Curtains.R.In

My curtains are in!

One cool thing about my living room curtains (which I didn't know) is that they change colour between brown in the day and green in the night. I think this is probably due to the sunlight.

I don't know the exact name of the colour. The shopkeeper calls it "Ngap-See-Cheng" which if given a direct-translation would mean "duck-shit-green". *HeHe* Here is how it looks like at night.

To.Flush.or.Not.to.Flush?

I was kind enough to let the contractors to use my toilets during my house renovation and this is the result of the kindness ...


I can't really blame them because the developer gave us a toilet-bowl that is "press-to-flush" instead of "pull-to-flush". Since most of us are so used to pulling a handle, the conractors end-up pulling and twisting the supposed-to-be button and caused the handle inside the flush-system to go haywire.


As a result, nobody can flush the toilet after they shue-shue (pee) and ng-ng (shit). Nobody bothered to fix it. Nobody cared to learn how to flush properly. Everyone just pee on the pee and shit on the shit. Not only that, it seems the stench of the shit doesn't bother anyone who was working in the house. Both the toilets in the house suffered the same fate.

This resembles very close to the example that I like to give code developers when they tell me that they know about the problem in their programs but they just didn't have the time or bothered to fix it. So they just code over it - ala "shitting over the shit".

Fortunately, mom recommended me some heavy duty stuff and my potties are now back to their original shine...

Mom also recommended some disinfectant. That somewhat restored my confidence in using my potties again.

Colour.Associations

I don't understand some traditional thinking sometimes. I was telling mom that I want to get white bedsheets in preparation for my tilam, and the respond I got was "Don't get white bedsheets. White bedsheets makes it look like a hospital bed". *DuH?!*

I don't understand how she came up with such association. Why don't she say it looks like a hotel bed because most hotel use white bedsheets too. Now, I know why we always have fancy colour bedsheets with cartoons on them. *Grin* Maybe I should asked her for those bright red bedsheets with dragons and phoenix sewed in golden threads instead.

I already had a hard time with dad when he associated my green feature walls with some religion. WTF man! Oh! I just bought a green broom and toilet brush yesterday... I wonder what that means.

Mattress.Hunt

Went to inquire about Getha mattresses just now. The first shop I visited does not have the mattress for me to try out so I drove to the Puchong 2020 Furniture Mall as recommended by my friends and uncle to look for the furniture shop that carries the brand.

It is easy to spot the shop since it has a big GETHA signboard. Was greeted by a quite talkative sales lady and I told her "I came here to try out the Getha mattresses". She pointed me to the mattresses and I immediately went to sleep on them. *Hehehe* She told me about the features of the bed and I asked her about the best price she could offer me. She gave me a small discount and I asked her whether she can throw in some free gifts. She then said I could have some pillows for free. Mom pushed her for another bolster. ;)

I took the pillows to the bed and sleep on them as well. *Hehehe* After picking the one that I felt is most comfortable (and affordable) for me, she wanted me to write down my details for her. After that, she said she needed to write down the details of my purchase and I told her, "While you are writing, I will go enjoy the mattress a little longer" *HaHaHa*

I bought the Getha Transforme Spring Power. I don't understand all the complicated branding-name mumbo jumbo, just know that it has some latex padding on a pocket spring base and it has some nano stuff. It seems the word "nano" is overated and over-used in today's consumer products. There are nano air-conds, nano water filters - what else? I think the most important thing for a mattress is comfortable. It comes with 10 years warranty, anti-static protection and lots more...

Well, I hope I got a good product (at the right price).

Note: No mattresses or pillows were hurt in my try outs. They were all protected by plastic covers. :p

What.Tilam.to.Get?

I'm still thinking about what type of tilam (mattress) to get. I have been sleeping on the floor for .... *counting fingers* .... almost 20 years now and I have not remembered the comfort of sleeping on a bed. Now, I'm thrown with options (jargons) such as Pocket Spring, Latex and Memory Foam.

I read somewhere on the Internet that all tilam manufacturers get their parts from similar factories but it is just how they pack the springs and stuff together that makes the difference. I can relate to that concept since most computers are also OEM from component manufacturers.

I guessed my main problem is getting a good one. So far, it seems that every tilam I tried out feels kinda weird for me. I know I need to take some time to get used to them but I am not sure which one to pick. So far, I kinda like memory foam since they seem to be so soft and comfortable.

A lot of friends recommended me to check-out Getha full latex mattresses. A lot of good comments from them. Maybe I will go check it out later.

My.Home.Is.Astro-less

Went to check-out my phone line today because a few days back, TM had sent someone to connect my line but somehow the wall socket in my house seems to be not functioning. I reported that to Adeline and she had sent her eletrician to check it out. Everything seems to be ok now.

While I was there, I discovered that the MATV socket was also installed but it was for Astro. I don't intend to subscribe to Astro but I did wanted the cables to be ready just incase I change my mind in future. But since I did not subscribe to it, I would have to use a normal MATV socket for now.

Then I discovered that the electrician was confused by an incident that happened in my condo. I was told that initially, there were central Astro for everyone but then it was defective or struck by lighting or something. The management just let it be but the owners assumed that there were no central Astro and they went on to install their own - making the condo look like some transmission tower for communication with extraterrestrial beings.

After a while we received letters from the management, asking whether we would like to re-enable the central but they would charge us a small fee every month. That infuriated almost 60% of the owners who have already installed the sat-dish. So, the final conclusion is no central Astro but somehow, the electrician assumed that there was.

So, there are no cables laid for Astro in my home. It is still ok for now, but installing it in future will most likely cause some hassle to my built-in TV console and also most likely visible cables.

Hobs

I really couldn't decide what type of hob to get when I was furnishing my kitchen. The standard would of course be gas hobs since it is common in all household (and most people say they cook better) but this incident has left me wondering whether I should go for gas hobs.

Next on the list was induction. My aunt used it before and my mom seemed to be fascinated with its performance. Induction seems to be the most energy efficient but the only problem is that it requires special cookware (made of steel). It also feels safer that non-steel materials won't get burn if they are on the hob surface.

Some neighbours were using gas hob as their primary and a separate mini induction hob for boiling water. I was thinking about that too.

While researching on hobs, I discovered that there is another option which is Vitroceramic. It has the clean and safety benefits of induction but I heard it heats up slower (my cousin said she feels it is slower than gas). My aunt who went over to Australia seems to give very good comments of her vitroceramic hob.

I was totally confused and constantly flip-flopping in my mind as to what to get. I guessed that's because I don't know how to cook *HaHaHa* (but I hope to learn). In the end, in the very last minute before the contractors want to cut a hole in my kitchen top, I have decided to go for vitroceramic.

The hob looks pretty sleek and futuristic and I think my kitchen feels very european style now. Don't think I can do tai-chao with it but atleast can cook clay-pot yee mee kua. :)

Most.Visited.Pages

I'm suprised to know that the most visited pages on my blog are actually the posts on Last Remnant Guide #1 and #2, and Blue Dragon Guide #1 and #2. They top other technical posts every week! :)

Maybe I should change this into a gaming blog or something *Hehehe*

Rude.Telemarketeer

I received an anonymous phone call from a lady today and she started the conversation with a stream long of sentences in Mandarin which I have problems understanding. I know she is trying to sell me something.

I interupted her and said, "I don't understand Mandarin that well, can you please speak in Cantonese?". She immediately cut the line after that.

Well, I guessed whatever she is selling, it is only for those people who speak her language. All the best to her in her sales career!

Learning.Visual.Studio.2010.&.NET.4.0

I usually learn about the features of new .NET Framework releases from the MSDN documentation that comes with the disc. However, it seems that there are no offline MSDN documentation in Visual Studio 2010 beta 1.

I guessed the only way to learn about .NET 4.0 now is to either Bing around... or download the Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 Training Kit -May Preview.

Alternatively, is to go through the online version in MSDN.

Sofa

When I first saw my living room, I thought of getting an L-shape sofa but there were many constraints that made me think it over and over again. I didn't want any physical or logical barriers in my house which means there should not be any furniture that divides the living and dining room.

This is to preserve the spacious feeling for my small house. If I follow this principle, then that would mean the L for my sofa would have to be on the right side near the sliding door. This will then be an obstruction if I want to open the sliding door to go to the balcony.

Still feeling strong for an L, I thought of maybe to get a 3-seater with a movable foot rest instead. With a foot rest, I could probably shift it depending on situations.

A visit to the furniture shop has made me realized that an L-shape sofa will most likely take up a lot of space. They also don't make miniature L-shape sofas nowadays. The gigantic ones cost a bomb. When I saw the price-tag I'm telling myself - "That's it girl, you better forget it!"

Putting two 2-seaters together will take up even more space. As I was thinking hard about it, the sales person in the furniture shop introduced me to an Incliner sofa.

At first look, it gave me the impression that it looks abit "business looking" and it is just a normal 3-seater. When I tried it out, it gave me the most comfortable feeling that most sofa didn't. I immediately fell in love with it but that's not all as the sales person put it. Being an incliner, it can 'transform' into a bed like the business class aircraft seat. That's totally awesome! Measuring just nice for my living room (or maybe smaller), having the perfect space saving, and costing not too much within my budget, it is a truly a good candidate for my living room.

Last nite, after consultation with my designer on the colour. I finally ordered it and I should be able to get it by next month.

My.New.Rabbit.Hole

My new house is almost done and I'm very excited about it. I know I should have blogged about it earlier to record the events that happened for historical purposes but I guessed I was either too busy or too lazy. *Hehe*

I think it is still not too late to talk about it now since it is something that will propel me to the next stage of my life. I bought the unit more than two years ago after surfing around and immediately fell in love with it when I visited the site. It was located in a peaceful environment in the middle of a small hill backing a forest reserve. The developer was Flora Development, a subsidiary of IOI.

I won't say it was up to my expectations when I received the keys and I was mainly particular on the developer's poor workmanship - or what I called workmanshit out of frustrations during that time. Nevertheless, they did their best to fixed up all the defects and attended to my complaints but they did not leave a very good impression in my mind as it was my first encounter with them.

But leaving those aside, I was determined to make the best out of things. On a casual visit to my neighbour, Veronice's house, I was introduced to her brother-in-law, Lim, who happens to be a partner in Nice-Style Refurbishment and the series of events that happened after that was the amazing transformation of my empty house into a beautiful home.

Here are the designs for my home designed by my designer, Adeline Chin from Nice-Style (after enduring waves of feedback from this choosie customer *Hehe*).

Living Room

Kitchen

Bedroom

Study Room

As these are only visuals, there will be some variance in the end-product due to several factors (budget being the primary factor - hahaha) and some changes introduced along the way.

I will blog more about my home and some experiences I had in building my home from now onwards when I have the time. I'm excited to be moving on to the next stage of my life and finally expanding my space from a tiny room to a proper home. :)

Stored.Procedures

I have always been a fan of dynamic SQL over stored procedures, simply because I felt that I have greater control over what SQL statements I would like to generate in code. And over the years, the gap between the benefits of dynamic SQL vs. stored procedures has also narrowed down.

Note: Now when I say dynamic SQL, I mean the one that uses named parameters ;)

But my current project has made me realized an important benefit of using stored procedures and that is ... when trying to upgrade from a very old SQL Server to a new version, it is difficult to identify which embedded SQL statement will break and it is even more difficult if the SQL statements are built using string concatenation and embedded in legacy VB6 code with no unit test.

Now, the SQL Upgrade Advisor tool will not be able read and 'advise' on these embedded SQL. So, in such scenario, I think using stored procedures would have been much better.