NIKON DIGICAM REPAIR

my fren wanted me 2 bring his nikon coolpix 885 digicam 2 s'pore 4 repair. i did not manage 2 go but decided 2 go 2day. nikon singapore is situated at shriro house at chang charn road near red hill mrt station. i was waiting 4 e bus no.63 when i saw tis interesting crow trap. nvr seen these kinda stuffs in hdb estates b4 so i am 1 damn curious boy. "WAAHHH!!!!, NVR SEEN B4 WOH!!!!" i guess e neighbourhood must b filled with these birds.





finally found e building. nikon apparently is taking e ground floor level entirely.









my pal told me if e repair costs more than S$60, forget about it. e quote they gave me was S$195! haha! forget about it then!



e camera will have overexposed shots under full zoom (tele). e photos taken r normal with less zoom or no zoom(wide). tis is e sample of e photo taken with full zoom. so i guess i will bring tis baby home without repair. just glad done my fren's request. according 2 e technical people there, e shutter of e aperture is jammed. dat's e reason 4 causing such a problem.



when i was there, i did not miss my chance 2 have a look at e nikon coolpix 8700 (younger bro of coolpix 5700) as well as e d70 (nikon's answer 2 canon's digital rebel 300d). here is e catalogue. e future lies ahead of e 8 megapixel n beyond. i saw e minolta dimage a2 at e fair too. sigh! so jealous!!!

DELIFRANCE





went 2 e singapore it show 2004, which is overcrowded. so crowded we had pedestrian jam. incredible! it is more packed probably becoz there r other exhibitions being held at e same time. btw, after all e pushing n squeezing, i finally went 2 enjoy my dinner at delifrance in city hall. phew! i love dat ad on tv when i saw those seafood being poured into e bread. MY GOODNESS!!! i must try! i love e peach tart too. but too much bread n pastry make me sick too. not e seafood though!! i'm loving it! :)









some details of e seafood, YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOOTBALL: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WRAP-UP

e upsets happened on e 1st nite. man utd n juventus were beaten. porto were veli hardworking n got e dying injury time goal dat put them thru. depor had a more comfortable ride into e quarters. lyon n chelsea were expected 2 go thru as they held strong 2 their 1st leg advantages. just now i watched real madrid going past bayern munich, ac milan going thru after a scare, arsenal as expected 2 go thru with monaco as well. so there u have it, 2 from england, 2 from france, 2 from spain, 1 from italy n 1 from portugal into e last 8.

real's defence was not bad 2nite. salgado, helguera, meija n raul bravo were all veli hardworking protecting their goal after zidane scored from a veli close range volley. zidane was e wizard with incredible skills thru-out e whole match, controlling e ball in great admiration from e crowds. e match however turned quite ugly with alot of confrontations. real will pay dearly if uefa again came in n suspend players like wat they did with roberto carlos.

i bet with my fren over e match of man utd over a glass of teh c peng. hehe! i won since porto managed 2 draw. well, i think man utd were not applying enuf pressure on their opponents as they r alwiz famous 4. many still complain about e disallowed goal by paul scholes which was ruled 2 b offside. henry scored a double just now n surely arsenal r 1 of e favs 2 beat into e finals. another team 1 will wan 2 avoid will b milan, e previous season's champs. watever it will b, e draw in e last 8 will b veli interesting.

1 player dat caught my eyes was bayern's young winger bastian schweinsteiger. man, tis name is even harder 2 spell than e governor who is also e terminator! haha! he will b another future star 2 watch! has been phenomenal n bringing in some impact 4 fc bayern n e young lad is just 20 years old tis year!

oh well, time 2 SLEEP!

FOOTBALL: ALL EYES ON CHAMPIONS LEAGUE KNOCK-OUTS

yes folks, i am eagerly excited. all answers will b available after tis thurs. damn, n e odds r really at stake. wonder who will win go thru. there is a LIVE man utd vs. porto match 2molo morning.

real seems 2 b in a really bad condition after i watched dat league match against racing santander. damn......n munich is their old nemesis who is so damn hard 2 beat. with roberto carlos suspended, n ronaldo injured, n raul still not confirmed playing, things look 2 b pretty against them. i remember their encounter few years back when real was almost eliminated as bayern held a goal advantage. tis time around, it is more of e shortage of shooting guns in front n with e weak defence real have, casillas has 2 b in his top form 4 real 2 go thru. raul, even if he gets 2 b fit 2 play, is not scoring much tis season. dunno wat is wrong with him, but i hope he will play n start scoring b4 makaay goes wild at e other end. will b able 2 watch e real vs. bayern match on thurs morning LIVE too. i hope real will perform much better tis time around.

looking 4ward 4 depor 2 play well against juventus too with dat extra goal advantage. 4 me, these 3 matches r e ones i am interested about e outcome. e others r pretty much confirmed. arsenal should b able 2 go thru n with ac milan having a great run of results lately with kaka in top form, i cannot imagine them 2 b knocked out. chelsea? i wonder, but people keep saying they can go thru with dat 1 goal advantage. i am not so keen there though. not a man utd fan too so go porto!!!

FOOTBALL: PELE'S TOP 100 PLAYERS

thought tis was interesting, but still think some people dun deserve 2 b in e list. almost everyone in e list r still alive or currently playing. there is no categorization of eras or positions so it is veli general i would say. it is veli hard 2 compare player by player just like dat since e scenarios r different. anywayz, still think it is impressive 2 name e top 100 players of his opinion as a footie legend.

Alan Shearer England
Alessandro Del Piero Italy
Alesandro Nesta Italy
Alfredo Di Stefano Argentina & Spain
Andrei Shevchenko Ukrane
Bobby Charlton England
Cafu Brazil
Carlos Alberto Brazil
Carlos Valderamma Columbia
Christian Vieri Italy
Clarence Seedorf Holland
Daniel Passarella Argentina
David Beckham England
David Trezeguet France
Davor Suker Croatia
Denis Bergkamp Holland
Didier Deschamps France
Diego Maradona Argentina
Dino Zoff Italy
Edgar Davids Holland
El Hadji Diouf Senegal
Emilio Butragueno Spain
Emre Belozoglu Turkey
Enzo Francescoli Uruguay
Eric Cantona France
Eusebio Portugal
Falcao Brazil
Ferenc Puskas Hungary
Francesco Totti Italy
Franco Baresi Italy
Frank Rijkaard Holland
Franz Beckenbauer Germany
Gabriel Batistuta Argentina
Gary Lineker England
George Best Northern Ireland
George Weah Liberia
Gerd Muller Germany
Gheorge Hagi Romania
Giancinto Facchetti Italy
Gianluca Buffon Italy
Gianni Rivera Italy
Gordon Banks England
Hernan Crespo Argentina
Marc Vivien Foe Cameroon
Hong Myung Bo South Korea
Hristo Stoichkov Bulgaria
Hugo Sanchez Mexico
Javier Zanetti Argentina
Jay-Jay Okocha Nigeria
Jean-Pierre Papin France
Jean-Marie Pfaff Belgium
Jens Ceulemens Belgium
Johan Neeskens Holland
Johann Cruyff Holland
Juan Sebastian Veron Argentina
Jurgen Klinsmann Germany
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge West Germany
Kenny Dalglish Scotland
Kevin Keegan England
Laudrup brothers, Michael and Brian Denmark
Lilian Thuram France
Lothar Matthaeus Germany
Luis Enrique Spain
Luis Figo Portugal
Marcel Desailly France
Marco Van Basten Holland
Mario Kempes Aregentia
Michael Ballack Germany
Michael Owen England
Michel Platini France
Oliver Kahn Germany
Paolo Rossi Italy
Paolo Maldini Italy
Patrick Kluivert Holland
Patrick Vieira France
Paul Breitner Germany
Pavel Nedved Czech Republic
Peter Schmeichel Denmark
Robert Pires France
Raul Spain
Resenbrink Van de Kerkhof Belgium
Rivaldo Brazil
Roberto Baggio Italy
Roberto Carlos Brazil
Roger Milla Cameroon
Romario Brazil
Ronaldinho Brazil
Ronaldo Brazil
Roy Keane Republic of Ireland
Rui Costa Portugal
Rustu Recber Turkey
Ruud Gullit Holland
Ruud Van Nistelrooy Holland
Sepp Maier West Germany
Socrates Brazil
Teofilo Cubillas Peru
Thierry Henry France
Zblgniew Boniek Poland
Zico Brazil
Zinedine Zidane France

in fact, i got another list later which has 125 players. now i dunno which is true. haha! but well....sorted by country

ARGENTINA Alfredo Di Stefano Daniel Passarella Diego Maradona Gabriel Batistuta Hernan Crespo Javier Saviola Javier Zanetti Juan Sebastian Veron Mario Kempes Omar Sivori

BELGIUM Franky van der Elst Jean-Marie Pfaff Jan Cuelemens

BRAZIL Cafu Carlos Alberto Djalma Santos Falcao Milton Santos Junior Pele Rivaldo Rivelino Roberto Carlos Romario Ronaldinho Ronaldo Socrates Zico

BULGARIA Hristo Stoichkov

CAMEROON Roger Milla

CHILE Pablo Figueroa Ivan Zamorano

COLOMBIA Carlos Valderrama

CROATIA Davor Suker

CZECH REPUBLIC Josef Masopust Pavel Nedved

DENMARK Brian Laudrup Michael Laudrup Peter Schmeichal

ENGLAND Alan Shearer Bobby Charlton David Beckham Gary Linekar Gordon Banks Kevin Keegan Michael Owen

FRANCE David Trezeguet Didier Deschamps Eric Cantona Jean-Pierre Papin Just Fontaine Lilian Thuram Marcel Desailly Marius Tresor Michel Platini Patrick Vieira Raymond Kopa Robert Pires Thierry Henry Zinedine Zidane

GERMANY Franz Beckenbauer Gerd Mueller Jurgen Klinsmann Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Lothar Matthaus Michael Ballack Oliver Kahn Paul Breitner Sepp Maier Uwe Seeler

GHANA Abedi Pele

HUNGARY Ferenc Puskas

IRELAND Roy Keane

ITALY Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Nesta Christian Vieri Dino Zoff Francesco Totti Franco Baresi Giampiero Boniperti Giacinto Fachetti Gianluca Buffon Gianni Rivera Giuseppe Bergomi Paolo Rossi Paolo Maldini Roberto Baggio

JAPAN Hidetoshi Nakata

LIBERIA George Weah

MEXICO Hugo Sanchez

NETHERLANDS Clarence Seedorf Dennis Bergkamp Edgar Davids Frank Rijkaard Johan Neeskens Johan Cruyff Marco Van Basten Patrick Kluivert Rene van de Kerkhof Rob Rensenbrink Ruud Gullit Ruud van Nistelrooy Willie van de Kerkhof

NIGERIA Jay-Jay Okocha

NORTHERN IRELAND George Best

PARAGUAY Romerito

PERU Teofilo Cubillas

POLAND Zbigniew Boniek

PORTUGAL Eusebio Luis Figo Rui Costa

ROMANIA Gheorghe Hagi

RUSSIA Rinat Disayev

SCOTLAND Kenny Dalglish

SENEGAL El Hadji Diouf

SOUTH KOREA Hong Myung-Bo

SPAIN Emilio Butragueno Luis Enrique Raul

TURKEY Emre Belozoglu Rustu Recber

UKRAINE Andriy Shevchenko

URUGUAY Enzo Francescoli

UNITED STATES (women) Michelle Akers Mia Hamm

FOOTBALL: 2003 WORLD'S 20 RICHEST CLUBS

1. Manchester United £167.83m
2. Juventus £145.75m
3. AC Milan £133.66m
4. Real Madrid £128.5m
5. Bayern Munich £108.6m
6. Inter Milan £108.4m
7. Arsenal £99.87m
8. Liverpool £99.74m
9. Newcastle United £92.73m
10. Chelsea £89.32m
11. AS Roma £88.39m
12. Borussia Dortmund £82.78m
13. Barcelona £82.38m
14. Schalke 04 £79.17m
15. Tottenham Hotspur £63.81m
16. Leeds United £61.41m
17. Lazio £59.34m
18. Celtic £58.07m
19. Olympique Lyonnais £56.27m
20. Valencia £53.73m

e 1s in bold r from e EPL, highly represented in e top 20 positions. 1 will imagine chelsea 2 go up higher tis season with e russian investments. also 2 predict leeds 2 go down really low after their financial difficulties. also surrpised dat barca can hold such a high position after being reported 2 have lotsa debts last seaon. incredible.

JOHOR SHOPPING

we went 2 holiday plaza n city square. we hunted holiday plaza 4 some pirated stuffs, haha! i heard many s'porean frens telling me dat they provide delivery services 4 u, so i guess i asked around 2 c wat is being offered. e 1st shop we approached handed us tis yellowish name card. i love e statement they printed behind: "We Expert Delivery To Singapore" they even run a website 4 u 2 register n stuff like dat. cool eh? here is e link:

GLOBLA- *YOUR AMAZING ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE SITE*





no, if u r wondering, i am not promoting their business here. hehe! alvin n his gf r looking 4 tis cracker called KAKA. kaka? dat brazilian midfield genius playing in AC MILAN now? looking closer 2 e brand KINOS with a Popeye logo, it reminds me of DING DANG, e blue packet Doraemon like character in front with chocolate balls inside with different free toys in it to trick kids like me when i was younger. it is e same company dat brought us TORA too, another box with free toys inside, but much bigger version n i remember it is white. another even bigger box is JO JO, a more newer version n if i am not mistaken, NINI is also by them. tis cracker reminded me of e 1 we had in my primary n secondary skool back in e old days. it is e yellow package with e same round yellowish balls inside. forgot wat it is called, but after trying a packet of tis, i still feel e 1 we used 2 have is much better. tis 1 is less crunchy n less tasty. haha! i will import some in 2 s'pore 2 give alvin a taste next time.

btw, i did a search n found KINOS website! here it is: KINOS







san shu gong. e company originated from malacca if i am not mistaken. didn't know they sell it in jhr too. thus, i bought 3 packets of yam sticks, peanut n yam cream crackers each. i love e yam cream cracker e most, it is veli crunchy n less dry compare 2 e peanut flavour. perhaps becoz i grew up eating bread n had enuf of peanut butter so i kinda get sick of peanut flavours. :) btw, i dun like e yam stick, it is e 1st time i'm buying dat 1, perhaps e packaging caught my eyes. :) anywayz, e green stuff u c in e cracker is e coriander leaf. tis is e ingredient 2 me dat is making it smell so nice. it is called daun ketumbar in malay. some people dun like e smell though, like my gf. she hates it, hehe! so last time when she bought me a whole packet, i was e one who ate everything! :)

I AM SICK OF LOOKING AT U!

tis is basically e object i am staring e most of my time in my hostel room. sux! it is so tiring...life will b so much more simplier without computers...








life goes on...

DINING ON THE TREES

last sun, alvin, his gf n i went 4 a trip 2 johor. we had a half day there but e highlite was 2 have dinner on top of trees. yeah folks, i am talking about a place called Anjung Warisan. my fren phoebe recommends e place so i decided 2 check it out after looking at its website. here it is:
ANJUNG WARISAN

they have 2 storeys basically. as 1st timers, of coz we wanted 2 experience eating on top of trees. basically e structure is timber, n they just build structures near trees. e time we arrived, it was raining, some small drizzles n it was geting dark. it was quite a tight place 2 dine but e atmosphere is good. basically there r more spaces down there 2 dine n less spaces up there becoz of e difficulty 2 join with trees. e joints r not done well as being shown in some photos. during e rain, some spots on e atap leaked so we had 2 move from our initial table.

e tables r not with e standard european modular system of or at least wat we experienced as chinese in kopitiams. it is like e height of those low jap tables u c in jap doramas on tatami mats. we r on some weaved malay mat too. so we have 2 sit cross legged which is quite uncomfortable 4 both me n alvin. his gf however finds it really comfy. e sitting posture also make food taking veli uneasy expecially if u r sharing dishes with people around e table. i find myself kneeling all e time, 2 make it easier 2 reach further. :)

business looked kinda fine 2 me. when nite fell, people r just checking out e places more n more. most of e seats at e upper level r all taken. when we were about 2 leave, e 1st storey was quite packed too. people seemed 2 enjoy eating at a place like dat n enjoying e atmosphere, concept n environment provided 2 them. it is definitely a unique place 2 dine.











since tis place is also about promoting cultural setting of e malay, thus there is tis special space 4 playing e traditional musical instrument called angklung (i think). there will b people playing it during e nite as i heard. but we didn't stay until nite time so i'm just guessing. they could onli play it during special occassions like wedding banquets n stuffs like dat.


2 me, tis is like a watch tower. hehe! it is basically located at a strategic location 2 have a good view out. a group of 3 just occupied it way b4 we arrived. so u could c her enjoying e views. wonder wat she was looking at 4 such a long time though.











there is tis jackfruit tree. basically i think e architecture is 2 build around all e existing trees there n not 2 chop down any. looking at how desperate e joints r, i can c dat they r trying 2 preserve e original location of those giant trees. but buiding e whole place with timber kinda kill e concept. i mean rite, u preserve e trees, but u need 2 chop down trees 2 build e place rite? it is kinda contradicting. why not use other materials like steel? hmm, i even c some fire extinguishers attached 2 e main path up there on e 2nd storey. so they r prepared if there is fire. :)







e food there r not bad, n we had basically malay food since it is wat most people eat there. we had a fried sigklap fish with 3 flavours (sweet, sour, spicy), alvin had nasi pattaya, his gf having e anjung warisan special fried rice which has crackers, prawn with black pepper n two sticks of satay. oh well, they really give u 2 exactly. i had nasi beriani lamb with some crackers n curry. e rice, crackers n curry is nice, but e lamb meat is not well cooked. it felt abit tough as if e goat is old or something. it was not really nice, so i had it showered with curry b4 i ate it down. hehe! there r many different types of stuffs like western 2 noodles 2 claypots.

we also had some vege n tom yam seafood soup. vege was nice, fine with it, cooked with some chicken meat i think. e soup tasted great, e herbs r smelling great n it iwas spicy! but alvin didn't feel so, must have a high tolerance 4 spicy good. while i sweated e evening away. 4 dessert, e ice-cream sux though! hehe! it is not cold n e ice-cream is strawberry standard. i ordered a peach ice-cream while alvin had a banana split. but e serving is really generous though so dat made up 4 it. i had a glass of carrot milk juice which is too sweet n has minimal carrot taste.














alvin n i looking damn full after our meal!







we were so unlucky dat they were having some sorta carnival near e place. since e place is kinda remote, we can't find any cab. even if we did, nobody wanna take us with dat gigantic traffic up front. we kinda walked 3-4 hours all e way out 2 reach e immigration of s'pore. we did check out e carnival n stopped by 4 some food n drinks. it was an incredible long walk!!! but we r awarded with like a 2 minute fireworks display from e carnival. tis is e longest walk since my east coast park walk with frens during e camp in january dat took up 45 mins 2 reach e sailing club.