Neknek. Kenken. | Lyrics, Food, Games and everything else

Coco Rocha Fancy Box Review

2013-04-11T19:47:00.002+08:00

Coco Rocha Fancy Box

When I saw that Coco Rocha is curating for the latest celebrity Fancy Box subscription, I got lured into getting one. She seems to have a great eye for cool products (after seeing the items she Fancy'd) and she really looks so actively involved with this one, so I gave it a go.The Coco Rocha Fancy Box subscription is $39 a month (excluding shipping charges), but you can use this coupon code (25OFF7) to slash $25 off your first Fancy box.

Huge red Fancy Box

Cards with descriptions of the products at the back. Nice touch.

American Apparel Over-the-Knee Socks (Black) - $13

American Apparel Over-the-Knee Socks

I wear socks a lot, so I was pretty happy to get these. Bonus points for not being too thick (think stockings, but not that flimsy). Hopefully I won't lose these in the laundry.

You will always need extra socks. Especially if you always tend to lose the other pair.

China Glaze Nail Polish in Sun Worshipper and Concrete Catwalk - $7.50 each

Chine Glaze: Sun Worshipper and Concrete Catwalk

My love for nail polish has died down for quite some time now, I admit the shades are quite nice. I would be happier if I got a matte nail polish, but I am still excited to try them both out later.

Happy that there's a super bright and a dark polish in the box.

Fred Cool Jewels Ice Cube Tray - $10

Fred Cool Jewels Ice Cube Tray

I certainly wasn't expecting to get an ice cube tray (or maybe I should have seen it coming, as most Fancy boxes tend to have books, ice cube trays or t-shirts in them), but at least it's a cool ice cube tray. I think I would have liked it better if the cubes are smaller (I like the look of mini ice cubes better, choking be damned), but the pictures of the ice cubes I found online look amazing (especially the coloured ones).

Can't wait to use these.

L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream 0.3 oz - $4

L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream

Pleasantly surprised with this one. I'm not really a hand cream/lotion user, but this one is so good. I've been using unrefined raw shea butter for some overall moisturizing, but always hated that I had to melt them first before I can actually spread them. This hand cream has a subtle scent and it did really leave my hands feeling soft and smooth without any oily residue.

Rings & Tings Spike Bracelet - $11.05

Rings & Tings Spike Bracelet

Probably one of my favorites in the box! It looks so nice and I love that it's truly adjustable. You can wear it snugly but also have the option to wear it loose (if you prefer your bracelets hanging below your wrist). I like it so much, that I'm thinking of getting the silver version. Rings & Tings offers free delivery worldwide, which is pretty sweet.

More great accessories over at Rings & Tings.

The Little Dictionary of Fashion by Christian Dior - $19.95

The Little Dictionary of Fashion by Christian Dior

I haven't really sat down and read the book entirely, but from what I see it is okay. It would certainly look good sitting in a stack of coffee table books. I don't think it is an 'indispensable guide' to fashion (at least for me), but still quite fun to read and the illustrations are nice to look at.

Overall, the contents of the box exceeded my expectations. I was expecting to see an item or two in the box that I would hate, but surprisingly I liked all of the items. I'm pretty pleased and happy that my first Fancy box isn't a disappointment.

APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur - How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch

2012-12-10T21:36:00.001+08:00

I'm sure at some point most people have thought about writing their own book. I know I have. I experienced it first hand how tiresome it is to look for specific information on how to publish your own book (like finding out if I need to have an ISBN number, or if I can self-publish an e-book on Amazon without using my real name, etc.). With APE: Authour, Publisher, Entrepreneur, all the information you'll need is here. You'll learn that self-publishing isn't as simple as typing out a story on your word processor, putting it up on websites that sells e-books and wait for the readers to come. You will learn that with patience and dedication, self-publishing isn't impossible. Despite being a manual, APE is fun and conversational all throughout. If you have any thoughts on self-publishing at all, then reading APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur is well worth your time.

I also feel that the website for the book is worth mentioning. Apart from more details about the book and the authors (Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch), it contains some tools and resources that will may come in handy. There is the Self-Publishing Intelligence Test (SPIT), to see how much you know about self-publishing. Another one is the Royalty Calculator to help you calculate an approximate royalty for your book. Other goodies like MCAT (Mandik Copyediting Aptitude Test - for testing copyeditors), Word templates, InDesign templates, contract templates (for hiring editors, designers, etc.), as well as pictures of the authors and the book to use for a website review is all in there. Here is the link: http://apethebook.com/

You can buy APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur at Amazon: http://amzn.to/APEtheBook

Thoughts on Pottermore

2012-11-25T17:09:00.000+08:00

Pottermore

When Pottermore was first announced last year I was looking really forward to it. I always thought that the Harry Potter series would make a great game. I was thinking something along the lines of Turbine's Lord of the Rings online, so when I learned Pottermore is basically an online portal where users can follow the story line of the book chapters, collect items, earn house points (through duels and brewing potions), etc., I was disappointed and never bothered to sign up for the website.

Months after the official public release date, I see positive response here and there. Today, I was very bored and decided to try Pottermore out. I must say that it was very underwhelming. I don't really see the fun in looking at a scene, hovering my mouse around till I get an item (or unlock stories). Shopping at the Diagon Alley perked me up a bit. After finishing the shopping list, you head over to Ollivander's Wand Shop where you need to answer a few questions to get a wand that perfectly suits you. I got a 13" Pear Dragon Heartstrings wand with hard flexibility which more or less means:

Longer wands typically suits taller people, or someone with a big personality or dramatic approach. The Pear type of wood goes into the hands of warm-hearted, generous, wise and are often popular and well-respected. The Dragon Heartstring core produces that most power, although very susceptible to accidents as it is temperamental.

After that, it was more or less the same with the early chapters until you get to answer a few questions again to help the Sorting Hat choose your house. I was placed in Ravenclaw, which was fine until I saw that it has the least number of members (Gryffindor with the most number of members, next is Hufflepuff then Slytherin). The Ravenclaw house has approximately less than 65000-70000 members than Slytherin. During the last house cup, the other houses has a point difference of almost 3 million than Ravenclaw, with Gryffindor as the winner. It's nice to see that as of now, Ravenclaw is at second place with Hufflepuff with the most points (although I'm not sure when the final counting of the points would be).

You can earn house points by collecting items such as cards and books, as well as through brewing potions and duels. I'm not a big fan of brewing potions as it is not keyboard friendly, so I just mainly enter duels. I think the Wizard's Duel page would be better if the matches that are done and the challenges awaiting are in separate tabs. They are just lumped on one column and you can only see 3 notices at a time (at least in my monitor). I haven't been playing for one day yet, but I got a considerable amount of notices on the duels page, and it was a bit tedious to click the down arrow on the screen repeatedly to sift so just I can find the ones I need to click. Also, since you don't lose house points even when you lose, I suggest having duels with other houses often.

As of now, only the two Harry Potter books are available on the website. I had just finished the first book (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) and I'm not really sure if I want to continue with the second book. Even though I'm not a big fan of the Harry Potter series, I admit reading the books and watching the films were very enjoyable so I had high hopes for Pottermore. I wish that I had taken a much needed nap instead.

The Adventures of Merlin Season 5 (BBC)

2012-09-21T22:28:00.000+08:00

The Adventures of Merlin Season 5 (BBC)

Time really does fly fast. It seems like it wasn't too long ago when I was waiting for the series/season 4 of The Adventures of Merlin to air, so I was pretty shocked to see that the season 5 will be airing in the U.K. on October 6, 2012! Seems that there are a lot of good TV shows coming out this time of the year (Doctor Who is already on its second episode for this season, and The Walking Dead season 3 first episode will also premiere next month).

Anyway, Merlin will be moved to a later time slot, so the atmosphere of the show will be affected. The scenes will probably be mildly sexier. Gwen and Morgana will bare more cleavage (see Gwen's picture above for reference), and more topless scenes for the Knights. While I have no problem with seeing a bit more skin, I'm much more worried about the story line. Julian Murphy, co-creator of the series has said in a newspaper interview that they have to change the tone of the show to fit the increasing adult audience. I'm a bit worried since the setting is around 2-3 years later than season 4, there's no doubt that the characters would have changed in many ways. I am happy to hear that there will be more dragon action this season, and of course the return of Dragoon the Great. Let us all hope that Merlin will finally reveal his magic to Arthur this season.

See this link for more Merlin news and rumors: http://merlin.wikia.com/wiki/Series_5

See the official trailer for Merlin season 5 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBeXGcu6oQY

Also, BBC One's official Merlin page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00wk9q7

Paco - Gangster Lyrics

2012-09-12T20:56:00.003+08:00

Wilfred Season 1

If you want to know what the song on Wilfred Episode 11 - Doubt (Season 1) was (the background music while Wilfred walked around like a 'gangster' and Ryan secretly following him), it is Gangster by Paco. I found the lyrics here but it was a bit hard to read because the translation isn't separate from the lyrics. I took the liberty of posting the lyrics and translation separately below.

Title: Gangster
Artist: Paco

Damas y caballeros,
Pongan atencion al siguiente comunicado
Damas y caballeros,
Pongan atencion al siguiente comunicado

Bienvenidos a L.A. donde las drogas y los freeways
Son normales pa' la gente (gangster)
Marihuana por aqui marihuana por alla
Onda multicultural esta presente (gangster)
Frente al rotulo de Hollywood millones de viajeros
Siempre sue an con la fama (gangster)
Con tu foto, tu pagina, y "my space" encontraras
Cual es tu rama, y cuanto ganan (gangster)

Si no tienes de que esconderte
Y no tienes de que ofenderte
Y la suerte no quiere ni verte
Y no le temes ni a la muerte
Si no tienes de que esconderte
Y no tienes de que ofenderte
Y la suerte no quiere ni verte
Y no le temes ni a la muerte

Pon atencion a lo que digo (brother)
Pistola en mano siempre conmigo
Yo nunca mato sin motivo (gangster)
Uso la ciencia que domina a todo vivo
Pon atencion a lo que digo (brother)
Pistola en mano siempre conmigo
Yo nunca mato sin motivo (gangster)
Uso la ciencia que domina a todo vivo

Bienvenidos a L.A. donde las drogas y los freeways
Son normales pa' la gente (gangster)
Marihuana por aqui marihuana por alla
Onda multicultural esta presente (gangster)
Frente al rotulo de Hollywood millones de viajeros
Siempre sue an con la fama (gangster)
Con tu foto, tu pagina, y "my space" encontraras
Cual es tu rama, y cuanto ganan (gangster)

Nunca voa contarles nada...si yo no se, si yo no se
Nunca voa a inventarme nada...para crecer, para crecer
Nunca voa decir lo mismo...si ya lo se, si ya lo se
Yo te digo lo que he visto y eso lo se y eso lo se

El cambiar de pais puede resultar traumatico en la vida
Muchos vienen, se van con heridas
En los bares, las plazas, las calles los turistas
Son los que dominan en esta tierra de artistas
Muchos saben que no hay trabajo para indocumentados
Y se pudren de luchar por buscar pocos centavos
Con las deudas hasta el cuello desfilan mis paisanos
Que con el tiempo siendo gangster encuentran lo de humano

Bienvenidos a L.A. donde las drogas y los freeways
Son normales pa' la gente (gangster)
Marihuana por aqui marihuana por alla
Onda multicultural esta presente (gangster)
Frente al rotulo de Hollywood millones de viajeros
Siempre sue an con la fama (gangster)
Con tu foto, tu pagina, y "my space" encontraras
Cual es tu rama, y cuanto ganan (gangster)

Nunca voa contarles nada...si yo no se, si yo no se
Nunca voa a inventarme nada...para crecer, para crecer
Nunca voa decir lo mismo...si ya lo se, si ya lo se
Yo te digo lo que he visto y eso lo se y eso lo se

Bienvenidos a L.A. donde las drogas y los freeways
Son normales pa' la gente (gangster)
Marihuana por aqui marihuana por alla
Onda multicultural esta presente (gangster)
Frente al rotulo de Hollywood millones de viajeros
Siempre sue an con la fama (gangster)
Con tu foto, tu pagina, y "my space" encontraras
Cual es tu rama, y cuanto ganan (gangster)

Vi varios ninos jugando a que mataban
Con falsas escopetas a todos amenazaban
Quien les dira que esto no es un juego
Que cuando crezcan seguiran pero con fuego
Jugar de matar a otro para divertirse
Es matar por dinero cuando no hay de que reirse.
Me queman las manos por disparar
Mi sangre sacrifica mis pecados

Translation:

Ladies and gentlemen
Pay attention to the following announcement
Ladies and gentlemen
Pay attention to the following announcement

Welcome to L.A. where drugs and freeways
Are normal to everyone (gangster)
Marihuana here, marihuana over there
Multicultural wave is present (gangster)
Millions of travelers before the Hollywood sign
Always dreaming of fame (gangster)
Add your pic, your webpage, your "myspace"
You will find your field and how much they make

If you have nothing to hide from
If you have nothing to be offended by
And luck doesn't want to come near you
And you ain't afraid of death
If you have nothing to hide from
If you have nothing to be offended by
And luck doesn't want to come near you
And you ain't afraid of death

Pay attention to what I say (brother)
Gun in hand always with me
I never kill without a reason (gangster)
I use science to dominate the living
Pay attention to what I say (brother)
Gun in hand always with me
I never kill without a reason (gangster)
I use science to dominate the living

Welcome to L.A. where drugs and freeways
Are normal to everyone (gangster)
Marihuana here, marihuana over there
Multicultural wave is present (gangster)
Millions of travelers before the Hollywood sign
Always dreaming of fame (gangster)
Add your pic, your webpage, your "myspace"
You will find your field and how much they make

I'll never say anything ...that I don't know about
I'll never make anything up...to grow, to grow
I'll never repeat myself... If I know it, if I know it
I'll tell you what I've seen... and what I know

Moving from your country is traumatic
Many come, and leave with wounds
At the bars, fields, in the streets the tourists
Are who dominate this land of artists
Many know there is no work for immigrants
And they rot fighting for a few coins
With debt to their necks they prance around
As time goes by, as gangsters they become human

Welcome to L.A. where drugs and freeways
Are normal to everyone (gangster)
Marihuana here, marihuana over there
Multicultural wave is present (gangster)
Millions of travelers before the Hollywood sign
Always dreaming of fame (gangster)
Add your pic, your webpage, your "myspace"
You will find your field and how much they make

I'll never say anything ...that I don't know about
I'll never make anything up...to grow, to grow
I'll never repeat myself... If I know it, if I know it
I'll tell you what I've seen... and what I know

Welcome to L.A. where drugs and freeways
Are normal to everyone (gangster)
Marihuana here, marihuana over there
Multicultural wave is present (gangster)
Millions of travelers before the Hollywood sign
Always dreaming of fame (gangster)
Add your pic, your webpage, your "myspace"
You will find your field and how much they make

I saw some kids playing killers
With fake rifles they threatened everyone
Who will tell them it's not a game
When they grow up it'll be real fire
Playing to kill someone for fun
Is to kill for money later on
My hands sting to shoot
My blood sacrifies my sins

Back to the Cubeture 2 OST

2012-09-10T21:32:00.000+08:00

Back to the Cubeture 2 OST

If you've played Back to the Cubeture 2 before, then I'm sure you'd agree that the in-game music was great. Lucky for me and you, the OST of Back to the Cubeture 2 is available here (all 13 songs for just $4!). If you just like one or two songs you could purchase one track for $0.78.

My top 5 favorites among the list are (in no particular order):

- Chick Chicken, Die! (infectiously fun)
- Hades Do-Sa-Do (cool electronic track)
- I Wanna Be That Man (mainly vocals, but really interesting)
- Grime God Beat (surprisingly catchy)
- Calamari (just plain nice and easy to listen to)

Back to the Cubeture 2

2012-09-09T18:07:00.000+08:00

Back to the Cubeture Era 2

It's been a while since I last posted something. The past several months has been great but I'm not here to talk about that. This really incredible game, Back to the Cubeture 2 brought me back from the dead and compelled me to write a blog post today because it's just that GOOD.

Cuboy, Forest Nymph and Hercusneeze

You play as the ever-friendly Cuboy. An evil cat, Padrino, messed everything up causing the three of you (Cuboy, Padrino, and your Boss) to get time-warped into Cubathens. You need to recover the time warper in order to get back to the present time.

...and he's not in a mood for a party

The voice overs are just amazing. I've never been more entertained playing a flash game in my entire life (considering the fact that this is a point and click game, and I hate using the mouse). I feel that I'm watching a British Futurama/Spongebob mash-up loaded with Excitement Seeds.

X-citement Seeds

It's also a good thing that the game is not frustratingly hard. If it was, I don't think playing it would be as fun (despite the great voice overs). There are also several mini-games throughout the game (which you can also access from the main menu), which range from squishing opponents to armpit hair trimming.

Oh Ship! - Title of one of the six mini-games

Even the soundtrack is crazy good. I used to ignore flash games since most that I've tried just hold my attention for several minutes but not this one. I'm excited to try out the other (older) games in the Cuboy series to see more of Cuboy.

"Oh dear."

Here is the official website of the game: http://www.ediblecastle.com/index.html

How to convert .ama files

2012-05-28T14:35:00.001+08:00

Files with the .ama file extension are commonly known as animation files. It is sometimes used on several PC games.

I noticed that some .ama files contain audio. If you are sure that an .ama file contains audio, you can use Opposoft Video Converter to convert such files to your desired audio format. It is a paid software, but the trial version can convert up to 3 minutes of the output file.

Open Opposoft and drag the .ama file into it

Click 'Start Converting'

If you bought the software, enter your e-mail and password to register; if not, then click 'Free Trial'

After the conversion, right click the file and choose 'Output Folder'

Done!

a Google a day - Google+ Game

2012-05-15T09:46:00.000+08:00

It has been a while since I blogged about new games in Google+ because I felt like all the new games that came out are similar to each other, and checking them out one by one would feel repetitive. However, I just noticed a new game called 'a Google a day', a trivia game (first on Google+) wherein the objective is to solve the questions using your internet search skills. It may sound easy, but some of the questions are actually quite challenging.

There are 9 new questions per day, with 3 levels. You must answer correctly 2 questions in a category to advance your level. You could also skip a question once per level. There are six categories available in game: Sports, Science, Pop Culture, Arts & Literature, History and Geography. After beating the 3 levels, you get to spin a wheel to answer a bonus question, wherein you can earn a Power-Up. A Power-Up can be used to lower your time to boost your score. They can be used only once per question. As your game progresses, you also earn badges, which also earns you a Power-Up.

A Google a day is an interesting game, but the game is too short in my opinion (only 9 questions a day!). However, it is still a welcome addition to my list of daily distractions.

Folktales from Japan Ending Theme TV Size: Arukou - Shoko Nakagawa

2012-04-29T23:05:00.001+08:00

http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/mukashibanashi/

Lyrics of the ending theme from the cutesy new anime, Folktales from Japan (Furusato Saisei Nippon no Mukashi Banashi/ふるさと再生日本の昔ばなし). I couldn't find the lyrics everywhere, even on Japanese sites, and I'm not too sure if a full version of the song is out so for now I just romanized the tv size version.

Arukou (あるこう)
Music and Lyrics by: Tomoyuki Okura (大倉智之)
Performed by: Shoko Nakagawa (中川翔子)

arukou arukou
kanashimisutete
waraou waraou
anokoronoyouni
itsushika hitowa
daichini umare
machiwo tagayashi
inochitsunaida
arukou arukou
bukiyoudemoii
waraou waraou
anokoronoyouni

Folktales from Japan Opening Theme TV Size: Hitori no Kimi ga Umareta to sa - Shoko Nakagawa Lyrics

2012-04-29T22:58:00.000+08:00

http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/mukashibanashi/

Lyrics of the opening theme from the cutesy new anime, Folktales from Japan (Furusato Saisei Nippon no Mukashi Banashi/ふるさと再生日本の昔ばなし). I couldn't find the lyrics everywhere, even on Japanese sites, and I'm not too sure if a full version of the song is out so for now I just romanized the tv size version.

Hitori no Kimi ga Umareta to sa (一人のキミが生まれたとさ)
Music and Lyrics by: Tomoyuki Okura (大倉智之)
Performed by: Shoko Nakagawa (中川翔子)

mukashi mukashi no arutokoroni
hitorino kimiga umaretatosa
naitewa komarase demowarawase
yurikagoga yureteita
yagate rippani seichoushite
tabinideruto iidashitatosa
fuanto kibouwo munenihime
isamashiku tabidatsukimi
naite umaretakedo
namida bakarijanai
waraeya okoreya tatakaeya
soshite suyasuya nemureya
sorewa itsumo doorinohi
sorewa itsumo doorinohi

Lamy Safari Fountain Pen 2012 Limited Edition - Green

2012-04-28T11:24:00.001+08:00

Lamy Safari 2012 Limited Edition - Apple Green

(I've read somewhere that the proper term to use would be 'Special Edition' since Lamy doesn't produce a limited amount (say, like a thousand or a hundred) of their special edition pens, but most people call it Limited Edition so I'll just go with that)

My sister just started buying fountain pens recently, and I liked her 2009 limited edition pink Lamy Safari so much, that I bought the 2011 aquamarine Lamy Safari pen myself. Since The Writing Desk is already selling this years limited edition of Lamy Safari, we decided to get the aquamarine (sadly, now sold out on their site) one there as well so we could combine the shipping.

Our Lami Safari fountain pens thus far

I love the color green, heck, my bedroom's wall color is lime green, so I was delighted to see the Lamy Safari green in person. Most of the pictures I see online look darker than it really was, but really it's this cute shade of green (almost like the hex number #70e376).

Ink window and the etched Lamy logo

The design is pretty much the same with last year's limited edition Lamy Safari, with the cap top having a button cross, but different from the previous green limited edition with the a black color on the cap top.

Same button cross cap top design

Here is a sample writing from the 2012 limited edition Lamy Safari with extra fine nib:

Here I used the cartridge that came with it

I really like Lamy Safari fountain pens. Most people who aren't into pens think that fountain pens are 'fancy'. The Lamy Safari fountain pens look good, but it doesn't look like your grandfather's fountain pen. However, I don't know if it's just me, or the Lamy Safari extra fine nibs aren't really "fine". We have the 1.1 italic nib and an extra fine nib here, but when used and compared side by side, the nibs are quite different. We also have some medium nibs that are too fat for our taste (not pictured here).

Both extra fine nibs

1.1 italic nibs

Both Extra Fine and 1.1 Italic nibs

The first line I wrote with the extra fine nib on the 2012 limited edition Lamy Safari. For the second line, I used my Lamy Vista (spare extra fine nib) with J. Herbin 'Poussiere de Lune' ink. The third and fourth one was written with 1.1 italic nibs and black Lamy cartridge. As you can see, the thickness between the same type of nibs are inconsistent. One would write thin and dry and the other would be a very wet writer. It's not a bad thing, because sometimes I like switching them. They could have produced nibs with consistent output. But overall, I'm really happy with this purchase.

ZEBRA Mckee Oil-Based Twin Markers

2012-04-24T09:37:00.004+08:00

Zebra Mckee Oil Based Twin Markers

It's an oil-based marker with double ended points (1.3 mm and 0.5 mm) that can write on most surfaces. I bought my 12-set pack online for around 300 php (7 usd), but I saw the black Zebra Mckee Marker on National Bookstore, though I haven't seen any local store selling the whole set. The 12-set pack includes markers in the following hues: black, purple, pink, light brown, orange, sky blue, yellow, blue, green, lime green and red.

1.3 mm point

0.5 mm point

Sample writing

Apart from being able to write in most surfaces (I tested it on wood, plastic and cloth), there's nothing really unusual with these markers. I still think it was a good buy. The colors included in the set are pretty much the basic colors that one would use. It's a twin marker so it's like getting two markers with the price of one. Plus, the set price in of itself is fairly cheap. I would recommend it to students, but not to really young children. Kids tend to write on walls and tables, and it would be probably hard to remove the doodles when you use this.

Zebra Mckee Oil-Based Twin Markers

Hainanese Delights

2012-04-16T10:50:00.001+08:00

Sadly no pictures. We wolfed down the food the moment we got home and forgot to take a pic!

I love Hainanese Chicken. I would cook it more often, as its recipe isn't really complicated. You just need a bunch of ingredients, and just mainly consists of boiling but it's too time consuming. While paying my groceries at SM Supermarket yesterday, I saw Hainanese Delights from across the cashier and my heart just jumped. When I took a closer look, I was surprised to see that their food is considerably cheap (just 120 php for a serving of Hainan Chicken with rice), plus, they offer unlimited Hainan rice! Too bad it was already late and I live quite far from SM North Edsa that I opted to order a take out instead.

I ordered two Hainanese Chicken for me and my sister, and was a bit surprised to find the take out container for the chicken placed in a plastic container instead of the usual cardboard/styrofoam box in other fastfood/casual dining restaurants. We were given two servings of three condiments, sweet soy sauce, ginger oil (my favorite!), and chili oil. Their Hainan rice wasn't what I was expecting. It was tasty all right, but it tasted a bit like a dry arroz caldo. Their Hainanese Chicken was ok too, very tender and well-cooked but nothing really extraordinary. Still, at 120 php I think I got a good deal. Will definitely have to be back to try out their other dishes.

Visit their website for more info: http://www.hainanesedelights.ph/

What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us by Guy Kawasaki

2012-03-10T09:43:00.003+08:00

What the Plus by Guy Kawasaki

Update: (May 24 2012 2:04 PM +8 GMT)

Since Google made great changes regarding Google+'s interface more than a month ago, Guy Kawasaki revised "What the Plus!". I personally think that Google+'s UI is pretty much self explanatory, and what makes 'What the Plus!' worth buying are the tips and tricks to a better Google+ experience itself.

In case you are interested or haven't picked up a copy yet, now is the time to get it! The version 2.0 of What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us is on sale for only $0.99 for a limited time on the Amazon Kindle Store and on iTunes (as for me, I got a free copy again of the revised edition as one of the books' beta testers *insert smug smile here*).
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It's no secret that I love Google+. If you look back at my blog archive, majority of my posts over the last few months are Google+ related. So when Guy Kawasaki announced that he's looking for beta testers for his new book about Google+, I volunteered happily and was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the beta testers.

When G+ first came out, everyone expected it to be like Facebook. A lot of people were disappointed, and even went far as to say that Google+ failed. This book clearly explains why Google+ is different from other social networks, and why you should not think of it as another Facebook.

While this is a guide book, don't worry. It's definitely not boring and it's short enough to read in an hour. The content is simple but concise, containing a myriad of tips and tricks that I'm sure even existing Google+ users would find very informative and useful.

I cannot even put into words how much I want to urge everyone to give Google+ a spin. Read this book, and I'm sure you'd find Guy Kawasaki's enthusiasm contagious.

What the Plus! is available for free (limited time only) in this website:

http://www.guykawasaki.com/what-the-plus/

Or you can buy the ebook on

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007HD7HT0

iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/what-the-plus!/id508387073?mt=11

Paradise Kiss 2011

2012-02-21T15:13:00.000+08:00

I used to really like watching Japanese movies/tv series but after consecutively watching several awful Japanese movies, I kind of lost my interest. I wasn't even aware there was a live action movie version of Paradise Kiss out last year. I decided to watch this one since I enjoyed reading the manga and watching the anime version before.

While watching the movie, one of my early complaints was the lack of romance between Yukari and George, but near the end of the film, I was glad they made it that way. It made the farewell scene between them all the more sad and heartbreaking. I was a bit bothered by the cheesy music used throughout the film (the anime soundtrack was really good though), as well as the weird catwalk modelling near the end. I'm not really in tune with the fashion world, but Yukari's walk didn't look very professional to me (actually, none of the other models did). Overall, I did have a bit of a good time watching.

New Layout and New Content

2012-02-17T09:25:00.000+08:00

Several pens that my sister owns. This is just the tip of the iceberg

I decided to use ditch my old blog layout and go with Blogger Dynamic Views instead for something new(ish). I love my old layout but the design has several pitfalls that I can not seem to fix (thumbnails has a tendency to distort pictures, social networking buttons for easy sharing of the posts are not working properly and the script must be added to each post manually, etc). And now I decided to give it a rest.

Also, I would be publishing new content within the next few days, mostly about pens. I've never been really picky with my pens. Also, my handwriting is bad (probably a result of lack of practice). But my sister loves pens, and has a bunch of them. Slowly, her interest in pens rubbed into me, and I'm starting to pay attention to a pens feel, grip, ink, etc. While it's a bit unusual to review and talk about pens in this age of computers, I think it's great subject that not too many people are into.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

2012-02-03T09:02:00.004+08:00

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

I've watched the movie version of Battle Royale several years ago, but wasn't really interested in reading the novel until recently (after finishing The Hunger Games). I avoided reading the book since my knowledge with the Japanese language (and Kanji characters) aren't enough to read this in its pure form (I tend to avoid translated literature).

The story in Battle Royale takes place in a fictional world wherein Japan is a member of a totalitarian state called the Republic of Greater East Asia. Every year, 50 third year high school classes are selected to participate in the Program. Under the guise of a school trip, the students are brought to an isolated area, where the students are forced to kill each other until only one survives.

I had issues with the book, as I found some of the quips to be really cheesy. It was set in the 90's and it's virtually impossible for me to think about the 90's without cringing, so it was forgivable. Other than that I have no complaints. The plot structure and the character development in Battle Royale is amazing. The reasoning for the political setting is well defined, as well as the futility to combat the system. Also, the horror of turning against your classmates and friends is gripping. You can't help but think what if you are forced to do the same. Including the back story of the characters made them more likable and made me sadder the see them go. And I think I'm in love with Shogo Kawada. I wish the author, Koushun Takami would write more books.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

2012-02-02T20:40:00.004+08:00

The Hunger Games Trilogy

A dear friend of mine recommended The Hunger Games Trilogy to read, and having nothing else better to do, I did. Unfortunately, I didn't liked the books as I hoped I would.

The story starts off with Katniss Everdeen, a young girl living in District 12 of Panem. Katniss volunteered to take part in the Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Prim. The Hunger Games is an annual event organized by The Capitol (rules and oversees the 12 districts of Panem) in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the districts are selected via lottery. The participants must kill each other and only one person can emerge a winner.

I've read many books that are derivative, but somehow, reading The Hunger Games bothered me a lot. The plot is eerily close to Battle Royale (and was reminded a bit of my beloved Firefly: Alliance = Panem, The Capitol = Core Planets, and Outlying Planets = 12 Districts). Another thing that bothered me was the lack of depth. After finishing the books, I had no idea what was the point in reading them. It's certainly not a love story, and the conflict with The Capitol and the 13 districts lacked breadth and resolution. I also have to mention that the lead characters are very uninteresting. If only I wasn't reading the trilogy from my Kindle, I would have hurled the books across the room from utter boredom. I really wished it wasn't written in the first person. The plot itself has the potential to turn out great, but seeing the story unfold through the eyes of Katniss Everdeen in my opinion, watered it down.

Disappearing Neighbors in Zombie Lane Fix (Google+)

2011-12-27T15:23:00.002+08:00

Are your neighbors in Zombie Lane except for Rob gone? I had the same problem about a week ago and contacted their customer support. Their solution didn't work. However, their suggested solution apparently works on other users, so I'm going to post it here anyway so you can try them first.

You can try the procedures in the above image first

1) In G+ open your Circles tab
2) Click on "People in your Circles"
3) Scroll through and look for a envelope icon on any of your G+ Circle friends (that icon means they don't have a G+ account, but you can share via email) Note those friends.
4) Open Zombie Lane and click on the "My Neighbors" tab
5) Remove any neighbors from step #3 above.
6) Reload Zombie Lane

Note: If you don't have your some of your neighbors in a current circle, to fix this bug you will need to re-add them temporarily to your circles and then check for the envelope icon.

This is all I got when I replied back and told them my neighbors are still gone after doing the steps they sent earlier

If you followed all the steps above, and still have no neighbors in-game, try the following steps that I did (open up the images for more clarifications)

1. Open Zombie Lane and click 'My Neighbors' Tab

2. Right click the 'Circles' tab in Google Plus and select 'Open link in new tab' (depends on your browser, but basically just open up your Circles in another tab).

3. Now that you have two tabs open (Zombie Lane and Circles), we can now proceed. Go to Zombie Lane, under the 'My Neighbors' tab, and copy the name of one of your neighbors.

4. Now go to your 'Circles', and click 'People who've added you'. Now paste the name that you copied earlier on the little search box there.

5. If a person is your neighbor in Zombie Lane, you should have them in your circles, and THEY should have you in their circles too. If they're listed as your neighbor in Zombie Lane, but they haven't added you in their circles, remove them as neighbor in Zombie Lane.

Here's how it should look like if your neighbor is IN your circles, and you are IN their circles:

Now, here's how it looks like when you've added them IN your circles but they HAVEN'T added you back

In cases like these, remove them from in Zombie Lane

6. Repeat all the steps 3-5 for all your neighbors found on your 'My Neighbors' tab in Zombie Lane. Feel free to double check (I missed some neighbors the first time I did this, so I had to do it all over again).

7. When you're done, hit the Refresh button on your browser, and your neighbors should now be there again. If they are still not there, hey, don't get mad at me. The steps above worked for me. Go pester their Customer Support.

I hope this helps!

Note: Other users says deleting the 'Pending Neighbor Request' also helps.

Gardens of Time now available at Google+ Games

2011-12-21T13:44:00.003+08:00

If you're like me and tired of all the 'build-a-city' games, then you'll be glad to know that Gardens of Time, a hidden object game is now available at Google+!

Of course it still retains some of the basic elements of a social game. You spend energy on playing different scenes and you need to pimp your garden to gain more 'reputation' to unlock places. Even if you repeatedly play a scene, there are one or two new items to find so you probably won't get that bored right away.

With everything said, I'm pretty much happy with this addition. Looking forward to more games to be added soon!

3 New Games at Google+

2011-12-17T09:17:00.001+08:00

There are 3 new games at Google+! They have added 8 Ball Multiplayer Pool, Backyard Monsters and GT Racing Motor Academy. This is probably one of the most exciting additions to me so far. I've been waiting for more casual games - since you could only play a certain number of strategy/build-a-city games before you get sick of them. So I'm really happy they added pool and racing!

However, my experience with the games aren't so smooth.

In 8 Ball Multiplayer Pool, you can play with random players or you can choose to play with your friends.

My problem is, you can't automatically see people in your circles that are online. You have to search their names :(

And you can't chat! There are pre-loaded phrases that you can use. Just click the speech bubble on your icon.

I was particularly very excited on trying GT Racing Motor Academy, but the game won't load D:

I am using the latest version of Chrome :(

My system is configured for optimal playing... apart from the video card :(

Must have been my video card, since I'm using an onboard one, but I can play other games just fine on this PC (Sims 3, Lord of the Rings Online, Sims Medieval etc.), so I can't wrap my brain around why it won't work here. Is sad.

Backyard Monsters seems like another 'build-a-city' game, so I didn't bother to delve on it too much.

Zombie Lane Holiday Update 2.2.1 (Google+)

2011-12-09T19:29:00.001+08:00

I was very surprised when I opened Zombie Lane today as there are a lot of updates. There are loads of new quests, new weapons, new zombies, new locations, even the town in covered in snow!

Here's a list of the updates (taken from the official Zombie Lane forum at Digital Chocolate):

New Features

• A new Adventure Area, Crash Site, is introduced

o When the player reaches level 20, a new mission, CONSPIRACY THEORY I is unlocked
o After this mission is completed, the Crash Site adventure area can be accessed by clicking on the green strip on the left side of the house
o The Crash Site contains a total of 26 missions including the CONSPIRACY THEORY I intro mission

• Two new zombies are introduced

o Hazmat Zombie
o 4 health
o Chance to drop Batteries, Oxygen Tanks or Hazardous Chemicals
o Secret Agent Zombie
o 6 health
o Chance to drop Batteries, Black Suitcases or Smartphones

• Exception: the Secret Agent Zombies spawned on the player’s own gamefield (for the mission CONSPIRACY THEORY I) do not drop any items

• The Crash Site includes a new feature, Darkness

o When the player first enters the adventure area, most of the area is covered by Darkness
o No zombies or objects except the Big Trees can be seen in the Darkness
o The player can’t walk in the Darkness
o Initially a small part of the gamefield is clear of Darkness
o After completing the mission CONSPIRACY THEORY IV the cleared area is expanded
o After completing the mission LET THERE BE LIGHT II he cleared area is expanded a second time
o After these missions the initial light area is no longer changed

• The player can clear parts of Darkness by activating Portable Floodlights

o Portable Floodlights are objects scattered around the gamefield
o Activating a Portable Floodlight requires an amount of Batteries
o Different Portable Floodlights can require different amounts of Batteries
o All zombies on the Crash Site have a chance to drop Batteries
o From the Activate the Floodlight pop-up, batteries can also be requested from friends or bought with Cash
o When the Portable Floodlight is activated, all Darkness is cleared from a radius of 15 tiles around the Portable Floodlight

The Godfather: Five Families - Now in Google+!

2011-12-07T18:26:00.002+08:00

The Godfather: Five Families

Inspired by one of the most iconic films in history, The Godfather Five Families game is now available in Google+! It was developed by Kabam, which brought us other social games like Edgeworld and Dragons of Atlantis.

You get to choose to play one of the Five Families, the Corleones, the Tattaglias, the Barzinis, the Cuneos, and the Straccis. I was about to choose the Corleones but it doesn't have a 7 day resource boost, unlike the other families. Maybe it's to prevent most of the players to choose the Corleones? Anyway, whatever family you choose, it won't really affect your gameplay much (except for the initial boost). I'm not a stranger to other Kabam games, but I did find the interface a bit confusing though the gameplay is very much similar to their other games. The graphics, while not the best, is still pretty good.

I'm not sure if this game would be able to capture a lot of users' interest for long.

New Google Plus Games + Major Google UI Update

2011-12-04T09:24:00.004+08:00

Bug Village

Gol Mania

A lot of things happened this week. Google Plus added two more games in their arsenal, Bug Village and Gol Mania. Also, Google rolled out their new UI this week. Not everybody is using the new interface yet, as Google plans to slowly make the new UI available to everyone. Ok! I'll start dissecting everything now.

Bug Village is a casual city building game, where you get to build and manage a colony of bugs. What really impressed me was the 3d graphics, which looks really sophisticated. You do have to download a small file (around 20mb) when you first try out the game, but it's worth it.

Gol Mania is a soccer game, where you get to play with other users in real time. I'm not a big sports fan, so I'm not really excited to try out the game. Plus, I had trouble connecting to the game because of my 'slow connection', and was advised to close other tabs or stop downloading. While it's reasonable, I didn't have any trouble playing other online games whilst browsing the net and downloading something, so it's a bit of a bummer.

Moving on to the new Google UI....

I have mixed emotions on this. At first, I thought the G+ black bar looks kind of bland, but it's functionality won me over. After scrolling down the bottom of the page, I can just click on the black bar to take me again on the top. With the new interface, clicking on the gray space with the Google logo on it will still take you to the top of the page. The new drop down feature looks good. It kinda feels like an OS.