Next trip to Saigon

Next month early March i will be on my first business trip to Ho Chi Minh city, or previously known as Saigon. In fact its airport still carries SGN as name. It will be my 3rd trip to the city, the first more than at 2008, the second just last year. I have observed huge change to the city. Many new buildings but lesser motorcycles. Perhaps the population is getting richer and can afford car.

In my last trip 9 years ago i stay at New World Hotel, one of the best hotel back then. Last year i stayed at a budget hotel nearby the walking street. For next month, i will attempt my favourite hotel chain Accor. It is fascinating to find that there is a Pullman as well as Novotel at Ho Chi Minh and the Pullman seems cheaper. As a former French colony i would have wondered Vietnam is filled with Novotel, but it is not.

Right now, work aside, i am planning what to buy. Coffee bean, anyone?

The Amazon Fire tablet is on sale during this valentine season, discounted by $10
that makes the 8GB version around US$39.9 RM178 and the 16 GB around RM267
It is really a bargain, considering that other than having some amazon contents BUT also ads, it can interface with Alexa. considering that Echo dot cost $49.9, this is a cheaper version that can also act like tablet and as Kindle ebook reader.

I am really seriously considering getting it but haven't make up my mind whether i should go for 8GB or 16GB. Take note that it does support microSD card but some apps needs to be installed on built in storage. Now get by clicking the link below

Transferring Photo from iphone to windows 10 with SHARE it

my iphone 6p has being complaining about lack of disk space for months. Today i have finally transferred out many GB of photo to my windows 10 laptop. How to do it? After some searching, i settle down to an app that i have previously used for transferring files between android and ios, SHARE it. surprising it works like a charm and it is free (unlike some tools like wireless transfer app that has in app purchase)

first download SHARE it from windows store and install it on laptop. Likewise install SHARE it on iphone.

after that, connect both the phone and laptop to the same router. start the app on iphone, choose transfer. Start the app on windows 10, choose receive. Then we choose a folder to transfer, in my case my entire camera roll, and just sit back and relax. Due to its huge size it does take long time.
 

Day 2 Las Vegas to Williams for Grand Canyon

With the long journey ahead, we want to leave Las Vegas early for Grand Canyon. Along the way, we have decided to stay at a small town named Williams.




We reach Williams around 9pm. It is basically a city with two main roads, with shops and motels lining the streets. We stopped by a first one it cost around USD54 per night, and good for up to 4 pax. The strange thing we discover this trip is that most US motel has 2 double beds and can sleep up to 4. We eventually settled at the second motel we asked and it is a chain by Wyndham group, the Travelodge Williams Grand Canyon. Over the next few days, we continuously stay at Wyndham group franchise hotels. They are basic but provide free basic breakfast and the price and quality seems ok to us.


click here to find all the hotels at Williams.

Almond 3 in Malaysia

i bump into Almond 3 while shopping for Amazon Echo Dot. It is a smart router with a touch screen that can support Alexa. Price at below US$140 per unit (cheaper if you buy those 3 in 1 package), it can double up as a DIY home security system. With its ZigBee support, one can try out various home automation project with it.  i actually bought what it terms as Used-slight imperfection on box

I have set my unit up today, connecting it to a LAN cable. the setup is very intuitive and browsing is really a breeze. When it is idle, it will become a clock.

 

it comes with a stylus at the upper right inside corner of the unit. with touch screen it is so easy to find out the settings

next step:
link with Alex
do some DIY hardware that connect to Almond 3.

Setting up Amazon Echo Dot and Using Alexa in Malaysia

I have purchased my very first Amazon Echo Dot last week at USA. Here are my small findings about how to set it up for usage in Malaysia.

Firstly, use your pc browser to go http://alexa.amazon.com . Now, i find that i cannot do the installation from phone based app as it requires a USA based account. on my iphone i tried change my region to USA but it still doesn't work. So, do go straight to pc based to set it up.
Follow the screen instruction to setup. I choose English (USA) instead of UK. Upon successful setup, i discover only USA region is supported. this makes my calendar query (yes, it works out of the box and can detect my not so US-English slang)

I will spend some time playing with it and post more findings in coming days. If you do want to buy echo dot, it doesn't ship to Malaysia. But while if you are at US, remember to signup for prime (free trial 1 month) and ship for free. The only thing is the 2 days free shipment sometimes is not 2 days (one have to take into account weekend)

Long time no write

it has been almost 2 years since my last blog. Ever since then i have picked up trail running, take up more engineering work. But the excitement has caused me not writing any post. I have also lost interest to write on stock and believing more on passive but positive earning investment. It works, by the way. I concentrate my energy exploring other matters, mostly still engineering and outdoor related. This week i am at Boston, just a river across the famous MIT. Perhaps the location has triggered me to think again my engineering life. I have got to do a cool engineering feast. Well, the past few years i have engulfed myself with work, work, work. I might have lost my inventorism, makerism, hobbyistism. Somehow a purchase of Amazon Alexa Dot , and the subsequent related products have helped reignite my makerism. Now my mind is toying with some small projects with it. It is late night now i got to sleep, but next morning the first thing to do is to buy more Alexa Dot Echo Dot (2nd Generation) and a cool wifi router known as Almond 3Securifi Almond 3 (Pack of 3)
I will write more about them later.