Categories
Diary My Favorite

What The PUK?

Cynthia is out of town. And it seems that the entire Universe has conspired not letting me to succumb to the typical fate of a “7-year Itch” like some of my friends so playfully pointed out. When I left the office this evening, my new colleague – a gentleman in his 50s – reminded me, “Cynthia’s not in town, don’t be a naughty boy ah!”. Over one meal, another new colleague of mine – a lovely lady new to Singapore – kept talking about loyalty as an important attribute of a relationship. Even my new blogger friend EastCoastLife in replying one of my comments mentioned that … go and make some babies, boost the population of Singapore, but wait till Cynthia is back!

The truth is, it doesn’t seem like it has been that long since Cynthia and I have dated. There are always lots of things to learn with Cynthia, lots of man-made challenging scenarios to tackle, lots of opportunities to play the hero role, and lots of surprises that are beyond my imagination.

The moment I returned home tonight, I have received a text message from Cynthia’s mother’s phone. It said …

Honey, please call Bandung now. Thanks.

I was puzzled. Why did Cynthia message me via her mother’s phone? Her phone is out of battery? She has forgotten to bring the charger? She needs me to DHL the charger to her? I was tired. Feeling sticky and badly in need for a good bath.

Or is it one of the test to see what my “response time” is like? Man, I surely don’t want to go into the complication of explaining myself why I take 27 minutes and 45 seconds to return her call. Defied the temptation of a nice hot bath, I called Bandung.

Her – Honey!
Me – Uh-huh?
Her – I can’t hear you.
Me – CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Her – I $%^#*((@) my phone!
Me – You what?
Her – I $%^#*((@) my phone!

Somehow my imagination ran wild. And the connection was bad somehow.

Me – You LOST your phone?
Her – No, I $%^#*((@) my phone! I was at a shop ($&*()_)&#&^)@&) … and I …
Me – I am really confused. How did you lose your phone?

Okay. Cynthia did not lose her phone. But rather she locked her phone after putting in a new prepaid card she obtained from a shop in Bandung.

Me – Can’t you unlock your phone using a PIN?
Her – I can’t. I need the PUK code.

What the PUK?!

Me – What is a PUK?
Her – It is a code. I was paranoid when I first bought the phone (erm … I was the one who bought the phone … or she was trying to say “got the phone” instead?) so I did something to the phone.
Me – I know. But where can I find the PUK? Isn’t it in your head somewhere?
Her – Read the phone manual. Perhaps the code is inside!
Me – But the PIN is inside your head, no?
Her – No, no! It is the default code of 1234!
Me – Uh-huh … can I bath first?
Her – It is urgent! It is an emergency!
Me – But it is like 11pm in the evening … no?

Seriously, how urgent can that be? Unless she is expecting some calls … or messages … not from me! Perhaps those who seem obviously the itchy type are not exactly itchy (me!) but those who don’t seem like the itchy type …

Anyway, I did a quick read of the manual and like the TV series of CSI, I attempted to reconstruct the “crime scene”. I had no clue what PUK was and now I know.

On the day Cynthia got her brand new phone, she set the option of having the phone locked if an unauthorized SIM card is inserted without a valid PIN code. She was given the option to change her pin but she stuck with the default PIN code of 12345 (now, why would someone chooses that option without changing the default PIN code?!). Today, she slotted in the new SIM card and was prompted for the PIN code. She entered 1234 – which is the wrong one – and the phone was automatically locked, could not be used. And since her phone was locked, she needed the Personal Unlocking Key (a.k.a. PUK) from the operator to unlock the phone in order for her to set a new PIN code.

The good thing is that Cynthia’s mobile number is under my account. I own both SIM cards. I called up SingTel and chose the option of PUK retrieval, punched in Cynthia’s mobile number, punched in my NRIC … and I was asked for the 15-digit number that is printed on the SIM card. For obvious reason I didn’t have the SIM card. So I called Cynthia using my fixed line and put my mobile phone on loudspeaker while talking to a human operator this time.

At the end of the call, she thanked me for saving the day … once again. And she asked, “Who’s the guy on the phone? How did you know him? He is really helpful ya?”

Seriously, with a girl like Cynthia, how to get bored?

Categories
Silly Me

Where Is My To-Blame List?! My Dinner Was Screwed!

You know how couples occasionally plan their evening sex first thing in the morning, romance with the idea the entire day, and then have a wonderful time in the evening waking up the neighbors throughout the night? The entire day today, I kept thinking of my home cooked dinner. You see, cooking at home as a professional worker requires lots of planning and coordination. For one, I need to defrost the meat one day in advance by taking it out from the freezer and transfer it to the refrigerator the night before. Ever since I have started working, I hardly have the opportunity to cook at home.

I must be joking about cooking at home right? Ya, I get that a lot. Actually, cooking at home does not take too much time – especially the Cantonese dishes. And since you are my number one friend, I am going to show you how. This not-too-naked-chef has 18 years of cooking experience and my dishes have won over many hearts. No joke joke. People say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I would say the way to a girl’s panties heart is good home cooked food.

To save time, first and foremost important is to switch on the rice cooker. It may sound obviously duh but hear me out. The sooner you switch on the rice cooker, the sooner you can have your dinner. Between the moment you switch on the rice cooker and the moment food enters your stomach is … depends on the power of your rice cooker … it is 30 mins cooking time and 10 mins of cool off time with my antique cooker (according to my mother, that 10 mins does magic to the end result). That’s right, only 40 mins or less. If you are quick in preparing the food, you may even have half an hour doing other things outside your kitchen.

What it means is that the moment you step onto your home, forget about taking off your contact lens, forget about changing into your PJ, forget about stripping naked, go straight into the kitchen and cook the rice.

I love a brown and white rice mix and tonight, I was going to have steam egg with minced pork and lettuce with oyster sauce. Nothing fancy. Just simple home cooked food.

After switched on the rice cooker, I opened the refrigerator and took out the ingredients …

AARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!

The lettuce was rotten! Goodness gracious me! What the … It was just … one week or so ago! Crap!

People around me know that I have this To-Blame List and whenever I take it out, they will duck their heads and run for cover. I took out this To-Blame List and since Cynthia was not around …

1. Blame NTUC for selling lettuce that rots.

Fine. I would have to do without lettuce. To cook steam egg and minced pork is pretty easy. Marinate the meat with soy sauce, sugar, salt, corn flour, and for me, I like to add Chinese wine and sesame seed oil. Standard procedure for all kinds of meat except beef as salt will make the meat chewy. If you like dry scallops, soak a few in water beforehand (if time is a luxury you don’t have, just boil it), break them into small pieces and mix with the pork. Since egg cooks a lot faster than meat, stir fry the meat first till cooked and place it onto a dish.

Oh, for the Muslim readers, feel free to replace pork with beef.

As for the eggs, depending on how much meat you wish to eat. For 200 grams of meat, I usually put in three eggs. Smash them up, add some salt, and add enough water to increase the volume by say 20%. Pour the egg mixture onto the cooked meat.

Then … just steam the dish over boiling water for 10 minutes.

And right after I cooked the meat …

AARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!

… the gas ran out! Not to worry, I have a backup cylinder … and …

AARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!

That one ran out too! Com’on! This is not happening! What was I gonna do with cooked meat and raw egg mixture? I took out my To-Blame List and started to think of my mother who was in my place two months ago cooking heavily each day, started to think of Cynthia … and …

2. Blame Shell for not filling up my gas cylinder just a tiny weeny more.

Extreme situation calls for extreme measure. Think, think, I can do it.

Eventually I cooked the dish inside my oven. Took 10 mins to warm the oven up to 140 degree. After 20 mins of baking, the egg mixture was only half cooked. I removed the aluminium foil that covered the dish and up the temperature to 180 degree. After an additional 10 mins of cooking time, the end result was just like the picture shown at the beginning of this blog.

I did not know what to expect. Actually, the end result did look better than the steam version. Except that the surface was not soft and moist and it was tedious to wash the burn marks off. It did taste somewhat the same. Oh well …

Question in my head throughout the meal was … how come it took so much longer to cook the dish inside the oven? We all know that water does not go beyond 100 degree but yet, it is so much more efficient to steam than bake. Anyway, the power consumption of my oven is 1.15kWh. That works out to … 1.15 (consumption per hour) x 2/3 (cooking time) x S$0.2052 = S$0.16.

Hmmm … I thought it would cost me a bomb to cook with my oven.

Categories
I See I Write

I Am Toast, What About You?

Tigerfish is eggs. So I am curious. Just what sort of breakfast I am. And I did a simple test …


You Are Toast


Old fashioned and a bit of a homebody, you totally go for comfort food.You’re the type who loves to cook for friends, and they love you for it.You truly know what tastes good, and you can often pick out the best dish at a restaurant.

You don’t fall for food trends. You stick with what’s been food for a long time!

What Kind of Breakfast Are You?

I have to say, though being a “toast” is not sexy and uncool … what is said about me is mostly correct. Gasp! Old fashioned … skip … homebody, yes … comfort food, oh yes … love to cook for friends? Yep, that is me. Picking the best dish at a restaurant? Now I know why I always hold onto the menu and order for everybody! Ha ha ha.

Now go ahead, test out what sort of breakfast you are!

Categories
Party

So This Is The Arena …

Click to enlarge

Previously, I did a coverage on Attica. If there is one thing good about FHM or Maxim (besides the Dawn Yang pictures … gasp!), it is some of the write-ups on the clubs in Singapore. I read about The Arena and I really wanted to check it out. So I did … with Cynthia and our buddy KF.

Coincidentally, there was some big event in the Clarke Quay area last weekend (The Straits Time did a coverage on that) and besides firework display, there were some dancers in the open area as well as some Salsa singers. If Clarke Quay is going to be so happening, I am going to station there every week.

Oh … again … time for caption. This time round, up and down and left to right (click onto thumbnail to enlarge).

(1) A couple swinging in mid-air doing their dangerous routines, (2) The Salsa singers, (3) The first band in The Arena at 10pm, (4) Cynthia and I right outside The Arena … no cover charge! (5) Cynthia and our friend KF … he is a bachelor … ahem, (6) The 2nd band called Madison, (7) I think I like the 2nd band better, (8) because the lead singer is a hottie.

The concept of The Arena is quite unique. There are tables and chairs everywhere. In a way, it is like a sit down live concert. The DJ plays mainstream music (I like!) and as for the bands … they play commercial cover songs. One thing good about The Arena is that they have bands after bands. We entered before 10pm and they have their resident band taking the 10pm slot played for 50 minutes (we like the guitarist) and within 10 minutes, another band from UK took over. We left after midnight and I bet the bands would return and play till wee hours.

There was no cover charge for us. The bands are professional. The only comment I have is that the songs can be a bit outdated (like 3 to 5 years back and some can be considered as oldies like Bangles and Tiner Tuner). Cynthia and I will definitely return … very soon.

The quote of the night? During the break between the band performance (that could be quite loud), KF looked around and casually commented: I need to come back here one day … so many girls here! I bet he will.

PS. Our friend KF is single and available. He is tall, intelligent, sensual, and humorous. If any of you wish to date him, please let me know! I can do the arrangement … gladly so.

Categories
Drama Movie Reviews

The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes – The Process Is Too Painful For What The Reward Is Worth

To kick start the “Cynthia is out of town for 2 weeks and I shall keep myself occupied”, I called upon the remaining member of the Movie Review Squad for an evening outing. I texted TK this morning and asked him if he was interested to join me for “The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes” and he replied yes – without knowing what he got himself into, I later realized. Poor TK. So much faith in me, eh?

Why did I pick that movie? Advertised as the winner of the Locarno International Film Festival helped. The beautiful poster helped. And the fact that I like foreign films helped too. But why did I pick that movie?!

Sigh.

TK was asleep, I would say, 75% of the duration of the movie. In fact, he was snoring halfway and I have to give him the elbow. Duh … I felt a bit embarrassed … ha ha ha.

To be fair, this movie does have the trademark of the European movies … when the ending is revealed, you will get that … ah-ha feel. It is like the entire movie is made to mislead you to somewhere only to tell you otherwise towards the end. In fact, this movie gave me the illusion of two possible endings. When I told TK what I thought the endings could be, you should see the sparkle in his eyes.

The storyline is simple. There is a beautiful opera singer, there is an evil doctor, and there is a piano tuner. The questions throughout the movie are (at least to me) … did the opera singer die and where is the focal point? The filming is somewhat abstract, borderline artistic. Most of the time I was trying to figure out what the scenes mean. And there are lots and lots of disjoint scenes. I can safely say, I have not seen anything like “The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes” before in my life. Not necessary means that it is good … just that it is different.

For those who are a big fan of Picture House movies, you may be able to appreciate the art within. As for me, the process is indeed too painful for what the reward is worth.

Categories
Whacky Thoughts

Cynthia And I Shop In A Different Way (Working Title: I Love To Shop)

Increasingly, I realize that there is some sort of role reversal between Cynthia and I when it comes to shopping. And I assure you, there is nothing to do with that 7 months break I had and how I became domesticated.

Cynthia shops with objectives in mind. She may not know where to buy that something but she has a clear vision on what to get and how many items she needs. For instance, she has a clear picture on how many pairs of business shoes and casual shoes she has and which ones are in the pipeline of being decommissioned. I wish I could do the same for my ties. I mean, having an extra tie really wouldn’t harm, would it? Today, inside a mall, I was staring at one particular tie on the rack. I turned to Cynthia and asked: haven’t I already bought a tie of a similar style just two days ago? We both stared into space and could not recall. As of now, those ties I bought two days ago are still inside the shopping bags ready to be unwrapped.

The fact remains unchanged … I hate to shop when I need something. It is stressful. Having an objective in mind puts a time line to what could have been a wonderfully relaxing shopping experience and turns it into a chore. And that is no fun. I treat shopping as part of an exploration journey. It doesn’t have to be a route from A to B. It could be something like from A to A1 and then A2 and then zigzag between A3 and A4 … and finally you reach A999 without actually arriving at B at all. And you can save B for another day.

To illustrated, take the other day as an example. Cynthia and I needed to buy a birthday present for Lora. I walked into Orchard with an open mind (really … why need to think when the “answers” are … everywhere?). Cynthia walked into Orchard with plan A to Z all ready. Okay, I exaggerate. It was more like plan A to C. In between these plans, I stopped Cynthia at the hat section and asked her to try out some hats. Deep inside, I think she liked the diversion but she kept saying: focus, focus! And I stopped at the Men’s section and bought some ties. Finally, we got something for Lora and I really wanted to check out another department just upstairs for some casual clothes … but the time was up! Gasp! We were scheduled to meet another friend of ours for dinner …

But … but …

Sure people can understand if someone got stuck in shopping, right? I certainly can. That’s why mankind has invented wireless phone so that while waiting for your friend to arrive, people can roam around and check out things around them? That is win-win!

The other day, I was shopping with my guy friend. How wonderful it could have been! Except it didn’t turn out the way I expected it to be. Or rather, it turned out the way I didn’t wish it to be. We arrived at one section and I was marvelled at the range of clothes. I took up garment A, visualize the result, analyze the color (if I have this and that to match and so on), check out the available sizes, examine the style (how people may perceive when I wear that), and so on … and I moved onto garment B. By the time I have made the decision on which ones to take into the fitting room, my friend emerged from the fitting room and was heading to the cashier. I was like … dude … so fast?! He was like … ya, I found what I need. I was like … you don’t need my opinion? He was like …

I think the great thing about shopping with someone is that we can take our time to try things on and hear out what we have to say. That is the fun of it all.

How about things that we can’t try but can only visualize? It can be fun too! Or in my case, it could have been fun too! Today was a 20% storewise discount from selected malls. Time to shop for some pyjamas! I started with one brand then moved onto the next. Cynthia casually picked something from the shelf … the color was good, the price was a bit to the high side but … yuck! I said to her: look, there is a printing of a cockroach! Okay, she didn’t see that. Truth been told, Cynthia seemed to feel uneasy in the men’s pyjamas department (I must have been taking that long eh?!). That, I don’t quite understand. If I was inside the lingerie section, I would feel like heaven. That section is definitely out of bound for men unless we are with our partners. And the chance to pick what I like to see behind closed doors? Priceless.

On our way out we passed by the Braun Buffel section. I stopped and couldn’t take my eyes off some of the briefcases and bags on the shelves. “I think …,” before I could finish the sentence Cynthia asked me point-blank, “What do you want to put inside?”

I pondered … and surrendered, “iPod?”

Okay, I don’t even have an iPod yet. But that is besides the point …

Anyway, by now, you may understand why I enjoy reading Sophie Kinsella. Still waiting for her latest book to go paperback though … arrgghh!

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Cracking The “Tori Amos – American Doll Posse” Code … Almost

I have almost gotten all of Tori Amos’s studio album except her first one – “Little Earthquakes (1992)”. I remember vividly where I was when I first heard of Tori Amos. Back in 1985 when compact disc first became popular, I have made a switch away from cassette format (the first CD I own is Dire Straits’s Brothers In Arms – one of the first albums to be directed in the CD market). However, as a student, the cost of a CD was too high for me to own everything that I liked. Besides, my mother’s constant nagging on the rate I acquired CD worked as a deterrence too. So I relied on the rental market back in HK to satisfy my needs, to sample the music, and to selectively purchase what I really liked.

Back then, I could not appreciate Tori Amos’s music. I think I even rented the album a second time to try it out. Just did not work for me. Interestingly, my sister Lora seemed to enjoy “Little Earthquakes”.

The one song that opened up my mind turns out to be nothing like any of the songs written by Tori Amos. “Professional Widow” released in 1996 is essentially a song of remix and dance beats that does not resemble her style of piano with the backing of a band. Since then, I have been a converted fan.

I don’t think Tori Amos is at all a mainstream artist. But those who love her music follow her career like a cult. Just how diverse is her work of music? Take a look at her collection “Tales Of A Librarian (2003)”. A 20-song set that was re-recorded because the potential was not fully realised in the original recording. This collection covers a wide range of topics such as metaphysics, epistemology, psychology, ethics, Christianity and Christian theology, political science, social problems and social services, folklore, linguistics, natural sciences, astronomy, animals, medicine and health, agriculture, home and family management, the arts, architecture, recreational and performing arts, collective biography, and the history of North America.

Some claim that her new album “American Doll Posse” is merely a concept album. Some think that her brief touch onto the topic of politics is unnecessary. Some comment that “American Doll Posse” is a mix of album materials and B-side stuffs. I beg to differ.

In “American Doll Posse”, Tori Amos has split herself in five rather distinct personae tackling the areas of beauty and love (Santa), the contradicting views of dark energy (Pip), all works of art in the forms of painting and literature (Clyde), objective documentations that challenge perception of the norm (Isabel), and finally the artist herself who laments the limited experience through finite human filter and hence the need to expand herself into different multiverse (Tori). Each persona takes onto her own set of songs and not only that, each comes with an individual blog site as well. A list of blog sites can be found at the bottom of this review.

At first listen, “American Doll Posse” (23 tracks totalled to 78 minutes of music) can be overwhelming. Layer to an album that is structured in 4 blocks of 5 to 6 songs are these 5 personae taking on their own set of songs (within this block structure). Suddenly, there are 2 added dimensions to the entire listening experience. You can (1) listen to the entire album in sequential order, or (2) treat this album as 4 sub-albums as suggested by the sleeve design, or (3) listen according to the personae of Santa, Pip, Clyde, Isabel, and Tori (click onto the picture on the left to see how I manage my play list manually). I have tried jumping the order of the album according to the persona and it is quite a brand new experience.

From the music viewpoint, Tori Amos adopt a classic rock sound blended with her piano track. “Bouncing Off Clouds” as showcased in the video-clip below is my favorite track of the album. It features her iconic Bosendorfer piano that she brings along whenever she performs live. Check out how she played both her Bosendorfer piano and an electric one at the same time at some parts of the song. It is amazing. If you are agreeable to “Bouncing Off Clouds”, I have the links of “Big Wheel”, “Father’s Son”, “Roosterspur Bridge”, and “Almost Rosey” for you.

The album comes with a DVD that contains a short video of her photo shooting session as well as a song “My Posse Can Do”. “My Posse Can Do” is a great song on its own. Too bad, it couldn’t be fitted into the album of 78 minutes.

I tend to be long-winded when it comes to artists who inspire my own music creation journey. Thanks for your patience and if you are already a Tori Amos fan, I bet you have got “American Doll Posse” the first day it was released.

Related Sites: Clyde’s blog site, Pip’s blog site, Isabel’s blog site, Santa’s blog site, and Tori’s blog site.

Categories
Jamming Session

National Day Jamming Session Once Again

This year is the second year my band gets together and jams it out at my home studio on National Day. Looking at the pictures from last year, boy, I looked much older now younger then.

(Pause … texting my guitarist to ask if I can break this big news in my website … the last time I accidentally leaked some info out from my site, I have to retreat it back and pay one million dollar fine … ha ha ha … kidding on that one million dollar fine)

Okay, this is official. My guitarist Jason and his girlfriend Selrol is getting married! Wow … it all started with a demo tape I have recorded a few years back. Another story one day.

Jason has bought a brand new guitar. I have lost track of how many guitars he has. If you pay attention to the bands that perform live, the guitarists always have lots of guitars to switch during the show. This new semi-hollow electric guitar of his is custom-assembled by a Singaporean for a very reasonable price. The guitar sounded well in the acoustic mode. Jason must have in mind that we are performing unplugged soon. Good thinking!

Ah … how about some captions for the photo above. From top to bottom, left to right: (1) our bassist Cynthia who claimed that because of this shot, she was distracted and plucked the wrong note, (2) Cynthia with Selrol while holding out the score of “I Erase Your Face” (3) Me … duh! (4) Jason’s new guitar, (5) My Gibson guitar, (6) Jason the “dark” guitarist, (7) Jason and Selrol who has just tied the knot, and (8) my side view.

So before I sign off this blog, I wish to say … congratulations to Jason and Selrol! To Jason … you lucky bloke and to Selrol …

… told you he will propose!

 

Categories
Animation Movie Reviews

The Simpsons Movie – It Is Crazy And It Is Fun

After choosing three consecutive Asian movies for the Movie Review Squad, it’s time to go Western. I have not watched a single episode of “The Simpsons” on TV but somehow I knew that Cynthia and Tong Kiat would both love “The Simpsons Movie”. I was not too far from the truth.

I didn’t have much expectation for “The Simpsons Movie” though I must say, I love the trailers a lot. What a contrast between the movie I watched the night before and this movie that I watched over the weekend. From the audience atmosphere perspective, it was like a continuous stream of screaming in horror versus a continuous stream of laughter. “The Simpsons Movie” is so hilarious. Come to think of it, “The Simpsons” has been around for 18 years with more than 400 episodes aired worldwide. What took them so long to make a movie out of it? Turns out that writing a full featured film of 90 minutes is a lot more difficult than writing an episode.

I enjoyed the end result a lot. There was not a single dull moment and the audience was entertained throughout the show. Poor Cynthia. While I laugh in a relatively higher pitch, the dude siting beside her laughed in a much lower pitch. And we both laughed non-stop. Extra surround sound effect for her … ha ha ha.

Some of the jokes are pretty original to me (perhaps because I have not watched the TV episodes before). I especially like the way different characters are portrayed. The film is made in 2D. But with a movie as crazy as “The Simpsons Movie”, who needs 3D anyway?

Oh … before I sign off, I bet some of you are curious as in how does the Movie Review Squad looks like. I have taken a picture right after the movie and … there you go!

Categories
Diary

Proud Owner Of My First Printer … Silly I Know

This must be one of the silliest blogs I have penned, I know. But I am so excited by this new toy I bought weeks ago. As in why it was in a box for weeks … oh well, since when we buy things that we really need and instead, we buy things that we spontaneously want? The irony is, it is not at all a spontaneous affair. I have been toying with the idea of having a printer of my own for years if not a decade. So what held me back?

To cut a long story not so long, there were many questions in my head. Like, why do I need a printer for? Where am I going to put my printer (space constraint in my humble apartment)? And can I afford one (I always have this impression that it is really expensive to own a printer together with the running cost)?

I know why I need a printer. Mainly to print out the music scores of the songs I have written. It is not a lot really (about 10 to 20 songs a year) and I usually have the revisions handwritten onto the piece of score printout itself. Now that my band is getting more serious in working towards performing live, my band mates need the songs to be properly transcribed in large font formats (like this). And because the fonts are so big, each song is fitted into two pages. Since song revision is an ongoing process, all of a sudden, I have a strong case to need a printer. Besides, it is always nice to re-print my own song scores in a fresh piece of paper together with the recent revisions. As I have imagined, once I have a printer, there would be a whole lot of stuffs that are nice to be printed. Like my work-in-progress novel and some of the random materials from the Internet like maps.

Once I have established the case, it was time for some research on pricing. Between an ink-jet and a laser printer, it was a no-brainer for me. Having the need to constantly print something over the 6 months duration in order to keep the head of the ink-jet printer moist and the need to change the ink cartridge every 100 pages or 6 months whichever is sooner? By the time I print a stack of my songs for my guitarist and another stack for my bassist, my ink cartridge would have been half gone. And I love the outcome of a laser printer. The only problem with laser printers is size. So, a color laser printer is out and so are those that come with a scanner. Give and take I guess.

Initially I was fixated on getting an entry level of HP laser black and white printer that is sold for S$250 with a complimentary S$50 cashcard. I always thought that printers are astronomically expensive but S$200 is kind of attractive.

After a rather long chat at PK Computer, a computer shop at Funan …

Me: … I don’t know if I shall buy it here. If I go up to Challenger, there is a S$20 discount for members (Okay, I lied … I am not a member).
Sales assistance: How about I suggest another model that is more value for money?
Me: (Showing interesting) … Hmmm … what do you have for me?
He: You may want to consider this Canon printer … (and then all the sales pitch).

Turned out that a Canon printer with a slightly better stats cost only S$229 before a cash rebate of S$70 directly from Canon. Now, that is what I call … not bad! A laser printer from a reputed brand for S$159.

Still, I was not satisfied.

Me: Erm … you know, this brand is new to me and I haven’t done any price research yet …
He: Sir, this price is already very good! We even absorb the 2% increase in GST. This promotion only last till National Day!
Me: I know … hmmm … I like doing business with you. What’s your name?
He: XYZ (I seriously cannot remember his name right now) … (and he continued to do his sales pitch).
Me: Okay, XYZ. My legs are tired and I really don’t feel like walking around no more. Give me a good price and I will grab one.
He: (Not moving the price on the ground that it was a promotion item)
Me: (Not taking out my wallet on the ground that I must get a discount)

In the end, he gave me a S$4 discount, which is not bad. It did cover the car parking fee and more.

I chose a Canon because its toner is 10% cheaper than the ones from HP. At home, I did a calculation. Each toner cartridge cost S$95 (before I bargain it down of course) that can print 2,000 to 3,000 pages. Say I am sensible in what I print and taking the mid point as an estimate … cost per page for toner alone is 3.8 cents.

As for the paper, there are two types – the 70 grams and 80 grams. The 70 grams type cost 10% cheaper than the 80 grams type. However, I love the feel of the 80 grams type. I choose Double A brand almost without a thought – the power of advertisement eh?

To buy a stack of Double A paper (500 pieces) in Raffle Place is S$5. And you would have thought that since Raffle Place has so many people, so many shops to compete against each other, the price must be the lowest eh? Funan actually sells the same stack of paper at S$4.65. That is a 7% difference – enough to cover GST. So, one day during lunch, I walked from Raffle Place to Funan to buy a stack of Double A only to find that I was stuck in that area because of the rain. Oh well, I have to pay for a train trip to return to office area. The moral of the story? Go figure out … ha ha ha.

Okay … back to the running cost … so far we have:

Cost per page = 3.8 cents (tonner) + 0.93 cents (80 grams paper) = 4.73 cents

Since the printer comes with a toner cartridge (half) and if I am going to keep it for 5 years, the yearly cost of the printer is roughly S$20. Judging at my usage, I reckon the cost is in the region of 5 cents per page.

I know it is silly. But it is always good to know.