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Showing posts from February, 2016

Robocraft: Appearance

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Previous, I said that I would blog about Lightstorm's UmbraWraith , a copter-hover medic, but sadly this bot, in my opinion, is now suboptimal due to introduction of 2 new weapons: Aeroflak ("flak") and Lock-on Missile Launcher ("LML"). The major disadvantage against these weapons is that it's too slow to decent. Even if hovering close to the ground, it's slow to decent when the ground slopes downward and thereby vulnerable to flak's damage. This is unfortunate because I really loved this bot. You can check out his earlier version in Robocraftgarage.com . I was using version 5 of the bot. In other news, a TDM match I was in turned out to be recorded by a famous Robocraft youtuber, Rosefall :) Look at 12:20 to 12:31 (I'm in the enemy's team). In fact, I think the plasma shot at 12:25 was probably from me and then I appeared from behind towards the front at 12:29 hehehe. Two team mates and I were flanking them from behind. I wa

Kinpachi revisited

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It's been 2.5 years since I last dined at this restaurant. Oh, wow! Well, their prices are expensive and so can't go there often but for years? That's puzzling :) So Ban and I had pre-Valentine's dinner there recently. As I just recovered from illness, my appetite was subnormal and so ordering sushi pieces was a great idea. Compared to few years back, it is obvious that the size of the salmon and prawn had shrunk (not the rice, it seems). Oh well, not totally unexpected. Fortunately, they tasted as good as before. Their cawanmushi (came with Ban's set meal) still tasted like normal steam egg :) Have to remember this place for special celebration :)

No sense

Another year-end project, another set of nonsensical requests from client. (1) About a month before the start of this project, the client proposed a timeline, setting out delivery deadlines for both parties. A couple of months later, when it was obvious that they couldn't meet their deadline of providing us data, they extended their deadline by a month but  cut our (the actuarial consultants) delivery time for the report by a month. As an illustration: Old deadlines                                         New deadlines Client to provide data: 15 Jan                Client to provide data: 15 Feb Us to provide report: 1 Apr                    Us to provide report: 1 Mar             This is clearly unfair and makes no sense. (2) Client had 2 types of business: let's call them C and S. As commissioned by them, the actuarial report covered only business C. A standard valuation report will cover valuation method, data, assumptions and all other factors relevant to the exe

The Time Keeper

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Got this a birthday present 2 years back. Started reading it on the plane to OZ last year and finished reading it on the return flight hehehe. An interesting plot. Its main character is the fabled Father Time, guest starring Tower of Babel :) It had 3 stories progressing at the same time and in different time period too during the first half of the book. They were about a young insecure girl, a determined old man and, of course, a weary Father Time himself. It started with Father Time being punished for measuring time (interesting, isn't it?), a punishment that seems harsh to me. Quite early on I figured the "moral of the story" and so all that was left for me to discover was how the 3 stories demonstrated this. It's quite a light and easy reading and yet something different. I would recommend it to anyone.

Table of 7 @Sushi Zanmai

Recently, Ban and I dined at Sushi Zanmai after gym. I was recovering from bad stomachache (did light treadmill exercise) and so had only a small bowl of Niku Udon (delicious!) which was enough for me. Seated at the next table was a family of 7. They had on their table 2 large paper cups of soft drink (the kind you get from 7-11, for example), which they shared. There were only 1 cup of hot green tea and 1 glass of cold green tea ordered from the restaurant, of which I caught 2 people sharing the latter. I had no doubt that all beverages, brought from outside and ordered inside, were shared all around. Some people may say that this family could not afford to dine at a Japanese restaurant on a regular basis and hence the blatant breach of etiquette. If this is true, then they shouldn't dine there at all. They should eat comfortably within their means and yet able follow proper etiquette. This is one messed up priority and also bad role models for the 3 children (2 of them young

Actuarial pick-up lines

Got these from Actuaries Digital: "I model for a living." "I’d like to lie tangent to your curve." The one that I think is the most romantic (on this special day): "My love for you is endless, like a perpetuity."

Tenant at last!

A day after this blog entry was posted, my valued agent informed that a couple viewed my condo a second time and offered to rent it. Yay! It took about 3.5 months @@ The rent is about 14% lower than the previous rate but it is still within the range of advertised rates on PropertyGuru. Although at the lower end of range, time is tough for landlords at the moment and so beggars can't be choosers. I just hope this couple will turn out to be good tenants and stay on for years. However, off the bat, there were some expenses incurred: new water heater to replace faulty one, repair a choked kitchen sink, and a new microwave oven upon tenants' request.

Inaho: revisit (7th time)

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Hehehe despite saying I wouldn't dine there again , Ban and I went there recently. I can't remember the details but I believed we settled on Japanese food and between Sakae Sushi and Inaho, Ban chose the latter. Coincidentally, there was a promotion then: for every 4 ala carte dishes (with few exceptions) ordered, the cheapest one would be free. Oh great, I needed that because their sushi was expensive i.e. RM3 per salmon sushi and RM4 per salmon belly sushi (vs Sushi Tei's RM4.80 for a pair of salmon sushi). So I ordered 6 salmon sushi and 2 salmon belly sushi. They were also smaller than Sushi Tei's sushi and so despite the promotion, it was still more expensive. The fish tasted fine but 3 rice pieces broke easily. Shoddy. Haiz. Come on, Sakae Sushi was just few doors away and their salmon sushi, although served on conveyor belt, was definitely better than these and cheaper too. Such a pity.

Time

How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on. - Zail's Second Law Hehehe.

Exercise

And if you were told there was a tablet you could take once a day which would prevent high blood pressure, heart disease, reduce your chance of stroke, reduce back pain, increase libido and fight mental illness, would you want it?  That magic pill exists in the form of regular exercise. - Jemma Hilliger "I can't find time!" "Oh, that's a good idea. Let's see, oh I have <insert a random activity> to do." "I have too much work." "I didn't sleep well last night." "But my favourite tv series is on." "That'll leave almost no time to play computer games." "I have important errands to run." "I have other appointments." "I'm too tired." Are the above excuses ever used by people for not eating? For not sleeping? No, right? Then people should stop using these for not exercising either. Yes, exercise is as important as eating and sleeping. It is not so