life / 365 / 2011

i love you 2011, but you made me fat

2011-12-01T02:07:00.000-08:00

USB OTG with Galaxy Note

2011-11-30T03:06:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for the functionality reviews and such, id suggest you head onto these review sites: Engadget, Techradar, Cnet Asia and if you're looking for tech specs - check out the Samsung Galaxy Note official page.

However my post is to address some nagging usb connectivity questions that ive seen popping about in android forums, twitter and even amongst some off my fb friends. So in this post am gonna show some usb host connection thats available on a non-jailbroken Samsung Galaxy Note Gingerbread vers. 2.3.5 via Samsung's fancy usb connection thingamajig cable, which is basicly an OTG cable.

The Samsung USB Cable Thingy.

The official name for the cable is the Micro USB to USB Adapter, its a mouthful so im gonna call it the usb thingy. Priced about RM50 here in Malaysia, and from the Samsung webbie its USD20 everywhere else. As you can see, it comes wrapped in cling plastic, anal type people can be rest assured that it'll be safe from scratches or those random chocolate, char siew pau or ice cream stains.

An important detail in the manual says that you have to plug in the USB device FIRST to the cable because it wont work if you try to connect any USB device to the usb thingy while the cable is attached to the Note. Also, only FAT32 devices.

Galaxy Note + USB Thumbdrive

So you've ripped your cd, convert them into mp3s and you want to listen to 'em on the Note. Fairly easy, copy the files onto your thumbdrive, connect the thumbdrive to the usb thingy and then to the Note. Once the "USB connector connected" message appear, you're all set.

So launch the file explorer app, and a new folder called usbStorage will appear. This is where your thumbdrive content is located. So just copy the whole folder or the individual files into the Note and then launch your music player app. and then HEADBANG! wooohohoo

Copying the 88 megs of mp3s into the Note took less than 30 seconds. and copying the same files into an empty thumbdrives took abit longer but no more than 60 seconds. Awesomely impressive.

Did this on a jailbroken iPad, copying in was not a problem, copying out of the device via the camera connectivity kit into a thumbdrive was the issue - took me almost 5 minutes to copy a 2 megs jpg file.Tsk tsk.

Dont forget to unmount the thumbdrive before disconnecting it from the Note.

Galaxy Note + Memory Card Reader

When traveling - seriously, this is where the Note excels. The fact that you can connect a memory card reader and have it read, copy and backup your photos from your camera into the Note means that i am not encumbered by a laptop or a tablet - which also means one less tangled charger and expensive device which you'd get paranoid when you leave it in your room to think about. Since the Note is also a phone, Voila! - one more less stuff to bring around. As evidenced during my Siem Reap and recent Thailand trip, at the end off every day - all my photos were safely backed up in the Note, in a thumbdrive and because im just anal like that, i uploaded a few selected hi-resolution photos onto Picassa too.

Anyways, connect the memory card to the memory card reader - to the usb thingy and then to the Note. Wait till the "USB connector connected" message appear, then launch the file explorer app.

Just like previously, the files in the memory card will be available in the usbStorage folder. Just copy everything out to your preferred folder on the Note and launch your picture gallery app.

Galaxy Note + USB Mouse

Seriously i dont get it why people actually want this functionality. The Galaxy Note is a freakin device with a huge screen, unless you're a rhino having issues scrolling through your twitter timeline or an elephant, yea its pretty hard to tap the screen with your trunk i guess - its as useless as those forks and plates designed for left handed people.

Anyway, just connect the mouse to the usb thingy then to the Note, a mouse cursor would appear on the screen. So left click to select, right click works as a "go back" function and the scroll on the mouse only works on some websites and didnt work on any off the apps i had on the Note.

I would assume that there would be no issue connecting the Note with a USB keyboard, but since i dont have one so i didnt get to test it out.

Important Shit:

The FAT32 file system is not supported by all digital cameras and other electronic devices. Therefore, before you decide to buy the usb thingy or format a memory card by using the FAT32 file system, verify that the FAT32 file system is supported by the device that you want to use with the memory card.
Although its there, written on the manual - only a maximum of 32gigs, it didnt work with my external 250G hard disc
When connected directly to a camera, it didnt work. In this case, my Canon G12 and Nikon D40
The USB thingy manual says that you can connect the Note to various Samsung laser printers but nobody I know has a Samsung printer lying around that I can test
Yea, you bought an expensive iPhone4S and yes these USB connectivity functions are also available on your device. Riighhhtt.

Crossing Poipet, the Cambodia border to Bangkok, Thailand

2011-11-29T01:21:00.000-08:00

Did the border crossing via bus on November 2011, 9.00 am from Siem Reap - crossing to Poipet and finally reached Bangkok at 5.00 pm. You can usually get your bus tickets at where ever you're staying or you can shop around the travel agents nearby Siem Reap Old Market (Phsar Chas). Roughly you'd be paying somewhere between USD8 - USD10.

So what's gunnah happen

You buy ticket
Be at designated time and date where you're supposed to get the bus
Bus arrive, ride bus. Its free seating so if you have certain seating preference then be like a monkey and rush for the bus
Bus will stop once or twice for toilet and lunch break. If you have some Riel left, this here is a good way to get rid of em.
Instead of eating at the restaurant where the bus stops, nearby there are some stalls that sells crunchy nyummy creepy crawlies as lunch. They are unusually good, better than the ones in Bangkok

Reach Poipet, the Cambodian border. Bus guy will stick some sorta stickers on your chest
Procede to line up under the hot sun with all your bags for immigration thingamajig
If you're unsure whats your visa requirement for Cambodia, click here
Cross border on foot, only 10 minutes away

Reach Thailand border, fill in form and line up again for immigration thingamajig
If you're unsure whats your visa requirement for Thailand, click here
So, on the other side, a guy will keep on a look out with the sticker on your chest. He will holler you and tell you to sit tight and wait at a corner
Then after awhile they will announce that they're ready to move
Everyone will be herded onto a 4x4
The Cambodian bus are not allowed to cross the border, so dont leave anything behind
Based on my observation, only the hot busty ladies are allowed to sit up front. The rest is expected to hold on for dear life while the 4x4 speeds through the bumpy rocky gravelly roads

After a 15 minute bumpy ride, you'd arrive in some kinda restaurant around 1.00 pm.
Here's where they will filter the passengers accordingly. Some will go to Bangkok some will go to Ko Chang and others (on my bus that day) are heading to Surin.

The filtered passengers are then directed to take the designated destination mini vans that should be arriving within an hour at the restaurant. Be a total jerk / asshole right now and fight / hustle for the seats on the first row in the van. They're the most comfortable - trust me on this. I was seated at the last row, which can only take 3 puny thin guys and what happened was, the driver picked up 1 more gal on the way and since the four off us were practically sitting on each other's thigh, she sat on the floor of the van. It was packed and bumpy.

Take van and endure the next 4 - 5 hours to Bangkok.
Van will stop at Khao San Road. If you have a different destination, be sure to tell the driver in advance.
Eat manggo sticky rice, extra coconut milk please
Order it in Thai like a bawsee, kaniau mamuang namkhon :9

Note:

No additional payment was required through out my trip
Make sure you have an mp3 player (important!) or a book
Please have a stick of deodorant ready, because I was thanking God profusely when during the packed van ride - the usual i-cud-have-anticipated-stinky-white-guys werent stinky at all. Phew!

Travel Entries

2011-11-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

Tioman Island Juara Beach, Malaysia's Hidden East Coast Gem

Crossing Poipet, the Cambodia border to Bangkok, Thailand

hey everyone, travel wide and far, travel boldly, travel with full abandon

2011-11-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

.........

2011-10-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

2011-09-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet.

2011-08-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Life is about making your own happiness – and living by your own rules

2011-07-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

I see you girls lookin' at my junk, then checkin' out my rump, then back to my sugarlumps

2011-06-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

Here's to single living, double drinking and seeing triple!!

2011-05-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

If you were to die right now, how would you feel about your life?

2011-04-01T02:05:00.000-07:00

stop the world I wanna get off

2011-03-01T04:28:00.000-08:00

You could have it all, my empire of dirt. i will let you down, i will make you hurt

2011-02-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Juara Beach, Malaysia's hidden east coast gem

2011-01-10T03:19:00.000-08:00

4 awesome reason to head down to Juara Beach, Tioman Island, Malaysia

1. freakin awesome beautiful beach

2. there's hardly anyone there.

3. crazy mad cheap duty free beer. and chocolates!

4. epic huge waves for surfing!

How do you get there?

Introduction
Juara, Tioman's east coast is a quiet and peaceful part of the island - a perfect hideaway with its crystal clear water, beautiful beaches fringed by swaying palm trees and enclosed by beautiful lush tropical greenery. The facilities here are quite basic and tourism is somewhat under developed due to lack of easy access to Juara. The evening and nights are idyllic. There is no traffic and no noise. Juara is quiet, calm, tranquil, and serene.

Getting to MersingMersing, located about 3-4 hours’ drive north-east of Singapore - is the jumping off point to Tioman. If you're taking the bus, you may need to spend the night in Mersing in order to catch the early morning ferry to the island. Or if you're from KL - get the midnight bus so you'd reach Mersing at 6:00am. Bring a sweater by the way, as the air-con in the buses will freeze your face off.

Taking the bus

Transnational busses will arrive at the bus station in the centre of town. Cabbies will usually approach tourists with the deer-in-the-headlights-look and offer a ride to the jetty for RM10 / RM15. Unless you're a paraplegic - its only 15 minutes walk to the ferry terminal.

Ferries to Tioman
Ferries (150 passengers) depart from Mersing and can take up to 3 hours. Tickets cost RM 35 each way and they leave every two to three hours between 06:00am and 6:00pm but during the monsoon season (November to March) services are less frequent and delays are more likely where ferries might depart once or twice a day. Tidal conditions may influence the departure time of the ferry. There are approximately 6 jetty stops at Tioman island where the ferry will stop by to get people off and on the ferry, get off at Tekek jetty.

Damn these shaakey hands

For schedule confirmation, do call the ferry dudes in advance, Blue Water +607.799.4811 / +607.799.8518

4WD or hiking (?) to JuaraOnce you get down at Tekek, you need to take a 4WD to get to Juara beach, which is at the other side of the island. Unavoidably there will be touts waving you over to their 4WD and indeed, never has there been a better moment to try your hand at haggling, where usually only reserved for far-flung markets that serves creepy crawlies bugs as lunch.

So this is the raw deal, the rate usually goes for the whole vehicle - irrespective of number of passengers the nominal rate is RM60-RM70. The touts will insist that taking the 4WD will set you back a. about RM100 and above or b. charges RM50 per passenger. So do what you have to.

Usually there will be locals / tourist / surfers going to the other side then you can share the cost but if you're traveling alone and by some crazy mojo bad luck there's no one else, prepare to do some hard haggling or you can hike! its a 3 hour hike through thick Malaysian tropical rainforest via a puny concrete road and there are beautiful waterfalls along the way to freshen up so its not all bad yah.

Accommodation & Surfing
There are a few accommodation available in Juara but i always head down to the budgety Beach Shack, owned by an Australian surfer Tim and his wife, Izan. Price starts from as low RM15 / day for dorm beds and RM40 / day for a sea facing chalet during the low monsoon season. Or if you're just freaking broke, you can crash the patio with your sleeping bag for no charge at all.

Surf lessons starts at RM60 / hour and with Tim's tutelage of fundamental wave catching skills you'd be surfing in no time. Unless you're a total idiot you wont be needing more than an hour. Body boards, surf boards (shorts & malibus) are available for rent.

For bookings and inquiries +609.419.3148 / +6012.696.1093 and more photos: Beach Shack Tioman @ Facebook

Reading Materials

Notes

Its quite cold during the Oct - March monsoon season, even mid afternoons can go as low as 20 degrees. Bring a hoodie or a jacket
Get your booze, cigarettes & chocolates at Tekek side
Food is generally expensive at the Juara side of the island, so bring some bread, peanut butter, tidbits, cookies to help save some moolah
3G & GPRS mobile internet reception are available here, with somewhat intermittent connection
Dont forget your aftersun lotion.
Sandflies are a nuisance here, be prepared with some ointments if you get bitten.

As long as you're alive, things can get worse

2011-01-01T06:46:00.000-08:00

onwardss

2010-11-17T18:07:00.000-08:00

day 105 - 155

2010-05-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

day 1 - 81

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00