Consider this my first review of the IPAD after using it for a long weekend.  For your information, I don’t own this unit.   My husband’s company owns it.  I was fortunate to be able to try it for a few days while spending time by the beach.  We stayed in a beach resort with subpar wireless internet connection. Enough said.  Here are some things I realized about the IPAD:

• Slow internet kills the experience.  Looking for apps in ITunes is extremely slow. Downloading is slow.  Browsing is slow.    You cannot appreciate your IPAD without good internet connection.  No multitasking means waiting until something finishes.  No reading on the side allowed.
• You need a US ITunes account in order to use the App Store.  I’m glad I had one.
• Make sure you have a protective shield for your screen.  Trust me — you would need it.
• Make sure your IPAD has a case and is always inside a case.  Protect it from elements.
• Protect your IPAD from kids or pets.  This gadget is not very kid safe. I know the apps are very kid-friendly but the hardware isn’t.
• Unlike the IPhone, it has a Horizontal/Vertical lock.
• It is actually heavier than it looks.
• If you don’t want a stiff neck, mount it on something that would raise it to your eye level.
• It is hard to share it with others.  Not all apps can be logged out cleanly.  Make sure you log out your Itunes account before you pass it on to someone else.
• Most apps made for the IPAD  are more expensive than apps made for IPhone.
• I need a  separate keyboard to type comfortably with two hands.
• The screen is not as amazing as what Steve Jobs claimed it would be.

I am not so sure if I am getting one for myself.  However, with the prospect of IPhone OS 4 /iOS 4 iPad firmware update
coming out soon then just maybe I might just give it a second look.

I broke my reliable, 1+ year old Ericsson W960i phone last January during our Boracay trip.  I forgot that it was in my pocket when I boarded a banca (boat) and waded in the waste deep water. Stupid me! Anyways, that’s the price of being careless.

After a few days of using my old phones I decided that it’s time to get me a new phone.  For the past 6 months or so, I’ve been noticing and considering the IPhone after seeing it in action when I visited my sister’s place.  It was indeed the Gadget of the Year.  First of all, it stands out from all the rest due to the large amount of applications (free and cheap) available in the App Store.  It was indeed a toy with a phone feature.  It is essentially the same as the IPod Touch but the latter has no possibility of 3G internet and phone of course.  IPod touch is half the price but knowing myself, I didn’t want to carry (and be responsible for) more than 1 gadget.

I visited a Globe Telecom store in Greenhills and was told that they are out of stock and I would need to be signed up in a queue.  She said it would take not days but months to even get one! Sheesh. Frustrating.

For days, I tried to find out ways how I could get one.. I can buy one from the US or Canada but those would be locked.  The HongKong online Apple store seemed perfect: it sold factory unlocked phones but I had no idea how to ship it here. There’s also some online stores such as the KIM Multiply store.  My hubby did not think it was wise to buy from those online stores so I scrapped the idea.  I did call them up though.  I found out their store was located in Tayuman.

And so how did I end up having one?  While browsing computer shops in Megamall I ran across two stores that sell factory unlocked phones. These are obviously gray market stuff. I was not so sure if I would trust these stores.  One managed to show a demo unit for me.  Everything seemed to be ok and authentic. The price was a bit more than Globe’s (3,000 more) but not that high.  In the end, I decided to go home first and research more about it before I make a final decision.   Also, I have to make sure I am getting the real thing  and to know that I have to know the product a bit more.

After a few days, I knew I was ready to go back to the store.  To my surprise, the sales guy wasn’t there and it was another person who seemed not to remember me from last weekend.  She told me they had no more stocks of the 16GB but only the 32GB.  So I went home quite disappointed.  At least I was able to get the phone number of the other store.

That weekend, I first called that other store and found out that they had it.  A few hours later I was there. I brought my laptop so we could activate the phone right there using my ITunes account.  Fortunately, I had been a US ITunes User for several years already. No need to create one.  I was able to download apps with no problems. While I was there, the guy from the other store found me and was so regretful seeing me buy the phone there.  I told him he wasn’t there when I came back a few days later and that they had no stock then.  So I went here instead.

Since I had my phone, I have already downloaded so many apps.. I even bought one: Plants and Zombies which was the best selling app during that time.  There’s so much cool stuff one can play with I can’t even begin to enumerate.  Maybe the next few posts I will talk about IPhone-related stuff.  Stay tuned. Gosh! I love my IPhone!

This post is long overdue but hey, it’s Christmas time and last week was quite busy.  Nevertheless here is the conclusion of my HDTV shopping adventure.

I came back Sunday last week and could not believe my eyes when I saw that the LG 32LH70YR was not anymore on display.  I asked the saleslady and she told me everything was sold out — including the one on display!  And that happened within 2 days!  Darn! Anyways, one of them told me they would have new stock by Monday.

The next day, I tried calling them about twice and later that afternoon they told me it would be Tuesday.  I tried calling other stores but either their listed phone numbers are not in service or they don’t have that model on sale. The following day, I had appointments the whole day so I wasn’t able to visit the store.  Wednesday, I immediately called them first thing in the morning and to my delight they said they had 3 in stock.  By the time, I got to the store, I found out the one I just bought was second to the last they have.  I guess this model is really popular.  The price was still 30,000 for cash buyers.  I also bought a Pioneer DV420 which upscales DVD movies to Full HD and has an HDMI cable for free all for around 5,000.

So far, after one week of owning it I am not disappointed.  I’ve watched only TV and DVD though.  One day, we will get a blueray player but we just thought this is isn’t the right time yet.  But we’ll see. We even used it as a monitor for playing games and the resolution goes up to 1920 x 1080.

I visited two stores last night. First, is the Western appliance store. I went there because I found out that they had the Sony KLV 32W400 in stock. When I got there, they were 30 minutes from closing. I was also glad that the unit was on display, although it was on a higher spot and mounted. Therefore I could not checkout the back. First thing I asked them was to demo it by showing a movie. It was quite disappointing that all they had was a pirated disk which will never do justice to any TV set they are selling. I tried it nevertheless. It was an action movie. Nothing spectacular but everything was fine. Next, I found the other model which was the Samsung 32B530 also on display and standing at a much nicer level than the Sony. They played another so-so pirated movie and I wasn’t so impressed by it. They told me that it’s probably the player that makes a difference. I doubt if they are telling the truth. I have learned not to believe any sales person when it comes to giving technical advice in retail store such as this.

Next stop was Sights and Sounds in Shangri-La. I took the elevator straight to the 4th Floor. After walking for sometime, I doubted if it was in the right direction. Before I finally gave up finding it, I tried walking further and there it was finally! The store was about to close also in a few minutes. Right in the middle of their store was the the LG Scarlet LH70!! People were also comparing it with the Samsung 32B530 at that time. They were playing “BlueRay quality” Batman playing from a very expensive harddrive player. Samsung seemed to be too washed out. LG had deeper blacks. It was already getting obvious that LG shows a more lifelike effect. I don’t know how it does it. This same lifelike effect can also be seen in the more expensive units in their place. At this point I have already decided to purchase the LG. However, they were about to close and I still have to withdraw from an ATM. I decided to spend a little bit of the remaining time to demo their Pioneer DVD player.

Today, even though I am feeling a bit sick with a fever and still planning to revisit the stores again but this time I will bring a DVD I own and play it again on both TV sets.

We are now in the market for a new LCD TV.  After doing a bit of research about the merits of 1080p, HD Ready, and Full HD I have come up with my top 3.  We chose to shop for one with the a native resolution of 1920×1080. We wanted to purchase something that would take advantage of blueray technology and the latest in gaming consoles and would not be obsolete too soon.  As you would probably notice I am a total newbie when it comes to HD technology and even home theaters in general.  I have not shopped for anything like this since I bought myself a DVD player in 2005 or something.  Also, our budget of 40,000 pesos was able to give us more choices in the 32 inch category.  As far as I know prices of LCD has continued to be slashed down lately, also in time for the holidays.  Buying during the holidays may or or may not be good though as most people are probably thinking of buying one. So maybe, we might have trouble finding stocks.  And so, after reading forums and googling.  Here’s my top 3 choices and bullet points of their features and specs:

SONY BRAVIA KLV32W400

Street Price (Western)40000 PHP,

• 24P True Cinema™ (24 frames per second), NTSC 3.58, PAL, SECAM, NTSC 4.43 (AV In), PAL 60 (AV In)
• HDMI inputs = 3
• PC inputs = 1
• Headphone input= 1
• PIP 1 TUNER
• 3000:1
• 178/178

According to Sights and Sound (a retailer),  KLV32W400 received a 5 star award competition and the best LCD TVs from What HIFI magazine review.  Also, this model was the previous top of the line for this category.  Prices was slashed big time because it was already phased out.  Some stores of Western do not even have this.  The one in Greenhills claimed to have one.   I am visiting them tonight.

LG LH70

Street Price (Sights and Sound) : 30000 PHP

• 24P
• Bluetooth
• CONTRAST 100,000:1
• VIEWING ANGLE 178/178
• RESP TIME 2.4MS
• HDMI = 3
• PC = 1
• USB = available but was locked (some said it could be hacked though)

• SIMPLINK – through infrared other LG with Simplink active can connect to each other wirelessly

• DIVX – can play divx recorded videos directly

• headphone=using bluetooth

• SMART ENERGY SAVING – it has a self adjusting backlight sensor

• TruMotion 120Hz

SAMSUNG LN32B530
Street Price: 31000 PHP (Sight and Sounds)

• CONTRAST 70000:1
• HDMI = 2
• 24P
• PC=1
• HEADPHONE=1

We actually do not have a DVD player now.  It’s one of those things that we had to lose while moving from place to place.  It is good to know that DVD players now offer 1080p upscaling which means your can view your old DVD’s in a new light (or quality so to speak).

Here are some DVD players with 1080p upscaling:

PHILIPS DVD DVP-3360K ( HDMI )
PhP 4,490.00 (Abensons)

PIONEER DV-410V-K BLK (HDMI)Multi-Format DVD Player Featuring HDMI®,1080p Upscaling, USB, and DivX®/WMV Playback PhP 4,990.0 (Abensons)

In my opinion.. first I will take a look at the screens but eventually..i think LG is ok since we still want to spend on an upscaling DVD player such as  the Pioneer dv-410.  But why LG over Sony?  Of course, $$$ $peaks louder but eventually my eyes will decide.  Is saving an additional 10k important to us?
As far as I can see, both the Sony and the LG have practically same features on paper.
LG uses bluetooth and that seems nice plus the writeups/reviews with photos were impressive for LG
So I guess the demo will be the dealbreaker. Hubby has let me decide which to buy among the two whether paying 10k extra for a slightly older Generation but reputable Sony Bravia is worth the extra bucks.  That model used to be very expensive.

Samsung is quite behind on features but if it’s there of course I will take a look at it and compare it with the other two.

With regards to contrast only my eye can judge i think and with proper calibration.
On another note I was surprised that the TV’s in the US are even internet capable now
They can even stream content from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and even YouTube.

Tomorrow I will share with you my visit to Western Appliances and Sights and Sounds.

Here are some helpful links about HDTV:

HDTV: Everything You Need to Know

Understanding Resolution

After visiting the Salcedo Market last week, memories of street food came flooding back.

Here’s a chronicle of my street food experiences:
Early Childhood (Province)

I lived in the province up until I was 8 and hangout at the marketplace at my grandparents store after school. So imagine how much exposure to street food I get everyday.

• Dirty Ice Cream (Sorbetes). Back then, I was forbidden to buy from the street ice cream vendor. They say it was dirty, that’s probably why it is popularly called Dirty Ice Cream.  But it was extremely tempting for me as a 5 or 6 year old!  I don’t remember how I got hold of money back then but one day after school, we were dismissed earlier than usual.  The person picking me up was also a bit late so I grabbed the once in a lifetime chance to taste this so called dirty ice cream and bought myself a huge ice cream sandwich!  I ate it as fast as I could.  I didn’t want to get caught. I was glad I didn’t choke but I could still remember that my mouth was still full as I was on my way home in a tricycle.  I have no idea if he noticed it

• Tuhog Tuhog, Sapin Sapin and other rice cakes.  I remember there was a lady who came by everyday selling these in a bilao or bamboo tray.  I remember that my favorite at that time was called “tuhog tuhog” but today I found out that it is called karioka or carioca.  I can still remember such exotic names of rice cakes and snacks such as nilubyan, suman sa lihia, biko, tupig and maja blanca.

• Puff Rice (pronounced Pap-Rais).  Ok, at that time, it was so common and cheap it is impossible not to have a taste of it.  Sometimes you get it as a present from the old lady across the street who is lola’s bestfriend or something, other times, I just asked for money to buy it. It’s simply crispy sweet rice in packaged in rectangular blocks.

• Samalamig. I think it is called something else back then but I can’t remember what it is.  This is also one of those forbidden drinks that kids like me salivate over.  Anyway, this is a cold drink, usually white or pinkish colored and in a large plastic jar and is scooped and poured to a glass by a big round spoon.  The most common flavor is the Buco or Young coconut.  Sometimes, there are little bits of coconut in it.  I think what makes it good is that they put vanilla, condensed milk and lots of sugar in it.  Just be careful about where you buy this because you don’t know how clean the water or ice that they used to make this.  Another flavor is Sago / Gulaman, usually brownish in color.

• Hotdog/Barbecue on a stick.   With hotdog, I don’t know why one would still buy one in the street considering you could buy one yourself from the supermarket but maybe for some this is the only way they can afford one.  I think one reason maybe is that the taste of the hotdog or barbecue from the streets is unique in itself, having additional aroma and flavor from smoke and dust from the streets.

• Banana Q. Just heard from Spoon that Richard Gomez’ favorite snack is the Bananacue.  I wouldn’t be surprised.  This dessert / snack is simple, crunchy, sweet and yummy just like my childhood favorite tuhog tuhog.  To make this, boil the Saba bananas and then fry and coat with brown sugar.

• Binusang Mais (Cornick) and Adobong Mani. When I was young old folks called this binusang mais.  Later on, they modernized the name to Cornick.  It is fried corn morsels flavored in garlic, pepper and salt.   Usually, you can buy this along with the garlic peanuts (adobong mani) on the same stand.  It is best when freshly cooked! The smallest is the 50 gram brown bag and the biggest is probaly 200 grams.  Oh I could still remember it was only 25 cents for the 50 gram bag.

Early to Late Teens (Metro Manila). Growing up and going to school, later in the suburbs of Metro Manila exposed me to other kinds of street foods. But this time, I was given pocket money allowance so that means freedom.  However, I still remember that the nuns forbade us to buy from outside.  But no one really listened to them .

Fish Ball I think this was the first time I ever tasted fish ball.  Fish ball is fried breaded fish  that is eaten right after frying. Frying only takes a few minutes.  After that you are given a stick and you can pick the balls yourself and later dip it into one of the 3 kinds of sauces: sweet (sweet brown gravy), spicy (hot brown gravy) and sour (vinegar and soy sauce mix).  They said that you can get all sorts of nasty diseases from eating this.  I admit I was infected with Amoeba disease once during this time. It was treated easily though.

Balut sa Puti and Penoy. I remember eating a lot of baluts or penoy one New Year’s eve (more than 5).  I was only 10. Anyways, that didn’t happen again.  I wouldn’t risk my health eating too much of these.  Besides, I can’t stand eating the kiti or unborn chick!  I only like to drink the soup from the egg and the yolk.

Scramble.  This is a semi-forgettable Shaved Ice drink which I would later find common in the US and it is called Water Ice.

Ice Candy from Neighbors. Well, I said from Neighbors because I wouldn’t probably buy ice candy from a vendor just like that. I just don’t know but I felt scared buying it.  It’s basically frozen juice in a elongated plastic tube that you seal by tying up on one end.  Even 7 year old kids can make this themselves.  Thus, most of the time you don’t even need to buy this from a vendor.

Ice Buko / Ice Drop. This one, I found outside of my school.  It is a popsicle that has unique Filipino flavors such as Buco and Mung Beans (monggo) or Red Beans.  Eating Red Bean Ice Cream from Asian Restaurants abroad (usually Japanese) kind of reminded me of this.

Taho. It’s soft tofu sweetened with caramelized corn syrup.  Everyone says It’s nutritious because of the soya protein but what about all the sugar in it?

Shingaling. When i found out the name of those crunchy salty sticks sold on the streets I couldn’t help but giggle.  I am really amazed at the sense of humor of people who named this snack.

Yuppy Age

At this age, most of us have will have our first taste of independence. After all, we are above 21 and we are working and hopefully no longer dependent on our parents allowance.  Some of us at this age live apart from our immediate family and strike out on our own or even start our own little family.  At this time, I thought I was brave and old enough to try the stuff I was scared of trying when I was younger.

Chicharon Bituka and Bulaklak. Crunchy  fried intestines of chicken and pigs. It smells weird, and it looks aweful.  Yeah it is an acquired taste. But for me it tastes yummy.

Squid balls. It’s fish balls for grown ups with yuppy prices of course.  You see the vendors suddenly appear at around 3-5 pm in front of your office building.  Who would not give in to the tempation?  Forget about amoeba, dysentery or hepa!

Currently, tried Tukneneng/Kwek kwek but not from a food cart.  I think that doesn’t count as street food anymore huh?

These I Never Tried:

Betamax (blood cubes), Isaw, Chicken Feet (Adidas)  Who knows one of these days I just might try them

Photo Credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericouano/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I had the pleasure of visiting someone special from my past last weekend. She is now 70 years old but still relatively strong for her age. She lives now with her nephew’s family and younger sister and helps run a small carinderia (diner) in front of her home. Who is she? She is actually my cousin of 3rd degree. Thanks to my paternal grandmother, we actually know even distant relatives. Why is she special? She took care of me and my sister when I was around 3 to 6 years old. She showed up for parent-teacher meetings. She was there for our school performances and pin medals when we were in the honor roll. Some of our classmates even thought she was our Mom. She said my sister just smiled and kept quiet whenever someone asked about it. It was kind of strange looking back at that time. At that time, my Mom and Dad were busy finishing both their master’s degree in Manila and they left us to the care of our grandparents in Nueva Ecija. My earliest childhood memories happened here and they were mostly happy and fun minus the times when I had to cry so much whenever my mom had to go back to the city. But first, I asked how she ended up living at my grandparents house. This is how it started: Read more…

Even before I was a Computer Science student at DLSU I’ve always been hearing and seeing people travel abroad such as US and Australia. When I was around 8 or 9, my Dad would travel occasionally on consulting assignments in Europe, Asia and the US. When I was around 12, cousins and aunts on both sides of the family migrated to the US. Since then, I was kind of dreaming that someday I, too would have a chance to go abroad, even go to the US and see my relatives again. When I was in my 20’s even my sister left for Canada! So you could imagine how much I wanted to be there as well. On my first job, I started as a Programmer Trainee for three months. During this time, I would always hear about our more senior staff getting hired and leaving for the US. It even got to the point where the President of our company gathered everyone for a meeting to talk about it. He basically told us that he also lived and worked there himself. He then told us what are the pros and cons of living in another country. Nevertheless no one really took his warnings seriously. In short, all the senior programmers and analysts left eventually. On the meantime, our current batch was already starting to wonder how we could also land a job ourselves. Pretty soon we found out we didn’t really need to look further. Every now and then someone would spread the word that Mr. so and so would be at this certain hotel having a talk and of course would be collecting resumes. This happened quite regularly, some recruiters came from Singapore but most of them were from the US. Read more…

For the past few weeks I was searching for a nice getaway for my birthday.  It was a Sunday when I bought a Manila Bulletin newspaper and there it was the advertisement for a promotional fare from Cebu Pacific Air to Osaka.     That made the decision easier and so I booked the ticket through the website.  However, after submitting everything, I did not get a confirmation message immediately.  Instead I saw a message saying that the credit card I used was still being checked and so the booking was still pending.  The credit card I used was a foreign card so I wasn’t surprised.  I immediately called their customer service and after a long long time of waiting I finally got an answer : they said I just needed to wait one more hour.  I also called my credit card company and found out that they already did approve the transaction.  Two days after, it was still pending and I frantically called the customer service of Cebu Pacific Air.  This time they told me that they will prioritize my issue.  Later on, I was about to give up.  I still did not receive any confirmation e-mail.   But then when I retrieved my booking I was surprised that my booking was finally confirmed!

The next thing I did was to search for a place to stay and interesting places to visit within the area of the Kansai Airport.  First I looked around Osaka.  I was particularly interested in staying in a traditional Japanese inn (ryokan).  However, I had trouble finding something that fits my budget and there were no special places that really interested me there.  While looking around, I found out that Kyoto was actually just a few minutes away.  Travel from Kansai to Kyoto was 70 minutes while Osaka was 50 minutes by train.  After making a quick search of interesting places and available inns in Kyoto the decision was made.  We were going to Kyoto. Read more…

One time, MrC went to the local small grocery.  Before he left he asked me if I wanted anything.  I asked for any kind of Filipino ice cream: any ice cream which he finds exotic-sounding.   While in there he called up my mobile and told me he only found one flavor: the Selecta Quezo Real.  I said, “sure please get it!”

Up to now, I still find it surprising that Cheese Ice Cream is classified among the weirdest and more alternative type of ice cream flavors.  To us Filipinos, it is just a regular ice cream because we grew up eating this flavor.  When I lived in the US I was kind of disappointed to only find ice cream flavors that are mostly in variants of chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and strawberry!

Here in the Philippines, one can find the following ice cream flavors:

Halo-halo: based on the local favorite cold dessert which means Mixed up.  It includes fruit bits such as langka, bananas, and coconut meat products, mixed with yam, flan, beans, topped with crushed ice and milk.

Ube: This is a purple colored ice cream which is based from sweetened purple yams which is called halaya in Tagalog.

Sweet Corn: This yummy flavored ice cream tastes like, you guessed it, corn, with real corn bits.  It is also based probably on the local cold dessert called mais con yelo (corn on ice) which is a mixture of corn, milk, sugar and crushed ice.

Macapuno: I have always remembered this as my grandmother’s favorite.  I think this flavor has a long history indeed. Macapuno is simply sweetened shredded coconut meat.  The ice cream is plain white like vanilla but has that creamy coconut taste and bits of the sweetened shredded coconut meat.  Simply unforgettable!

Nangkasoy: jackfruit and cashew ice cream.  I haven’t really tasted this for years but I remember this was also one of my childhood favorites.

Durian:  I believe this is a new flavor which I have yet to try.  This is based on a fruit that is abundant in the city of Davao.

Tsokonut (or Chocnut): this is based on a unique Filipino candy that is like coconut and chocolate flavored and a bit powdery but for some reason stays solid.. anyway, you can compare it to an American candy called Reese’s.