Sunday, June 12, 2011

SeaWorld San Antonio

This is a great park for kids (and adults ;-)). They have rides, shows, exhibits and behind the scene tour, up close tour and other interactive programs.
Here are some tips if you're visiting SeaWorld San Antonio.

1) Buy tickets online. (Park tickets, Parking tickets etc...)
You can find coupons online and best of all, you can print out the tickets and bypass the line at the gate.
   
2) Buy All day meal plan - this is not only for getting food but also for drinks.
Technically, we only eat 2-3 times during the day but we would need a lot of water and other drinks. For $30 (adults) and $15 (kids), you save ton of money on the drinks alone. If you eat more than 3 times during the day you would save even more. BTW, you don't have to get food every times you go through the line. Just get drinks if that's all you need.

Note:
You can't bring big cooler to the park.

3) Bring insulated stainless steel water bottles filled up with ice and water.
I have 3 of these Thermos Nissan 2465 18-Ounce Stainless-Steel Hydration Bottle
You can click on the link above to see and buy it from Amazon.com.

It's true you can get cold water from the restaurants but with the heat, the water from the plastic bottles warmed up pretty fast. Another thing is the health concerns when the plastic bottle is kept under the heat. It's best to transfer water from the plastic bottle to the insulated stainless steel bottle. Nothing is better than cold water when you're thirsty.

4) Plan ahead 
Do plan ahead on what you want to see/play and eating schedule. This is to avoid walking back and forth. It's not fun when walking under the sun.

5) Bring hats/Sun screen and other protections for the sun.
Most of the walkways in the park are not covered. So you will be walking under the sun most of the time.

6) Check ride/tour height requirements
Check their website for height requirements for the rides and tours if you're bringing small kids.

Website:
http://www.seaworld.com/sanantonio/default.aspx

Address:
10500 Sea World Dr
San Antonio, TX 78251

Phone: 
(800) 700-7786

VL Rating: Good (I would give it a higher rating if the park had more shades)


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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Adorama Coupons and Deals




    Adorama has a large selection of photographic, Video, Digital Imaging and Telescope equipments including SLR, DSLR, point and shoot cameras, lenses, camera bags, tripods, monopods, studio lighting, under water accessories and more. They also carry other products like printers, netbooks, notebooks, digital photo frames, hard drives, TV, home theather systems, rechargeable batteries and chargers and many more.
    Lots of items have FREE shipping and they have some of the best deals online.
    Check out the following deals, Coupons or promotions from Adorama below. Please click on the link to activate coupon, deal or promotion. This also give me credit for this post. Use the coupon code if one is mentioned.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Pho Hung Cuong (San Antonio, TX)

We tried Pho at this restaurant on our last trip to San Antonio based on its high rating. All I can say is very disappointed.

We have tried many other Pho restaurants around Austin and San Antonio areas and nothing comes close to what we have here in the Dallas Fort Worth area. This is one of the better ones in the San Antonio area. I guess I won't be looking for another Pho restaurant the next time we visit those 2 cities.

Address:
12730 W Interstate 10
San Antonio, TX

VL Rating: Poor (for Pho only)


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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Best way to keep and enjoy coffee

How to store coffee:
Simply put, keep away from moisture, air, light, and heat.
No need to Keep in refrigerator/freezer.

Best way to enjoy a cup of coffee:
Buy whole beans directly from a coffee roaster.
Store your coffee beans in a airtight container (avoid plastic) in a dark place.
Grind your beans just before brewing.

Since most of us would get ground coffee from supermarkets,
just transfer your coffee to an airtight container and keep in a dark place.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Pat Lobb Toyota of McKinney

We received a letter saying that we've won one of the 4 prices (Corolla, $10,000, 3 days 2 nights vacation package and 4 golden coins).
First thought come to mind, we'll check out the new cars and get the 4 golden coins for my kids to play with since I thought they can't be giving out more than 1 for each of the top 3 prizes.

To my surprise, they gave out the 3days 2 nights package.
When we got home, we called the number on the booklet and the person told me that it is actually a timeshare promotion deal. Meaning you have to spend half a day attending a presentation from the resort to get the 2 hotel night free. In other words, they're trying to sell you the timeshare. This should NOT be given out as a prize. Everyone can get this from the timeshare resorts. I believe Pat Lobb Toyota of McKinney will get paid if people attend the presentation and buy the timeshare. Now I'm wondering if the Corolla and $10,000 prizes are real.

Shame on Pat Lobb Toyota of McKinney. They should have known better.


Sunday, May 22, 2011

Target Deals




    The following deals will expire on May 28, 2011

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens (Fort Worth, TX)

Fort Worth Botanical Garden - Japanese
This is a must see in the Dallas Fort Worth area, especially the Japanese Garden. Their 'Garden Center' is totally free. Nice rose garden, Cactus garden, four season garden water fountains,  pond filled with many Koi fish and turtles and more. All for free.

For $4-$4.50/adult and $3/Children (4-12 yrs., under 4 free), you have a beautiful Japanese Garden. This is probably one of the best ones that I have been to in the US. Everything is well maintained and taken care of. My 4 yr old boy loved feeding the Koi fish (a lot of them and they're all giants :-) ) and had great time taking pictures of the place.  He keeps reminding us how much he loves Japanese Garden and want us to bring him back to feed the fish.


Website:


Fort Worth Botanical Garden - Japanese 
Address:
3220 Botanic Garden Boulevard
Fort Worth, TX 76107

Phone:
(817) 871-7686

VL Rating: Excellence

Fort Worth Botanical Garden - Japanese
If you want to go to the Japanese Garden (other gardens are just a few minute walking distance nearby), when going north on University Dr. from 30, turn left on the first Fort Worth Botanical Garden entrance (Rock Spring rd). They just put up the gate so the street sign is not very clear. Keep going until you see a Japanese Garden Ln on your right.

Fort Worth Botanical Garden - Japanese
Fort Worth Botanical Garden - Japanese

Fort Worth Botanical Garden - Japanese - Koi Fish
Fort Worth Botanical Garden

Fort Worth Botanical Garden
Fort Worth Botanical Garden


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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Tablets and iPad Specification Comparison

Tablets shipping with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) are officially here. MOTOROLA XOOM was the first tablet to use Android 3.0. ASUS has just follow suite with the Eee Pad Transformer TF101. See how they stack up to the iPad 2 in the specification comparison table below.

Specifications:




ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101
MOTOROLA XOOM
iPad 2
Display
10.1" IPS Panel with LED Backlighting, 1280x800 resolution, 10 finger multi-touch support, scratch resistant glass
10.1-in.; WXGA (1280x 800 pixels; 150 pixels / inch), HD 720
9.7" LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
1024-by-768-pixel; 132 pixels/inch (ppi), Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Operating system
Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)
Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)
iOS 4
Platform
NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 (1GHz Dual Core)
NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 (1GHz Dual Core)
1GHz dual-core Apple A5 custom-designed
Memory
1 GB
1GB
512MB
Storage
16GB /32GB + Unlimited ASUS WebStorage
32GB
16GB/32GB/64GB
Wireless
802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
802.11 a/b/g/n, Stereo Bluetooth® technology 2.1+EDR+H
802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Network
3G (Optional in Certain Locales)
3G, 4G LTE upgradeable, 802.11n w/Personal Hotspot
3G
Camera
1.2MP (front), 5MP Auto focus (rear)
Autofocus 2MP (front) and 5MP (rear)
front and back
Audio Jack/Microphone
2-in-1 3.5 mm Audio Jack (Head Phone / Mic-in)
3.5 mm Headset jack, Built-in microphone,
3.5 mm Headset jack, Built-in microphone
Speaker
Yes
Yes
Yes
SD Card Reader
1x Micro SD Card Reader
1xmicroSDHC card (support after software update)
NO
USB Port
NO
Micro USB
NO
HDMI
1x mini HDMI 1.3a
HDMI out
required Apple Digital AV Adapter
Sensor
G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-compass, GPS
eCompass, aGPS (assisted) with Google Maps™, Google Latitude™, Google Maps Street View, Proximity, ambient light, barometer, gyroscope
Digital Compass, aGPS, Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer,
Ambient light sensor
Flash support
Yes (required upgrade)
Yes (required upgrade)
NO
Multi-tasking
Yes
Yes
NO
Battery
9.5 hours; 24.4Wh Li-polymer Battery 16 hours with dock
10 hours; 24Wh Li-polymer Battery
10 hours; 25Wh Li-polymer Battery
Size
10.6x6.9x0.51”
9.8x6.6x0.5
9.5x7.31x0.34
Weight
1.49lbs (w/ battery)
1.5lbs (WiFi)
1.6lbs (3G)
1.33lbs (Wi-Fi)
1.35 pounds (Wi-Fi + 3G model)
1.34 pounds (Wi-Fi + 3G for Verizon model)
Materials and Finish

Anodized aluminum and soft touch
aluminum and glass enclosure
MSRP (Wi-Fi only)
$399 (16GB), $499 (32GB)
$599 (32GB)
$499 (16GB), $599 (32GB), $699 (64GB)
MSRP (Wi-Fi + 3G)

$799.99 (32GB)
$629 (16GB), $729 (32GB), $829 (64GB)
    If you like what I do, please support by clicking on one of the links below if you decided to buy Motorola Xoom.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Splash Lite - High Definition Video Player

What's the best player for M2TS video files? Splash Lite.
It can play a variety of high-definition video formats (AVI, MKV, MOV, M2TS, MTS, M2T, MP4, MPG, TS) especially MT2S smoothly when your machine has limited resources.
I have tried VLC and a number of players but none can play it as well as Splash Lite on my laptop.
You can open multiple files and let it play continuously. Some players can't do this. The User Interface is nice and simple.

Best of all it is free.

Website:
http://mirillis.com/en/products/splash.html

VL Rating: Excellence


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Boudreaux's Butt Paste

I call this the miracle butt paste. Boudreaux's Butt Paste works like magic on diaper rash. I've been using this product for 4 years now for both my kids. Nothing works better. I have tried other brands and they either did not work or make the rash worse. You have to try this to believe. Highly recommend this.

VL Rating: Excellence

Monday, April 11, 2011

PPA OLSHARGB Home Accent Multicolor LED Lighting Kit

This is a neat kit that comes with the power adapter, remote control and 2 12" multi-color light strips. The light output is good enough for reading though I think it can be a little brighter. I'm installing these under the built-in cabinet in my office as reading lights. It took only a few minutes to plug them in and stick it to the cabinet. It's that easy.

These light strips use very little energy. Only 5 Watt per foot. Dim it to the lowest setting and you have a night light. It is definitely great to use as under cabinet lighting for the kitchen and other accent lighting.
You can use the remote to turn the light on/off, dim/bright, change color, flash, fade, blinks and other functions.

Technical Details (from Amazon)
  • OLS Home Accent Multi Color Lighting Kit with AC Adapter Controller 2 each 1 foot LED Strips and 24 button remote with on off 16 colors dim Bright
  • Installs in minutes Easy to operate using the 24 Button Remote with 16 Color options Dim and Bright Settings On Off and 4 Display Buttons
  • Energy efficient LEDs use less than 1 watt on dimmest setting and no more than 5 watts on brightest setting per foot
  • Perfect for kitchens bathrooms garages stairs closets offices shelves dining rooms or bedrooms. Creates bright lighting or accent lighting as needed
  • Each LED Strip is approximately 12 inches long by 0.4 inches wide by 0.13 inches high with double sided tape on back of strip

VL Rating: Good




Sunday, April 3, 2011

A Day Out With Thomas (Grapevine, TX)

Went there with my son today. He had a great time.

There were:
1) petting zoo with rabbits, chickens, pig, donkeys, ducks etc...,
2) a good size model train exhibit
3) temporary tattoo booths
3) live music but I'm not sure if it's really for kid. I was expecting them to play Thomas music but they didn't.
4) 2 inflatables - 1 inflated slide and 2 inflated bounce houses
5) an area with wooden and plastic train sets. I think they can add a few more train sets.
6) and of course Thomas himself. It is not a working engine but rather just a life size dummy.
   The kids enjoyed it any way.

The ride was smooth. Total 25 minutes including both ways. Approximately 10 minutes going forward and another 10 minutes going back. I think it would be better if they run a little longer and include a stop but I guess for the price ($16 dollars/ticket if you buy online), you can't ask for too much. I think the train ride to Forth would be better but without Thomas of course. I thought about doing that one day with my son since he loves riding trains. Another cool train ride would be the Dart. My son loves that as well. Take the Dart to the Aquarium, Museum etc. instead of taking the car.

Along the tracks needs a little clean up (though not dirty) and more trees. I think it would be better if they have planted more trees along the way.

Even though we bought the tickets ahead of times online, we still had to wait for at least 15 minutes to get in. I think they should have a separate line for 'Will Call'. I also think they should give us an option to print the ticket after buying it online.

Over all, it's a great event for kids. I think it can be improved.

Tip:
1) If you definitely want to ride the train, do buy the ticket ahead of time online. They ran out of seats for the train ride when we were there.
2) Do buy the tickets way a head of time. Probably a few weeks before the events so so that you would get the tickets in the mail and by pass the line at the ticket booths.

Grapevine's 'A Day Out with Thomas' official link:
https://www.grapevinetexasusa.com/ThingsToDo/GrapevineVintageRailroad/EventsandTrainRides/ADayOutWithThomas/tabid/799/Default.aspx

VL Rating: Good (for the idea), BAD (for the environment).


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sharper Image Vornado TouchStone Vortex Heater - EH1-0032-28

Got this Vornado Heater 6 years ago and it is still working. I used it every winter. This is a great heater where it heats up the room without a hot spot. The whole room is heated up evenly. It's fairly quiet so you can use it at night. You have to use this in a closed small room (12' x 12'). It won't work very well in a large room or an open room like a living room. One problem with this heater is the display room temperature is about 7 degree off. Because of that the maximum temperature that you can set on the machine is 85 °F but it won't keep the room at 85 °F. More like 78 °F.

Sharper Image is no longer selling this model but Vornado still has it under the name "Vornado TouchStone Vortex Heat 500".

Features (From Vornado website):
• Vortex Technology: Circulates warm air throughout the whole room.
• Remote Control: Climate control at your fingertips.
• Whisper-Quiet Operation
• Timer: With auto shut-off in one hour intervals up to nine hours
• Energy Saving: By heating the room you're in, not the whole house

Multi-Level Safety Features:
• Metal Construction: Fire resistant and cool to the touch.
• Tight Grill Spirals: Resist curious fingers.
• Automatic Tip-Over Protection: Heater shuts off if it is tipped over.
• Automatic Safety Shut-Off System: Designed to prevent overheating.
• Ideal Exit Air Temperature: Same as the exit air in most central air heating systems.
• Wide Base: To maximize stability.
• Grounded 3-Prong Heavy-Duty Power Cord.
• Illuminated Indicator Light: Serves as a visible reminder that the heater is on.
• Non-Glowing, Thermostatically Controlled Heat Element: Safer and longer lasting.

VL Rating: Good


Thursday, February 17, 2011

Gyration Keyboard CG15CK

Bought this keyboard (Model CG15CK) a few months ago with the mouse (Model AS03507-001). The keyboard is compact (12 1/2 " x 5 3/4 ") and the mouse has a unique feature where you can move the cursor by moving the moving the mouse in the air.

Today, the keyboard developed a weird problem. When I type a certain keys, it display 2 letters. For example when I press the 'q' key, it displayed 'qz' and pressing 't' key displayed 'tv' etc...
Tried unplugging the receiver, reconnect the keyboard with the receiver, changed batteries but nothing worked.

Did a search on the Web but did not find anything useful.
The problem disappeared when I plugged in the receiver for another wireless keyboard without unplugging the receiver for the Gyration keyboard. Not sure what happened there.

Just want to get this out there in case someone is having the same problem.





Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sunbeam Warm Mist Humidifier - SWM5250-UM

    When it comes to Humidifiers, I don't think more expensive is better. The reason? 
     I own the following humidifiers:
    1. Vornado cool mist humidifier (HU1-0013-11)

      Price: $80

      I have been using this machine since I moved to Texas 6 years ago. It is still working fine. This one uses fan and wicks to humidify the room. It has semi automatic operation. Meaning you can set it to a humidity level by turning the knob in the front and when the room reaches the humidity level, it would stop running.

      First problem is that it is hard to set the exact humidity level that you want.

      Second problem is noise. It's kind of loud when turning to the highest speed. You would have to turn down to the lowest level when using at night in the bedroom and that reduces the humidity output significantly.

      Third problem is (as true with all wick humidifiers), you have to either throw the wicks away every few weeks or put the wicks in vinegar once a week to get all the white stuffs that have accumulated to the wicks. BTW, you can reuse vinegar. What I do is buy a rectangular plastic container and fill it with vinegar. Put the wick in the container for 1 to 2 days and take it out to let it dry as well as to let the vinegar smell go away before using it. You would need 2 set of wicks.
    2. Honeywell Quick Steam Warm Moisture Humidifier - HWM450

      Price: $70

      I have been using this for about 4 years now and it is still running fine. This one has a digital display. You can set to the exact humidity level that you want. However, it is a little off but understandable since the sensor is on the machine.

      One big problem with this particular machine is it uses a plate to boil water. When the water evaporates, it leaves the minerals on the plate and if not cleaning properly (everyday), the machine would first make loud bubbling noises and stop functioning when enough minerals have accumulated on the heating plate. Not too smart. My solution is pour vinegar on the bottom portion of the humidifier and leave it there for a few hours every morning. That would help remove the minerals from the heating plate.

    3. Sunbeam Warm Mist Humidifier - SWM5250-UM

      Price: $25

      I bought this for my son's room from Walmart a few months ago. It is one of the cheapest humidifier out there. No fancy functions. Just 2 output levels. But it outperform the other two in terms of maintenance. Everyday all you need to do is dump the water from the bottom portion and let it dry. Once a week, you just fill the bottom portion of the machine with vinegar and let it sit there for a few hours.

      I think one of the reason why it requires so little maintenance is because the heating element is like a little stick/ball hanging upside down. The minerals are less likely to stick to it. Great design. Simple yet effective.

    I don't own any ultrasonic humidifier because many people said it would spit out white powder (the minerals from water) all over the room. To me it is a health hazard. Some machines even have a filter to filter out the minerals but those filters are expensive. I think the warm mist humidifer is the best. Just be VERY CAREFUL if you have small babies at home. NEVER let them near those machines. BTW, All of the 3 machines are still working fine and I'm using all of the machines this winter.