Learn to manage, the fun way.

If you're ever into City Building/Planning genre of games, you've definitely heard of the Caesar series. The latest addition to the family would be the long awaited Caesar IV, now in richer, more detailed 3D environment, better gameplay, more extensive control... I think I can go on and on about the features, so, let's conclude with, it totally kick-ass. I've placed considerably high hopes on Caesar IV, since I've played Caesar III, Pharaoh, Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdoms and Zeus, and fortunately, it didn't fail me.

Basically, what happens in the game is that, you'll be given a piece of land (for each mission) and a couple thousand bucks. From there, you need to build up a running city, complete with all basic necessities such as food, water, health services, entertainment, goods, etc. etc. You'll be handling everything, from economics to religion, labour to security, yadah yadah. Conclusion, you're in control of everything, with exception for Caesar and the Gods. When you achieve the appropriate pre-determined ratings, you'll advance to the next level and repeat the whole cycle, opening new features. Sounds boring? Not at all!!!

Everything was mighty fine, that was until yesterday night, on the third Republic Campaign (Economic), Caralis, the game crashed whenever I tried opening *trade routes!!! A visit to the official forum revealed that it occurs to quite a number of players, those not affected are running the game on awesome, impossible for me to obtain specifications. Running the "possible solutions" did not help. Devastated, I headed to bed after hours of futile attempts.

This morning (about 6am), on the verge of giving up, I came across something I missed yesterday night. It's a suggested solution by a gamer, to turn off the polygraphics rendering of the trade route lines by modifying the *content configuration file, which is not the best solution but, if it works, who gives a damn! And guess what? It worked, although there's some minor graphical impact on the trade route lines in game, but its a small price to pay to be able to continue on. Good news for me, bad news for the girlfriend. By the way, if you're facing the same game crash problem, do ping me, it might be from the same issue and I'll be more than glad to provide you with the solution.

Game On!!!

I'm still in an early level of the game, so, there are no screen shots that can make you gap in awe... :P

*Note: Trade routes are important to generate income, or to import required resources. Without the income, my city would fall into debt, causing Caesar to be pissed off and send troops to demolish my city and execute me, which is bad...

*Note: One of the "better" features, depending on how you look at it, is that the game consists of multiple accessible configuration files. Which means that you can easily change the settings of each item available in the game, for example, changing the price of a building from a thousand to one. Makes you feel even more in control, ain't it? *grins*

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The girlfriend in SG, Pt 3.

Before moving on to the next post, there's something that I would like to clarify. Nothing happened, in a negative sense, between me and the girlfriend. The previous post seemed to have caused a little confusion among some friends (and readers perhaps?); I truly appreciate your concern for both of us, but seriously, nothing happened. It's my scribblings, an expression of creativity (maybe not so) in the form of words. It can simply be inspired by small talks with friends or families, or some random events that you witness, or a routine practised by a stranger you never know.

If you ask me if anything happened, I would say it did after the entry was published. Funny how things turns out at times.

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On the third day, I think H2 has ran out of place to bring the girlfriend to, since it was still raining profusely and SG is relatively, small. So, in the afternoon, we headed out for a Bak Kut Teh meal somewhere close to Bugis, cause supposingly, this was one of the more famous stalls (but not the one that refused to open shop and serve some "atas people" on a holiday).

Soup: black pepperish instead of herbalish
Meat: So, so. Not much variety
Side dishes: Plenty of choices, but nothing special.

My verdict, I still prefer our version and the worst is, no claypot!!! How can?!?!??! Anyway, pictures are still with the girlfriend, pending request.

Headed to Marina Square later, to meet up with another friend of the girlfriend's, An. First thing I noticed about him was, his similarity in looks with Dz. Much walking and a Chocolate Chip ice-cream later from Andersen’s of Denmark I think (either Ben & Jerry's was nowhere insight, or I'm plain ignorant), we headed for dinner. Ajisen Ramen, again.

The girlfriend's favourite, and the only 'konlo' version available, Teriyaki Chicken Ramen.

A week ago when she was here on a business trip, I brought her to Ajisen Ramen and ever since, she seemed to be addicted, pestering me every other time for ramen(s) there. Siao. Anyway, this time around, her persistence paid off. I have to admit that the ramens here are superb, soft but spongy, blends well with the soup. But these babies don't come cheap, about $10 bucks per bowl leh. That one not yet 'kira' additional charges, if any.

Fried calamari. A side dish.

My Chasu Ramen. YummyLicious!

No idea what's that. Consist of some sushi, some fried fish (small) and some gyozas.

Curry ramen. Looks dem spicy can die dot com.

Alrighty then, one final post and the girlfriend's trip to SG will come to an end. Just one more.

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She said. He said.

"You know what, I felt that you're drifting futher from me each passing day."

"Nonsense, I'm always right here, beside you. You're feeling that way cause its no longer as strong as what it used to be."

"It's really unfair for you to say that."

"I'm just being honest with you, like I always do."

"What makes..."

"... me come to that conclusion? Sure you wanna know? I can go on and on, and on..."

"I get it. But I need to know."

"Well, you're not spending time with me, at least not as much as you used too. In the previous year or two, you never did all those little surprises anymore, which really light up my day. It's as though things have become..."

"... more like a routine than a relationship? Cause we've dwelled into each other's comfort zone for too long, too deep?"

"Exactly."

"I guess it happens to everyone."

"Maybe you're right, but I just wish it wouldn't and we're still as in love as we used to be."

"Trust me when I say we still are. It's just that, sometimes we might felt there's no need to say it out loud, since we already understand one another so well."

"Not we, its you."

"Sometimes you did it too, without realizing it."

"Okay... maybe once in a while. Sigh, I wonder what will happen in the years to come."

"No worries, everything will work out fine as long as we have each other."

"Easy for you to say. You're always the laid back kinda person."

"And you're the happy-go-lucky one."

"By the way, can you please look at me instead of that notebook of your's. You're seriously spending too much time with the machines."

"Oh, sorry. I'll shut it off once you stop replying your mails."

"Fine."

"Workaholics in action, ha-ha-ha."

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The girlfriend in SG, Pt 2.

[23.12.2006] Headed over to Jurong Point in Boon Lay to meet up with the girlfriend and H2, and had brunch there. The initial plan to head to East Coast was canceled due to rain (during December, SG seemed to be raining like, all the time). So, we headed for karaoke instead. Come to think of it, I felt that I've been karaoke-ing quite a lot lately, at odd hours...

Night in the streets of SG, during christmas.

Much later, we headed for dinner, buffet style. Making our way through the swarm of humans in Orchard Road at that time was a really difficult task, mission impossible. Really people mountain people sea. After having a look at a place or two (we headed into the restaurant itself to see what they were serving, hahaha), we opted for a pre-christmas buffet dinner at GoodWoodPark.

GoodWoodPark, the entrance.

Interior, from where we were dining.

The variety of food available was not extensive but enough and complete (starters to appetizers) to keep you occupied; choices range from local to western, as well as japanese cuisines. One thing I have to admit, is that their turkey slices kicked ass, dem sedap weh!!! I stuffed myself silly.

Had soup and salad, etc. etc. as appetizer.

Some of the main meal. The one in the upper left is some potato fried with onion slices which I dem like also.

Some other stuff that I ate, this is not inclusive of the plate of sushi as well as the turkey slices that I had.

Mango Sago Pomelo dessert.

Ice Cream with chocolate sauce ant crushed peanuts.

Followed the Singaporean lifestyle and went for a drink after dinner, headed over to Clarke Quay. This time around, The Cannary was much more complete than when I was there previously. And the girlfriend was quite a jakun when she saw Clinic. After much surveying, we settled down in Highlander. Minum, minum then, balik loh, what else lah?

MoS. Have yet to enter. Shiet.

Highlander. Thou shalt not wear kilts.

Candlelight drink for one.

Let's drink.

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The girlfriend in SG, Pt 1.

I watched The Holiday this afternoon and for me, its absolutely fabulous, a little exception for the ending perhaps but still, its a great movie. Scripts were good and even though I'm a guy, I have to admit that Jude Law was really charming in that movie. Simple, but relates closely to things (relationships to be exact) that's happening around us daily. Ending's kinda abrupt though, as there's no exact telling of how these four individuals ended up being. Guess it's up to how the viewer wants it to be. Anyhow, go watch.

Back in December 2006, the girlfriend came over to SG to celebrate X'mas, since the scene's pretty boring over there in KL. On Friday night, I only manage to join her much later, since I was working (To know what actually happened earlier on, kindly head over to her blog). We were joined by Dz, KYtheMonkey; H2 arrived much later as she had some matter to attend to. Since no one can decide where to eat (it always, always happens), I took charge and guess where we headed to...

No other than Carl's Jr. *Kelz, I can so hear you cursing me the moment you read this* Muahaha!

The Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger. Sedap hingga menjilat jari.

The portion is quite large, I must admit. But my mouth is even larger; as you can see for yourself, how much I could bite off in a single chomp. Kelz, sedap kan?

Fries, Fries, very normal Fries.

OK, since mentioned again and again about the size of the burger, I know its kinda hard for you guys and girls reading this to imagine how big is it actually. Hence, I borrowed this idea from Kelz and Slinky on how to measure and give a clear graphical representation of its size. What better way than to...

Compare it with someone else's face. In this instance, the girlfriend, unfortunately, became the victim of our test. KYtheMonkey decided to join the fun experiment.

This should also be filed under Lesson 3 of How to Annoy the girlfriend. KYtheMonkey still at it.

After the dinner and much torture from the girlfriend from misbehaving, we went to the Esplanade (for me, its the 2850282365329 times I've been there, but its the first during night). Finally I get to see the Merlion upclose, and as a bonus, during nightfall. Cool! Also totally unexpected, I bumped into my relatives, Uncle Weng and his family, really a small world (or small SG).

This is Merlion during night.

A view of the Esplanade from where I was standing.

Before I end this post, to show my appreciation to all who drop by on my humble little blog here, I would like to present a short clip of the Merlion, like nothing you've ever seen before. But I can't seem to be able to access YouTube, so, maybe next time a'ight? Here ya go...

Good stuff, yah?

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