One-stop

Cheap capacitive stylus

2011-12-03T20:07:00.002+08:00

Today mom visiting from kl. The main reason for the visit is to collect her Louis vuitton bag that I help her to purchase during my recent vacation to France. The meet up is at gurney plaza.

After the meet up, V and I shop around. We went into mini toon shop, I spotted the capacitive stylus selling for only rm12. I think this is cheap so I purchased this. Previously I saw in queensbay selling for over rm50.

First attempt to post from ipad

2011-12-02T23:31:00.000+08:00

Recently I bought an iPad 2. So I am trying to revive my blog here using it. My life has been busy and many changes happening lately. There are a lot of things to blog about. Let's start with this!

I redeemed almost all my of kudos vouchers. Here is it. :)

It does came in wet though because my postbox is flooded.

Macro Floral Shots

2011-08-07T13:20:00.002+08:00

Mt. Hood Wilderness Hike

2011-08-01T14:54:00.000+08:00

It started with a tough hike going up the hill. I would think it is not for average guy whom doesn't exercise a lot. Do it slowly and you eventually get thru it.

After the initial tough hike, it actually relatively flat and easy to hike. So don't give up!

The view of Mt. Hood from the wilderness. It is the jewel of this hike route.

Picture stitched with 5 shots varying the exposures.

Mt. Hood & river below. It looks better than pictures.

Mt. Hood still icy & snowy eventhough in mid summer.

Trying my new Tamron 60mm F2 macro lens. Old log along the trail.

Wild flowers.

A shot of the bee along the trail.

Netbook for portability

2011-07-26T14:08:00.000+08:00

Our new netbook arrived several days ago. I think many people reading this would probably ask why dont buy an ipad. First of all, it is the usage model. I would like big enough HDD to download pictures from my camera to harddisk. Yeah I own a SLR so the picture files is actually quite huge. Secondly, I felt it would be easier to have a keyboard for chatting or typing.

The netbook I chosen is Eee PC from Asus. Of course, fueled by Intel.

The netbook is pretty small. Look at the comparison between the lenght of pen & netbook. The color chosen is matte red.

This netbook comes with some unique features such as Express Gate which is open-source based OS (i think is linux) which boots very quickly. It is dual boot so it can select to run win7 starter too.

What caught my eye the most is the 13 hrs battery life. Although in actual usage model, it is really hard to hit that mark. So far I am getting like 8hrs+. Not too bad.

Side by side comparison between HP 8510W & Asus 1015PEM. No doubt I am comparing a giant vs a dwaft.

Coach Wristlet

2011-07-26T13:28:00.000+08:00

Coach Wristlet. Quite a good bargain for its price.

Buying Ralph Laurent Romance perfume for V

2011-07-08T14:15:00.000+08:00

Quite a bargain to purchase this set at USD52.28 after 25% discount. V saw Jusco selling MYR300+ just for the 100ml perfume. This is her 2nd 100ml bottle. She says the smell last long. I think the main reason is it is eau de parfum instead of eau de toilette.

Which watch is nice?

2011-07-08T14:12:00.001+08:00

DKNY, nice? Ceramic strap. I think is around USD200

Side view of the similar watch but white face.

Guess watch. Quite a bargain looking at USD79.90. Have 1-12 per your request.

White guess watch. Price similar I think it is USD79.90 also.

Pink face guess watch. Similar pricing as the other two.

Mad Scientist with liquid nitrogen

2011-06-28T14:13:00.001+08:00

My job seldom involves cool stuff like this. Today, we going to use some liquid nitrogen to perform extreme cooling overclocking. See how cold it is, the tube gets frosted in seconds. Maximum cold is around -200 degree celcius. You will never want to get a drip of that on your hands.

Mushroom Burger @ Red Robin ; Ultra Cheap Hotdog @ Costco

2011-06-25T11:53:00.000+08:00

Swiss Mushroom Burger from Red Robin. Had this at Alaskan Way, Seattle.

CH bring me to costco and introduce this to me. Really value for money. USD1.50 with drinks.

Dragon roll @ sushi house in Uwajimaya

2011-06-25T11:47:00.000+08:00

Just showing the dragon roll.

Saburo Sushi @ Downtown Portland

2011-06-25T11:32:00.000+08:00

Plates full of maki. From unagi to salmon, prawns to soft shell crabs.

The 3 raw fish maki.

Lobster meal @ Red Lobster

2011-06-25T11:26:00.001+08:00

Starting my meal with a cup of clam chowder

My lobster after dissect by the waitress. Good service. Easier for me to eat.

She even do the claws too. But I should have taken the picture of the whole lobster first. Maybe next time.

Yummy meal. The body taste like prawn, the claw taste like crab. For USD27, it is worth it. I can't even get this kind of quality paying MYR99 in Manhattan Fish Market.

Voodoo Doughnut @ Downtown Portland

2011-06-25T11:18:00.000+08:00

Voodoo doughnut has moved near to Lloyd Center. The queue is very long. See all the people here queuing for it. I wonder whether it is really that good? Let's see.

Voodoo doughnut rack. Vegan and non-vegan doughnut available.

One of the doughnut I bought. Frankly, so-so only. Comparable to J-Co or so.

Surprise broken when V scan thru my credit card bills..

2011-06-23T23:36:00.000+08:00

Bought this transparent coach medium size wristlet for V. Looks unique so I bought it. The rest is pretty much too common which V already bored of it.

Get this wallet too.

A good leather wallet. The finishing quality is top notch.

Trying the iRobot Roomba 550

2011-06-20T13:41:00.001+08:00

Just bought my iRobot Roomba 550 from costco today. It is a good deal as it has the same functions as the 560 but at a slight cheaper price. Roomba 550 is exclusive to costco.

It docked the charging station by itself. All it needs is a good charge now.

I test run the roomba for 10 mins, it trapped quite a lot of dust, hair & particle at the disposal compartment.

Multnomah Falls revisited

2011-06-13T01:35:00.001+08:00

Multnomah Falls, one of the nice scene from Oregon.

This is far from postcard snaps, but I am satisfy with it. Definite with tripod, it would be better.

This is taken at the small stream on the way down from observation bridge.

Rose Festival .. floats only @ Downtown Portland

2011-06-13T00:26:00.000+08:00

Horse float. Each of the color you seeing here is made out of organic matters. It is made by sticking rice or grains on the float. A lot of work, huh.

Rose beauty queen on the float.

I like the bee figurine at the back of the float.

Float from Alaska Airline. This is the best float of the parade.

2 whales on display. From this angle, it looks like baby whale is following mother whale.

The whale float is followed by the Alaska Airlines crew on a boat.

National guard float.

Astoria Regatta float. Those ladies on the float is actually singing and dancing.

Dancing..

Human powered float. Oregonian likes to paddle a lot hence it won't surprise me that they come out with this to represent the Oregonians.

If you zoom in, you can see sister cities of Portland. Bangalore is one of them.

Vietnamese float

Rose Festival .. skipping floats @ Downtown Portland

2011-06-13T00:12:00.000+08:00

World map arranged using flowers and plants. Country are seperated by colors according to one of my friend. I did not notice it initially.

Cute Alaska Airline mascot

Clown prince :)

Rodeo queen

Donkey or foal cart. It looks tired though.

Senior cheerleading squad :)

High school cheerleaders

Flag performance

Some sort of queen from pagent contest I think

Another rodeo queen

Well Fargo display

Llama. This is my first time up-close with llama.

Look how nice is the horse.

Many rodeo queen on the ride

Navy sailor band. Everyone claps hands when they pass by.

Scottish pipe. They wore scottish skirt too.

Not exactly sure what it is. They do looks interesting.

Mexican rope performance

Taiwanese wonderful display. It would look better if I had my wide angle lens on.

Tossing the flags and guns

Adding a little humor in between, the clown ride in a tiny bicycle.

V's trench coat & t-shirt

2011-06-07T12:16:00.000+08:00

Since you asked for it. Here is it. Is it the same you saw in PG?

Just read the lable, it is made of polyester & cotton.

OMSI (Part 2: Experiments, Lunch & Minerals)

2011-06-06T14:39:00.000+08:00

The first science experiment I got my hand into is about using water and air to propel water bottle up the air. See the green bottle at the bottom of the picture? It is shooting up. I am capturing in high speed.

Half way up the air. 40% water + 60% air mix.

It reaches the top. 40% water + 60% air seems to be a good mix.

Here is comes down. Waters splashing, take cover!

Typically laser is invisible. Using water vapor, we can see its trail.

We are so used to bell curve, the normal distribution on probability. What is it really about. It seems to be to be a mathematically calculated formula discribing it.

Until now, I see it myself in OMSI. The balls drop from the middle, randomly more balls dropping to the middle region and less at the extreme corners. I watched this for 2-3 rounds, the bell curve always works. By the way, this only true is the sample size is big enough like these.

I also learned to make paper planes which needs to be stable under the air tunnel. Initially it wobbling around, some adjustments on the wings is all it needs. I saw many that failed :)

My lunch in OMSI. Looks nice but actually it really not tasty at all. The bread is cold. The soup is actually curry. The best of all is the Starbucks Mocha drink.

Myself on special mirror. 4 legs.

Good to see Intel is doing some sponsorship in this area.

Funny looking green stone named Azurite catched my eye.

Which is more valueble? If I didn't look at the information, I would think Pyrite is gold too. Pyrite has sulphur which makes up its yellowish color.

I am watching Imax version of Hubble Telescope movie in Omnimax theatre.

Yupe, this is the movie I watched. Actually just 30+ minutes.

Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (Part 1: Intro & Submarine)

2011-06-06T13:33:00.000+08:00

Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI) is located next to Willamete river. There is already a queue going on eventhough I reach at 9.30am.

The weather is beautiful today with a good sun & cloud mix. The temperature is about 75 degrees this morning.

The double decker bridge situated just behind OMSI provided a nice background.

My first visit is guided tour of SS581, the blueback (not blueblack) submarine. The biggest diesel electric US based submarine.

Of course, this is still miniture compared to world's biggest submarine which is Russian based typhoon class submarine. Typhoon class is a few times bigger than this and capable of launching balastic missiles.

Replica of tail rotor which is also memorial for navy personnel whom lose their lives during the service.

Closer look at SS581

Sonar system I believe

Torpedo launching hatch

Torpedo for attacking both submarines & ships. Forgotten its name.

Last but not least, remember to watch your head. A visitor just knock their head in the submarine.

Clay's Smokehouse Grill .. Best value! @ Portland

2011-06-05T15:21:00.000+08:00

I come to Clay's Smokehouse Grill by using guidance from GPS. I did not expect anything but just giving it a try. Drive pass it and found that there were a few tables occupied by patrons on the walkway so I guess it must be minimally acceptable to dine here.

After parking my car at the corner, here I am.

I wanted ribs and briskets. I made it to the happy hour (Sat/Sun 12-2pm; Weekdays 3-5pm). I am looking at the menu and it states USD5 for ribs with sides and USD5 for brisket with mini burger. Looking at the pricing, I am expecting small portions. So I ordered both.

To my amaze, the briskets comes with chips and in mini burger at USD5!! It tasted good too.

Ribs with potatoes and coleslaw. 2 beef ribs. Just at USD5. More than what I am expecting and yet it tasted good. Definitely value for money if you are near this area. This is not far from Llyod Centre.

Clay's Smokehouse Grill

2932 SE Division Street

Phone# 503 235 4755

Roses Gone Wild soon.. @ Portland Rose Garden

2011-06-05T15:09:00.000+08:00

I thought roses in Portland Rose Garden already blossom due to already in summer time. However, I was wrong. <2% of the roses actually blossom. I guess I just need to come another day.

Roses Gone Wild tour starts now.

I saw this on my way walking to Rose Garden from parking spot. It is human sculpture made of tree figs. Cool!

I know I take these pictures a couple times already, but I still can't stand to take it again. Basically leaves and sunlight is a perfect match.

Cherry flowers blossom

More white cherry flower

Rare rose which already blossom

Not exactly sure what flower is this. But it caught my eyes.

Soon it gonna be too hot for cherry flowers. Some started to turn yellow.

Rose bud waiting for the right time

View of Mount Hood from Rose Garden. The peak is still covered with snow.

Memorial sales in forever 21 (XXI)

2011-05-31T06:52:00.000+08:00

Memorial sales is going on around US. I had lunch at the food court just opposite forever 21. After noticing many people purchasing from the store, I hesitate but decided to take a look at the sales items. I hesitated because it is all female store :)

The sales is pretty good but I just buy some tops because I afraid may not get the right size for V for bottoms. This forever 21 store is 2 storey but size wise, I think it is comparable to Queenbay's.

Above is the black turtle-neck short sleeve knit blouse.

Teal color three quarter sleeve blouse with flare and back ribbon

White-beige long sleeve thermal clothes with turtle-neck top

Black turtle-neck long sleeve top. I think the sleeve is a little long for V. But the sleeve can be pulled-up so it looks like short sleeve.