nyankoframe: (Default)
I haven't updated since I got here, because I have been busy running around town, meeting friends and catching up on all the things that happened while I was away.

Outwardly, a lot of things haven't changed - most places still look the same (although Orchard Road and Clementi look very different now), and I can still find my way around without getting lost. :) There are a lot of new bus services now, though, and some existing bus routes were altered (some in ways that are rather incomprehensible). A lot of my old friends are still around, and even my former primary school classmates have found me on Facebook. It's really surprising to hear from them after almost 20 years - a lot of them are out of Singapore, but we can keep in touch through messages and so on. Quite fascinating that a lot of them are in the US and Australia, though a fair number are still in Singapore :)

There are also a lot of new places around - I went to a tapas bar with my sister, my friend and some of her friends and we had a really good time relaxing and talking about life in general. Working overseas means you have more to talk about with people, too - you can ask them about where they work and what they're doing, how the hours are, and things like that. And in return, they ask you about life in the US - it's quite illuminating talking about it with other people. A lot of people are settling down or getting engaged; perhaps that's just because I've been away for so long, but it comes as news to me. People have been asking me too when I'm going to settle down, and for the time being I haven't thought about it in particular.

The weather is still the same, and it took some time to get used to, but it's good to be back with humidity and tropical rain showers. :D Other things are the same too, like the home environment - I'm glad that I don't have to deal with it full-time...

My visa interview is tomorrow, and hopefully there won't be any problems. We'll see, though; if I need to extend my stay I'll do so, but it won't be particularly cheap (I think the change fee is $200 plus the difference in the ticket prices).
nyankoframe: (The rest is still unwritten)
Driving in the snow is really interesting. That is almost all.

Well, except for the fact that [livejournal.com profile] wao has helped my ungrateful, lazy self by cleaning up and sorting out most of my living room/entrance to save her sanity (cries of "mpitten~" can be faintly heard).

Work is paradoxically getting more interesting as fewer people are around - I have a lot more things to work on now (covering for others) and I finally have some time to get around to projects that I wanted to do but didn't have time for previously because fewer people are around to raise questions and/or distract me from work. I am gaining a new awareness of the power of makefiles.
nyankoframe: (*sigh*)
Woke up this morning to 48 degree weather outside and what must've been the thickest fog yet this year. Fortunately, I was able to get to work without any trouble.

Work continues to be really intense (and crazy hours), and I'm really looking forward to Phoenix this weekend.

Last Friday I went to Kennelly Keys in Bellevue Square on a whim, and ended up getting two contemporary/classic rock piano duet scores (The Beatles and another one which I can't remember right now, but might've been West Side Story). In addition, I also found...

Cesar Franck's Prelude, Fugue et Variation (op. 18) for two pianos, with both scores. This is a piece I first heard during Touch 2005, and its haunting melody has stayed with me since - it's not a joyful nor extremely morbid piece, but for some reason its melancholy appeals to me.

I almost literally squeeed and ran all around. :D What's even better is that since it had apparently been special-ordered and had been out for more than a week (so the person who ordered it hadn't come to pick it up), I got the score for free and the store will order another copy if requested by the other person.

Now I just need to find a partner and time to perform this with. :D
nyankoframe: (myu~)
...listening to ragtime on a beautiful Sunday afternoon with the windows open while doing laundry and housework, and enjoying it all.
nyankoframe: (*sigh*)
I'm typing this entry from work, and looking outside the window at the pretty falling snow... in March!!??

I think [livejournal.com profile] itsacz already went home (since he has a longer journey than I do), and hopefully I won't have any problems cycling home...

I wonder what this means for plans tonight, though; I was planning on watching 21 with some friends and then hanging out at my place, but if it's snowing this much they may not want to drive. I guess we'll find out later tonight?

EDIT: It turns out [livejournal.com profile] itsacz hasn't left yet, and he didn't drive to work (I think he took the bus). I still hope he has a safe journey back home though...

EDIT2: It looks like it's stopped snowing (for now?). Yay~!
nyankoframe: (Default)
Today was COLD... I was really unused to it after the warmth we've had the past few days. Then again, it was raining too, so maybe that might've contributed. My fingers were frozen when cycling and I could barely warm them up enough to chain my bike properly. ^^;;; Going to Safeway to buy frozen dinners probably helped, though.

No trip stats today, because I don't feel like it. Also because I don't want to go out in the rain and cold again and become a frozen basket have numb hands again. ^^;;;;

I got added to the Korean class mailing list, so hopefully that means that I managed to get in. We'll see, though. Work was pretty fun (I got to listen in on a pretty high-level meeting) but also somewhat embarrassing (I was put on the spot, and it turns out what I said might be wrong....) ^^;;;;

And I visited MSR's TechFest, an annual exhibition of some of the cool things that are coming out of Microsoft Research. One of the things that really got me was Asirra (from here):

Asirra: Securing Web Services with Cute Kittens

Can you tell a dog from a cat? Perhaps you’ve seen Web services that require you to solve a small challenge to prove you are not an automated script. This is known as a CAPTCHA, and it commonly involves looking at distorted text and typing it into a box. Since OCR software can identify distorted characters quite well, CAPTCHAs add visual clutter to their images, but this also makes the challenges harder and more annoying for humans. We are developing a system, called Asirra, that challenges users to classify images of dogs and cats, a task difficult for software but easy and even fun for humans. Because software is of little help to us, Asirra needs a large source of classified pet images. We obtain them through an alliance with Petfinder.com, a nationwide pet-adoption site, which benefits because every challenge implicitly advertises adoptable pets.



The organizers even went to the extent of putting up a sign at the entrance warning people who were allergic to cat dander not to come in. ^^;;;; And the demo booth had two bored-looking cats in a cage, and one of the people there said that a cat had already been adopted yesterday XD

I probably might die tomorrow, because my initial (free) consultation with my personal trainer at the PRO Club is at 7:30 am. I hope I'm ready... but at least it lasts for one hour. I think. :P
nyankoframe: (Default)
06/03/2007 09:36:48 <Phificks> -15 here
06/03/2007 09:38:09 <&Haplo> -26°C here. :(
06/03/2007 09:38:11 <%butsuri> [14:39] <Livia> it's still -38...

It went as high as 60 degrees F (15.5 degrees C) here during the day, and that was the warmest it's been in a while. And it was really great leaving at 5:30 and not having the sky become pitch-black. Although my ride to Bellevue American (or should I shorten it to American Music?) was slowed down both by the traffic (for which I got onto the sidewalk) and the fact that for about half the journey, there was this guy walking slowly in front of me, and the sidewalk wasn't wide enough to pass him safely. But I was still able to clock an average speed of about 7 mph. :P

I bought a carrying bag for my keyboard, which I had to leave in "layaway" (at the store) because I obviously couldn't carry it back when cycling, and some audio cables (2 10-foot 1/4 inch Peavey-branded audio cables, a 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter, and a Y-plug 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter). As a result, I can now record in stereo on my laptop, and hopefully I can put up some recordings soon if SmartFTP cooperates. I've recorded only once so far, but the quality is just amazing. ^^

In other news, work is starting to get really interesting and busy. I hope I won't have to work long hours, but it may become a reality soon...
nyankoframe: (Default)
It didn't rain much yesterday, but today it's been raining since about 4 am. ^^;;; Although it's good weather for sleeping, it's also cold.. *eats hot things for breakfast*
nyankoframe: (Default)
Yup, it's most likely going to rain here tomorrow and on Christmas day itself. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like it's going to pour. ^^;;;

Weather reports/forecasts are taken from Channel News Asia's Weather section.

Today (23-12): 24 - 30 degrees Celsius (75 - 86 degrees F)
Occasional passing showers

Sunday (24-12): 24 - 30 C (75 - 86 F)
Windy with occasional showers, heavy at times

Monday (25-12): 24 - 31 C (75 - 87.8 F)
Occasional windy with passing showers in the afternoon

Tuesday (26-12): 24 - 32 C (75 - 89.6 F)
Showers with thunder in the afternoon

Merry Christmas (to those of you who celebrate it) and Happy Holidays to everyone!

And last but not least... X!!
nyankoframe: (Default)
Finally I'm back in my own room, so I can record myself again. Well, at least until the 26th of December. :P

But now it's raining a lot (it's been raining since Sunday afternoon with at most 2 or 3 hours of no rain), and that makes it hard to record unless I close all the windows. It's also affecting my voice and other things...

I suppose this is good preparation for moving to Seattle, though. ^^;;

Update: I just saw on the news that in some parts of Singapore, flood waters had reached up to waist level (!!) and in many places vehicles were submerged, as well as there being landslides. In other areas, buildings (fortunately empty) had collapsed because of the rain. It makes me even more fortunate that the part I'm living in hasn't experienced anything. Although my house did get flooded somewhat last year...
nyankoframe: (Default)
Which is a very good thing, because it means I didn't get sick from being out for most of this morning and working. :P

3-hr PSI Readings ( 8 Oct 2006 )
Time

7
am


8
am


9
am


10
am


11
am


12
pm


1
pm


2
pm


3
pm


4
pm


5
pm


6
pm


7
pm


8
pm


9
pm


10
pm


11
pm


12
am

3-hr PSI

57


48


37


31


27


27


29


32


34


35


37


37


38


36


35


33


32


35

nyankoframe: (Default)
From the NEA PSI Reading website:

3-hr PSI Readings ( 7 Oct 2006 )
Time

7
am


8
am


9
am


10
am


11
am


12
pm


1
pm


2
pm


3
pm


4
pm


5
pm


6
pm


7
pm


8
pm


9
pm


10
pm


11
pm


12
am

3-hr PSI

89


101


119


130


128


115


102


91


83


80


86


98


126


143


150


145


140


136

nyankoframe: (Default)
My room is somewhat dry now.

But it wasn't like that about 5 hours ago, when there was 4 inches of water covering the floor in all 3 bedrooms. I don't even want to remember how long it took to get the water out.

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