Santa came early for me this year and brought me my own electric lime pixie!
Love love love my first cuppa!
Showing posts with label gadgets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gadgets. Show all posts
my personal lime pixie
my next new toy will be a pen
I see more and more friends around me flaunting their new GFs (I'm talking about the Panasonic Lumix GF series of cameras here) around and after seeing all their sample pictures and having a recent discussion with a colleague's husband on the micro four thirds system (a mirrorless interchangeable lens system created by Olympus and Panasonic that gave rise to a whole new phenomenon of pocket-sized dSLR-type cameras), I'm truly impressed, and itching to get my hands on one too.
I devoted my Queen's Birthday public holiday to researching on this technology and comparing the Lumix series with the PEN series from Olympus. Well, since I already own 2 compact digicams, a dSLR, an analogue SLR, an analogue Diana F+, an iPhone camera, and up to very recently a Polaroid camera, the gadget specs become secondary to its aesthetics in my quest to add another expensive toy to the ever growing wishlist. Olympus wins hands down for me as in addition to having comparable photo quality to those taken with the GF, its vast range of retro-looking accessories I can get to dress my next new PEN toy with left me drooling with desire. I'm a sucker for retro stuff. I mean, just look at the line-up below! They all look so cool!
So I have about slightly less than half a year left to save up for this big buy to stuff into my own Christmas sock.
update on project clean-out wardrobe
I have just made my first sale on Gumtree - the Habitat skateboard. I feel sad having to part with it but sincerely hope its new owner will give it the due attention it deserves rather than just remain stuck in a corner of my wardrobe.
I have also updated my FOR SALE page and there is now a vintage Polaroid Cool Cam, a brand new never used Giro Bad Lieutenant ski helmet and a pair of K2 inline skates up for grab. More to come! Bags, shoes, dresses up next. :)
the search for new parents
Since before X'mas last year, I've been wanting to dig out all the long buried items - clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, toys and what-nots - in the wardrobe to do a one-time clean up of anything I haven't used in the last three years in order to clear some space for all the things I bought recently that had been piling up in a corner in the bedroom due to lack of storage space.
I finally got my hands onto it last week post the Orlando trip out of desperation as all the new Kate Spades and Victoria's Secrets need a home. A week into this cleaning and sorting frenzy has seen me re-discovering forgotten old favourites, being pleasantly surprised at how I now can fit into some (sadly not all though) clothing items that had been relegated to the I've-put-on-so-much-weight-now-I-can't-fit-into-these-anymore list and putting together an entire suitcase of clothes and bags to sell among other things, and I'm only halfway through this Project Clean-out Wardrobe.
As a lot of my beloved possessions are in near new condition and many others only used/worn once or twice in their lifetimes thus far, I am reluctant to just chuck them in the bin. I hope many of them can find new owners who will make them proud of their existence in this material world so they don't have to stay hidden in dark corners of the closet like they have for the last decade.
Thus you see the new link that now appears on the nav bar under my blog header banner now - FOR SALE. I have put up only 2 items for now - my K2 inline skates and Habitat skateboard - to start with and will slowly add to it. Please pop over regularly to see if there is anything that catches your fancy and do help to spread the word too. Unfortunately, for bulky items like the skates and skateboard, I am accepting cash upon pick-up only for people residing in Sydney as there's not much point trying to ship them anywhere due to unpractical shipping cost. However, once I've catalogued the smaller items - not easy! got to take photos, make measurements, research on market rates for similar products, set the price and tag them - especially the accessories and clothes, they will be open to potential new parents from anywhere on the globe.
I may also make an appearance at one of the markets - Glebe most likely - and will keep you posted if and when I do.
outlet shopping in orlando
The work trip to Orlando was planned in such a way that I had a day before the conference to rest after the 24 hours journey to the other side of the globe and to do the necessary event setup. Not wanting to sleep through the day and hence worsening the already bad jetlag, the guys and I decided to go outlet shopping. After consulting my two comprehensive travel guides bought in Kinokuniya and the hotel concierge, we took the i-Ride Trolley at the stop conveniently located right in front of our hotel to Orlando Premium Outlets just a 20min ride up north along International Drive. Second stop was to Florida Mall as one of the guys had a whole list of comestics he had to get for a sister.
Here is showcasing a bit of what I got that required some muscle help from the guys to lug back to the hotel. I shudder at the thought of compiling the stack of receipts to calculate the total spending on this trip although the fantastic exchange rate (1AUD:1.1USD) and 60% discount deals made a lot of the purchases extremely worthwhile to the extent I would have kicked myself if I gave them a pass.
A quick trip to Victoria's Secret where I almost didn't survive the throngs of people and only managed to grab a handful of cotton bras.
I finally got myself the Clarisonic set I wanted so badly at Sephora, saving myself the shipping cost if I had purchased online.
I was pleasantly shocked to find that the Dermalogical products cost only 60% of what I usually pay for in Australia so I decided to stock up on the cleansers as they tend to use up very quickly. The Very Sexy body mist was a $10 impulse grab at Victoria's Secret when I was queueing to make payment.
One of the items on my planned shopping list was a big Samsonite hard case with four wheels (they call them the 'spinners') as my own suitcase that had served me faithfully for six years was damaged enroute. But I got distracted by this baby pink Tumi carry on case at their shopfront display. At close to USD300 with no special discount, I only convinced myself to get it after returning to the store three times to gaze longingly at it by reminding myself that 20% of the sales proceeds from that case went to some breast cancer support foundation. Thankfully I got a great deal at Samsonite subsequently where this particular case that met all my requirements was going at 50% of its usual retail price of $600. These two purchases assisted greatly in getting all my shopping loot around while I shopped some more.
I bought lots of clothes too but I soon tired of photographing them so here's a sneak peak at just two of my favourite buys. I love the tops for their retro stripes, colours and fit and because I have never owned a fur coat in my life and this XXS sized snow leopard faux fur coat fitted me so well and it was a steal at only USD40, I got it despite not knowing when the weather will get cold enough for me to ever have a chance to wear it out in Sydney. Other great clothing bargains were a pair of black velvet jeans with sparkly diamantes on the back pockets that made my legs look 50% longer and slimmer, a petite work jacket and some Calvin Klein underwear.
I went into Kenneth Cole hoping to get a wallet as a gift but was distracted by their timepieces instead. I spent the better part of an hour staring at the many men's watches on display and convincing myself not to get anything as I have stopped wearing watches altogether since 2006. Then I spent another better part of an hour repeatedly trying on a cream coloured slightly above knee length trench coat and finally deciding not to get it as it was missing a belt. Well I did try to negotiate the price down and would have gotten it if they agreed to drop the price by 60% but the furthest they were willing to consider was a 40% discount. Too bad. A consolation was this pair of black sandals to replace the current pair that had its soles flapping open after a day of hard walking at the outlets. And as you can see from the series of handbag pictures below that I am a Kate Spade fan, just like the young Tin Pei Ling who's running for MP in SG now.
All these handbags were going at 60% discount - how not to get them???
There was no need for yet another toiletry bag or purse so I'm not sure how these came to be added to my shopping bag too. ;p
Here's all the Kate Spade stuff I ended up with at the check out. I would have gotten at least a couple more if I had the means to carry them back to Sydney and if I haven't already owned a hundred other bags sitting idly in my wardrobe without ever getting to see daylight. I think I need to somehow either sell most of them or start using them!
I also got a Juicy Couture bag, not for myself, but as a belated present to a dear friend who was recently saddened she had to throw hers into the bin after it got ripped a big tear at the side.
And of course I had to get some Disney souvenirs for the girls at work. I also got a nice little Mickey with the American flag badge to add on to my flag collection of countries I've visited displayed on my camera bag.
Next, I need to check my bank account to see how many days of air and water I have to survive on before the next pay check comes in.
i'm officially broke, but extremely happy
Well, I did mention in this previous entry that a TV is next on my wishlist just so I can PS3 all day long in my room. And so I went a-TV-hunting over the weekend. I scoured every single electronics store, big and small, in the vicinity with a budget of A$300+ for a minimum 22" LCD TV. Just when I thought the Hisense 22" HD LCD TV at The Good Guys that was on a promotional price of $348 was the only set I could afford (all others were A$499 and above for a mere 22" set! and no, not a CRT TV please cos it will probably take up half my room space!), I came across this Electroview 32" HD LCD TV at Harvey Norman going for $498, down from $899.
I have never heard of this brand and was rather suspicious of it. But after comparing it side by side with all the other known huge brands like Samsung and Sony, the quality isn't bad at all. Because I only needed a half decent TV to play games and occasionally watch movies on, because I've never been a huge fan of big brand names where you pay more than necessary to subsidise their extravagant marketing costs, and because I go for functionality and practicality more than looks, style and brand, I grabbed this dodgy Electroview TV that was way bigger than what I'd aimed for at the start of the hunt and which surpassed my expectations of a standard humble TV to wreak havoc on with my PS3. Oh and I 顺便-ed bought the Little Big Planet game at a 40% discount too; how often do you get to buy brand new original PS3 games for 20 bucks?... =p
Below pic shows the TV and PS3 all set up and functioning. TV screen is showing part of the game play in Assassin's Creed II. (OMG I'm so rusty with gaming that I fumbled with the controls like I had two left feet for hands. This is probably not the best game to start conditioning my motor skills all over again.) My bank account took a massive hit from the intensive spending spree such that I don't think I'll be splurging on a console for the TV set just yet. The sturdy vintage suitcase I picked up at a garage sale that had been lying around for months not serving any function at all finally came in handy as the best available stand for the unit.
Even with empty pockets, I is a very happy monkey right now. :DDDDDDD
i bought myself...
...a whole heap of presents for Christmas...
1) PS3 console
2) PS3 game - Assassin's Creed II
3) Sony Ericsson AINO
4) Braun Silk-epil Xpressive epilator
5) Rainbow mobile sock for the phone (below pic)
Next on the list is possibly a TV... LCD TV... just so I can coop myself up in the bedroom and play games all day long! Oh and a pair of retro Ray Bans too - Frame Color: Arista Gold, Lens Color: Pink Gold Shaded Mirror.
Almost all my life, I've been pampering others, showering them with gifts all year long special occasion or not, and neglecting myself. This year, due to non stop nagging by THE FRIENDS to love myself more, I decided to go all out. I hope I haven't overdone it. Man, it feels good to be surrounded by new toys!
samsung vs sony ericsson
I've been on the hunt for a suitable new phone for the longest time. You may remember I had a phone on my birthday wishlists for the last two years, but each time, I got myself some other toy and never a proper phone. Distractions distractions.
With Christmas coming in less than two weeks' time, and my dinosaur pink Razr approaching the limit of its lifespan, I'm thinking I should really stop procrastinating and get myself a new phone before it dies on me. Furthermore, having been on a prepaid plan for three years and four months now and not gaining anything from it, I might as well sign up for a proper contract in exchange for a free mobile phone of my choice.
After spending the first half of a morning on the internet, I shortlisted five potentials:
- iPhone 3GS
- Samsung S8300 UltraTouch
- Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
- Sony Ericsson AINO
- Sony Ericsson SATIO
After more web surfing for the rest of the morning and considering all aspects of the purchase including the technical specs and budget, I narrowed down to just the two below. The iPhone which has been top on my want list for two years has now slipped to the bottom; its specs are really quite crappy when you do a full-on comparison. I guess it's more of a fashion accessory deemed by many to be the 'in' phone to have. Besides, I don't think I'll ever have the time to play with all the apps. So might as well save that money for something else more practical.
1) Sony Ericsson AINO
View full specs here.
2) Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
View full specs here.
In comparing these two, I think it all boils down to whether I really need the HD video function that only the Samsung can offer.
from me to myself
I bought myself a little present for my upcoming 29th birthday (partly also to reward myself for the efforts I put into my work for the past few years). It's something I've been hankering after for the longest time. Dante would remember having numerous discussions with me on getting my first dSLR since 2006 but I always disappointed him by changing my mind... until now. Most would have noticed how much I love taking photos. There is so much I want to photograph but I often find myself constrained by the limitations of a compact digicam. They're great for carrying around everywhere everyday but there are times when I don't mind lugging around an elephant on photowalks to better capture the beauty surrounding us all. After much researching on the specs of various brands and models, rigorous budgeting and price comparisons and practically running around for entire days to various shops to hunt for the best deal (I even had to exercise a bit of my almost non existent bargaining skills), I finally got the Canon EOS 450D twin lens kit with the EF-S 18-55mm IS and EF-S 55-250mm IS lenses. Time to relax and indulge a bit more in this little hobby of mine.
celica convertible
The above black Celica is the exact same model as my red baby... except it's a convertible. Chio! I don't think the stock Celicas come in convertibles though... this must be a private modification if that's the case then. Or could it be that only SG doesn't import the convertible versions (cos I never saw or heard of one in SG my whole life; the above is located in Sydney)? How can I, the ah beng car fanatic who can smell a Skyline, Integra, Supra, Prelude, WRX, Evo from miles away, not have known the existence of the convertible version? Anyways, I is rike this can-suntan-and-enjoy-the-wind-in-my-hair-while-driving version of the Celica... so perhaps I should add this to my zhng the car list.
zhng-ing the car
As you can see in the pic here, Monkey is now officially my co-driver on the left hand seat.
Although I don't have loads of money to zhng my car... but where affordable, I'd like to pretty up my baby to make the rides more enjoyable.
A few items I've bought so far are:
- street directory (AUD18)
- air freshener (AUD3.99)
- steering wheel wrap (AUD15 - I got this for safety reasons as the existing steering does not offer much grip)
- plush floor mats (AUD45 - this is a bit on the extravagant side as there were other cheaper mats. My feet just felt great on these ones due to the thickness, I drive barefoot when it comes to manual cars.)
Other things I am now on the lookout for are:
- covers for the 2 rear JVC speakers (necessary)
- 360 degrees rotating blind spot mirrors (can do without)
- nice 16" alloy rims (ok this is a luxury)
- low profile sports tyres (luxury too)
- tint the windows (lowest on the priority list)
my new fiery red baby
She's a 1991 2-door 5-speed manual Toyota Celica coupe. Sexy eh? ;D
I had been trying my luck surfing online for cheap cars the last two weeks. My budget was AUD2,000. I only needed a very basic car to get me around, mostly to and from work and for grocery shopping. This was meant to be my first step towards improving my quality of life here in Sydney. I can't keep sliding into depression here, right?
After attempting to contact many private sellers to arrange for test drives to no avail (I do not understand why these people bother listing their vehicles for sale when they don't respond to enquiry calls and emails?), I turned to searching for dealer cars and had to raise my budget by a thousand or so.
This morning, I made my way to Blacktown for an appointment with a dealer to test drive a vintage 1989 white BMW 318i. I reckoned since it would cost me almost the same for a slightly newer model of a Japanese make with a marginally lower mileage, I might as well get a fancy car that I will never get to drive back in SG, hence the shift in attention towards vintage cars. I was also trying to contact the owner of a very well-maintained 1989 Alfa Romeo 164 that only had two enthusiast owners. I have included the pictures of these two cars here. You can search for them on carsales.com.au if you are interested.
It was by a mere stroke of luck that I stumbled upon my sexy baby while enroute to inspect the BMW. I was attracted to it at first sight (even the price fitted my budget, it was a steal!) but hesitated to go for a drive as I was nervous about it being a manual car. I haven't driven a manual car in five years. I just went "too bad" and left the place.
The BMW was a big disappointment (that was solely because of my unrealistic expectations, it's actually not too bad for its price and I greatly encourage you to go have a look at it if you're into such cars) and I found myself going back to the fiery red Celica that took my breath away. The test drive convinced me - she is such a smooth but powerful drive. I haven't felt such exhilaration in the driver's seat for a long while, and so she's my baby now. ^.^v
new toy
Santa came early for me this year. Here's my new toy in baby pink beside my old full-of-scratches hot pink one. Someone out there finally heard my prayers for a new camera after all these years.
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