G-Men Ramen – Good Ramen Place in Richmond
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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Rogers’ Unlimited Student Plan Is A Joke
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?
School Is Starting Next Week
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.
Is The Apple iPad Useless?
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.
The Perfect Compact Digital Camera: Canon SD1400 IS
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:
