New Rig

Yes, this post is severely belated. I got the new desktop well over a month ago lol. The final specs are as follows (for my own personal reference, should I forget the specs HAHA):

Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2 (X58 chipset)
CPU: Intel Core i7 3.06GHz (i7-950) LGA1366
GPU: Asus Radeon EAH4890 1GB DDR5 (also known as the Radeon HD4890)
RAM: Corsair Dominator 3x 2GB DDR3 1600MHz triple channel [total 6GB]
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200rpm
PSU: Thermaltake Evo_Blue series 750W
Case: SilverStone PS-02 ATX
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster P2350 23″ LCD
Peripherals: Logitech MK700 wireless keyboard + laser mouse combo

So what do I think of it so far? BLOODY AWESOME!! So far I’ve had NO problems whatsoever with it. Runs all the games I’ve bought so far smoothly and extremely effective. The large monitor is a joy to web-browse and watch movies with! GTA IV, Resident Evil 5, Assassin’s Creed etc. play flawlessly. The greatest graduation present ever! Haha!

Just pre-ordered Assassin’s Creed II White PC Collector’s Edition off MightyApe.co.nz, which will be released on the 26th March 2010. Can’t wait!

BPharm Completion Ceremony

Monday, 23rd November 2009. The official closing of my university career for now. Although I don’t see myself coming back to uni for any more study in the near future haha.

The morning kicked off with a decent brunch at the Fale Pasifika building next to the university’s new business school (which I STILL haven’t set foot in lol), followed by a short break. Jenny, me, Kristen, Lisa, Jae Gon, Chris and Ming took this time to grab a quick bite to eat at Wendy’s. Kristen, Lisa and I also took a slight detour to Smith and Caughey’s to get our dissertation supervisor, Dr. Raid Alany, a thank you gift. We decided on a pair of cuff links.

Next came the class photo in Albert Park at 1pm. I’m glad the weather held up! It wasn’t sunny, but it wasn’t windy/rainy either, although it was VERY humid. Especially in a full formal suit and tie…

The actual ceremony at the Maidment Theatre started at around 2:30pm. My management group came first in the P409 management module, so we received our $100’s each wahahaha

All in all a very great day!! I had a blast and I’m sure all my fellow classmates did as well!!

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 2009 BPHARM’ERS!! WE MADE IT!! XD

My Silverstone PS02 tower case for the new desktop I’m building came via courier this morning too! Very fast service from PC Online Shop! Also managed to source the remaining parts from other online sellers and paid for them all. Hopefully they’ll all arrive over the next few days!

BPharm

And just like that, my uni career has come to an end. I received an email this afternoon from the Head of Pharmacy School congratulating all fourth years for completing our Bachelor of Pharmacy degree. What can I say? I guess the only thing I can say is “WOW!”

I’ve taken longer than most people to complete this degree (combine “slacking off in first year” with “bad luck with the course coordinator(s) in third year”), and you’ll be put in my situation. Normally it takes only four years to finish the BPharm degree. I completed it in six. I’m definitely not proud of it, but to some extent, I feel I’ve learned a whole heap more and matured that much more over the course of these additional two years. Not to mention the close friends I’ve made; especially those made this year (you know who you all are!)

I never thought I would say this, but I’m already starting to miss uni life. But on the bright side, I’ve accomplished my mission, and as far as I can see, this is where my educational career comes to a close (who knows, maybe in a few years, maybe even in ten, I may decide to come back and do something else!). I’ve had a lot of fun. Sure it was stressful at times, but all in all, I’ve enjoyed my time at uni.

A big thank you needs to be dedicated to my girlfriend, Jenny. Without you, I don’t know where I would be right now. I would probably be wasting my time with a BCom or Japanese degree. If you hadn’t stepped into my life and encouraged me way back in our second year (gosh that seems so long ago, eh?), I surely would not have persisted and continued with BPharm! SO… THANK YOU SO MUCH, BABY!

Monday’s (23rd November 2009) the Pharmacy Completion Ceremony. I’m thoroughly looking forward to it!

Congratulations to my fellow fourth year BPharm’ers!! We made it!!

#27!!

The Yankees have done it again. The most decorated team in all of professional sports just won their unprecedented 27th (I repeat, TWENTY-SEVENTH) MLB World Series title, taking down the defending world champs (and my other favourite team from the other league), the Phillies. Just like how Babe Ruth and his Yankees won it all in the old Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter and co. have emulated what Ruth and co. did, but this time at the new Yankee Stadium!

Solid effort from Andy Pettitte, from the bullpen and Mariano Rivera who recorded the final five outs. But perhaps the man who deserves the most glory is no doubt Hideki Matsui. “Godzilla” singlehandedly mauled the Phillies with six RBIs including a two-run home run off Pedro Martinez. Well deserved World Series MVP, Godzilla!!

Let’s hope this is just the first of many for the Bombers!! Congratulations!!

Back to reality. Two more exams for me… Come on, Nathan! Study! Also found out I passed the Super OSCE yesterday night too, which I’m still quite ecstatic about!! XD

Run, Johnny, Run!!

One more win. One more win for #27. Didn’t manage to catch the game live on ESPN again, but caught most of the action on Gameday (as usual lol). The Yankees were up 4-3 when Joba Chamberlain serves up a home run to Pedro Feliz, tying it at 4-4 to end the 8th.

Send in “Mr. Blown Save” Brad Lidge at the top of the 9th inning to preserve the tie and what do you get? You guessed it; a loss for the Phillies… I have nothing against him (he seems like a genuine guy who’s struggling and trying hard to bounce back), but seriously. Cole Hamels and Lidge both need to work out where they went wrong this season/postseason…

After breezing through the first two outs, getting pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui to pop out to Jimmy Rollins AND striking out Derek Jeter, Lidge crumbles after a lengthy 9-pitch duel with Johnny Damon, giving up a single. THEN on the first pitch to Mark Teixeira, Damon takes off, bringing chaos along and an eventual win for the Bombers. Not only does he steal 2nd, but he manages to steal 3rd base as well on the same play (you have to watch the replay/highlight at MLB.com, because it’s simply epic). Lidge proceeds to hit Teix with a pitch, then Damon comes home on Alex Rodriguez’s clutch RBI-double. By now, the Yanks re-claim the lead, 5-4. Next up, Jorge Posada drills a two-RBI single to center, inflating the lead to 7-4.

Enter Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th. Mo only needs EIGHT pitches to dispose of Matt Stairs, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino. All three grounding out/popping up harmlessly to Teix at 1st. Game over, save, victory for the Yankees.

So there you have it. Clutch hitting from Damon, A-Rod and Jorgie; combined with clutch (and epic) base-running from Damon; and a solid save from Mo brings the Yankees within ONE win for #27. I look forward to Game 5 tomorrow!

Player of the Game for today? Johnny Damon. Period.

LET’S GO YANKEES!!

Bronx Bombers Up By One

Didn’t watch the game on ESPN today because of the three exams I have left… However, caught most of the “action” on MLB.com Gameday. Yankees bested the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, with veteran Andy Pettitte picking up the win and Cole Hamels the loss (what the hell is wrong with him this season/postseason?!).

Phil Hughes was shaky, giving up a home run to Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz in a non-save situation. Thankfully, Joe Girardi brought in who else but Mo to close out the win and pick up the save (since Hughes gave up the solo homer, the game became a save-situation) before any further damage could have been done.

What was most peculiar for me was Andy Pettitte logging a single to centerfield, then rounding the bases in a warm up jacket on Johnny Damon’s two-RBI double (was it a double or a single? I forget). Now I know he was most probably keeping his arm warm, but I’ve honestly never seen any other pitcher do that before lol. Forgive me if this is common practice, but I haven’t seen that many baseball games… Yet!

Nevertheless, great game. Yanks up 2-1!

Yanks Pull Even

A solid 7.0 innings by AJ Burnett coupled with a 2.0-inning, six-out save by Mariano Rivera usually means a win for the Bronx Bombers, and today was no exception. Although Mo kind of struggled in the 8th. Nearly gave me a heart attack; figuratively speaking Nevertheless, as Mo has done countless times in his illustrious career, he escaped the jam.

Homers from Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui paved the way for the win, along with a pinch-hit RBI by Jorge Posada. Alex Rodriguez, however, continues to struggle. Similarly, the Phils’ big first baseman, Ryan Howard. also struggled. Hopefully A-Rod wakes up soon. Otherwise his so-called postseason “transformation” thus far will be quickly forgotten.

Super OSCE went quite well yesterday (I hope!). Cellulitis with a penicillin allergy. One down, three more to go (4th, 7th and 11th Oct). Wish me luck!

Enter Night, Exit Light

The Yankees punched their ticket into their first World Series since 2003; Mariano Rivera was summoned from the bullpen at the top of the 8th, and you all know what happens next. 99.99% of the time, the Yankees roll on to win the game. Although I’ll admit, I was on the edge of my seat while watching Gameday on MLB.com. The Angels managed to squeeze one run off Mo (which is near impossible), but because it was a pivotal game (win or go home for the Halos), I’ll let this one slide (as Mo still recorded the save anyway).

So, the World Series stage is set. My TWO FAVOURITE TEAMS will battle it out for baseball’s most coveted prize. I remember telling Dill when the season just started that a Yankees/Phillies World Series match-up is possible. He told me to stop dreaming.

Teams-wise, I’m gonna have to say I like the Yankees a little bit more overall, so chances are I’ll be rooting for them. That’s not to say the Phillies aren’t awesome, because I love them just as much! But whoever wins, I’ll be happy. At least Boston didn’t make it

I had my P410 presentation today at 1:30pm too. All in all, I think we did a great job, and without a doubt, our Powerpoint slides were by far the best!

Now, just an OSCE and three exams to go…

100,000km Milestone!

Emmy just reached 100,001km on the odometer when I got home from uni today!! What’s best is that she drives as good as new!! Oh how I love German automobile engineering.

I predict at least another 100-200,000km more on top of that no problem. Let’s see a Jap car get to this number and not fall apart! Won’t be selling her anytime soon (if ever!)

Photos taken with my N95 8GB (I’m seriously still loving the phone more and more every day! Calling the camera BRILLIANT is an understatement):

100,000km (or 100,001km to be more precise) is nothing on a Mercedes-Benz

A closer look. She still drives like she's brand new!

Now, to get the catalytic converter(s) replaced… Still have to ask Coutts the exact part number for Emmy

Brad Lidge = EPIC FAIL…

Omfg… Brad Lidge blew another save  today… That’s “good” for ELEVEN MAJOR LEAGUE-LEADING BLOWN SAVES…

It’s a miracle the Phillies are even still top in their division…

The Yankees on the other hand were the first MLB team to clinch a playoff spot yesterday with a win over the always dangerous Angels. Late-game heroics (sac-fly) by A-Rod. I’m hoping that’s a preview to how much he’s going to step up (finally) these playoffs! They also won the game earlier this morning; Mariano Rivera coming through with the save = 524 career saves WOOHOO!! Mo also picked up the save yesterday, and was part of a sweet “double”-play (strike-out + throw-out) yesterday with Jorgie (Jorge Posada) in the 9th.

At Grafton IC as I type this. Trying to read the pre-reading for law (there’s a shitload today for some reason). Gonna be a boring workshop…