iPhone Killer
State of Being : Everything You Wish For in Your Mobile
Yes, I did it again!
It's been 15 months and 5 days since I bought my last mobile N95...
I renewed my line and traded in my N95 over the weekend in exchange for the current top-of-the line multimedia enhanced smartphone Samsung Omnia! Being a firm believer and a loyal customer of Nokia, I was a little apprehensive on getting a Samsung phone as I've never used other brands of mobile before since my uni days (Revisit: Lucky N* 8).
But lured by the aesthetically beauty (ultra-slim 12.5-mm profile and a platinum-look finish) and the high performance features of the Omnia, I couldn't find any excuses NOT to purchase this phone. Moreover, Omnia has been dubbed as the iPhone killer with better features such as a 5-megapixel CMOS camera, a 16GB built-in phone memory with an expandable external memory card slot, and it even supports various media format like DivX & WMV!
In fact, the real deal-breaker for me in not waiting to get an iPhone is that the iPhone can't even be used to record videos or send MMSes!!! These features are so basic and yet they are lacking in the iPhone, simply a turn-off for moi...
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My iPod's Playin'... [07.08]
That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings
Album: We Started Nothing; Genre: Indie
Call it shrewd marketing strategy, but with a band name like "The Ting Tings", who wouldn't be intrigued to find out more about the group. An English indie-pop band formed in 2006, they finally hit the jackpot when the executives at Apple chose one of their single "Shut Up And Let Me Go" for their iPod advertisement in Apr 2008. Released shortly to the US, this song became The Ting Tings' first single to chart inside the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.
Even though "Shut Up And Let Me Go" is a hit in the US, I personally favoured another one of their single also taken from their debut album "We Started Nothing". Equally infectious and brimming with fizzy goodness, "That's Not My Name" is already a Number 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart.
Described as "no-flab electro-pop nugget" by the music critics, the song is built around a hypnotic drum beat, plenty of hand-clappings and a chanted chorus that is so reminiscence of the 1982 hit "Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil, instant and familar even after 26 years.
That's not my name, That's not my name, That's not my name, That's not my name
And judging by the repetitive lyrics, sometime it's the most simplistic of songs that manage to burrow into your subconscious and then stay there making you repeat the same lines over and over again in your brain...
Battle Of The "Venices"
State of Being : Déjà vu
Visited one of our hotels in Kunshan when I was over in Shanghai last week for the regional meeting and had the opportunity to travel to Zhouzhuang 周庄, a town in Jiangsu province, China.
Located within Kunshan county-level city, 30 km southeast of Suzhou, Zhouzhuang is a popular tourist destination. Noted for its elegant watery views, it is one of the most famous water townships in China. In fact, it is also known as the "Venice of the East". Coincidentally, I was in Venice, Italy just 3 weeks ago during my Europe trip.
Check out the similarities between the two...
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Visa Woes
State of Being : So Troublesome
Was supposed to leave for Shanghai yesterday morning but due to some delays in my Visa, I had to change my flight to Monday instead!
Thanx to the Olympics, the Chinese government has made it mandatory for all Singaporeans to apply for Visa during this period. FYI, the Chinese Embassy has also changed their Visa collection time from 3-4pm to 9-12pm and I only got to know about this when I went down to collect the Visa on Friday. In fact, they didn't even indicate the change anywhere, except for the paper covering the timing at the front entrance. *grrr*
Home Sweet Home
State of Being : Unpacking
Yes! I'm finally back from the 'gruelling' trip. I must say it's nice to be back home and not having to worry about missing the next flight or train or even ship. Travelling is really hard work especially if you have to run around the airport/station/port with a large backpack, search for your hotel and once checked-in, to try to visit all the planned attractions within 1-2 days at each cities. *yikes*
After 21 days, 5 countries and 15 cities, I've gone through the most extreme temperature changes within 1 holiday trip. From the freezing glacier caves at Mount Titlis in Obwalden, Switzerland to the volcanic craters hike at Santorini in Greece, it was truly a memorable holiday. Will definitely need some time to sort through and organise the photos and videos taken during the trip.
I reckon the only true downside of returning home is to face the tonnes of emails that are waiting for me when I return to the office tomorrow... Worst of all, I still have to do up my presentation for the regional meeting in Shanghai next week! *argh*
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