Garrison's Timeline - Part 5

Happy Lunar New Year

Garrisonism Milestone

Garrison's Story 3

Garrison's Story 2

Garrison's Timeline - Part 4

BMW Sauber F1 Team F1.09

Garrison's Story 1

Garrison's Challenge - GC1 - Even More Updates

All About Marketing

Garrison's Timeline - Part 3d

相信她关心她