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My Phone is Sexy May 31, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed

Well, after almost 3 weeks of exploration and discovery on my new Nokia N73, I’m confident enough to give a review. Do bear in mind that I am not a techie person when it comes to phones, so my review will be based in what I use the phone for. It may not encompass the phone’s full functionalities.

The reason why my hubby got this phone for me in the first place is because he noticed that since I started blogging, I would take photos everywhere I go. And being the forgetful person I am, it was more often than not that I left the camera at home. In the end, I had to make do with my old Nokia phone’s camera, and the photos would then come out really blur. Hubby said it would be so embarrassing to display those photos on my blog, for fear the photography queen kutuk and laugh at me! So since I also wanted to get a videocam to take videos of Ethan, hubby suggested that he get me a new phone with a camera and videocam all-in-one! And that’s how we ended up getting the Nokia N73. This is a really a blogger’s phone, because not only does it have a 3.2 MegaPixel camera in it, I can also take videos up to one hour in length! I’ve also had the 128MB memory card upgraded to a 1GB memory card, for kiasu purposes :P

So…things my phone can do. With this new baby, I can now take awesome close-up shots, especially of yummy FOOD! Now I can click away in wild abandonment when I dine… :) See….this is a picture of the seafood la-mien I had at Dragon-i for lunch just now (review coming up soon, I promise!) ….. I absolutely love the close-up mode which allows me to get really clear pictures which are so, so droolworthy.

Another thing that my camera phone can do is take pictures in different hues. Yup, no need to edit with PhotoShop or whatnot. I can now take cameras in normal hues, sepia and also black and white, to name a few, DIRECTLY from my phone. In addition, I can also adjust the White Balance of the photograph to suit the environment. For example, I would choose Incandescent for yellow lighting, Fluorescent for fluorescent lighting, etc. So this is what I can do…see?

I still can’t seem to take moving pictures quick enough though. I notice there is a Sequence Mode and also a Sports Mode for fast moving things. I’ll fiddle with that later. I really need to learn how to take fast moving pictures, because Ethan is so active and it is getting very hard to take his pictures now. Most of the time I end up taking videos of him. This camera takes videos in MP4 format, which is ideal for burning onto DVDs. The quality is good, though of course the perfectionist in me demands a whole lot better. Still, I am not complaining, because now I can take longer videos. I used to only be able to take a miserable 15 second video with the old camera. The N73 phone comes with a USB cable to enable easy download of the photos and videos into the PC too, if you do not want to use infrared or bluetooth technology. Personally, I find the speed of download using the USB cable the fastest and most efficient.

The Nokia N73 comes with Symbian Software. This is unlike the regular Nokia Operating System which I have grown accustomed to. So while some of the menus remain the same, it took me a little while to get used to sending an SMS. I would inadvertently hit a button only to realize that that button cancels out of the message and takes me back to the main menu. Thank goodness it automatically saves a draft! Oh yeah, I faced a minor glitch when I was trying to send my first SMS. Apparently I had to key in the message center number which I had to call my telco provider for. After I keyed in the number, it was smooth sailin’ all the way. But I do wish the Nokia N73 would come with a Message Counter just like my old phone though. You see, with my current telco plan, I am allowed 20 free SMSes per month and I normally don’t exceed that. Having a counter would certainly come in handy to help me keep track of the SMSes I have sent for the month. The consolation is that the N73 saves all sent messages, so instead of having a number I can refer to for the sent messages, I now have to count the number of messages I’ve sent.

Oh but on the bright side, the non-techie me also just discovered a whole new world of bluetooth! Now I can send images via bluetooth with my phone to another bluetooth device, without having to position the phones at close range with the infrared receivers facing each other. Don’t laugh la, I just tried blue tooth sending the other day, and I really love it. All I need to do was to activate blue tooth on my cellphone and then select the image to send via bluetooth. My phone will then search for all bluetooth devices within range, and I just need to send it to the selected device! Easy peasy!

I’ve got a whole load of tunes to select from too. Not only polyphonicmelodies but true tunes. I’m contemplating downloading MP3s into my phone soon. Maybe use my wedding processional as the ringing tone, or something? Heh heh…Now, on the entertainment scale, when I got my phone, it only came with one miserable game. Apparently all the games were in the 128MB memory card which was replaced by the 1GB card, so I had to ask the phone guy to reload those games back for me. And now it’s like a tiny little video game arcade in there! I have Diamonds (strategy game), Zuma (skill and strategy), Alien Pinball, TAM1942 (a landscape shooting game that is popular in arcades) and The Fast and Furious (something like Daytona, remember?), among others. Although some of these games are difficult to play by using the phone’s keypad, it does its job to keep me entertained. In fact, just 2 days ago, I was playing a game until the battery went flat! And just when I was entering my name for the high score samo!

So in conclusion, this is really a camera that comes with a phone, rather than the other way round. I have absolutely no regrets owning it but the only thing I wish it also came with is a cool pouch holder. Something black and in leather would be awesome. Now I have to make do with a pathetic beige cloth pouch with a drawstring, which doesn’t do justice in disclosing what it contains. Well, so much for judging a book by its cover!

I want a Beagle, please… May 31, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Rainmakers , comments closed

There is a wide open field near where I stay where dogs are being taken for walks, especially in the mornings and evenings.  And whenever we drive past this field, I would keep an eye out for that beagle.  Yes, there’s a really handsome beagle that is so adorably cute, it really makes me wish I had one of my own.  Well, not till I move into a house, that is.  Then, I would want a tri-color beagle for myself :) .  A beagle that would yelp in delight and prance around in excitement when I come home, a beagle that would be a girl’s best friend.  I want a beagle that I can adorn with designer dog collars and leashes; I think he would look absolutely macho in a leather collar.  But until then, I can only wish.  And hope.

Can You Believe It? May 30, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed


(L-R) Miss Venezuela, Korea, Brazil, USA, Japan

I can’t believe I missed the first hour or so of the Miss Universe 2007 pageant last night.

I can’t believe I only started watching it when the evening gown competition for the 10 finalists were starting.

I can’t believe that during the evening gown competition, Miss USA slipped and fell on her butt, and in spite of that she still made it into the final 5, amid the loud boos by the audience.

I can’t believe Ando (of Heroes) asked a question that sounded something like “If you were a superhero, what power would you want and why?”

And I can’t believe Miss Japan won the title, despite the fact that she didn’t really use the traditional beauty queen wave. :P

Congratulations Miss Japan!  And yes Rinnah could be right… East could most certainly be the new standard for beauty.

The Tooth which is Blue May 29, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Relax & Celebrate , comments closed

Last weekend, a week after we bought our new cell phones, this ad appeared in the papers:

I could hardly believe my eyes! Very simply put, I had apparently missed out on getting a free Nokia Bluetooth set which was now given free with a purchase of the Nokia N73! My hubby called the guy who sold us the phone and asked if he could give the set to us anyway, because it was only a difference of a few days. After all, we had purchased 2 cellphones from him. So last Saturday, we made a trip to Gurney Plaza to the phone shop to see if he could give us the bluetooth set. After a LONGdiscussion with his boss, he told us that he unfortunatelt could not give the free set to us because the free gifts actually came from Nokia and not from his shop, although his shop is an authorized Nokia dealer. If the free gift had been offered by his shop, he could give it to us, no problem. He added that the offer for the free Bluetooth set had started on May 15 2007 and since we had bought it earlier, we did not qualify. I then explained to him that it was only a 3-day difference from the date we had bought the phone to the date the promotion started (we bought it on May 12th), and told him that the phone was for Mother’s Day :P Obviously we could not have waited till after Mother’s Day to buy, right? And obviously, there was no way we could have known about the upcoming promotion at the time of the purchase. My hubby and I asked him to try asking his manager and Nokia again to see if he could bend the rules a bit in our case. He told us he would try and contact us on Monday with the outcome.

My hubby said that it would be just our (bad) luck and bad timing if he could not give us the free Bluetooth set, but at least we had tried asking for it. Well, our persuasion skills must have been spot on and lady luck must have been smiling on us :) , because while we were still walking around Gurney Plaza, my hubby received the following SMS:

Woohooo…….!!!! Ain’t that cool?

One more new toy to fiddle around with! And fiddle around with it I did…I tried playing around with it last night and had quite a hard time placing the device to my ear. Then I tried calling my hubby and although he could hear me loud and clear, I can’t understand for the life of me why I could not hear him, even though I had turned the volume way up loud. I couldn’t even redial a number using the bluetooth set. Hmmmm…..will try it again tonight….

We Fly Your Loved Ones Home May 29, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Rainmakers , comments closed

Whenever I am behind the wheel, I am always wary and on full alert if there are any ambulances coming up behind me.  Once I hear the sirens wailing, I will immediately move to the side of the road to allow the ambulance to drive past unobstructed.  That being said, it is difficult to gauge the road conditions when an emergency arises, and there are definitely countless times when ambulances are caught in traffic jams, putting lives at risk.  This is unavoidable, up until now.  Have you heard of an air ambulance?  I just found out about it myself today!  This is a team of specialists in medical flight.  With an air ambulance, traffic jams are a thing of the past and with an exceptional record of over 20 years of experience, coupled with all the necessary state of the art medical equipment, their tagline “We Fly Your Loved Ones Home” is spot on, for this team provides medical services 24 hours a day worldwide!  How cool is that?  With their dispatch located in Miami, Florida, Air Ambulance aims to provide patients with better care facilities and in the process, bring loved ones of families home.  Providing unsurpassed service and boasting impressive testimonials, Air Ambulance is trusted by so many people today.  Now why didn’t I think of this concept earlier?

Bottomless Twice May 28, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Drooling & Cooking , comments closed

We’re becoming Nando’s addicts all over again.  The addiction died off somewhat a few months back, but all of a sudden, something is inanely drawing us there.  Call it crazy but we actually had lunch at Nando’s two days in a row.  Saturday at Gurney’s and Sunday at Queensbay.  That’s double the peri-peri fun and double the bottomless experience.  Yes, Nando’s is the latest establishment that has jumped on the bandwagon of restaurants offering bottomless drinks, like TGIFriday’s, Chilli’s and all other Japanese restaurants….no wait, that’s green tea, but still free flowing what… I had to order the chicken in Lemon & Herb flavor because I was sharing it with Ethan.

When we were at Nando’s @ Gurney Plaza, I inquired if there were any special promotions for Jusco card members.  I used to be entitled to a free helping of Peri Chips with my Jusco card before.  Goody….The waitress informed us that with the Jusco card, we were now able to get a chocolate mud pie for free!  I really LURVE the chocolate mud pie at Nando’s.  Warm and moist chocolate cake, served with a scoop of chilled vanilla ice cream and drizzled with yummy and sinfully sweet chocolate syrup.  Every bite was so heavenly and had me wanting more.

So when we were at Nando’s @ Queensbay Mall, I thought we would get another helping of the chocolate mud pie.  Unfortunately, the waiter told us the offer had not begun.  He would not even give it to us when we informed him that the branch at Gurney had given us the dessert just the day before.  Hmmmph…!!!  Hope we’ll still be able to get it in Gurney Plaza when we go there the next time!

Reigniting My Passion May 28, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed

I know I should resurrect my love for reading all over again. I love reading. I just do. But nowadays, there is simply no time for me to just sit down, relax with a cup of hot chocolate and read. I told my hubby that I was gonna start reading books again and he said if I wanna do that, I gotta cut back on my blogging. :P

When I visit bookstores like Borders, I am really tempted to buy the books, what with the signs that say “Buy 2 Free 1″ and glaring discounts, bookstores are really going all out to inject the reading habit back into the community. I have not bought books for myself for a very long time now, basically because I know I still have that John Grisham’s The Testament collecting dust by my bedside and several other books I have not started reading yet. And now the temptation to buy books is not present only when I go shopping in the malls, but when I go to my very own humble blog! mphonline is offering so many discounts and offers when we shop online, it’s so hard to resist them. And lazybums like me get these books delivered to our doorstep! I guess that’s why its tagline is “where the bookstore comes to you”.

So, I’m gonna get started on finishing my book tonight…wish me all the best!

Oh by the way, mph is the acronym for Malaya Publishing House.

Gasp, Gape & Grab at The Gap May 28, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Relax & Celebrate , comments closed

The days of having to content with odd looking pieces of GAP clothing from F.O.S. (Factory Outlet Store) and The Reject Shop are finally over! The Gap has come to our shores and has opened its first store in Malaysia* in Queensbay Mall! There’s a store for Gap (men and women’s wear) and another for kids and babies, aptly named Gap Kids and Baby Gap. I’d visited the Baby Gap store last weekend and although I was thoroughly impressed by the collection offered, I did not get anything until yesterday. The opening promotion screamed at me and begged me to part with my cash:

Get a RM50 rebate on your purchases worth RM250 and above in a single receipt.

Now how do I say NO to that? :P I ended up with 2 versatile and sexy tops for myself; a steal at RM59 for two! At Baby Gap, I bought a pair of jeans, a pair of army cargo pants, and two t-shirts for Ethan, qualifying for the RM50 rebate. I can’t guarantee I won’t be back for more…

* My hubby corrected me last night that the nice lady at Baby Gap said that the Baby Gap store in Queensbay Mall was the first Baby Gap in Malaysia (more branches coming soon to KL later this year). As for the regular Gap outlets, they already exist in KL.

Insure Your Health May 28, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Rainmakers , comments closed

Nowadays, I find myself exposed to so many different types of insurance, I am spoilt for choice.  Life insurance, health insurance and even insurance policies catering specifically for women.  I do not doubt the necessity of insurance but before I actually settle down with an insurance policy I want, it is essential that I know it meets all my needs.  And that’s when getting information online comes in.  Health insurance is certainly important, and it is even more important to know what you are getting yourself into.  So fret not, because now you can get access to exclusive rates and benefits from all the top insurance companies.  It’s so easy and convenient to compare the various plans available at one location, and in fact, you can also obtain a proposal within 60 seconds!  Imagine getting an attractive BCBS quote for free and a proposal drawn up just by sitting in front of your PC!

I Finally Get Paid! May 25, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed

Great news to start off the weekend!  The MAJOR PayPal glitch that has been haunting every Malaysian (well, almost everyone!) has been FIXED!  Hui Sia, my trusted bearer of good news, shared this piece of information with me just a little while ago! :D

I am not sure if it is because I lodged a complaint with PPP and the support person came back to me requesting for details of my unclaimed payments in PayPal, which I duly provided just yesterday.  And then today, voila…problem solved.  Coincidence?  Hehe….that’s for you to judge.  Me? I’m just relieved and totally elated that I finally get to convert my *virtual* moolah into a valid account balance.