Smartbro Wimax Review Part IV

So it so happens that I have a close friend working at Smart whose expertise happens to be Wimax technology, and I happened to talk to him this morning.

This post was what started the grueling whole-morning troubleshooting of the problem of my connection. Unfortunately, the only thing he can check is the status of the serving site if it's behaving efficiently. So here's what I got from him:

1. The modem doesn't have to be in the line of sight of the serving site.
2. I'm the only one using Wimax on the sector I belong in so there shouldn't be a problem. Sorry I couldn't explain what a "sector" exactly is.

After he checked the status of the serving site, he said that there was no problem there, so I'm back to square one. He told me to try to call customer service but he also forwarded my problem to the complaints department already. I guess I'll just have to wait and hope that this gets resolved soon. :)

Smartbro Wimax Review Part III

So today's the 5th day of my Wimax connection. And it's getting pretty frustrating on the browsing part.

I've noticed that the connection almost stops - yes, STOPS - from around 7PM to 11PM. I could download my torrents but it's a bit slower than normal, and I could *not* surf the internet. I just hope this improves overtime. I hope someone from Smart reads this. :)

Smartbro Wimax Review Part II

As promised, here's a photo of my WiMax modem:

Motorola CPEi 825

As you can see, I'm very fortunate to have good reception (the five signal lights on the left side of the modem are all lit). This with my room at the back of our apartment and surrounded by high walls. I hope this does not change though.

This is almost my 3rd day of testing the internet connection. It has been pretty stable most of the time, but as is expected with Philippine internet connections, there are "set" times when the connection is slow and/or intermittent. I've observed that this certain connection bogs down at around 6 or 7 PM until 11 PM. Unfortunately for me, those are the times I am most active online, although I don't really do heavy stuff; I just surf and also check my email.

Torrent downloading is definitely fast - fastest I've seen is 125kBps (multiple downloads); I don't do streaming so I haven't observed it, but I'll try it one of these days if I remember. :)

Chic Nail Polish Review

I was feeling adventurous one day and wanted to color my nails - I usually don't wear nail polish - so I went to the mall and decided to buy cheap nail polish. I was looking for another popular local brand but I couldn't find any, and then I saw Chic.


The bottles were actually hidden from view, because of course they were showcasing the imported and obviously more expensive brands.


Anyway, I took three bottles of Chic:

Love Orchid (Peach-pink), Purple Frost, Simply Red

Two weeks ago I decided to try the red one. It was fairly easy to apply and dried fast. The following days I reapplied again. I was OC about the way I applied it the first time. I noticed that the nail polish became thicker. I tried mixing it with nail polish remover but still the nail polish stayed thick. Looks like it seemed to be affected by the cold weather, because the next time I checked the bottle it was humid and somehow the polish thinned already.


Just today I got bored with the red color so I tried the purple one. Again, fairly easy to apply, and it quickly dried.

A few minutes later I noticed that the consistency of the liquid has thickened. I'm not sure if this also happens to other brands of nail polish - although the other local nail polish I've tried haven't thickened as fast as these ones did.


As soon as I really learn how to put nail polish on flawlessly, I'll try the more expensive brands. I hope they'll be better. :)

Cajun Red Rock Review

Last Friday, we met up with my college barkada and their +1's to have dinner. Since we were late, my friends got to choose the restaurant, and they chose Cajun Red Rock at SM Megamall.

When we reached Cajun Red Rock, my friends were seated outside the actual restaurant, since there were a lot of people because it was Payday Friday. They already had their food but were only starting it, they said that service was slow. They actually encouraged us to order immediately.

I ordered Chicken Marsala (grilled chicken with mushroom sauce), with saffron rice and hash browns for sides. It kinda reminded me of World Chicken, but it tasted better.

My boyfriend ordered Mustard Peppered (grilled chicken with mustard and pepper sauce), with saffron rice and crispy mojos for sides. I liked their mojos, they were really crispy and not sloppy.

For drinks, we had bottomless green iced tea.

We also had a complimentary dessert - chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream on top with chocolate drizzle (okay I just invented that name because I don't know what they call it) - I guess because we were singing happy birthday to one of my friends.

Again, sorry I don't have any photos, we were starving! :)

For my ratings, again 1 to 10, 10 being the highest:

Food - 7

Ambience - 5. There were a lot of people and I did not really get to go inside the actual restaurant.

Service - 8. Although service was kind of slow, the servers were actually kind, approachable, and almost always smiled at the customers.

Cajun Red Rock has three branches according to Munchpunch:

108 NS Amoranto St.

Quezon City, Metro Manila

Philippines

(02) 415-2605

Robinsons Galleria, EDSA cor. Ortigas Ave.

Quezon City, Metro Manila

Philippines

Megastrip B, SM Megamall, EDSA cor. Julia Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center

Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila

Philippines

(02) 638-8387

Nihonbashi Tei Malate Review

There's a new restaurant in Malate. Well, it's not really new but I've only eaten there twice. It's Nihonbashi Tei. Obviously it's a Japanese restaurant.

The first time I ate there was with my office mates. I tried the Katsudon (breaded pork chop rice topping) set meal. This includes the appetizer and dessert - a choice between nata de coco and iced coffee. I chose the latter. Let me tell you, one serving is enough for two people already.

My office mates ordered Tempura and Gyudon set meals. We also ordered the Salmon sashimi. It's to die for. It literally melts in your mouth. By the end of lunch our tummies were already very full.

The day after I was there again, this time with my boyfriend for our monthsary. We ordered A LOT of food - Miso Ramen, Tempura, Salmon sashimi, and Katsu Curry, which we just took home. The Miso Ramen was heavenly, very authentic and different from other Japanese restaurants. The prawns used for the Tempura were huge. Katsu Curry was flavorful and not too spicy for my taste, and I don't like spicy food most of the time. The meat though was a little tough for my sensitive teeth.

Things I don't like about Nihonbashi Tei: they allow smoking in the restaurant, and their toilet is clogged up. Another downside is that most of the patrons are foreigners sans GROs, but hey, we're in Malate.

My ratings (1 to 10, with 10 being the highest):

Ambience - 6.5. I really am not one for smoking. Although I can't smell it, I know I can breathe the smoke in.

Food - 8. I have the feeling that they serve the most authentic Japanese food here in the Philippines, although I have yet to try some of the other Japanese restaurants.

Service - 6.5. Although the servers are diligent in performing their tasks, they can be noisy, talking to each other even though they are at different corners of the restaurant.

Nihonbashi Tei has two branches in the Philippines that I know of:

Malate branch(in front of the Hyatt)

483 Pedro Gil Street, Ermita, Manila, Philippines

Tel: +632-708-2807

Makati branch

806 Arnaiz Ave., Pasay Rd.

Makati City

Tel: +632-818-8893

I hope they put up a website soon. 

Massage at Let's Face It (Trinoma)

It was the first time in years that I had a massage. Since I was on a budget (after shopping for a few shoes and clothes), plus I was near Let's Face It, I decided to try their body massage. Yes, they have body massages - Swedish, Shiatsu, and Combination - but they are more known for their facials.

Anyhoo, since I knew I was stressed, and a wee bit not feeling too well because of my headache, I decided to overcome my shyness (yes, I am shy) and approach the receptionist and asked her how much would a Swedish massage cost. She told me that it depended upon the oil used, and then proceeded to show me a list of prices for each oil.

There were three oils and one cream on the list. Since I was meeting my boyfriend after my massage for dinner, I chose Relaxing Massage Oil because the list said that it had lavender scent. The massage package included a shower before the massage (optional), a drink - iced tea or ginger ale, and of course, the 60-minute Swedish massage.

The receptionist asked me for my choices and also for the body part I want the masseuse to concentrate on. After telling the receptionist that I will have a shower before the massage, have an iced tea afterwards and for the masseuse to concentrate on my back, she told me to sit down and wait. After almost fifteen minutes, the masseuse called me and told me that the shower was ready.

I was first taken to the private massage room so that I could change into a bathrobe. It was a small room with a large mirror beside the massage bed and in the corner was a sink with a candle beside it. It had a peaceful ambiance to it because of the dim light and the candle. The masseuse showed me where I could put my things. Unfortunately, it was only under the bed - there was no locker, which was a bit dismaying, but since I really had to take that shower, I had no choice but to leave the safety of my stuff to luck.

After getting into the bathrobe and putting on the shower cap, I went to the shower room. Again, only one person could use the shower at a time so it was comfortable for me. Their shower was normal, although I kinda liked the shower head because it was huge and it felt like I was under the rain while taking a shower. What dismayed me was the soap in there seemed like it was already used, so I did not use it.

Showering done, I went back into the massage room. Only a few seconds passed before the masseuse knocked and went into the room only after I responded, which was really polite of her. She then instructed me to lie face down on the bed with my robe off, and covered me with a towel, and the massage started. No disposable underwear was handed to me though, so I had to use my own. The room was quite small, that she had a hard time stretching my extremities.

After the massage I was given the iced tea and a hot mini-towel to get the oil off, and was left alone to relax for a while, but since it was a bit cold in the room, and I had somewhere else to go, I left almost immediately.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with the massage, but since I actually could hear the noise from outside, I was not really relaxed. In the numerical sense, ranging from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest:

- Massage = 7.5

- Service = 8

- Ambience = 5.5

- Security = 3

- Temperature = 4 (It was cold)

Tips:

1. BYOS (Bring Your Own Soap), if you want to have a shower before the massage.

2. BYOU (Bring Your Own Undies), if you don't want to be stark naked during the massage.

3. Ask for an extra hot towel. This is because of the hot towel they gave me easily became cold since it was quite cold in the room.

Here's Let's Face It's (that's a lot of apostrophes) website if you're interested.