blurpenguin

HTPC you say... Home Theatre PC, or more a less a computer built to hold all the media/video/photo/music files which i have, so the entire family has access to it.
Of course the Home Theatre part... where u hook it to a TV/LCD screen, and sound to a nice set of speakers... for some home entertainment...

heh... so here is my worklog/ picturelog of my project which began early this year...

Please bear with the grainy pictures... i did most of the installation in the middle of the night...


First of, the processor - the heart of the machine, so to say... Thankfully some bloke was upgrading and i got this decent Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @2.53Ghz for RM280, 2nd hand. This is almost overkill for running the media centre, but who knows... the extra power will be there if you need it later...


It is actually my first time really getting my hands down and dirty at installing/building a computer myself... most of the time, i just customize and let the shop people assemble it.

I didn't really had any proper place to fix this, and just used my desk to prop all the stuff... heh! didn't even ground my self properly, but i did take some precautions like touching my other computer metal case prior to handling the motherboard... (to get rid of static)


Inserting the chip! I really looked at the manual a couple of times just to make sure I was doing the right thing... heh... 1st time mah... but it was straight forward lah... almost impossible to get wrong.


Next was to apply some thermal grease and installing the cooler fan. Here I again referred to some online guide to apply the correct amount of grease. (the grease is to maximise the heat transfer from the chip to the cooler)


Whilst shopping for a decent computer case to be my media centre, i came across this obscure shop selling some old stock of Lian-Li PC-V850 case!


It was a steal at RM150. Normally Lian-Li full aluminium casings are sold at a premium side... but somehow i think the shop was trying to get rid of old stock, thus the rock bottom price.


You have to remove the drive cage, to install the DVD/rw (LG-RM75), i also took the opportunity to replace the floppy adapter with a plain bezel i had (from my other Lian-Li case)


Here, it is installed back with no ugly floppy adapters...


The Green Drive... heh... marketing! anyways... it's a 1Tb WD Harddisk (RM345) for my rapidly growing accumulation of HD video files.


The case has 2 HD drive cages at the sides... U screw in some studs in the drive, slide them in this cages... and lock them... DONE! simple and easy. Only when u need to increase to 3hd's is when u need to think further...


Motherboard installation: first of it to screw in the standoffs... points where the motherboard will be placed...


Then place in the mobo... with the back plate too.. tighten! & we are almost done...


I bought some decent RAMs, Kingston KHX6400LLK2 44412 (2x2Gb) for RM240 - it came with some cool aluminium heat spreaders attached to them... i still prefer the corsairs with extended fins... but they were more expensive...


Next up... fixing all the case connectors to the mobo, and preparing the space for the Power Supply.... (note: yeah the PSU is located in the front of the case)


U have to attach the plate to the PSU, in order to fix it in the slot allocated for it in the case... special design... (I bought this PSU 2nd hand... a Enermax Liberty 500W for RM120)


Here it is, fixed in the case... next up will be all the other wiring connections...


I wasnt very good in making it all neat and tidy... but i mostly crammed all the excess wiring under the DVD/RW... allowing lots of air-space.


I fitted in the primary HD at the back (a smaller 160Gb hd as a primary OS disk) and it's about complete!


Lastly i fixed in a wireless card, and found this keyboard to complement the system... (card-RM100, keyboard-RM70)


The keyboard was a plesant surprise... the pointer needs getting used to... but overall a decent compromise...

Hannah Celebrated her birthday... just before Chinese New Year! after a horrible 6 hour journey back to penang...

WHOA!... she's 6 going to 7... gosh... time has certainly passed by at a supersonic speed... soon she will be in school... then "dread" brrr....

the year too certainly flashed past very fast... within moments the first month of the year is over... and this is my very first post of the year... talk about total change of free time...

after all the busy shifting back to KL from kuantan, starting work again in Church... and settling back into faster paced city life... whoa... time is moving fast.

Hannah of course is still oblivious... totally enjoying her time back in Tadika Suria... and thankfully has regained her appetite and eats like before... and has gained back her lost weight...

Chinese New Year this round too was a quiet affair... since my parents weren't around... heh... sendiri went galavanting in Europe during the holidays... so CNY was spent totally in Penang this year...

After a wonderful 18 days in New Zealand... it had to come to an end...

So what memories of New Zealand will be forever etched in my memory?

First off... this was the place where we could see wild ducks at every city (maybe not in Rotorua, due to the geo-thermal area)... they ran free and heh... if it were Malaysia, some chinaman would be having a field day selling roast duck, and raking in the free catch!


Then of course the diverse flora and colorful landscapes all over New Zealand... even their normal wild flowers are beautiful... i can't imagine lalang to be beautiful.



Next will be their interesting landscapes... not very tree heavy... but unique... with breathtaking blue skies...


Of course u can't ever forget all those bodies of water u see all around New Zealand... from their unreal blue impressive lakes... to grand waterfall filled fiords...


Also all those lamb steaks, ice-cream, fresh salmon & large amounts of kiwi fruits & cherries.


Goodbye Aotearoa / New Zealand, Land of the Long White Cloud...

For our last night in New Zealand, we had the opportunity to go and see the traditional/cultural show of the native Maori... in the Mitai Village.

Our hosts had graciously booked for us our seats, and the van came at 5.45pm to pick us up at the lodge...We were then driven to the venue... where we were ushered straight to our dining tables, already prearranged seatings?... we were wondering... eh... food first?

Then the host for the evening appeared and invited us to see our dinner... keh... see the fruits of 3 hours of cooking prior to arrival... the photos are already in the previous post.

We were then ushered through a very short walk to a crystal clear stream, we were told later the water comes from a natural spring in the village itself... and as we passed it, we could see the water coming out from the ground... the stream was also filled with rainbow trout and eels!

The show started with the Maori warriors paddling upstream and shouting their war cries...




We then adjourned to their stage... which was tastefully done half of which was covered for the audience, a platform for some lighting and the backdrop which was a section of an actual Maori village.

the next portion was all in Maori, with some dances and singing... and a welcome invitation



the chief then appeared to greet us and quickly reverted to english to explain the meanings of the dance and song... and also followed by an introduction to the daily routine of the Maori people, from exercise to training to the types of dance, types of instruments... The chief was also a good entertainer and funny.


there were also several demonstrations of warfare, spear wielding and dance routines



of course it ended with a haka! :p



We then adjourned for dinner... yum...

before ending the night, we once again re-entered the forest walkway for an introduction to the flora and fauna in the dark! and also saw some Glow-worms...

Thus ends all our activities in New Zealand...

The next day after breakfast, we quickly drove to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland to catch the daily daily eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser at 10.15am...

later we found out... it erupts daily at 10.15am due to some help my man... keh... if left to its own, the geyser would have erupted every 2-3 days... in an not so timely manner... they used normal powder detergent to drop in the geyser to loosen the surface tension of the geyser... and when the cold and hot water mixed underground... spurt... a geyser is formed for an hour plus....


we then took our time walking the shortest route around all the volcanic craters, sulphur pools and bubbling mud...


their famous attraction was also their champagne pool... which was boiling, with bubbles constantly rising to the surface... thus its name...


the pool also is beside a basin of dif metal excretions, giving it a very colorful effect...


heheh... do note all the steam rising out, do have a certain smell to them... sulphur smell... akin to rotten eggs... but u do get used to it after awhile...


we left heading back to Rotorua for lunch, then stopped by The Redwoods! It really was California Redwood trees... brought and planted by the early colonists... and man... they are mighty large... we walked around this public park cum reserve for about 40 minutes admiring the trees and then headed home to rest before our night Cultural Show!

Upon Check-in, and a short nap for the kiddos... we wanted to venture to one of the hot springs in Rotorua...

U cant visit Rotorua and not go to any of them! Problem was... we needed to shortlist and choose only one... due to our lack of time... thankfully the hosts pointed out to us Waikite Valley Thermal Pools.

About 25min out of Rotorua... this was one of the far ones... but they said it was better then the one smack in the city... and they also noted even the main big pool water was actually from the hot springs and filled daily... so off we went...

Woo hoo... upon reaching the spot... you could see all the steam rising out from the valley, when u park the car...


We not only tried the main splash pool, but also some of their sit and soak pools with nice valley views... both at 36-37C



We also ventured for 15 minutes to their hottest pool... to soak in... 39-40C, u really had to step in step by step and allow your body to adjust before continuing in...but ahhh... really relaxing...

too bad their cafe kitchen closes at 7.00pm and we couldnt eat there anymore since we wanted to soak longer. U can stay till 9.00pm, but they will start draining the first pool by 8.30pm... we left before they started draining - all of our stomachs were growling by then, plus we didnt know where to eat!