Ah I finally went and pre-purchased the box orange box, and settled my indecision.

For those not in the light, Valve has just released, or rather pre-released the long awaited Team Fortress 2. And those who know Valve will also know of their Steam online distribution system.

Basically it’s like a way to bypass the publishers and push the content directly to the consumers, thereby cutting costs and inconveniences.

But people like me like to have something physical to buy, and a box makes for nicer collection than something virtual. My guess is the reason why people still buy DVDs and CDs rather than download from i-tunes.

Anyway, the choice is between 1) pre-ordering online and get to participate in the beta. Which means play the game now. and 2) pre-ordering the retail version, pay $10 more, get a nice mouse pad and wait until the game is officially released.

So with friends poisoning me on the mailing list with updates on their games, I finally ended the deliberation and went to buy the retail version. And here it is.

Now to wait for Oct 11.

Some people have suddenly been asking me how was my day today. Maybe they think with my new status I would be spending it differently than I did from the year before.

Well ok so I did spend it differently - I went for a medical checkup at Suntec City. And here’s what I spotted.

There’s a new Starbucks at Suntec!

Hmm… this is e-life. If the sign is right, Starbucks should be in there.

Stuff sold in here. (My apologies for the blur photo. Didn’t realise I moved as my phone’s screen was rather small)

Is that what I think it is right in front? Oh and there’s VideoPro on the right, Skylet’s off the photo on the left and directly on the right, a gaming shop with our favourite DS game poster!

Ducked into the gaming shop to get Dominic Soh a present.

Ah ha! Starbucks at last! It’s a little small and confined and slightly clustrophobic, when compared to the one at the convention centre. But nonetheless, it’s the 4th Starbucks at Suntec!

Needing some fresh air, retreated to the outdoor Starbucks for some ugly chicken puff and coffee.

Mmm… Cafe Verona. The ideal coffee to describe this day.

My cousin got married yesterday.

She was so excited/nervous that she forgot her marriage vows. Not that her husband nor anyone cared for that matter.

Anyway on to the more important thing: the reception!

Here’s a glimpse of what we had.

Many many mussels. Mmm.

and…

Chocolate fountain with bowls full of strawberries!

I don’t think I’ve ever had so many strawberries in one sitting before. And they just kept refilling, until I just couldn’t eat any more.

Can you imagine that? Having too much strawberries? Ahh…

Dropped by Funan today with Isaac, on the way home from town. And of course, every trip to Funan must include shopping at the biggest computer mega-store in town - Challenger.

Normally there’s nothing much to report in Challenger cos there’s just too many nice things to see. But today there were a few interesting items on display.

Hmm… Ordinary extension cords on sale.

Was looking at extension cords because I recently bought one from NTUC. I actually needed a 6m long cord but since they were all 3m ones, I was just checking out what nice features these might have, when this particular brand caught Isaac’s eye.

What?! PMS extension!

Hahahaha… Now who would want a PMS extension?! What a wrong name to brand your product.

Next up I was looking around the antivirus section cos I am currently looking at alternative antivirus solutions (ok and so the boxes were also pretty), when I came upon this:

Norman Antivirus? Cheong one ah?

I didn’t know antivirus software also got people want to imitate…

In the games section we came across a whole slew of tycoon games.

Isaac suggested they should come out with “University Tycoon”. Build your own university in a small but global nation with only people as its resource.

The next item wasn’t really found at Funan’s Challenger but at East Point’s! Whoo hoo! See East Point is one of the best shopping malls in Singapore. Maybe I’ll post an entry on that next time.

Anyway the next item deserves a post on its own so scroll down to the next entry.

It all started with Yixin wanting to hang her photos on her wall.

So we went to look for hanging solutions which does not permanently damage or scar her wall, and found 3M Picture Hanging Strips, with Command™ Adhesive, offering firm holding power and clean stretch removal for damage-free organizing and decorating.

The instructions of the hanging strips said to use “isopropyl rubbing alcohol” to clean the wall surface before use.

Isopropyl alcohol sounds like some cheem chemical but if you go to any hardware store, I almost gurantee you that you won’t be able to find it there.

“We only have solvents like thinner” they told me and suggested Yixin to use it.

What?! Use thinner on your newly painted walls?! Think sometimes you should learn to discern the sales person from the expert.

Anyway, I could kinda guess what isopropyl alcohol is. And where exactly to get it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Isopropyl alcohol (also isopropanol or rubbing alcohol) is a common name for propan-2-ol, a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor. It has the chemical formula CH₃CHOHCH₃, and is the simplest example of a secondary alcohol, where the alcohol carbon is attached to two other carbons. It is an isomer of propanol.

So guessed what it is? Here’s where you can find lots of it… in Challenger.

Products with isopropyl alcohol.

Hahaha… most of us would probably have one of these lying around at home, or used it before. It used to be quite popular as your simple floppy disk drive cleaner.

Here’s one with 100% isopropyl alcohol:

Label says: Contains pure 100% ISOPROPYL Alcohol

So silly. Such a simple and basic solution. I remember using it to clean my keyboards and mouse in the past and almost anything with it.

So versatile our disk cleaning solution is.

Note: Photos were taken with my new Sony Ericsson k610im. Notice that it doesn’t come with macro mode or close focus. Will post about it soon.

Today I attended my second Networks (CS2105) lecture - my first being the introduction lecture in my undergrad days by a different lecturer.

And no I’m not retaking it, rather I’m teaching the tutorials for 2105 this sem and since I’m being paid, should at least show face in the lectures. But then I think it’s also a good idea to know what the lecturer is teaching so you’re not completely clueless in the tutorials.

And I collected my staff card today. (I’d have scanned it in but I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea)

Had lunch at the crowded canteen during the lunch hour. Found Ade occupying a pink table and plopped our butts down and then Melvin came and join us.

So we were just chatting and he asked if I was a staff now and I said yeah and he went, “Oh so now you can sit at the staff tables!”

W00t. And I completely forgot! Hahaha… I can sit at the “reserved for staff during lunch hours” section now. Sounds fun.

Staff benefits… unlimited print quota, nice P4 computer and office, portable HDD… it’s not so bad… for now that is.

In Kajang right now on the Alpha Track missions trip, blogging from the Inet cafe below our hotel.

It has been tiring here with ministry everyday but it is great to see how God is moving through the church and people here in Kajang.

So today is our “Sabbath” - our rest day, and we took a train down to KL city. Midvalley to be precise.

And the girls went shopping and I got dragged along, which made me even more tired. So much for retail therapy.

But the irony was that Yixin found a shirt for me and couldn’t find anything for herself! That made her rather angsty, which was rather amusing. But the arcade therapy was good. Lulu and Yixin hooked on Daytona! Hahahaha… Kind of reminds me of my sec sch days.

Ok time is running out. Actually it ran out halfway and I’m using Lu’s time now! Heh.

Will be back on Sunday and hopefully will get the backlogs done. On stars being hit by nasty aeroplanes and “xi shua shua” to win chocolates. (=