 sarukun
Specifications
Random, lazy, short, gender-insensitive, grease monkey, car crazy, engineer-wannabe weirdo
Approach with caution. May explode into confetti
Pitboard
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Steffie was right. We're all experts in coming up with 7492 excuses not to study during the exam period, choosing instead to blog. Now that exams are done and over with for me, my mind is just a clean, blank, white piece of slate. All the wonderful subjects that were flying about in there a week ago, waiting to be transferred onto these pages have vanished, without a trace.
Currently doing : enjoying a hot cup of tea, drafting a letter of resignation
Currently thinking of : taking a shower
Currently listening to : DJ Lev - Flying Twat
Posted at 8:42:04 am by sarukun
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Gear Review: Rudy Project Rydon
I was in the market for a pair of sunglasses since I was 17. Back then I was enamoured with the Oakley M-frame, a single piece of sweeping polycarbonate covering the eyes from the front and the side in an extremely stylish design. Alas the price was not of humane proportions and thus it remained on the "If I had I would buy" list.
An alternative was eyewear by Italian maestros, Rudy Project. Formed in 1985, they're a producer and innovator of fine, soundly engineered sports and technical eyewear. I had my eyes on the Sportmask Performance but then I ran into another problem: they don't take prescription lenses.
The ophtalmologist had advised me against contact lenses as my astigmatism levels would require very costly Toric lenses (yearly) which are easily damaged. So the Sportmask is out of the picture.
Enter the Rydon. I got a pair of these when my friend started becoming a dealer for Rudy Project in his bike shop late last year.
At less than 80 pounds a pair, these represented a bargain against whatever Oakley could come up with (at the time I was searching for eyewear with mentioned criteria). Lightweight, interchangeable lenses, adjustable nosepiece and understated design, they hit all the right buttons. Coming standard with Smoke lenses, these are adeduate protection on sunny days and the polycarbonate lenses are shatterproof against flying debris. Good enough for me.
But what made me bite the bullet was the feature of being able to take a clip-on that holds prescription lenses! These are pretty much a godsend to me as they solved my many problems regarding sports eyewear. A spring loaded frame retains the clip on within the frame of the eyewear and it works so well that I've never had it drop out on the roughest of singletrack trails I've rode on.
The disadvantages of having a clip-on is that it does increase the weight of the whole unit significantly though it depends largely on how thick the prescriptions are. Another is that they will tend to sit extremely close to the eyes, annoying the eyelashes and annoying those with long lashes in general. Also, because of the curvature of the eyewear required to 'wraparound' the wearer, there is significant 'barrel distortion' in your field of vision the first time you put a pair of Rydons with prescription clip-ons on. They go away as your eyes adjust to the distortion so they serve me fine. Though I can't quite judge distances at close ranges ie; 1.5m or so.
I think all in all, this has been a very worthwhile purchase on my part. Currently almost half a year old, my only complaint was that I wished the lens profile was slightly more slim and sleek to fit my face better but hey, one can't always have everything from a company whose aim is to please the masses, which I believe they are doing very well.
Note: A second revision of the design called the Rydon II was released last year which had a smaller lens profile, targeted at the ladies. It ended up being too small to my liking.
Rudy Project Rydon - Black w. Smoke lenses + carry bag and hardcase
79.00 GBP
Rydon Clip-on
10.00 GBP
Yellow lenses (recent purchase for low light to no light use)
20.00 GBP
Verdict: 4.5 bananas out of 5
Posted at 6:38:47 am by sarukun
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Monday, May 12, 2008
Rawrs with a growling stomach
I want my mother's cooking. I want to eat nasi lemak ayam goreng telur goreng everyday for breakfast. Then chee cheong fun for my second breakfast everyday. Then I want my yue wat hor fun and/or pork noodles and/or yee meen and/or chau koay teow double big plus fried egg and/or hainanese chicken rice with extra rice and plate of siew yoke. Then I want Taj Mahal Naan from the old man in front of mamak opposite Nasi Kandar Penang in TTDI. Followed by lots of teh ais. Not forgetting Micheal Jackson. I also want dim sum in Ipoh, Aunty's economy rice in JB, Malaysian style western food mixed grill, double helpings. My Kaima's cooking at Pangkor Curry Fish Head in SS15. All the rotis ranging from planta, telur, bom, kosong, tisu all with plates of daal and kari ayam. I need sting ray ikan bakar. Chue dou tong and heavenly char siew from Changkat Tungshin, Sarawak kolo mee from Tmn Megah and countless other blessings from the heaven that is home. And then I die from simultaneous diabetes and hypertension. At a ripe old age of 100. After multiple duathlons, mtb excursions, road bike races, gaining mastery of chosen martial arts and a loving family. If the consequences of having Buns of Death (Two fatty back bacon, two large pork sausages and fried eggs sandwiched in a large white roll slathered with butter and mayo and ketchup and/or brown sauce) almost every day don't get me first.
Oh screw this shit I'm going to bed depressed. Screw all of you back home rawr. It'll be another year before I step foot on M'sian soil. Damn.
Babeeee I miss you lots. Wish you were here.
Posted at 8:59:45 am by sarukun
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
Temperatures soared to a very Malaysian'esque high 20's today. The Project Management and Product Development paper went alright. I'm reasonably happy.
Things took a turn for the bad when I was taking a leak in the house's only loo. As I was about done there was a loud buzzing in that tiny loo. Lo and behold a large wasp hovered inches away from my exposed manhood. It then landed on the floor next to my right foot and crawled under the sandals I was wearing. It was promptly squashed and killed. I was a relieved boy, in both meanings.
Later on in the evening, I left my room door ajar since it was stifling. I checked the landing outside and the coast was clear. I then went downstairs to grab a bite and make a cup of tea. A large spider awaited my return, smack in the middle of my room. Diu. As I reached over to step on it, it ran towards my chair. Diu somemore. I then dropped my plastic file filled with about a 100 sheets of A4 sized notes on it and that was the end of the intruder.
Being unfazed just goes to show how many times I've had to do this kind of shit staying here =.=
Posted at 6:28:35 am by sarukun
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Monday, April 21, 2008
Close Friends Are Precious
One of my dearest friend:
Me: Sayang sayangs (in response to conversation)
Girl: You better not let [boyfriend] catch you using that on me
Me: Hahahaha. Doesn't really matter to me anyway. Works on both sides of the gender field. I'm bicurious after all.
Girl: True. [Boyfriend] couldn't believe it that I was bicurious as well
Me: Nice
Girl: I told him I would change his world. He didn't realise the weight of that statement =)
Me: Rather conservative then.
Girl: Yeah he's more conservative than me. What're you up to now?
Me: Reading smut manga.
Girl: You filthy creature.
Me: You calling [girlfriend] a filthy creature as well
Girl: There's a reason why you two are dating
Me: My insanity levels are much higher than yours?
Girl: ...
Me: I've been listening to Brazillian Nu Metal since a couple of hours ago
Girl: I thought you were reading smut?
Me: Yeah and listening to Brazillian Nu Metal
Girl: ...
Randomly, Le Festin from Ratatouille is putting smile on my face now. (",)
Posted at 11:32:36 am by sarukun
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Monday, March 31, 2008
I'm very much taken with the aesthetics of the Cervelo Soloist Carbon. Massive chord airfoil tubes, clean lines, compact and plenty stiff. The frame just oozes beauty. Can't say the same for the colour scheme though... So yeah, the things I can't live with is it's colour scheme and it's price: 2800 USD
What's a poor dood like me to do? Enter Mr. Justin Burl's world. While 800 odd Sterling Pounds isn't chump change, this is for a steel frame which is pretty much lifelong in terms of durability (as long as it doesn't rust...). Titanium is even better, with it's sexy brushed 'raw' colour but you can fillet braze Ti. Fish-scale TIG welds on a road bike is a turn-off for me.
In my daydreams I've outlined my design for the time when I finally have the means to visit Mr. Burls in Harwich:
- Must have deep-aero section downtube. The larger the chord the better
- Must have wishbone and/or s-curved seat stays
- Must have massive, short and s-curved chain stays
- Must have small top tube diameter
- Must be fully fillet-brazed
- Must use threadless headset, now that Crank Brothers has come out with their DirectSet examples which are absolutely gorgeous...
- My custom geometry that is consulted with Mr. Burls himself
- Must be painted white
Posted at 10:45:39 am by sarukun
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Saturday, March 22, 2008
The scene back home & other news
In view of the recent election results, I thought I'd jump in on the bandwagon of intellectual bloggers chipping their two cents in on the topic, bar the fact that I'm nowhere near intellectual. The opposition having denied the ruling party's 2/3 majority win that they've had ever since 40+ odd years ago didn't really come as a big surprise. Considering the tumultous happenings before the elections, it was expected really... the suspense was well worth it though. People can only take so much shit from the government for so long. It was nevertheless a rather pleasant result.
That's not to say we have not progressed. Of course we have. Just far below expectations, that's all. Doing away with the double standards, corruption and sloth-like behaviour that is running rampant in the country would probably do much good. Easier said than done, obviously, but either way, this is going to be a rather exciting time for Malaysia. The opposition who won in their respective seats no doubt have given previews of what improvements they are going to carry out in all their pre-election ceramahs. We shall see how true they are to their words.
As for the ruling government, losing the said 2/3 majority should have them pissing and possibly shitting their pants to warrant actions to appease the rakyat in order to win them back.
Change FTW~
I'm not really partial to all these politic-y stuff. I wasn't born in the period where they had to fight for the right to vote and I wasn't brought up favouring any political sides. I'm rather indifferent, to be honest... and I'll be quite happy if they were to abolish the odd, silly taxes here and there, buck up the cleaning services, public transport and road infrastructure, get Proton running like a man once and for all and build us more fucking racetracks. Oh yes, and revamp the driving school garbage. The fact that you have to put in 200MYR as "under table money" just to pass is ridiculous. We rank up so high on the world's road fatality chart chiefly because of that IMHO.
~v~
On a different, more important note, The new GTR from Nissan has pretty much demolished, bulldozed, and terrorized the supercars of the world to cower in their closet. The April '08 issue of UK EVO magazine tested the Godzilla against specialists in their own fields: The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 on the 1/4 mile; the Audi R8 on the B-roads of North Wales and the Porsche 997 GT3 on the racetrack. Needless to say, these >100 000 Pound cars were effectively massacred by the GTR which will cost circa 60 000 Pounds. Amazingly amusing. And scary.
The automotive world is exciting this year. Aside from the GTR, the engineering Gods at Audi saw it fit to plonk in a twin-turbo, 5.0 litre V10 in an estate. Lambo has introduced their newly updated Gallardo which will go one on one with Ferrari's and Porsche's offerings in the 'Ring (pardon the pun). The rumour mill has it that NSX and RX-7's successor may appear from behind the curtains next year. The first F1 race of the season has highlighted how much more fun it has become for the spectators with the removal of TC and LC. Wait till the slicks come back...
~vv~
The sin of temptation looms ever so menacingly as I've recently been afflicted with the road bike bug. Specialized's '08 Allez Double I'ntl represents a a bargain in terms of quality, finishing kit and so on. Alas, I have not 500 Pounds of disposable money to spend. *sniffles*
~vvv~
And lastly, I shall leave you with pics from a recent trip to Costco:
Posted at 8:18:14 pm by sarukun
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Friday, March 07, 2008
Having been a long time fan of J-pop idol Hamasaki Ayumi, its been disappointing of late that her recent songs aren't quite up to what her older albums were in terms of oomph.
An all-nighter spent watching all the episodes of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu introduced me to Hirano Aya. I'm smitten. So is another friend of mine =.=
Sigh
*Dies of cuteness overdose*
Posted at 3:18:02 am by sarukun
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Thursday, March 06, 2008
Getting rejected by a company doesn't really bother me so much as getting rejected by a company and finding out that out of the 80 applicants, I was 6th in order of preference and they wanted the top 5.
Bleh
Posted at 10:15:14 am by sarukun
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Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A day in the life of a skiver
The familiar Birmingham city scene flashes past as the train accelerates South-West out of New Street towards London. The air was frigid despite being a nice sunny day. The weatherman forecasted sub-zero temps for the most part of the day.
That was 7 hours ago. The weatherman was wrong. It's now 7 degrees with little to no wind and still sunny. And I be sitting in my room with a cup of tea in hand. Project Management lecture is currently underway about slightly less than a kilometre away and I'm thinking of what to buy on my grocery shopping trip in abit. Hmmm. I have a severe lack of food at the moment.
There's also the prospect of cycling off-road at 0 degrees Celcius this Wednesday evening with the guys from the bike shop. Hmmm. Decisions decisions.
I shall head off to the oh-so-dreary-Asda to stock up on my groceries now.
Posted at 12:13:23 am by sarukun
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