Skoda Octavia

First of all, Disclaimer: This is not an official car review. Its just my personal point of view and comments.

I got to test drive my relative's Skoda Octavia for about 3 days since he was out of town. The following pics and comments are totally my very own. I apologise for the poor picture quality as the pictures were taken with my Panasonic VS2 mobile phone's 1.3 megapixel camera. Just a darn basic camera, but at least it gets the work done.


This is a picture of the car, Skoda Octavia, taken from the official Skoda's website. You can go to the official website for more details on engine performance and features by clicking on this post's title.


The things that first caught my attention when I first entered the car. Pic on the top left shows the steering wheel with the dashboard in the background. Pic on the top right shows a close up of the logo on the steering wheel. Pic on the bottom left shows the dashboard instrument panel.Pic on the bottom right shows the huge, looks-nice-to-press hazard light button. The steering wheel is totally encased with a layer of leather. Feel is very good. Hazard light button is nice to press, indeed. hehe. (;


Pic on the left shows the AT-Automatic Transmissin Gear Shift Lever. Shifting between the different drive modes has a very smooth a slick feel. Probably its because the car is still quite new. Probably not worth looking at, but what the heck. Pic on the right shows the door opening handle and beside it, is the left and right side mirrors' electronic control. Pretty cool, huh ?


Pic on the top left shows the Tachometer. Top right pic shows the Temperature gauge (Engine) on the left and Fuel gauge on the right. Pic on the bottom left shows the analog Speedometer, digital Odometer and digital Trip-o-meter. Pic on the bottom right shows an enlarged pic of the digital information screen. At the first row, the "23min" tells you the time elapse from the time the engine is started. Middle row shows the temperature outside the car, which is pretty accurate, I must say. 3rd row shows which gear is engaged. "P" is highlighted so its in the "Park" position.

Now, the problem was, I couldn't find the switch that turns on instrument panel backlight and the headlights. The toggle switch isn't located at the usual signal lever on the right side behind the steering wheel. For the Skoda, which is European made, the signal lever is located on the left hand side and the wiper lever is on the right. So after looking high and low, left and right, I finally rested my "4-eyes" on these:


This switch look horribly similar to the "6-way switch" found in our military vehicles. Only that this switch, on the Skoda Octavia, does not have the "convoy blackout" switch settings. Those MT Line drivers will know what I'm babbling about. -wink- This switch though, is impressive. There is a setting where the driver can choose to swtich on just the headlights, but not the tail lights and vice versa. Cool, eh ? But I wonder if it has any use here. The pic on the left shows two knobs. The left knob controls the intensity or brightness of the instrument panel backlights and the right knob controls the height of the headlight beams.

Overall, interior looks and feels comfortable. The leather seats are not too soft, just nice for long distance driving. Steering wheel is a tad too tight, but is responsive, with only a very very slight freeplay, which makes steering constant and very stable. The car body structure is very rigid and very sturdy. Might be comparable to those Volvo models.

The only complaint I have for this Skoda Octavia is its ultra high fuel consumption. Based on the official website's engine specifications, its average fuel consumption is approximately 39.2 litres per 100km, which works out to be about 1 litre per 2.55km. -faint- Not too sure whether this specification applies locally, but the average fuel consumption of other Japanese makes found locally is approximately 1 litre per 12km. After driving for 3 days and some calculations, my personal estimate came to about 1 litre per 9km. -phew-

I guess if compared to the Japanese counterparts, the Skoda Octavia is a fuel monster.

Air Weapon Training

Its the time of the year again for my unit to train for the annual Inter-Unit Air Weapon Competition. I've been a 'permanent' member of the team for 5 years and I'm a Rifle Shooter.

Basically, the weapons' projectiles are expended via highly compressed air. Projectiles are made of lead material. The distance from where we fire, to the target board is approximately 10 metres. Sounds simple ? Not really. It takes great endurance, composure, steady arm and upper torso, skill, and a little bit of luck.

Here are some pics, taken at the Yishun SAFRA Country Club's Indoor Air Weapon Range. Its the only one of its kind in Singapore. The quality is considered bad as its taken with a mobile phone sporting a 1.3 Megapixel camera without focus and flash.


A pic showing the lead projectile. It can be loaded into the air rifle and air pistol.
The Singapore 10 cent coin is there for size comparison purpose.


This is a pic of only half of the range. My mobile phone's camera is not capable of taking a pic showing the full length of the range.


This pic shows the air rifle with an eye shield attachment, glove on the right, the target board on a "runner" and the equipment that utilises the pulley system to run the target board up to 10 metres away.


A close up pic of the target board. This target board was my highest scoring of the day: 23 points out of a max of 30 for each target board.

Believe me, the standard issue glove is darn foul smelling on the inside. God knows how many hands have used that glove before me. After using it, the foul smell kinda stuck to my hand even afer 3 washings with a fragrant handwash detergent.

There wasn't sufficient training sessions allocated to us. Shooting the air weapon in the range is strictly for members of SAFRA club's Air Weapon Club only, so most of us wouldn't pay that kind of membership fees just to train for the competition on 1st September.

Who do I look like ?

Hahaha, this website, Face Analyzer, is hilarious. It was introduced by one of my closest pals, also a blogger.

What this website does, is it compares your facial features with many of the celebrities' photos and pairs you with the closest celebrity match. How and what method the website employs in the comparison and recognition of facial features, I do not know. However, the end results can be quite unexpected.

What do need to do is: Take a good clear shot of your face against a contrasting background, load it into your PC, log on to the website, and submit your photo to register for a free account. You will be sent a link via email where you'll be able to see your celebrity match in the website.

I got mine done and look who's my celebrity match. I can't believe what I saw.

One reprieve you get if you do not like your celebrity match: You can always take another pic of yourself, probably with a different expression or different camera angle and submit again until you hit a celebrity match you are contented with. -wink-

Sim Girl

I was searching the web for some Macromedia Flash games when I chanced upon this website, Ebaumsworld.
One of the games in the listed "Sim Girl". (opens a new window)

Its a great game especially when you have lots of time to spare. Its fun, great flash animation with a tint of humour. But a word of caution, if you want to get laid by the "School's Hottest Girl", I'd suggest you get some writing materials at your side to jot down certain information that no doubt will assist you in woo-ing her.

You'll start off as strangers, slowly get to know her, upgrade your relationship through the various stages of courtship.

You'll need to play mini games to earn cash to buy presents and stuffs, beef up your strength by training, read up to increase your knowledge and work to enhance your charm levels to their max.

In the end of the game, you'll be rewarded with a Flash animated movie-ending.

Enjoy !!! (:

My another blog - Seeded

I've created another blog, in a hope to document the course of my wife's pregnancy from beginning to delivery.

The blog, named "A New Life" and be found here

The link can also be found under the "Links" section of this blog.

Cute little furballs...

my hamsters' bedding are smelling bad so i've decided to change them... when i got to their home, well, hehe.. they are all deep in slumber... :P

coo... see... sleeping soundly... shh !!! Do not disturb ! hehe...

quite naughty of me to kinda like wake them up suddenly... it'll be rude, yeah ? so i asked politely "hey little ones, want me to change your bedding for you so you can sleep better ?"
well, they heard me, but are just too plain lazy to move their little butts...

see... so grouchy at being disturbed... hehe

so i said again "C'mon... change new bedding makes you smell nice and cuddly !" and so, they decided its worth their while... well, they lead awfully good lives... getting fed, eat sleep, be merry and there's some stupid fella who's willing to change their bad smelling bedding once in a while... and so... they woke up..

alright alright... just make sure you do a fast job, k ? we wanna go back to dreamland...

so i carried and put them into their "holding place" while i cleared out everything to wash, wipe dry, dis-infect and put in new bedding and food... and so.. they are beginning to enjoy the new bedding.. hee hee...

ooh !!! it smells so nice and feels so clean in here...

here... let me give you a paw shake ! oops, almost tripped..

ahh... this is the life...

well, so even though i got myself all sweaty and smelly after washing their home and changing their bedding, it feels so good to see them so cute and cuddly... my cute little furballs... -wink-

Home sweet home

Aahh... how nice to be home again..

was just discharged from TTSH this afternoon... remember my previous post where i said i was ill ? well, i didn't get better... got worse, actually..

Last week after consulting a GP and after taking his medication, well, i thought i was getting better... y'know, easier to breathe, less coughing, etc etc...

Last Friday evening, i was still enjoying a hearty dinner with my wife at Jurong Point's Soup Restaurant.. still a bit of cough here and there, a little wheezing, i thought i was fine.

Saturday afternoon, suddenly felt a little giddy, plus wheezing, plus coughing... so with nothing much to do, i decided to visit the same GP again... To both our surprise, my GP said that i was actually getting worse as the wheezing was much louder this time and since he has already prescribed their strongest available antibiotics, there's nothing much he could do except to send me to hospital... i had some trouble accepting that fact initially... but i actually felt worse.. so i said 'ok'.

He asked me if i wanted to call the ambulance to send me and i was thinking, if i were to go to any A&E, the normal time taken for triage and being warded would take anytime from 2 to 4 hours... and what would happen if i were to faint on my way to the A&E ? So i got the GP to activate the ambulance for me, on the pretext that i had breathing problems and was giddy. Also, i believed that if sent by ambulance, the time taken for triage and being warded would be cut down signifacantly.

i was to put on a mask with direct oxygen supply of 5 Litres while waiting for the ambulance.. when it did finally arrive, i decided against lying on the stretcher... with so many people looking on..

the trip to the hospital took around 25 minutes. And i was right. it took less than 1 and a half hour to get me admitted into my ward... however, too bad i was warded after 6pm. Their dinner round was at 530pm... drats.. I did not have anything to eat since 12pm...

anyway, from then till now, everyday is the same. wake up at 7am, shower, change, breakfast at 7:30am, medication at 830am, doctor's round between 930 to 11am, lunch at 1130am, medication at 1230pm, then its O.T.O.T. for those whose mobility is classified under "I - Independent", and dinner's served at 530pm, medication at 630pm, and its O.T.O.T. again till 930pm and lights out !

For saturday, sunday and monday, i was put on the nebuliser... its a mask, attached to a small plastic container, which is connected to an oxygen pump... the medication , "Ventolin" was put into the plastic container to be mixed with the oxygen supply and i was supposed to breathe in this mixture to open up the airway for me to breathe easier... this, i gotta to 3 times a day...


This is a pic of me doing an impression of Darth Vader, haha... No, seriously, its me breathing the Nebuliser apparatus.



Here's a slight close up pic.



Gee.. talk about Devil's Breath.. hehe.. this is the so-called Nebuliser. The boxy apparatus pumps out oxygen into the mask on my face.

one thing that i was relieved of was, i did not need an IV drip. hehe.. that eases things so much... no need to carry extra pack wherever i go...

Food quality is ok, everything's steamed, no fried stuff.. so its all healthy food... but the food quantity is poor ! just a scoop of rice, one serving of vege and one serving of meat. Kinda pathetic but at least it tastes nice...

For the first three doctor's consultation, they diagnosed me as having a lung infection (Pneumonia), or an asthma attack... Its only this morning that the Respiratory expert diagnosed me as having "Acute Bronchitis"...

whatever the case, as we MEN-IN-GREEN are instructed, i got my colleague to report my status to my ops room. So, most superiors in my unit or office should know that i'm having lung infection or pneumonia, right ? And get this, two fella from my office, whom visited me on Monday, guess what they bought ? A big pack of chilled Peel Fresh Fruit Juice, and a bottle of chilled Pepsi... What don't they understand about pneumonia ? gee....

alright alright, so i shouldn't complain... ah well, i'm back home, and on medical leave till the end of the week...

WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTT !!!!!! :p

oh darn...

gee... when every singaporean's celebrating the nation's birthday, i got myself sick.. yeah.. somehow or rather, the flu virus caught me... it was a pretty strong one too.. probably commando trained.. cos it triggered an asthma attack...

this asthma syndrome was lying dormant inside me since i was Primary 6.. can't remember how old i was then... but getting an asthma attack is simply terrible..

you get shortness of breath and you get a wheezing sound whenever you breath in or out...

my whole chest area got so conjested with phlegm and it hurt a lot whenever i tried to cough..

anyway, was on medical leave for 3 days.. today is the 3rd day.. lets see how things turn out..

The Best News in 30 years

*ahem*... what i'm about to tell you, is the most wonderful news that i've ever heard in the first 30 years of my life... but pity, this news applies to me. Just me and no one else.. ;p

maybe this news spells the end of all the SNAFUs, TARFUs and FUBARs in my life...

alright alright... have i stalled enough ?? hhehehe.. here goes nothin'..

I'M GONNA BE A DADDY !!!!!!!!!!

wooohoooooooooooo !!!!!!!!! (^_^)v

awesome book

this book... SOAR, Black Mission Ops has been the best military covert ops story i've ever read... John Weisman's SOAR is so much more in detail about the covert ops than other writers such as Tom Clancy or Keith Douglass.

Loads of explosive actions, political BS and of course, military jargons...

after reading this book, i discovered that in between "SNAFU" and "FUBAR", which have been mentioned in my previous posting, that there's "TARFU".

Things Are Really 'effed' Up. tarfu.

So... there you have it.. a progression :
S.N.A.F.U ---> T.A.R.F.U ---> F.U.B.A.R

and I seriously believe at as of today, 30 years of age, I have experienced the 3 different degrees of "eff-ups" in life...

Woo Saaaaa !!!

woo hoo !!!

oooh yeah ! looking forward to the super long weekend comin' up...

off on Friday and leave on Monday !!!

ahh... what a week... ;)

gee...

came across a website that lists just about every commonly used military jargon in the U.S. of A, and the following two jargons are my favourite... these two jargons just about summarizes the real world that we are so caught up with these days..

snafu - Situation Normal All 'effed' Up

fubar - 'effed' Up Beyond All Repair

don't we always discover that, sometimes when we find ourselves in certain predicaments, or incidents or events, that pretty much seem to be very simple under those circumstances but we find ourselves getting flustered, our pulse quicken, our mind racing to find solutions to seemingly impossible problems that in the end, we just... well, 'eff'ed' up... i guess its just normal, as perfectly human as we are, that we tend to behave this way..

this situation, in my point of view, is what i call: "snafu"... which, leads us to my next favourite jargon, "fubar"...

we tend to 'eff' up the situation.

to cite one example situation: a serious terrorist threat in a shopping mall...

imagine, there's a package, hidden in some discreet corner of an over-crowded, packed shopping mall during peak hour.. someone gets and leaks the news of the presence of a volatile package... someone starts screaming, raises panic and causes alarm in the crowd and all starts running.. most of the time, most of them who are running, don't know why they are running, nor what are they running away from... they simply follow those who started the commotion...

so.. this is pretty much a simple situation.. it is NOT NORMAL, by any sense, BUT it is simple. A volatile package is discovered and immediate evac is required... just how many of us are able to stay calm and walk coolly away from the scene ?? so ?
"snafu".

and everyone starts running around, some don't even know where the nearest exit is, running, screaming, those who are not fast enough or are too weak, accidentally falls, get trampled on, in the end, the casualty number escalates... there you have it.. "fubar".

and..... *drum roll*..... this is the ultimate in all booboos, if or ever you find yourself in such a crisis, all you can do is hold both your hands to your head, shake your head in despair and mutter to yourself "oh darn, what have i done..." this is the "SNAFUBAR"

Situation Normal All 'effed' Up Beyond All Repair

when something happens, stay calm, assess the situation, and act logically.
don't just follow the crowd.