Renault's Fernando Alonso Wins Singapore Grand Prix!

Oh my gosh! What an exciting race it had been tonight!

The starting line up to the race

The inaugural Singtel Singapore Grand Prix has just ended with a surprise winner: Fernando Alonso of Renault. He was not expected to win since his starting grid position was 15, way behind that of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who's gotten a pole position, and Kimi Raikkonen as well as McLaren-Mercendes's Lewis Hamilton.

The race was literally full of drama. Just a few laps into the race, Renault's Nelsinho Piquet crashed spectacularly into the barrier wall and had to retire from the race. This led the safety car to come out for safety control and this turned the tide in the race greatly.

Piquet's Crash Into Barrier Wall

Due to the safety car race round, Felipe Massa pitted after the round's end and it proved disastrous. Felipe Massa's car was getting refuelled and he was given the green light to go when he drove off with the fuel pipe still attached to his car. One of his mechanics was seen falling to the ground as well. As a result, Massa was given a drive-through penalty for unsafe release from a pit stop. This greatly reduced his chances of winning tonight's race as he fell to last position despite grabbing the pole position from his title rival, Lewis Hamilton.

Felipe Massa's refuelling disaster

Then another car crashed into the barrier near the floating platform but I'm not too sure who is it though. Probably it's Sutil from Force India.

This is probably Sutil's car


Safety Car to the Rescue

But the next car to crash was so totally unexpected that it made me felt very sad. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen had crashed onto the barrier wall and he managed to steer his car away before the safety car came out. So that's it for Ferrari tonight. No points at all. He had such high hopes of breaking into the top 3 positions just moments before he crashed. Oh boy. Guess life does not go your way everytime.

Kimi's Crash

After all these incidents, the one car that stood out from the crowd was Renault, driven by Fernando Alonso. Through it all, he remained calm and he maintained his racing pace so that Williams' Nico Rosberg had no chance of cutting him through to the finish line and had to settle for second position. Still, it is a career high for Rosberg and it's definitely worth celebrating too.

Alonso's the Winner of F1 Singapore Grand Prix

Tonight's race truly belonged to Alonso. There's no mistake about it. He came up from position 15 to take the winner's spot and that's no mean feat. Plus he also proved that he still has the mettle on what it takes to win a Grand Prix. Former teammate Lewis Hamilton poised no threat to him at all and was forced to take third position, behind Nico Rosberg.

The F1 Singapore Grand Prix Results

At the podium, Alonso was handed the winner's trophy by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Alonso took a little bit of time to inspect this new trophy and it was cute to see him do that.

Alonso taking his well-deserved rest

Podium Finish

PM Lee Presented the 1st Place Trophy to Alonso of Renault


A Jubilant Alonso


2nd Place Trophy for Nico Rosberg


3rd Place Trophy for Lewis Hamilton


See how Alonso inspected his trophy with PM Lee looking on. Hee!

Overall, Lewis Hamilton still leads the pack with 84 driver's points in the table. Looks like Raikkonen has no more chances of winning this current championship and that probably applies to his teammate Massa too. With 77 driver's points on hand, Massa is 7 points behind Hamilton and there's only 3 races left to go for this championship.

Drivers' Championship Rankings

Unless a miracle happens, Lewis Hamilton looks likely to win this championship with ease provided he maintains or improves his current form. Furthermore, he's hungry for a championship win and I'm sure he will go all out to win the remaining 3 races.

For now, the curtains has settled on Singapore's inaugural Grand Prix with a big bang. However, we will be back with a roar come next year. The world has seen Singapore's glory and its beauty at night. There shall be more to offer once the integrated resorts are completed by next year.

Now, let's celebrate our Formula 1 success!!!

Let's Celebrate!

Press Conference for Singapore Grand Prix Winners

Cheers! ^_^

Felipe Massa Takes Pole for Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying

Fresh from watching the Singtel Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying Round on tv, Felipe Massa of Ferrari has emerged to take the pole position for tomorrow's F1 night race.

It was a tight fight between Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. Each of them took the 1st, 2nd and 3rd position respectively. Massa's impressive form simply blew away the competition and Hamilton was no match for him.

As for Fernando Alonso, he crashed out during the qualifying round and his frustration could be seen on tv as he vented his anger.

Anyway, I posted screenshots of the qualifying round listings below:






And so, the stage is set for tomorrow's night race. Who will win the race? Is it going to be Felipe Massa or will Lewis Hamilton defends his title successfully? With a single point difference separating the 2 drivers, tomorrow's night race is certainly going to be very exciting indeed.

Drive on, man.

Vrooooooooom!!!

=P

More on the China Tainted Milk Scandal

China's tainted milk scandal continues to rock the international world with more negative reports coming from all over the world.

Now Taiwan's Pizza Hut chain has reported that packaged cheese powder has been contaminated with the toxic chemical, melamine, and has ordered the removal of such cheese from its stores. Today's The Straits Times also carried the same report and a picture of the company is attached below for reference.




Everything that contains Chinese dairy products are not spared from the massive recalls that occurs around the world. Things range from bread and cakes to crackers and cheese. Nothing is spared and now everybody does not dare to buy any single Chinese products at all.

In Singapore, reports carried news of products that have been tainted with melamine and pictures of the tainted products are attached below:






Do you notice that OREO's wafersticks is also included in the tainted list in the above picture? Yet in the same newspapers, there was an entire page issued by OREO's company which had claimed that its products, including the wafersticks, does not contain any milk ingredients from China. There was even a safety assurance issued by the company, presumely to calm consumers' unrest over its products. See below for illustration.




Now, OREO has its stand but so does AVA. Which report should consumer trust? Whatever it is, before any purchase is made, check the ingredients on the package. Just like the way we check for the product's expiry date and if both the expiry date and the ingredients passed the check, then we can go ahead and buy the products.

AVA is trying its very best to test as much products samples as possible to ensure that they pass the quality checks for consumption. Food is a very sensitive topic and this is especially so in Singapore as food is like the nation's favourite hobby.

Nonetheless, as long as we are conscious of the products that we buy and consume, there should not be much cause for concern as AVA regulates all food imports, unlike in China where such checks are not stringent and could pose health hazards to its people.

Life is short and we should take things in its stride. Let's hope the scandal will blow over soon and that China has learned its lesson from this. That quality should never be compromised for profiteering nor fame.

Here Comes Google's Android Phone

The mobile phone market is abuzz with news on an upcoming model which will feature Google's most anticipated Android mobile platform. Pictures of the phone, T-Mobile G1, can be found on CNET Asia's website and I have posted some of them here for easy reference.




















The phone is produced by HTC, the same phone maker for the HTC Touch HD as well. Looks like this company reaching out for the skies and I am eagerly waiting for both phones to arrive to our Singapore shores. However, the T-Mobile G1 seems a bit too bulky and hopefully the commercial set will be slightly smaller.

If the Android turns out to be a huge success, it could be a serious contender for the Apple's iPhone as well. That would truly be an eye-opener and only good can come out of this competition.

Now we only have 1 thing to do.

That is, Wait.

Gorgeous HTC Touch HD Phone

I had just came across a really gorgeous phone on the Internet, the HTC Touch HD. It's really, really pretty and some pictures are attached below for easy reference:


















The pictures are from CNET Asia, which estimates that the phone will launch around November. That's around 1 month's time and I can't wait to get my hands on a commercial set. I'm interested to see how this phone can measure up to Apple's iPhone or will it get blown away by Apple?

The only thing that's not shown in the pictures is the keyboard for text input. Will it be those pc keyboard prototype or will it be modelled after conventional number pad for mobile phone? That would either make or break this phone as I'm more inclined towards the pc keyboard type as I tend to sms more often.

Whatever it is, I shall have to wait patiently for November's arrival.

=)

F1 Makes History in Singapore

It was a night to remember for it's the first time in the history of both F1 and Singapore that a night race is scheduled here.

Tonight, we got a glimpse of what's coming on this Sunday night. The F1 drivers tested and practiced on the Singapore Grand Prix circuit and part of it was shown live on national TV on Ch 5. It was a sight to behold for it's been a long time ever since the last time a race had been held here. And for Singapore, it's the first time that an international racing competition is held here and this is the opportunity for Singapore to show the world what it's got to show.

I anticipated for this day for quite a while, though I never went the extra mile and bought the tickets to the Grand Prix at Marina Bay. Many reports have already been written about this historical event and it's bound to be crowded with lots of F1 enthusiasts. I would rather stay at home and watch the event on TV in my own comfort. This way, I don't have to jostle with other people to get a view of the racing cars.

Well, I know nothing beats the experience of being able to watch F1 racing directly at the circuit but the ticket pricing is so high that I rather stay at home and watch. Besides, when the event ends, I don't have to endure big crowds while trying to get home using the public transport.

Besides, my viewing experience will be enhanced by my Samsung 40" LCD TV. That alone is enough to entice me to stay at home and watch the race.

Oh man, I can't wait for Sunday night to arrive so that I can watch F1 racing on our homeland. Plus I want to see who will win Singapore Grand Prix this year. Will it be Lewis Hamilton, or will Felipe Massa dash his dreams by winning the event? Or will Kimi Raikkonen finally gets his much-needed break here? We don't know much here but from the practice just now, only 1 name stood out.

Fernando Alonso.

He scored the fastest lap time on scoresheet, giving new hopes of a win here for Renault team. In addition, a win here would mean that he will be Singapore's first ever Grand Prix winner and that's an honour too.

How will things come out? I do not know but I do know that I shall be tuning in to tv tomorrow night to watch the qualifying rounds. That would be so exciting. Wee!!!

MRT Service Disruption at Bedok Station

Today is simply not a day for travelling.

The first that registered my mind when I woke up this morning was the rain pouring heavily outside my home. The rain continued well onto my journey to work. Hence the bus arrived late and the driver drived very slowly. By the time I reached the Bedok MRT Station it was already 8am.

Another setback was awaiting for me upon my arrival at the MRT control station. There was chaos at the station due to a train service disruption at Paya Lebar MRT Station and the repercussions travelled all the way to Bedok.

We could not enter the MRT platform as the station had closed up the entry tapping points. As minutes ticked by, more people arrived and cramped the station. It was only about 8.10am that they finally allowed the commuters to enter the platforms.

When I finally reached the platforms, I was faced with trains that were too overcrowded to board. At 8.15am, 3 trains passed by before I could managed to get onto the 4th train and even then, it made a tight squeeze. It was a great effort trying to remain upright while the train moved and jerked at a slow pace.

My only consolation is that by the time the train reached Raffles Place Station, most of the crowd would have already left the train and I could find a seat to rest before I reach my destination at Commonwealth Station.

The thing is, by the time my train reached Commonwealth Station, it was raining heavily around the area and that sort of dampened my spirits. The small road in front of my work building is notorious for serious water flooding during heavy rainfall and I was hoping that today it would not flood. In my life, I have never encountered any water flooding until I started work here. Life never fails to amaze me.

Much to my relief, it was indeed clear though there were lots of water puddles around. At least I could still cross the road to my building and not having to waddle through knee-high muddy water.

And so that marked the end of my morning journey to work and by the time I reached office, it was already 9.15am.

Gosh!

Ha! A Retard Reads My Blog?

I am very amused to log in to my blog and found a guy who calls himself retard posting on my cbox. So far, I have very little responses gathered in my cbox, so it's quite fun to see this retard posting about nonsense.

Well, billovee is a CHEAPSKATE guy. Freebies are given freely and willingly by the IT fair vendors. No one actually goes around comparing freebies instead of pricing. No matter what the freebies are, the most important thing is that your buying focus is on the main IT product, in my case a MSI Wind.

My Wind doesn't come with any freebies but I don't go round demanding people to give me freebies either. That's just plain shameless. If the product doesn't come with freebies then it's fine by me. My main focus is the Wind, not the freebies.

But if the vendors are offering the freebies themselves without the consumer asking for them, then that's ok too. It take 2 hands to clap. If the vendors don't want to give any freebies, then no matter how much the consumer demands, they would get nothing. If the vendors are willing to give based on their own initiative, then the consumers will get a good deal.

In fact, the price of the freebies is probably calculated into the selling price or is probably not worth much. In life, you don't hanker after things that you can't afford. There is no such thing as free lunch in this world. Everything comes with a price. You want cheapskate products with lots of freebies? Go to China. Everything is cheapo there. And probably poisonous too.

Hmmm... I think this retard guy is either billovee himself or just plain retard. Didn't I wrote about my experience at the recent Comex 2008? I don't even need to ask the vendors for freebies at the kiosk. All I did was to ask about the main products and they offered the freebies willingly. I don't have to be thick-skinned and demand for freebies before I make my purchases.

Still, everybody has their own opinions and no one will be fully convinced by the other party. This retard/billovee has his own view but so do I.

Plus this is my blog so I can and shall write whatever I feel is right. And billovee can't do anything about it. Other than being a online pest. Wahahaha!!!

53,000 Children Affected by China's Tainted Milk

According to this report from Telegraph, 53,000 children has been affected by the tainted milk powder from several local dairy companies, two noticeable big brands being Sanlu and Yili.

That's an astonishing number of babies that could be facing a bleak future with failing kidneys. As it turned out, people questioned why checks were not conducted to ensure that the baby products passed stringent health tests.

Now it appears that China has this special exemption granted to major domestic brand names from any product testing. I think this is mostly likely due to corrupted officials taking money from the big companies' top executives. Corruption is a well-known and well-accepted practice in many parts of China, especially for rural areas where the poor are often exploited.

It remains to be seen how the Chinese government intends to clear this scandal, which has already eroded whatever good image that was created during the Beijing Olympics. The scandal is simply too big-scaled for the Chinese government to contain. After all the glory comes disaster.

As each day goes by, more negative news reports come out of China as well as its surrounding neighbours. It is a nightmare that no government wants to wake up to.

Whatever the situation is, stay away from China products infinitely is the only best way out. Especially if it concerns food and health.

Stay away from CHINA.

Bad, Bad China!

It's been a common knowledge that China-made products are usually belong to a group of inferior products and that's the main reason why the cost price for these products are so low.

Now it's getting even worse. Lately, there have been lots of news about tainted milk products causing 4 babies deaths in China and left thousands of babies inflicted with kidney stones. Things are from bad to worse and in Singapore, China dairy products are totally removed from stores' shelves as per AVA's directive.

No one knows who's exactly in the fault. The manufacturer? The cow farmers? Or the middlemen? No matter what, in just the short few weeks after the euphoric high of the Beijing Olympics, all consumer confidence has been effectively destroyed in the tainted milk scandal and it's yet to be over.

More and more China products are getting pulled off the shelves and the latest product is Nespray's milk powder. The food scandal is going way bigger than that of the tainted canned luncheon meat earlier this year.

The tainted milk had apparently been contaminated with a harmful chemical, melamine, which makes milk appear to contain more protein than it actually does.

China people are always unscrupulous in their quest for wealth and fame and in this case, it's no different. The only consequence is that they gain wealth at the expense of babies' health and they are not feeling guilty over it. This goes to show how horrible the true characters of the China people are.

On one hand, they appear to be gracious host and open up to the world. Yet on the other hand, they are selling poisoned food back to the same world. There's a saying which goes like this, ingrate bites the hand that feed it. This is certainly the scary truth here in China's food scandal.

Moral values do not exist in the China people's lives. They know no shame and humanity. Only greed, money and fame matters the most to them. All these disgusting behaviour only results in scandals such as this tainted milk.

In fact, the best thing is to NEVER, EVER buy any China products, be it food or clothings or accessories or even toothpaste for they can prove to be harmful to your health.

For me, I totally condemn anything that comes from China, especially food as that could mean death in a second.

So, do not ever buy China products again. They are DANGEROUS. And that goes for their people as well.

This time round, it's dinner

Just when I thought the day can't get any better, my mum had to go and come up with her weird idea of cooking her version of sliced fish soup for dinner tonight.

Her version includes fresh prawns. A pity that she only used tomatoes' skins to make the broth, instead of using the prawns' heads. Nonetheless, the end result of her version is not too bad.

A picture is posted below for reference:




How does it look? Once again, I used my Sony Cybershot camera to capture the food. Hmmm... I wonder if there's anymore chance of getting such a dinner again. Probably gotta wait for a while before I see such kind of dinner again.

=)

Movie Watch: Go, Wall-E, Go!

Yesterday, I watched Walt Disney's new animation film, Wall-E, with mayi and maomao at Plaza Singapura.

The film is a very fun and touching story on WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), which has its own feelings and learns to mimick after human beings. He was left behind on an abandoned Earth which is polluted beyond hope. Yet, day after day, he would work to clear the pile of rubbish, collecting little tokens to be kept at his home.

Soon after, he came across EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), which was brought to Earth by a spaceship. And so, the viewer gets a robotic version of love that transcends all boundaries and space.

Wall-E is extremely likable as a kind robot who would sacrifice himself for Eve's directive. Together with Eve, they managed to get the humans to return to Earth and save it. Beyond the film's fun adventures lies a simple message that only we can save our Earth from pollution.

This film is truly good and when the DVD release comes, I will buy it for remembrance. So, as usual, I have attached pictures from the Internet of the movie for fun:

















After the film ended, all 3 of us went to Chinatown for some korean dinner where xin would join us. The little eatery is located along Mosque street and it was very crowded when we arrived at the place. Luckily for us, we managed to get a table before another huge crowded descended on the place. All of had ramen for dinner and I ate lots of kimchi, much to my stomach's delight.

I have been craving for kimchi for a long time and this dinner hit the right spot very well. Mao stayed for a short while before going home as she wasn't feeling well. And so the remaining 3 of us walked to Central after dinner for a cuppa of coffee before heading for home.

I suppose after tonight, it would hard to get anybody out as everyone would be too busy with their lives to bother. And so, I shall end my writing here.

Special Lunch Once More

Today is yet another special one for my mum for she had made the special lunch for me. Hmmm... honestly, I have no idea what's going on in her mind for most of the time. Sometimes she's ok, sometimes she's not. It's tiring, man.

Well, have a look at the lunch that she made just now:

Fries and pork meat

A pot of blackcurrant tea, always my fave on a lazy weekend

How does the food look? I used my new Sony Cybershot camera to take the pictures and they look decent enough. Hee...

Look what I cooked for myself

My mum was out yet again for the whole day and I had nothing to eat when I woke up just now. So I cooked a super simple meal for myself to keep my stomach occupied for the time being.

My meal consisted nothing more than just instant noodles and a bowl of cream of chicken soup. The instant noodles are from Myojo and the soup is from Campbell's and are easy to prepare. The noodles are actually what they termed as instant dry ramen but are actually just mee pok noodles with some spices and sauce added to it.

All in all, it took me less than 20 minutes to get all the food done and I have posted the picture below:



It's not much but since I am the only one who's eating, therefore I am happy that I have made some accomplishment for myself. At least in future when my parents are gone, I still can cook for myself a little bit of food so I won't go hungry.

Life's like this when you are all alone and fending for yourself for everything. I can't complain much since my parents don't want to give me siblings. Plus my mum is still only interested in the botak neighbour so whatever things that she wants me to do, I plainly reject her. If the botak auntie is so good, then she should go to her for everything that she wants.

I have no time for my mum and rightly justified so. My mum normally don't talk to me unless she wants something from me. Just plain despicable. And so I end my family story here for I have no more family.