Nitrogen Ice Cream at Zenses
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 27th, 2009
So so geeky! Thus, this restaurant deserves a post. 
There’s also a Plurk thread discussing reactions.
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So Anton Diaz asked me out on a date. Don’t worry — it wasn’t a HOT date. It was actually pretty cold. More than 100 degrees below zero cold.
We were both a little early for a meeting so after editing my last slide, Anton huddled me down to the next door restaurant – Zenses Neo Shanghai Cuisine. It really didn’t strike my eye at first as a place that had great ice cream and drinks. But Anton is pretty good at sniffing these places out, so I tagged along for some nitrogen powered ice cream.
Chef OJ is an applied physics major who really dresses for the occasion. I just had to take photos and write this down for everyone else to try. The place has been open since October 2008. If you want to know the details of our Osmanthus Ice Cream (P480.00 for two orders) and the Zenses Sweater (P240.00) which Anton ordered, check out his detailed review.
As for me, I just wanted to shoot! Check these out:
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Believe it or not: BEER Ice Cream from Elfav (!!!)
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 26th, 2009
At 3% alcohol, the P60.00 per scoop ice cream is the only one of its kind that comes with a warning label: 18 years and above only.
I wrote about Elfav a couple of days ago, being happy that we finally have a decent malt shop in the south. Elfav is short for El Favorito, that brand of ice cream that Filipinos may be familiar with – especially to suppliers. Have you ever tried the ice cream sandwiches from Brother’s Burger? Well, the ice cream between the cookies is El Favorito. So today, we got to indulge in a few scoops of ice cream, P99.00 T Bone steak and eggplant lasagna.
So how does it taste, Jayvee?? Well … ummm … It tastes like lager beer. 3% alcohol. The concept of ice cream with alcohol isn’t alien as we have the liquor based flavors like Bailey’s for instance. But beer? Wow.
Definitely not something I’d order on a regular basis – but yeah, it does taste good. Imagine a bottle of beer chilled with the Beer Below Zero technology – and freeze that moment (pun intended!). That’s exactly what the ice cream tastes like.
So I had to ask – yes they can manufacture a batch of this for your private parties. You need to tell them a week in advance.
Every mobile warrior’s dream: 3M Micro Professional Projector at P24,000
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 21st, 2009
EDIT: There is a discussion on my PLURK page where Fritz discusses the LED quality and lifespan. Check it out!
Though it looks like a cellphone, it certainly isn’t one. The 3M Micro Professional Projector (MPro 110) is by far the smallest handheld LED projector I’ve ever encountered, even smaller than Toshiba’s FF1 Ultralight, which I reviewed several months ago. The main difference is that the MPro 110 literally fits in your pocket, and has the same dimensions and weight as a typical mobile phone.
Pictured above is the MPro side by side a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic (my reviews here and here) and a Samsung Pixon M8800. As you can see … well, yeah it could very well be mistaken for a cellphone!
Ultra Small and Ultra Simple!
There are three things to note about the MPro 110′s design. First, it comes with only two hardware buttons: a very simple on / off switch and a fine focus wheel located near the top of the unit. Second, the MPro 110 has two input slots – one for RCA and the other for VGA. Lastly, the bottom of the unit comes with the standard hole for attaching a tripod. Sadly, the unit doesn’t come shipped with one (but that’s OK – mini tripods are el cheapo today – Vivitar sells ‘em for P99.00 in MegaMall).
Out of the box is a simple package – the projector comes with a RCA and VGA cable and charger (2 hours to full charge).
Performance
I can blabber on about the MPro the whole day, but nothing beats an actual demonstration. Here we are at Sugi in Greenbelt 2 for a demo with the guys from 3M showing off how we can attach the unit to an iPod nano. Although it’s not shown here, I was also able to attach it to my Mac without any problem as well as project images from the TV out of a digital camera.
While the product was being demo’ed, I couldn’t help but think of all the times I WISH I had a projector with me for presentations, but didn’t. My lifestyle takes me away from the desk almost all the time, giving presentations here and there, and sometimes, faulty equipment (incompatible digital projectors) can usually ruin the momentum of any presentation! At least I now have a great backup!
The MPro can project between a screen between 5 inches to 50 inches. There is no zoom adjustment – you need to use your legs. You also can’t adjust the brightness but as seen from the demo, the image projected is decent. Another good thing is that the lithium ion battery, though it lasts for about 60 minutes on a full charge, is removable and swappable!
I mean, just imagine stepping into a Starbucks for your client meeting and not needing to have everyone huddle in to see your presentation. Now you won’t just have to save the couch seats, you’ll need to save seats near the wall! Of course this goes without saying that everyone else in Starbucks will see your company’s 2009 budget. But that’s besides the point!!!!
The 3M MPro 110 Micro Professional Projector will be available this first quarter of 2009 in your favorite Abenson’s and other retail branches where I assume you can find other 3M products like Scotch Brite, Post It, and Nexcare. 
Retail price? More or less the same as a cellphone between P22,000.00 to P24,000.00. I’ll be posting more “creative executions” with the projector. A portable screen you can flash anywhere attached to an imaging device leaves you with many interesting options (I can watch my Dr. Who and How I Met Your Mother projected from my laptop!) 
Ah, The Good Times.
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 19th, 2009
When you stare down at the precipice of uncertainty, it sometimes means that you’re looking from the wrong direction. And it is the same with predictions and musings of every writer that “this year will be this..” or “this year won’t be more of that from last year…” But I’ve noticed though — and thank the holidays — that the new year is usually a gift providing incentive to going back to your roots. With friends coming home (and yes I still have relatives coming home till mid Feb for family nuptials), it is becoming more and more apparent how I see myself in the light of friends: the formative years, family, and going back to this quasi time warp makes me see decisions that I’ve made in light of where I’ve come from.
“If you are lost, always remember your roots.” Sasuke once told Naruto.
Ah the Good Times. I write this in perspective to something Anton Diaz blogged about a couple of days ago when I met him, Regnard Raquedan and Prof. Lim from AIM. It was a comfortable meeting, with much allusion to the fact that a lot of my roots were painted among the walls of the Asian Institute of Management (where both my parents met – my dad was a student, mom was the professor’s secretary — hee!).
Anton writes:
This was a significant day for me. I met with Professor Ricky Lim of AIM, Regnard Raquedan of AIM blogger fame and Jayvee Fernandez of abuggedlife. We shared a common vision of transforming the Asian Institute of Management (AIM MBA School) into being the foremost recognized educational institution for Internet Marketing and Social Marketing in South East Asia.
I took in a teaching position last year at AIM (yes, dad was proud – he taught case study there as well). The goal was to set up a series of electives for social media marketing – AIM being the premier in case studies and having a rich history in MBA’s – and paired together with several mavens from the local new media scene. I was point of contact. We brought in Anton. Regnard was, by default the famous “AIM blogger.” There are a ton more. I love meeting brilliant people who want nothing less than changing this country for the better. It’s my passion. It’s what makes me completely happy.
And we really do plan to grow this into something big: I’m surprised I can even write about it.
Ah, The Good Times. And it, I assure you, always comes from roots.
Windows 7 demo over Starbucks
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 14th, 2009
Yeah. Even if I knew, from the back of my mind that Windows 7 will NOT install under CrossOver (CrossOver installs apps, not OS’s!), it was still worth a try.
I guess I must do this the hard way.
This afternoon, a rediscovered friend by the name of Johnny Benitez gave me a short run through of Windows 7′s beta release. Johnny works for Microsoft (argh! I envy his super cool title there!) and he gave me a short demo using his kick ass tablet PC. No screen shots here, but oh well here goes:
First. In the same way that Mac OS X can quick view into documents by pressing the spacebar, Windows 7 has its own little innovation by being able to “peep” within minimized windows on the taskbar. For instance, if you have 5 open tabs on Internet Explorer 8 (!!!) and they are all minimized, you can peek into the contents of each by mousing over each individual tab on the sidebar. Way cool. As a Mac user, I’m glad they didn’t rip off what OS X does for previewing documents. The peek function is definitely useful.
Second. Windows can lock on to certain parts of the desktop. Drag a window onto the left and it resizes to occupy 50% of the left of the screen. Same goes for right. This allows you to work on 2 windows with an easy resize. Dragging the window to the top of the screen maximizes a window. Dragging and “shaking” the window to and fro minimizes all other windows except the one being dragged.
Third. Windows 7 is noticeably faster than Vista. I guess you can say that Windows Vista = Windows 7 Beta. We were all fooled! HEHEHE. TEEHEEHEE. HOHOHOHO!
There are many other features inherent to Windows 7. Apart from the ones I just wrote about, Internet Explorer 8 is bundled with the web developer tool built in, and there are new power saving features (dim screen instead of sleep) that comes in the system settings.
So are you in the beta program yet? In the meantime, here’s a cool link to 150 of the best FREEWARE applications for Windows XP, Vista and Microsoft Office.
P.S. Thanks Johnny for the demo! I’m going to install this baby onto a sexy computer and see what happens.
Gazelle Canlas with Boy Dilim Speed Talking
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 13th, 2009
Happy Tuesday everyone! This is another speed talking video series. Thanks to Abby for sending the link in the comments section!
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic as a touch screen device
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 12th, 2009
Hi folks. You probably read my first hands on with the Nokia 5800 last year. My first impressions still are basically the same, now that I finally have the unit with me and I’d like to supplemement that review with this post. I’ve been pondering how to go about reviewing this phone and opted out from a specs perspective, and will talk about the experience of using a touch screen Nokia device. Thus this review is oriented for Nokia users who are wondering how well the touch screen technology has been implemented on the 5800.
Before I continue, note that this is not Nokia’s first take on the touch screen. They had two devices in the past that did this, and their “N” web browser tablets also do the same. But this is the first time Nokia has put out so much marketing for an XpressMusic phone that seems to be more like an Nseries device because of the way it’s implemented.
The photo above shows you how to get around to the different “hot areas” of the phone’s main menu. Because of the touch screen, you can find other ways to access the clock, alarm, connectivity, and profiles without creating shortcuts. With the XpressMusic menu button on top, you also don’t need to use the custom shortcut buttons for the multimedia functions. Thus, I use the 4 shortcut keys for putting in other things such as messaging, calculator and the camera.
Size Comparisons
Below are comparisons with the Nokia E71, the Apple iPod Touch (Generation II), and the HTC TyTn II. The 5800 is handy and light to the hand, similar to the Nokia N82.
Home Screen
You can customize the phone’s home screen to use the traditional S60 menu of calendars and updates or you can use the “RSS friend” tracker that updates you with the information of 4 of your chosen friends. I personally don’t find the latter function to be as useful (it does sound cool but I prefer to have my dates and to do’s on the menu).
Nokia 5800 Virtual Keypad
How well can you text with it?
It’s been four days and I don’t use the QWERTY or mini QWERTY mode of input. I stick to the good ‘ol fashioned numerical keypad that works almost as well as real keys. There have been mixed feedback on how sensitive the keys are compared to real hardware buttons but I sincerely think that you can get used to it.
A small reservation I have is the method for finding names, as it can get rather confusing when you have the entire A-Z displayed, and as you type in a name, some letters go odd man out on you to see what’s left. It can be confusing at first but come to think of it, it’s the most efficient way save for offering multitouch on the keypad.
Browsing through names using the scroll bar can be a chore. I’m glad that the keypad senses your entire thumb even if you’re not directly touching the scroll node. To scroll up and down, it’s most comfy to put your thumb above or below the node and let the phone scroll itself up and down the contacts list.
iSync Compatibility with OS X
If you are a Mac user, as of late there is still no sync tool for iSync. But guess what? I was able to find a workaround to getting a flawless sync to work with Apple’s iSync. You can download the plugin from that link. Keep checking the official iSync plugin page for an official driver.
Things that need to be improved:
There seems to be something up with the signal. The screen flickers on and off at times when I’m on a call and I tend to lose the person I’m talking to on the other line. It doesn’t happen often but it needs to be addressed.
Battery life is another issue. It’s not as bad as when the first N95 came out. You will get a day of full charge on this thing if you use the multimedia and WiFi sparingly but you may need to carry around a spare charger for a really long day.
So, I know a lot of guys lined up the for the huge pre-sell discount. How goes your Nokia 5800 experience so far? Leave a comment and let’s figure things out!
Elfav serves Yakult Ice Cream
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 8th, 2009
Addition: Just found out from the owner that “Elfav” is the flagship store of the El Favorito brand of local ice cream. Apart from Yakult, they also have Wasabi, Turrones, Fruit Cake (!!!) flavored ice cream.
One of the reasons why I’m not a food blogger in the professional sense is because I retreat to myself in restaurants. I’m too timid to ask if I can take photos, peeping at the store manager or owner whilst I open my camera bag with a muffled zzzzip.
So whenever I do fancy talking about food, it’s really just because I find what’s offered rather compelling, it’s a meme by itself. That happened with the Baconator and now it’s happening with Elfav’s Yakult Ice Cream — well it’s more of a sherbet that ice cream, but what the hell.
The idea of a Yakult flavored ice cream is perhaps more enthralling than the photo above. The thought of your ice cream with a lot of swimming Lactobacilli (together kids … the Lactobacilli Shirota Strain!!!) may sound weird, but isn’t that what yogurt is as well?
Elfav’s store took this long to open. The sign’s been up since October of last year and now that they’re finally open, I’m glad to have a decent ice cream parlor cum diner two minutes away from home. Elfav makes their own iced cream, so although they have traditional and eccentric flavors (Coffee, Cheese, Ube, Bailey’s), you’ve never tasted their concoctions before in any other ice cream parlor. The trip’s worth it.
For P99.00 I went all out and had lunch. That’s what I got above – a really delish deboned T Bone steak and a serving of ice cream in a shot glass (note that a regular order of ice cream comes in a bigger bowl – the one pictured in the first photo is the “free” version).
Scoops vary from P40.00 to P60.00 depending on the flavor. A proprietary blend of iced tea is also available for P25.00.
And apparently, Elfav wants to keep customers in so the place is littered with board games such as Chess, Scrabble and Dominos. So if you’re from the south, you know where it is – the top floor of Pergola Mall right above Kopi Roti. They close at 9 PM.
Pardon the weird angles of the store shots. I told you, I’m shy to ask!
Gazelle Canlas and Abby Asistio do Speed Talking
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 7th, 2009
So the secret is out: It is apparent that nagging moms do need to graduate from some sort of training to express themselves, and this medium is called “Improvised Speed Talking.”
The geek in me shall try running the video side by side a voice to text translation app.
But I’m already postulating it won’t work.
Supergirl of My Dreams by Thomas Tan
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 6th, 2009
And here’s a short black and white silent film directed by Thomas Tan, whom I’ve known since we were kids in PAREF Southridge.
The film was shot with zero budget, as a promotional vid for Elfsar Comics. References to Supergirl and Batman in this short thriller. On a side note, I love working with people who can cram such great content into zero budget productions. Absolutely golden!
Toasting to the New Year
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 1st, 2009
To 2008 … for experiments that were fun while they lasted. For renewed friendships, and friendships that were transformed beyond the workplace. For loyal friends and conflicts resolved. For losing friends. For wasting time. For prudence and unbridled gestures. Such is life. And in it, there is the folly of wisdom.
To 2009 … and hopefully more of the same. Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t. (Polonius, Hamlet)
Happy New Year!
N.B. the image above is a screen cap from an interesting … project I worked on *last* year that never went live. That’s me and Adel Gabot talking about Plurk. Ah yes, Plurk. The year was more interesting with it.
