Archive for » 2008 «

November

As the great Big Kev puts it, “I’m EXCITED!!”

Tomorrow is a very happy day for me! Last exam for the rest of my life AND my new companion arrives!! =D If I don’t post for a while, you know it’s because I’m too busy fiddling with my new toy (digital camera) =P

Gosh I love transparency in business! Back in the day, we used to wait a whole week twiddling our thumbs wondering if our parcel would arrive or not, and look at it now!

Date	Time	Location Service Area	Checkpoint Details

November 18, 2008	18:01	Hong Kong – Hong Kong	Shipment picked up
November 18, 2008	20:18	Hong Kong – Hong Kong	Departed from DHL facility in Hong Kong – Hong Kong
November 18, 2008	21:01	Hong Kong – Hub – Hong Kong	Arrived at DHL facility in Hong Kong – Hub – Hong Kong
November 19, 2008	02:59	Hong Kong – Hub – Hong Kong	Departed from DHL facility in Hong Kong – Hub – Hong Kong
November 19, 2008	07:26	Singapore – Singapore	Arrived at DHL facility in Singapore – Singapore
November 19, 2008	19:46	Singapore – Singapore	Departed from DHL facility in Singapore – Singapore

Category: Observations Tags: big kev, business, dhl, transparency 2 Comments

Star Trek XI Trailer!

November

Selina Lai

It’s been a long time since I’ve watched any Star Trek show or movie, and now they have another movie coming out?? YAY!!

This is the only Star Trek XI <full> Trailer I could find so watch this quick, I’m not sure if they’ll take it off YouTube… [Edit: video updated 7/3/09]

And did you guys notice something?

Syler from Heroes is Spock (or his evil twin)! =D

Anyways, I’m looking forward to this (it’s about time I got my sci-fi fix), plus the trailer doesn’t look completely dull… Although, I know the trailer usually shows the most exciting/interesting scenes from the movie. So there is a potential that the movie is a complete flop since the trailer only seemed to have a little bit of action, drama, romance… I would have liked a bit of humour too, but it didn’t seem to have any. I guess it might not be nearly as funny as the Transformers Movie, but only time will tell.

Watching the Star Trek trailer reminded me that I haven’t been downloading/watching BattleStar Galactica for a long long time!! I’m soooo behind now, but I think I’ll try and get some episodes in during Christmas and New Year break =P

Anyone have episodes they can send/lend me??

Category: Drama & Movies, Reviews Tags: movie, sci fi, star trek, video One Comment

Little BIG Planet

November

Selina Lai

After I saw an image of SackBoy from Little BIG Planet from Ed Dale’s twitter, I made my way to the Little BIG Planet website. There’s just something irresistible about SackBoy… I’m fairly sure it has something to do with the body proportions.

You know they type:

BIG eyes
Even BIGGER head
No nose
Stumpy little arms and legs

hrmm… now that I typed it out, it sure sounds a lot like a human baby!

So anyhow, I’m not much of a gamer (and I don’t even own a ps3), but I did create my own Little BIG Planet SackBoy which I dubbed SunnySack =D

[edit: something wrong with the flash, this image will have to do]

Category: Observations Tags: games, little big planet, ps3, sackboy Leave a Comment

zonked out from cramming stuff…

November

Selina Lai

zonked out from cramming stuff in my brain

Category: Observations Leave a Comment

SWF Video Converter

November

Selina Lai

I never knew how hard it was to convert a flash (.swf) video until I wanted to do it myself. In the process of finding the ideal .swf video converter, I also realised that .flv and .swf are very different even though both are “Flash”! Did you know that FLV files are Video files and are completely different from SWF files which are Animation files?? Well now you do =)

Below is a table of the various video converters I’ve tried out.

VIDEO CONVERTER	PROS	CONS
WinAVI	- Easy to use - Converts multiple formats including flash (.swf) files!	- Can’t define flash animation dimension, it automatically cuts margins. - Frequently crashes and has bad audio-video sync
WinFF	- Converts multiple formats including flash files - Fast, simple design	- Can’t convert video, only seemed to do audio?!
AVS Video Converter	- Simple to use, converts multiple formats including flash files - Also a video editor, great for replacing Windows Movie Maker	- Does not convert from flash even though it converts to flash
Xilisoft Ultimate	- Fast and efficient - Converts multiple formats including flash files	- Only the audio is converted
SoThink SWF to Video Converter	IT ACTUALLY WORKS!	- Only works for SWF files…

I think that Xilisoft and AVS Video Converter would actually be pretty cool to use if I wasn’t looking for a SWF converter, they sure look a lot cooler to play around with compared to SoThink. There’s a lot more functionality with the other programs compared with SoThink, perhaps to the point that it may be a bit unnecessary.

So if you’re looking for a video converter, especially one that converts .swf files, I hope this helps you out and cuts down a bit of your researching =)

Category: Reviews Tags: avs, Reviews, software, sothink, video converter, winavi, winff, xilisoft 2 Comments

Cream Restaurant

November

Selina Lai

Cream is a classy little restaurant located in East Perth, which was highly recommended by a friend of a friend. I was curious, but not convinced because both my siblings hadn’t heard of it and they eat out at these types of restaurants all the time. The restaurant itself is not too difficult to find, especially with the help of GoogleMaps =)
The easiest way is to just GoogleMap search:

Cream Restaurant
Suite 2
11 Regal Pl
East Perth 6004 WA

The restaurant itself was very nicely done up, the only complaint I might have is that it was a bit too dark for my liking. If the food had been bad, I might have suspected they didn’t want their patrons finding strange things in our meals hAHa! ^_- As a group, below is a list of the dishes we ordered at Cream

ENTREE	PRICE
Twice Baked Lemon & Goat’s Cheese Soufflé Fresh Grilled Local Scallops	24.5
Warm Fillet of Cream’s Home Smoked Tasmanian Salmon Steamed Spinach Tossed with Horseradish Crème Fraîche, Salmon Caviar	25.5
Handmade Potato & Ricotta Gnocchi With Fresh Tomato, Basil & White Castello Sugo, Reggiano Parmesan	22.5
MAINS
Crispy Roasted Pork Belly Caramelised Apple, Leek & Goat’s Feta Strudel	36.5
Red Wine Slow Braise of Baby Beef Green Pea Puree, Horseradish Potato Crush, Crispy Onion Rings	35.5
Slow Roasted Breast of Free Range Chicken Fluffy Organic Roast Vegetable Couscous, & Wild Fig Jus	35.5
DESSERT
Individual French Chocolate Baci Cake Frangelico Vanilla Bean Ice Cream	16.5
Fresh Passionfruit Cremé Brulee Tart Belgian White Chocolate Sorbet	16.5

All in all it was a good experience, and the bill totaled to a bit over $50 per person. Pretty good considering the range and quality of food we had. I’m no critic, but I do have my personal preferences, and I think that the food at Cream Restaurant was pretty good. Things to note:

The pork belly, which I ordered, had a really crisp and overly sticky skin
I would totally go back just for the gnocchi =P
The Baci Cake tasted a lot like the Beard Papa ‘Fondant au Chocolate’ I had in Beijing. It cost was a whole lot more though!
Baby beef main seemed very mushy. Mushy beef sitting on a pile of mash potatoes and mashed peas. It was very filling, but felt like it was more appropriate for people who don’t have teeth… But you’ve got to love the onion rings!
Loved the fresh scallops (they were pretty big!) but wouldn’t have paid that much for it (Freo would probably be better), I would rather have had another salmon or gnocchi dish…
The walls are furry…
Staff was friendly and efficient, we only had a bit of difficulty getting their attention because we were hidden in the back darkest corner
The wait between Entree, Mains and Dessert were okay, though it could be better. We were just a little miffed that a couple of the other tables who ordered after us were served before us.