Alvin's spiel: 01/01/2007

the day my iBook died

my G3 iBook has kicked the bucket. it has been wonky since end of 06. and the timing was right after the Applecare expired in Sep. the self-destruct must have been timed to kick in after 3 yrs. the iBook gasped on for a month or so after I zap the PRAM and start up using single user mode etc. but it finally died over this weekend. it died half way when I tried to reinstall OS X as a desperate attempt. will send in to Apple authorised repair to see if can salvage, luckily examination only cost RMB85 (S$17). but since it's prob the hard disk that died, it might cost a lot more than in S'pore to replace the hard disk.

thankfully I backed up all my files and photos after I bought the external hard disk when we came back to Singapore in Dec. have to dust of my clamshell iBook for the interim period. it's slow but lasted forever. they don make Macs like they used to...

might be forced to buy a new MacBook even tho I don like it that much...

early baby

the girls went down to visit Melissa and the baby. Melissa delivered a few weeks earlier than expected on 13 Jan. both mother and baby was fine. Baby Karl Christen (2.1kg) apparently want to be born in the Year of the Dog (Chinese zodiac) rather than a Piggy (after Chinese New Year, his original delivery date).

Robina with Baby Karl. I prepared stewed pork trotters in vinegar and ginger(a traditional Chinese confinement dish) for the new mother. While testing the recipe, Robina and I tried this warm delicious dish , especially the ginger flavoured gravy, which went so well with rice on a cold winter night. btw, Melissa commented the trotters were nice too!

technorati tag:Beijing

chow and farewell

met with Sherry, Ethan and Yee Wee as well as Pat and Winnie at China World for lunch at the new Taiwanese makan joint. It was Pat and Winnie's last day in Beijing. the food was not bad with typical Taiwanese dishes like beef noodles. char bee hoon and stewed pork rice.

the highlight was the freshly made muah chee, thickly encrusted with crushed peanuts and sesame and a sweet sesame filling.

technorati tag:Beijing

boarding the Gotheborg

We visited the Gotheborg, "parked" outside Vivocity on New Year's Eve. but only after ice cream at Swensen's. apparently my birthday was the official excuse.

Up the main mast! Siva gave us a guided tour of the ship. We admired the rigging and sails up close. I really appreciated the crews' work on the yard, especially at night or on a tossing sea.

Down into the gun deck. present day usage mainly for stowing benches and tables for the crews' meals. Channel 5 showed Master n Commander the following week, which became extra entertaining after our visit to the square-rigged Gotheborg.

On the sheltered sun deck. see Budak's account here.

Happy New Year 2007!

welcoming the Gotheborg

after following the voyage of the Swedish East Indiaman, Gotheborg, Robina and I, together with Airani, Adrian and Peck Wai headed down to Vivocity to welcome the Gotheborg dock at the harbour promenade. Gotheborg (pronounced as "yo-ter-bur-ri", which sounded curiously like Tamil to me) was a rebuilt 18th century sailing ship that plied the trade routes to China.

The more enthusiastic part of the crowd. We were alerted by SMS from Siva that the cannons would be fired soon. so we hussled to the dockside. There was a curious crowd of weekend shoppers and the Swedish community in Singapore as the welcoming committee. The cannonade was cheered by everyone. At one point, Siva was spotted dangling precariously off portside of the ship, presumably trying to disentangle a bumper.

As the Gotheborg moored and the gangway was deployed, the lion and dragon dance was activated as part of the festivities. Siva and the Singapore volunteers being "interviewed" by the MC (who was quite lame, figuratively)