Off to Vegas for the weekend, fuels The Hangover as inspiration

I should really start packing. I’m already enjoying a 5-day weekend as the final 3 are spent in fabulous Las Vegas. Just a little taste of things to come: a bit of gambling, catch a show or 2 and of course hit up a buffet. I won’t have much to spend anyway, so I’ll focus that time on shooting. Otherwise, nothing else of importance to report. Pics and reaction upon return, or track my updates on Twitter: @kurichan_

see you soon!

Read Full Post »

Wonder Girls invade Vancouver, our hearts.

*Photo taken by Nick Tan

I don’t quite understand if you chose one group to adore and loathe the other; though it can be influenced from other fans who think the same way. I might’ve had a bit of it a while back as when I first listened to Girls’ Generation back in April 08, I scoffed at the fact Tell Me had gotten so much publicity (at the time). I realized now that Wonder Girls and Girls’ Generation can co-exist, contrary to what other fans/netizens think. And it’s not because of what’s to come…

Read Full Post »

Phone shopping; how did it get so difficult?

I still can’t get my head wrapped around it, but the choice of finding a new mobile phone soon after I arrived from Japan seemed to be a lengthy process. From someone who has been using Japanese keitais (or mobile phones for those unaware) outside of Japan for use in Canada for just around a year or so, I thought at length whether it would be the right move to continue using keitais as my primary mobile phone.

Then I thought, “why don’t I get a phone that I’ll be able to utilize most, if not all functions on the phone?”. The thing with keitais is that outside of Japan, they’re just as primitive technologically as a RAZR in North America; for the reason that everything gets either locked down (unusable – like internet, MMS, & other similar functions), or the features are limited to Japan only (Barcode reader, e-wallets, etc) (which would require an internet connection so chalk that up to the former anyway). Needless to say, apart from unmatched styling, you can make/recieve a call, and SMS texting.

In a way, choosing a phone in Japan was hard, yet very easy. Hard in the fact that all of them were wonderfully designed, feature packed; but easy as that you wouldn’t be disappointed in picking any of them (even if it turned out to be a mistake).

For a moment I thought I’d go back to keitai, once after I saved up for one again (your average price for one is at least $600). But I couldn’t in good conscience go back to keitai in Canada. So then begins the hunt for a new phone. We just seem to be a ‘one step forward, two steps back’ type or people when it comes to mobile phones. Nothing is ever wowed here; as only a handful of phones released here are headturners (and I don’t mean iPhones). It will be long before we’ll ever see a 3 inch widescreen LCD on a flip phone here in North America; I mean it’s possible on touchscreen smartphones, why can’t it reach across the board to the most basic phones. We really get the short end of the stick when it comes to mobile phones, which is why it’s incredibly difficult to choose one, and one you’ll use for 2 or 3 years.

My criteria for a new phone had 2 exceptions, no Blackberries or iPhones. Ultimately when I heard Rogers wireless was bringing the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1a (shown above) — which was on my short list (HTC Touch Pro and Nokia N97 being the others) my notions of going back to keitais were thrown out of the window. I snatched this up days after it was announced and signed a 3 year plan.

It’s a great phone and I’m sure to get plenty of use for the duration.

Read Full Post »