Linc's 6th Birthday 2016

Today is Lincoln's birthday.  I took half day off in the afternoon to pick up his birthday cake and prepare for a celebration at his school with his classmates.  The boy turned 6 today.  It's quite hard to see how he grows up so fast, I feel like I hadn't spent enough time with him.

Anyway.....  My wife ordered a separate cake for his birthday celebration at school.  It's a Doraemon themed cake which looks really cute.

Lincoln's Cake for Celebration at School

A Different Kind of DIY - Orient Stingray EM7J001B

Still on DIY, I have a handsome watch by Orient - Stingray EM7J001B.  Doesn't cost a bomb but way cool and stylish.  The problem is, the calf leather strap cannot stand the humidity and have really degraded over time.

I decided to use the Hirsch strap I got for my Seiko Baby Tuna SRP655K1.  The original Seiko rubber strap has a lug size of 22 mm but the actual width after the spring bar slot is actually 24 mm.  While the strap looks good, it does come across a bit small for a 50 mm watch.  I thought it will make a good replacement to my EM7J001B.  The very funny fact is that..... the strap's price is $40 more expensive than the watch itself - it's a leather & rubber hybrid from Hirsch's performance straps series.

The Watch with the New Strap

Acer Aspire One D255 Major Upgrade

So after I upgraded my VAIO's HDD to an SSD,  I've been very impressed with the performance - zippy performance all over and extremely fast start-ups.

I have a 6 year old Acer Aspire One Netbook lying around which I've lent my sister but then she abandoned it.  Can't blame her because it is so slow and quite painful to use.  So I decided to have a go at upgrading this netbook too in the hopes of making it still usable.

The first task is to upgrade the OS from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 10.  The start up was slightly faster.  The good thing about Windows 10 is that it somehow improves performance of devices with inferior hardware but only up to a certain degree.

After OS upgrade, I got the SSD first - a Samsung Evo 850 which comes with a migration software, unfortunately I had to get the SATA adapter myself.  Since I couldn't get that frigging adapter in my local IT shop I had to wait 4 days to buy it online from Qoo 10.

Brand New 250GB SSD to Replace The Old HDD

You Become Tiger I Become Rooster

So I just had this interesting exchange with Lincoln.  I was trying to make him eat some peaches.  This is frustrating because he just doesn't like eating fruits and leafy vegetables.  So I jokingly said to him "If you didn't eat any fruits and vegetables, there will be black tiger marks appearing all over your body starting with you forehead and cheek, then your ears will turn pointy and you'll grow whiskers like a tiger" - he's born in the year of the tiger.  True enough, he started eating the peach although only 1 and a half piece....

After a while he came back to me and said, so if you don't eat your vegetables and fruits your mouth will turn yellow to a beak and you'll grow that red thing like a rooster!" - he knows I'm born in the year of the rooster.

I was pleasantly surprised with what he said and laughed at it as he actually cracked a joke.

He's a big boy alright!

Here's a closing shot for this very, very short entry.

Doraemon 12 Signs - taken all the way back in 2010

~ Photo taken with Canon 5D Mark 2 + EF 24-105mm F4L ~ 

Linc's MMA Trial

Last Saturday we took Lincoln to Evolve MMA for a trial class.  I & my wife thought that it would build his self confidence and release some of those excess energy so that he can focus better when he studies too.

He attended a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and a Muay Thai class back-to-back.

Linc in his BJJ getup

LG G5 - Finally

Okay, so my handphone change could not wait any longer.  My old G3 just stopped detecting my memory card altogether and some of my apps that are in the memory card became inaccessible.  While I could transfer the app to internal storage, it also means that I would run out of space in the phone.  Taking photos also mean that they will be stored in the internal storage.

So I checked my telco provider's website for the contract rate.  I was really lucky that the G5 had a $200 off promotion.  I had also passed the minimum re-contract period which means that they will waive the $200 (yes $200, not $100 which I previously thought!!) admin fee if I re-contract now.  My G3 itself is still worth $150 if I trade it in.  So not wanting to delay any longer (while the promotion is still on) I decided to just go for a G5.  All-in-all I got it at a price of $229, which is not bad for a flagship.  I had considered the Samsung S7 but the price difference was a good $320.  So I thought the G5 is a better buy, where dollars and cents are concerned.

The G5 is really a sleek phone.  While it has a metal feel, it's not so heavy as compared to let's say the Sony Z5 Premium.  The G5 feels more comfortable in hand.  It's thinner than my G3 because the back is flat and not curved.  But what I really like is the fact that it is light despite some of the metal parts in the body.  The loudspeaker placement is also better this time, which is at the bottom of the phone instead of the back which makes the ringtone and any other notifications more audible when placed inside the pocket.

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