Hot Plate Noodles + 1 Egg

I had this hot plate noodles with mushrooms and egg over the weekend and I think it looks better than it tastes. There's nothing in it which brings out the WOW factor. The dark noodle sauce is only average. I give it average because it IS still edible. If it's below average, I won't even finish the dish. Judging from the noodle sauce and the overall taste, this piece of dish won't make it to my list anymore. So no more 2nd chance for this. An extra charge of $0.60 is added for the egg. Pheh.

Nokia N95 with 8GB Storage, 5MP Camera, Navigator Function

My HTC Wizard/Cingular 8125 is outdated. Sometimes it gets sluggish, especially when I am switching to camera mode. It is a PocketPC which can help me multitask in my palms. However, slow processor speed and stingy amount of on board RAM hinders its performance (ideally). The Nokia N95 is also equipped with WiFi, just like my HTC Wizard 8125. The main advantage the N95 holds over my HTC Wizard 8125 is that it is equipped with a built-in GPS with Assisted GPS (AGPS) support. The whopping 8GB of internal storage space is huge in terms of mobile phones. It is now comparable to the Apple iPhone. But the N95 does not have a slide out keyboard like the HTC Wizard 8125. I hope the N95 is easy to use and not underperform with respect to its advertised specs. Otherwise, I'm shopping for another phone.

Shangri La Botanical Gardens in Orange, Texas

There's a thing with me and botanical gardens. I like them but I have never really been to a lot of them. There was even one of such in Madison, which I visited 5 times at most. The last time I went there was during my parent's visit for my graduation. With many flowers and fruit plants back at home, I find it easy to attach myself to the beauty of the flowers and miscellaneous plants found in a botanical garden. I usually pay attention to botanical gardens on my holiday trips throughout the US. The one I remember most would be the one in Washington DC.

Since I've been mumbling about visiting Texas for quite a while now, why not I keep it going with the Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center located in Orange, Texas. It is recommended by a friend of mine who transferred to Texas for a new job. He mentioned that the Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center has the U.S. Green Building Council's Platinum certification for LEED®-NC that it has. Impressive no? Well some of you might not care for what certification it has, but I am sure you will be able to appreciate the "green" nature of the gardens.

Study has shown that seeing some greenery is very good for the eyes, especially the office eyes - for those who spend a lot of time on the computer at their workplace. It soothes the eye and reduces stress from the eyes. I go out to take a walk and look at the "greens" whenever my eyes are tired. I always have a pot of plant in my living place, either I redeem the bonzai's or I buy the mini plants.

The Shangri La Gardens is very eco friendly and brings you close to nature. With the beautiful surroundings created, accompanied by the colors of the blooms, it can be a truly a relaxing place. It has established itself as one of the main botanical garden attraction in Texas based on its rich history.

If you stop by Texas before I do, pay a visit to the city of Orange, Texas and the Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center!

Everything Thrown at Me

Can I handle this much stuffs in a day or two? One day I feel that I have nothing to do and a day later I have all these things that need to be sorted out asap without complications that is. Stressful it is, but they are things which I need to settle in order to move on. Paperworks and legal documents can really pose a headache, especially when it's one of the first few times that one is facing it. New and fresh and inexperienced. No, it's not sex. This is far more stressful than that! Good that I have a mobile phone to make calls. I wonder how life would be without mobile phones. Walk and run? I don't really want that...

No Portuguese for Me

I forgot to update that I will no longer have the chance to practise Portuguese as I am not getting to be housemate with a Portuguese girl. Not a problem at all. It's not that she knows how to make yummy Portguese egg tarts. I am just disappointed at the opportunity lost for staying in a fully furnished condominium. What a pity! Well, I guess life moves on. As I was pretty sure that I could 'land the deal', my search process slowed down and I had to gear up my searching moves. But for now, I guess near is better.

Get Technical

Many of my peers have opted to enroll in a technical school to learn a certain trade. Some of them are interested to start a tech career while some of them want to learn something specific for their future. Electrical Engineering is one of it too, I guess. A few years back, IT training is one of the most sought program because of the technology boom. Today, I still think IT is a graet field to step into. The technology today is growing at such a scary and rapid pace that more youngsters are seeking IT related training by going to tech schools. And I truly believe they can excel and contribute to the growth of technology because the world needs it to continue the trend of technology.

Portuguese....

A weird fact: the Portuguese understand Spanish perfectly where the Spanish can't understand Portuguese very well at all, kind of like a one-way mirror. Very true but I wonder why. I've taken 3 semesters of Spanish and if I go to Brazil or Portugal, they can understand me alright and I probably have a hard time decoding what they say. Sure they are spelled differently, but sometimes pronounced the same? Having a Portuguese housemate would help solve my woes. Learn portuguese and keep my Spanish.

Steamrolling into Fantasy Basketball Playoffs Finals!

Last week, I created another upset, this time defeating the no.2 seed, Da Bulls with a comfortable 6-3 win. Hence, I am now in the finals competing for the League Champion title against the no.1 seed gobble gobble. It's a final with the no.1 seed trying to match its reputation against my Pujutengineered.com which is rated as the no.6 seed. Cinderella story? Not really. But surprising late season surge describes it better. Last week I lost Rafer Alston and Ron Artest to injuries, but luckily my offense was firing on all cylinders. A very satisfactory performance overall shown by everyone.

Next up is the favorite, the no.1 seed. I don't think I can scrap through this final hurdle because the opposing team boasts a lineup of Kobe, Paul Pierce, Nowitzki, Jermaine O'neal and Joe Johnson. All top guns! Even if my guards and forwards fire all cylinders, it may not be enough. Hopefull Alston is able to start and provide some much-needed firepower and Nash to continue dishing out assists like nobody;s business. Go team!

If I Chose a Pharmacy Technician Career

I wasn't really into earning big bucks being a doctor as I am hemophobic. However, I could've chosen the path of a pharmacist or a pharmacy technician. A pharmacy technician assists licensed pharmacists, either in retail or mail-order pharmacies, or in hospitals. I'd prefer to work in a retail pharmacy as the environment is more relaxed and less sickly. Do not belittle the pharmacy technician salary because it can easily reach $40,000 if you work in general medical and surgical hospitals. With a better certification and accredited training, I could easily surpass that mark and have pride in occupying the pharmacy tech position.

Vista Shutdown Timer Program for Windows XP, Vista & 2000

My girlfriend needed a shutdown timer program for her computer and I recommended her the same program that I use. And I thought it might be useful for some of you too so I decided to share it here. I've always used a shutdown time for my computer, even when I was using Windows XP back then. When I migrated to Windows Vista, my old shutdown timer program (forgot its name) wasn't Vista-compatible. So I had to search for another program to do the same task in Vista. I found Vista Shutdown Timer and have been using it since the day I used Vista.

This shutdown timer program gives you lotsa options other than just setting the time for Windows to shut down. It allows you to execute other functions like Log off, Hibernate, Standby and Restart. You can set a timer/countdown on when it's executed or set the time it'd be executed.

I've only used the Shutdown function and it really works great because it will definitely shut down as it forces applications to close, even those which are not responding. In the traditional way, non responding programs can stall your shut down command, thus leaving the computer on when you leave thinking it's gonna get turned off. Also, there is no installation involved and it's a standalone .exe file of just 185KB in size. There's an "update" link too in the program if you wanna check for its latest version. For me, as long as it's doing what I want it to do, there's no need to update. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Good or great? You decide.

3D Desktop Recorder Sucks - One of the Worst Programs I've Ever Encountered

3D Desktop Recorder is one of the worst programs I've ever used. I was experimenting on recoding of PowerPoint presentation and PC troubleshooting help videos and decided to give this (cough) program a try. This program doesn't come with instructions on how to use its functions and the website of the maker is no help at all. A very disappointing experience. I promptly uninstalled it after discovering that I couldn't use it. Recorded sessions lasted less than 1 seconds. So technically it couldn't record. I was trying on building Windows troubleshooting videos as a method to help confused PC users. Bottom line, 3D Desktop Recorder SUCKS!

iPhone Interface Theme HTC Windows Mobile - iFonz 0.96 PPC

I just installed the iFonz 0.96 on my HTC Wizard 8125 to give it a try and I would say it looks pretty and certainly did its job. It loads up as a seperate application under Programs > iFonz. The default buttons are as the screenshot here. New SMS, Calendar, Images, Camera, Videos, Finance, Navigator, Weather, Clock, Calculator, Notes, Settings and on the lower panel bar, Phone, Messages, Internet and Music. Pressing the screen for a few seconds would bring up the settings page where you can tweak it to your preference(s). The Navigator and Finance shortcut does not work on my HTC Wizard 8125. Note that I am already running the Windows Mobile 6 Professional edition with TouchFLO in my HTC Wizard 8125 with this ROM. What's missing from this program is the Slide to Unlock feature, which you can add easily using this Slide2Unlock application.

However, there are still some things which are lacking from the splash screen.

If you wish to install this on your PPC or PDA phone, you can download the installation file here: http://w16.easy-share.com/1700041421.html

It is a .rar file containing the iFonz-0.9.6-Setup.cab file and some notes about the software (License, Readme and Shortcuts) This program is a freeware :)

For those who are not familiar on how to install, connect your PDA phone via USB to your PC and copy the iFonz-0.9.6-Setup.cab file to your phone/storage card. Run the iFonz-0.9.6-Setup.cab file from your phone/storage card and installation will be automated.

Other HTC related posts.

"The Secret" Meets "A New Earth"

The widely popular Sedona method is making the headlines again. People are telling each other how The Sedona Method is the bridge between The Secret and the Law of Attraction. It channels the thoughts to emphasize on your goals and work your ways towards achieving it rather than strengthening your ego and having everything else come after it. It's good to let go of our imaginary sense of limitation and our ego. Let go of the negatives, flush them all out and rediscover the positives and accumulate those. This helps to shift the mindset to put the law of attraction into full effects in your life.

"The Sedona Method is a simple, powerful, easy-to-learn technique that shows you how to access your natural ability to let go of any unwanted feeling or thought right in the moment." I have always believed in the positive and negative mindset concept. I strongly hold to the point that when something bad happens, all the negative thoughts would flood your mind and it is best to stop thinking about why those negative things happened and instead focus on how to make things better, not only for yourself, but also for everyone else around you as well.

What is the law of attraction? In simple terms, negative energies attract negative energies, and positive energies attract positive energies. So once you get to shift your mindset to the positive note, you'd quickly find things are always better and going in your ways.

If you are truly interested in overcoming the emotional barriers, give it a try by ordering the free DVD and CD and mp3 files.

iPod for Beckham's 100th England Cap

Last week, David Beckham reached the century mark for representing England for a soccer friendly match versus France. It is a remarkable achievement and Beckham became only the 8th man in English history to have won 100 caps. And for that, the team mates reportedly gave him a 32GB iPod engraved with the England team emblem, his name and the 100 caps achievement. I look up to David Beckham not because he's rich and famous. It's because how he went through his days well before he was rich and famous.

From his wonder goal from midfield against Southampton to his red card dismissal at the 1998 World Cup game versus Argentina to the dissing and abuse he endured from the fans for being the stupid boy in "10 Brave Lions, 1 Stupid Boy" to his 2 corner kicks which led to 2 goals in injury time which brought the European Cup back to Old Trafford in 1999 to him becoming England's captain to his freekick which won the game that qualified England for the 2006 World Cup to his dismissal from the Real Madrid squad for signing a contract with L.A. Galaxy while he is still attached to Real Madrid to him winning back his place in the team after his attitude changed the manager's mind, who had earlier stated that David Beckham will not play another game for Real Madrid to his achievement today. Congrats buddy.

What About My 4th Generation iPod? Grayscale and No Photo and Video

My 40GB iPod is still alive and working, after having water dripping out of it in summer 2006. But it is getting kinda obsolete now, especially when PMP's (portable media players) are flooding the market and pushing my iPod to the edge of obsolete-ness. I don't really use it as an mp3 player a while lot nowadays and it is mainly to store backup data or taken out whenever I run out of hard disk space in my computer. Even that does not go so well as sometimes it locks up and other times it is unwrite-able (less often). I wish to turn it into a clock. However, I couldn't find an iPod firmware hack to do that. Since I don't have a clock in my room now, that would be a great option if it is possible.

Thought About An X-Ray Technician Career?

Firstly, you'll need to ask yourself, what does an x-ray technician do? "X-ray technicians are responsible for conducting imaging procedures specified by a patient’s physician. They prepare patients for filming and operate x-ray imaging machinery." It is not an easy job as it involves using advanced medical machines like MRI and CT Scanners. Jobs in this field include employment in hospitals, doctor’s offices, radiology clinics and dental offices. The radiology room would probably the typical work environment for an xray technician. And did you know that the median annual earnings were $40,000, and the top 10% made more than $55,400? A comparable amount to an engineer's! For those who are interested, find out more about the career of an x ray technician. It might be the right choice for you.

It's OK to Yawn and Yes It's Contagious

Yawning drives away drowsiness by activating certain muscles to increase the heart rate. Its cooling effect on the brain heightens attentiveness. So it's OK to yawn, even though it is strangely contagious (>50% of the time)

Cool and Sexy PSP Future Theme

I found this PSP Theme file online a few days ago and would like to share it. For those who are new to PSP themes, in order for you to add customized themes to your PSP, you'll need to add a folder "Theme" in your Memory Stick root directory, i.e. D:/PSP/Theme. My Memory Stick's drive letter is D, yours may be different.

Download the PSP Future Theme here.

Wanted: Adidas Superstar II Chrome White

I already have a pair of the Adidas Superstar II Chrome Black and I am looking for the white version of it. I just think that it is nice to have 2 pairs of the same design, just one is black and one is white. I once saw it available on eBay, but I missed the bidding period. So if anyone sees this pair of shoes lurking in the market, please don't hesitate to contact me or leave me a comment. Let's hope I can find one to complete "the set".