Counting down... 21 Days.

Only 21 days left in UK, for my brother, he got less than 14 days. Most of the preparations have been done, we already received the boxes for shipping things back to Hong Kong, I already got a preliminary quote for my car, I am selling or sold most valuable items in my home. According to my schedule, next week will be the most important and busiest week before I leave UK, as my brother is going to leave UK after next week, and that week, Matmat and I are going to London for the final time (shopping for her mom and meet up some friends), basically, that week (6 - 11 Nov) is blacked out.

So, if everything goes according to plan next week, I am sure I'll have a worry free trip when going back to HK! God, for once time, please make everything goes smoothly.

Match Day - Everton vs Chelsea!

Yes, if you remember, I bought a ticket for Everton vs Chelsea today. It is my first time to participate in a football match! I've been watched football in front of TV for long long times, but a REAL one, it is really astonishing!

First of all, now, you have no more commentary, all you see is 22 people running around the field, if you are watching from a distance, you have really no idea whom is whom. Second, as I am joining the Everton fans, and their recent record is not as good as they expect, so I believe they are more looking forward to winning the leader in the board. And sure, their prayer is answered, in first half, Everton 1-0 by a penalty kick. Oh gosh, watching penalty kick is really something can't described by words! We are very lucky, both score is in our side of the goal, Chelsea equal the score just after second half! Anyway, I'm really looking forward to see a match, the atmosphere, the noise, the tension. Soooo Great!

Technorati Tags: Fun, Travel

Counting down.. 28 days to go.

Originally, we planned to ship all our belonging by Fedex, a Box cost about £145 below 25 KG. It is a bit expensive, so instead of using Air, we decided to go ground(sea) shipping, preliminary check is about £85 per box and £35 each afterward. But it will take over 1 month, well, this rate, is indeed very good, I even had a temptation to ship my PowerMac back to HK, but no. It'll be a waste.

And I am already gathered a list of dealers and auction places to sell my car, I hope I can get about £4000 from my current car. I plan to sell it in early Nov and then rent a car for the final trip from Lancaster to Oxford. Hopefully, selling car would be as easy as selling thing on eBay.

And talk about ebay, I still got tons of thing to sell in ebay, my PowerMac, MatMat's notebook, and it could be my iBook if I find a good price. After a long decision, I decided to get a cheap Mac Mini for the temporary computer during this period, if I sell my iBook, that Mac Mini could be my only computer in this period. Just hope I can get sell them at a good price!

Many Tickets and Counting Down.

Yes, bought the ticket, so I am definitely coming back (well, it is as concrete as ever been since 2 months ago). Except plane tickets, I also bought 2 ticket for this Sunday Football match, Everton vs Chelsea, it'll be my first as well as probably last time to see a football in this few years. I can't wait this Sunday!

In case you are interested, I am coming back on 17 Nov 2005, arriving HK on 18 Nov by Virgin Atlantic (A340-600, yay!).

Apple 3rd Special Event in 2 months.

YEAH! That's exciting, after they launched the iMac and iPod last week, Apple has once again arranged a special event for PRO market machine (PowerBook, PowerMac!). Yes! That's what I am talking about, give us new PowerBook!

I am hunger for a new notebook! Give us a HiDef Powerbook, with iSight Buildin, dual core CPU! NICE!

Apple 既 Special Event, 就好似等巴士一樣, 一係唔黎, 一黎就 3 架一齊黎..

Moving In

Something very freaky happened yesterday while I am talking to my father, he asked me if he need to arrange accommodation for me and MatMat after we come back to Hong Kong. And not long before, just before MatMat left for Swiss, I talked to MatMat about a plan. She pretend to stay in UK, but secretly come back to Hong Kong and get a job that she desired, as her family seem kind of not supporting her in many ways (esp in career) and the way they treat her (esp her mother). I had one second to believe MatMat will agree to this plan and live with me in HK, but that's not the case. Even though how her mother treat her, she still want to go back to her family, afterall, it is her family, she said.

I am not against her decision, but I don't really want to see she getting hurt from anyone, not even from her family. I just respect her decision, I gave her a choice, but she kindly rejected. I'll keep the plan in mind, just in case, it'll be needed ... someday..

Assorted thing.. Apple and VoIP

Since MatMat is not here, I've got more time to sit in front of computer , but it is not in a healthy way. I now usually sleep at 5-6am, then wake up at 4-5pm, and outside this period, I am glued into the seat! Afterall, many things have been happened after MatMat went to Swiss.

First of all, Apple's new iMac. Honestly, I don't really care their new ipod, they have been like pushing iPod for many years, pretty much ignored our Mac user. I know they are going to switch to Intel CPU very soon and no point to release any big update. But I NEED a new laptop/notebook very soon, I am moving back to Hong Kong, I can't bring my PowerMac and Apple Display with me! I was hopping they would update the PowerBook, as it is overdue already! On the other hand, they don't update the Mac Mini, some lucky people will receive a "better than advertisement" spec Mac Mini, but I am usually unlucky and get the old stock. No way I would buy a Mac Mini in this period.

Oh, come back to topic. iMac, I particularly like their new Front Row software, its intuitive is much better than Media Centre and very user oriented, the embed camera is just a gimmick to push more sales, I am not really interested in that. But thinner, more powerful and most important, bundled with good software, thumb up to Apple!

And while I am reading the ""live"" news update from Apple that night, I was playing with my HKBN's 2B once again. This time, someone mentioned about they can access the b21.hkbntel.net web page, then I feel dumb, I tested so many hosts and why don't I try the basic port 80! Shame on me, then I load up my PC's HKBN client and do the packet sniffing again, this time, to my wonder, it works! I have no idea why, probably I am just lucky!

Anyway, got all the info I need and found I only missing the Authentication header, and I added "Auth" to always. Yap, it work on my Mac. I tried to call a few Hong Kong local hotlines, it works, very clear, very good quality! The next step is getting it to work in Sipura adapter, no problem! Work right away when all parameters in! Will talk more about it later!

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPod, VoIP

Today, many important events..

Dunno if it is a good day for people, but there are a few things are going to happen today.

1) Chinese second manned Space mission
2) Estate agent visit (not really that important)
3) HK's new CO Policy Address (it is important for ppl in HK, probably, but not for me)
4) Apple's Press Conference for unknown new product (The most important thing for me, sadly)
5) Footie - England vs Poland (not as exciting as before, as England is qualified for the tournament)

It is my first time to watch live TV about Chinese space program, totally different to US one, I can't say it is not professional, but I used to the NASA one (from movie or TV).. hee.. First important stage is finished, now, let's see what happen when they return.

Time without MatMat...

It is first night since MatMat has been so far away from me, usually, MatMat only went to Oxford or London, this places are in the same time zone, same telephone network. But it is weird that I can't talk to MatMat easily. Strange. I wonder what'll happen once we go back to HK, lucky is, we are still in same time zone, same telephone network and best of all, within 50 miles radius!

Today I also went back to school to pack all my belonging, this should be officially the last day in Computing Department for this year. With the help of one of my colleague, it went great! I am expecting to come back to Lancaster early next year to hand in the thesis and viva. Just hope it can stick to the plan.

MatMat is going for a holiday..

To Switzerland, without Me for 4 nights! As she is just visiting her friend and I've tons of thing to do before coming back, so I'm not going with her. It'll be a headache for me and my brother, it could be a rotation of Take Aways, Monday Kebab, Tue KFC, Wed Chinese, Thu Kebab again! Hoo..

UK Car Insurance...

Even-thought I am leaving UK very soon, I still need to renew my insurance for a year and then get a refund in November. So, as usually, I shopped around for insurance, at first, I am quite disappointed by the fact that none of insurer gave me a quote that is under £500! Even my old insurer, they still quoted me £518, and the cheapest on the Internet is £508! Wow, I remember last year I was paying like £450 for a year insurance. It is so frustrated!

I was nearly give up for "Best Quote" quest and to go back for my usual insurer. I found one, £336! Wow.. it is nearly £200 quid cheaper than ANY insurer out there! You may ask if it is a doggy company? No, it is Churchill! A very well-known insurer in UK, their nodding dog icon is one of best ads in UK. I checked their insurance policy, still give you a free courtesy car if anything bad happened (touch wood!), £100 cheaper excessive (£250 vs £350 from my old insurer), free 30 days Europe cover (not necessary for me!), general comments in newsgroup are ok! Wow.. Good that I shopped around for insurance. Now, I saved £200!

I am HAPPY!

HKBN's 2B VoIP Service - Part 2...

Since I knew about HKBN's 2B VoIP Service. I immediately checked their website throughout, since they said they offer 3 months REAL free trail, so I went ahead and got an account.

My first impression is, GREAT! It allows you to select a "your-choice" of 3 prefix phone numbers from hundred of them, in case you dunno about HK's telephone assignment, 6 and 9 are for Mobile number, 2, 5 and some 3 numbers are for home, 8 is portable number and finally 1 is service numbers. So, I got a quite nice 3xxx xxxx number from HKBN, after many ticks and clicks (I remember I have to agree a dozen of T&C before they allows me to get an a/c(!)). Eventually, I got the detail in email, my username, password AND to my surprise, proxy address and domain. This is a clue that it could be an SIP service! Is it or is it not? Yeah! It is, I am right, it is indeed a SIP service! I downloaded their 28M (Why do you need a SIP client THAT large?) client, and with some blackmagic and voodoo, I found they are using Nortel's SIP client and indeed using SIP handshake! Yeeeha! SIP client! A very good thumbup for HKBN to use SIP protocol.

HOWEVER, like most HKBN service, this 2B is indeed very unstable, even using their client, I am still not able to connect to their SIP server (s21.hkbntel.net in case you want to know) as we speak, so I can't check their voice quality or voice lag. Hopefully give it some time and it'll connect.

While I am waiting the SIP client to connect, I then try to use their Web Control Panel, just like most SIP VoIP provider, they give you Call Forward, Conference and Voice Mail box as an inclusive service! Yeah! A portable international number!

Seem HKBN's 2b is quite a promising service for any Hong Kong expat, for just HKD$48 (£3 or USD$6), you got a local phone number for local people to call you up as well as UNLIMITED call to Hong Kong local number natively (no more 852, just dial as u were in HK)! What a fantastic deal, much better than buying those Prepaid calling that expire in 2 days and dialing hundreds of digits in order to get through to HK.

Hopefully they will make their server more stable, then I can continue my VoIP review part 2! Honestly, HKBN is really a frontier in adapting technology among HK's ISPs, I admire their guts in doing "out-of-the-box" things, just like this VoIP service. However, if they really keep things simple, or use Apple's words - "Just Works", I have no doubt they could be HK number 1 ISP, IDD, Telecom or whatever... a brilliant service but seldom work is really a shame.

Technorati Tags: VoIP

Pattern of Sick..

Seem I've found a pattern of me getting a flu, seem every year, I got flu twice, usually in April and Oct, the weather changes that is most unpredictable and rapid... Am I just need to do more exercise? omm... Just hope it won't make the matter worse when I go back to HK..

Hong Kong VoIP softphone... FINALLY!

Today I found one Hong Kong company began a service called "2B" by HKBN, basically, it is a VoIP Softphone service that gives you a local number, HK local people can use the local number (3xxx xxxx) to call the softphone. I have no idea if this software is a standard SIP client or not, if it is SIP-compatible then it'll be very exciting news for everyone oversea! Since you can use a standard telephone and connect to a SIP device, dial any HK number just like u r in HK! It would be better if they offer any forward service, if you happen to come back to HK, you can forward the number to your local mobile or telephone, a TURELY portable GLOBAL voip number!


Too bad it is too late as I am coming back to HK soon, otherwise I would have give this service a try.

Technorati Tags: VoIP

Oh.. Sick again!?

Yes.. seem I caught a flu again.. fever, running noise, sore throat... why.. !?

Manchester Trafford Centre..

Yesterday was the probably last time for us to visit the Trafford centre before we go back to HK, in this trip, finally saw the rumoured Applestore Manchester! Yeah... If it open in Late Oct, then I may probably go to visit Trafford, again!



And I also find a very interesting product for Sudoku. Sudoku is really a great hit in both UK and HK, I saw countless people buying Sudoku book and playing Sudoku on Train, but i have no idea why people'll buy this:



You have to "create" your sudoku to play on this tabletop... omm..

Technorati Tags: Apple

Selling Selling Sold!

Back to Hong Kong also means I have to sell loads of items (afterall I've stayed in UK for nearly 6 years!), books, DVDs, misc computer accessories and electronic items.

Today, I started to sell my books and DVD at amazon UK, total 47 items ! Within 12 hours of putting them on Amazon, I already sold 3, my goal is to sell half of them, then the remaining (e.g. the old edition computer books) will be donated to charity. Honestly, I just hope my books can find a good home, so I set the selling price very competitive, most profit is only enough for a cup of tea or a dinner at most, but it is way better than throwing them away.

Actually, I really wanted to keep some of these books and DVDs, but it'll be very expensive to ship them back to HK, it'll be cheaper to buy them in HK than shipping it back. Farewall Books and DVDs, hope you can find a good home...

Next Stop, eBay computers and stuffs!

VoIP, again...

As I am leaving UK very soon and I intent to keep a UK phone number as well as phoneline in case I've to call UK. Calling UK's mobile number from HK is extraordinarily expensive, it could cost over 50p per minutes, also giving a UK number to my school or other companies allows them to call me easily. So, I dig up my VoIP adapter again and try to find a good and reliable provider.

Here is 2 VoIP providers that I am thinking to use from many which can't satisfy all my need (e.g. local number, highly stable, free voicemail, free forward as well as allow credit card deposit and so on):

1. sipgate, I had used from for 0800 number since I got my adapter, however, seem they are kind of unreliable. It is not easy for people to call in. But they offer local number 01xx 02xx for free...

2. voipfone, seem they are highly recommended by people in uk.telecom.voip newsgroup, I tested them for a few days, always get tone and no problem when calling in. however, their downside is local number costs you £1.99 per month. Not good...

So, hunting is still on for a VoIP provider!

My Excellent Applecare Experience - UK

I originally typed this in iMacGuru.. But seem it is also good if I post it here... My good experience about Applecare UK!

近來非常忙, 亦非常黑, 係我去 Paris Apple Expo 果時, 架 iBook 個 HDD 可能係舟車勞頓之後放棄左我 (架 XDA IIs 亦大病一場, 提外話..), 好在去 Paris 之前 Backup 左野..

返黎之後有 d 怕去 Applecare 整, 因為 10 月中就會搬, 怕 Applecare 唔生性將架 iBook 送去舊地址就 PK, 想自已換, 不過上網 Check 過 iBook 換 HDD, 嘩, 分屍咁, 見重有一個月左右 Applecare 就打去問下可唔可以有個快 d 既 Turnover...

個 Indian 既 CS 非常 Helpful, 問左成個鐘野之後 (都係 Reset PRAM, Verify Disk 呢 d Procedure), 就話要 Inhouse Repair, 10 個 Working Days 左右, 我問係咪最多係 10 個工作天, 佢話好多時都唔駛, 快既 5 個就 OK! 好! 信佢, Order 左個 UPS Recover Pack... 呢個係今個星期一...

星期二, UPS 個吉盒到, 入面 Instruction 好清楚, 打返去 UPS 叫佢第 2 日黎收...
星期三, UPS Collection, 其實只係去返英國一個 Repair Centre, 100 Miles 左右
星期四, Apple Support 個 Status 話 In Repair...
星期五, 完全係冇 Expect 過, 有個 DHL Delivery, (我一直 R 晒頭有咩 DHL Delivery, 因為去係 UPS), 原來係我架 iBook!! 入面有張紙話 Replace 左咩..

只係我個 HDD 有問題 (死左, 有好可怕既 Click Click Click 既聲)... 但係個 Note:
678-0387 Combo
632-0175 Flex

又 R 晒頭點解會換左隻 Combo Drive (之前係 Sony, 而家係 Toshiba, 快左小小), Flex 就好似係 HDD 個 Mount 同 Cable, 有冇知情人仕可以話比我知係咩黎... Anyway, 隻 HDD 都換左, 本來係 Seagate, 宜家都係 Toshiba.. 重新 Install Tiger, 一切正常, 靜左好多好多 (Both Combo Drive & HDD)

我只係覺得 Applecare 真係好值得... 我架 iBook G3 800, 3 年前買, 今年 11 月到期, 真係好在! Thank you Applecare!

Technorati Tags: Apple