Author: Rochelle Sy Chua

Watch Pacquiao-Mosley Fight on PLDT WatchPad Big Ticket

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 3, 2011

Pacquiao-Mosley fight

I know that everyone is looking forward to the Pacquiao-Mosley boxing fight this weekend. Honestly, I’m not a fan of Manny Pacquiao and I will only be interested in watching him fight if his opponent is Floyd Mayweather, Jr. However, I know most of you love Manny Pacquiao so I felt that I needed to write about this information I got from PLDT.

If you are a PLDT myDSL subscriber then you’re in luck. You’ll be able to watch the Pacquiao-Mosley fight on May 8, 9AM through your Watchpad live and without commercial break!

You can do this with a subscription of Big Ticket which is a PLDT myDSL innovation that boosts your WatchPad with an additional speed so you can heighten your online viewing experience. It makes internet faster in local sites like Yahoo & Facebook.

You wouldn’t want a slow connection when watching an exciting boxing event like Manny Pacquiao’s right?

PLDT pacquiao mosley

Subscription to Big Ticket is free for Plan 1995 and Plan 3000 myDSL subscribers! For lower plans, you just need to add Php150 per month on top of your current subscription. Otherwise, upgrade your myDSL plan to get it for free.

Too bad I only got the information now as PLDT had a promo wherein subscription from April 12 to May 5 gives you free access to the Pacquiao-Mosley fight. Oh well… sorry friends!

Well, it’s still good information right? The fight is this sunday! If you’re a PLDT myDSL subscriber, you might want to consider Big Ticket. I’m sure hard core Manny Pacquiao fans won’t miss this event! Enjoy guys & gals! 🙂

Subscribe to Big Ticket at www.pldtwatchpad.com/PacmanMosley.html

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Globe 4G HSPA+ Media Demo Launch

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 30, 2011

Last wednesday, I took the time to attend Globe‘s media event to demo its new HSPA+ mobile technology. I was interested as I’m part of the majority of people here in the country who is not satisfied with the speed we’re getting currently from our data subscription.

The media event was conducted by Peter Bithos, senior adviser for consumer business and Erwin Roque, head of access technologies. They shared with us that Globe subscribers can expect improved services with the rollout of its 4G mobile technology.

Global standard HSPA+ or evolved high-speed packet access will be the 1st phase of this exciting 4G mobile technology rollout.

Globe HSPA+ Presentation

Globe executives went on explaining what HSPA+ is, how it works and what the future phases are.

Lastly, they did a demonstration of HSPA+.

Globe HSPA+ Tests with media

Globe HSPA+ Test

They setup different workstations connected to the internet using available mobile broadband services today namely Smart Bro, Sun wireless broadband & their very own Globe Tattoo. Globe used speedtest.net to test their speeds against each other. Not surprisingly, Globe HSPA+ won the test.

Here are the results:

Globe Tattoo – DL: 2.55 Mbps, UL: 0.34 Mbps
Smart Bro – DL: 1.12 Mbps, UL: 0.34 Mbps
Sun Broadband Wireless – DL: 0.83 Mbps, UL: 0.09 Mbps
Globe HSPA+ – DL: 7.51 mbps; UL: 1.02 mbps

So what is in store for us? Since Globe is utilizing HSPA+ for its first phase, current subscribers will already experience improved performance. It’s not a new technology but an enhancement to the current technology. You won’t need to buy a new gadget to benefit from this rollout.

As of now, the Globe 4G mobile technology has been deployed in 19 areas in Metro Manila, which covers Marikina, Quezon City, Makati, Pasay, Las Pinas, Taguig & Manila. More areas will be covered by the end of year 2011.

On May 2011, Globe will offer 4G-enabled devices to allow subscribers to enjoy 4G mobile experience fully. No details yet as of which devices they are but announcement will come soon.

On a personal note, I had been struggling what 2G, 3G and 4G are. I’ve been hearing stuff that HSPA+ and LTE aren’t really 4G. I tried to research and luckily, I have a lot of contacts who are well aware of what they are. So let me share with you the information that I’ve gotten so you can be enlightened as well 🙂

mobilebroadband

Hope this helps. I’m really excited that Globe is investing a lot (US $500 million) to be available to provide 4G mobile technology to us. I can’t wait to see this in full circle. Time to upgrade my phone and my data subscription too! Let’s see when! 😀

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Beastly Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 27, 2011

I wanted to watch a movie but theaters only had movies that are for kids. I’ve really grown past that stage. There were only 2 movies that I could choose from: Beastly & Arthur. I felt that Arthur was just too much of a comedy that we ended up choosing to watch Beastly.

I had low expectations but boy, was I so happy after watching it. If you love romantic movies, then you should watch Beastly. I had tears in my eyes on certain parts of the movie. I guess I easily get touched especially with scenes full of love & care. Anyhow, in spite of the fairy tail-ish story, Beastly was so much more!

Aside from the good looking actors in the movie, there were valuable lessons to take home too! Lessons like:

Love is not just about material things. This applies to all kinds of relationships (romantic, family, etc).
Beauty is only skin deep.
Kindness & love warms the heart.
Love is never ugly (as what’s written on the movie poster).

Anyway, so what is Beastly all about? Beastly is a modern version of Beauty & Beast. Kyle Kingston (played by Alex Pettyfer) is arrogant, mean & vain. He wins the student party president out of being wealthy, popular & good-looking. He seemed to have gotten those traits from his father.

During the after party of Kyle’s victory, Kyle humiliates & bullies Kendra (played by Mary-Kate Olsen) who is actually a witch in disguise. Embarassed & angry, Kendra transforms Kyle into an ugly man. She informs Kyle that he has only one year to find someone who loves him or he stays that way forever.

I love how the story unfolded from this point of the story. I don’t wanna spoil everything to you so I suggest you go catch Beastly in your favorite theaters while it’s still showing. Beastly was a nice movie to watch! I liked it a lot. I went out of the theater feeling very good. It was a humbling experience too!

My Rating for Beastly: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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My Thai Kitchen

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 25, 2011

Ever since our last high school reunion, I was able to catch up with one of my closest friends in high school, Michelle. Since I was on vacation leave that time, we decided to meet up and bond over a good meal. We went to the new Eastwood mall and had lunch at My Thai Kitchen.

I really like the ambiance of the place. The interior was totally awesome! I love how they made good use of space with those black drawers. I also love the pink wallpapers plus the lighting of the restaurant. I like the coziness of the place and the calming effect it had on us.

My Thai Kitchen serves Thailand food. I guess with so many Thailand restaurants in the Metro, I wanted to find out what differentiates it from the rest. Honestly, for me, all those restaurants are the same. I guess, it’s just how they cooked the food, how the food tasted and how they designed their restaurant which makes them unique, popular & successful.

One thing is for sure. When you’re in a Thai restaurant, expect food that are hot & spicy. Thai cuisine is definitely known to use fresh herbs and spices plus the flavors of the dishes are a balance of spicy, sour, salty, sweet and bitter.

Here are the dishes that Michelle & I ordered:

Tom Yam Goong (Php 225)

My Thai Kitchen’s Tom Yam Goong was one flavorful dish! Very spicy too! This popular Thai soup with shrimps in hot & sour soup was cooked with too much spices that every spoonful was delightfully tasty! I was hoping that every time we get some serving, it will just refill itself hahaha! Yeah I know, dreaming!

The chef really took to heart the # 1 rule in cooking Tom Yam Goong: never, never be bland. They stayed true to what Tom Yam Goong should taste like: hot & sour. Winner dish definitely!

Pla Meuk Tort Gratiam Prik Thai (Php 280)

I’m not sure how they did it but this was one of the better stir-fried squid I have eaten. It felt like a snack to me. If I can borrow Pringles’ tagline “Once you pop, you can’t stop”, it can definitely be used in this dish. We were eating this like there was no tomorrow.

Gai Phat Bai Kraphrau (Php 235)

We weren’t planning to order this dish. I was too curious though when I saw a picture of this dish in My Thai Kitchen’s menu. I had to try it out. It says it’s chicken with fried basil. From the looks of it, it looked like ground chicken with chopped vegetable and fried basil. I was ecstatic to try it out. When the dish came, it tasted ordinary. Not something we would order again but it was a unique dish.

Khau Pad Siam (Php 85)

Thai fried rice. I wish I can describe it better but it was just plain fried rice.

Fresh Fruit Juice (Php 110)

Fruit shakes were also available. My friend has chosen green mango that day.

Cha Yen (Php 95)

There’s something about Thai Milk Tea that I really like. I don’t know how they make the Thai tea but I’m sure that it was condensed milk that they added. Always one of my favorite drinks 🙂

Khao Neaw Mamuang (Php 110)

Usually people would order crepe or halo halo. But there’s just something about sticky rice that I like and My Thai Kitchen’s own version didn’t disappoint! They served mangoes on top and ice cream on the side. It was the perfect dessert to end a wonderful Thai meal 🙂

Yesterday, I was actually asking Michelle her feedback about My Thai Kitchen. I wanted to get more inputs before I write this review. She did mention that she liked the food a lot and would love to eat there again. I, however, cannot say that it’ll be one of my fave Thai restaurants but the experience was nice.

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My Thai Kitchen
G/F Eastwood Mall Veranda, E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Bagumbayan, Libis, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 709-2127

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HP Unveils New Business Computing Portfolio

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 23, 2011

A few days before HP showed us their new Consumer PC lineup, HP unveiled their lineup of business products and solutions specifically targeted to small & medium businesses. It was a pretty big event I must say. HP executives were there in full force. They were ready to show us what the products are and how they work.

HP offers products and solutions to meet the requirements of clients in practically every industry. During the presentation, they featured several professionals from different fields who are using HP products for their business/profession. I can relate as in my workplace, we use HP business laptops.

The new business solution lineup addresses the need of the ff.:

Mobile professionals who need enhanced system and graphic performance, security & manageability, all with a desktop-like experience.
Small to midsize businesses looking for a mainstream, cost-effective business PC.
Environmentally conscious customers seeking simple & affordable productivity in client virtualization or cloud computing environments.
Educators that need technology-based learning solutions that are scalable and designed with the environment in mind.
Creative artists and engineers who require compute-intensive performance and best-in-class displays to bring their ideas to life.
Healthcare providers that require powerful, secure & highly reliable systems that help advance simplified patient care.
Retailers looking to enhance the customer experience, optimize business efficiencies and improve sales.

The products are definitely created with the entire business in mind. It’s nice that they do actually have different approach as to how they create products for each target market.

While HP uses MUSE philosophy in their design for consumer products, HP’s business portfolio uses FORGE (form, optimize, richness, guarded & enduring) framework. Some design highlights from the FORGE framework are precision aluminum-alloy hinges, cast titanium-alloy display latches and HP DisplaySafe frame.

Here are some of the products featured during the event:

HP Z-Series Workstations

HP Z Workstations

Would you believe that the popular kid TV series, Kokey, was actually made using HP Z-series workstations? It’s true. ABS-CBN confirmed that they have been using HP Z-series workstations across all their divisions and have been depending on them to perform on critical tasks.

Basically, if you need a powerful PC that boasts advanced memory, graphics and storage then the HP Z-series workstations are for you. High-performance is definitely a key here.

HP EliteBook 8460p

HP’s top of the line business notebook that features 14-inch display, Intel technology & high-performance graphics. What really differentiates this model from the rest is its battery life which is up to 32 hours!

HP Multiseat Computing Solution

HP MultiSeat Computing Solution

The HP Digital Learning Suite & Education solutions help schools prepare students for greater success. One of them is La Purisima Concepcion Academy who has employed the HP Multiseat Computing Solution which is a low-cost innovation that allows schools & organizations of all sizes to setup a complete digital classroom at an affordable price.

With the technology, La Purisima Concepcion Academy in Malabon City was able to provide 432 of their students with higher quality education and a better learning experience. I wish I can go back in time as technology wasn’t as advanced then. Lucky are the children indeed in this generation, they have the tools to be more focused on their studies and become more efficient!

HP LCD Digital Signage Displays

HP Digital Signage Displays

I’ve been seeing this technology in the malls. I then understand what they are upon seeing them in HP’s showcase. HP’s LCD Digital Signage Displays range from 42 to 47 inches. They are embedded with HP Media Sign Player technology, enabling plug-and-play convenience for dynamic digital advertising. Totally cool!

HP Slate

Last, but not the least, the HP Slate. Unfortunately, this won’t be available in the Asia Pacific Region as it is geared towards businesses (not consumers as we have hoped). I was able to try out this cute ‘lil gadget and I must say it’s promising. HP Slate 500 is one of the first tablet to have Windows 7. This was definitely the star of the event. I was actually in queue just to be able to try it out.

With the HP lineup for small and medium businesses, we can say that their tagline is definitely real… “Everybody On”.

You can also checkout the lineup for HP Consumer PCs in my previous post.

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