Monday, August 6, 2012

Malaysia - Ipoh

Ipoh updated *6Aug2012
+8 GMT

Where one can stay
Heritage Hotel
This basic amenity hotel is located just at the outskirts of the 'New'& Original Ipoh Old Town. Big rooms greet guests, however, room floors have a sticky residue. No gym or swimming pool available. A 5min drive or 15mins walk gets you to the main township. Hotel is also located 2.5km away from Ipoh Sultan Azlan Shah Airport.

Free Wifi is available however you must get a 24hr-Validity wifi access card from the concierge. Connection is available for a single device at a time. Disconnecting from devices completely, prove difficult.

Parking at hotel is also free, however you need to have your coupon validated at the front desk before you leave the hotel.
Complementary Breakfast Buffett with an extensive and diverse spread available every morning. Fresh egg stations, cereals fruits and option of local or western breakfast options.
ABBATip:
- Go to the concierge to obtain a map indicating food places. All the more famous eateries are clearly listed and you can be well on your gastronomical adventure.
To Do:
Ipoh Township
The eateries map shown previously, pretty much highlights all the must try places for a foodie. Parking is easy and plentiful. Lots of wholesale mini shop lots, selling toys, goodies, snacks, arts and crafts and various trinkets. Plenty of shops laden the area, selling instant Old Town White Coffee, Pomelos, local biscuits and delicacies, readily packaged for travel.
Can Do:
Gua Tempurrung Caves

For the leisure hiker, to the spelunker in you, the Gua Tempurrung caves offers an outdoor adventurer, a few hours worth of activities. Located some 22km from Ipoh town,  an approximate 30min drive would get you to location.

Tour prices range from 6RM to 22RM per person. Tours start from the basic hike, to having to crawl in tight spaces and even through underwater systems for approx 22RM.  Be in awe at the massive caves spaces, stalactite and stalagmite fixtures. A variety of tours is able to bring out the inner-adventurer in you.
Click here for ABBA details, tours and prices of Gua Tempurrung Caves

ABBA Note:
- Have proper foot wear, with ample drinking water. Not for the claustrophobic
- The most basic of 'tours' available, constitutes a 20mins hike up and down stairs but requires a U-turn back. Don't expect new scenery.

To Eat: 
Lou Wong Ipoh Bean Sprouts Chicken
*Indicated in Eateries Map*

Due to the unique calcium carbonate waters in which, the Bean sprouts are grown, it results in bean sprouts being extra crisp, short and sweet,. Full flavored, and blanched to perfection.
What was ordered:
Steamed White Chicken.
Chicken Feet *Steamed in a herbal broth and
steamed till tender. A first time having it
served in this fashion. a nice flavor profile.*
Served with a choice of either Fragrant Chicken Rice or Silky Ipoh Hor Fun
Click here for ABBA location of Lou Wong Ipoh Bean Sprouts Chicken

Ipoh Fu Shan Dim Sum
*Also Indicated in Eateries Map*

A two-tiered Dim Sum house, resembling that of a modernized traditional Chinese tea house, with a windowless facade, overlooking the streets below.
What was ordered:
1 Century Egg porridge and 1 Fish Porridge
2 plates of Chee Cheong Fun with crispy onion
Har Kow (Prawn wrapped in white flour)
Siew Mai (Pork wrapped in yellow dough skin)
Black pepper Siew Mai
Char Siew Pow (Sweet pork bun)
Green dough wrapped dumplings
Kong Ba Pow (Pork Belly Bun)
Yong Tau Foo (Assortment of brinjal and chilli with fish paste filling)
Phoenix claws (Steamed Chicken Feet with chilli)
Steamed, soft pork ribs with yam
Meat Balls
Fried Carrot Cake
Portuguese Egg Tart. 
Fed 8
Overall good flavor, atmosphere and variety.
Total:RM120
Refer to Eateries Map for location
ABBATip: More kid friendly than MingCourt Dim Sum
Orders sheet are given after service of tea. Upper floor, to my knowledge is self-service. Order what you want and pass order cards to staff.

Oversea Restaurant:
There are several branches available which serve up fine Chinese cuisine.
What was ordered:
Roasted Meat combination. 
*Excellent caramelization, good fatty distribution, 
juicy and succulent, all in a single piece of Char Siew. 
Double up orders are a definate*
Stir Fried Tang Hun & Bean Sprouts
 *Not too oily and served with the signature, 
crisp, sweet, Ipoh bean sprouts is always a winner.*
Claypot salted fish and pork belly.
*Fatty-pork's natural sweet flavors are beautifully
 enhanced by the dry chilli as well as the salted fish*
Large Fresh Water Prawns steamed in egg white.
 *Steamed to perfection. Just done right, with flesh springy and delectable.*
Bean curd with hairy cucumber
Order as per required for PAX present
A great place offering a good selection of Chinese dishes executed perfectly. During time of visit, they were also selling their in-house brand of various moon cake flavor profiles.

Funny Mountain Soyabean*Also Indicated in Eateries Map*
Long queues, no seating but excellent silky smooth bean curd await the patient. Packet to go or eat on the spot. Both equally enjoyable, and a great way to cool down with an order of cold soybean or grass-jelly packed chin chao drink. 1.5l sized takeaways are available at RM4+.
Click here for ABBA details on Funny Mountain Soyabean

Monday, July 2, 2012

ABBA - Cydia


Cydia Apps
*updated 12thJuly2012*
-basic must haves-
Click here to see ABBA i.T apps
Barrel
Purely aesthetic mod: Want to have more interesting variations to your page transition? Get Barrel from Cydia

BTSTACK
BT Stack allows you to connect via bluetooth to an external device. There are other variants to this app which allows you to bluetooth your iPAD to a keyboard/mouse.

SBSettings

Tired of going through settings, to turn on or off wifi/bluetooth/3Gdata, adjust brightness or lock rotate. With this easy swipe allows for quick access. 


Overboard

Overboard allows you to have quick easy access to all available pages that you have on your iPad/iPhone. No more slow swipes to the left or right!


iFile + Safari Download Manager
With iFile, you are given the freedom to look into each of the apps, to retrieve images or data. More importantly, with safari download manager add-on, you are able to specify where to download files from the internet and retrieve them later on.

IAP - In App Purchase
With this, you are, as the App name suggest, bypass In App purchases. 


Cydelete 

Be able to delete Cydia apps as you would any normal App. It beats having to go through Cydia to uninstall a particular program.

Mult-icon mover

Tired of moving icons one by one from page 1 to page xx on your iPad/iPhone one by one. By multiselecting the icons, you can move multiple icon all at once, making organization of your iPad/iPhone a breeze.
Infiniboard/Infinidock
 
Tired of seeing so many folder. With infiniboard/Infinidock, you are now able to have as many apps as you want on a single page/or additional ones on the dock. 


Killbackground
OS running to slow? With this, you can instantly kill all background running Apps, thus speeding up processor speed as well as extending battery life.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

ABBA - gogoGadget


ABBA - gogoGadget
Portable Wireless Router
Have wireless internet for more than one device where ever you may go. There are several varieties to choose from depending on needs and preferences. From wired, to self battery- powered routers, to added 3G dongle rebroadcasting.

Pictured Wireless router, approximately 7x7cm, wired power and only LAN-jack port capabilities, was purchased from a tech-fare in Singapore at SGD35.
TP-Link is a good brand where you can pick up one of these, and prices are $35 and up depending needs and specifications. This was the smallest I've seen thus far.

iPAD2 Wifi+3G
iPad2 or any of its variants needs no introduction, however,
ABBATip: Only Wifi+3G version of iPads have GPS Chip.
The long battery life, along with great screen size as well as available map apps allow for turn by turn navigation, or a walking map. No more squinting at a small screen or worries of phone battery life running dead within a few hours of GPS usage. 

If anything, a tablet with GPS function is highly useful as well as on the move entertainment/journal keeping etc.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Join ABBATravel

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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Australia - Perth (Parmelia Hilton Hotel)


Where crew stay:
Parmelia Hilton (Tech Crew Only)

*Updated 21May2014: Free Wifi in the LOBBY! Each login last for 8hrs.

Click here for ABBA Location of Parmelia Hilton Perth, 14 Mill St, Perth WA 6000, Australia
Located at the edge of the CBD, there not much in terms of cheap good food around the area, but a short 15min-20min walk in any direction would pretty much bring you to town or to the river side for fantastic dines. Perth Exhibition Center is beside the hotel and may have special events on during your visit.

There are Bus(Free cat runner services) which bring you to "North Bridge" for your oriental meals, art and historical museums and night life, as well as to "Harbor Town", another shopping enclave for big discounted brands. Walking to these places are totally viable as well.

Train station is just located around the corner, for the more adventurous willing to travel out of the city. 

ABBATips
- Latest report is that PERTH does have internet avail in the room now
- Only Internet available is in the business center or in the lobby level. Open 24hrs. Obtain password from concierge.
*If u wish to Skype home, bring along headphones and mic (single connection is for 24hrs use)
- NO free meals. 25% discount on room service and meals.

- Free usage of their gym.
Parmelia Hilton (Tech Crew Only)14 Mill Street, Perth WA 6000
Click here for ABBA location


Getting Around in Perth with the FREE CITY CAT
Most of the locations are walkable from the crew hotel. However for ease of getting around, the simple to follow, color coded network of bus services helps travelers get to where they need to be with ease. Self explanatory boards and accurate bus timings, enhance the already user friendly experience.
 LATE NIGHT Shopping Avail EVERY FRIDAY.
Shops Close at Approximately 9pm
YPJT-JDK-Jandakot
(General Aviation Airport)

To get to JDK is pretty straight forward. 
1 - Purchase a 2zone ticket. It covers the MRT and Buses
2 - From "Espanade Station" located behind the hotel
3 - Take 3 stops down to "Murdoch Station"
4 - Take either Bus 515(walk from Turnbury Park Dr)/516(walk from Farringotn Rd) to JDK.
Time taken (MRT15min+BUS+WALK= 1hr45min -_-;)
ABBATip
- Call College Ops 0894174188 and request pick-up from________ at your discretion.
- Buy a single ticket, AUD3.50, valid for 2hrs from time of purchase if your visit is short. A day pass unlimited rides, AUD10+. A trip up and down would be cheaper @ AUD7.50
*"China Southern Cadets" have always walked from main road bacck to JDK airport, but its a lonnnnngg 45Min walk in!*

Saturday, May 5, 2012

ABBA Apps


ABBA I.T*updated 08Aug2012
*Please do a search to find the latest version available for Android/Apple Apps.
Aviation
Know if the flights have been arriving on time and know where the aircraft has been!
- Track Flight by Number/Tail Number/Flight Route

- Get the latest SID/STAR charts. Have your entire flight route plotted. Additional info of frequencies, danger areas and much more with JEPPFD. Charts are constantly kept up to date.
Add (BTSTACK from Cydia & an external bluetooth GPS device)
- Have a moving map in the air!

Snowtam provides pilots with the following useful collection of tools for cold weather conditions:
SNOWTAM decoder
, MOTNE decoder and a cold temperature correction tool.
 How to get LIDO flight plan on your iPAD?*only for Jailbroken users*
Step1:
Through Cydia, download "Safari Download Manager" and "iFiles"

Step 1a: In Cydia, you can search and add additional sources which allow for free installations

Step 2: When viewing your CFP, a pop-up message will appear. You can from there select where your file is downloaded to.
Step 3: In iFiles, you can rename your files to "______.pdf".From there, you can select and choose >Open In>Good Reader. 


 Airports
This app not only gives you the longest runway available, but at a quick glance, the ATIS, METAR/TAF as well as airport elevation. Even VOLMET.













Aeroweather
List down all the airports enroute and get the latest weather en-route.


 
iChangi 
 Want to know where the aircraft is parked, arrival and departure of A/C. Easiest app to use so far.

Communication







- Basic communication phrases, essentials to flirtatious. Good fun with Audio play back to learn a language or converse with another individual.

Navigation 

- Offline map viewing for cities. Works well with your inbuilt GPS on phone/tablets.
- Vector based maps keeps files small. The added paid feature of Wiki Plus for offline viewing allows for your own travel guide about places of interests and eating locations.
ABBATip: For Jailkbroken users:
- Download Citymaps2go and Wikipanion Plus Separately
- Under Cydia, download IAP.*Note There is no icon for this. It runs in the background*
- In Citimaps2go, click purchase Wikiplus. It should immediately go to download the files without calling out your AppleID and password. 


 










- Gives dead reckoning positioning even in tunnels. It uses your last known position and speed and continues to give directions even with no GPS signal in tunnels.
- 2D/3D view. As you slow down, the map zooms in to see a specific turn off that maybe coming. The Faster you travel, a greater overall view to look ahead.

Photography
Canon Sg Lens: Free at Apple iTunes
Excellent App to see the practical differences in camera settings and the results it gives. A handy tool for new photographer enthusiast as well as seasoned ones to see the latest products available.










  

Panorama
Really capture the location with this app. A full 360 environmental view of the place. Augmented reality.

Photography - Very smart software where it the system reconstructs several pictures and combine them to make it into a larger picture or panoramic one.

Utilities












Pages
This is a great working platform. Allows you to save and email either as a word document, pdf or as a pages format. Powerful tool for active writers or work on the go.










Good reader
Excellent Utility to read all your magazines, or online articles. You can transfer via ITUNES>Apps (Method is same as how VLC transfers videos. Scroll below to see.
or
Add files accordingly or by mapping a network drive.















Ever-note
A helpful free app allowing you to add notes and have tags for easy retrieval.

 
Checklist Apps
Get any Checklist APP. Its a very helpful tool to make sure you don't leave anything behind at the hotel that you maybe staying at. Plenty of good free ones are available online.












- Weather forecast. Nice interface to see weather over the next few days. Excellent for planning your outings.
 











- Find out the best exchange rates with up to 10years of currency history.
Entertainment
 










VLC Player
- Load and view all of your shows without having to convert them.Follow these easy steps to soon being able to watch almost any video online!