Dinner @ Coffee Club (Raffles Place)

New dish on the menu. Can't remember what's the name of the dish, but it's kind of nice. Grilled chicken breast, with a layer of cheese & mashed potato underneathe. Went to the gym before dinner but I guess whatever I've burned up on the treadmill was returned after dinner. Oh well. Since I did some exercise, I guess it's okie to have some good food once in a while. Try it!!!

Ja neh!!!

Dinner @ East Coast Park hawker centre

The folks decided to have lunch, or was it dinner, at East Coast Park hawker center after visiting grandma. The place had been renovated before & there's now a seating section where you can eat with the feeling of sand in your shoes. Not exactly appealing to me, but it might be, to others.

That's what I had. I think there's only 1 nos western food stall, & it's self-service. I do not like stalls that do not bring the food to you & you have to wait for the food, not to mention it cost 5sgd. Pretty steep. For a poor student.

Mummy & sis, with their bbq stingray & sotong. Seems like my sis likes sotong. Which explains the look on her face most of the time.





My old man, with his "one-ton" noodles, the heaviest noodles in East Coast Park.

Ja neh!!!

Lunch @ Changi International Airport

I was at the airport one fine day (Changi International Airport) & decided to have lunch at the staff canteen in Terminal 2. My family used to come here quite often in the past for lunch, probably for the air-con environment, wide variety of food and the close proximity to Tampines, where I lived for the past 21 years. We came to Terminal 2 for supper too, but these outings have stopped for some unknown reason. I missed those times. Anyway, the place was being renovated & as usual, the "No Studying" signs are still there. Singapore is probably the only place in the WHOLE UNIVERSE where we have such signs. And everybody, including the "garmen" keep telling us to have lifelong learning & the whole load of crap about building a knowledge economy. I didn't know you can acquire knowledge without studying. These policies are made by people who are scholars aka people who are good at studying. DUH!!!

Oops, too much side tracking. There's a stall selling pasta. It's probably owned by a young entrepreneur because of the menu (fusion of east & west), & the concept. Make a trip down there yourself & you might be able to get what I mean. Ordered lunguine with black pepper chicken, add a dollar for a bowl of "home-made" mushroom soup. I was disappointed. The black pepper was too overwhelming for me (maybe I'm weak), & the soup wasn't to my liking. Michelle liked it though. I wonder why. Luckily the saving grace was the coconut drink which helped to drowse the flames on my tonsils. I'm gonna boycott this stall for the time being.

After lunch, had a rumble in my tummy, so I had to visit the Men's room / Gents / toilet / whatever. This is what I saw in the cubicle. It squirts some anticeptic mist onto a piece of toilet paper & you can clean the toilet seat! How neat is that?

Ja neh!!!

Stuck in school trying to get some progress

It's a long day today. Went to meet Michelle at Outram Park MRT station (what a cool name for a place in S'pore) after her shift. I had lunch at the famous Chang Cheng Porridge coffee (I didn't have porridge / congee, can't really tell the difference) but the chicken rice was way below standard. Seems like only the porridge is nice there. Went to get black stockings for her friend at work, then had dessert at some coffeeshop that Michelle & her mum frequents. I had peanut paste (fa shang wu) while she had mango pudding. Damage was 5 sgd but at least the peanut paste didn't disappoint me. Will take more pictures of the place & the desserts when I go there again, in future. I put the picture of the kit kat because they're my new favourite chocolate snack. I bought caramel by accident, thinking it was peanut butter. I love peanut butter but Michelle thinks otherwise.

After dessert, we took the train from Chinatown MRT station (check out the decor!) to HarbourFront MRT station, and then we took the bus (TIBS 188) back to her house. I've been to many places I never went before after knowing her. We've got a lot of things to learn about each other. Coming from different worlds, it's been an uphill climb sometimes, but the hike was well worth the while. I must constantly remind myself that I lost my previous girlfriend because I was blind to her needs and deaf to her pleads. Sigh. I must not make the same mistake again.

Anyway, I came back to hostel, had a short nap, & went to the gym in Sports & Recreation Centre (SRC) in NTU for a short workout. Nearly died on the treadmill, as usual. What's new? Need to work out more. If I want to lose the tummy. And smoke less. And drink less (alcohol), & no more chicken cutlet or half dead chick rice!!!

Had dinner in Canteen 2. Leisure stroll back to Hall 11, & now in Richard's room, blogging, when I should be working on my report!!!

Ja neh!!!

PSP Game (Harry potter & the Goblet of Fire)

As Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger enter their fourth year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, new challenges await them, both "professional" and personal. The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire video game sticks strictly to the adventure aspects of the story, never touching upon the sticky relationship drama that makes up key subplots in the novel and the film. You'll still have plenty to do in the game, though: Guide the trio of young wizards through various locales, fight magical creatures, solve puzzles, and usher Harry through the Triwizard Tournament challenges just before a climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort himself. Though the collection aspects of the game are a drag at times, The Goblet of Fire still does enough to keep Potter fans engaged throughout.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are back in the newest Harry Potter video game.



The PSP version of The Goblet of Fire is practically identical to the bigger console versions. The primary differences are the omission of the prefects' bathroom level and the inclusion of some unlockable minigames. You'll solve plenty of environmental puzzles using each character's standard, context-sensitive charm spells. Cast a charm in the direction of a boulder and you'll lift it with a wingardium leviosa spell. Cast it in the direction of a fire, and your character will automatically do an aqua eructo charm to conjure a stream of water for dousing the flame. Carpe retractum (for opening gates) and herbivicus (for causing plants to bloom) are other context-sensitive charms used in the game. The puzzles you need to solve are usually fairly obvious. For example, while exploring the greenhouses of Hogwarts, you may need to use carpe retractum to pull down bridges, and herbivicus to open up lily pads that let you cross small bodies of water. Some obstacles, like extra-large boulders or flames, require two or more of the characters to simultaneously cast their charms to overcome them. The artificial intelligence controlling the other characters is smart enough to help you out when it needs to.

Jinx spells are another primary spell type. Jinxes are basically just an attack you use to attack monsters in the game, which include fire salamanders, dugbogs, and erklings. The menagerie isn't very extensive, but each of the monsters has a different fighting style and offers a different challenge. You can combine charms and jinxes to do combined attacks on creatures, as well. For example, if one character lifts a creature up in the air with a wingardium leviosa charm, the others can jinx it while it's being held for a combined attack, which is more powerful and effective than just spamming the jinx button.

As you make your way through the game's levels, solving puzzles and fighting creatures, you'll collect Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans, which you can get when dropped by defeated creatures, or by jinxing random parts of the environments. The beans serve as currency, which you can use to buy cards to power up each character. The character card system adds depth to the game, letting you customize each of the three characters depending on the situation and play style. Some cards increase the power of your jinxes; others add stamina or duration to your magicus extremus meter, which when filled, gives you a limited amount of increased firepower for your spells. The more expensive and interesting cards let you fire double or triple jinxes with each cast, or give you an advantage against certain creatures. Each character can only use three cards in a mission, so you'll need to choose carefully before starting. Each character also maintains his or her own bean count and deck of cards, so that encourages you to switch between characters as you go through the campaign and make sure all of them have around equal power.

You'll explore various levels looking for Tri-wizard shields.



The primary gameplay in The Goblet of Fire involves collecting Triwizard shields that are scattered about the various levels. Some are hidden away for you to pick up, while others are earned by defeating boss creatures. Most of them require you to use your spells to solve environmental puzzles and reach them in out-of-the-way places. As you collect Triwizard shields, later levels are unlocked for play, letting you explore areas such as the Forbidden Forest and the roofs and greenhouses of Hogwarts. There are other items scattered about the levels, such as minishields, statuettes, and mushrooms, that you're asked to collect. Some of these also yield Triwizard shields, while others unlock cards. The problem is that after you've collected all of a certain item, it's never made clear what you've won. Sometimes a Triwizard shield popped up elsewhere in the level. Other times, we never quite figured out what we won by finding all the statuettes or magic mushrooms in a given map. Because the game relies a lot on having you replay certain levels to find all the collectibles, it's somewhat frustrating to not receive immediate feedback on what you've gotten out of searching every nook and cranny. Despite that flaw, it's still pretty fun to explore each of the game's levels the first time, fighting the monsters and finding the Triwizard shields.

The Triwizard challenges you unlock also help mix up the gameplay, as they're different in nature from the standard levels. The Triwizard challenges follow the template used in the book and the film; one challenge has Harry fly off on his broom with a dragon in pursuit, while another has Harry explore the depths of the Black Lake. These levels don't involve any exploration or collection--they're pretty much linear races, with some light combat involved. There are also four minigames that you'll unlock as you play through the campaign. These are playable against another person over an ad hoc network, but they aren't all that fun and don't add much value. One of the games is simply a variation of the card game memory, while another involves checkpoint racing through a garden with a hard-to-control niffler creature. They're amusing at first, but they get old quickly because they're all pretty easy.


Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans are scattered about the levels.

Graphically, The Goblet of Fire is quite good for a portable game, excelling mostly in its environment. For example, as you scale the towers and roofs of Hogwarts, you can look in the distance and see the surrounding buildings of the school grounds. Spell effects are impressive, making use of vibrantly colored particles and other lighting effects. However, the character models don't animate particularly well, and the shadows underneath them are simple shaded ovals. The characters are also noticeably blocky in early cutshots that zoom in close to them; their hands look more like clubs than hands. What's most disappointing is that the game never leverages any media from the film, aside from still shots used to decorate the cards. The cutscenes in the game are comic-like in their style, not unlike the cover art of the books. Though they still offer an air of authenticity, the frugal nature of the cutscenes seems oddly deflating given the visual splendor Potter fans have come to expect from the films. As far as sound goes, the spells and creature effects seem pretty good, as does the music used in the menus and during cutscenes.

As a platformer aimed at the younger crowd of Potter fans, The Goblet of Fire does a good job at delivering an experience that is in line with the plot of the books. Even if you're an older fan of the Harry Potter books, the game's still worth checking out, especially if you've got two other friends to play the game in three player cooperative mode. It's definitely not quite as awe-inspiring an experience as seeing the films, but if you want a more interactive take of what it might be like to be in the world of magic, The Goblet of Fire video game will suit you just fine.

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/harrypotterandthegobletoffire/review.html

Ja neh!!!

Richest footballer & football investor

David Beckham has topped the latest football rich list with an estimated fortune over twice that of his nearest rival, Dennis Bergkamp. FourFourTwo magazine claims the England captain is worth £75million, far outstripping the Arsenal forward who is on £37million and Newcastle striker Michael Owen, who is third on £30million. Wayne Rooney has risen to 20th but, with just £8million to his name, he is a long way short of either of his international team-mates. Roy Keane may be out of a job at the moment but he is unlikely to go short with wealth estimated at £25million. Whatever Beckham's advantages over his peers, it is nothing compared to Roman Abramovich's, who is the clear winner in the football investors rich list. With £10billion, his wealth is all but limitless, and five times that of his nearest rival Joe Lewis, who has stakes in Rangers and Tottenham and is down to his last £2billion. Celtic's Dermot Desmond is a long way behind with £867million in third place while Malcolm Glazer makes his first appearance following his investment in Manchester United. The American is fifth with £735million, just behind Sir Alan Sugar, who retains a stake in Tottenham and is thought to be worth £760million.

Top 20 players

1 David Beckham (Real Madrid) £75m
2 Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) £37m
3 Michael Owen (Newcastle) £30m
4 Robbie Fowler (Manchester City) £28m
5 Sol Campbell (Arsenal) £26m
6 Roy Keane (Unattached) £25m
7 Alan Shearer (Newcastle) £22m
8 Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) £20m
9 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) £20m
10 Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United) £20m
11 Thierry Henry (Arsenal) £18m
12 Emile Heskey (Birmingham) £11m
13 Didier Drogba (Chelsea) £10m
14 Duncan Ferguson (Everton) £10m
15 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) £10m
16 Frank Lampard (Chelsea) £10m
17 Freddie Ljungberg (Arsenal) £10m
18 John Terry (Chelsea) £10m
19 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Middlesbrough) £8m
20 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) £8m

Top 10 investors

1 Roman Abramovich (Chelsea) - oil, industry - £10b
2 Joseph Lewis (Tottenham, Rangers) - finance - £2b
3 Dermot Desmond (Celtic) - finance - £867m
4 Sir Alan Sugar (Tottenham) - electronics - £760m
5 Malcolm Glazer (Manchester United) - investment - £735m
6 Trevor Hemmings (Charlton) - property - £730m
7 Walker family (Blackburn) - steel/airline - £680m
8 David Sullivan (Birmingham) - publishing - £575m
9 David Murray (Rangers) - metals/property - £550m
10 David Gold (Birmingham) - books/erotica - £515m

The above article was taken form the following website.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=351404&cc=4716

Sigh... If only I was half as rich as some of these people. Bear in mind that these people are not old & dying after they've made their fortune. They're still in the prime of their lives & ready to enjoy the money that they have earned. So nice to be a footballer. You'll get the attention, the glamour, you get paid playing the world's most popular sport & most of all, the money's real good. Why study so hard just to be an engineer & get paid peanuts & shoulder such heavy responsibility? If I design a building, maybe I get paid 10000sgd per month, which means, I'm in charge. So if the building collaspes & someone died when it happened, I go to jail if it's proven that my design is not up to standard or I have been negligent in my calculations. If I'm a footballer & i'm in charge of defense, ie. maybe someone like Rio Ferdinand. I get paid £120,0000. Per week. That's approximately 300,000sgd per week (grosssly underestimated currency conversion), 1.2million sgd per mth. For playing at most 3 matches per week. Each match lasts approximately 93 mins. If I let in a goal & the whole team crumbles, the worst thing that can happen to me, I get to sit on the bench until my contract ends, & I still get paid 1.2 million sgd per month. Muahahaha. Don't you feel like playing football?

Ja neh!!!

PSP game (Tenchi no mon / Kingdom of paradise)

Eastern mythology and lots of great-looking swordplay combine in Kingdom of Paradise, an exciting and action-packed 3D role-playing game exclusively for the PSP. It's worth noting right up front that Kingdom of Paradise would have been a solid console game if it weren't portable, so the fact that you can carry this full-fledged, graphically remarkable RPG with you wherever you go is an impressive feat. But it's refreshing to see this game only on the PSP, considering the system's library is laced so heavily with console hand-me-downs. Kingdom of Paradise has somewhat of a steep learning curve and its flashy combat system has a few problems, but the quality of the game's presentation and the generally entertaining battles almost completely overshadow these setbacks.

The hero of the story is Shinbu, a young swordsman dedicated to perfecting his martial arts. He's a former disciple of Seiryu, but fell from the graces of his nation's military sect when his curiosity got the better of him and he discovered some forbidden fighting techniques. But Shinbu is a good-natured guy and not a rebel--he'd like nothing better than to regain his good standing. The problem is, it seems the other Seiryu disciples have been wiped out. So Shinbu sets off on a journey to figure out what's going on, which will take him all across the country of Ouka and its different regions, each one named for and inspired by a monstrous god (Seiryu, for instance, is a blue dragon). During his adventure, he'll meet all manner of friend and foe, and many of these characters are quite compelling, thanks to some excellent character design and lots of high-quality speech. However, the story itself is rather dense and fairly predictable, though it's perfectly serviceable stuff to carry a role-playing game.

If you're familiar with Eastern mythology, you'll recognize some of the names and characters in Kingdom of Paradise, and will be in a better position to soak up all the different, unusual names the game quickly throws at you. The combination of both Chinese and Japanese influences gives Kingdom of Paradise its own unique feel, though in another way this makes the game quite reminiscent of this year's Jade Empire for the Xbox, another martial arts RPG set in a made-up version of the ancient Orient. What's mildly annoying is that if you do happen to know a little Japanese, you'll find that the otherwise-competent voice-over cast screws up a lot of the pronunciations. You'll even hear some inconsistencies in the pronunciations of certain names from one character to the next, but then again, we don't know for sure how they pronounce things in the country of Ouka. Regardless, the game's Eastern styling definitely shines through, making for a role-playing experience that's out of the ordinary. For instance, it's great that most battles pit you against enemy swordsmen rather than your typical host of generic fantasy creatures.

Two words you'll need to learn early on in Kingdom of Paradise are "bugei" and "kenpu." The game's manual does a better job explaining these than the game itself, but in short, bugei are special combat scrolls and kenpu are the tiles that are used to fill them out. Swordplay in Kingdom of Paradise involves equipping Shinbu with various bugei scrolls you find; but before you do that, you'll want to fill out your bugei with as many kenpu tiles as you can. Defeated enemies will often drop kenpu tiles, and it quickly gets to be quite addictive finding all the dozens of these to fill out your assortment of combos. Each bugei scroll consists of a completely different string of combat moves, and bugei scrolls are also aligned with the four elemental gods or other fighting styles. On top of that, Shinbu will also learn chi arts, which are powerful elemental strikes that damage all his surrounding foes. And if all this sounds like a lot to take in at first, that's because it definitely is.

Fortunately, the combat itself is really quite fun and simple once you get past the complicated systems behind it, especially because Shinbu's sword-fighting techniques just look so terrific. The look of the combat bears much more resemblance to fighting games than to role-playing games, and yes, that's a high compliment. You'll see Shinbu deftly execute elaborate strings of slashes, twirls, and kicks, which will often cause his foes to get knocked off their feet and then juggled midair by successive strikes. He'll also learn to throw his sword (which returns to him like a boomerang), allowing for a finishing move of sorts that causes a hapless foe to get impaled and then blasted by the full force of Shinbu's chi attacks. All this is accomplished primarily by mashing on the attack button, so the combat is quite easy to control.

The only real problem with the combat system is that Shinbu's chi attacks quickly become much more potent than his fancy swordsmanship. Chi attacks are functionally similar to magic spells in other RPGs, but they can be used as often as you like--you just need to stand still for a moment to charge them up, and you can avoid even the tougher enemies in the game long enough to make time for this. Then you can cut loose with the technique at the touch of a button. You're completely invulnerable as you perform the elemental strike, whereas all your surrounding foes will take massive damage. Doesn't sound too fair, does it? The chi attacks start to feel pretty repetitive, too, because they aren't nearly as varied as all the dozens of different sword moves you can learn. So it's a bit of a shame that chi attacks eventually overwhelm the combat, because there's much more depth to the swordplay, and especially because certain bugei scrolls give you the freedom to string together whichever moves you want in whichever order you choose.

With that said, the combat in Kingdom of Paradise is still a highlight. It's fast and intense, often pitting you against a half-dozen enemies or more, some of whom might be trying to pelt you with ranged attacks (which you can reflect right back at them with a well-timed swing). Combat happens seamlessly out in the field. As you're running around from place to place, sometimes you'll see enemies rush or jump out from offscreen, and Shinbu will swiftly draw his sword and begin fighting. He'll sheath his sword when the coast is clear, or if you're in a hurry (or in real danger), you can also just outrun your foes. Fights can be pretty challenging, as some of your tougher foes can hurt you real bad, fast. It doesn't help matters that there isn't an easy way to block incoming attacks, though by pressing and holding the attack button, you can effectively break the enemy's combos and leap away to safety. Ultimately, the combat forces you to stay on your toes, as well it should.

Apart from all the fighting, Kingdom of Paradise tasks you with the sorts of activities typical to role-playing games, which means you'll be doing a lot of running about from place to place, talking to lots of different people. This sometimes gets a little tedious or confusing, either because your objectives are dictated to you vaguely, or because you need to do something highly specific (like talk to a cookie-cutter guard standing next to a gate) in order to trigger the next event. You have access to a quest log of sorts from the main menu, as well as a world map that helps you get your bearings, but you'll probably still find yourself a little frustrated at times, running around trying to figure out what, exactly, you're supposed to do next. The world of the game feels quite vast, but there gets to be a fair amount of backtracking across familiar territory later on. You'll face tougher foes when you revisit areas, but still, you'll wish the game just kept throwing more scenery at you, if only because what's there looks so pretty.

Kingdom of Paradise smartly avoids giving you any control over the camera angle whatsoever; instead, the camera angle is automatically predetermined based on the type of area you're in. Most areas have you running from one side of the screen to the other, but sometimes the perspective shifts dramatically, such as for certain boss fights. The camera angle can occasionally be obtrusive, but all in all, it's great that you never really have to worry about it. What's more, the game lets you save your progress quickly and anywhere, which really helps when you're playing on the go. Relatively brief loading times also mean you can reasonably play this game for a few minutes at a time without it feeling like a waste.

Fast, stylized, and richly detailed visuals make Kingdom of Paradise a real treat to watch. Shinbu animates extremely well as he hightails it from one nice-looking locale to the next, but it's the game's character close-ups that really steal the show. During key plot sequences (of which there are many), you'll see the main characters depicted with sharply drawn, fully articulated 3D models, complete with lifelike facial expressions and animations, plus full voice-over. These close-ups really look great, showcasing the game's anime-inspired art design. Occasional bits of slowdown during some of the bigger battles are really the only major blemish on an otherwise smooth looking game. The audio lives up to the graphics, too. The music and sound effects perfectly match the style and theme of the game, and the voice cast does a great job overall. Most of the dialogue is delivered with surprisingly natural cadence, making the characters seem that much more believable.

Kingdom of Paradise packs in a satisfyingly lengthy adventure, especially for a portable game, so don't expect to cut your way through this one in less than 15 hours. Some bonus Wi-Fi features are thrown in, letting you trade kenpu with a friend so that the two of you can more quickly complete your collections, and you can also take on your buddy in an arena battle. Both players' stats are balanced out in this arena battle, so it's purely a test of skills, making the fighting-game influences that much more apparent here. But the fighting itself is quite simple, and there's nothing to stop the two of you from running around and avoiding each other, so the arena battles are more of a distraction than anything else. Kingdom of Paradise also features some downloadable content via the PSP's infrastructure mode, but good luck getting the necessary passwords from the game's official Web site, which is all in Japanese.

PSP owners need look no further for a great role-playing game to call their own. Kingdom of Paradise is original, well-produced, and fun to play, and it looks really great. It isn't easy to get into, and can definitely be confusing at times, but the game's vivid setting and its fast-paced combat ought to keep you motivated all the way through.

The above article was taken from the following website.

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/rpg/tenchinomon/review.html?page=1

Ja neh!!!

PSP Game (Ghost in the shell) (Standalone complex)

Nothing much to talk about now since I have not really played the game. Will update this post when I do get a feel of why the reviewers gave it a slightly below average rating.

Ja neh!!!

Universal Media Disc

This is the Black pouch that came with the Value Set. Turns out there is such a thing as a Giga Set where the only difference is that you get a 1Gb Menory Stick Duo instead of a 32Mb MSD. The pouch serves it's basic function but if you want more protection, get a hard plastic case. Plenty of accessories for the iPod, how about doing the same for the PSP? I'm sure it'll be almost as iconic as Apple's mp3 player. Please..........................................................................

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) have announced the product specifications for the handheld video game system, PlayStation®Portable (PSP™), three-dimensional-CG games incorporating high-quality, full-motion video similar to PlayStation®2 can be played anytime, anywhere with the PSP.

PSP comes in a black color, with a 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD centered in a sleek ergonomic design with a high-quality finish that fits comfortably in the hands. The dimensions are 170mm x 74mm x 23mm with a weight of 260g. PSP features a high-quality TFT LCD that displays full color (16.77 million colors) on a 480 x 272 pixel high-resolution screen. It also comes complete with the basic functions of a portable player such as built-in stereo speakers, exterior headphone connector, brightness control and sound mode selection. Keys and controls inherit the same operability of PlayStation® and PlayStation 2, familiar to fans all over the world.

PSP also comes equipped with diverse input/output connectors such as USB 2.0, and 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless LAN, providing connectivity to various devices in the home and to the wireless network outside. The world of gaming is further enhanced by enabling users to enjoy online gaming, or by connecting multiple PSPs to each other, directly via the wireless network. In addition, software and data can be downloaded through a USB or wireless network onto Memory Stick™ PRO Duo. All of these features can be enjoyed on one single system.

PSP adopts a small but high-capacity optical medium UMD™ (Universal Media Disc), enabling game software, rich with full-motion video and other forms of digital entertainment content, to be stored. The newly developed UMD, the next-generation compact storage media, is only 60mm in diameter but can store up to 1.8GB of digital data. A broad range of digital entertainment content such as music video clips, movies and sports programs can be provided on UMD. To protect this entertainment content, a robust copyright protection system has been developed which utilizes a combination of a unique disc ID, a 128 bit AES encryption keys for the media, and individual ID for each PSP hardware unit. SCEI intends to aggressively promote PSP and UMD as the new handheld entertainment platform for the coming era.

1 thing I really don't like about the PSP is it's extremely reflective screen. I don't know whether it comes with good graphics, but if there was a way to get good graphics without the high reflectiveness, it would be really great. Don't ask me why I don't like the mirror finish. I just don't.

PSP™ Product Specifications

Product Name: PlayStation®Portable (PSP)
Color: Black
Dimensions: Approx. 170 mm (L) x 74 mm (W) x 23 mm (D)
Weight: Approx. 260 g (including battery)
CPU: PSP CPU(System clock frequency 1~333MHz)
Main Memory: 32MB
Embedded DRAM: 4MB
Display: 4.3 inch, 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD480 x 272 pixel (16.77 million colors) Max. 200 cd/m2 (with brightness control)
Speakers: Built-in stereo speakers
Main Input/Output: IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi)USB 2.0 (Target)Memory Stick™ PRO DuoIrDA IR Remote (SIRCS)
Disc Drive: UMD Drive (Playback only)
Profile: PSP GameUMD AudioUMD Video
Main Connectors: DC OUT 5V Terminals for charging built-in battery Headphone/Microphone/Control connector Keys/Switches: Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)Analog padEnter keys (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)Left, Right keysSTART, SELECT, HOMEPOWER On/Hold/Off switchBrightness control, Sound Mode, Volume +/-Wireless LAN On/Off switchUMD Eject
Power: Built-in lithium-ion battery, AC adaptor
Access Control: Region Code, Parental Control
Accessories: stand headphone with remote commander, headphone with remote commander and microphone, external battery pack, case strap

















UMD Specifications

Dimensions: Approx. 65 mm (W) x 64 mm (D) x 4.2 mm (H)
Weight: Approx. 10g
Disc Diameter: 60 mm
Maximum Capacity: 1.8GB (Single-sided, dual layer)
Laser wavelength: 660nm (Red laser)
Encryption: AES 128bit
Profile: PSP Game (full function) UMD Audio (codec ATRAC3plus™, PCM, (MPEG4 AVC))UMD Video (codec MPEG4 AVC, ATRAC3plus™, Caption PNG)

The above write-up was from the following website.

http://www.us.playstation.com/pressreleases.aspx?id=207

Dinner with half a dead chick

I was in Clementi the other day (051205, mon) waiting to meet Michelle & to pass her favourite blueberry cake from her favourite cake shop (Balmoral Cakeshop @ Sunset Way). She was held up at work so I decided to have my dinner first. So since I'm in Clementi Central, I thought I would try this new store at the coffeeshop nearest Mac that sells aussie's best fish & chips but it wasn't opened. So i went to my next choice.

I had dinner with half a dead chick. She was fried, & very delicious. She had rice & coleslaw & the chilli was nice. Heez... My name is Hannibal & I'm a cannibal. Okie okie, Lena told me that this store was famous & we came here a few times while we were still dating. So since it's the only familiar place in Clementi, besides Mac, that I know of, so here I am.

I thought it used to be cheaper, but it now costs 4 sgd & it doesn't include the fries. I ordered it as a side dish. In the end, I couldn't finish all the food, so a wee bit was wasted. Anyway, do try it out if you guys are in the area. The rice was the sort that came with chicken rice, not plain rice. So I guess I don't mind paying a bit more since it was good.

Ja neh!!!