Thursday, January 24, 2008
This particular game in AuditionSEA had me by the edge of the seat as the scores were very tight throughout between the red and green teams (I was in green) .
Song played was Audition - Don't Give Up at 84 bpm .
* Before the start:
* 3 mins to go: Red team leading by over 28,000 .
* 2 mins: Green leads by 14,000 .
* 1 min: Red regains lead by over 15,000 . Song enters the "beat-less" part which made it tough to hit even one perfect note .
* 39 seconds: Green strikes back , snatches lead by 7,000 .
* 22 seconds: Green extends lead to 26,000 .
* End: Red makes inspired comeback but Green hangs on to win by 25,000 .
those memories. 23:20
Monday, January 21, 2008
In the most recent patch on 17 Jan , two new modes were introduced : namely Ballroom Dance and Special B-Boy .
Most game rooms in Audition are still being dominated by these new modes .
However , I wouldn't explain how the modes are played since they're lengthy .
The user interface in Ballroom Dance mode is slightly different from normal modes . Notice the pink and blue sections above (green if there's a third couple) . The hat represents the guy while the bunch of roses represents the lady . Once a synchronised perfect has been performed , the section lights up and a point will be credited to both the hat and roses . The yellow centre circle simply represents the total score . Dens of the amount x10 of the total score will be credited to the team who is selected by the roulette (rectangular) at the end of the round .
The choice of songs for Ballroom Dance is seriously limited , hence it gets boring after awhile . However there're two songs that I like , not because of the song itself , but because I can chain perfects with ease . One is the song shown in the screenshot above - Moody Dance Rhumba at 99 bpm , the other is a Jive at 130 bpm with which I made a x10 at VirtuaLAN this afternoon .
Special B-Boy will be discussed another day cause I'm retiring for the day .
Nites . (:
Labels: audition, auditionsea
those memories. 23:06
Go ahead and flame me if you wish , but I believe there's now a stronger case for Singaporeans to give a straight thumbs-down on their own public transport system .
Approximately 57,000 commuters were affected by seven-hour MRT train disruption from 5.28am to 12.45pm today . As quoted from channelnewsasia.com :
"SMRT Corporation says the disruption was caused by the breakdown of a maintenance works train which was carrying out works between Tampines and Simei (westbound) MRT stations."
The black cross above shows the location where the maintenance train broke down . It's not hard to see why the impact to the commuters was magnified several times over in the end besides the timing itself being peak travel hours . Passengers from Pasir Ris , Tampines and Simei would not be able to get to Tanah Merah station (and vice-versa) where they have to transfer to another train to carry on their journey into the city area or whatever destination they were headed for .
It seemed kinda ironic that less than a week ago , the Land Transport Authority had unveiled a masterplan to give the public transport system a thorough makeover in the next two years and now this occurred .
This incident reminded me of the early times of the North-East Line (purple route) two years back , where train disruptions were commonplace and criticism of the new line was aplenty .
However unintentional , it's definitely impossible to absolve SMRT of all blame , judging from the extent of impact this time round . Firstly , from 5.28am to 12.45pm , which is like more than seven hours , the maintenance train was still idling on the tracks like there's no tomorrow and this speaks of inefficiency on SMRT's part .
Secondly , whilst we shouldn't be overly critical of the shuttle bus services (some may say that one bus per 28 minutes is way too long , but hey , SMRT's resources in terms of deploying spare buses were limited considering it was peak hours) , the manner in which the situation was handled leaves much to be desired . Handwritten directional signs were disorganised at best and could be improved by making them bilingual so that the elderly could understand the information on display .
Thirdly , the first train from Pasir Ris took a much longer time than usual to reach Tanah Merah station where it usually took under 10 minutes , which caused , IMO , unnecessary delays for commuters as if they hadn't had enough of the inconvenience before this . The train should not even have been allowed to be in operation till the problem had been fixed totally .
Some points to reflect upon following this rather unfortunate incident :
- Had SMRT placed its staff through training in handling emergencies of this scale ? I guess it's a good wake-up call if proper training hadn't taken place prior to this disruption , and even if there had been training beforehand , it's still a harsh reality check for SMRT anyway judging by the largely negative comments of commuters from news reports and forums and blogs as well .
- The Circle Line , which is still under construction , will be put under scrutiny for sure . Commuters will not hesitate to lash out on the authorities if disruptions occur frequently once this line is in operation , since it will ply existing stations like Serangoon (purple line) and Bishan (red line) and hence train operations on these lines will also be affected adversely .
Final conclusion : The notion of a seamless transport system is merely utopia in Singapore's context , unless the relevant authorities are able to handle sudden disruptions to the system without any hiccups .
Sadly , the underlined portion would be too tall a mountain to climb given the already congested roads Singaporeans face today as well as the high expectations they have about the system . Perhaps there will be a trend of more people switching to private transport after this ? (Being sadist again)
During the period of disruption , I happened to be outside too but not on the rail system ; instead I was on bus 147 to Kwong Im temple where I'd then walk on to Bugis Junction to buy new clothes for myself at I.P. Zone .
Eventually , I settled for two printed tees and a pair of black shorts which totalled up to exactly $50 . The final bill could have been way over double that amount had I decided to get a new sling bag and new wallet , but I exercised self-restraint this time . (Wait till I get my pay for the 10 days I worked at Watsons Compass Point)
After buying the clothes , I was torn between gaming at Bunk and VirtuaLAN but eventually settled for the latter for the next three hours before going home .
Latest job update: Confirmed to work at Watsons Hougang Mall from 25 Jan to 01 Feb , at the concourse area (ground floor) .
Labels: disruption, MRT
those memories. 20:32
Friday, January 18, 2008
brief update :
[090108 - 180108] working at watsons compass point
[250108 - 010208*] working at watsons hougang mall (atrium area)
* = tentative
will write in detail after i come back from work tonight . (:
those memories. 08:40
Thursday, January 03, 2008
* 010108 . new year's day .
breakfast at the hougang ave 3 market (which will be demolished soon this year) was a major affair as over ten of my relatives came along .
then i pretty much slacked through the whole of the afternoon .
around 5.30 i went over to my cousins' house with my parents .
and i saw that they had bought something high on my wishlist : a PSP with Audition Portable pre-loaded inside .
without hesitation , i had to borrow it from them until end of dinnertime afterwards at Hougang Green .
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* 020108 . bunk day . (:
after breakfast at the coffeeshop downstairs , i made a trip to the Kelly Services office in Toa Payoh to return the Watsons timesheet to the agent .
it was still early then , like only 9+ in the morning and most shops are still not open for business yet .
so i went over to Junction 8 before travelling to bunk .
the counter staff at bunk told me the day package (ie. 10am-10pm) was on promotion at $10 from the usual $18 .
and obviously i can't let this money-saving opportunity slip by , what with the non-peak rates for members now upwardly adjusted to $2.50/hour from $2 .
once i login into maple , there was no turning back as eight hours of non-stop training at the armory map in zipangu ensued .
some players i met were familiar faces , like Rourou , a level 145 arch mage .
others i've never seen before , such as WoZuiSuai , level 90 ice mage who died three times though he levelled twice , as well as showriemel , level 104 ice mage from nanyang poly who was on MC for that day .
another pleasant surprise greeted me as i was making payment , the counter staff told me i only had to pay $6 , which works out to less than 75 cents/hour .
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okays .
won't have much to update about today since i ain't going out .
but will probably go for some exercise later in the day as the countdown to the (dreaded) army life continues .
those memories. 09:18
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
* days 26 to 29 . 281207-311207 .
as the prices of discounted products in the store were in the midst of being updated , there were many instances where disgruntled customers rejected the product after realising they were charged a different price from what was shown on the plannogram .
and if you thought gift wrapping was history after Christmas , think again .
there were still sporadic requests for that , albeit at a rate of less than two a day .
on day 29 , my last day under the Christmas Project for Kelly Services , several customers really took me off guard .
one of them showed me a Good Look and Loreal hair styling gel and asked me which was better ; another asked me whether using brown black hair dye is sufficient to cover the previously dyed dark brown .
while i could circumvent the first customer by seeking help from my assistant manager , i had no such luck for the second and so i had no choice but to make up some numbers (80-85% sufficient) .
and last but not least , at about 9.45pm which is like near closing hours , an elderly couple asked me to do them a favour by wrapping 9 gifts , which i accepted despite my assistant manager's objections .
that really put a meaningful twist to end off my current stint at Watsons with .
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had wanted to join the countdown at VivoCity after work last night , but headed home eventually after i couldn't find anyone to share the cab fare for the trip back .
and guess what i was doing while the whole nation was counting down to 2008 ?
well , i was clearing my bowels then . -__-
ask me about new year resolutions , and i will give you a blank look .
the only thing on my mind now is perhaps enlistment into NS in March and nothing more .
also , from today onwards my transport concession ceases effect so i will have to pay the full adult fare instead .
still , i'm hoping for world peace and stability in the year to come , as well as looking forward to the Formula One stop right here in Singapore on Sept 26 .
those memories. 13:22
