Mid-Term break =)

Well it has just been slightly less than 2 months since i went back to studying mode at NUS and guess wad....the mid-term break has arrived!!! When i reviewed the things that was covered during these past 2 months, its amazing. I nv knew that in such a short period of time, so many things can be (or have to be) taught. Compare the pace at NUS to that when i was in JC, its like the hare-tortoise race...hahah.

The downside to this break is that mid-term test is coming right after the break =( So i guess many (including me) will be spending much of the break revising.....

依然范特西 依然周杰伦

Have been listening to Jay's 依然范特西 for the past few days. Initially I felt it was kinda 'been there done that' sorta feeling. But after listening for a few more times, you can feel that Jay is actually injecting some new style to his album. This album uses alot of chinese instruments to create the many chinese-styled tune. So im gonna do a mini review on all the songs and my thoughts of them........

夜的第七章 -
Easily one of the best songs. Tune is by Jay himself. I find the tune very pleasing to the ear the first time i heard it and its very catchy as well. There's a very nice female voice singing the chorus, coupled with the rap by Jay, a fine combination.

听妈妈的话 -
One of those fast paced rap songs. Should be dedicated to his mother. It talks listening to the words of your mum and remember to take care of your mum!! Again another very catchy tune and also the chorus will just keep playing in your mind.

千里之外 -
This is another of the hit songs in this album. Jay invited 费玉清 to do a duet. A very chinese-styled tune which I feel is more suited towards 费玉清 than Jay. 费玉清's voice is very clear and crisp while Jay's pronounciation is, as usual, a bit mumbled. But overall the tune played by the chinese instrument made this song stand out.

本草纲目 -
A fast paced rap song. Nothing much to comment here, except it did sound like one of his previous production. Also, lyrics is once again by 方文山.

退后 -
Jay's signature ballad. The first in this album (more to come). R&B tune and the melancholic voice of Jay really brings out the flavour of this song.


红模仿 -
Very interesting tune. I would say a mix between chinese-styled and R&B. Mostly played by the guitar. The 'trumpet like sound' make it sound very 70s - 80s type of song but the rap by Jay brings back the modern style. In between the song, its littered by Jay 'aiyo-aiyo-oh' which is very catchy. Once again a very interesting song, very different from what Jay has done.

心雨 -
The first of 2 consecutive ballad. Once again belted out in melancholic Jay-styled voice in R&B style.

白色风车 -
As mentioned above, another ballad. I felt that this one is especially melancholic. Perhaps caused by a combination of the tune and Jay's voice.

迷迭香 -
The breakthrough of the album. Jay actually did a bosa nova song. It felt very unfamiliar at the beginning. But as the songs is belted out, it actually sounds very nice!! Brings a feeling to the broadway type of setting. Lyrics is fantastically done by 方文山.

菊花台 -
The final song of the album. Another very melancholic song. Right from the beginning, the tune is already a very soft, sad type. Once again Jay employs the use of traditional chinese music instrument. The tune is very chinese-styled and sounds absolutely fantastic. Any chinese orchestra would be proud of it.

Overall a very nice album. Critics have been saying that the track sounds the same as previous album and branded Jay as 'uncreative'. Well, personally I feel all the critics out there need to really listen to the album a few times to 'digest' it. Only then can one find the wonders of this album!!!!

Schumacher is retiring =(


Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from Forumla One after the Monza Gran Prix today. Now a bit of what I thought of 'Schumi'......

I started watching forumla one when schumacher was still racing for the Benetton F1 team. I really admired him at that time because he won 2 consecutive championship in a seemingly weaker renault car. Then he moved to ferrari in 1996. Initially it wasnt all that smooth sailing. Most significantly he broke his leg in 1999 when his rear brake failed. He won the championship in 2000 and the rest, as everybody says, is history. He won a total of 7 world championship and recorded his 90th Gran Prix victory today at Monza.



Its sad during the press conference when he announced that he would retire from F1 at the end of the season. The career of the most successful driver in the history of F1 is coming to an end. On a happier note, ferrari have announced that Kimi Raikkonen will be racing for ferrari alongside Felipe Massa. The year 2006 will mark the end of an era for F1.

The past weeks...

Ok most of my past posts are concentrated on my toys, now abit about myself =p

It has been busy since school started, especially in engineering faculty. The stuffs they are teaching are damn tough. Electrical engine takes the champ for being chim subject. I mean how they made electrical circuits so complicated and come up with so many theorems....the labs are also killers....its just beyond me haha....

If you look at my previous post, im called up for reservist during the imf period. When i went to hta to report, they told me that im DEFERRED. WTH.....I tell you that department is a total mess...haizz at least they are paying me for that day, and that is the least they could do!!

Then i bumped into this girl at the bus stop, well lets see if anything happens haha =)

COMEX 2006!!

Its here again, another electronics fair. I have faithfully been to every electronics fair since god knows when. But frankly, i do enjoy going to these fairs. Not that i like the unbelievable crowd, but somehow i just enjoy looking at all those fantastic electronic stuffs which i cant own for one reason or another. Anyway, here are my buys at COMEX 2006.......


LG GSA-H10N




I have been looking for a dvd writer since i found out that my cr*p*y TDK 1612 is giving me very bad burns which none of the dvd drives can read. So after some research, i decided to get the LG one. Actually, there werent many booth selling dvd writers at COMEX, so after walking around a bit, i found a booth selling the LG writer cheaper than another booth that was selling it. So its now siiting in my com =)



Initially when i installed the writer, it gave me a bit of mayhem. My computer crashed when i first tried to run it. After some warm up, i burned a disc and i have to say im impressed. The drive is also relatively quiet when it is running.




Fujifilm 16x DVD+R



Well one of the things i always look out for are the dvds. The price of DVDs have dropped tremendously over the years. Now its affordable to get the 16x dvds so i went looking for a cake box of it. I was thinking between Mitsubishi (with the MCC dye) or the Taiyo Yunden. I could not find TY dvds and Mitsubishi only come in a cake box of 50, which is overkill for me. In the end settled for the Fujifilm cakebox of 25 at $16. Same price as what Z-Nix is selling in SLS but since im here, just get it lor. The DVDs are coated with Prodisc dye but i have not tested their quality yet.