Asian Tiger

This is me new mobile phone. I was tired of carrying my Nokia E71 and it was also going bonkers on me.

Armed with some cash, I went around shopping for a replacement. All I wanted was a small and light mobile phone that will be able to call and text. It must be light enough that I don’t feel it jingling in my pocket.

I was looking at a few models until I came across the Nokia X3. It seems like it suited my requirements and it is also a touch screen model. Instead of buying on impulse, I decided to head home and do a little research.

Back home, I read a lot of reviews on this phone and to my astonishment, the reviews were very negative. There were a lot of complains about the X3-02, such as; freezing, not touch sensitive, poor battery life, does not sync well with Microsoft Outlook, auto reboot and et cetera.

Now, I sat there dumbfounded after reading the reviews. No mobile phone could be that bad that Nokia will push it to market. This would only kill its reputation and consumer confidence.

Not sure if it’s bravery or stupidity, I made up my mind to purchase this phone. Purchased this phone I did and I am pleasantly happy plus satisfied with it. In my opinion, battery life was good, syncs like a charm and ease of use was there. My only grouse: No GPS. Oh, I do miss my Garmin apps on my E71.

Bottom line: Awesome lightweight mobile phone for calls and texts.

Sigh… Only 25 countries can look forward to the international sale date for iPad2. On 25th of March 2011, the following countries will get to enjoy the latest awesome tablet by Apple; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Once again, Asian countries will have to wait. Nearest to our shore is Singapore and the expected date is in April 2011. I take it that it will be sometime before Malaysians will be able to buy from Epi Centres, Machines or Harvey Norman outlets — by then, iPad3 might have made it to the market.

Well, every cloud have a silver lining. Perhaps this is an opportunity to save some money and buy the BlackBerry PlayBook instead.

The next time you visit Resorts World Genting (passionately known as Genting Highlands), head on to the Imperial Rama Restaurant — located in Highlands Hotel.

There is this dessert dish that is to-die-for. Each time I get the opportunity to eat there, I’ll make sure that I order the Durian Tempura.

The food presentation is rather “normal” but the taste is awesome; close to heavenly. The trick here is to eat it immediately when served. The weather in Genting is humid and cold; so your dish is going to get soggy when left on the lady susan for a while.

When you take a bite, you will be overwhelmed with the ying and yang sensations. The outer tempura is hot and crispy while the durian paste inside is soft and cold. When this ying-yang mixture is in your mouth, the hot neutralised the cold while the soft texture counters the crispy-ness.

My hats-off to the chef. Well done and the price (RM$8 each) I paid for is well worth it.