A watch is very important for a man. It can symbolize many things such as success, wealth, status, and style.

I am about to step into the real world and launch my career. It is important for me to choose a watch that can reflect my maturity and attention to detail. The Mont Blanc Star Quartz XL is the perfect watch. Mont Blanc is a German brand with an iconic star shaped symbol. The brand reflects a very deep sense of manliness. (Similar to the Aston Martin brand) What I like about the Star Quartz XL watch is that it displays time in a very simple but elegant way. It displays the time and date without all the distractions in a chronograph watch. Using the quartz movement means that it is an extremely accurate timepiece. What I like the most about this watch is that it has a very distinctive white leather lining. It will truly reflect one’s taste for simplicity and quality. The best part: a very affordable price.

Nothing beats spending a beautiful Saturday afternoon in a trending coffee/sweets shop filled with friendly people and staff. Thomas Haas has two locations: one in Vancouver Kitsilano and one in North Vancouver. I went to the Kitsilano one and enjoyed a great cup of latte. The latte tasted very smooth and the texture was just right. The most important part about this latte is the “art” on it. It was made by a talented barista named Marius. I have heard great things about their sweets. But I didn’t get to try any because I was too full. I would love to try their chocolate on my next visit.

It will mark the end of student life and the beginning of real life.

If I am to open a high quality food outlet or restaurant at SFU, what kind of food do you want me to serve?

You can vote your favorite food here.

Note: you can choose more than one option.

If your favorite food is not listed here, leave a comment.

Share this on Facebook so all your friends can vote!
I really want to see what people like to eat at school…

When I got my iPad a few days ago, I knew I needed to get a decent case to protect the iPad’s beautiful aluminum back and fragile glass screen. I began looking for the perfect case and found that most of them are either extremely bulky or simply ugly. Running out of options, I decided to give the official Apple iPad Case a try. Future Shop sells it for $45.99 and Apple itself sells it for $45. I didn’t want to go all the way to the Apple Store so I price matched it at the Lansdowne Future Shop instead. Hey, one dollar is one dollar!

The official Apple iPad case is very thin and lightweight. Unlike other bulky leather portfolio style cases, the Apple one has a slim but strong rubber material.

One thing I like about this case is that it is very functional. I can flip the cover to the back for normal usage. There is a clip at the back to hold the cover if I need to make the iPad standing up or leaning with an angle. With the iPad leaning with an angle, I can type on the onscreen keyhoard much easier and much faster. In fact, this can replace my laptop for taking notes in lectures so I no longer need to carry my laptop to school.

The Apple iPad Case is very functional and very lightweight. However, there is one major issue with this beautiful case. The rubber material provides a nonslip surface but it also attracts dusts like crazy. The bumpy surface makes it rather difficult to wipe off the dusts as well. If you are one of those people who like their stuff always looking clean, this case may not be for you.

Today was my third time eating at G-Men Ramen at Continental Plaza in Richmond. We got seated right away without waiting which was good. I don’t know too many ramen places in Vancouver, but G-men is among my favorites. I’ve tried their ramen the first couple times so this time I wanted to try something different.

I ordered the Mentai Mayo Mini Don. It is basically cod fish roe with mayonnaise on rice. The normal one is $5 and I paid $2 more for bigger portion. The cod roe and mayonnaise are perfect together making the soft sushi style rice very flavorful. The fresh green onions add some kick to my taste buds. It isn’t too salty when I was eating it but I felt very thirsty afterward. Even adding $2 for bigger size, the portion was still not enough to make me full.

Janice had the Tonkotsu Miso Ramen. It costs $9. Used to be $8.50 but they have increased the prices. $9 for a bowl of ramen is rather expensive in my opinion. The soup base is delicious but not as flavorful as the last time when I had it. The texture of the ramen noodle is very good and chewy. For $9 they should give us more than just 2 thin slices of BBQ pork. For some reason, the soup wasn’t hot enough today making the whole ramen less appetizing.

Overall, G-Men is still a good place for some quick and warm food. The total for 2 including tips was $20. Not too bad actually, considering 2 meals at McDonald cost close to $20. Until we can find a better ramen place in Richmond, G-Men will remain our favorite.

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Janice‘s contract with Rogers Wireless is due in a few months. She is looking to renew her contract so she can get the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.
I told her to call Rogers customer relations (aka retentions) to negotiate a better plan before renewing her contract.

The goal is to get the following features for a total of $48.50 per month:

• 300 daytime minutes
• unlimited weekends and evenings starting at 6PM
• My5 Canada-wide
• Call display, voice mail, and 2500 text messages
• At least 500MB data

This goal is very doable and it is well documented on RedFlagDeals forums.

Called several times to retention and got nothing but stupid “unlimited” student plans. For $50 a month she gets 500MB data, My5 Canada OR unlimited network calling. Adding call display and this and that and the total will be close to $70 per month. This is a joke! It’s almost worse than what she already has. How do they retain customers with such ridiculous plans and prices?

Most students including myself are going back to school next week. Some students are nervous, some are happy about it.
I am looking forward to a new semester and quite excited to face the new challenges heading my way.

I am sure many people will ask me what I’ve done during the summer vacation. It is going to be a difficult question to answer because I haven’t done anything signification at all.
Besides going to the zoo, buying a camera, getting an iPad, and eating out at various restaurants in Vancouver, my Summer vacation (only 2 weeks long) was uneventful.

I used to think so. Like most iPad haters, I thought it was just an over-sized iPod Touch and it is not powerful enough to replace my laptop.

This changed when I began reading books and magazines on my iPhone. It would be way better to read those books and magazines on something bigger than the iPhone’s 3.5 inch screen.

I decided to buy the iPad a few days ago and since then I am in love with this amazing device.

Here are some reasons why I think the iPad is not useless:

1) The Screen.
The iPad’s 9.7 inch IPS screen is one of the best screens I’ve seen. The colors really pop out and texts are very sharp. The screen size is also perfect for reading books and magazines. I don’t need to zoom in to read the words clearly on any magazine page.

2) Web Surfing.
Surfing the web using the iPad’s Safari browser is a pleasure. I can view almost all websites without having to zoom in. Navigating the web using my fingers is much more natural than using a mouse. Since having the iPad, I see myself not using my laptop as often.

3) Built-in Apps.
The Mail and Calender apps on the iPad are way better than the ones on the iPhone. I can now view my inbox and the emails on the same screen.

4) Third-party Apps.
There are thousands of apps for the iPad. Apps such as the “OPlayer” will turn the iPad as a portable media player as it plays most video formats out there including RMVB files.

Things that can be improved:

1) The Weight.
The iPad is sure slim but it is quite heavy. It is hard to hold it with one hand for too long.

2) No Multitasking.
The ability to multitask will make the iPad even more amazing. the iOS 4.2 update in November should bring multitasking to the iPad.

3) Lack Of  Front Camera and Back Camera.
Like the iPhone 4, the iPad should have a front camera for webcam. A back camera will also be useful for taking pictures and videos on the go.

I’ve finally found the perfect compact digital camera for daily use. I have a D-SLR but it is rather big for daily snapshots.
I have to say that it is quite tricky to find a camera that fits my tiny student budget and at the same time capable of capturing quality pictures.

My first attempt: Samsung EC-ES70. Bought it at Future Shop for around $120. To be honest, it was a horrible camera. The built quality is very cheap and comparable to a toy. Picture quality is awful. Images have a lot of noise even at the lowest ISO. I returned it the next day.

My second attempt: Sony DSC-W310. Bought it at Future Shop for around $120 as well. Built quality is decent. Feels a lot better than the Samsung ES70. Picture quality is also better than the ES70. The images do not have a lot of noise but the color and contract tend to create a “depressing” tone.

My third attempt: Canon SD1400 IS. Bought it at Black’s Photography at around $190 after a price match (Retail is around $250). It is a very compact camera. Smaller and thinner than the Samsung ES70 and Sony W310. Built quality is very solid. The 14.1 Megapixel sensor produces very sharp and clean images up to ISO 800. Thanks to its Optical Stabilization system, taking indoor pictures without using flash is possible. The other two cameras have digital image stabilization, which is rather useless. The SD1400 can also capture 720P HD video. Video quality is so-so but I don’t plan on taking a lot of videos anyway. Overall, it is very impressive camera for the price. If you want to get a decent compact digital camera with a reasonable price, this one is highly recommended.

Pictures I took with the Canon SD1400 IS: