Lily-Shi Yu, a unpublished poet/novelist who also belly dances and salsa. Her poetry are raw and refreshing, easy to understand for a novice yet full of melancholy to a connoisseur that belies her youthfulness. Read her works here but do note that her site has a hourly bandwidth limit so do check back often. [Link]

Thanks Brenda for the lovely card. Now, I must learn how to make one.

Ami Vitale is an idependent journalist based in New Delhi, India and is available for assignment. Her photographs and stories from events in Europe, the Middle East and Africa have apeared in publications including Time, Newsweek, New York Times, Los Angeles Time, USA Today, Financial Times and MSNBC among others. She has extensive experience with transmitting photos and reports from remote locations. [Link]

Yipee! I got myself a new computer finally after 5 long years. After getting my bonus last Friday, I went down to Sim Lim Square and spent it all on a new computer system. As a hardware person, I gave myself 1 last chance at those branded systems (e.g. Compac, Dell...) but found none to my liking as I have thought. So I did what I have set out to do in the beginning, that is to built a completely new system from components that I fancy. Below are the specs which cost me slightly more than S$3,000:

- Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz, 800Mhz FSB Processor
- Gigabyte GA-8KNXP (Intel 875P) Motherboard
- Kingston Hyper X, 2 x 512MB, PC3500 DDR Rams (Total:1Ghz)
- ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, 128MB, AGP8x Graphics Card
- Wester Digital Cavair Special Edition, 120GB, Serial ATA, 7,200rpm Hard Disk Drive
- TDK Cyclone 48x24x48x CD-RW, 16x DVD Rom Combo
- Creative Audigy Platinium Sound Card
- Lian-Li PC7B Black Aluminium Mid-Tower Casing
- Antec True480W ATX Power Supply
- Microsoft Windows XP (Professional)
- Samsung SyncMaster 959NF 19" Flat Screen Monitor
- MidiLand S4 4060M 2.1 Speaker System (yet to buy)

Registered for my own domain name. 8wire.org? Read the link to find out why. [Link]

This is a good fan-generated trailer for a notional Peter Jackson film adaptation of The Hobbit, cleverly remixing found footage and footage from the LOTR discs to make a kind of "draft Jackson" piece that shows how good this movie could be. Be caeful though, it is a whooping 19.3MB! [Link]

Kubrick and 2001 Space Odyssey fans can get 20 more minutes of them in this Flash movie, which explores the unclear parts of the movie and explores life and its meaning. This is somewhat of a Cliff's Notes version of the movie. The movie is the creator's take on what he believes Kubrick is trying to say through the film. [Link]

Little of everything no matter what your interests are. Separated into categories ranging from holidays to abstract to fine art to pop culture to surprisingly family-friendly erotic art (seriously, if you've been to any art museum, you can handle it). Some Matrix wallpapers from the first movie. You won't find the sequels making an appearance here. This is, after all, a quality site. [Link]

That's is an old question. The real head-scratcher is: When is the Matrix? [Link]

Have been on leave from Monday. Arr... the joy of being on leave. What did I do? Watch 'Ong Bak Mui Thai Warrior' on Monday, 'Kill Bill' on Tuesday, shopping at JB on Wednesday and Bugis for durians today.

Quote for the day: "If you see someone who is not smiling, give them yours."

My birthday today. Gave myself a present when we won a silver in the PS21 Excel Convention in the morning. Our team presented labforum.net which is a online forum for Technical Support Officers to network and seek advice.
Went back to school in the afternoon and Yi Kai bought a cake to celebrate mine, his and Chien Ming's birthday. We had coke float too with chocolate chip ice-cream. Why 3 birthday? Mine is on 4th, Yi Kai's on 5th and Chien Ming's on the 6th. So Yi Kai decided to celebrate together. It was unexpected and I enjoyed myself thoroughly, even took some photos which would be uploaded when I am free.
At night I went to Seah Street Deli for dinner with my wife. It is a nice place at one corner of Raffles Hotel. They serve regular western fare and although the portions were hugh, the prices were reasonable.
For birthday present, I received a pair of Oakelys sunglasses from my wife. Belated presents are welcome :)

Uploaded 2 photos in the TPJC Photo Album. [Link]

Panoramic view from the top of Tokyo Tower at 250m. For those who do not understand Chinese or Japanese, the button with the red words rotates the panoramic view. The radio buttons on the left is for the speed of the rotation. [Link]

Feeling Poor and strap for cash? Try this. Remember the $ sign is for US dollar. Divide your annual wage by approx. 1.7 to get your wage equivalent in US Dollar. Use the second link if you do not have a calculator on hand or your wage is in another currency. [Link] [Link2]

Things other people accomplished when they were your age. Enter an age and see a list of accomplishments performed at that age. This can be a yardstick by which to measure your life, to put your own achievements into perspective. Click previous to see what other people accomplished at a even younger age. [Link]

Sand Art in motion. Extremely recommended. By the way SICAF stands for Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival. 19.3MB. Streaming is smooth though if you have broadband and windows media player. [Link]

Strange but funny. Remember to watch the sequel. [Link]

This is a very shocking anti-American propoganda video made by North Koreans and previously broadcast on South Korean and Japanese Television.
Note: This video does not reflect the views of the owner of Chin's Portal or anyone else associated. [Link]

If you missed the exclusive premiere Lord of The Rings - Return of The King trailer on Channel 5, here is the link. Check out the frame by frame insights for a better understanding of the trailer. [Link]

Lore Sjoberg, the Internet-comedy genius responsible for the Brunching Shuttlecocks, has collected his Lore-Brand Comics comic-strips on the Web. [Link]

Although the desktop is in Chinese, you do not need an understanding to appreciate this fun flash desktop. Thanks to Yuan Man for this link. [Link]

Russian Finance magazine was forced to tear down their ad posters in Moscow depicting the euro, er, pleasuring the US dollar from behind. "I thought the currencies were dancing on our poster," said the magazine's publisher. [Link]

A flash starring two better known candidates running for California Governor. [Link]

Do not try this at home. These guys are idiots.
Melon + Fire + Baseball Bat = Firebomb + Singned Legs [Link]

This is my friend, Yao Hui's web site. I never knew he is a photographer until I saw his site. Great photos! [Link]

Seen this post on at least three other blogs so I guess it must be important news. The RIAA in their lawsuit, charged the wrong woman, something that was sort of inevitable. But she doesn't have any kids to blame it on, and doesn't have a Windows machine in her house. [Link]

Added a Tag Board. Deleted ICQ status indicator to make way for Tag Board due to owner's dislike for scrollable menu bar when viewed on 800X600. Actually there is lots of space under 1024X768 but I still find many people using 800X600.

A little flash animation, where a man gets on his soapbox and speaks his mind about spam emails. [Link]

'Her!' is a delightfully nasty, minimalist web comic about a little girl, a pig, and various walk-ons. [Link]

Pixelly goodness in the form of a mini city creator [Link]

Tons of wacky spoofs on the latest iPod ad campaign, courtesy of somethingawful.com [Link]

Inexplicably zany sex-themed art from Japan: "Mad Lovers Erotic Violence and Cute." T-shirts, action figures, online gallery. Think, bunnies and panda bears ripping each others' entrails out during wildly bloodthirsty BDSM sessions, while condom-clad butterflies observe from a distance. [Link]

added bio page.

added photos for the tpjc photo page.

added photos from my kuala lumpur trip in december 2002.

added icq contact in menu on the right. could not get the icq status button to work so i did not add it. if anyone knows a workable way to use the status button, do email or icq me. thanks!

web site is up, added the following items in the photos page, me and my wife, friends, tpjc, othello, singapore national othello championship