I have a Youtube Channel!!!

This is a long overdue post, but nonetheless, read on:

I may be a nobody but it doesn't mean I do not have the right to own a Youtube channel.  It's free, isn't it?!

Well, I would not have bothered to create one had it not that my 1 terabyte portable drive finally gave up on me!  Modesty aside, year 2017 gave me so much out-of-country travel opportunities (the most ever since! 9 countries and 24 cities!) to document for.  And on those travels, I opted to take more videos over still photographs.  My phone's and camera's respective memory cards complained, hence, I was forced to transfer the data to my portable drive.  But then, my portable drive was already loaded with e-copy of movies and tv series (which, by the way, remained unwatched, to date).  So, I thought of the Youtube videos.. why not?!

As much as I would have wanted my videos to be at least presentable to the prying eyes of the viewers, I could not do so.  You see, my uploaded videos are RAW, meaning, enhancements were limited only to adding background music and some subtitles.  But even that, I could barely compel myself to do so due to time and effort constraints.  Hence, I should prepare myself for the vulnerability of my channel to the harsh words of the self-proclaimed-but-not-practicing perfectionists a.k.a bashers.  But no, I'm too busy to spend time preparing on and dealing with nonsense issues.

In other words, I don't give a damn!  Oops! Happy new year! ;)

Starry-eyed over Starmobile phone..

Photo Credit

Now that my three alternative phones are already resting in peace, I have decided to go ahead with my plan of buying another, but better one.  I could have tried to revive my old phones, e.g., replacement of battery and/or charger but then, for now (read: temporarily), I just seem to grow tired of saving a few hundred/thousands bucks at the expense of my inconvenience.

In the spirit of Christmas (read: another excuse), I deserve a little bit of splurging, don't I?  Well, I'm still trying to control my spending and I hope, this time, I will succeed.  I've been goggling for the best tv phone and just recently, I came across with Starmobile's Up Max, which specs are as follows:

Screen Size: 5-inch IPS Multi touch

Scratch Resistant DragonTrail Glass

Sim: Dual SIM (Regular + Micro)

WiFi: Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Hotspot

Internal Memory: 16GB Internal Storage

RAM: 1GB RAM

Card Slot: Expandable Up to 64GB via MicroSD

Camera: 13.0 Megapixel Autofocus Main Camera with Sony IMX 135 Sensor and LED Flash

Front Camera: 5.0 Megapixel Autofocus Front Camera

OS: Android 5 Lollipop OS

Processor: 1.3GHz Quad Core ARM Cortex-A7

GPU: Mali-400 MP2 GPU

Chipset: MediaTek MT6582 Chipset

ISDB-T Digital TV Tuner

Radio: FM Radio

Battery: 5000mAh Li-Po Battery

I like that the phone has a digital tv tuner, fm radio, and a 5000mAh battery, which is almost twice the life of my primary phone's battery.  And per their website, it costs P6,490 only, which exceeded my targeted expense of P5,000 by P1,490.  Nonetheless, the price is still cheap compared to the better but pricier Knight Spectra's P14,990.  The downside, however, of Up Max is that its connectivity is only 2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 / 3G UMTS/SCDMA: 850/1200 / HSPA+ compared to Spectra's 2G / 3G / HSPA+ / Download upto 21.1Mbps / 4G LTE.  In other words, there might be connectivity issues that is expected to be dealt with concerning the use of Up Max.

Urggh!  I am so into internet!!!

But I am not willing to shell off P14,990 just for that.  No!!! I must remind myself that I am buying an alternative phone, and that means, going for the second best.. :(

Eyeing for another mobile phone...

Photo Credit

It was only about more than two years ago when I blogged about my plan to buy a new mobile phone.  And now, I'm planning again. :(

Don't get me wrong.  My smartphone is still in excellent condition.  It is just that, the phone I was using while I was in HongKong (especially!) and is using still is about to bid adieu.  And I'm having a separation anxiety already, for sentimental reasons.. :(

Nevertheless, I would want my next mobile phone to have a digital tv feature (fyi, it's more than a year since I've been TV-less).  And because I'm almost always mobile, I would want the inexpensive type, probably P5,000 or less.  But P10,000?  Hmm, I'm thinking..  Is it practical?  I'm not even sure if I'm going to maximize my use of the phone (fyi again, I have been using my old phone mainly as my alarm clock).  And I'm not also sure if TV signal would still be good when I'm at my condo unit, which is about several floors up from the ground.

Please help me decide... :(

Almost...

I dreamed this morning that Juan Manuel Marquez won... Don't get me wrong but I wasn't that obsessed with the boxing match, mind you.  It's just that, I blogged about them right before I hit the bed at 5 o'clock in the morning.  That explains..

Anyways, in my dream, he accordingly stepped down from the ring.. on a stretcher, lying down.  He didn't look terribly injured but just bad enough to declare his opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez, the winner by the time they reached the 10th round.

As of this writing, I still haven't seen the replay, thanks to my non-functional tv.  Maybe I'll just check it online later.  But according to my mother (good for her, she saw the fight on tv), Marquez could have won had it not for the majority decision of the judges in favor of Pacman.

Now, why am I making a fuss about this whole thing?  It is because I dreamed about it.  Silly as it may sound, but I do believe that my dreams would come true.  And this one, okay this one, sort of deviated and gone out of way.  But it almost happened, don't you think?

Speaking of TV...

Google has just announced that Google TV will be available soon!  TV and web in one single device?  It must be a remarkable fusion of two powerful stuffs that influences our day-to-day living.  And... this is really exciting!

From the Google Blog:

If there’s one entertainment device that people know and love, it’s the television. In fact, 4 billion people across the world watch TV and the average American spends five hours per day in front of one*. Recently, however, an increasing amount of our entertainment experience is coming from our phones and computers. One reason is that these devices have something that the TV lacks: the web. With the web, finding and accessing interesting content is fast and often as easy as a search. But the web still lacks many of the great features and the high-quality viewing experience that the TV offers.

Read more

My TV Is Already 10 Years Old!

I just realized this:  the 14-inch TV I have been using is already 10 years old!  And for sentimental reasons, I decided to keep my TV to this day and not give it away (although my four-year old niece already claimed it as hers).

Why sentimental?  It was the first ever appliance that I bought.  Ten years ago, I remember my officemate accompanied me to the local appliance store in Butuan City.  Being a conservative as she is, she suggested that I choose a 14-inch TV as, according to her, a 21-inch TV would be too big for me (although my rented room at that time was spacious enough to accommodate appliances).  To cut the story short, I heeded her motherly advice.

Now, I am thinking of buying a new TV.  Since LED TVs still cost much at present, I would like to settle for a cheaper one.  A LCD TV is a very wise alternative.  This time, I am eyeing for that 42-inch with 720p HD resolution, and more importantly, it's a smart energy-saving device.  How's that?

I guess I will be returning my old TV back to my niece soon.  I'm sure, that spoiled, but very charming, brat will be much delighted! :)

Lovers in Heritage.. last night..

Just before I left the office last night, I was tempted to open the TV and took a peek on what's being shown at the local version of Lovers in Paris. There I saw KC looking for Piolo at the lobby of Heritage Hotel. It was flashed for only a few seconds but that scene was actually shot for a number of times, which made me realized that being an actress takes a lot of patience. Thank God I am not one. Hehehe

Back to my long-awaited episode, I was disappointed when one of my fave songs, "I Love You All The Way", was not being played at all. Or must it be that I just didn't get to that part as I already left the office in haste? Well, just to console myself, I would rather give it the benefit of the doubt. :)

UKG in Heritage

Just this morning, I saw Winnie Cordero on TV featuring the Christmas theme of Heritage Hotel at Umagang Kay Ganda (UKG) morning show. I did not give much thought on what has been displayed at the lobby, where I usually pass by on my way to office, not until now. The hotel showcased a London Castle, wherein anyone who would take a peek of what's inside, would see lots of yummy goodies that nobody could resist.

If I remember it right, the hotel's theme last year was about polar express that is exactly patterned after the movie with the same title. it was just unfortunate that i was not able to take a picture of myself with that background, for souvenir purposes. hehehe

When I arrived at the lobby right before nine o'clock this morning, Winnie was already in the Riviera (still inside the hotel) and was featuring the sumptuous dishes served for breakfast. I hope they also mentioned that the hotel's cakes are sooo sinfully delicious, especially that yummy chocolate cake that I recently tried. And who would not forget their own concoction of lemon iced tea that anyone in the office would swear that its sweet taste is absolutely heaven?!

I'm hungry! :)

plane crash miracle

Surviving from a plane crash is unbelievably a miracle. Just like what had happened recently with a US Airways Airbus which landed safely at the Hudson River, New York. I got that news in the internet first but I did not give much attention to it as I was thinking, it was just too good to be true. The primary cause of the engine trouble is allegedly due to - collision with a flock of birds..

But just this morning, when I saw some of the passengers of that plane were interviewed on TV, I began to realize that the miracle is indeed real. To think that the plane could have hit any of the buildings of Manhattan or the bridge and what else.. It could have been worse!

Thank you God... :)