oops! tough luck November 30, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Musings.add a comment
this morning on my way to work I saw an accident near my workplace. A car had rear-ended of all things… a police van.
I can’t imagine how the guy must have felt. It’s bad enough to rear-end somebody, but a police van… that must really have wrecked his day.
I want… Palm Treo 750v November 28, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Toys & Equipment.add a comment
I’ve always been a strong supporter of Palm products, and I just found out that there is a new Treo.
The new Treo in question is the Palm Treo 750v. It looks like this
they’ve changed the layout a little bit from the 650, but for the most part the keypad layout is essentially the same.
Except they’re sold out to Windows Mobile!
I still maintain that the Palm platform is a much more stable platform than Windows Mobile, and it seems that Palm has sold out to pander to Windows mobile users. I’m still okay with it though.
The thing that really, really ticks me off is that this Treo still doesn’t have wi-fi. I mean, the HP ipaq rw6828 and the O2 Atom and probably almost every other smartphone has wi-fi already. Why can’t Palm include it in the Treo? It’s not like they don’t have any technology for it. They’ve integrated it into the Lifedrive and the TX. So why not the Treo. It just baffles the mind, especially since EDGE isn’t very popular here and GPRS is just so darn slow.
One of the good things going for it, though, is that the antenna is gone. Well, it’s not gone, it’s just hidden inside the unit. It does look slightly slimmer than the 650 when comparing the two side by side, but I haven’t managed to actually get a unit in my hands to really try it out.
Right now as it’s new it retails for the chilling price of rm2988, way out of reach of most mortals. So I think I won’t be buying this one anytime soon. The good thing is that its introduction has pushed the price of the Treo 650 to a reasonable rm1688, which I think is a very good buy except for the fact that it’s a model that’s almost 2 years old by now.
Desireability factor: 7/10 definitely something that would liven up any Christmas stocking 
especially mine (but not likely)
fuzzy stuffy… bear thing November 28, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Stuff.1 comment so far
some people have asked me what’s the fuzzy thing I was holding in the earlier picture. It’s some round thing that’s large and fuzzy and soft, and it’s really cute. So I went back last night and snapped two more shots of the fuzzy thing.
.
fuzzy stuffy bear thing!
and from the front. I don’t know why there is a line right across the face. Must have been something to do with my phone cam
As you can see, it’s extremely adorable with short stubby arms and legs. very nice. Don’t mess with it’s uber-bearness.
If I’m not mistaken, it retails for about rm90 (or just under) and is available outside Cold Storage at Ikano Power Center.
Christmas decorations are coming! November 27, 2006
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Christmas decorations are up for sale at Ikano Power Center, just outside Cold Storage! There’s some decent stuff there, including this adorable fat stuffed thing that’s actually wider than I am!
fuzzy stuffy bear hugs!
The Christmas stuff at IKEA this year doesn’t seem too interesting, almost the same as last years. Normally they have very interesting Christmas decorations and things. Maybe the good stuff just isn’t out yet.
Ikano Power Center is having Christmas with Scooby Doo! My favorite cartoon character. When I went there yesterday (Sunday) for lunch after church, there was some story-teller dude. He was awful. But after that a giant stuffed Scooby Doo was on stage! I didn’t manage to get a picture.
I think Metrojaya should have some good ones, will look there next. Maybe at Bangsar Shopping Center as well (also an excuse to eat at Chili’s :p) as they’ve traditionally had some very good decorations.
movie review: Casino Royale November 27, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Reviews.add a comment
last night we went out with Pastor Timothy and his wife Gwen to catch the latest James Bond flick (I think it’s number 21, if I’m not mistaken) at Cineleisure near our place.
plenty has been said about the appointment of Daniel Craig as the new Bond, but I tend to give chances, so I didn’t boycott this movie (also because I’m not such a rabid Bond fan), and I must say, he rose to the task rather admirably.
From the black & white film noir opening sequence to the excellent ending, the plot has many interesting twists and turns and manages to sustain interest through the entire 2 1/2 hours (especially many false endings – you think it’s over, but it’s not!). The acting is above average and there’s some good action, and the poker game sequence was very good. However, I felt disappointed in a way, I guess it just didn’t have any magic to it, no empathy for the characters, it just didn’t draw me in and capture my imagination. I wasn’t at the edge of my seat rooting for the hero, wondering what will happen to the characters, just didn’t feel inspired and emotionally engaged. And what Bond movie would be complete without gadgets, and the indomitable Q or foppish R? No gadgets here. And it’s really a crying shame what they do to the beautiful Aston Martin Vanquish (or is it a DB9?) *sigh* (edit: the car apparently is a special model by Aston Martin called the DBS)
Also, apparently this Bond movie is suppose to take place before all other Bond movies, and yet everything reads 2006, including the technology (which looks like it was sponsored by Sony).
All in all, a good movie, but some letdowns. Next time I get a chance to go to the cinema I’ll be heading for Happy Feet. Why? Because I like pengweens!!! :p
rating: 6.1/10 for good acting and some good action and an interesting plot but loses points because of a lack of interest in the characters and somehow, it just didn’t do it for me. Good effort though, and I look forward to Craig’s next performance as 007.
Quality Control November 24, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Rantings and Ravings.add a comment
Recently I heard of this guy who failed his SPM examinations… twice. Nothing too bad about that, maybe the guy just doesn’t belong on the regular academic track. But what really gets me is that his parents and even his church then said, “since he can’t study, put him in Bible college and train him to become a full-time worker.”
WHAT?!
This is something that my dad has been lamenting for many years (and he should know, being a dean at Malaysia Bible Seminary) and that our Pastor Micky Kua talked about in one of his sermons. It seems that now we want our most brilliant to become doctors, engineers, lawyers, but becoming a full-time servant of God seems to be something to be discouraged. “There’s no future in that”, people say. “Where will your food and housing come from?”
Years ago, only the best and most promising scholars were accepted to theological training to become pastors, clergy, ministers, priests. It was the greatest honor of any family to have one of their sons in the ministry. Oh, how times have changed.
This is not any insult to any current full-time workers, as many of them are also brilliant theologians and dedicated workers for the Lord. But shuffling a kid to full-time ministry just because he can’t do anything else – that’s simply just wrong. Seriously, would you prefer your spiritual food and leadership to come from the most qualified and spiritually mature leaders, or would you prefer to be led by someone who’s stuck in full-time ministry just because he can’t hack it in any other job? What about your youth, your kids? Who’s teaching and leading them?
It reflects our attitudes towards God in this day and age, even in our giving and tithing. You wouldn’t want your own house to have the cheapest fittings and equipment that would probably fall apart at any moment, no, you would want the best that you could afford. However, many churches are content with just getting the barest minimum that they need for operate, skimping on almost everything they can think of, always going for the cheapest of everything, and don’t think twice about the house of God looking shabby and falling apart. How is that honoring to God? Doesn’t God demand the best that we have, and are? Very puzzling indeed. It’s almost like we have stopped treating the house of God as the house of God, and more like a charity where we just give a little bit and feel better and ask God to bless us with more.
Depressing stuff, indeed.
I prefer… November 22, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Food.1 comment so far
Burger King over McDonald’s.
recently McDonald’s has been going downhill. The Filet-o-Fish has gotten so small that the fish patty is probably smaller than my palm, and the McChicken tastes like cardboard. Don’t even get me started on how worthless the Big Mac is… the main redeeming factors are the breakfast (can’t beat McDonald’s breakfast), their quarter pounder (love that cow beef) and the new foldovers.
but what could compare to the Mushroom Swiss Double, the BK Big Fish, BK Broiler, French Chicken, and of course, the Whopper. Whopper beats Big Mac. Any day, any time. Too bad we don’t get the Double Whopper here, except for KLIA. Now that’s sheer joy.
food review: Marco’s Pizza November 20, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Food.2 comments
where: Taman Megah, opposite Kelana Jaya LRT station
what: Italian food, baby!
we went there last night for a friend’s birthday. It was pouring rain and there wasn’t any parking when we went, so we had to park at the King Crab restaurant a block down the street, which was packed with people. We may try that some day.
anyway, Marco’s Pizza is a nice, quiet place with a bright cheerful atmosphere, and feels rather cosy. When my wife and I arrived the others had already started eating, so we were able to start digging in right away.
the main thing at Marco’s Pizza is, of course, pizza and pasta. the spaghetti aglio olio originally was supposed to have sea bass fillets but we requested to have it changed to beef bacon, and it was good and tasty. the carbonara was creamy but apparently slightly powdery, which detracted from it a little. my favorite was the pasta matriciana, which was a nice spicy tomato-based sauce with beef bacon and mushrooms.
two pizzas we ordered were hawaiian and marco’s. the pizza was thin crust, not thick and obnoxious. The hawaiian was standard, nothing special but tasted good. Marco’s pizza came as a nice rendition with turkey ham and even an egg on top which tasted good. However, the typicial Malaysian curse of having very few toppings on the pizza was still apparent.
altogether, not too bad. The pasta was rm13 per serving for most of them (except for the aglio olio which was more expensive) and the pizza, rm 17 for a regular one.
rating: 6.3/10 and extra marks for good and attentive service. A meal would set the wallet back about rm30/person, which isn’t too shabby for semi-real Italian food
workspace November 17, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Stuff.add a comment
some have been wondering what my workspace looks like
here it is
it’s a bit small and rough as it’s taken with a phone camera, but well, this is the place where I work.
in the peace and quiet November 17, 2006
Posted by ewokiebear in Musings.add a comment
mood – tired; now playing – Katrina and the Waves – Walking on Sunshine
so my wife has been away for the past few days on work in Melbourne. Which means that I’ve been bach’ing it for the past few days. Which meant hanging around, not getting much work done, and watching my dvd collection of Indiana Jones movies.
don’t get me wrong, I love my wife. But she wouldn’t want to be watching Indiana Jones all over again. Women are different that way, in that they don’t always understand what men do sometimes. Like why I could spend hours playing Football Manager when it just looks like tables and charts and flashing text.
Then again, she’s coming back tonight, and I’m glad she’s coming back.
the apartment would be falling apart without her.
