ECOBA Centurion Elimination Challenge @ PJ Trade Centre, Damansara Perdana [18th October 2010]

ECOBA is one of the many latest bar that emerge from the blooming bar industry in the Klang Valley. Located at the newly opened business park, PJ Trade Centre in Damansara Perdana, it is considered by many to be one of the most happening bar in Klang Valley.

Ecoba: Eat, Chill, Oogle

For those that is still in the dark about ECOBA, it is actually a place for you to chill with their in-house food and drinks. When I mentioned drinks here, it means boozes; from beers to liquors. Obviously, they do serve non-alcoholic drinks for those who are not so daring with alcohol.

Happening Monday atmosphere in ECOBA

Last year October I paid my first visit to ECOBA with my buddies, Michael, Iris, Hock Beng and Mei Kheng for a chill out session. More than an usual chilling session, our main purpose being here were to watch a live signature competition of ECOBA, Centurion Elimination Challenge.

ECOBA Centurion Elimination Stage

While waiting for the competition to start, Iris ordered a plate of pizza as our finger food.

Ecoba Pizza
Tasted pretty good.

So what is ECOBA Centurion Challenge? It is actually a competition where each session consists of 10 contestants who will be challenging themselves to down 100 shots each within 100 minutes. Each contestant is given a minute to finish up a shot of beer. After a shot of the beer is downed, the contestant will be given a fresh new minute to down the next shot. The process will continue until you down the 100th shots of beer and you will walk away with a whopping cash prize of RM 1,800. Sounds easy isn't it? However, you will be eliminated once your started to throw out. Oh ya, no toilet break is allowed too!

On my visit, ECOBA added a new twist to it's traditional Centurion Challenge. Named as the ECOBA Centurion Elimination Challange, each contestant will now takes turn to call for their desired shots (1 -10) for each minute. Same rules applied, but you will get extra RM 100 cash for each eliminated contestants up to an extra of RM 900 if you are the last man standing that able to finish up the 100th shots.

The challenge is about to start

There were only 9 contestants on my previous visit to Ecoba. God knows why the last contestant were missing. The 9 contestants for the 18th October 2010 consisted of 6 males (Mr Koh, Mr Goh, Adrian, Craig, Oliver and a teenager) and 3 Females (May, Kim and Jamie).

Contestants are all pumped up!

Pictures were not enough to express the madness and craziness of this fun-filled competition. Will the sole westerner for the night, Craig will defeat the rest of the Asians? Try taking a guess on who is the winner for the night before clicking the play button for the footage video of the ECOBA Centurion Challenge on the night of 18th October 2010 below:

Overall, it was a great experience chilling out in ECOBA. From the delicious pizza to looking at how much beer can do to a person during the challenge, it does give me reasons for a revisit to ECOBA real soon.

ECOBA Centurion Challenge is back by popular demand and is running on every Monday at 9.30pm. However, the challenge will be reschedule to every Saturday, pending time announcement. If you have the burning urge to join the challenge do remember to contact them first to avoid dissapointment. Do check out their facebook fans page at http://www.facebook.com/?ref=hp#!/ecoba.eat.chill.oOgle for the latest news and on-going promotion.

Pizza: 7.5/10

Atmosphere: 8/10
Price: 5.5/10
Verdict: Watching the Centurion Challenge was one-hella experience! Pizza was great too!

ECOBA Restaurant & Bar
PJ Trade Centre, Menara Bata Ground Floor
8, Jalan PJU 8/8a
47820, Selangor
Malaysia
Tel: 603 - 7710 1118 / 6012 - 930 3224
Business hours: Monday to Thursday: 11 am to 1 am; Friday: 11 am - 2 am;
Saturday: 4 pm - 2 am; Sunday: 4 pm-12 am
Website: http://www.ecoba.com.my/#/home

Razer Spectre Starcraft 2 Gaming Mouse

Unlike my cousin brother, Eugene, I'm not really a fan of computer gadgets. As long as the gadgets are working fine with me, I won't be bothered to change them. However, I must admit that I was a little tempted by the Razer computer accessories.

Being a Starcraft 2 player myself, I was initially considering to get the Razer Spectre mouse. The urge of getting it were pretty strong but the thought of spending RM 250 for a mouse sets me back. Not until when Eugene agreed to release his Razer Spectre after a month of use at RM 200, I agreed to break my personal record of spending hundreds on a mouse.

Razer Spectre Mouse

Razer Spectre is the official licensed mouse of Starcraft 2 of Blizzard under the Razer Starcraft 2 Gaming Series. The name Spectre is derived from the name of a special tactical unit in the Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty campaign which has the ability to snipe, cloak and call down nukes. Thus, it is no surprise to name this mouse as Spectre, because the mouse is the core accessory in executing the strategic movement of Starcraft 2 game play.

Look sexy even before the feature kicks in

Gold-plated USB connector

In truth, I really do not know what are the difference between a gold-plated and a typical USB connector.

Button force adjustment

Allow the adjustment of the force needed to click, with high being the higher force needed to perform a click.

Lighting Feature
The lighting area can each be customized differently using the Razer Starcraft 2 series software which offers more than 50 choice of colours.

The lighting feature does not meant to serve as a decorative purpose only. During the Starcraft 2 gameplay, the lights will change according to your Actions-Per-Minute(APM) in the game. APM is the measurement of actions (training, building, moving units) completed within a minute in the real time strategy game. Obviously, the higher the APM goes, the better it gets because it means you are more involved in the game.

Actions-Per-Minute (APM) Lighting System
The lights will change to white when you hit a 250 APM and above in Starcraft 2 gameplay.

Other notable key features include:
*Lightweight, Fingertip-Grip 5 Button Mouse
*5600 DPI 3.5G Laser Sensor
*Ultrapolling (1000Hz Polling/1ms Response)
*200 inches per second and 50g acceleration
*Braided 7-Foot Usb Cable

Without doubt, it is my most expensive mouse owned to date. I definitely felt the difference especially during the game play in Starcraft 2. This Razer Spectre mouse offers me a smoother scrolling experience and a better sensitivity in executing my actions. So as the saying goes, you get better things when you spend more, is very true indeed.

My favourite feature of Razer Spectre

Finally, I understands why Eugene are willing to spend a lot in computer accessories. As for now, I'm contented with my computer accesories especially with this addition of Razer Spectre mouse. Next target? A mechanical keyboard maybe.

Thank you Eugene for selling me this piece of sexy mouse at a very reasonable price!

Welcoming iPhone 3G S and Digi, Farewell to Nokia 5800 and Maxis!

With iPhone 4 expected to be reaching Malaysia sooner than later, telecommunications company have been slashing their iphone 3gs package price making it very affordable for people to have one.I'm still very comfortable with my Nokia 5800 Express Music handset. However, with my Maxis bills ballooning due to my heavy usage, I was considering to change my service provider to Digi because Digi offered me more discounts on my heavy usage.

After looking out at the available plans, I signed up the iPhone plan i138 which gives me a free 3gb bandwidth, 450 minutes of talk time and 400 sms. I am being locked in for 24 months with a monthly commitment of RM 179.58 that includes the price of the iPhone, but the amount is still way below the average phone bill of RM 250 that I forked out on Maxis each month.

Digi Specialized Store

With Mobile Number Portability (MNP), it reduces the hassle of changing telecommunications provider. We still can keep our existing number with the new service provider provided the previous service provider give it all clear.

Farewell Maxis and Hello Digi!

When the switch is successful, you should return to the same Digi specialized centre to get your iPhone and plan activated.

My Digi privilege card

Here it is, the box of iphone 3g S. I watched it as the sales assistant unwrapped it and helping me to setup and register it to the system. All in, it took me a whopping 1 hour of wait.

A new box containing the new iPhone 3Gs

Guess the colour of my iPhone 3G s?

You should always check the content inside the box. It is true that Apple is a reputable company but humans are still prone to error. So a box of iPhone would contain such kit:

1 iPhone 3Gs handset

1 3-pin plug, 1 usb-phone connector and 1 earphone cum hands free kit

Attach the usb-phone connector to the 3-pin plug and you will be able to charge your iPhone. Just like iPod, iPhone will be charged automatically when you connect it to your Mac or PC.

Plug that now work as iPhone battery charger

Sharp Pin
This stainless steel pin serve as a tool to push the hidden button that will eject the sim card compartment.

Black is my colour, iPhone 3G s Black

Silent and Volume button

It's time for me to move to Digi and get the iPhone working. Just use the pin to eject out the sim compartment and insert your new Digi sim card.

Moving on to Digi

Next, switch on your iPhone 3G s and you should the home screen. Slide to unlock and your iPhone is ready to be used. For the new iPhone 3Gs, I was advised to charge the battery for 6-8 hours to prolong the battery life. I was warned not to over charge the battery for more than 8 hours!

Slide to unlock

Upon unlocking, your virgin iPhone 3G s home screen should look like this with the some basic default application installed such as Compass, You Tube and iTunes.

Basic applications installed

Next you should have iTunes installed to your Mac or PC. Upon finished installing, connect your iPhone 3G s to the PC or Mac via the usb connector. Here you can import or sync your iPhone with contacts, songs or even videos from your PC or Mac. Having done that, next you can access to iTunes store to acquire some applications for your iPhone. However, you will need to setup an iTunes account first with an attached credit card information before you can start downloading any applications from the iTunes store, even for free application!

Some of the initial free application that I downloaded

iPhone applications are really wonderful and some application work even better than my PC. For example, I find my iPhone Twitter application is so much better than my browsed thru Twitter on my PC.

I called it a genius phone!

Remember to get your screen laminated with anti-glare protector and another cover for your new iPhone 3G s. After all, this genius phone should last you a few good year.

My cover for my iPhone 3G s

I'm not a fan of carrying two phone at one go. I find it a little bit troublesome and my pockets is just not enough to fit in 2 phone at the same time. As such, it is time to bid farewell to my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

My Nokia XpressMusic home screen

Thank you for serving me 17 months!

Some little comparison between iPhone 3G s and Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

iPhone 3G S vs Nokia 5800

Nokia 5800 does look smaller but it is bulkier than iPhone 3G s. iPhone 3G s meanwhile has a bigger dimension especially on the screen making it more enjoyable when watching a video.

The bulkier Nokia 5800 and slimmer iPhone 3G s

In term of operating system, Nokia is running on Symbian OS 50.0.005 while iPhone 3G s is running on the just updated IOS 4. iPhone 3G s clearly have the edge by offering a very smooth screen animation changes and lag free! As for Nokia Symbian, it hang way too often even by accessing some mini application. So far my iPhone 3Gs has never lagged, what's more about hang? In term of application, needless to stay iTune Store clearly have the upper hand by offering 100k+ application compared to Nokia Ovi Store.

IOS 4 is so much better than Symbian 50.0.005 OS
It is as good as comparing Intel i7 and Pentium 3 processor.

Next comes another equally important element, the battery life of a fully charged battery. A fully charged Nokia 5800 XpressMusic lasts way longer than a fully charged iPhone 3Gs. Charging the iPhone is one of my daily routine and if you play with it more, prepared to charge it more often. Just make sure your battery bar of iPhone is above 90% before you head out home. Do bring the connector or purchase some car charger to get your iPhone 3G s charged whenever you need. After all, how genius a phone is will be dumb without sufficient power.

Only weakness of iPhone 3G s, the battery life of a fully charged battery!
Tips to have the battery lasted longer will be to reduce the brightness of the screen, turn off the 3G and Wi-Fi connection when not in use.

Thank you Maxis for serving me excellently for 6 years!

And as for now, I'm a iPhone 3G S user with i138 plan from Digi! I supposed it's a smarter choice and with my genius phone running on a smarter plan, I get to exploit more. With Digi and iPhone 3G s, I'm always connected whenever and wherever! =)

Like a mini Mac on my hand

Obviously I have friends which owned the iPhone 3G S way before me. Namely Phui Shan, Pei Shan, Chee, Guek Theeng, Mei Kheng, Isky and my Becky sis. Now will you guys welcome me to gang of iPhone 3G S? Till we cross path again for iPhone 4 or perhaps Android phone, lets enjoy the iPhone 3G S=)

Durian and Mangosteen, Tropical Fruit Season

Since Malaysia is located on the Equator, we don't have season changes throughout the year. But come this time on every year, there's one thing we are always looking forward to, the tropical fruits seasons!

Love it, or hate it, durian is labelled as the king of all fruit! And as the tropical fruit season undergoing, durian can be spotted virtually almost everywhere. From the roadside to the comfortable supermarkets, you can get them from as low as RM 3 per kg to even RM 25 per kg dependable on the grades that you are getting.

Can you distinguish what durian class is this?

It's the famed D 24 grade

Being a durian fan all his life, my dad shared with me that D 24 durians comes with a very sharp thorns and looked way more spikier than other durians. As for the colour of the shell, it should be in a greenish goldenish colours. The flesh should be in a bright yellow goldenish colour, and you know that you are getting a genuine D 24 durian.

Bright yellow goldenish flesh

Thick and meaty flesh
The taste of D 24 is very rich and thick. It's the combination between bitter and sweet at the extreme end before the tanginess kicks in to your tongue.

On my previous durian experience, besides D 24 durians, my Dad bought another different class of durian.

Another different class of durian

Any idea on what class of this durian is?

Labeled as "Hung Har" which literally means Red prawn, the durian shell is in reddish brown colour and looked to be less spikier compared to D 24 durians. The flesh are slightly orangish in colour and the colour does make it look a little more attractive than D 24 durians.

Orangish flesh of Hung Har

Flesh were slightly less meatier
The taste were slightly milder than D 24. I would describe it as very creamy and milky. Less tangy too, this is the grade to go for should you think D 24 taste is too rich for you. I like this Hung Har grade!

I'd always think that mangosteens is a brother to durians because they always season on the same time. It's like a saying, whenever there is a durian, there is a mangosteen.

Mangosteens

I remembered how my Dad tricked me when I was still small by always telling me the correct amount of flesh available in a mangosteen fruit without tearing it apart. And as I grew older, he finally shared with me the trick!

Count the petals below the mangosteen
The trick is to count the amount of petals below the mangosteen fruit. As for this mangosteen, it has 6 petals, so the amount of flesh within should be in a clove of 6!

And does the trick work?

6 cloves of flesh
So it was right! This is a proven trick and you will not get it wrong to guess the amount of flesh cloves within a mangosteen fruit. Mangosteen flesh itself is very sweet and juicy. There was a myth saying that you should not eat mangosteen with sugar or else you risk getting a diabetes.

My mum did shared with me an interesting fact about the tropical fruit season. She claimed that there are more people get sick than usual with fever, cough, flu or sore throat are the likely association when the tropical fruit season is undergoing. A bit hard to digest for me, but since I'm already being hitted with those sickness, I supposed I have every reason to believe my mum's claim. So do drink more and more water especially you are a fan of durian because it is a very heaty fruit!