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Back in March, there was a promotion going on for people with M1 prepaid cards. All people who top up at the S.A.M machines get a chance to participate in the lucky draws. I topped up two times during the promotional period. I was running out of credits very fast at that time because of all the international smses and calls that I was making to Mauritius. Topping up at S.A.M machines is really convenient. Last week, someone from M1 phoned me to announce that I’ve won one of the prizes; an LG phone. I was very surprised. Apart from academic awards, I have never won anything in the past. I didn’t think of asking her which phone it was. I just confirmed my personal details and I was told to expect a letter from M1 the following week. I got the letter 2 days ago.

Note: I have blurred out the name and phone number of the contact person in this letter.

Yesterday afternoon I went to collect my phone at :
MobileOne Ltd
10 International Business Park
Singapore 609928

I have never used LG phones before and I have to admit that the thought of buying an LG phone never even crossed my mind. I’m more of a Nokia or Samsung person. *shrugs*

My LG KF510


I’m so glad that I got the dark grey/black one. I didn’t want the red one.
Read the rest of this entry »

I just updated my blog yesterday but I’m very bored at home today so I started to resize my photos. ta-daa! Another update.
I’m in an updating mood now and will probably be for the next few days. Then maybe I’ll probably disappear for a while (as usual) and then come back again.
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I’m still without a desktop or laptop here in Singapore (I left my computer in Shanghai) and I’ve been using Liz’s laptop since I came here. I don’t have a laptop (yet) but I brought a laptop cooler pad from Shanghai. I bought it online when Desmond was buying one for his sis and one for himself. What attracted me to this cooler pad was the wide range of colors available. If I still remember correctly, it was available in hot pink, black, white, bright blue and fluorescent green. Resisting the urge to buy the hot pink one, I finally settled for the white one. I had never seen this brand (C-Pad) before but it was very cheap, works fine and I figured that I’ll get to use the cooler pad sooner or later. I wanted to get a Cooler Master but the ones sold online on the Chinese website where I usually buy things were too cheap, i.e obviously fake ones. The few models I saw at a computer shop in Shanghai were bulky-looking and ugly. I prefer simple models.

I had put the cooler pad and Liz’s laptop on the floor to use many times and the fans stopped turning one day because of my hair. A few strands of hair which were on the floor got caught in the fans. I tried to use a toothpick at first but it was difficult and I finally had to open up the cooler pad to remove the hair.

What I learned from this: Do not put the cooler pad on the floor.

I really want to buy my own laptop but right now, I have other priorities.

I thought that my old Canon IXUS 400 would never work again. (ref:R.I.P my dear Canon IXUS 400 ) Not long after I wrote about my camera giving a ‘Memory card error’ and hence no longer working, I came across this blog entry about fixing the ‘Memory card error’ on Canon IXUS 400. Apparently, the problem could solved by opening the camera case and removing the internal battery for a while. According to the Canon website, the ‘Memory card error’ is quite common with the IXUS 400 and they offer free repair service for that kind of problem. The Canon repair shops in Shanghai aren’t near my university. I decided to try fixing the camera myself instead. I didn’t have a screwdriver small enough for the screws on the camera. I couldn’t find any in the supermarkets nearby so I finally bought one online yesterday and received it today.

What I did:
I removed the battery and the memory card from the camera. Then I removed the screws ( I removed 13 screws in all but maybe I removed 2 extra ones because I remember reading somewhere that there are 11 screws to be removed.) , the camera case and the internal battery. After around 30 mins, I put the internal battery back inside and put the camera case and screws back. Unfortunately, I accidentally knocked over one of the screws and it fell on the floor. I still haven’t found it yet but it doesn’t matter much right now because my camera is working again!!!!! I’ll look for the screw another time.

My bf had lent me his camera and I took a few pics when I was ‘working’ on my camera:

The front. The small round object next to it is the internal battery which was found in the bottom right corner of the camera.

The back.

Here’s everything; the screwdriver,camera, case and screws(not all of the same length) which I had arranged like that so that I would be able to remember which screw came from which part of the camera.
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I’m going on a school trip tomorrow in a few hours and I’ll be back on Friday evening. I wasn’t really looking forward to going on the trip because it won’t be fun going without a camera but now that my camera is working again, I’m really looking forward to it. I hope that I’ll manage to wake up in 5 hours. Off to bed now…

The digital camera I used to go everywhere with is a Canon IXUS 400. I have it since a few years now. It’s only 4.0 megapixels. Compared to the newest models out there nowadays, my digital camera is a tad… ‘ancient’. Still, I love that camera. It has enabled me to capture many events & special moments during the last few years. I have never seriously thought of buying a new one…until now. I haven’t been able to use my camera for 2 weeks now. It keeps showing a ‘memory card error’. I know that the problem isn’t with the CF card itself because I have 3 CF cards and with all 3 of them, there’s still that memory card error. I’ve had a few problems with my camera before but it usually works again after a few days. This is the longest time that it has stopped working. It seems that I really have to say goodbye to my old IXUS 400 now.

I wrote this yesterday but was waiting for the go-ahead from James. I wasn’t sure if he would be okay with me mentioning his name in this blog entry.
谢谢
Swap you the nano for your puppies anytime though..

James’ puppies Anny and Bobby, both 3 months old.
Note: photo used with permission from James.
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06 Jan 2006
around 15:30

The delivery guy phoned me today during lunch, telling me that he has my express package and that he’s waiting for me in front of International Students Building No 2. I hurried off to find him, all the while trying to guess what was in the box. James had told me yesterday afternoon that I would be receiving a package soon. All he told me was that it was a box with papers inside. He wouldn’t tell me what he was sending me exactly.

He gave me a hint:
Environmental requirements
Optimum temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing

Me : “what?!”

Back to the delivery guy. He was quite ‘friendly’ but what annoyed me at first was that the first words he uttered upon seeing me was : “You look so Chinese !” ( he said it in Chinese of course..)
Not even a Hello.
Apparently, he had tried to guess from which country I’m from when he saw my name (on the package) but my full name seemed a bit too long (5 words) and too strange for him.
He also complimented me on my spoken Chinese and asked me where I’m from, things like that,etc . I politely replied and ran off to find my friends who were waiting for me. I get tired of explaining the same things all the time. (and it was -3 degrees… I was cold. )

I opened the package to find a box inside:

iPod nano! the 4G one… and it’s white. (I prefer the white nano to the black one. )
(Arghh .. James!! … it was so difficult to unwrap. You were having fun with the adhesive tape, weren’t you? I usually never tear off wrapping paper but I got a bit frustrated this time. lol)

What I love most about the gift is this:

I love the personal engraving at the back.
It’s a custom laser engraving that is done free by Apple when you buy an iPod. (that’s what I read just now anyway. )

What I think about the iPod nano:
I love it. It’s the perfect size for me. The normal iPod seems a bit too big for me. The shuffle is a smaller than the nano but it doesn’t have a screen.

I’ll try to take good care of it. I just need to buy a case. Any advice? So many nano cases in the Apple Store. Don’t know which one to choose. I heard that the screen gets scratched easily but that the iPod nano itself doesn’t spoilt that easily. Some people wanted to test and dropped a nano from various heights and even drove a car over it twice.

It’s a scorcher today.. My boots were off by the time i reached mum’s car.. and once back home, I wriggled out of my trousers on the stairs (good thing no one saw me!) and went to the bathroom to take a cold shower.
Lately, the weather has been very too hot,esp. in Port Louis. I feel a bit dizzy right now.
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I got my digital camera yesterday, thanks to Wes who helped me buy in Singapore.
It’s a Canon IXUS 400. I read many reviews online and finally chose this camera. I know that new models will come out soon but I don’t feel like waiting. I only have a manual camera and it’s really a hassle for me to upload pics online because I have to scan the pics first and then use Painr Shop Pro or Photoshop to resize. Digital cameras are more convenient.

Note: This entry has been imported from my old online journal where I was writing way before I got my personal domains. The date of the entry as well as the content are exactly the same as before but the old comments won’t be moved here.