For some strange reason, Windows XP does not install the East Asian fonts by default on laptops, though it does so on desktops. This is why Chinese characters show up as squares in a laptop browser. To correct this, go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Languages -> Install files for East Asian languages. After a fairly quick install, and rebooting, the Chinese characters become visible.
Archive for April, 2009
Chinese characters show up as squares
Sunday, April 26th, 2009Watch it! Estuarine Crocodile
Sunday, April 26th, 2009I went to Sungei Buloh Wetlands today. There are signs in many places to watch out for crocodiles. The estuarine crocodiles are aggressive, and sometimes appear on the walking paths. This makes it extra interesting to be on Route 2 in the far reaches of the park. Every wiggling in the sawgrass looks reptilian.
I think I saw the snout of a crocodile in a river. I definitely saw many of these signs.
Sign warning of Estuarine Crocodiles, Sungei Buloh wetland.
Here’s some amazing mangrove roots seen at the park.
Mangrove roots, Sungei Buloh wetlands
Advertising time: 10:08:37
Saturday, April 25th, 2009Most analog watches are advertised showing the time of 8 minutes after 10, plus 37 seconds. Here’s an unusual example from a mall in Taipei.
Apparently the upraised hands of the hour and minute suggest victory or joy (see Richard Zakia’s book, Perception and Imaging, 3rd, pg 277).
Timex uses 10:09:36, even for its digital watches. See their display here
Shirlin night market, Taipei
Saturday, April 25th, 2009This is a huge night market, one of many in Taipei. We got there at 8pm, when things where just starting. The place was still full of people shopping, eating snacks, and generally seemed cheerful. We got there by taking the Metro, which reminds me of the Singapore MRT except that the trains run slightly faster. I also found another nice thing about Taiwan: if you are a foreigner with a map and look a bit lost, people stop and offer to help you. In that way Taiwan is friendlier than any other country I’ve been to.
Shirlin night market, Taipei
Taipei 101
Saturday, April 25th, 2009I visited Taipei last week, and took the opportunity to go to the top of the Taipei 101 building. The fast (60km/hr) elevator gets you to the 88th floor observation in just a few seconds. The view of the mountains is fantastic. The building has a wind damper, which is a huge ball suspended like a pendulum to dampen sway in wind. It’s probably the only building where you can see the wind damper on dispaly. They say in a typhoon the damper can swing about 1.5 meters!
Here are some pictures of the building, which has cool lighting at night.
Taipei 101 at dusk with purple lighting
Wind damper as seen from 88th floor.
A view from the top.
Macritchie Reservoir
Sunday, April 19th, 2009This is a freshwater reservoir, surrounded by forest, right in the middle of Singapore. There is an excellent 11km walkway all the way around, mostly flat. We saw 3 water monitor lizards, one four feet long. And lots of fish and turtles. There is a terrific canopy walk, which sways just enough to make you grip the railing.
On the Laluan Kanopi (treetop canopy walk), Macritchie Reservoir
Is tweeting more fun than blogging?
Thursday, April 16th, 2009Curious what all the fuss about Twitter was about, I started a tweet (?). I think that’s what you call the twitter equivalent of a blog. If you have absolutely nothing better do, you can “follow me” at http://twitter.com/ramkakarala
How to turn off the annoying hourly chime on your digital watch
Saturday, April 11th, 2009I bought a S$8 digital watch at Jurong Point mall today. The watch is made by the Xinjia company, which according to this web page, can manufacture 2 million watches a month. The watch comes with an annoying hourly chime. And no instructions. I did a quick google search and found that this nice person has posted an image of an instruction sheet for a watch which works like my Xinjia.
If you are wondering how to turn the chime off, here is quick answer. Find the button that shows the alarm time. This is button S1. Then find the button that changes the mode. This is S3. Now, while holding S1 down, press S3. If all the days of the week are shown the LCD display, then the chime is on. If they disappear, the chime is off 
In case you are wondering how to turn off the alarm, look for the button that starts the stopwatch. This is button S2 . Next, while holding S1 down, press S2 and look for the alarm icon turning off.
Here is the instruction sheet.
Instructions for cheap digital watch
Tioman Island (Pulau Tioman)
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009This island is in the South China Sea, about 40 miles off the coast of Malaysia. We went there from Singapore by bus to Mersing, and then caught a ferry to Tioman. The island lies in the Pahang Marine Park, and is surrounding by rich coral reefs full of fish, turtles, sharks. It is an absolutely fantastic place to go diving or snorkelling. Our hotel had a 4 hour snorkelling trip, which took us to 3 stops. The first two stops were near Rengis Island, a half hour from Tioman. The last stop was a little coconut shaped island near shore. The water is warm and clear, and the reefs are teeming with fish. I saw giant clams, parrotfish, zebra fish, and a giant turtle. Apparently there were sharks around, small ones, but I didn’t see those
Some pictures from the trip are on Picasa web here.