Sunset

Life is very much like the sun. There are ups and downs while the sun rises and sets. The recent passing of my beloved grandpa signifies a journey of life from the hardship he had gone through with his sheer determination to the success he attained. The hopes he had given to many without expecting anything in return will live in our memories, or at least mine.

The setting of the sun depicts his hard-fought journey came to an end and sadness we have from his passing. Very much like the brightness of the sunlight, his glows grew, peaked and finally faded. I took these photos on the evening after his funeral with him in my mind and it's a way for me to bid him farewell.
The light may have faded but there is always hope, a glimmer of hope for a new beginning.
Some of us who are true to him will certainly cherish those happy moments we shared with him. His journey may have ended but it's also the start of many more life journeys. Hopefully, these journeys will turn out positive.
As the saying goes, the sun always rises..........

A New Toy

After pondering for some time, I have finally gotten myself another toy to play with, a portable GPS Navman S30. It not only gives directions but has heaps of other useful features like fixed camera warning (light and speed cameras), speeding reminder, distance log, points of interest (POIs). I may not make any more wrong turns or miss turnings. Additionally, if it ever get stolen it may not be able to be accessed by others as PIN has been set after registering it with Navman through its website and Navdesk program.

However, it went bonkers after about 8hours of playing with it. It happened after I tried to get into the Demo feature and it just keeps rebooting without even getting to the main menu. Restarting Loop. Certainly, it pissed me off.....

So, I got it replaced the next day without much buzz as I was advised by the Tech Support in the morning to do so.

As usual being myself, I tried the same thing again after reaching home. Guess what......it bloody happened again!!!! So, I told myself since I will be able to get a replacement anyway, why not try looking for the script files and perhaps edit the startup scripts. Obviously, it's a worthwhile attempt as I learnt something from it.

Having the success, I might just try something else to either change the default graphics/images.

Anyway, here is what I have done.
1) Connect the GPS to PC
2) Go to \Program Files\Navman\SmartST_CE\UserData\ and look for user_settings.xml (most likely the last file in the folder)
3) Open the file with Notepad and look for the following script (exclude the "()" due to html tags):
(property
name="smartst demonstration" value="true" /)
Amend the value to "false" to deactivate the Demo feature and prevent it from looping.
4) Remove/delete the following script:
(property
name="smartst demonstration country" value="xxxxxxxxxx" /)
5) Save the file as xml document.

Voila....it starts up as normal!

I'll try something else next time for sure.

In Loving Memory of My Grandpa (1919 - 2007)

Updated 15/11/2007
Updated 14/11/2007

My beloved grandpa, a great iron man of his time, passed away peacefully at 12.48am on 13th November 2007 after slipping into coma the day before. In the past month, he has been in and out of hospital (including ICU). We were told he opened his eyes to have a glance at some of his children at his beside before drawing his last breath back at his home (just minutes past midnight).

I guess for some of us to see him suffered so much in the last few years after the demise of his dearest wife (my grandma) in March 1997 and particularly the moments he had tubes inserted all over, it did bring some reliefs that he has finally gone to a better place. On the other hand, it's sad that he has passed on. The emptiness and loneliness he felt in the last 10 years after the demise of his beloved life companion and some of close friends finally came to an end.

He was a person who very much enjoyed his food but in the last few years he's been eating simple food alone most of the time. In the last few weeks (perhaps days), he's been fed through the tube. It's a saddening image (sent by my mom).
There have been more sad images of him over the years but I rather have his happy cheery pictures etched in my memory.

The following 2 pics were taken in July 2004 during his 85th birthday dinner.
While this was taken in Oct 2003 during his grandson's wedding.

Pai Thnee Kong in 2003
More pics available on byBHO and whoALSE.

I remember him being one of the "lappers" in Penang Swimming Club before I joined the training back in the early 1980s. He swam til the late 1990s. Another thing about him is his strong thunderous voice that did frighten some of us (the playful grandchildren).

Hailing from China, he had certainly made a name for himself in the business world. In my book, he's always been more than willing to chip in for any donations during my schooling days (as Chinese schools do not have equal fundings as other national schools). A well-known philanthropist during his time and no less than his pal the late Tan Sri Dato' Loh Boon Siew, he had given to many organisations and societies.

Tears started flowing the moment I was informed by my mom about him going into coma and again this morning just before lunch time on his passing, first by my cousin in Perth and by mom seconds later thru text message.

Goodbye, Ah Kong..........We will all miss you, your laughters/smiles and especially your table-banging on dining tables.