Posts

Showing posts from April, 2012

You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年,我們一起追的女孩)– movie review

Image
  You Are the Apple of My Eye ( 那些年 , 我們一起追的女孩 ) – movie review I first saw some reviews of this movie and thanks to a generous friend, who brought me back a disc of this show, I was able to enjoy, laugh, cry and reminisce, about times gone by. She even gave me a caveat that it would be slow, and I will be using the fast forward button with great alacrity, but actually she may not know that I was in ROC, in 1987, and spent time studying in 中正高中 , in Taipei… so there were many poignant moments, which I can really relate to… This story evolves around a certain female, Shen Chia-yi, who is the class, if not the school flower. And every male can attest to someone who was their first love, the one who makes you do stupid things, lose sleep and whom you will always remember with a certain fondness and a sigh. She is pursued by a brace of classmates, and they are friends with the only guy who remains aloof and despite being her classmate of a few years, has no interest i

Samsung E 8000 Plasma - first impressions

First the Caveat... This was a quick survey of a 60" set, courtesy of a friend who is a happy owner of one of the first sets available. This is not meant to comment on the finer points of the picture quality (PQ) and I reserve further opinion on the PQ when I have done a calibration. Interface - the remote is chunky and has a cheap feel... not unlike the Oppo, it feels like a $5 toy and you have no direct access to each HDMI input. Like the Panasonic remotes, it feels cheap even though most of the other functions are present, you sometimes need to dig into layers or take more clicks to get there. Compare this to the Kuro remote, a fine piece of craftsmanship, made from metal and you feel you paid for a budget item.. - at least the remote is backlit, unlike the Panasonic ones locally - there is also a touch "Smart Remote" which isn't much better than the standard either - the internet access, and the apps are pretty decent, and you can access things rather quickly, po

Deciding on renovation - the beginning

Image
Deciding on renovations:   Congratulations on the new place, you are now at the beginning of your renovation process.   You may have even decided on a theme or a style before this and that's good. Now you need to put all those ideas onto a 'storyboard', which is kind of like a scrapbook of ideas, and you use this to collect all the concepts, ideas as well as store all the info on places to buy furniture, lightings etc.   Then think hard of how you want it to turn out: -        classic -        modern -        neo classic – those gold fittings and leather sofas with buttons -        mid century – very popular right now, but you really must like the Scandinavian concept. Then you can look through the magazines, but remember, you are going to live in the home, and you have to decide if that's for you instead of just have something 'stylo' but not livable.   As for magazines, most HDB dwellers will start off first with Ho

Denon AVR 4311 replacement - Denon's new flagship AV amp for Asia

Image
1 April 2012 Denon Japan  Denon Launches new Flagship in Asia - the replacement for the 4810, 4311 and AVC 1 - The " Inakamono 100th year AE (Asian Edition)" aka AVR - 5113 Denon signals it's recovery from the hiatus in new models with this flagship model which replaces three models at once, and introduces key new features in a new model which is the long expected replacement for the older 5xxx, 48xx and also the 43xx series, which has been soldering on due to damages to it's Fukushima facility as a result of the recent earthquake / tsunami twin disasters to hit Japan.  Dubbed fondly the Inakamono by it's R & D, this model promises a return to audiophile roots, whilst embracing several new important features, which have the Asian and in particular the Singapore market in mind, which has long been overlooked by the USA and Europe ones. This model will come in a silver-champagne blend, but the first 1000 will be available in more r