Hamster!

I love dwarf hamsters. At the peak, I was raising 8 of them.

I now pronounce you...

I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a wedding ceremony so I researched for cheaper alternatives.

Dearly beloved, I can be the officiant at your wedding.

Click here to get ordained.

John Edwards Animated By The Chinese

Check out this video from a Hong Kong gossip site summarizing John Edwards relationship with Rielle Hunter. It's probably done by the same people who made the Tiger Woods animated video.

Former John Edwards aide Andrew Young writes a tell-all book about the formerly valid political figure, his affair and subsequent love-child with Rielle Hunter, and his requests for DNA-filled diapers.




Adult Swim News John Edwards Andrew Young Rielle Hunter The Politician Adult Swim Affair Book Chinese Animated News Funny Video Grope

Mushroom Wars

A friend recently got me a copy of Mushroom Wars for the Sony PlayStation 3. It is available to download from the PlayStation Network, PSN, for $9.99.

The tutorial did a good job drawing me further into the game. It only takes a few minutes to familiarize myself with the controls and the earlier campaign maps were very simple. It took 6 hours to beat the game. Afterward, I played the maps again in Skirmish mode where it allowed me to pick the objectives, either Conquest, Domination or King of the Hill.

Mushroom Wars offers little in replayability . It has multiplayer but it's only local. I would rather play against a friend over PSN.

Even though I enjoyed the game, I would not recommend it because the enjoyment only lasts 15 hours.

Bill Gates embraces Twitter!

I thought this was only a rumor but it has been verified. Bill Gates has a twitter account. It's a shame Twitter isn't a publicly traded company or I would have purchased a boat load of their stock.

Click here for to see his tweets.

Kunming and Lijiang, Yunnan, China

I spent the last two weeks of December in China. Lacey and I went on a 5 day tour of Kunming and Lijiang in Yunnan Province.

Day 1: Kunming
Aside from the delicious food, there wasn't much to do in Kunming. The hot spots are over 2 hours away and we had no transportation.
Back to the food. We went to a nearby noodle shop for lunch. Rice noodles are very popular in the region and you can get it with different fixings.












Note the color of my soup. Lunch cost roughly 19 yuan.

After the delicious lunch, we strolled around Daguan Park. I'm glad I brought a jacket. I can get by with just wearing a long sleeve shirt but I needed a jacket in the shade. There's a number of interesting sculptures around the park.




By the ponds and stream we purchased a loaf of bread for 1 yuan to feed the birds.

After a tiring day, we decided to get a massage before dinner. This was the first time I had a Thai massage. We felt so drained of energy afterward that we slept for over an hour at the massage parlor. By the time we left, 9 pm, all the shops were closing. We skipped dinner and went back to the hotel.

Day 2: Lijiang
Our tour guide took us to this older district to stroll and and shop. There's not much of these districts left. An earthquake 20 years ago destroyed many of the buildings and most of what we saw in town are new construction but with a historic decor.



Lacey found us this quaint 4 star hotel at the southern part of the city, Wang Fu Hotel of Lijian. It's not the best in the area but there's plenty of shops to browse in the neighborhood.



None of the places we visited or dined at had heating. It gets very cold at night and the hot dish you ordered will chill in mere minutes.

Day 3: Lijiang

Today was the best part of the trip. I love national parks and we went to see a glacier. Lacey and I took a cable car to the top of the mountain.
After a few flights of stairs, we reached the top of the viewing platform that sits 4680 meters above sea level. Lacey had a difficult time acclimating to the high elevation. I got her a oxygen canister for 40 yuan.
There are some beautiful sights to visit at the foot of the mountain as well.
We didn't eat lunch that day so we had an early dinner instead. I was too hungry by then and forgot to take pictures of the food.

After dinner, we went to Black Dragon Pool, a park, to walk around.
In the evening, we went to see a local performance about some of their minority groups. It's nothing to write home about and I won't recommend it.

Day 4: Lijiang
On our 2 hour ride to Tiger Leaping Gorge Harbour, we stopped by some place with a beautiful view of the mountains. They had pet primates to for us to feed.

I have no idea why they consider this place a tourist destination. You walk 15 minutes along the rapids to see more rapids. It felt colder here than on top of the snow top mountain. To make matters worse, I dropped my camera twice and it bent the lens casing. I can still use the camera but I need to manually adjust it during power-on.
Lunch was interesting. We went to a nearby restaurant and we were the only patrons. Since we were the only patron and wanted to eat chicken, we had to order a whole chicken. Half of it went to soup. The other half went to some dish. This was my first time seeing how they kill, clean, and prep a chicken.
On the way back to the city, we stopped by this lake where we can ride the local horses. Unfortunately, I didn't bring enough cash and we had to be careful with our expense. So Lacey rode the horse and I took pictures. She thinks the guide was trying to scare her out of her wits. This park is operated by the Naxi people.

Day 5: Lijiang
On our last day, we walked around the areas around the hotel some more before heading to the airport.


Overall, I had a great time. I didn't get a chance to visit Shangri-la so I have a reason to come back to this region. Next time, I'll be sure to bring a lot more cash. My biggest expenses were the admission tickets, tour guide, and massages.

Dear Santa

I know what I want for Christmas. Below is an amazing video of Samsung's OLED prototype. Hopefully by the time I own a home I can use this as my wallpaper.

I Met The Funny Man

I was stoked when I learned Dave Barry will be a guest speaker at the conference I'm attending. I missed most of his speech because of work, but I did get a picture with him!

Good Company, Good Food

Some friends are visiting from Boston and brought along two pugs. The small one (left) is loud and hyper. The fat one (right) has stomach problems but makes a good lap dog.
Enough playing with the dogs. For dinner, we enjoyed a hearty meal at a Korean restaurant in Palisades Park. Even though I'm full, I'm looking forward to dim sum in Flushing tomorrow.

Touring Long Island Wineries and Vineyards

My girlfriend, her friends, and I visited a few wineries in Long Island, New York this past Sunday.

After a long drive, we stopped for lunch at Lobster Roll. I wasn't involved in the planning so I don't know why they picked this restaurant. The food was overpriced and sub-par. I guess the reviewer gave it good rating when compared with nearby restaurants?

We visited three Wineries, Martha Clara Vineyards, Lieb Cellars, and Macari Vineyards. I don't drink so I don't know if they were any good.

The highlight of my day was seeing the goats, pig, and turtle at Martha Clara.

iPhone Ad You'll Never See

Nintendo Wii

I set up the Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit over the weekend.
The first thing the game did was measure my weight, BMI, and guess my age. It thinks I have the health if a 37 year old and my weight is normal. If my BMI was 0.4 higher, I would have been placed in the overweight category.

My goal is to lose 3 pounds in 2 weeks. I can easily achieve that because I want to unlock more mini games an you can only do that by playing their games.

I got everything off eBay. It came with Resident Evil 4, Tiger Woods 10, Smash Brothers, Madworld, Wii Sports, and a 1st gen iPod Touch. The iPod has dust under the screen. I'll see if I can get the Apple Store to repair it tomorrow.

Timber!

I have finally cut down the tree that is causing damage to the driveway. The damage isn't terrible but it's better to address it now rather than later. The trunk took the longest to remove because the core was very dense. Afterward, I drilled a couple of holes in to the stump. I'll probably pour chemicals or salt there hoping it will kill the root.

Impressions of my new 2009 Honda Accord EX-L V6

After driving my car for a couple of week, I finally got around to writing about it.

The Accord wasn't my first choice but I'm glad I went with it. It is sportier than the 2010 Toyota Camry XLE V6. Just about everything was standard, power doors, sun roof, key-less entry, etc. The model above mine included GPS Navigation.

I'm currently busy accessorizing my car. I already got mud guard, trunk tray, floor liners, and a back-up camera. I plan to get remote start, door visors. Check out the video.

Wireless Back-up Camera

I installed a wireless backup camera to my 2009 Honda Accord today. I got the VR3 VRBCS300W Wireless Back-Up Camera with 2.5" LCD Monitor from Pep Boys for $69.98 minus a $10 mail-in rebate.

The installation process took just over 30 minutes. Tools required were a scissor, electrical tape, pliers, flathead screwdriver, and phillips screwdriver.

Overall, I'm pleased with the result. I haven't decided where to place the monitor. I can either mount it on the dashboard, air vent, or on the sun visor.

Check out my video and some photos.

Farewell Reno 911

Say it ain't so. Reports coming in from gossip sites that Comedy Central has cancelled Reno 911.
I've been to Reno. And if it weren't for this show I would have labeled Reno as the Crappiest Little City in the World.

Hollywood Reporter Link

Fire!

An emergency was reported in the building. But I have work to do!