Apple iPhone Review

Starter:
Here lies a short and concise personal viewpoint on the Apple iPhone without the technical jargon or excessive compliments.

---

I remembered the times when mobile phones looked like black bricks but I would still proudly attach one to my belt and parade it around shopping complexes. People would look at you and whisper, because mobile phones were such a rare sight. Today if you still proudly parade your black brick around, people would still look and whisper....... and praise you for your innovation on the crab-cracking tool.

Effective

Black brick no more! Say hello to the revolutionary Apple iPhone. In conjunction with its launch, I shall present to you why the iPhone has kept me drooling over it ever since Apple first announced it.

With a height of 4.5 inches (115 mm) and a depth of just 0.46 inches (11.6 mm), the iPhone is thin, sleek and sexy. Designed with smooth edges making it somewhat curvaceous, it doubles up as a great accessory for the fashion conscious or simply as an excellent addition to a geek's arsenal of gadgets.

However, I stress that the iPhone CANNOT instantly make you look good.

This man/woman needs more help than an iPhone can give

Apple boasts that the iPhone is the best iPod ever created. Having owned an iPod for the past 3 years, I couldn't imagine how I could survive without one. What I liked most about the iPhone is its Cover Flow browsing for albums, as seen in iTunes 7. It enables me to browse and admire album artwork almost as browsing through a stack of CDs in real life, minus the hassles of flipping real CD covers. It certainly is a fresh breath from browsing textual album names.

Cover Flow

The power and battery aspect is also impressive. With a talk time of up to 8 hours, you could go to work with a fully charged battery and talk until you finish work in the evening. The battery standby time is up to a mighty 250 hours!!! But then again, who would buy an iPhone just to leave it on standby?

The iPhone does not have a conventional keyboard or keypad as usually found on mobile phones. Instead, it features an innovative touch-screen keyboard that dynamically changes according to the application you are using. If you are typing an SMS, it lets you use a QWERTY keyboard – the kind of keyboards used with personal computers. When dialing a number however, it can be changed into a numeric keypad.

Typing an SMS conversation in iPhone

With advanced technologies such as the intelligent keyboard in place, the iPhone is said to be 5 years ahead of its time. In fact, the iPhone is so revolutionary that I lost count of the number of times the word "Revolutionary" is used in the 20 minutes guided tour at the Apple site.

Here are other facts and features that might interest you:

• The iPhone has a 3.5-inch (measured diagonally) full-color LCD touchscreen
• There is a 2.0-megapixel camera
• You can use Google Maps to browse and find locations
• You can play YouTube videos
• You can browse the Internet with Safari web browser
• There is an HTML e-mail program and the iPhone syncs with Outlook, Entourage, and web-based e-mail accounts like Gmail and AOL
• Phones will be available only at Apple Stores, AT&T-owned and -operated retail stores and the Apple Web site beginning at 6 p.m. (29 June 2007) local times in the United States only
• A two-year voice and data service contract from AT&T Wireless is required
• Each end user will need an online iTunes Store account to activate one of several AT&T service plans
  

Think of the iPhone as an all-in-one gadget. Imagine your mobile phone, web browser and media player in a single hand-held device. Not to mention that the iPhone is packed with 16 core applications.

The only thing that I can safely assume the iPhone cannot do…… is giving birth.

If you want an iPhone, you can buy it from Amazon

Little Planet

Starter:
Sadly I couldn't get any tickets to watch my childhood heroes on big-screen - Transformers. My friend suggested that I go to Pertanak and watch Transexuals instead. -.-

---

I fell in love with this photo when I first set my eyes on it. It's created using a 360 panorama image.


Learn how to create your own here.

Horseback Riding, Sabah

During my trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in April, I decided to try something I’ve never done before – Horseback riding. My travel partner and I found a place called Kindawan Horse Riding Centre, located on the Kinarut beach.

They provide horse rides along the beach, forest trail, to the waterfall and mountains. You can even ride to the nearby islands if the tide is low. We opted for a ride along the beach, costing us RM100 per person. Our instructor was Mrs. Dale Sinidol – an Australian who has been teaching horse riding in Sabah for over 20 years.

Before we began, we were given a form to sign. It basically states that Kindawan would not be held responsible should any injuries or death occur during the riding session. OMG. It was a standard procedure for these types of activities, but it made me uneasy.

Without a clue on horseback riding whatsoever, I mounted a brown horse. My horse then started following my instructor’s horse. I thought my horse was on auto pilot and could listen to my instructor’s voice and that all I need to do was to enjoy the ride. After a short distance, my horse stopped to eat grass! WTH!

I tried to get my horse to keep my horse moving but it did not barge. Mrs. Dale kept shouting instructions at me, asking me to give the horse a kick or something. Using my right leg, I started kicking the horse in the stomach. After gradually kicking from soft to hard many times, my horse reluctantly moved. All along my ride on the beach, I kept using my right leg to kick the horse, but somehow I couldn’t go as fast as the rest.

It was only on our way back to the riding centre, that I realized what was wrong. My instructor used both her heels to kick at the horse! True enough my horse moved and galloped even at the slightest nudge using BOTH LEGS. By then we had traveled a few kilometers and all along the way I was kicking my horse on the right of its stomach. Thankfully, the horse did not throw me off during the journey.

Here’s some tips that I Googled up.

3 Steps to Getting Forward Movement:

1. Bring your horse up to a medium trot (this should be done in all gaits, the trot is just used for purposes of this example).
2. Close your legs lightly on your horse's side for up to 3 seconds.
   * If the horse does not make a good effort to really pick up the pace, start bumping him gently and steadily with both legs (1-2 kicks per second - with both legs) until he does move forward with effort.
3. Once the horse speeds up (even if only slightly), relax for a couple seconds & praise him ALOT!

Magenta, Kuching

When it comes to great food and a cosy environment, a few restaurants come to my mind. One of them is Magenta Restaurant - tucked away in the corner of Jalan Nanas, Kuching.

One of the most significant things you will notice about Magenta is its lighting and deco. Lighting are strategically placed around the restaurant to create a dimmed but cosy and relaxed ambiance. Each table is equipped with your typical floating-in-cup candle.

The restaurant also emphasizes a lot on sprucing up the environment with beautiful deco to enhance your dining experience. You can find framed pictures, mirrors, potted plants and even statues.

Not to forget the main purpose of the visit, the food is well presented and mouth watering. The Classic Chicken Chop Aurora comes with chicken chop (duh!) topped with onion rings, pineapple slices and bruschetta bread with salad on the side. The chicken chop was tender and juicy, cooked almost to perfection. The only complain was the soggy onion rings.

Classic Chicken Chop Aurora

The Mango Salmon however, was rather plain. Although it clearly indicates "Mango" in the menu, there wasn't any mango flavour in it. Or perhaps I should have pinched more salmon from my friend. If you are a heavy eater, you will find that the Mango Salmon dish is rather small in portion.

Mango Salmon

Nevertheless, Magenta is a fantastic restaurant to satisfy all your gastronomical fantasies. From a wide range of healthy fruit juices to alcoholic coffees, small snacks to main courses and grilled meat. I will always have room for Magenta in my stomach.

Magenta Restaurant

Address: 32, Lot 141, Jalan Nanas, 93400 Kuching, Sarawak.
Phone Number: 082-237878

Map of Magenta (click for a larger view):

A Dying Dog

Today as I was waiting for some of my car's parts to be replaced, I noticed a rather peculiar stray dog standing nearby. The dog was in an extremely horrible and disgusting condition. It was thin, dirty and had lost almost all of its fur. God knows what kind of diseases the animal had.

It was a pitiful sight, as the dog had a very hard time even trying to stand on its feet. It was dying.



I really wanted to give the dog a drink, but I didn't have any water and they weren't any shops nearby.

At the opposite end, I noticed another pair of stray dogs. One particularly short and black. The other was brown and much larger than the black dog. The short black dog started sniffing the big brown dog's ass. No prizes for guessing what happened next.Ok! I was just bored during the long wait. But an important lesson for us all to learn. If we aren't too busy trying to survive and stay on our feet, we are TOO BUSY GETTING SCREWED.

Sun Phenomenon In Kuching

At around 11:30 today, I received an SMS asking me to look at the sun. What?! I was particularly curious as being confined in an office cubicle, I hardly know what is going on outside unless there's an earthquake.

Here's how the sun looked.

Apparently, there was a dark halo around the sun, encircled with what looks like a rainbow.

I almost could not take any pictures at all! Of all the time, my phone battery almost died on me, but somehow I could turn it back on and took several pictures.

More shots.....

I noticed many people were aware of the phenomenon and were taking pictures. Many of them were looking directly into the sun. Wonder how they did that. I couldn't even manage a glance. Many of these pictures were "wild shots". My phone camera faced towards the sun while I faced the other way.

Look! That's my finger in this picture.

If I am not wrong, this phenomenon is called an icebow. An according to some sources, it happens every 22 June? Not very sure about that.

I was so engrossed in taking pictures, I almost bumped into a guy who had just parked his car. He was obviously oblivious (wow...obviously oblivious) to what was happening when he gave me a WTF look.

Yeah. That look.

A Brush With Death

After 7 years of driving, yesterday I was involved in only my 2nd car accident. I was turning out of the junction in front of Grand Continental when a SPEEDING TRAILER CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!!! I managed to swerve in time but the trailer suffered a dissimilar fate...

Imagined if I were underneath the trailer.

Okay! So maybe it wasn't so sensational. There wasn't a trailer, but I was knocked from behind after stopping. Knocked by a familiar person.

My car suffered a number of scratches and a broken car plate. Wilson's car came out the worse. A broken headlight, dented bumper and a punctured tyre?? (wonder how it was punctured)

My car. Picture taken the next day lah.

His car. Picture taken from his blog.

Hmm... remembered I said this was only my 2nd car accident? Yeah I have a very clean record. After all I'm such a careful and responsible driver *looks around* *whistles*.

My 1st car accident was last year. Also turning out of a junction. Also knocked by a familiar person - Samson. -____- Sigh! It seems that my friends like knocking my car. Especially those whose names end with 'son'. =P

So if your name ends with 'son' and you know me, please for the safety of all road users - don't drive behind me.

A tribute to my love in the office (.. and sometimes outside)

Wake up every morning, mind in a mush,
Already late, running in a rush.
Brain not engaged, still not in gear,
Coffee, o coffee, I need thee here.

I need the fix, I need the kick,
A cuppa of java will do the trick,
To get through the day I need the buzz,
Hot coffee, iced coffee, no need to fuss.

Too much work, datelines, too little time,
Another cuppa coffee and all will be fine.
Need energy, lift up mood to euphoric the day,
Coffee will energise, colourise and yom the way.

Clock out time, day is done, night is coming
Energy draining, fuzzy mood darkening.
Going home, coffee glow from cheek fading,
Caffeine level in blood stream slowly falling.

Such is life, with hustle and noise, our busy condition,
A life truly driven by the world's only legal addiction.
Filled the cups with espresso, latte, mochas and macchiato
Available only in Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Alfresco.

Moved

Hmm well..... for some reasons I'll be moving to this blog.