Upgrading

My previous PC had an AMD processor and a laughable 124 MB memory - I think. Probably in its heyday it was worth something, but then I was using this century. It was a hand me down from my brother and felt like a leftover from the Cretaceous Period. It hanged a lot, and you can make espressos for everybody while waiting for it to complete opening a web page. It was so slow.

So when my mom told me to upgrade stuff, which included my PC, I jumped at the opportunity.

I would have loved to have an I-Mac PC or a Mac Pro notebook ... but then my mom would've yelled at me. She gave me a budget and expected me to use my cost-cutting skills to the max. I was tasked to buy myself a new computer and upgrade 2 of our office PC's & acquire a new one.

Sick and tired of the Jurassic PC, I "splurged" myself on a laptop. It's just a Neo notebook with an Intel Core 2 Duo (thank God), 80 GB hard disk drive, and 1 GB memory (thank God again). It has some other extra stuff .. . but then it doesn't matter. The important things are it's fast, efficient, and will do in this century. It came with a free Canon iP 1200 when I got it at PC Corner (there was a promo going on at the Gilmore branch last August - they have a new one going on).

The task of upgrading the PC's in the office was a bigger headache. I was planning to hand down the hand-me-down PC since it will just be used for data entry. I planned on just amping the memory up to save moola, when one day it finally rolled over and died on me. The memory conked, it cannot be replaced. I had to change the motherboard and processor as well.

While doing "research," I had fun with the PC "builder" that certain sites had so one can have an idea how much the whole PC package will cost. The sites I visited most often were www.pccorner.com.ph and www.buyqube.com. Funnily, I failed to acquire the first upgrade from both. That is because when we (me, Lofrick, & Chloe) went to Gilmore St. QC, there were a lot of computer shops offering lower prices and we picked the one nearest to where we were parked. Gilmore St. (and the area around it) is the new computer hub of Metro Manila (for those who are still thinking it is Greenhills Shoppping Center or Virra Mall). If you want brand new parts and packages in cheapo prices, go here. It's in front of St. Paul's College QC, in close proximity of the MRT station.

Of note is www.buyqube.com because they have this X-PC. Visit their site (the real one at Gilmore) you'll see these really cool small CPUs. It's not cheap, but it's worth checking out. Also, they have snappy-looking, compact Gigabyte notebooks.

Anyway, before all that I inspected the old computers in the office and discovered these stuff were a lot worse than my PC. I don't know how geriatric the processors were but when I saw the OS Windows '95 and then Microsoft Office '95 I wanted to laugh out of pity. It doesn't help that the printer was an Epson Lx-800 dot matrix. I kept wondering where they get printer ribbon refills since I know it's obsolete. The monitors were small and the screens were wavy and shaky. Diagnoses: Not upgradable, off to the junk shop.

Thanks to my trip to Gilmore, we were able to salvage some parts (hard drives and optical drives, 17" monitor) from my Jurassic PC and upgrade the processor to an Intel Celeron D 347 (not bad), an ECS motherboard (a good one), 512 MB memory (a far long hard cry from the old one), and a new ATX case. I got a multi-function HP Deskjet to retire the hardworking Epson.

I still have to buy two more PCs (and do some penny pinching) but then I thank God that computers in this country is actually a lot cheaper than anywhere else.

Incidentally, there are computer-related buy and sell stuff at wwww.sulit.com.ph worth checking out. So if you are in the same boat as I am ... I hope this blog entry helped.

PS: You can check out T3 & Speed Magazine for more info on tech stuff but then it'll just make you drool if you're a tech geek.

A Banapple a Day .....

One day I was reading food and travel blogs and came across BANAPPLE. The pictures of the food in www.clickthecity.com looked really yummy and I made a mental note to visit the place since it's is very near where I live.

Knowing my penchance for proscrastination, I forgot about it until one day I was really hungry and came across the article again while checking out what's showing in the theaters.

I was chatting with Redcomet and I ended up describing the food stuff served in Banapple. It didn't help curb out my hunger pangs.

Anyway, the next day I kept telling Chloe and Lofrick about visiting the place after we were done upgrading a computer in the office. These folks are two of my chow buddies (meaning food trippers like me) and won't back out on something like this.

Banapple is located at Katipunan Avenue near Blue Ridge. It's on the same side as Quirino Memorial Hospital (a.k.a. Labor Hospital) across Kopi Roti. It's a small country style cafe with a few tables (around 5-6). Parking space in front of the cafe is only two .... that's how small it is, and the rest of the parking space they share with other tenants of the commercial area.

For something small, it seems to attract a huge clientele because a lot of cars were littered in the area, waiting for parking space. Some parked along the road.

Why am I stressing lack of parking? Well, when you get a bite of that Banapple, you will come back. So this serves as a reminder for road ragers with sweet tooth.

Once inside, we sampled their limited lunch/dinner menu. It consisted of pasta, sandwiches, and other typical Filipino favorites. We ordered the Garlic Beef Tapa, Chicken Parmigiano, and I think a Pasta Magnifico. For dessert, we had Strawberry Amaretto Cheesecake and Super Caramel Fudge Cake. We had iced teas for drinks.

... we devoured all of it with gusto.

THE FOOD IS DELICIOUS!!!

I particularly loved the Chicken Parmigiano (and the pasta ... and the tapa). Dessert is sinfully good. Lofrick commented that eating the Strawberry Amaretto Cheesecake tasted like my car. My car has this California Scents Coronado Cherry. And he meant that in a good way. The cheesecake is excellent. It's perfect. But my favorite is the fudge cake. The taste reminded me of the "molten" chocolate cake of Chilli's.

Two days after (or is a day after?), I brought my high school friend Bonsai to the place. Aside from the Chicken Parmigiano, we had a Pasta Verde (pesto sauced pasta). I had the fudge cake and she had an Oreo Cookie Cheesecake. For a petite girl measuring 4'10," she enjoyed filling up her bottomless pit of a stomach while chatting up a storm. In fact, she loved what we ate so much she ordered food and desserts to go for her sister and nephews (She still joined in in eating the take homes - hahaha).

One terrible Friday Pay Day, I had this hankering to go back at the place (it's been only a week since the first visit). So I dragged Lofrick amidst the horrendous traffic. Unfortunately, there are no parking spaces available (not even near the road) - the place is packed. We ended up eating somewhere along the strip of Katipunan Ave. (another chow discovery). But we HAD TO go back to the place (which was still filled with people) and ordered the BANOFFEE pie to go, which they say made it famous. I was a little disappointed because I wasn't able to eat there, but when I got home and tasted the pie, all the bad vibes (due to the traffic) melted away. The pie is so good. It's a combination of coffee cake and banana cake with a light sweet icing. It's yummy.

You can never go wrong with this place. It's good food with reasonable prices. It's not one of them snooty places but it's not low-end as well. It's quality stuff without boring holes in your pockets.

Bring your friends ... and expect to elbow for parking space. It won't be soon 'til word gets out.

The Search Continues .... (for an I-Phone Replacement)

I was planning to go to the Nokia center at Serendra last night, but unfortunately, we spent too much time upgrading the computer in the office (another story much later) and had a lovely dinner at Banapple at Katipunan (another review much later). So we arrived at the area around 10 PM-ish.

After goofing around the place, taking pictures (my friend Chloe is your typical Fil, there will always be kodak moments - everywhere and anytime), we parked our butts at a Starbucks (not my choice really, I wanted to go off somewhere since it's my only day off from the motor/garage pool office). Anyway, while Lofrick and Chloe were tinkering the laptop, I grabbed a couple of tech mags off the rack.

I got hold of a magazine comparing the performance of Intel Core 2 Duo and the AMD Turion notebook processors. Which won the battle ... well, I think it's better one should get hold of the magazine and read for themselves. Interesting article. Then I got to the section of mobile phones. Since the mag issue is June 2007, I would still consider it updated by my standards.

As usual, the the Nokia N-95 and the latest Nokia communicator were the phones of the moment. But I don't like both. Sure, they may be loaded with features but then I wonder what the heck will I use all of them for. And they're ugly ... in terms of bulkiness. Like I stated before, I prefer the slim phones. I go for look, weight, and specific chosen few features - I don't pack my whole life in my cellphone.

Anyway, I was flipping the pages, and I saw the an Alcatel slider phone and several Samsung phones which made me curious to check out their site.

I surfed to samsung.com.ph and my comment is that they have to improve their site. Compared to Nokia and Sony Ericsson's site, Samsung's site does not have an advance search nor a phone comparator. There's a drop down menu for phone models, but if you're not familiar (like me) with their products, the phone model numbers can be quite daunting. There are thumbnail pictures of phone models .... but then I'm too lazy to go through all of them. So I went to CNET-asia and used their mobile phone advanced search to sort out the phone I like.

What I like about the Samsung phones is that they are stylish. Even the smart phone that they call the Blackjack. For the mutated calculator look, at least this one's slim ... and yes, kinda stylish.





The slider phone that's eye candy to me is the Samsung Ultra Editon 12.1 (U700). The phone is slim and sexy. But it just stops there. It doesn't have an FM radio, IR, or a media player. The camera though is 3.2 megapixels ... not bad, but this phone can't compete with my other choices.

Well, the search goes on.

I Don't Want To Wait - The I-Phone Asia Launch

My cellphone is a Nokia 6085. It's a clam shell phone which takes very bad pictures. Why did I buy it then? It comes with my Globe postpaid plan, it has big keypads, and it has an FM radio. I love the services of Globe, but man, their phone packages suck. I checked Smart's packages - they have decent phones ... I just wonder why Globe could not come up with packages like that.

Anyway, as I was saying in the previous blog, Christmas is near (and so is my birthday). I'm not really into the expensive stuff but when I know some fairy (Hi MOM!) can grant me something ... the first thing that come to mind is to upgrade my phone.

This country is cellphone crazy. Everyone has a cellphone. It's the one of the easiest gadget one can acquire as there are a lot of cellphone sellers catering to all classes. However, the problem is how to sort out the good from the bad.

I want an I-phone .... it's got to be out of the finest phone that ever came out. But for some strange reason, Apple decided to launch it in Asia on 2008 - which is crazy. After all the hype and promotion, they expect the people here to wait that long. I don't think so! Everyday, I'd visit the Apple site and drool over the thing. I must have it! But the drooling does not stop here. The Apple site's one of my favorite sites. I love all their products. (Anyone seen the I-Mac? Wow wow wow!!! White is not my favorite noncolor, but the immaculateness and sleekness of the I-Mac makes her beautiful. And then don't get me started with the MacPro .... mark my words, when I become filthy rich all tech stuff I have will all be Mac-based. My only precious right now is my I-Pod 80 GB video --> mwah mwah mwah. )

There's this feedback from my pal that the I-Phone does not have 3G. It's not a big deal really, since I'm not a fan of seeing who I'm talking to (I dunno, it's a phone ... you place it near your ear). But then, just the idea that it lacks something bugs me. (Ever the perfectionist). Then there's the wait ... I don't want to wait ... but I still want it. Argh, let's see where this mental tug of war will end in the next few months.

I can't have an I-Phone now, so I decided to search for alternatives.

I went to www.nokia-asia.com. They have this comparator, where you can compare all different models side by side, and it will show you their specs.

I'm a fan of the slide phones ever since Keanu used one in The Matrix. That's why I don't like my clam shell phone and my other former phone, a Nokia 7650 (the one which looks like a leaf, with hellishly designed keypads) ... it lacks the oomph that a slider has. My second choice would be any touch screen phone. As much I would like a smart phone, I don't like the QWERTY keypads. It makes the phone look like a mutated calculator or remote control.

Anyway, so I narrowed down the search for slider phones, and I've come up with some choices.

The N95 and N95 8 GB looks tempting. My mom has one and I've seen what it can do. But I find it kinda bulky. I prefer slim and sleek phones. So it goes down at the bottom of the list.

There is also the Nokia 6110 Navigator. The one equipped with GPS. It promises that you will never get lost again with that phone. It looks nice and there are pretty impressive features. But then, I don't see myself using the GPS too much - nobody to stalk. So, it goes down again at the bottom pile.

Two phones that caught my eye were the Nokia 6288 and Nokia 5610 Xpress Music. Both have all the basic specs I want (FM radio, music player, camera, blue tooth, WAP, USB connection). I love the sleek look of the 6288. It's not bulky and not too slim. I've read user reviews from CNET-asia.com, and the only complaint is that the slider is kinda loose. The price is also reasonable.

The Nokia 5610 Xpress Music is one of the newer models. It boasts a 2.2 inch qvga scratch-resistant window (reaally now?), crystal clear hi-fi audio (reaally now?) with a camera with autofocus and dual LED flash. Unlike the 6288 which is Triband, the 5610 is quadband in gsm 850/900/1800/1900 mhz. It also has a macroshot, landscape mode ... which is the main attraction for me. The thing I don't like is that it doesn't have IR and I dunno what's with the red/blue side design.


Just for looks alone I would probably go for the 6288, but for features sake ... the 5610 is better. It promises to "rock your world in more ways than one." Well, let's see. So in this round, I would say it is a tie between the two.

I went over the fence to check out Sony Ericsson phones. Just like the nokia site, they also have a searcher and comparator.

The only slider phone that caught my attention is the SE W850i. This is a handsome looking phone (specially the black one). It has the basic things I want but I noticed that its camera is just 2.0 megapixels without autofocus. I've read reviews and the editors at CNET complained of "unintuitive controls" and limited memory. But one user attests to its durability. It's worth checking out ... though not too convincing for me to jump over the fence.

The other phone is the SE W960i. It's not a slider but a candy bar phone, which is a minus. But it's sleek block black looks appeals to me. It's one of the "coming soon" phones and it promises to be an I-Phone killer (this I have to see). It has a 9 rating, so I am intrigued on what it can offer. One user comments that there is no CONs to this phone. I checked the specs and discovered it has no infrared, no media player, no wall paper animation --> too minor details to bother with. It has a touch screen feature so, like it CNET people said, it can rival the I-Phone.

I will still have to see this phone in actuality to pass my judgement. The I-Phone still holds my heart ... but then with the long wait, any of the phones above might veer me away from it.

The Return of the "Bers"

When the calendar starts to end in "BER," it sets off a series of panic buttons in my direction. Aside from my birthday looming ahead, it also reminds me that once again I have to unload some of my dough to go gift shopping. Then there's the weather and the problem of keeping things clean. And then, there's the problem on how to keep myself awake.

Christmas is such a big deal here in the Philippines that one should do things
4 months ahead of everybody.With family, relatives, friends, househelp, and god children in mind, this is the time I start making my list and checking it twice as not to miss anyone (and face guilt for ruining their Christmas). So as early as September, I would usually keep my eyes open for the magic word - SALE - at the malls, to curb my expenses.

But it seems that it's not just me who thinks about these things in September. Traffic starts to build up on all roads leading to the malls. You want to experience how big our population is - go to the mall at holiday season (or when one of those local reality-tv contestants do a mall tour. I hate driving around during this time.

Just a week ago I went out to buy Escada Sentiment for my mom (50% off!!!), I noticed that the Christmas songs start to enjoy continuous airplay in the appliance stores. Some of them already have Christmas decor set up .... and All Soul's Day haven't arrived yet ( --> most families in this country set up their Christmas decor after All Soul's Day - November 2).

Along with the buying fever, the weather starts to get weird as well. We don't have cool months ... only rainy months. Whether the meteorologist is right or wrong, it will rain at least for 30 minutes a day. So if you were caught under the sudden downpour - too bad for you and me.

As I seem to attract precipitation, this La Nina Season is a headache. Sometimes I even wonder if I should have Johnny (my ford escape) car-washed at all because darn it, it never fails - IT WILL ALWAYS RAIN WHEN MY CAR IS CLEAN! Aside from this, for some structural defect, all the water flows towards the door of the office ... hence all the oil, grease, and other stuff threaten to destroy every footwear that dares to cross the threshold. Weekly foot spas are the added regimen for me then. Then there's the mudprints that stain the floor (I have a thing about clean floors) - I just hate it.

As the weather cools, like most bears out there ... the call of hibernation is just irresistible. My caffeine intake increases everyday it rains, as the fluffy pillows, soft mattress, and warm blanket beckon me. It's hard to stay awake. The weather is sleep-inducing. This is one of the things I love about the "bers." My insomnia is temporarily cured. I just get worried though about my bro in the North Pole ... because if it's cold here, I can't imagine how bone-breakingly cold Calgary could be.

The "bers" are here indeed.