Bye, bye BBM....

I finally gave up on my BB 9300 3G. The first few months was fun. I actually signed up for twitter and was more active with fb because I had the unlimited data plan and all the BB goodies with it. It was also fun connecting with some of my friends that also had Blackberry phones as they are always a BBM away.

Unfortunately, I slowly felt the phones slowly ageing technology. I was happy with the qwerty keypad. I always was. But, the screen was too small. I don't have perfect eyesight, so seeing small images on the phone makes it hard for my eyes. Next is the phone memory. I found myself deleting apps every now and then. And there were very few on my phone! The phone would sometimes freeze. I constantly had to do a battery pull, clear log or do a soft reset just to get it jump started again.

I slowly gave up on it. Since I acquired a Samsung galaxy tab 7.7 (I might give a short entry about this) a few months back, I slowly fell out of love of my BB as I was beginning to embrace android again. (Add insult to injury was that Globe Telecom's service was on the fritz these past few months so I used my BB a lot less). So, I finally sold my BB and acquired another Android phone.... Pantech Sky Vega 4G LTE (No, it's not another china phone. It's the 3rd biggest mobile phone manufacturer in Korea). I'll be happy to make another entry about my 2 weeks and counting with this phone.

To cut my story short, it was fun having a BB in hand and I wouldn't mind getting another one. If they finally launch their OS10 sometime soon, and if it looks promising enough, I might have a look at it.

Tempura Japanese Grill - ATC Branch

just had dinner awhile ago at this resto. my family and i have been going to this resto every now and then. unfortunately, tonight the usual dining experience i had fell short of what i usually get.

first, the trainee waiters seem to not know how to properly set the table. after setting up my wife and son's paper placemat and plate he was about to place mine. what he did was place it right side up but suddenly changed his mind. since i was a chair away he pulled the paper placemat towards him placed the plate upside down then slid the whole thing back to me. all this while making noise on placing the plates without care on the table.

second, the food seemed different than usual. they seem to changed the rice that they use. it was a bit dry and did not have the stickiness japanese rice should have. for myself, i ordered ebi hamburg katsudon. my rice was the same dry, unsticky type. the thing is, the sauce was a bit on the salty side and seemed like it was prepared haphazardly as one side had too much sauce while the other just enough. in that instance i could've preferred the just enough at is was too salty than usual.

third, the place. i haven't ate there for quite sometime now but the leaky aircon was still leaking. how long will it take them to actually fix it. it leaks directly on the couch.

the onyl good thing is that the regular staff are very accomodating and energetic. the guy who was serving us always had a smile on. unfortunately, our take away (which was sushi) took longer than expected to arrive (it was just tamago and there weren't a lot of customers) plus i had to call their attention a couple of times so i could get a glass of water.

i hope the old staff rotates here again as we didn't see familiar faces. as for the food, the tempura is still okay here.

The Android dream

I've been obsessing in getting an android phone ever since the Nexus One came out. Sad thing is bills keep piling up that I don't have enough to set aside for the phone. A couple of weeks ago Samsung and HTC has been dishing out more powerful droid powered phones and the Samsung Epic 4G was actually epic.

Since the introduction of budget themed/mid-level priced droids like the Samsung Galaxy 5 and LG Optimus a new wave has just been unleashed by these big companies like the HTC Wildfire, LG Optimus One but to me, one stands out from the rest. The Cherry Mobile red label line. CM has been known for cheap dual and triple sim phones that are very appealing to the masses. (We even bought the P1 just because it was cute.)

With this red label line by CM they introduced three powerful yet affordable droid line up. First is the Superion (price at P19,990.00) which is a 7" tablet smartphone that will give the Samsung Tab a run for its money. Next is the Magnun HD (priced a few pesos shy of 19 grand) that is at par of the Nexus One albeit a lot more cheaper. And the last one (which i'm eyeing right now) is the Nova. Priced around P500 more than the Samsung Galaxy 5 but more feature packed.

I got a chance to fiddle with it and the build is plastic-y. Weighs like nothing, has a 3.2" HVGA screen which is no Super AMOLED but good enough. It has no UI of itself, just the basic Eclair UI which I guess it's a good thing because it might mean a faster update to froyo. It's powered by a 600Mhz Qualcomm processor and is enough to handle basic functions of a smartphone. Unless you want to play Quake II and of course it will choke. It seems that tweaks are in order to make it more intuitive and zippy but for the price point I'll definitely be eyeing this as my Christmas gift for myself.

Free Stuff!!

Times are tough now a days. Prices fluctuates every know and then. Financial crisis is being felt all over the world. But still, there is still hope. There are bargain hunters who rummage through every sale or bazaar to make ends meet or those like me who look for freebies! These past few months I've been in a financial pinch so I get what I can take. For example, I have already sold my beloved Imate Jasjam to pay off stuff. Good thing is the free phone from globe I received 2 years back is still in good condition. Also, I just received a free phone from Sun Cellular, a Nokia 2700 with free sim and a months load.

Here's another tip to credit card holders, always check your card for freebies. An example is with BPI edge, you get 30 mins worth of free games (red, blue, and yellow swipers) at Timezone for a minimum purchase of P1000 and an hour's worth of free games for a minimum purchase of P1,500.00. Isn't that great? Still with BPI, free food at Pizza Hut! For a single receipt purchase of P1500 you get free Caesar salad or personal pan pizza, for P3000 I think it's a choice between two pastas, and for P7000 you get a family pan pizza. As for metrobank the last promo they had was free pizza at Greenwich. What got me was to get a Pan Pizza (there were 6 choices of Family size pizza flavors) is just compile your charge slips till they reach P10000. Gas and groceries alone could fill that up in no time!

Anyways, just look around and maybe you could find a good bargain or freebie out there! These are tough times so be street smart.

Sony's 3D capable Bravia LCD TV

Got a chance to try this out today. It was a weird experience but an eye opener at the same time because of the evolution of today's technology. The ads on the side says that in order to get the 3D experience 4 things are needed:

1. A 3D capable Sony LCD TV
2. A player capable of reading the 3D content (a ps3 was used for the demo)
3. The 3D glasses for the 3D capable LCD TV
4. and lastly the media that has the 3D content (a blu-ray demo disc was used for the demo)

Tried on the sleek looking 3d glasses (complete with pouch for safe keeping when not in use), which looks like an oakley inspired shades. Looks like one that cyclops would use as there are no open spaces because it hugs the surrounding area of the eyes. I also noticed that it has a switch of some sort on the left inside part of the glasses. Wasn't able to ask the demo person on what the switch does because a lot of persons were asking questions which kept him busy.

The LCD is I think the 52" version of the Bravia series albeit it's seems the screen used was an OLED type. Colors were vibrant and once the glasses were put on the video pops out of the screen. Feels weird and it took awhile before my eyes could adjust. Wasn't able to see how wipeout looks on 3d because when I took my turn it was.... wait for it..... Wheel-of-Fortune!! The wheel and prizes popped up like that of a pop-up book. I really wished I could've tried it out a bit longer to see other content but there were a lot of people at the time that also want to try it out. I wonder how it feels to use it while playing God of War 3 or Dante's Inferno? hmmmm.....

God of War Collection

This game has been eating my time a whole lot (and I do mean a LOT) these past few weeks. The best thing about it is I never had a chance to play GoW 1 and 2, I only got hooked when I played it on the PSP. For me this was a good bargain since the FMV's and cut scenes are digitally remastered to be shown in HD plus they added a trophy collection to both games and the bonus features on both discs are still included in the BD. Unfortunately, I have been playing the game in God Mode for 1 and I haven't tried the Titan mode for 2 (the words "VERY HARD" are putting me off. hehehe). The only problem now is the release of God of War 3 is very near and I haven't thought of a way on how to pay for it. I played the demo and all I can say is that it was hella good for a demo!

Play Station 3: Move

Sony says it's still a working title but this is their answer to the Wii and 360's Project Natal. Looks a bit promising to say the least. With the PS3's processing power and gpu power plus free moving toys, I have high hopes for this. Plus it looks like I don't have to shell out for a Wii afterall.