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Mouse Hunting

July 20th, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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Ever since my girlfriend showed me her brother’s wireless mouse, I wanted to buy one for my self! I was drooling over the “Wow! No wires!” factor of the little thing. Quite frankly, it was also my first time to see one in action! I’ve been meaning to replace the mouse I am currently using which is, a.) not an optical mouse, b.) not a wireless mouse either and c.) It’s not even mine! (it’s rb’s!)

I also wanted to use my… er… rb’s old mouse at work ever since the company I am currently employed gave me a laptop for office use. I have been using the stupid touchpad which is as fun as eating soup with a fork. So I requested for a mouse, even a sucky one at that and fortunately, they gave me one. I am not quite happy with it though because it’s small and uncomfortable to use and rb’s mouse is really comfortable and I want to use it at work to reduce stress and all.

Thus the mouse hunt began! I started my hunt in SM Baguio and only on SM Baguio because they have shops that accept credit cards for payment. There are shops outside SM Baguio of course, unfortunately they don’t accept credit cards. I only found 2 shops that sells what I am hunting for, Octagon and Gigahertz. The first one offers a modest variety (overstatement) of wireless mouse than the latter one (Octagon with 4 models and Gigahertz at only 2).

I saw two models with a price tag of PHP750 and PHP850. I could buy that since it’s cheap and it’s the exact type of mouse my girlfriend’s brother have and… well… it’s cheap! But the plastic also looks cheap and I fear I may break it just by sneezing on it.

I decided not to get the cheap one so I checked the other one’s and they are shiny, cool looking and the size ain’t so bad and brand is Logitech.

Unforunately, they only have 2 models, one is Logitech models V320 and V470.

Here’s what they looked like:

Logitech v320
Logitech V320
Logitech v470
Logitech V470

V470 is out of the question because it doesn’t have a bluetooth receptor so probably you need to have a bluetooth transreceiver built in into your notebook (or desktop) in order to use it. It eliminates the possibly of it being useful in any notebooks or desktops the doesn’t have a bluetooth connection so I have no choice but to get the V320 model.

Before buying the sweet little thing, I wanted to check the prices on the internet, mostly in Villman’s website for comparison and was surprised by the difference of the price.

At Villman, the price for a V320 is only 1795 pesos and for the V470, 2095 pesos while in Octagon Baguio, it costs 2395 pesos for the V320 and 3250 pesos for the V470 model. The difference in price is really huge! I checked on Amazon.com for the prices of the mice. V320 which cost around 1780 pesos ($30.50 + $9.00 shippng). The list price is 2205 pesos ($39.99 + $9.00 international shipping). For the V470, it costs 2350 pesos ($42.24 + $9.00 shipping) with a list price of 3000 pesos ($57.40 list price + $9.00 international shipping).

I don’t know why they won’t lower their prices despite their price tag on the items looks really old and dusty and looks like it’s on their shelf for more than a year. I wished they’d lower their prices to match the current prices. This is exactly what would happen if there are no shops that could challenge their prices. The other shops only carry 1 brand of wireless mouse and it’s A4Tech. A4Tech is great and all but the designs are not that sleek and not as sexy as compared to Logitech’s designs. I just love monopoly!

Cd-r king should open a shop here in Baguio and wreak havok among the other shops. I am actually interested in opening up a franchise and even went as far as contacting them. I did get in touch with them but they don’t seem to be open for franchising. Too bad, the market here in Baguio would be great even my boss buys our accessories in Cd-r king and there are plenty of internet cafes, IT firms and call centers could benefit from their low price.

It’s a Brown Huntsman Spider!

July 7th, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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I’ve finally found out what kind of spider that lives in my apartment. It’s called a Brown Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda venatoria). I really didn’t research on it. I just read it in a book about keeping tarantulas as a pet while waiting for Resie at the National Bookstore. There is this part in the book about tarantula look alikes and I saw one look-alike on the book that matches the one in my apartment. So I did a little bit or research to verify this, and when I say little, I just visited Wikipedia about it.

I know that seeing a spider this big (with a legspan of 5-6 inches) will really give you a scare. but is it dangerous? The answer is: NO! Here’s what Wikipedia says:

“In general, Huntsman spiders are not regarded as dangerous, and can be considered beneficial because they feed on insects (Many Australians will relocate Huntsmen to the garden rather than kill them).”

Brown Huntsman SpiderBrown Hunstman Spider

“Brown huntsmen are welcomed in many homes as they feed on pests such as cockroaches and silverfish.”

So I just let those spiders go around the apartment and surprisingly, there aren’t any roaches and other crawling insects. Hopefully this information would be helpful in case you see one and let it live an eat roaches instead of kill it for it’s horrendous look.

Brown Huntsman SpiderBrown Hunstman Spider

By the way, one brown huntsman spider lurks in my girlfriends house. It actually tried to bit me when I poked it. Hahaha! There are no roaches in my apartment. Don’t kill it, it’s a natural anti-roach.

Nokia 5310 XpressMusic

June 22nd, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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Three weeks ago, my girlfriend Resie showed to me a phone model that I can use as a substitute for my 3rd gen iPod because I wanted to buy a new mp3 player. My dad bought me that iPod 4 years ago and it’s battery life today decreased from 6-8 hours of play time to 3-4 hours. The phone she showed me is a Nokia cellphone being displayed on one of the cellphone retailers along Session. I really liked it because not only is it thin, it is also a Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, meaning it has dedicated buttons for mp3 playback. Another feature I liked on that phone is that it has a 2.0 megapixels for a camera, built-in radio and the best thing is that there are 2 colors of which I can choose from, blue and red. So we asked for the price and it costs PHP 4000! I immediately texted my dad to buy me that phone since it’s so cheap, it won’t hurt my dad’s pocket.

Nokia 5310 XpressMusicNokia 5310 XpressMusic Colors
 
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Pizza Volante - Pasta and Rice

June 11th, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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Pizza Volante does not only serve Pizza, they also serve Pasta, Fish, Lamb and Beef. Below the page are the food they serve. I only tried their Grilled Lamb and Porterhouse Steak and I must say they are delicious! The lamb is soft but the beef is softer. For their pasta, their meatball is really huge! The light is good for 1 person and the regular is good for 2 - 3 persons.

I haven’t tried any fish on their menu because, well… why eat seafood in Baguio City when Dagupan City is just 2 hours away? :)

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We Need Girlfriends - Episodes 10 - 11

June 5th, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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Last two episodes guys. Hope you enjoyed the whole series! :)
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We Need Girlfriends - Episodes 7 - 9

June 5th, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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Who is that guy back in episode 6? Find out on episode 7!
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We Need Girlfriends - Episodes 4 - 6

June 5th, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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Here are the episodes 4 - 6. Hope you enjoy as much as I did! :)
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We Need Girlfriends - Episodes 1 - 3

June 5th, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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We Need Girlfriends, it’s a sitcom about 3 guys whom their girlfriends broke up with them after graduation. I feel it’s like an upgrade from the “American Pie” mentality we had during high school. Enjoy guys! Hope you enjoy this episodes as much as I did!
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SM Baguio is hiring!

June 5th, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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Hello guys! I am going to meet Resie this afternoon in the National Bookstore and remembered that I am out of Globe prepaid credits. So, I stopped first at the SM”s stall o’ prepaid cards and bought me a fat load of 300. While waiting for my turn to buy one, I saw this ad:

SM is hiring!
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Pizza Volante - Vegetarian Pizza

June 3rd, 2008 by Francis Zabala
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Ok, here’s Pizza Volante’s selection for the veggie-lovers!

Here’s their main pizza selection.

Pizza Volante
Open 24 hours
Tel: 445-0777 or 619-0466
This is an incomplete list of their food and price.

6″ 8″ 10″ 14″
Mozzarella Cheese Pizza P 93 P 186 P 279 P 558
Real mozzarella dripping generously the wait it should over our special pizza sauce and yeast crust.
Pesto Pizza P 75 P 150 P 225 P 450
A combination of fresh basil, garlic, roasted nuts, virgin olive oil, and Parmesan cheese on our freshly baked yeast crust.
Mushroom Pizza P 108 P 216 P 324 P 648
Tons of mushroom sautéed in virgin olive oil for more intense flavour are slathered liberally over the pizza. A light sprinkle of sharp Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella makes this one ideal for the weight conscious. Light and filling.
Pizza Margherite P 91 P 182 P 273 P 546
A simple classic recipe with basil, fresh tomatoes, garlic, and Mozzarella cheese.
Vegetarian’s Dream Pizza P 122 P 244 P 266 P 732
Roasted ripe pimentos and chopped fresh basil on top of fresh broccoli, mushrooms and red onions, sautéed in virgin olive oil. Parmesan cheese adds a nice sharpness to the Mozarella in this one.