Will Google Chrome replace Firefox?
Firefox 3 has all but replaced Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 7 as my main web browser on 3 desktops, 2 laptops and a netbook. The main reason? The plugin support that allows me to customize the browsing experience to be as clean and sleek as possible. With the new Google Chrome, this new beta browser makes even more tempting to try it out. Initial impressions are good with it’s promise of multi-process tab browswing built from the ground up. Google Gears is integrated immediately, which was a nice surprise when using Google Reader for the first time. We’ll have to see how it’s plugin support compares to Firefox’s established base of developers.
Did a quick test to see how the memory footprint compared across all 3 browsers, Firefox 3.01, Chrome 0.2.149.27 and IE 7.00.6000.16386. Type “about:memory” in the address bar in Chrome. Surprisingly, IE showed the least memory amount used. Always felt that IE was a bit sugglish on page loads but who knows what other background processes it’s sharing with Vista 
The UI for Chrome is definitely very appealing, clean sleek look with just a tabbed interface and none of those useless icons and toolbars to clutter the browsing experience. This looks to be a real asset on the screen estate challenged netbook since it has a very small viewable area. Hopefully, it’ll stand up well during tests. Looks like a very promising start for a beta product from Google.
A nice little usability feature which I just noticed is that when pasting an item into the address bar (which also acts as a search input) is that it intelligently determines if it’s a URL and will show “paste and go” or a search item and shows “paste and search”. Nice little touch to make life a little easier for users.
So I got a mail “Critical Red Alert 3 Beta Test Update - read this Comrade”
Opened up my gaming gmail account yesterday and found this great e-mail informing me “Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Public Beta Begins!” Contents of the e-mail outlined the beta key required to access FilePlanet’s microsite to download the installation .. spent 30 mins in the public queue and finally got the file. Kinda late so didn’t get to install till now. Shall blog on the gameplay soon!
Milestone age
This is the year that I reached my milestone age - an age not that old yet, but not young anymore either; an age that I have associated with a special significance (’cause it is a milestone?) somehow. But yet, due to lack of time, it has took me almost 2 months to pen it down.
I always thought I should celebrate it with a Bang! But due to a shallow pocket and general laziness and busy-ness, one can hardly find the time to plan a memorable or unique way of celebration. Initially I thought to organise the run-of-mill chalet and BBQ thingy. When Mic knew about it, he was less than lukewarm about the idea. He rather spend the money to celebrate my birthday at his favourite ‘holiday’ site of Sentosa.
We decided on Siloso Beach Resort’s Roof Garden Terrace suite (with spa pool) as it looks quite good. I did not expect it to be cheap but the hefty price tag is still more than what I expected. But then I convinced myself that I’m worth it, after all, it’s a really special occasion.
As we get closer to the Day, I started to tell Mic out right what I want to do at Sentosa and wondering if I’m killing my surprise again. I think I did not get a cake from Mic for the past 2 years so I specifically told him I want a cake but I think I forgot to stress that I want it at 12am. When I reached home on the night before my birthday, I was rather disappointed that he was busy playing his computer games to pay me much attention. I decided not to jump the gun and wait and see with a book in bed, however I can’t help being a bit angry as well. Self-inflicted agony as usual.
Finally 12am rolled around. He came into the room and kissed me Happy Birthday. I responded with a pout. He took one look at me and said, “Orh, angry…” then went out to watch his TV.
!!!!!! @#$%&*#@$
Never mind… 我忍
Meekly, I went to him and asked, “Dear…where’s my cake?”
“Don’t have,” he replied, eyes still glued to the TV.
“Hmph!” I stormed off into the room and went to bed, wiping away tears of frustration and disappointment. Actually knowing Mic, I knew he should have prepared something for me the next day when we go to Sentosa and I know my surprise would be sweeter without expectations but I just want my cake at midnight and eat it too (pun intended).
The next morning, I woke before Mic and it wasn’t till I brushed my teeth and returned to the bed again that I noticed a present on my bed stand! Inside was a 4-sided photoframe with a Happy Birthday message, our itinerary in Sentosa, and a picture of cute sugar cows sitting on pretty cupcakes.
Later I learned that he did not get me XX (corresponding to age) cow cupcakes as I initially thought (oooh, how sweet would that be!). The picture was just something he picked up from the internet. But I did get my cake - nice chocolate cake from Bakerzin at Vivocity, that we cut and ate beside the spa pool (”It’s boring to have the cake at home,” Mic said in his defence). But I’m happy as I got my cake after all, hee hee. After all, it’s the thought and effort that counts.
We went to Fish Reflexology, something that I specifically requested as the last time we were there was a very interesting experience. I’m someone who has a very low threshold of pain and ticklishness so I was like stifling my shrieks and withdrawing my legs when the fishes are eating away at my skin or when the reflexologist is working on my legs. Hiak Hiak.
Next, dinner is on the itinerary. Mic had made reservations at a new and nice Japanese (fine-dining) restaurant, Santaro Japanese Restaurant at Amara Sanctuary Resort Singapore. My generous hubby decided to spoil me with the most expensive set dinner on the menu. The 10 course set dinner menu was not fixed but decided by the chef, therefore we are not too sure either what we had.
1) The first course was a tuna, ham and crabsmeat salad that was refreshing to the tastebud.
2) Next was something which I don’t eat but is one of Mic’s favourite food - oyster. Luckily, the oyster, though, presented in its shell, had been cooked. I absolutely cannot take the taste of raw oyster. The oyster was lightly grilled and so well marinated such that there is no smell and it tasted really really good. I guess it is the first time that I could stomach oyster.
3) The third dish was one of our all-time favourites - sashimi! We are not too sure what fish it was but the rest of the sashimi set comprised of prawns, cuttlefish and some meat. The prawns were too slimmy for my taste but the rest of the ensemble was great. The fish was firm yet melts in the mouth like butter as described by Mic. The meat item was quite different to me as I have not really tried raw meat before but upon biting into it, there was no raw taste. We wish there were more though as we absolutely love sashimi. Funny how I love sashimi so much now, it was only an acquired taste since 2003. After having finer sashimi, we know that we would never be truely satisfied by normal sashimi again.
4) Next was clear tuna broth served in this cute little cup that looks like a tealight holder. Hahaha. Basically the serving is so small that you could finish it in one mouthful. As it was fine dining, so we sipped it slowly to appreciate its (quite nice) taste. The soup texture was really very clear, no oil whatsoever.
5) The next dish marks the beginning of the ‘main course’. It was quite big! Grilled rock fish lightly grilled and seasoned with salt, served with radish. I think Mic was happy to see the fish as he loves fish.
6) This was both our favourite dish of the evening - Grilled goose liver with steamed turnips. Ooooh lala! Goose liver! And it is not bite-sized but looks like a small pork fillet. The outer layer is grilled to perfection yet the flesh is so tender and so juicy. I still miss it even now.
7) Such a big serving of chawamushi! And there is a big piece of shark’s fin inside. What’s not to like?
I’m usually not a great lover of tempura, but even I can tell that this tempura is so cripsy on the outside yet still soft and moist on the inside. Delicious.
9) Sushi is one other favourite of mine in Japanese cuisine. The variety of sushi served were traditional, professional (ie big piece of sashimi and little rice) and looks good. The fresh scallop was especially yummy.
10) Dessert was quite a non-event as Japanese cuisine is not big on desserts. Expecting green tea ice cream with red beans, it was quite surprising that we were served black sesame ice cream instead. The texture and taste of the ice-cream was quite good.
Thank you, dear, for the wonderful and memorable dinner.
We did not expect to spend such a long time at dinner and thus missed the first Song of The Seas show. Luckily, we were able to trade in our tickets for the second show. I was pretty disappointed with it though. It was too similar to the old musical fountain (free entry) and we still have to pay $6 for each ticket for this show!
After the half an hour show, we went back to the hotel and enjoy the spa pool on our private deck. Time to cut cake (see above)!
After the eventful day, the next morning was spent lazing around in bed after breakfast. Then all too soon, it was time to go home.
The service at Siloso Beach Resort could be better and I thought the reception seems a little too small and short-staffed to have a queue forming at check-in time. The room was also a bit small and the spa pool was without lights, which would have made night time dips more romantic. But the most important thing is i get to spend my birthday in a memorable way with my dearest.
Once again, Thanks, Darling for the lovely weekend, which we would remember for a long time to come.
Replacing a Dell 2405FPW 24″ with a Samsung LA46N81B 46″
Our home media centre recently had a huge overhaul in the form of a Core 2 Duo processor and 320GB capacity with Vista Ultimate. The existing monitor, a Dell 2405FPW, was starting to feel its size after moving from my study to the living room and we decided to finally take the plunge and get a proper new TV from Everjoint.
Dell 2405FPW - 24″
Useful resources
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=896887
3 years anniversary @ Conrad Centennial Singapore and a dose of Hairspray
Its been a pretty hectic work for Yh and myself as assignments piled up. By a stroke of luck, Yh won a night’s stay at Conrad at her recent annual dinner. It seemed like a good idea to take the opportunity to extend the stay and so we booked ourselves another night and checked in this afternoon.
Our original room on the 13th floor didn’t have the king sized bed we requested and was on the smoking level! Luckily, after a great buffet dinner at Honjin Japanese Restaurant (more details later in Where2Makan?), Yh called room service and found that a room was now available on the 7th floor. We quickly packed up and moved down. Glad the hotel made the effort to help shift us and we’re glad we decided to extend our stay.
Shortly after, we headed to GV Marina Square to catch Hairspray. I didn’t realise but I had read about John Travolta’s transformation in the movie and that it had enjoyed pretty good reviews in the press. Quite liked the muscial styled movie based on a 1988 screenplay and stage play. The music and dancing was very well coordinated. Its pretty interesting that it chose to potray a time in US’s history about the racial divide. I guess the unversal theme of accepting and integrating people from different cultures is something we can still identify with.
Back to hotel and it 2.45am! Time to hit the sack and looking forward to our “tour” of Singapore on this special weekend getaway in town.
Prepaying your mortgage vs. investing
Interestingly, I wrote about this something back in June as I was going into On9 Systems full time.. Had a discussion over dinner at Dempsey Hill with some friends and the question came up again as it seemed that by making extra payments, the loan term would get shortened. Is there a good way to determine this? There is just such a calculator that can help in the link below. Guess everyone had different financial situations and resources but think we’re still got to stick to the 30 year loan for now. Guess I’ll review on an annual basis just to see where we are.
Ratatouille and 881
I HATE RATS!
So much that I still cringed when I watched the latest offering from Pixar - Ratatouille. Remy, the rodent star talented in gourmet cooking, is no Micky Mouse.
Don’t get me wrong, Mic and I enjoyed the movie. By that, I mean the rats in the movie look so much like the real McCoys (so not like Mickey Mouse) that I actually cringed in the cinema during the scenes when the whole colony was running / working about. But this also means that the animation was very real, well, it is Pixar after all.
The movie received favourable ratings (like 4 out of 5 at least) in the papers but personally I find it more of a 3.5 star. I still prefer The Incredibles. This one never gave me a high like The Incredibles did.
Last Friday when we were deciding on a movie to catch, I was considering Ratatouille, Hairspray or 881. To my amazement, I saw that 881 has a better selling than the other 2. I was puzzling over how our homegrown movie, which has been showing for more than 2 weeks already, could have beaten blockbusters like the other 2 (Hairspray had received rave ratings too).
Later that weekend, I discovered yet again the power of word-of-mouth and the media. With the support of SM and lots of media exposure for the local flick, people’s attention and curosity are drawn. It also helps that this is the month of getais. I guess that and the appreciation of getais were what pulled my in-laws, who had not gone to the cinema in years, to watch it. Many want to see if it is really that good, and if the Hokkien tunes are really so cool.
I have not watched 881 yet so I cannot comment if it is any good, but no matter what, a local success is always something to celebrate about.
Remember Flash Gordon?
I recently caught 2 episodes of the new SCI-FI series “Flash Gordon”.. or rather I should say a remake of the 1930’s Flash Gordon comic series. Was trying to place where I had heard the reference from when I realized it was from Star Trek Voyager’s Tom Paris’s fictional character “Captain Proton”.
The scenes and storyline in the new series seem a little campy but somehow I was hooked watching the 2 episodes and wondering what will happen next as Flash searches for ways to find his father on Planet Mongo and battles with Ming. Not sure if its the lack of good sci-fi on TV but I guess this will do till Battlestar Galactica gets back on the tube.
Pixar’s Ratatouille
Pretty interesting how a rat can get such attention in Pixar’s latest offering. Yh absolutely hates rats but has considered watching this movie since its an animation. Should be pretty interesting to watch once it shows. Enjoy the videos!