Wikipedia

Has anyone used the Wikipedia website before?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

It's an online encyclopedia but, more useful and far more diverse.

In many ways, its far more useful than Google in terms of research. I've been using it quite regularly for the last two months, and during my last month at Chohung Bank, I was using it VERY regularly in order to kill some time.

For example, if you want to know the ending of "The Fast and The Furious", type it in, and it'll give you a plot summary and the ending.

The beauty of Wikipedia, is that it has been written by its readers - its also being constantly edited and if you feel that an entry looks wrong, you can edit it yourself. How cool is that!

Anyway, things i've been using Wikipedia for recently

• reading analysis of movies i dont understand!
  
• looking up old Sinclair Spectrum computer games
• doing some research into Chinese history - just realised that for a Chinese person, I don't know that much about my history

In some ways, I think my generation missed out by not having the Internet when we were in school/college. Geez, i mean, think of the kind of information available just by typing in a few words in your browser. I doubt even my school/college library had this much information so easily available.

And there's another factor too - its fun! I mean, its great to be able to research into rock formations in Bolivia, but two seconds later, you can also read up retro gaming on the Commodore 64!

So get researching! Find out something new that you didn't know. This link should take you to a random article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

A Ten Year Romance

Er, I've been watching a lot of "Friends" this week.

And something which I've always thought was a tragedy, was that it took Ross and Rachel 10 years to finally realise how much they meant to each other.

Ten years! And throughout those years, they both went through their fair share of partners, and you know what? None of them had the chemistry or the dynamics with those partners that they had each other.

Even in the last episode, it wasn't known if she would be off to Paris for good, so leaving Ross with nothing but thought of what could have been.

So they got together at the end. But look at the time they wasted!

Van drivers and tailgaters

What is it about them?

Yesterday, I was tailgated by 3 of them on the A3 back to Woking - its pretty hilarious being tailgated 100 metres before a sensitve speed camera actually! The van drivers are so close behind you, that you can see the anger in their eyes, and their frustrations at me not breaking the speed limit just before a camera!

Of course, once you past the camera, you can just drop down a few gears and totally slaugher the imbecile in the van. And then slow down and let him catch up with you. And then be prepared to receive the "finger"!

You have to laugh, especially when the van is bright pink, and driven by a guy with a skinhead!

Talking to Bruce about this, he pretty much summed it up when he said that he "didn't use the brake pedal"!

Don't people get nervous when they're tailgating someone or, driving very close to the person in front? I always try and leave a two car space between myself and the car in front - hear that Julie? :)

p.s Johnny, have fun with your new phone - and Julie, back off! Leave my Best Man alone and stop picking on his phones!

Its a hard life

It was sunny.

And the last time it was sunny, i remember Mike had the day off, and he sent me a picture of the pint of Stella that he was consuming.

I was in the office that today, and I swore I'd take revenge.

So here it is Mikey! I might take a picture of me having a bath in Stella later.

Went back to the office today to pick up my pc's - my bedroom at my mum's place is now a graveyard of PC's and screens, and I swear my mum is giving me dirty looks everytime she walks in here!

Whats on my agenda today? Well, im taking my mum out shopping later - she hasn't been in the Honda yet, so that should be fun! Also, I received my external hard drive today (the one that Mike, Josephine, Bruce, Jo, Julie and Karen got for my birthday present - if you didn't chip in, why not?). I think i'll spend the whole day backing up my files.

Oh what a hard life this is!

Last Day

End of an era really.

My boss took me out for lunch today, which is good, because otherwise I wouldn't have ordered the £5 lychees (abusrd isn't it, that a restaurant can charge that much for something which came out of a tin!). He also mentioned to me that I could take home the computers on my desk! Which isn't absurd - althought, I know have more computers than shoes at home.

I started this job 6 years ago, and I thought it was going to be the job which would set me on the path of prosperity and immense wealth.

Er, neither of those two have come my way. But I do know what food to order in a Korean restaurant!

And I do know which toilet to avoid in the men's!

Its so strange that I've come out of here, after 6 years feeling that my career has just stagnated working here. I've come out of here with a greater knowledge of I.T and Banking, yet because of the lack of business here, there's been no need to put my knowledge into practise. It's like being a doctor, yet having no patients to work on.

Its very strange leaving a place when you've been here so long - and althought I leave here with lots of negative thoughts, there has been some positives, and throughout the years, I did make some good friends who made the journey here somewhat more bearable - Carol, Ashley, Garry, Maria, Mercedes - thanks guys for providing some much needed laughts and for introducing me to drinking at lunchtime!

I'm coming back into the office tomorrow as I have to pick up my new goodies. It'll be a good feeling though, to know that I dont have to come in for work purposes!

Last Day Eve

Am frantically backing up all my data onto cdrom. 6 years, I've accumulatd gigabytes of data and I dont want to lose some of this stuff.

Its very strange doing this. Just hope I don't miss anything!

Desk looks very strange at the moment - i've never seen it so clean before.

Did I tell you guys that I got a Nintendo DS on Saturday? Its a fantastic machine, and I love it to bits.

Problem is - that there's no games available for the damn thing! So its going back for a refund next Saturday :(

Ode to Johnny

Remember a couple of weeks ago, i dedicated a blog to Julie - well, here's one to my good friend Johnny.

I first met Johnny in Hammersmith College in 1989. I used to pass him in the corridor, and we would give each other a dirty, mean look, just to try and intimidate each other, but I guess we both probably looked like we were suffering from constipation.

Actually, seeing that I was dressed like a Bros (80's boy band) groupie (blue torn jeans, blue denim shirt, red bandana), I guess it wasn't a surprise that he was eyeballing me up. But then, seeing that Johnny had a wavey perm with a middle parting, and clutching a mobile phone, I thought he was recruiting for the triads! (perm and mobile phone was standard equipment in those days).

In Hammersmith college, people tended to hang round their own ethnic groups - so one end of the college would be populated by the chinese people, the other one by the Indians guys, and the other end by the black guys. So Johnny would be there, with the other Chinese lot. I wasn't part of this "elite" group, as I was hanging around with this girl that I fancied (i thought there was a mutual feeling, seeing that I used to borrow her money all the time). Everytime I walked past, I could feel the dirty looks aimed right at the back of my bandana.

I think we started talking because of a mutual friend - someone I knew was in one of his classes and introduced me to him (er, also she fancied the nuts out of him!). And we both realised we had a lot in common. We played a lot of snooker during college time, and hanged out a lot in the local KFC. (hence why i got expelled i think!).

Also, several months after talking to him, i suddenly aquired the nickname "Biff" - and the weird thing is how quickly it got adopted. I've got a very mild stammer, and at times when I talk, words come out very quickly and rushed. Hence Johnny noticed that the sound that came out of my mouth sounded like "biff buff biff buff buff biff". I used to think it was a curse, but then i slowly realised that it was a great way of introducing myself to women!

• Girl "So, whats your name?"
• Me "My friends call me Biff"
• Girl (giggle) "Thats a strange name, how did you come up with that?"
• Me "Lemme tell you the story"
• Girl (giggle) " Oh thats funny - can i buy you a drink?"
• Me "If you must"

Strange that this guy who I thought was a mini gangster and who thought up this crap nicname for me, ends up being my best man, 16 years later! The secret to a good friendship? The ability to laugh at anyone and anything!

32, and proud of it!

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday dear Andrew/Biff/Cheuk Fai,
Happy Birthday to me.

Pleased to announced today that my body has again, gone through ANOTHER cycle of the Sun - this in turn has killed off a few more brain cells in my brain, caused some more blood cells to switch off and slowed my heart down a few more beats.

Actually, being in my early 30's hasn't bothered me as much as I thought it would - other people i know my age have been quite depressed and see it as a curse in their live.

To be honest, I'm bloody happy that I reached this age!

When you think of all the dangers you face in your life - all the potential risks that in a mere flutter, can take away all that you hold precious, you'd realise that life is such a miracle.

I mean, lets start at the beginning.

Starting with fertilisation - geez, think of how small a sperm is - its microscopic! Now, think about how far it has to go up the vagina wall to reach the fallopian tube - its like miles away if you're the size of a sperm. And if it reaches its target, it has to bind and fuse itself with the egg in the woman's womb.

And within this fusion of sperm and egg, lies a future breathing person - one who's dreams have yet to be shaped.

When I was an baby, my parents were quite worried about me - i was very overweight (i was so fat, i couldn't sit up straight!), I was prone to fevers, and I had loads of skin rashes. I think I must have seriously given my mother a load of sleepless nights!

If you know my mum, you'll know she worries about EVERYTHING! :)

Yet, I managed to survive it all. Later in my teens, i was diagnosed with colour blindness, and my eye sight had gotten pretty short sighted, yet it was nothing that couldn't be fixed (despite Johnny's jokes about my telescopic glasses! Git!)

And through all that, I'm sure I must have crossed a thousand roads, driven my car hundreds of times and flown a few dozen times.

Yet I'm still around!

Hence, why I'm going to be celebrating my life and what I've done and achieved. Ok, I haven't gotten a masters in adult movie reviewing yet, nor have I driven a Ferrari, but er, I've managed to do other worthwhile things, which matter to ME :) Such as sit on a rollercoaster, or snorkel (er, don't say a word Johnny!), or to ski.

I want to quote that famous philospher, Mike Ch'ng (he of the white jeans fame)

http://k-lye.blogs.friendster.com/klyes_pad/2005/08/people_rants.html

"Most of our daily issues are nothing more than ripples on the ocean and moaning about it won't fix it. By all means, vent if you have do, but then do something about it!"

So, get on with your life - and most importantly, enjoy your life.

You're only 32, once in your life!

Wing Men

Hahaha - forgotten that in my speech to the guys on Saturday, I said that I'd have any of the guys as my "wingmen" anyday!

Must stop quoting the film "Top Gun"!

Stag Summary

Ok, I'm not going to repeat what happened, word for word, but somethings need to be mentioned;

• taxi drivers -geez, 9 out of 10 taxi drivers there all tried it on - before you get into the taxi, its best to negotiate a price first - only problem is that most of them wanted us to pay 350CZK for a 10 minute taxi ride - thats nearly £8.50 - and this is in a country where a steak cost less than half that. The worst one of all was the one who wanted £12.50 from our hotel to the central square - granted, it was the middle of night, but its a 10 minute journey! Don't talk about taxi drivers to Yang - he's like a volcano waiting to pop when it comes to taxi drivers!
• beer - cheap. Beyond belief! 50p for a half litre of beer is just amazing, and its not a bad beer either to be honest. The great thing of all is that you can drink loads of the stuff without getting too drunk, and as far as I'm aware, there are no hangover effects either.
• food - cheap too. Probably not a great place to go if you're a Vegi, but for a meat lover like me, its great.
  
• lap dancing - wow! Enough said!
• our hotel - absolutely rubbish! No aircon, wash basin was small beyond words (even a midget would have had problems using it), hard beds (a plank of wood basically), and the most evil looking receptionist ever.
• my friends - brilliant. All my friends were just amazing and very much all up for a laugh - and laugh we did. Sure, we went to some scummy places, but we always made the best of every situation.
• Gatwick airport - sort out your passport control please. What a mess!

I'm sure I must have left something out, but I'm still in a daze. Im just too old these days for 3 hour's sleep a day weekends. Still, big sympathy for Johnny - we all had a day off except for him. God knows how he survived!

Tired. Beyond words.

Not writing much today. Got home last night at 11.30pm, got back to Woking at 12.15, went to bed at 1am, and woke up today at 1pm.

Will write some more tomorrow, but here's some quick stag data -

Drank - 9 pints of Pilsner, 1 pint of Gambinios, 1 Kamikaze, 2 Red Bulls/Vodka, 4 large Martini/Lime

Slept - Friday night - 3 hours, Saturday - 3 hours, Sunday - 3 hours

See you guys tomorrow.

Uplifting

I met a one year old girl yesterday with Down Syndrome.

I was at Guy's Hospital, visiting my mother, and in the bed next to us, was a woman visting her mother.

Anyway, this girl had really big blue eyes, and she couldn't stop smiling - honestly, she had the face of a little angel. So as I usually do when I see cute babies, I pull weird faces and make funny sounds at them, and the little girl just started chuckling.

Her mother said that the girl was born two months premature and that she had been diagnosed with Down Syndrome.

You could read about it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome

When I think of the struggle that this little girl, who gave me the cutest chuckle ever, has to face in her life, it makes you realise how amazing some of the parents who have to deal with this are - the woman saw her daughter as a blessing, and quite unique.

And after seeing this little girl smiling, I think I agree with her.

So, Biff's saying of the day;

"seize the day".

Stag Weekend Minus One Day

Oh my god.

I'm started to get a bit excited about the whole thing now! I guess because of all the things going on in my life at the moment, I haven't really had time to get excited about it, but I'm now smiling at the thought of a 80p half litre of beer!

Also, at this point, I start to get anxious.

Do I have everything? Most important thing is passport - check, i always remember that, unlike Mikey. Have I printed off the Easyjet/Praguepissup documents? Check, just done that. Do I have a change of underwear? Check, oh yes sir, I have that all sorted out.

Its strange because I normally don't use the organiser on my phone - but at the moment, its absolutely filled with things such as "don't forget the imodium", and "remind mike not to leave me naked in prague".

I really hope that everyone enjoys themselves - in the last couple of weeks, me and my best men Johnny and Mike, have done a lot of research into Prague's nightlife (not THOSE kind of places Josephine!), and my one true fear is people not enjoying themselves.

I guess if they don't, then I'll just have to strip naked and run up and down in Prague!

Mobile Phones Round Up

This seems to be a day about Johnny!

Anyway, after seeing Johnny's Nokia 7210 yesterday, I just thought I'd do a round up of phones out at the moment, or about to come out.

Sony Ericsson W800



The first Sony phone deemed worthy of the "W" (Walkman" tag. Encased in a tasteful orange shell, this phone is near identical to its sister phone, the K750.

It has

• 2mp camera
• 512mb memory stick
• 30 hour playback for music player
• FM radio

I've had a play with the K750 which is its sister phone, and the user interface is much better than the previous Sony Ericsson phones. Response time is neary instant, so eliminating the previous lag that these phones used to suffer.

A big thumbs up to this phone.

Nokia N91



Something a bit different. Nokia have placed a 4GB (the same size as a mini ipod) hard drive into a 3G/GSM smartphone.

This phone has

• 4GB hard drive - enough capacity for around 2000 odd songs? Or if you don't want ot use it store music, you can use it as an external hard drive
  
• 2MP camera
• FM radio

This phone won't be out till around late Autumn/early Winter, but rumours suggest that even with a subsided pricing plan, this phone will still be quite expensive. Also, personally, I have to ask myself, how long will the battery last for, if you're using the music player AND the phone all day long?


Motorola PEBL V6



Julie will like this - Motorola's latest stylish offering resembles....a pebble, hence the name! Function wise, it isn't exactly state of the art (no megapixel camera, no expandable memory, etc), but it should appeal to those who deem fashion more important than functionality.

Phone has

• 0.3 megapixel camera
• smooth silver finish
• 5mb memory

Er, and thats it!

SonyEricsson D750



Johnny, why don't you consider this? It's near identical to the W800 - all it lacks is the memory stick (which you can pick up cheaply in eBay or HK), and the headphones.

Phone has

• 2mp camera
• 30 hour playback for music player
• FM radio
• 64mb memory stick
  

And its going to be a lot cheaper than the W800 at first - the hype of the W800 is increasing the basic price of it.

Do your own blog

Johnny - do your own blog!

Its dead easy. Go to Blogger.Com. Sign on for an account. Choose your layout and name of blog. Sorted! Then just write.

You don't need to write about anything remotely intelligent or witty - you're a funny guy and you have enough funny stories about people in general to write a dozen blogs!

Give it a try - and don't take it too seriously!

If you need a hand with things to write about, I'll talk to you about it this weekend in Atlas Bar, Prague!

Prague Countdown

3 days to go!

List of things to do

• buy shower gel
• bring imodium just in case
• pack passport in a place where I can remember to get it
• charge batteries for camera

Go on, give a damn please

Overcooked, still stuck together and filled with a substance they called pork.

What am I talking about?

The dumpings (Gyoza) I had yesterday in a Japanese restaurant.

They were so overcooked, that they had just stuck together - so with one prod of my fork, I could have picked up all five pieces. Separating them from each other involved simply destroying the dough in order to loosen them all up.

And they had the cheek to charge £3.50 for this.

Earlier we had ordered some chicken wings for my niece to eat during the main course. And when did they turn up? Just after all the plates had been cleared up.

And they had a cheek to charge a 10% service charge for this.

Now, this isn't an accusation about the Japanese, because to be honest, I dont think I've ever had this kind of service from a Japanese establishment - its more an accusation about resturants in general, but dont they realise that this kind of sloppiness puts people off from going to there again?

I don't know- maybe I'm being sensitive to things like this, but I view eating out as an experience, and I love my food. "Little" things like this, irritate me, and makes me wonder about the business ethos of restaurant owners like this.

Dancing

As Karen has told me many a times, I can't dance.

When the music starts, and everyone starts getting down, I reluctantly walk onto the dance floor - my feet start to shuffle like a duck, and then my arms move around the top of my head, like I'm suffering from a fit.

In my head, I have this vision of women dancing around me, all lining up to dance with me, but I guess in reality, they're all lining up to claim compensation from me when I end up bashing them in the eye with my flailing elbows!

But the thing is, I hate dancing. Its just something I'm not interested in. When I listen to music, I dont instantly feel an urge to start spinning on my head, I just feel an urge to eat a pizza. Its just not me, and I always found it annoying when your in a club, and someone keeps bugging you to come and dance - I know they're just being polite, but NO means NO!

When I was in my twenties, I used to go clubbing quite a bit - me, Johnny and Matthew used to go every Friday to Maximus in Leicester Square, and it was just hilarious. I would be doing the "running man" for 4 hours straight, Matthew would be doing his russian square dancing, and Johnny would be doing something he learnt off a rap video. And the funny thing is that we all thought we were quite hot!

I'm suprised we didn't start strutting out of the club, like the kids from Fame, and start dancing in the streets, such was our euphoria!

But I guess there got a point, when I just didn't enjoy it anymore. And I'm now old enough to not care about dancing in clubs anymore. I'd rather just drink and watch everyone else dance.

p.s Happy Birthday Ju-Lun Ju Par Fang!

Friday night

Oh boy.

Must make a mental note to myself

Stop mixing my drinks.

Beer, vodka with lemonade (it was wrong Jo!), vodka with lime, JD and Coke, red wine, champagne and gin and tonic DOESN'T MIX!

In fact, it just rotates around your stomach and makes you say strange things. I dont think that Brucie's stomach agreed with it too, judging by his reaction when he got home. (he did a "jo"!).

Friday was a very good night - we were celebrating Brucie's birthday at Slug and Lettuce in Covent Garden, and there was a good turnout. I can't actually remember what time we left, and I can't remember saying goodbye to anyone (except for a very manly hug with Mike).

I'm starting to think that I'm going to be feeling very sick in Prague!