I want a Plasma Speaker!!

Back from Thailand and sad to say did not spend much quality time with wife and girl. Got sicked on the second day till the last. Still girl girl seems very happy that I was with her :)

Anyway, stumbled across these vidz on youtube recently. Pretty cool if I get to build one myself.. hehehe The first 2 are plasma speakers.





and the OVERKILL.... Tesla coils playing Mario Bros Theme song :P

Back for 5 days

Back in Maesai since yesterday and only managed to work on my computer just now. Girl girl really missed me and stick to me like glue... hehe

I am still trying to explain to her that I will be gone for a few more months to work. But I guess its not registered with her yet.

I will try to complete the business guide after my return. Want to spend more time with wife and baby here.

Weather here is getting hot and dry. The temperature difference is also quite huge. Afternoon can get as hot as 38 degrees Celsius and at night drop to 20 degree. So have to watch out a bit if not could easily get sick.

Thailand Business Guide (Chapter 1.1)

For me personally, I would classify urban areas as a location where major city centres are with a big population. I am not going to write about Bangkok or even Hatyai as I don't stay there as long. However, I would describe more about the northern areas of Thailand.

At the north,there is Chiang Mai. This is the 2nd largest city in Thailand. There are many shopping centres and you will be surprised that a lot of expats prefer to stay here than in Bangkok. This is because its busy but not as polluted as Bangkok (although things might be changing now). Chiang Mai thrived on Tourism as it serves as a gateway for people to visit furthur northern areas like Mae Hong Song or Chiang Rai. Its International airport was recently renovated with one more terminal to handle the growing crowd.

The expats ratio staying in Chiang Mai are quite high. My condo in Kad Suan Kaew has more than 80% taken by foreigners. If you walk along the street, its very common to see foreigners on the street. One of the main reason is that the city has a lot of schools that attract these people. Chiang Mai University is worldwide recognised and gives lessons in English rather than Thai. Thai language, art/crafts and Buddhist schools also peppered the city.

There are pubs and bars in Chiang Mai but their number is not as much as in Bangkok. Expat pubs are common for foreigners and most of them cater to a niche group. Such as German restaurant and Irish pubs.

Overall, the impression of Chiang Mai is that its still developing and have not reached its potential yet. Business opportunity is good. Capital needed to rent a shop house or even a store is definitely not as high as in Bangkok. But again, things are changing as Chiang Mai has recently become more and more expensive.

Here's some references
http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_mai
http://www.cmcity.go.th/english/history.php

Starting a buisness in Thailand Overview

I think a lot of people would be interested in such a topic so today got some spare time to write about this.

This topic spans a lot of issues. Regarding policies, opportunities and etc etc...

So I plan to split these into different chapters. Here's an overview

1) Thailand's Opportunities.
1.1) Urban (City area like Bangkok)
1.2) Rural (Small towns and
2) Rules and Regulations (for a foreigner starting a business).
3) A simple guide on the process.

As of any business, there are many different rules and regulations for different types of business so I would only touch those that I have personally encountered and share it with you all. Hope this will help those who are planning to start a business in the LOS.

I've been Simpsonized!

Found this interesting website that could Simpsonize your photo. Hehe.. tried it out and quite fun. Somre more its free. Not very accurate for the auto mode but you could refine it actually.

Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000

The thing about coming back to Singapore is that you get to see more gadgets. Anyway, I was fustrated of getting my lousy genius webcam to focus correctly so I went shopping for a more powderful webcam. Had been doing my research and most people still say Logitech is the best. Saw this little baby at Sim Lim which has a built in mic, auto focus and bloody Carl Zeiss glass lens leh!!! wat lau, macham BMW or Mercedes of webcam. Bit the bullet and bought one. Cost me bloody $170.

At first a bit heart pain but after the installation, money is well worth spent. The quality is much better and I do not even need to turn on my table lamp to get a bright image.

The software bundled is also a joy to use. It has this fun filter that you could apply live from the camera. Thinks like accessories (see pic of ballon hat) and other stuffs. The face tracking also works very well, It actually tracks your face and zoom in or out if you move.

So happy I was with this little cam that I bought another one so I could install it in Thailand (like dat can see girl girl clearer). And by the way, job is secured and I am signing the contract this friday. I would also be away from 23 to 27 March. Since got ample time, decided to go back 5 days to wife and baby. hehehe...

One week

So I'm back from Thailand for a week and its a weird experience. Besides looking for a job. I am also in the SAF IPT program to try to siam (get away) for the yearly remedial program. IPT is a new program that is suppose to help people to pass their IPPT. But it seems that the RT people heard about the incentives of the 8 sessions of IPT. (You complete the 8 sessions and even if you fail, you get to clear your IPPT this year, which means no need to take 12 more sessions of RT.) So I'm not surprised so many RT jokers were in the IPT program (including myself)

At the meantime, I sent my camera for recalibration and met some old friends and colleagues. My old boss at Bizwebs is still fine and we chatted.

Service in Singapore so far actually improved a bit liao. Especially my experience with Sony Service Centre and Starhub.

Overall, everything looks extremely positive. Just on Friday, my "soon-to-be" boss from the network company called me up and sort of gave me a confirmation of my job. Suppose to sign the contract within next week and start work in April. So more or less I will be in Singapore for a longer period of time liao.

Job Hunting

I've been back from Thailand for almost a week and has not written much for the pass few days. The main reason for not writing was because I went job hunting. Remember this post?? :P

Anyway, so far so good I went for 2 interviews and both seems promising. One is a shift based work as a network support engineer while the other is a software developer (or programmer). I am hoping to get the former job as I am really really sicked of programming stuff. Playing with CISCO's router is always my dream job and this is really an opportunity for me.

Since I was busy, I did not have the time to think "too" much also. Which means this time round, I am not as depressed as I used to be. Still chat with wify and girl on the phone and on Skype. Girl girl got friends to play so I not around also like "bo chap" (not bothered)

There are certain changes in Singapore for the pass 3 months and I would write that in the next post.

PUMA TIME Heart Rate Monitor

I've talked about interval training and have not been following the routine as its tough for me to gauge my limits. Meaning that normally after 2 intervals, I get too tired to push to the 3rd one. So I read up about how to gauge your workout load through a heart rate monitor. Its quite a simple way of monitoring your heart rate while you workout to maximise the type of routine (cardio or fat burning) you want to achieve.

So went down to hunted around for a heart rate monitor watch that I could wear. Spotted this from PUMA at Bencoolen plaza going for $170. Bargain till $150 and managed to try it today. I have to say it really works but the ECG band is a bit uncomfy leh... like wearing a bra (not that I wore one before).. Overall, I actually completed a 4km run much faster and less tiring then I used to be. Mainly because if my heart rate does not hit my desired upper or lower threshold, it will give off beeps to tell me to slow down( or speed up). Those who are into running or seriously want to loose weight should get one. It really does help!

For more information, try these sites for more information on desired target training heart rate.

This site gives the different zones for different types of workout you want to achieve (fat burning, endurance, cardio, strength etc)

For the more hardcore and particular one, read up on this one to see how to determine your real max heart rate (important to know your max to set up your training zone)