Christmas in Paris

Here is a photo from Christmas eve in Paris - approaching midnight at Notre Dame Cathedral:


A department store:



Paris visit can't be complete without Eiffel Tower! :


Paris was cold, but beautiful!

Christmas in London

My sister Arisa & I were in London yesterday, and enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere, and some shopping!

Here's a photo of the Christmas lights in Regent street:


And a department store window:

Concert

iPAQ - No.3

I wonder why iPAQ is named iPAQ? It used to be from Compaq, so the PAQ bit could be from there, but why iPAQ? It's so similar to ipod! I'm sure imac came before iPAQ, but where does ipod fit in? I think it was after iPAQ. Chronologically, imac - ipaq -ipod???

Anyway, my ipaq can double as ipod! It has 1GB storage space, so it can store music and movies! It can store even more via SD memory cards.
It came with a headphone, but this headphone has a built-in mic as well! (Better than ipod?). It has a mic on it's body as well, so I can use it as a voice recorder without the headphones...

iPAQ is a lot more than a 'simple' music player ofcourse, with email and web browsing capabilities via bluetooth and wifi. I was on GNER train the other day, it said it has onboard wifi, so I took a peek. The GNER website was free to browse. Not bad. But other than that, not much of an entertainment. For me, it only costs few pence to send/receive email via my mobile & Bluetooth on my ipaq, so I didn't go for the couple of pounds per 30 mins option!

So as my ipaq might say - i'm PAQed with features!?

Corn Cakes

Let me introduce you to Corn Cakes. Something new for me this year.
The thing which made me buy it was the words "0.4g Fat". It tastes like unsalted/unsweetened popcorn, shaped into a round cake.
I haven't lost any weight yet, but am very optimistic(?). I have since bought slightly salted rice cakes as well, similar, but more tastly. Just to give more variety to my otherwise boring snack...
I am begining to think what I eat with it may make more difference to the calories...

UK mobile phones

Here are some of my UK mobile phone sims. Don't worry, it is all pay as you go (not contract) sims!
SIMs are the soul of mobile phones, so it contains its identity - in this case, mobile phone number and its credit (if any).

Here is the list of what makes each SIMs special!?



O2
Good points
If you top up by a certain amount, you get lots of texts free (£10 = 300texts).
Has cheap Europe roaming bolt on, 35p/min to make/receive calls.
With international bolt on, only 20p/min for UK - Japan call.
Bad points
No GPRS internet/email via PC/iPAQ for pay as you go.
Video calls to Japan costs £1.50/min! Other networks only charge 50p/min.

Virgin Mobile
Good points
15p/min for calls in UK to normal phones.
If you sign up for direct debit, international roaming is good value.
GPRS costs is the same in the UK while roaming. (ie cheap!)
Full internet/email GPRS for PC & iPAQs
Bad points
No smtp setting for sending emails. You can sign up to pay as you go Virgin.net, and use that smtp: mail.virgin.net (have to dial up once in a while to keep it active)

T-mobile
Good points
Pay as you go GPRS capped at £1/day.
Full internet/email via GPRS/3G.
Has PAYG WiFi at T-mobile hotspots. 75p/10mins.
Bad points
Coverage is patchy
No video calling on pay as you go.

Orange
Good points
Can send 30 texts/month free from Orange website.
Full internet/email GPRS.
International roaming GPRS not bad.
Bad points
Network coverage not good at my house...

Vodafone
Good points
Very good coverage.
Vodafone stop the clock = Evening & weekends, pay for 3mins, talk for 1 hr.
Vodafone passport = Pay 75p/call, then the call cost is the same as in UK.
Bad points
Call charges are more expensive than most.

iPAQ - No.2

There's two ways of using email on iPAQ, one is via WiFi (Wireless LAN) and another is by Bluetooth. The WiFi is the one I use when I'm at home. It's free, and much quicker than booting up the PC in the morning!

When I'm out and about, I use my mobile phone via bluetooth. In my previous PDA, it only had irda (infrared). Infrared, if you don't know, is those things you use on your TV remote. The one on my PDA had shorter range, so it can be tricky on bumpy trains, holding both my PDA and mobile, with both infrared facing each other, and only 5cm apart! It get's even more tricky, if the train conductor comes to check the ticket!

With bluetooth, the mobile just has to be in range, in my case, within 10m. So it can stay in my bag. Much smarter!

In the UK, there's several mobile networks. I sometimes go to remote locations, where only one network is present. So, I am armed with several mobile sims, ready for all eventualities!

By the way, it can connect to normal internet sites too. With GPRS, the speed is about the same as dial-up. Not bad, but my sister has a 3G phone, nearly 10 times faster...