Star Wars : The Last Jedi

Star Wars - The Last Jedi

Just watched this movie today. Overall, I find this trilogy set of Star Wars gives viewers questions. It uses viewers expectation and produce a some how unexpected experience.

Some comments :

(1) How could Supreme Leader Stoke be so easily killed off?  This was even worse than that Emperor Palpatine. As least Palpatine fought with Skywalker.

(2) The trailer leading to the movie had set me thinking that Princess Leia would be killed off by her son. I was wrong.

(3) Kylo Ren - Director made viewers feel that Kylo might be a good guy after all. But we were wrong.

(4) Rey - Viewer was thinking that her parents would be related to some Jedi given her Jedi strength and skill. Some how I was disappointed to find out that her parents were not great jedi after much anticipation. Perhaps it was similar to Anakin.

(5) You know that it is a Disney film by the cute Porg (the bird like creature) and the presence of children and the ending scene where a child character holds a boom and looks at the night sky.

(6) New Skill - Luke Skywalker ability to teleport himself to another planet and fights like a normal jedi master. Never have such skill shown in other Star Wars movies.

(7) The inability to destroy the rebel vessel - I find it unbelievable. The First Order could just send in their Tie fighters in great numbers to get close to it and destroy the vessel.

(8) The island in which Rey trained is so earth looking.

(9) Luke Skywalker - Like Kylo, the Director has made viewers wonder that he might be bad at one point (by trying to kill Kylo). But we were wrong. I think the last scene where Luke fights off Kylo quite beautiful against the backdrop of AT-AT Walker.

I find the viewing experience for The Last Jedi better than The Force Awakens, but Rogue One is better than The Last Jedi.

US$1 Million

US$ Bill from the Museum of American Finance

Exchange rate as at 10 Dec 2017

Back in 20 March 2015, I shared that I had achieved SGD $1 Million in wealth, excluding property and central provident fund saving.

At the current US$ to SGD$ conversion rate of US$1 to SGD$1.352 (as at 10 Dec 2017), I have obtained an equivalent US$1 Million in wealth, excluding property and central provident fund saving. This is achieved after I started working for 23 and a half years. I have no debt owning to banks or financial institutions.

According to CNBC report, at the end of 2016, there were 10.8 million millionaires in the United States. There were reports that millionaires are now the new middle class. The statistic reported that there were 323.1 million Americans in 2016. Meaning that millionaires only form 3.34% of individual Americans in the United States.

Important Thoughts on Observation, Logical Deduction and Health

An interesting article:-

http://checkthesethings.com/104-year-old-japanese-doctor-recommends-14-healthy-pieces-advice/

Point 2 says:- "Do not believe everything your doctor recommends"

When I was 18 years old, I had pneumothorax, which is a collapse of the lungs. I had it during my running in College. It was spontaneous which means a sudden collapse of my right lung. When it happened, there was a sudden pain. My mother asked me to see a physician at a clinic located at the ground floor of my flat. The doctor said I am alright and gave me some pain killer. But my mother was smart and asked me to see another doctor whom she was familiar. She requested that I asked for a second opinion. This Senior doctor had a thorough check on my lung with a stethoscope and concluded that I had pneumothorax. He requested that I immediately be admitted to a Hospital where X-ray confirmed his correct diagnosis. Fortunately, it was only one side, otherwise I would be dead. Thank you, Dr Wong (of Jalan Jurong Kecil).

Recently, I regularly visited a Hospital because of my mother illness. In a visit, I was fortunate to hear a conversation between a Senior Doctor and a Junior Doctor. In the discussion, the Junior Doctor said that the patient was having some sickness. The Senior Doctor asked why he came to this conclusion. The Junior Doctor was unable to answer. The Senior Doctor replied that it was very important to observe a patient and look for sign that draws conclusion to the patient sickness. This can be her diet, the frequency of passing motion, her ability to eat etc.. All these are evidence of what the body is giving as hints to the illness. The Senior Doctor is right. Unfortunately, not many people, whether Doctors or otherwise, is able to follow this strict regime of observation and logical deduction. Without thorough observations and clinical evidence, we may simply jump to a conclusion which could be wrong.

I have proven myself right in the face of Professional Engineer and Doctors alike because of these 2 factors. Observations and Logical Deduction.

Quote of the Month

"A calm and humble life will bring more happiness than the pursuit of success and the constant restlessness that comes with it."

 Albert Einstein, 1922, Tokyo

POSB Memorabilia

POSB Bank Saving Books

 

POSB Debit Cards

 

POSB Coin Saving Boxes

Toyota Corolla E70

Toyota Corolla DX E70. The background has the latest Toyota Corolla Altis.

Toyota Corolla DX Rear

Toyota Corolla DX (E70), a rare car nowadays to see one in Singapore. It is probably more than 35 years old. I sat in one back in 1991, 92 period. This one still has the original colour as seen from the condition of the paint. The unique large front and rear crash bars are so 80s car. A reliable car that is still being driven today.

Quote of the Month

"Its not uncommon to see a Prius with over 300,000 miles in its original drivetrain. Meanwhile, a Honda will grenade its transmission before it gets there. And a Subaru will puke out its head gaskets and domestic cars, hehe...forget about it. Sure a European car will get there if you don't mind paying for the car 3 times over in maintenance during that time. And now every car guy hates me."

Hoovies Garage, Youtube, "I bought a Cheap Toyota Prius - with a Dead Battery"  Oct 6 2017

Audi A3 Mechantronic Failure

Last Monday, while travelling on Central Tunnel Expressway (CTE), my Audi A3 suddenly had a 'pop' sound and there was immediately lost of power. The engine/motor was still running as I could see the tachometer was not at zero revolution. The lost of drive was extremely dangerous while the car was on an expressway, in the middle of the road with heavy traffic. If I was not careful, there would be accident.

Fortunately, I was able to maneuver the 'dead' car slowly to the side of the expressway. I tried to restart the car and it managed to restart but there was no gear engaged. There was an transmission error message on the display gauge. The car had to be towed to Audi service centre.

It was discovered that the gear controller had failed. The gear controller is also known as the mechatronic. It is part of the infamous DSG (Direkt-Schalt-Getriebe) on VW and Audi cars (S-tronic). The cost of replacing the gear controller amounts to approximately S$4000. What an exorbitant amount! The car was driven only for about 3 years and 9 months with mileage at less than 46,000 km.

I am not happy with Audi because:-

(1) Car should have certain reasonable quality and durability in its parts. Technology without quality is as good as beauty without substance.  My previous Honda Stream did not have any gear transmission issue when the car was driven for 9 years with more than 100,000 km mileage.

(2) VW / Audi should not continue to use this gear controller or DSG given its quality issue. Before I bought the A3, I had asked the salesperson whether Audi had resolved the issue on its gears. I was assured by the salesperson that it had as Audi product was superior than its VW counterpart. He was wrong and I had to pay for his misrepresentation.

(3) When the gear controller had failed, there was no power from its engine/motor. This is an extremely dangerous failure that can lead to accident and even death. How could Audi / VW put in their cars mechanism that has no back up factor of safety and gave consumers cars that could lead to potential accidents?

I am extremely disappointed by German cars in specifically Audi.

Super Robot Chogokin

Super Robot Chogkin

The Super Robot Chogokin toy from Ban Dai. The robot reminds me of a toy I used to play when I was a 9 to 10 years old kid. Back then I was a poor student and I had a friend who was rich enough to possess a robot toy. I guessed it was quite expensive because it was metallic, not plastic. It had also a fist that could fire away by depressing a button.  My friend was able to lend me his toy for a night and I could play with it, I was impressed with it but could not afford one.  The similarity between Super Robot Chogokin and my memorable toy was the round body. It was different from transformers toys which are rather rectangle with right angles legs and hands and body.

This current robot has a rather fearful face. I have not read the manga nor seen the cartoon series of this robot though.

Singapore Road Tax Disc

Singapore Vehicle Road Tax Disc

The Singapore Road Tax Disc is obsolete. No more a requirement to display Road Tax Disc on the windshield of a car. Many years later, this will be viewed as a heritage item. In driving a car since 1998, there was only one time when I was stopped by traffic police for inspection of the validity of the road tax. No major concern as I have been paying road tax promptly.

Quote of the Month

"So, you're still going to die one day. But as to when, that answer probably doesn't reside in what you eat nearly as much it does in what your DNA looks like."

Extracted from Gizomodo publication by Ryan F Mandelbaum titled 'Scientists find Genetic Mutation That Could Increase The Male Lifespan'
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/06/scientists-find-genetic-mutation-that-could-increase-the-male-lifespan/

New York - Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Built between 1919 - 1924

Deep inside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York lies more than one quarter of the world's know reserves of gold bullion. These tens of billions of dollars worth of gold bars, each numbered and weighed, are stored five stories underground in 122 compartments in a vault closed with a steel door weighting 90 tons. Most of the gold at the Federal Reserve belongs to foreign governments and international organisations. They store their gold here for three reasons: first, the bank's location in the heart of the US financial center; second, its unrivaled security; and third, the ease of trading when many countries keep their gold in the same building. As countries originally made payments to each other, gold bars could simple be wheeled from one country's vault to the next - no need crate them for long ocean voyages, no fear of disaster at sea.
........ extracted from a street display showing information on the Federal Reserve Bank

Fisher Astronaut Space Pen

Fisher Astronaut Space Pen Specifications

I bought this pen because of its unique feature of pressurized sealed ink cartridge. It means that it can write on an inverted surface with its anti gravity technology. There are many myth and stories about this pen and how the Soviets had used a pencil to overcome weightless condition in space which prevented conventional ball point pen ink from flowing. It comes with a chrome finishes and it has a push mechanism for the cartridge to be pressed down for writing.

I purchased the pen from Amazon at a cost of USD$35.67 + USD$2.56 for import tax. Total: USD$38.23.

The pen writes very smoothly and it is one of the smoothest ball point pen I have written. According to the specification, it has ultra hard tungsten carbide ball. Impressive.

I just hope its chrome finishing will not tarnish over time.

Parker Sonnet Cisele Fountain Pen

Parker Sonnet Cisele

Parker Sonnet Cisele

I bought this Parker fountain pen from Amazon at a cost of USD $269.67 + USD$19.35 for import tax. Total: USD$289.02. In New York, this would cost USD$376, probably excluding city tax. I was planning to buy this in New York but when I saw the price over at Amazon, I stopped.  There are so much saving from purchasing over the Internet. This is the reason why retails shops are dying in US. The only thing is that a buyer can't feel and decide before purchase when it is bought over Internet. I have no issue given that I am familiar with fountain pen.

The Parker Sonnet Cisele has a medium gold plated nib. The body has also other gold plating parts. I was expecting the body to be heavy, but I am wrong. The body is slightly lighter than my China made Jinhao 163.  I am guessing that the body of the Parker pen is made from some resin that makes it light. The Jinhao 163 however has a metal core. The Parker writes just like any ordinary fountain pen. It is interesting to note that the pen is made in France. The gold finishing does looks good.  Being Parker premium pen, the Sonnet does come with a nicely designed box. The ink can be through the pump filler provided on purchase or through independent parker ink cartridge.

I bought this pen because the design reminds me of a mechanical ball point Pilot pen which I had when I was a Primary School boy.

Note: Mustafa Shopping in Singapore is selling the same pen at S$475 (equivalent of US$339.3) as at June 2017.

United States Observations 2017

Parking Rates at New York Midtown



Luggage lock that was plied open by TSA

What I like about United States?
(1) Automobile is probably one of the cheapest in the world.
(2) Freedom of Speech as guaranteed by the Constitution.
(3) Certain things are cheaper - Example Polo Ralph Lauren.
(4) Cool weather if is not too cold.
(5) Great online shopping - Amazon, Ebay etc. Offering free delivery to any part of main land United States. With the size of population, commercial companies target Americans with convenient solutions. Not so for international buyers. Example: Black Friday deals.
(6) Less dusty as compared to Singapore
(7) Respect for the dead for them to RIP.

What I am concern?
(1) Availability of guns. TV News have reports of murder and gun shots.
(2) Legalistic Society. Advertisement offering legal help against companies.
(3) Cost of Living. A meal at fast food costs about US$10 per person. More expensive if it is in proper restaurant with tips. Public transportation is also expensive considering Washington DC bus is about US$1.75 per trip. However, there are means for man on the street to survive, eg Walmart, K-mart (all offering reasonable priced items especially when purchased in bulk), self cook, use of private transport, coupons etc. For office workers, there are street food vendors offering reasonable priced variety food. Local produce is also value for money, eg 1 box of strawberries in New York Chinatown cost US$1 and they are fresh.
For ways to see how Americans survived in New York, please refer to this -> http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/24/i-saved-100k-on-30k-salary-here-are-my-money-saving-tips.html
(4) Tax - Income Tax, Sales Tax etc. All adds up to reducing the disposal Income.

Observations:-
(1) Society respect for military and unformed personnel, giving them priority in public facilities.
(2) Not so handicapped free access at subway.
(3) Slums where the whole community moved out leaving houses which are ransacked. Saw them when travelling along the Northeast Regional Amtrak.
(4) Multi cultural society - Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Caucasians.
(5) Presence of emergency siren 24 hours each day. It can be from ambulances, fire engine, police.
(6) At the Airport, there are only 3 processes (a) check in by airlines counter staff (b) verification of tickets purchased against passport holders name and (c) security checks. The security checks are the most prominent ones having to remove laptops/tablets, shoes etc...  It appears that there is no immigration for exits. Passport has no exit stamp chop. Don't US authorities check on undocumented immigrant exit?
(7) A lady in New York actually gave way for me to step out. The lady was a modern and young person. I was pleasantly surprised.

According to report, in 2016, there are 10.8 million of Americans who are millionaires (not including primary residences).

Smithsonian National Gallery of Art - Interesting Painting

 

 

A continuation of paintings in Gallery / Museum which I could not understand. This time there are 3 of them in display at the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art.

Interesting Article on Chinese Immigrants to US

 

Source: Ellis Island, New York Immigration Museum

Source: Museum of Chinese in America, New York

Washington DC - White House

The White House, where the most powerful person in the world resides. Visitor can only see it from afar. It used to be a place where Americans could hold a demonstration to voice their displeasure. But now, it is fully secured with Police scanning activities of visitors and there are barricades everywhere.

It always amuse me to see commercial jets flying close to the National Mall which in turn is close to the White House. During my visit, I saw many commercial airliners landing their aircraft on Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. What will happen if a pilot has evil intention? There is a Hollywood movie depicting missiles which belong to Security Agency from White House firing at hostile aircraft. I wonder is there such missiles system within the White House. In Independence Day, the Alien had destroyed the White House.

The White House doesn't seem to be as white as I had expected. The colour is pale white. It is great to see this historical building where so many American Presidents have resided since 1800.

Rembrandt's Self Portrait

Rembrandt's (Dutch painter, 1606 to 1669) self portrait is an interesting piece of art. I was stuck looking at the artist nose for a long time. It was so well done to create the 3 dimensional looking nose on a 2 dimension piece of canvas. There was effort made in making the nose stand out relative to the eyes socket and the face. The skill and technique of Rembrandt was truly amazing. I am honor to have seen this portrait in real life from the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art.

Space Shuttle Discovery in Steven F Udvar Hazy Center

Discovery Space Shuttle is big. It is through a real life visit to the Center to see the interesting proportion of the space shuttle. The rear engines of the Space Shuttle consist of 3 big rockets and a few other smaller ones. Something not easily noticeable unless it is through an actual visit. The diameter of the rear engines is bigger than the height of a human being. It is also equally interesting to see the various vectoring boosters surrounding the Space Shuttle to control direction in space and the hinges that hold the Space Shuttle door with the fastening bolts.

According to the presenter of the tour, the Center wishes to maintain the original condition of the Space Shuttle, hence visitors would be able to see the stain, burn mark of the Shuttle during entry. Discovery is one of the longest serving Space Shuttle of the programme. It flew its last space mission in Feb of 2011.

To me, I enjoy looking at the proportion and details of the Space Shuttle. To American, it is probably a national achievement icon. Something to be proud of.  Fantastic piece of equipment.

New York Dow Jones Chart

Dow Jones Chart from 1900 to 2010

At the Museum of American Finance, there is a chart showing the Dow Jones Index growth from 1900 to 2010. There are events linked to the Dow Jones Index, most notably is the great depression of late 1920s. In 2017, the Dow Jones Index had exceeded 21,000 points. The Museum focused on 3 investment tools, namely equity, bonds and commodities futures.

The Museum had also other interesting facts of finance shown below:-

US National Debt as at 2 May 17

 

 

 

Smithsonian Messerschmitt ME 163 Komet



ME 163 Komet

Again this was my second time seeing the ME163. This aircraft is located at the Steven F Udvar Hazy Center. I realized that the wing of the ME 163 was made from wood to make it light weight. This is not a full jet engine and propulsion is derived from rocket which burnt a highly flammable fuel mixture. Hence weight is an important consideration.

Smithsonian Messerschmitt ME262

Messerschmitt ME262 in Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

 

Cockpit of ME 262

This was the second time I had the pleasure to see a ME262. The first time was in Munich Deutsche Museum. The link to the first blog on ME 262 is --> http://e21s.blogspot.sg/2015/08/germany-part-18-messerschmitt-me-262.html

I found that the Smithsonian museums were generally poorly lit, probably due to protection of artifacts.  The photo for this ME262 was not so good, given that flash photography is generally prohibited in a museum.

The unique feature of this ME262 is the presence of Nazi sign at the rear vertical stabilizer. Unlike the Munich version which had the sign removed, this version in Smithsonian kept the original sign.

Secondly, the cockpit is clearly presented to visitors of the museum as a platform was erected next to the aircraft.

A beauty of its time.

Washington DC Food

Chipotle - A nice blend of rice, cheese, cream, beef steak grilled and seasoned in Mexican way. Not bad for a different taste. Chipotle is located throughout United States.

Fuddruckers - Claimed to be the world's greatest burger. Hmmm..... The one I ate has a Kobe Beef name on it and cost me US$11. It was no doubt tasty, but the taste came from salt and MSG. In fact, I found many American restaurants, except those high ends, have MSG.

McDonald Big Mac - This is located at Steven F Udvar Hazy Center. It tasted like any other Big Mac but again I felt thirsty after consuming it(usually due to presence of MSG). Could be due to the sauce (barbecue and sweet & sour which are available in Singapore). Cost me about US$9 for the meal. Reminds me of Big Mac Index.

The Bakery Pie - This is the most value for money food I had. In fact for 3 breakfasts, I had this. I purchased this from Walmart in Washington DC. Guess how much? .......... US$0.50 per box. It tasted good with its pie filling deliciously made. There were a few flavors.  I tried the lemon and peach pies. Highly recommended.

Vietnamese Pork with Rice - Restaurant is located near Chinatown, I had the intention to eat Vietnames pho but I was too hungry and decided to eat rice. Again it is tasty. My taste bud told me that it has MSG. Cost me US$18 including tips.

This is a proper Restaurant within Smithsonian National Gallery of Art - Salmon with salad. The butter that came with the meal was very nice. I didn't taste MSG in this meal. Cost me US$30 including tips.

New York - Subway

Notice the trash box within the station

It is not easy to navigate New York subway even for experienced travelers. Its complex network of train is one of the most challenging ones I have seen. More difficult than Guangzhou, German, Singapore, Malaysia train network. Just look at the Subway map and one will understand why.

There are a few considerations for travelling in New York subway (from my limited 4 days experience in New York). It needs a lot of logical thinking and common sense:-

(1) Direction - Uptown v. Downtown. Sometimes the signage will just show Brooklyn or Queens and traveler must know the map of New York well to know the position of the end point against the train station one is heading.
(2) Express v. Local stops - Certain train station will have local and express train service and hopping on a local train may extend the travelling time. For example A, C, E lines may indicate different express or local line even though they may be heading to the same direction. How to differentiate? It is through the subway map, the train station signage and announcement made by train operator. This is the most challenging aspect of travelling on the subway.
(3) Exit location - Train stations may have many exits and getting on to the right exit needs experience. For example, 23rd Street/ Court Square has exit on 23rd Street and 21st street. Distance between exit can be 1 km apart. I ended at the wrong exit on the first day to the hotel and had to walk. Fortunately I have iPhone Map to guide.
(4) Different subway line within the same station - Going to the right one requires examination of signage. Especially important if traveler wants to change subway line. It may involve finding the right platform (which can be the same one or a different one).
(5) Train may be taken off the line as and when announcement is made by the operator. Traveler has to listen to the announcement which is typically in American slang. The other indication is when everyone gets off the train.

Apart from that, train can get delayed because of technical issues. I had the experience of slow train on the E line. 

In addition, there are strange people asking for money in the train.