Road to Entrepreneurship (Settlers of Catan Version)

Life is like boardgames, and boardgames can tell how a person manages his/her life...

As I was playing the game, Settlers of Catan (an award winning game), I realised how relevant the game's theme is to our road to entrepreneurship.

Indeed, life is like a game.. a boardgame at Pitstop cafe..

Finding a place, is one of the most critical decision one have to make. Balancing between maximising output while minimising input. Resource management and planning is definately integral to the initial sourcing of location.


maciam the whole place for you to relax and choose.. maciam the whole world only you...

For us, with minimum expertise and experience, we decide to start small and not be too ambitious. People always ask,' Boat quay all pubs, not suitable lah!'

For us, we think that accessibility is priority.. that's why enclaves such as Siglap, Holland V, Bukit Timah are out of the objectives. We want to make Pitstop cafe, a real Pitstop where you can really just Pitstop en route to your destination. Who the heck makes a Pitstop at Tuas? So there you are.. located near Raffles place MRT interchange, where we can reach out to people from all parts of Singapore..


the moment you put your settlement, its now turn for other people to put theirs. I always call this, 'everyone wanna get a piece of shit

Now, competition is inevitable. whether you call it collaboration or synergy. Business is always about the survival of the fittest. Just like a Settlers of Catan, everybody's goal is to achieve the 10 victory points. Some achieve it graciously, while others achieve it more aggressively and perhaps some achieve it unscrupulously..

For Pitstop cafe, we acknowledge our bottlenecks and limitations. We don't seek for Global Domination or Commercialism. Maintaining competitiveness to us, means to constantly know consumer's wants and make sure they get value for their buck.


some players, go for big scale projects.. cities after cities


they got all kinda proposal, maybe even got bank loan ready, this is what I call Largest army

To be honest, we are really freaked to jump into this potential industry with other giants who have more money, more experience, more name, more balls than us. Even more so, the demise of the previous two boardgames cafe seem to serve as a warning to us to keep out of the game.

You see, thats life.. and that's boardgame.. the bigger the pie, the more people there are who wanna share it. While those already with the pie, they wanna eat more of it...

At Pitstop cafe, we don't serve Pies.

Our famed black pepper sauce, featured Mochaccino and New Zealand Ice cream is more filling and delicious than any pies you tried in your life.

At Pitstop cafe, we will be contented with the share of pie that can make us full.. Binge eating is not good for health.


While some try to reach out to all corners of the world, building roads after roads, small settlement after settlement..


this is what I call small pockets of development, but add together to have large influence. Longest Road indeed

But still, doing business is just like boardgames. In the end, the weakest gets ousted out, while the strongest keeps populating.

Poeple ask, 'go and advertise lah, give flyers blah blah blah'...Here at Pitstop cafe, we don't believe in advertising. So we never advertise, the people who has reviewed us are those who truly like our place or give us face. Word of Mouth, that's it.. you will only be able to find this place thru word of mouth...


Sometimes when other players are too strong, you find yourself trapped and unable to break free

You see, business is also about espionage, it is also about battling and it is also about stealing. More often than not, we get funny folks who tries abit of industry espionage.. Cameo as customers, tryin to find out more and in some instances, they come with the objective of putting us down and criticizing us. Whatever it is, we played along with them. We still gave them the best of our service, take pictures for them, let them draw on our wall and even passed them our namecard and asked them to 'bring back more friends'.

In a game, such things are inevitable. I admit that I have my fair share of it as well. (especially before we started) But whatever it is, do it graciously. Here at Pitstop cafe, we are sincere in our service, don't betray our trust.


the robber just smacks right in, prevent you from production and even steals your resources

But I must admit that as much as Business is about planning and opportunities, luck definately is an essential factor. Sometimes, you just can't get the things you planned for, and sometimes things just screwed up on you. Flodding toilets, aircon breakdown, electricity shut down and what have you?

If it's not your day, it's not your day..

But at Pitstop cafe, we try to persevere despite shit that happens. We are waiting for our lucky break.. and thanks to those that gave us chances, Ministry of Information, Communication and Arts, Lime Magazine, Zao Bao, Cowboy Caleb and many other more who helped us in one way or another.


this kinda dice roll, really very low probability..si bei sian, everytime people roll for resource, I get nothing

Business is all about timing, you might have the resource but no chance to implement it or you might have the ideas but no resource to concretised it. That's why you see, business is really so multi faceted, so many variables. Unlike the business projects I did in school or even the Geography term paper I write which is so idealistic and even overly critical. In business, one just have to be realistic and responsive to the everchanging environment.

Here at Pitstop Cafe, we try not to have grand plans or empty promises. Whatever we can do, we do our best for you. So do be gentle on us when we have anything which is inadequate. Tell us! so we can improve...


either get the same resources everytime, and no one wann trade with me


or too many different resources, but in low quantity, also quite hard to deploy

Lastly, on our road to entrepreurship, we had faced many conflicts and issues. Both in terms of business and personal. Jealousy, bitterness, difference in mentality, difference in working style and many many more.

This is a process where I learned not just about doing business, but also about how I treat and manage people and feelings. I also can tell who are my true friends and who are the ones who have deviated due to one reason or another.

Sometimes, I ask myself, 'why did I bother throwing myself into all these shit?' well, I guess moving out of my comfort zone has not been a smooth process. But it has nevertheless, been rewarding and enlightening. I am still walking this path, and I hope that in time to come, there will be more and more people walking this road with me...

The Pitstoppers, folks who wanna make genuine friends, strong ties.. not just folks who claimed, 'I know the boss, so can get discount' but rather folks who feels that 'I know the boss and he is my friend'.

This is Pitstop Cafe, explore, discover and settle here...


oi, hello! still got these development cards! Don't just think of expanding leh, cards like this can be useful too!

Pitstop cafe, we don't serve pies

Kimoki

Diet Coke and Mentos

It was an interesting Sunday. The Lianhe Zaobao did a really nice half-page feature on our cafe. As the focus was on coffee, we were surprised to see many new faces coming in just for coffee! Will blog more about this later.

Anyway, i read an article in the Sunday Times on the interesting reaction of coke with mentos and decided to experiement with it in our nice little balcony...


Just a small gush...

Pretty disappointed, was expecting something better. But then again it is amazing to see such a fast reaction from just mixing mentos with coke. From the experiment, i wonder if drinking coke and eating mentos will cause extra farting. LOL

Anyway here how's the professionals do it...


Damm, isn't that cool!

Really kudos to these folks for having the creativity as well as the patience to accomplish this. That is something we can learn from!

Pitstop Cafe, always trying out fun stuff!

astroboy

Yeah i pass my IPPT!

Overheard during my IPPT...

Unfit Guy: Eh brother you very fit leh, got train siboh?

Fit Guy: Not really lar, just go for dragonboat training only lar

Unfit Guy: Wah, dragonboat training! No wonder so fit. I also do dragonboat related activities leh, but i not fit leh...

Fit Guy: What dragonboat activities???

Unfit Guy: I eat ba zhang (dumpling)...

Damm funny especially when those 2 folks talk in hokkien...

astroboy, heng those jetboots are still working pretty fine...

He was a good man....

JVC

March 2000- June 2006

Speaking of Pitstop Orbituaries, it is very unfortunate for the death of a member.

A Kin so close to us,

a friend who is there for us constantly,

a loyal partner who stick to his line of duty even at the last moments.

Our dearest JVC HI-FI system has finally moved on to a world not of our own.

May his eternal memories be with us always as we always remembered its finest moments, its glories and its accolades.

----------Post Script---------------

it was really odd that at its last dying breathe, JVC did many crazy stunts. It started jumping channels and suddenly blast a huge amplitude of sounds.

My goodness, all the Pitstoppers were truly freaked. The last straw came when without warning it blasted a stream of mandarin songs from 95.8FM, you should have seen the bewildered look on everyone's face. As i was just standing beside it, many thought that I was the one who played the channel.

I could only see their face full of exasperation and hatred... (what's wrong with 95.8FM anyway?)

Seeing the truly disturbed Pitstoppers, I have to perform what is best for the situation..

It was cruel, but I have to..

I pulled the cord and let JVC to rest.

The rest was silence.

Truly silent.

But don't worry, there's still music at Pitstop cafe. We have a new member..

And don't worry, he is english educated.

Pitstop cafe, the wonder never ceases

Kimoki

Pitstop Celebrities

Noticed that most cafes like to put Pictures of Celebrities on their walls as a kinda 'quality assurance' that it has has been 'tried and tested'.

here at Pitstop Cafe, every folk is a celebrity, every folk looks happy on the pic, every folk has been and done that..Well, of course there are also some folks who are INDEED celebrities and they seemed to receive more attention then other folks.. In terms of looks, boops whatever..


I remembered chatting with him and his friend one whole afternoon about politics and fashion industry, they were the first to order machiatto

Today, I chanced upon a magazine and realised that one of our customers is being featured as one of Singapore's 'prominent fashion designers'.. So, I immediately tell MuMu, 'hey! why dun we just cut out the article and put their face beside it?'

so I have this idea, why not if you folks are featured anywhere.. be it winning a pageant, or winning toto or maybe even wanted by the police.. do let us know, so we can attach that article to your picture in Pitstop cafe, promote you, as well as tell the other folks that Pitstop cafe is a place where happening people can be found!!!


one of those that i met in some pageant. He is one helluva metrosexual, but really a nice guy though. Mr personality indeed

yer know, you don't have to be Fiona Xie or James Gomez to tell the world that you enjoyed Pitstop cafe. All we want is for fellow Pitstoppers know more about other fellow Pitstoppers, their achievements, their looks, their boo.. (no, I didn't say that).. So we can all feel proud of this place.

So come on! keep those features comin'... we love to know that this place is a place for stars to pitstop as well!

Pitstop Cafe, the ideas never end

kimoki

Teach yourself Scattergories in 5 minutes

Scattergories is a really nice game and is in fact one of the favourites among those who love word games. Perhaps you can try this game among yourselves right now while you are reading this!

It is a pleasure to have our 2 lovely Pitstoppers to show you how to play this game!


2 sweet girls, Joy and Gwen!

The first thing you do is to come out with a list of 12 different categories. For example, you could have like things found in the kitchen, different type of desserts, hobbies and sports, blah blah blah.


Of course at Pitstop Cafe, we have the game so you get to choose from many different list


Joy has picked the list to start off the challenge

Ok so once you have the list ready, make sure everyone playing has a copy of the list as well. With a paper and pen, we are all set to go.


Throw the dice to decide the letter to use

See that is the fun part of playing at Pitstop Cafe. Everything is prepared for you. Anyway no big problem, you can randomly think of a letter and let everyone know the letter. Once that is done, start a 3 minute countdown. Everyone is supposed to write down an item in each of the category using the choosen letter as the first letter in the word.




deep in thoughts...

It is always interesting to watch groups playing this game. Everyone seems to be sitting for their exams. With the clock ticking in the background, it is funny seeing how everyone scrambled to find a suitable word for the category.


At the end of 3 mintues, it is scoring time

Ok here is the interesting part on the scoring. You get points only for words that no other player used. For example the letter is "B" and the category is things found in a party. If 1 or more player has the same word, e.g. "balloon", then no one gets any point for it. You only get points if your word is the unique one among the group.

Try it, it is more difficult then it seems!


i wonder who is the winner for this round?

If you like this game, you can try it with your friends. Better still why not drop by Pitstop Cafe and had a good time playing it while having great food and yummy ice cream.

Special thanks to these 2 great Pitstoppers, Gwen and Joy for all the nice poses!

Pitstop Cafe, bringing you fun no matter where you are!

astroboy

Excuse me, are you a model?

The first day of ICT is always interesting. This time round, i have my younger brother to join in with me. This is his first in camp training. It is nice cause everything can share. Can share shampoo, toilet paper, toothpaste, underwear, etc.. Ok forget about the underwear part....

Anyway my bro had pretty long hair and i was pretty sure he was not going to get away with it. He still yaya ask me, "Eh, i say i am a part-time model, need to have long hair. Maybe i get to keep my hair?".

"Ok you can try", i said on the cab to the camp.

Upon reaching the camp, the first thing we saw was the barber, with a long line of "aspiring models". We went through the hair check and of course our "part-time model" lan lan also have to go for the haircut. I had a great laugh!

Using only shaver, the barber performed his work which my brother had to pay a bloody $5 for it. Looking at the line of heads, i think he is having a damm good day!

Things are pretty relax on the first day but the sai gang will come soon in the next few days. My brother turns out to be my section commander while i am his 2IC. Hopefully he would not take the chance to tekkan me.

The only thing i hope is that somehow i can miraculously get in shape overnight and clear my IPPT tomorrow, hopefully with a 200 bucks bonus....

astroboy, those damm jet boots better be working...

Aunties in Lost Cities

This saturday, astromum was at the cafe helping out the Pitstop crew. Astroaunt drop by the cafe to find astromum for some sisterly chit chat as well.

Since they are around and rather bored, i decided to teach them the game of Lost Cities. Lost cities is a 2 player card game. Each player has a set of cards and base on proper management of their cards in the hands, they are suppose to start expeditions and gain points for their expeditions. The "expeditions" are actually set of cards layout in a sequential order.

At first i thought it might be quite tough to teach and get them to understand the rules. Explaining the rules in hokkien isn't tougher than i imagine and it feel damm weird. Terms like expeditions, investments cards are hard to translate too.

I was surprise they catch on the rules quite fast. Then i remember...these 2 folks are gamers too! Their usual saturday gathering at my grandpa place consists of "boardgaming" sessions too. They did rounds and rounds of mahjong.

Lost cities comparatively, is a piece of cake to them!


Looking at the way they shuffle card, you know they are pro!


Astromum is definitely taking the game seriously


Astroaunt is having a good lead in the game. Look at the 2 long "expeditions" at her side!


Her smile says it all

Astroaunt kill mum in a couple of games but astromum isn't too bad. She retaliated and manage to win back a few games in the end too. It was really interesting to see two "aunties" enjoying eurogames and employing concepts and strategies learn from their experience in tai dee and mahjong.




Don't play play, they know how to strategize too!

Both of them enjoyed the game though they lamented about missing the nice sensation of rubbing against the bigger ivory tiles...

Astromum & Astroaunt, they are gamers too!

astroboy

Finally Settled the Settlers of Catan

I have to say I have never played or knew the game Settlers of Catan till this week. Despite being such a well-known game, neither eve and i know exactly how to play the game. I am not sure why, despite hearing people saying how good the game is, i was not really keen to learn it.

Of course this change when Mark drop by this week. Mark, being a hardcore gamer, taught us how to play the game. It is certainly a great opportunity to learn from him instead of going through the rulebook yourself.


i think he look good with his "new" hairstyle!

It was quite a good game though i think it is slightly over hype as there are many other games that are just as fun as this.

In this game, you get resources like wood, bricks, sheep, ore and wheat based on the location of your settlements on a tiled map. The distribution of the resource depends on the value of 2 dice. With the resources, you trade with others and expand on your settlements, get points and win....

I like the game because of the interesting interactions with other players through trading of resources. As for strategy, i feel that it is abit light on strategy and more on luck (depend on dice throw but again you can "plan" based on the probability of rolling certain numbers).

On the whole i think it is quite a fun game. Got to try a few more sessions to see if the game grew on me. Currently i still love Puerto Rico.

Anyway really glad to learn another game so that i can now recommend to other gamers. Thanks Mark!

astroboy, i also gamer hor

Alvin, Simon, Theodore!

Little MuMu loves the Chipmunks.. yoh remember the cartoon of 3 singing chipmunks?

Updated with a nice video thanks to a link provided by a reader



If the above does not work, click here

In tribute to these nostalgic characters, Pitstop cafe has featured our own version of the chipmunks


she wants to be Theodore, you know, the green one?

Here in Pitstop cafe, these 3 little sacks bear the colours of the 3 chipmunks and they possess goodies up for grabs!!


the 3 l'il sacks so named Alvin, Simon and Theodore

Now these goodies are yours for the taking with a minimum of $30 purchase at Pitstop cafe..

How does it work? with $30 in a single bill, you'll be entitled to the Simon bag (Blue), prizes ranges from a free drink to a free photo shoot at Pitstop cafe!!

With $60 in a single bill, you get to grab goodies from the Theodore bag (Green), these prizes range from double scoop sundae to a free meal at Pitstop Cafe!!


Alvin, being the star of the chipmunks is definately the bag with the best goodies

Now, With just $100 in a single bill, you'll be entitled to the Alvin Bag (Red), with yummy goodies such as 15% discount to a free gaming package worth $32!!! It is definately a reason to say 'we love the chipmunks and Pitstop cafe!'


imagine getting a fast forward package worth $32! You can come back with your friends and enjoy games with drinks and food for free!!

Now just in case, you think its kinda steep..think again.. bring a group of friends and everybody spends the amount you intended to watch a weekend movie..

and you'll be looking forward to dipping into the Chipmunks Bag, definately something for you on your next visit!!



Pitstop cafe, we want you to look forward to your next visit!

kimoki

Yeah its Friday & TGMS

It has really been a challenging time trying to juggle the time to run the cafe.Kimoki and mumu out of town and when they are back, i be off to ICT before jetting off to Washington. Luckily we always have nice folks like astroaunt, astrobro, astrosis as well as kimobro to help us out.

Speaking of resource management, i think astromum is great. Our kitchen though small, it is well equipped with oven, griller, fryer, stove, etc to whip up a variety of dishes.

Though well equipped, when there are many orders coming in, it become a challenge trying to meet all the requirements. Astromum employ a variety of strategies. Orders are serve in priority depending on who order first, some orders are faster to prepare while others maybe more efficient to prepare in a batch, etc

Whether you love astromum or not, she always trys her best to prepare the nicest food for all the Pitstoppers that come to Pitstop Cafe. It doesn't mean that if you don't love her, then your order will be place at the last of the queue and you have to wait till everyone has their food and finish it before you get yours.

Astromum knows that this isn't rocket science, its common sense. All who come to Pitstop Cafe are Pitstoppers and its only right that we try to provide everyone the best service possible within our means. It doesn't matter whether you come from Tanjong Pagar or from Potong Pasir, we will do the best we can to make sure you have more good times at Pitstop Cafe.

By the way if you guys are dropping by today, it will be great cos TGMS (Today Got Mum's Special). Astromum is going to cook a fantastic pot of curry stingray! So if you are in the mood of something hot and spicy, give it a shot! Limited edition only.

Yes, we have new flavors of icecream too, so check them out too! The "Fruit of the Forest" and "Mango Passion Fruit" is too cool to give a miss...

astroboy, mum say not to eat too much peanuts cos she suspects that it may result in deficit of common senses...

I also gamer hor!

Oh yah I missed out something! hehe...so i decided to post another entry!

A group of 4 came to Pitstop. One of them has been here before and brought along her boyfriend and friends. They chose the seats nearest to the games shelves so that they can look at the games available. They were looking so intently at the games that I decided to recommend them a few which i feel are suitable for 4 players. But guess what? They have played most of the games before! And that's why they were searching for so long! So i decided to recommend them something more advanced. But before i could recommend the game i have in mind, they deicded to play Imaginiff which they had not played before.

After completing the game, they were again searching for something interesting to play. So i decided to recommend them... Puerto Rico! I feel that this game is more for advanced gamers... like me... and so i was very happy when they agreed to play. I started setting up and teaching the game excitedly.

Weeloon was very puzzled when he saw me teaching such an advanced game to them.
So he came over and asked, "Eh u sure they know how to play? Why u teach such a complicated game? You know how to teach or not?"

I answered "They are gamers hor.."

I guided them through the rules of the game and left them pretty much to themselves. However at the end of the game, adrian commented something like this "i still dun really understand the game"... heheh.. that's why u don't play Puerto Rice only once!

I hope Mich and friends have enjoyed Puerto Rico. Personally i like the game. It requires more strategy and less luck is involved. In fact, you are the first group that i teach Puerto Rico to! Feel privileged? Do leave a comment if u see this entry okie?!

Pitstop Cafe, we are gamers too

Eve, I also gamer hor!

Secret admirer?

Yeah! This is my virgin entry in the blogging world!

As you all know, kimoki (does kimchi sounds better?? heheh..) and mumu are overseas currently while astroboy has to attend a friend's wedding tonight. Thus i am left alone at Pitstop...

Luckily, astrobro came along. He took time to help out even though he has an exam the next morning... Thanks alot Weeloon!

Just when we thought it is gonna be a quiet wednesday, a group of 6 came along.
I won't mention who they are cos... one of them is a secret admirer of mumu!
Mumu must be very happy to know about it! He was very disappointed when he couldn't see her. (His friends are the ones who told us!!!)

Suddenly a question pops up. "Why don't I have any secret admirers?!!!"
I guess it must be the age gap. I am no longer 18... hai...

I have no mood to write any more...

Eve

Roles Reversal

It is very interesting at Pitstop Cafe, the crew under go role reversal every now and then. astroboy used to be very particular on planning, efficient operations, logistic, blah blah blah.

Of course on the other side of the fence, folks like Kimoki tend to go on a 'feel' concept, whereby everything is more of art than science and things like efficient operations or logistics, etc takes second place. This is good too and the result can be seen by more emotional entries that draw more comments.

astroboy is slowly used to the 'feel' way of doing stuff and infact enjoying it cos it is much relaxing and more fun since there isn't so much things to think about.

But interestingly when astroboy started enjoying the other style of doing thing, Kimoki become particular in certain things such as planning, doing things properly, etc.

Sometime astroboy have to travel but the rest will be around. When Kimoki and mumu go out of town, astroboy and eve is around. Astroboy will have to go for ICT next monday, but guess what, kimoki and mumu will be back by sunday!

I guess this is the unique part of the Pitstop Cafe. All of us seem to be link in a certain way, taking on different roles at different time, but things just manage to maintain a nice balance in its own way.

Pitstop Cafe, an ecosystem on its own

astrowiki

Bright Monday

Monday at Pitstop Cafe is usually quite quiet as the weekend is just over and for most people, it is a new week of work. It was a nice surprise to have this group of folks to drop in. Surprise not because it is monday and i get to see folks in the cafe, but rather they were here on Sunday too.

The day before they spend quite awhile playing the Settlers of Catan. It seem to be a really great game and i must be quite ashame to say that i have not really get to learn that yet!


really nice surprise to see them again on a quiet monday

Anyway this time round they were at the cafe for dinner as well as some gaming. The cafe was abit of understaffed with eve away to JB, Kimoki is still in KL and Mumu in Taiwan. Luckily i got my younger brother as well as my adorable godsister to help.

They played a game of Priate's Cove. I did not really like the game. The gameplay isn't that fantastic consider the time needed to setup plus the complicated rules. Then again, the game components were really excellent with nice pieces and beautiful artwork, nothing less you would expect from games by Days of Wonder.

I think the group shared the same sentiments after the game. I recommended another game instead, Ticket to Ride and i was glad that they have a good time playing it. They were blocking each other tracks, definitely intense competition among the 4 of them.

The game ended quite late about 11.30 pm. They were thanking us for keeping the cafe open till so late for them. But seeing the fun that they had, it was worth it. I had a good time too. After all it is because of all you Pitstoppers that gives the meaning of existance to Pitstop Cafe.

Look forward to see all you Pitstoppers soon!

Pitstop Cafe, we are able exist because of all you folks!

astroboy

Da Chang Jin

How many of you folks have been catching the korean serial "Da Chang Jing"? For one, i know that astromum has been catching the vcd long before it was out on the TV. With the recent telecast, she has been catching it all over again. I heard it was good, but never really have the time to watch it to the level of addiction.

Anyway it was interesting that even kids was aware of it...


Isn't she adorable, and yes she watches Da Chang Jin

The little girl was really adorable and the group drop by on a Sunday afternoon. She was like peeking through the games on the shelves and when you look at her, she gives a smile and run off back to her mummy. Sweet!

While playing a game of UNO, she lost and broke out crying! Luckily at Pitstop Cafe there are nice yummy ice cream from New Zealand Natural. A nice scoop of the "Fruit of the Forrest" hopefully have manage to cheer her up and make a day nicer for the above sweet pic!

Anyway come across this funny clip that did a spoof on the theme song of the serial...

By Breadbed - http://flash.cyol.com/product/05121802324416.swf

Hope this brighten and cheer up your day too!

Pitstop Cafe, bringing you smiles and laughter...

astroboy

Life in Taiwan

Hi everyone..It's been 3 days since I left Singapore for Taiwan to attend my cousin's wedding

I'm pretty battered and tired!! Physically i am more tired than days working in Pitstop coz I do not have enough sleep and have been carrying loads of things...Rushing from one state to another ( travelling to TAipei to Yilan to Taipei).

ENuff of these whining. Oh well, Taiwan is still as fun as it is. Nothing beats being able to meet up with my relatives. Most importantly, being able to chat w my cute cousins. I'm starting to think that my maternal's side has good genes!! Not only are my cousins yandao...my aunties are chiobus too!!!! ( will post up some nice pix when I return to singapore)

I've planned to shop and shop...buy and buy...but it seems that i am so tired, I can't get my butt off the seat!! Most importantly, the heat is killing me...It;s even hotter than singapore...!!!! However, the weather is abit drastic here. WHen i touched down at Taipei, it was pouring, gals were wearing their sweaters, jackets, (me Too!!!) Felt as I'm in winterTaiwanland!!! There was severe flood and soil erosion too. But now, it seems that everything is back to normal...it is feeling like summer again...

Shall end off here...going to get some sleep. N return the computer to my cousin!!! Oh well....everything is still good here....except that I'm tired...can't even speak coherently....

-Mu tired-

1 more week!!!

Finally at the last week, I managed to get my laptop connected to the internet and plugged myself into the globalised world.

I must say that I really missed Pitstop cafe.. so much that when I went to a boardgame cafe in KL, I said 'can i help you?' to a group who needed help with Carcassone.

Well, as promised.. this are some of the pics I took and letme share with you the sights of KL..

Of course, there is this gigantic tower called Petronas towers... it was the tallest building in the world.. some say it looks like two corns, while some say that M build it to only to remind himself of his dimunitive manhood...


Petronas also happened to be their national petroleum company

Travelling to the highlands was a totally different experience. Being a City Denizen, I was freaked by the idea of staying in a small town for the rest of your life. Definately, the view was impressive and the weather was cooling.. Even the local girls have a perpetual rosy blush on their cheeks..so cute..

As usual, I talked to a cute waitress and she told me that she did not like the city cuz it was too chaotic and noisy. She even claimed that Singapore's food is expensive and tasteless... I should have brought her to Pitstop Cafe..


This is the famous BOH tea plantation

Ahhh... since this is a very good opportunity for me to rest and relax, I pushed my clubbing to the max.. 4 days in a row!!!
Clubbing culture is very different here, thhe girls are definately not as fashionable as Singaporean chicks. Their club plays the same music every time I go. Folks there do not order jugs, they order bottles ..Most interestingly, the guys like to line up in a row and start doin the hip hop thingy with their legs... totally hilarious and yes, I miss Phuture, Zouk.


This is one of the posh clubs called The Loft, slightly older crowd, fashion a bit closer to Singapore

When it comes to food, Malaysia is pretty similiar to Singapore. Just that with the not so hygenic, not so neat and not so expensive look, the food seems to be much more authentic and tasty.. One very interesting stuff they have here is this van called 'Lok Lok', where it opens up to shelves of food. You just take your pick and dip it into the boiling water and eat on the spot.. One of the popular after clubbing meals..


NEA will freak when they see this.. 'where is your licence! where is your licence!!!!'

Well, I guess travelling alone has its perks... The excitement of being in a totally unfamiliar land, the satisfaction of being able to maneuvear from one place after another using public transport and the smirk of finding the off the beaten track places. And it seems to me that what makes Malaysia exciting is that things are done in such Haphazard manner.

Not that I don't like rules and regulations, but sometimes in such an orderly society such as Singapore, there should be a time where we should let ourself loose and play games, scream and shout animal noises, sit on the floor, relax one corner doodle and vandalise on the wall.

Most importantly,

Find a place we can just be ourselves


Why bother so much? take it easy!!

I guess this is why Pitstop cafe tries to tell folks...

it's ok, why should there be a boss-customer relationship? why should the tables be at a fix spot? why should you not make friends with folks at the other table? Just take it easy.. come here and let it out

Pitstop Cafe, it's ok.

Kimoki

The Foursome

Astroboy, Eve, Kimoki, Mumu the 4 folks that started out Pitstop Cafe. Some are studying, some are working. One almost hitting 30 while the rest barely reach 25.

Despite the general differences, there is some interesting concidents. The two guys are Leos; one born on the 9th August, the other on the 10th August. The two girls are Librans; one born on the 12th October, the other on the 14th October.

Some of the regular folks at the cafe sometimes wonder how did this foursome come together...

How did we get to know each other?

How did we get started and ended up with this "mess"?

What are the stupid cockups we have made?

blah blah blah

Hopefully we get to share more with you folks in the near future...

Eve: eh don't tell people my birthday leh, wait people buy me presents!

Astroboy: buay pai seh, you think you bery cute or celebrity is it? hahaa

After the last statement, the fate of astroboy remains unknown...

Tattoos, anyone?

At Pitstop Cafe, there is this wall where creative folks like to draw. Armed with colorful markers, they leave their marks in the cafe with writings and drawings.

We kinda of pondered for awhile when someone first suggested the idea. Kimoki like the idea but I was quite against it because i am not sure how things might turn out, or whether people who come here will feel that the place is "chaotic".

So to be fair, i decided to do a bit of testing. I pick a small tiny corner on the wall and write in the smallest possible words possible, "Someone say we should allow people to draw on the wall, is it a good idea?"

The first moment i saw it, regret is the only thing that fill my mind. With my ugly handwritting, the whole stuff looks so out of place. My first thought was to find some paint to cover it up.

Of course when Kimoki, Mumu and Eve, saw it, they started drawing as well to ensure that it will be on the path of no return. Kudos to them because they did a great job in drawing mushrooms and other cute stuff that a moment later when i saw it again, i was convinced that it was cool stuff.

Gwen and Joy, one of our Pitstoppers who was there that day "contributed" to it as well.

As time goes by, it was really interesting to see the things that people "leave" behind. Some like to write, some draw while others decorate their photos. It is like watching a big piece of canvas with an ever changing expression, littered with bits and pieces from all those who came by.


It started pretty bare...

The response that we get initially from the folks at the cafe was interesting. Some asked "eh are you sure we can draw?". Others simply grab the markers and start drawing. One even mentioned, "eh, I am not used to vandalising leh..."


Kimoki key work. He drawed the astroboy and from here the term "fufu" was born


I think in the end folks like it. The wall don't seem to be enough and some of them aim even for our ceiling!

Others saw familiar faces. "eh isn't she our lecturer....???"


Even little kids get a chance to show off their creative side...

With all this drawings by all you Pitstoppers, it really give the cafe more personality. In our free time, we just like to go look through the wall, searching for little stuff that was written and drawn. When i am back from an oversea trip, the wall is defnitely filled with new writtings and drawings and i will start to ask, "hey who drew this?"

Eve or Mumu will replied, "Oh it is this group who is the friend of this guy who came along with another group...."

Looking at the wall is just like trying to solve an interesting puzzle on who is connected to who. I bet Kimoki who has been away for the past 2 weeks, is defintely going to have lots of questions about all those girls that drop by when he come back...

Pitstop Cafe, tattooed with beautiful art from all you supporters!

astroboy

The Great Gadget Itch

Recently i am suffering from the gadget itch again. The previous time i had it, i ended up buying the Fuji F11 digital camera to cure the itch. It was a great camera. Even at ISO 1600, it churn out good prints at 4R so do check it out

Anyway the itch has attack again and this time in the form of 3 gadgets, the iMac, a iPaq PDA and that damm cool white NDS lite. I know getting all 3 of them will cure the itch but then again it will cause me heartache when the credit card bill come. The two woman in my life isn't going to go easy on my ears too...

Since the PC show is in town, it is a perfect opportunity to cure some of the itch, i thought. The show was packed, bloody packed. The broken escalators from City Link to the convention hall made things worse. By the time i ended up at the show, my though was that i must die die buy something to make up for the insane squeeze (hmmm maybe thats the reason for the broken escalators...)

A lot of people was grabbing the rw6800 ipaq as if it was free. The itch to get one was really huge when i see everyone going off with that sleek gadget in their hand. Going at $1000 plus for a gadget was too much for me to bear, i made off with a $480 ipaq instead.

It was really suay siao, the moment i bought back a gadet without doing any research, i paid a price for it. It turn out that there was a simliar if not better deal for the same gadget going at $450 instead! I bought mine from a nice big HP booth and i thought it must be the best deal i can get from HP. It turn out different distributors are offering different deals for the same HP product.Obviously, K8 (the distributor i bought from) isn't the best deal in town.

It cure part of my itch and added a siginificant heartache too.

I used to heard this policy on how paying higher salary equate lesses corruption. We should expand this great concept! Everyone of us will be given more money too, so that everyone will be less gadget deprived. Then i can get all of the gadgets without having to go through the painful process of making a decision on deciding what is the right gadget to get, what is beneficial for me, etc.

Anyway the purchase of a PDA has cause the itch to be slightly subside, but i can't help but still feel the itch on laying my hands on the white NDS lite especially together with the new super mario game. Yeah i know i am already 29 years old, but i still enjoy the game of a jumping plumber, collecting gold coins and mushroom....

The itch is getting stronger. The previous reason to get the iPaq is to be more organize and productive doesn't sound too convincing to eve since she know me inside out. Yeah i know all this gadgets are a waste of money but hey it is a guy thing ok. It is just like why girls shriek when they hear a mango sale...

Right now i need a reason, a really good reason for that NDS lite...

"Monetary rewards should not be a subsitution for passion and for man to do the right thing" - astroboy

I bet you din know....

I bet you didn't know that...

1)communist parties are not the only ones that believe in communal sharing
2)there are communities that are still surviving w/o TV and VCRs
3)there are women who are fine with not having much say in the community
4)there are still folks who dress like the 16th century Europeans

I have always thought in the 21st Century, everyone is equipped with technologically advanced products, liberal, individualistic and modern. However, lo and behold, while I was reading National Georaphic yesterday, I found out abt the Hutterites!

Who are the Hutterites?

BAsically, they are living in a communal theological colony who believe in sharing things ( sounds like communism). Most importantly, their teachings centre around Christianity and are ultra conservative.

Imagine staying in a community whereby education is not the priority. Imagine staying in a community whereby gals are to wear long-covered dresses. Imagine living in a coomunity whereby TV is not allowed!!! Most goodness, it's great that I have trance upon this article, otherwise, I will be still living in the world of my own, thinking that by default, everyone is vaccumed into the 21st century.

It seems that the movie, The Village, whereby the folks were still living in the Old World mold despite it was the 20th C really exist. ( the Hutterites are similar)

Check out their link: http://www.hutterites.org

It is cool to read National Geographic....always new things to be unrevealed.

-Mutastic Fantasic-

Moni not enough

Kimoki earlier entry has been accused of jealousy. As the only one with a mechanical fufu, i feel the need to rise to the occassion and try to settle the root of the problem once and for all.

The problem is of course moni not enough. If got moni, then everthing no problem liao. So the solution is to find moni. See i very smart right? This entry will be rather long in order to address the situation and not everyone will understand the complexity of the situation...

Plan A:

One of the easier solution is to get everyone in the country to give us just 2 bucks. This is the price of 1 plate of char kway tiao only, not 5 plates. With the moni we can then upgrade our cafe. This is not friendly though since everyone give the money, how can the upgrade be so selective leh?

Anyway we have no power, so getting everyone to give 2 buck will be a tough sell anyway. Its ok, I have Plan B...

Plan B:

We explain that price of cooking oil has increase and we are not making the type of profit that we should be making and hence we should raise all our price, otherwise we can't guarantee we can provide good service. Sounds good? Nah, i don't think so, we must always add value to Pitstoppers

No prob, lim beh got Plan C. This time sure can work.

Plan C:

Every easy, get people to invest in our cafe lar. They pump in moni then we can do whatever we want liao lar. I know this moment you guys must be admiring my intelligence, its ok i am used to it.

The key part now is to evaluate potential investors, machiam like what we are doing for the IRs. Must choose properly else wait geomancer say 8 characters crash, then also very jialat. So we go and ask and see who want to invest in us. I am shocked by the keen responses.

Uncle Arthur and his kakis of the round table wanted to help us in our quest. He is very gung ho about it. But the problem is that with his backyard under attack, so many black swords and don't even know who is the traitor, i feel really bad to have him involved with us at this moment.


See his situation like that, i also paiseh to ask for his help

We also have this group of nice folks who are interested in investing with us...


kuku, chi chi, ba ba...

Obviously we have communication barrier and hence we could not really work with them even though they look cute and adorable.

The next group that came to us is too ambitious. Suggesting projects that are way too big scale for us. Building gardens and pavilions, too much for our cafe.


Nice proposal

I suggested to them that even it is not appropriate for us, they can try their luck for the IR proposal. I helped to give them good tips too. Building design don't have asian style or reflect asian culture is ok, as long got museum, support the arts and got convention centers can liao.

After meeting so many investors, i am getting disappointed. No one seems suitable until this jolly guy came along...


One look can see that must be a rich uncle who just withdraw out his cpf

I suggested to him not to invest in Battam but invest in Pitstop Cafe instead. He is keen and even suggested ideas on how expand our cafe...


He is looking at opening another 5 outlets!

I know he is keen, but obviously he has not been in touch. That house that cost $240 is 10 years ago rate lar. Now at least cost a bloody $1200 but his worker salary still crawling at around the same level. I think he better invest in Battam lar.

I had a last meeting with this group of investors. They are really good, from private sector one somemore. Got young, got old, all different talents, really promising.


This is a credible and solid team

I got really excited when they show me the money...


ho seh already lar, finally got investor liao

Everything was ok and fine and i was about to close the deal with them liao


Steady want to sign contract liao...

but who know at the last minute, one of them see a huge potential in our cafe and wanted to have the whole deal himself...


At first in a group steady wan lor, but he chu pattern, want to do it his own way

Of course the rest of the folks also bei song him lor. They wanted to put a stop to it...



I say to him that we should have different people in a team than got synergy mah, the rest of the investors will want the best for the cafe too so should include them as well. He refused and instead ask us to give him a strong mandate instead so that the future of the cafe can be stable.

Of course the rest of the folks aren't too happy...


All tulan liao, rather used the time to go for a vacation instead

With all the key good people missing and only one choice available, the deal don't seem too attractive anymore and hence there was no deal.

But Eve always say very easy to find angel investors to just give you the money. Where got so easy? The only angel i see recently in the movie is the one with wings not moni. Flying around cho bo, catch people falling off the building and thats about it...

Pitstop Cafe, looking for angel investors...

Astroboy, firmware just upgrade to singlish version 1.2