EVACOMICS BLOG

Of course I must visit Universal Studios before I leave Singapore! I forced asked my friends to go with me on a Saturday which costs $72, very expensive. Because their hit attraction Battlestar Galactica was closed for tweaking, they gave us $10 meal voucher and $5 retail voucher :( 因為快離開新加坡了，所以當然要先去環球電影城玩玩啦！ 週末票價為$71真貴！由於其中一個主要景點Battlestar Galactica無期關閉，所以當局分發了$10餐飲券和$5購物券。但我覺得還是不划算。

The people from Yamato Kuroneko came down to pick up my luggage in the afternoon, fully prepared with weighing scale, carton boxes, forms, brochures, money and packing materials. Basically everything is taken care of! If you're also flying to Japan to study or work like me, here's what I did: 通過黑貓宅急便，把我的大包小包先運走了! 黑貓人員準備得很齊全，如秤，箱子，表格，解說冊子，零錢和包裹用具。 基本上，全都被妥善處理！我無須費心呢！ 以下是準備包裹的過程，方便那些也要去日本唸書或工作的讀者： Call/email Yamato Transport to arrange for delivery of their boxes so you can start packing. Also arrange for the pick up date as well. Their boxes range from: Size A 92x46x22cm Size C 66x46x33cm Size D 46x33x33cm Just stuff your things into the boxes but make sure each is less than 25kg and $2500 in value. No need to write anything on the boxes and leave them open in case you want to do any last minute re-arrangements. Insurance is included. There will be a couple, one Japanese who will help you with the forms, and the other busy packing and writing on your boxes. They w...

Sorry for the lack of comic updates! I've been busy playing packing and catching up with friends before I fly. You'll see a few more photo diary updates before I tuck my tablet into its box and ship it together with my other parcel.

Today I decided to pay a visit to MDA(Media Development Authority) to thank them for the Media Education Scheme (which they don't categorize as scholarship) as well as to inform them that my "commitment period" aka bond had finished. The start of the conversation was unconventional. It was my rant of how difficult it was to reach the building. Firstly, Bouna Vista is not centrally located and the East-West bound trains are rather slow... Secondly, I had difficulty locating the shuttle bus stand. After waiting for 30-40mins, I ran out of patience and took a cab with another confused lady who was also heading to MDA. Apparently, the free shuttle buses stated on their website were non existent during off-peak times. So finally we reached this "Fusionopolis" which is basically a rather large futuristic building. It looks impressive from far but...it's just a building, no "polis". And if you should make a trip down, you can also take bus 91 from Bou...

Today's errand is to go Bras Basah Complex to collect my 7 yr old watercolor painting of Clarke Quay. I originally copied it from an A4 print-out (as you can see in photo) as a practice in an Intermediate Watercolor class at Lasalle. 今天的雜事就是到書城去拿回我七年前畫的克拉碼頭水彩畫。 如照片所示，我是在Lasalle中級水彩班時，照一幅A4影印畫來練習的 不錯吧？ You'll find a few shops at the 2nd floor which does custom framing. I did mine at Pin Xuan Ge Art Gallery #02-31. An A3 custom framing service with their cheapest material and acrylic cover would be $30. I find it pretty well-done. Any cheaper would mean buying those plastic cover frames from Ikea. As I exit the door, I noticed this HUGE BRUSH!!! 正當我走出店時，發現一個巨大的畫筆 OoO;;

You might have read about the Japanese culture of giving gifts, especially to people who would be helping you. So I was advised to buy some local gifts as well. I recall bringing my pack of merlion bookmarks to USA which ended up never given away because nobody was exchanging souvenirs/gifts! They eventually landed in my roommate's hands, an unwilling party, and remarked that the bookmarks were rather useless, but what the heck... 你可能讀過關於日本人喜愛送禮物的文化，特別是給那些特別會關照自己的人。 所以在前輩的建議下，我也去買了一些新加坡特產和紀念品當禮物。 雖然這讓我想起以前去美國唸書時也帶了一堆魚尾獅書籤... 但是因為美國沒有這種文化，所以最後我都沒有機會把它們送出去！ 結果回國時，室友無奈地接受我的“禮物”，還嘮叨怎麼會送那麼沒用的東西...呵呵... 因為以下是關於那裡可以買到便宜的新加坡紀念品，所以我就偷懶不翻譯嘍～ XD Mustafa Centre --------------------- It's located at Little India but the closest MRT is Farrer Park. Just locate exit A and cross the street to Serangoon Plaza with a linkway to Mustafa at level 3. Serangoon Plaza sells souvenirs at the same level with the link-way. However there were little customers and lots of seemingly skiv...

Apologies for the lack of comics and photos as my room and mind is in a bizarre state of packing up for my studies. Anyway, yes, JUGAS (Japanese University Graduates Association of Singapore) was very kind to invite me for lunch with the MEXT (Monbukagakusho aka Monbusho) Scholars who are also leaving in April this year. Seniors and JUGAS committee members shared their valuable experiences in Japan and encouraged us to network with each other and join the association when we return. It was a nice orientation and I found out that there were quite a lot of MEXT scholars for undergraduate, probably 7-9 of them, and around 3 for postgraduate. From what I heard, the MEXT undergraduate scholars have to study Japanese for a year in respective universities then pursue their 4-years studies. A total of 5 years fully paid for! Too bad I failed my MEXT Japanese paper last year so if you're interested in this scholarship, you do need at least JLPT2 to be safe. For postgraduate applicants...

So I'd been watching the exchange rate recently and the Yen seems to be getting stronger ( SGD/JPY forex chart ). So I rushed down to change my money before I lose more. The exchange rate was: AMK Hub $15.7 Mustafa $15.51 Suntec City $15.48 As you can see, the heartland mall exchange rate is not very good. After checking the forex rates at  Mustafa 's website, I dashed down to do my exchange. But when I went to Suntec City to cut my hair, I found out that their rate was slightly better. I also heard that The Arcade's rate at Raffles Place area was the best. So now you know where to change your money! Update 2011: People's Park Centre offers a better rate than Suntec! 看到日益強勁的日幣後，我趕緊查詢哪裡換錢。結果社區的購物中心果然匯率不好-_-。所以特地去小印度的Mustafa換日幣。之後去新達城剪頭髮時，才發現原來那裡的兌換率更好！不過還好不是虧很多，下次知道要去哪裡換是最好的！

I'm proud to say that I'd been living on a P4 machine with only 36GB hard disk and 512mb ram for 2 years of my civil service. I did request for a faster PC but I was always rejected by the same reason that there's no more machines around!? Anyway it's a Windows XP and runs faster than my Dad's Windows Vista! I can run Photoshop and do small paintings but opening a 3D software(Maya) is like waiting for the tadpoles to become frogs.