MOney MoNey MonEy 001

Recently, someone called me a peasant(农民). Basically someone who does not know any branded goods / or someone come from country side.

Yup! I wear a cheap Casio Watch. What to do, I got no money mah!

Often I wonder, is it worth to buy branded goods? Or good things are just too expensive? Often I go for quality products but not branded. Sometime, quality products are branded, and I cannot afford them.

Take for example, I own a Macbook Pro. Most people like it because it look nice and trendy. For me, that is skin deep. The main reason I bought a Macbook Pro is because it runs a decent graphic card that is necessary for me to run my Simulation work. Well that has to do with GPGPU, General-Purpose computation on GPUs. I will explain more about it in the future, if I have the time.

Hey, you are an IT guy, that is not a fair things to start with. Let start with something is that more fashionable, like watch.

All my life, I have been wearing nothing else but Casio watch. Why? Cheap and good mah. At least it can last for 3-4 years lah. Since I have no knowledge about Watch. Probably we can explore a little bit about Branded Watch or Fine Watch.

Some watch brand that I think I know-
Casio, Seiko, Citizen, Swatch and Fossil.

Some slightly better watch brand that I think I know-
Rolex, Omega, Longines, Tissot, Tag Heuer, Raymond Weil and Cartier.

Some Fashion brand that does watch-
Boss, Gucci, Versace, Emporio Armani, Mont Blanc, Chanel, and Guess.

Well there are many other brands that I think appears in Stores.
I am not too familiar with all these brand.
Breitling, RADO, EBEL, D&G, DKNY

So, is that good enough?
Well knowing all these brand is not enough. Actually it goes down to technical stuff. First thing I learned is a term known as Tourbillon.

Most tourbillon watches are very expensive (some are more than £10,000). It is invented by Abraham Louis Breguet. It is a type of watch movement that take gravity into consideration. Click here for wiki on tourbillon.

Breguet Tourbillon Manual Wind - £49,651

http://www.thewatchsource.co.uk/item.php?id=7387
Click here to see more tourbillon watch.
Well the cheapest one is from swatch and only sole in France Paris (Place Vendome) for 2222 Euro.

So, is that good enough? Hey that is the first term only leh.
Then I learned a second term - Rattrapante.
Basically it means split-second flyback chronograph.
Click here for wiki on rattrapante.

Blancpain Leman Split-Second Chronograph - $11,300 USD


http://www.thewatchery.com/Blancpain-Watch-6582.htm

So? Hey! 2 only leh!
Next the third term I learned - Equation of Time
Yup! unlike the first 2, it is more lengthy name. Now the sun rise and sun set is not always the same in different time of the year. Equation of time takes that into consideration and show exactly the solar time vs the normal time at different time of the year.

Click here for wiki on Equation of Time

Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Watches Equation of Time Watch - $86,700 USD

http://theluxurybazaar.com/timepieces/webforms/watches/details/watchid_59710_Audemars_Piguet_Jules_Audemars_Equation_of_Time__Yellow_Gold__26003BA_OO_D088CR_01.html

Last term I learned is Chiming.
Well, this term is simple, sounding alarm. Of course, it is easy for digital watch. But for Mechanical watch is a different matter altogether.

Click here for wiki on Chiming

Example of Chiming


Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Minute Repeater - $125,440 USD

http://www.timeofswitzerland.com/Jaeger-LeCoultre-Master-Minute-Repeater-Antoine-LeCoultre-164-T4-50_e.cfm

Well? Given a choice I prefer the following watch-

Vacheron Constantin, Tour de l’Ile - more than $1.5 million USD

http://www.hautehorlogerie.org/en/encyclopaedia/complication-watches/ultra-complicated-watches/ultra-complicated-watches.html

Why it is so expensive!!! This is because, It does just about everything what is mentioned. It is the most complicated Wristwatch. Pocket watch can be more even more complicated - Patek Philippe Caliber 89 (wiki)

Well, we learn 5 new brand.
Breguet, Blancpain, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin

Yup! I think the name is too complicated to remember. I suppose I know a little bit about branded goods now. But I think I remain a peasant, as I don't think I can ever afford these fine watch. What do you think?

Trip to Warwick

Last Saturday, I went to a trip to Warwick Castle. Again, organised by the Student Union of course. I forgot my memory card and only discovered it after I started the journey. So I end up purchasing the memory from the store at Warwick.

It was quite worth it, only £19 pounds for the trip. The entrance ticket worth £18, if I go myself (See the photos). I suppose the Student Union has some deals with them. I got to dress up myself for battle. So are you ready? Could you spot something interesting in the photos?

Hint: there are real people dressed up, and some not real people look extremely real.
Which is which? The lady I stand next to, or the man I stand next to?

View Album

Get your own

Trip to Cambridge

Went to Cambridge recently. This is my second time goes there and get to see more things.

First of all, there is this Gonville and Caius College, that has 3 gates. It is the gate of Humility, Virtue and Honour. The students have to pass through the gate of humility in their first year and then virtue the second. Passing through the gate of honour is for graduation. There is actually another gate. The gate of need, as the students there would name it. It is the gate to the toilet.

Next, is definitely the Newton's apple tree. I did wanted to seat underneath it. Too bad it is nothing on the tree at this time of the year.

Next, follows by the punting on the backs. I get to see most the bridge on River Cam. (Hey, that is where is Cambridge gets it name) It is spring, so it is not too cold.
Well there is also a bridge of sigh in Cambridge - (1831 AD) too, similar to Oxford (1914 AD).

Well, I like the mathematical bridge the most, as it comes with Myth.
That the bridge was designed and built by newton. It was so perfect that the planks were laid one on top of the other and held together by their weight and the angles by which they were put together. Some students were so intrigued and in awe of its architecture that they took it apart to see how it was built. Their downfall was that they could not piece it back together again and therefore the bridge is now held together by nuts, bolts and screws.

Well everyone like Myth right? All right, here is the real story.

Well enjoy the photos.


Yup! they are having graduation. It is medical school.