THE past few weeks had been a mash of going for the Japanese language class from Monday - Thursday, followed by either completing the Visa Application in Singapore, or shopping for appropriate shoes and winter clothing to bring over, and meeting up with various people who had contacted me to meet up prior my leave.
With these schedules, I had neglected my Japanese homework big time as well. What usually is a 6-hour lesson to complete a chapter with about 3 - 4 grammar rules, this crash-course that I've switched to completes it in 1 hour for each chapter.
The teachers are helping me as much as they can prior to my move but I realised my own incapability to cope with all these grammar rules in that 1 hour time frame per chapter. I don't know if age is a factor, or the exhaustion from all the preparation and the stress of meeting deadlines for the Visa Application is finally kicking in. I was suddenly down with flu and stomach flu this morning and still am.
My biggest distress the past 2 weeks was to shop for a new lappie that has similar specifications to my NEC Versa E6510. It doesn't help that NEC has stopped manufacturing laptops, to my knowledge at least, ever since its retrenchment of 10K staff in Asia in 2011. If NEC lappies are still available in Japan, that means, Singapore has stopped bringing in NEC models.
The hard drive has been making worrying noises after almost 4 years. It has a good sound card with built-in SRS Premium - the only reason why I was unwilling to discard it. I'm a person who is particular about sounds.
Although the latest Asus lappie had a Bang & Olufsen audio system, it paled in comparison big time. The jokers in Challenger at Funan tried to wing-it when they told me there's no laptops now with such a built-in, until I challenged them with, "Want me to show you?"
Anyways, I found @notebook.com in Funan that had what I needed more than what I really wanted. I settled for a Samsung Series 3 - 300V5A over a 300E4A.
Besides the usual specs of i5 Processor, 8GB ram (after a free upgrade during the promo), 640GB HDD etc, everything in 300E4A was what I really wanted:
- Exact sound support as the NEC Versa
- Glossy screen
- Professional-looking aesthetics of black and silver
- SGD$100 bucks cheaper than 300V5A
In addition to the basic hardware specs, the 300V5A had almost everything I needed:
- Matt screen (this explains the SGD$100 difference)
- Similar sound support as 300E4A but much softer in volume
The biggest drawback of the 300V5A was its availability in 2 colours only - Sky Blue and Shocking Pink. Yes... *facepalm*
So when I had to make a decision whether I value my eyes more or sound production, I decided on the former since I intend to get speakers when in Japan. I can make do with a softer sound quality, but eyes is something where prevention is better than cure.
It makes no sense to me to get the lappie I want and then spend additional time and money to go elsewhere to buy a protective layer to paste over the Glossy screen, or even have the screen changed at some dodgy shop in Sim Lim.
Unfortunately, the Sky Blue was out of stock (not that it's my favourite colour, but anything is better than Shocking Pink) and the Samsung sales rep was like, "Take Pink lah, it suits you." I think I subconsciously made a WTF?! face towards the salesman because he immediately apologised to me for making that comment.
The only time in my life where I had no choice but to take a pink electronic gadget was when I re-contracted and upgraded my mobile line and had to take a pink HTC Wildfire S because it was the only available colour given free. I could have passed on the HTC to my mom when her phone went kaput but she didn't want to adapt using a touch-screen phone at that time.
Sigh... I now have to travel looking all bimbotic with this shocking pink lappie. I can't wait to find some kewl skull lappie skin covers in Japan and conceal all the pink areas.
The other big distress is to look for appropriate shoes for work. Something that gives comfort if I have to stand or walk for long hours, and something that keeps them warm. Finding shoes in Singapore is already a hassle for me, but at least size 38 - 40 shoes (depending on the shoe design) are still relatively easy and common for female shoe sizes in Singapore.
When しみず先生 found a size conversion chart for shoes and clothes for me, she was surprised by the size of my feet. In Japan, shoe sizes are measured in centimetres (cm). Not only because it was due to my height, but also when I showed her a 2003 picture of myself, the only time in my life where I had my hair kept long and had a smaller frame, I now have 太る なりました！ LOLOL
Guess, I shall do another post stating these conversions.
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