Musings of a Virgin

That's right, I'm on vacation for the next 3 weeks and I'm flying back to Singapore in about 24 hours.

I thought about not posting the stuff that I'm bringing back this year mostly because the rug rats saw my blog post last year and knew what was coming to them. But I figured, what the hell. This way I'll also have a photo journal of things I brought back in previous years and decide if I should get more or scale back :)

FYI this is most of the items, but not all. And the underware you see was bought at the request of my sister. Trust me, spending 30 mins shopping for pre-teen female underware was not a great experience. Oh and as you can see the kids got a WII for Christmas so that was a no-brainer.

And at the request of many family members I scaled back on the sweets this year. But I do have a fun treat that I discovered, its called Astronaut Ice Cream!

PS. If my niece does somehow see this blog, don't freak out that the big stuff are all toys for your brother. Good things come in small packages (except when you're 6). And I didn't forget your B'day! Its in there somewhere :)





Cya all in about 36++ hours.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments

When do you know that you're traveling too much? I recently got the Diamond VIP status with Hilton Honors. The VIP status go from Silver to Gold to Diamond. When I check in the hotel receptionist knows me by name and even my preferences without asking. (4 extra bottles of water and a wake up call at 6:10am).

Having VIP status does have its privileges, in this case I usually get free upgrades to a King suite if its available and free buffet breakfast daily. Although having a King suite is wasted on me, I really don't need or want the space, I'd rather they gave me a fridge in a normal room. And while I did indulge in the buffet breakfast initially, I had to cut back because I know its bad for me. So my daily breakfast now consists of 2 scoops of oatmeal and 2-3 links of sausage + some fruit and yogurt for snacking thru the day.

Oh and I also get airline miles and recently got silver award status with Northwest airlines. The only real benefit here is that I get to board the plane after 1st class passengers but before the rest of the horde. These benefits will really pay off when I make my trip back to Singapore, since miles are almost useless in terms of getting free tickets anymore, I'm gonna using mine to upgrade to first class. Should be fun, I've only flown first class once from Singapore to Narita airport in Japan and that was a lucky free upgrade. Its just too bad I don't drink.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments

Hard to believe but I've been on the road for 4 months now, traveling to and from Pittsburgh every week for work. Recently found out that I'll be doing it for 2 more months which bring it up to 6 months on the road.

My decision to buy a new laptop earlier this year was a very sound investment, its allowed me to keep my sanity while on the road. I can blog, surf and play games on this PC (although) slightly slower than when I'm at home but it gives me the illusion of being "home". This also tells you just how much time I spend on the computer.

Recently Blizzard(World of Warcraft) started a Refer-a-Friend program which has several tangible benefits. So I and many others have ... referred ourselves, meaning I now have 2 world of warcraft accounts.


I stated this Refer-A-Friend program at the start of August and I'm very happy to say that I now have 3 new Level 60 characters. For some reason the triple XP granted has re-fired up my interest in the game and I'm now working on leveling up a Hunter, Fighter and Shaman to 60. This will mean I'll have a level 60 for every character in WOW.

All I know is that its been consuming most of my free time this past month which makes the additional $15 a month very worthwhile.


In the next few weeks there are more distractions in store for me. SPORE is being released this week and I'll get my hands on it Thursday. I fully expect to be playing this non-stop creating creatures and getting them from a single celled organism to galactic conquest!

I might even use the 2 creatures I created.


And in 2 weeks, another MMORPG called Warhammer Online is being released. Its another Sword and Sorcery, Orc, Elves fantasy game like WOW, but people who crave new eye candy in the MMO space, it's a great distraction and should occupy me for a few weeks to ... months.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

Warning: If you don't know what Blizzard is, this rant won't make sense to you.

I'm a fairly level headed person, I don't post dumb comments and shit on forums and I avoid cuss words just because I think they are infantile. But GOD DAMN MOTHER FUCKING BLIZZARD!!!!

I'm of course refering to their moronic, unprofessional, unprepared, amateurish method of selling Blizzcon tickets. There are about 2 million WOW players in USA, even if only 5% want to attend the convention, that's 100,000 persons. Not to mention the huge numbers of Starcraft and Diablo fans and international fans who would also be interested in attending. They can easily sell 100,000 or even 200,000 tickets charge $200 a ticket and I am very sure they would all be snapped up. So how many tickets went up for sale? 12000. That's it.

Here's how the entire 2 day fiasco went starting 11th August. They mentioned that tickets would be on sale on Monday 11 August, but no mention of time. Come the morning of 11th Aug, nothing. I'm on eastern time so about 3 hours ahead of pacific so I cut them some slack. Unfortunately, the site is now down. And remains that way for the rest of the next 2 days. To my knowledge it was up for a short time on Monday evening when a small number of tickets were sold. And for "a few minutes" on Tuesday afternoon (this is the actually wording from Blizzard) when the rest of the tickets were sold. A small reserve number was also made available at 8pm on Tuesday, that lasted all of 1-2 mins.

Bottomline unless you camped out in from of your monitor for that entire period, and kept hitting F5, and then was extremely lucky, you did not get a ticket. There are too many people who when they finally got in to buy a ticket could not complete the purchase because of a malfunction or lag.

This is a company that in 2007 earned 1/2 a billon in profit, that makes some of the most enjoyable games on the planet. They can't setup a site or devise a method of selling tickets that does not involve 10's of hours of waiting in front of a monitor.

I know that creating a convention is a lot of work for 12000 let alone 100000. But GenCon which occurs every single year does it and they get 30-50k persons and only charge $40-60 a ticket.

The sad thing is that this is probably the fault of a few individuals at Blizzard who FUCKED up majorly. Because from all reports the exact same fucking shit happened last year. And because of this unfortunate incident, the efforts of the developers who make their amazing games and the Blizzard reputation is severely tarnished.

Labels: Gaming, Personal

Posted by emyln at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

I'm not a huge bread pudding person. But when I read a post on Straight from the farm about a bread and butter pudding, I just had to try it out.

You can get the full recipe here, but I made some changes:

Berry Bread & Butter Pudding

8 slices of white bread
butter, softened (I didn't measure the amount used)
½ C. strawberry or other berry jam
3 T. splender
1 banana in slices
3 eggs
2 ½ C. light vanilla soy milk





The verdict? Its tastes like any other bread pudding. I used a lot of butter but after you add the milk and bake it, the buttery taste just isn't there anymore. Same goes for the jam, once its diluted, its not so sweet.

that's my main problem with bread pudding as a desert, I like sweet deserts and bread pudding just doesn't measure up. Don't get me wrong, its an easy recipe and a decent dish, just not among my favorites.

Oh and skip the banana. that much time in the oven just dries it up. If you like normal bread puddings, I think you'll love this recipe, for me I'll just keep looking.

Labels: Food, Personal

Posted by emyln at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

I posted that I just bought a new laptop. A few days before I discovered that I would be traveling and needing a laptop, I had already ordered the parts to build my new PC. I'm a gamer and build a new PC every 3+ years.

This year's PC cost me just a bit over 2K. But given my current schedule of being at home only for 2 days of the week, its going to take me several weeks to assemble and install all the software.



PC Specs:

* Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+)ATX Full Tower Computer Case
* EVGA NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Motherboard
* Thermaltake 750W Power Supply
* Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
* EVGA GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO SuperClocked 512MB
* Logitech MX Revolution Black Laser Mouse
* Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
* 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
* ASUS Black 20X DVD+R
* Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2C
* Logitech G15

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

I had a morning dentist visit this morning and a new spa/salon opened up beside the dentist. It was fairly empty and I decided to pop in and ask about how much and how long an eyebrow job work take.

Its something I've wanted to do for a while but never quite got around to it. My eyebrows were untidy, not quite a uni-brow but the picture below is definitely an improvement. I'll definitely do it again. Its only $20 and took about 10 mins.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments

In case you didn't know, I'm a consultant. So I work for a company and get shuffled from client to client. I finished with my current client last week in MN and will now be starting a new client on Monday.

What's unique is that this new client is out of town. The last time I had to travel for my job, was in 2000. So its been a while. I found out on Thursday so had a heck of a time getting plane/hotel reservations and of course I need a new laptop because the client can't provide a PC on such short notice.

A trip to Costco and viola! I got a HP Pavilion dv9843cl. It was fairly cheap at less than $1500 and best of its powerful enough for work and still allows me to play World of Warcraft.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

On my last visit to New York City in 2006, I watched the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys and LOVED IT!!! OMG I cannot rave enough about this musical. Its perhaps the only musical that by the end of the show, I was actually swaying my legs and arms to the encore numbers. I'm asian and repressed, this does not happen often.

Jersey Boys is actually an semi-autobiographical story of the Four Seasons told from the perspective of all 4 members.

Well it finally came to the Twin Cities and I of course had tickets to the first night of the musical and its still wonderful. Having been fortunate to watch the original broadway cast, I of course made comparisons some favorable and some not so favorable. But by the end of the show I was again, swaying my arms and legs. The music really is that good.

I will admit however that while Christopher Kale Jones who plays Frankie Valli on the National Tour of Jersey Boys is good, John Lloyd Young the original Frankie Valli on Broadway was Phenomenal.

I was also impressed with Andrew Rannells' performance, who plays the part of Bob Gaudio. He's definitely an upcoming actor to watch out for.

If you've never seen Jersey Boys I highly recommend it, especially if you like the music of The Four Seasons. You'll have an amazing blast.

And you know what? This also reminds me, it just might be time to take another trip to New York City for another Musical/Theater weekend.

Labels: Musicals, Personal

Posted by emyln at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

That right its the Chinese New Year, and its a special one! This is the year of the Rat, more specifically its the year of the Earth Rat.
ITS MY YEAR!!!!

Labels: News, Personal

Posted by emyln at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

I saw a recipe for Peanut soup on Straight from the Farm, and was instantly enchanted. I've never tried using peanut butter in a soup or in actual cooking so I was very interested in trying this out.

You can check out the recipe for GEORGIA PEANUT SOUP here, but this is my variation:

3 T. Olive oil
1/2 large onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. red chilli flakes
2 red bell peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 green bell peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 1/2 c. minced carrots
1 cauliflower, roughly chopped
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup raw peanuts
2-3 cups cooked ham
1/4 Cabbage, roughly chopped
3-5 cups chicken stock
6 T. chunky peanut butter (I used Smucker's Natural with no sugar added)
salt and garlic power for seasoning
roughly chopped roasted peanuts to garnish

Heat oil in a large soup pot. Once hot, add onion and garlic and cook for three minutes. Add the mushrooms, peanuts, ham and cook for another three minutes.

Add the all the remaining vegetables and cook for about 8 minutes till the veggies are starting to sweat, stirring occasionally. Season lightly with a little salt and pepper.

Add the chicken stock, peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly combined and cook till boiling. (I added enough stock to just cover the top of all the veggies, adding water if stock was insufficient.)


So what's my verdict? I like it. Exactly what vegetables you use is up to you but you'll want to avoid the more leafy greens of course. Potatoes and corn as mentioned in the original would be excellent, peas too I think. I'm very glad that I used the no sugar added peanut butter, this way you see, smell and taste the real peanut without all the sugar overpowering the vegetable taste.

I also think that adding raw peanuts to the soup is very important for taste and texture. Chunky peanut butter is good but nothing beats biting into a real peanut. And of course adding ham or chicken to the soup for those of us non vegetarians is a huge added bonus.

I'm pleasantly surprised by this recipe. Definitely one that I'll make again, its healthy low fat and filled with veggies. In the words of Martha Stewart: Peanut Soup, its a good thing.

Labels: Food, Personal

Posted by emyln at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments

It is COLD today and this whole weekend. Its basically the weather where if you throw a cup of boiling water into the air, it will freeze before it hits the ground.

Good thing I've got food, books, and games, all ready to hibernate till Monday morning. Stay safe and warm this weekend everyone.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments

Ahhh you-tube, one of this decade's best innovations. Here's a pick from yesteryear, ABBA's Thank you for the Music.

Labels: Misc, Personal, YouTube

Posted by emyln at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. I'm a Singaporean but having spent the past 13 years in the US with only yearly visits back home I'm in a unique position to see the drastic differences that have occurred to my homeland in the past decade as compared to someone who lives there daily.

People spout the usual rhetoric about a lack of civil liberties, something that just about every Singaporean agrees on but upon further observation, that's not quite true. Compared to 10 years ago Singaporeans do enjoy a growing (although slow) increase in civil liberties. For example, the open debate about gay rights that occurred several months ago, having local reporters openly question Mr. Lee Kuan Yew about our lack of civil liberties (See Jan 11 2008 Straits Times Video News, "Retirement Means Death") . Perhaps I'm wrong but 10 years ago I don't think such things would have occurred. Granted that compared to countries like Britain and America, Singapore's advancement in this arena seems a snail's pace, but every country is unique and despite its slow pace, Singapore has advanced.


A major part of this advancement is the education and attitudes of the younger generation. When I was growing up in Singapore almost everyone on TV was over the age of 25 and had passed "censorship". What I mean is that they had been screened to project a certain image, this applied to TV broadcasters to contest applicants to actors. But with the advent of live shows like Singapore Idol, we're seeing "real" Singaporeans, people who are just as flawed as we are. The internet has also opened a flood gate for the younger generation, they have access to global news (be it politics or gossip or entertainment). When you can see what others around the world are experiencing, its only human nature to compare what you have against what you're seeing. And if the results don't measure up to your expectations, feelings of dissatisfaction will arise.

This is important because I feel the result is a younger generation who feels more confident in their own skins, and a better understanding of what they want. Confidence leads to people being more vocal, which eventually leads to a change in the general population's perception and hence an increase in civil liberties. An excellent example would be the caning of children. In my youth, it was an accepted form of punishment, but from all reports, this is no longer the case in Singapore. Heck, teachers can't even use rulers to whack children's knuckles anymore without the wrath of the parents and MOE. (Not that it was all that common even in my time)

Truth be told, I think the majority of young Singaporeans are still sheep just like I was... am. The difference is this generation are less sheep like and have a growing number of role models who are not afraid to speak up.

I'm an introvert and a self professed sheep. Never wanting to make waves, more or less content with his lot. But in my middle age (oh GOD!!!) I sometimes wonder if I had stayed in Singapore if I would/could have become more. Would I have joined the gay rights activists in Singapore? Would I have followed my passion and joined the growing video game development community in Singapore? Would I have been more than just a sheep?

Sadly, a nagging part of me realizes that without the independence that I enjoy in America, learning to depend on myself and experiencing the freedoms that I do here, I think I would still be a mere sheep content with his lot but worse off because I wouldn't even have the mental capacity of questioning my sheepishness, and making a blog post on my thoughts about Singapore's social evolution.

As I said at the start, nostalgia is a dangerous thing.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well its been 8 days since my last post. Not much to mention, things have been slowing down since the holidays. I did celebrate my Birthday on the 29th with Eins and her beau.

I also cooked while they were here. I made my grandmother's Satay Chicken again and also sambal eggs. The Satay Chicken is comfort food for me so I like making it around the holidays.

Since then, I've mostly been reading up a storm and playing computer games. My choice of books is kinda junkie, so I'm actually a little reluctant to list them but oh well. I may read a lot but I they sure as heck don't improve my mental skills.

That aside I've been playing Mass Effect. Here's a cool list of all the races you'll encounter in Mass Effect, and also the picture of my second character in Mass Effect.

I've also been playing some World of Warcraft. Yes I'm still playing it, mostly because there's a severe drought of good MMORPG's. I finally got my 2nd level 70 character (Isale) and now I'm playing with my Draenei Shaman.

Labels: Gaming, Personal

Posted by emyln at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

Happy 2008 everyone! Hope its a good year for ya.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

Merry Christmas Everyone! Here are a few christmas tunes.


Charlie Brown Christmas


Do they know it's christmas


U2 - It's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)


Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Canon Rock

Labels: Holidays, Personal, YouTube

Posted by emyln at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

I leave for my vacation to Singapore in about 11 hours and I'm just about all packed and ready. My only concern is leaving my hamsters alone for 3 weeks. I've actually bought them a huge new water bottle that should last them, a cool new 2 story house, and filled up 3 bowls of food. I think that should last them.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

Happy Halloween!

On the game front, I'm still playing World of Warcraft, as you can see I got a Flying Broom which was part of the new Halloween event for this year. And I also just got Hellgate London which I'm SOOOoo looking forward to playing.


And I'm actually flying back to Singapore in 2 days to visit the family. And I'm all prepared. Bought myself the new iPod Classic (80GB) and I can't be happier. I've only got about 3GB worth of songs but I also spent the last 2 weeks ripping dvd's from my collection and putting them on the iPod. I've got about 5 days worth of movies and tv shows, and plenty of batteries to keep the iPod charged. Don't lecture me on that being illegal. I paid for those DVD's and I should get to watch them in whatever format I desire.

Also got some new luggage and some stuff for the family. I think the niece and nephew are going to be pretty happy.

Labels: Personal

Posted by emyln at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

Costco sells ready to eat food as well as the kind that only require some oven time. I got some mushroom steaks that only took 15 mins in the oven and chilled shrimp. A wonderful surf and turf with no fuss, costs about the same as any restaurant but with 3 times the food.

Labels: Food, Personal

Posted by emyln at 5:45 PM | Permalink