Tech : Huawei P9 Lite Review

Hey, it's time for a new phone! Upgrading from a 4-years old Galaxy SIII model to this is really a big step forward for me personally. No more laggy interface and apps anymore!

I choose the black one because it looks super edgy
(photo credit: huawei.com)

The flagship P9 with two leica lenses and top-end specs looks very appealing especially the price which is almost a quarter less than it's competitors, but I could not justify spending that much money on a phone (yes, I am kiam siap). Thank god, Huawei came out with a lil P9 sibling - P9 lite. First of all, this phone is a bang for the buck. For just a thousand ringgit, I can have the latest phone with some good specs. I am not a power user or phone gamer, so I am certainly very satisfied with it. 

I really like design of the phone: a medium size phone with rounded square edges and a thin body (7.5mm). Coming from Galaxy SIII, I thought 4.8" screen size is the maximum that I am wiling go, but these days most mid-tier android phones are roughly 5" or larger. One month later, I still find it difficult to adjust to the size but it is not impossible to live with it, I can make do for the trend. Plastic material was chosen for the cheaper counter part but this does not mean the phone looks cheap. I find the built quality is very good, every corners join perfectly and feels solid holding it.

The phone is powered by Huawei's own Kirin 650 chip and Octa-core CPU. Coupled with 3GB Ram and android Marshmallow the phone flies through every applications I use. App switching is equally fast enough. Mind you, my normal usage usually 1-2hrs of web browsing, 1-2hr of social media/messaging, under 1hr of youtube-ing and some random apps or calls. Whenever I'm indoor I'll connect to wifi if not mobile when needed. That's why the 3000mha could easily last for 2-3 days and sometimes even longer. Also, I notice there is no overheating issue when using the phone. 

The phone also comes with a fingerprint scanner at the rear of the phone. It can be use to unlock the phone and as a track pad to slide down notification tray and other interface navigation. I find the track pad function very useful and starting to use it more frequently. There's a 13 mega-pixel camera with led flash. The camera launching speed is good enough and packed with settings and features for some who like to venture out of autofocus. Picture quality is fair enough but not great. I find pictures tend to have a lot of noises. So, you might want to think twice if ya'll like to capture nice pictures and selfies.. 

Another thing is the user interface. If anyone who is familiar with ios interface will sure find the similarities here. The emotion ui is very similar to ios and some may like it and some may not. It's a matter of preference I think. I personally is familiar with ios so I have no complain with it or I just don't mind (the similarities doesn't bother me). The Ram management is quite good as I always have 1.6-1.8GB of free memory space. Plus, it's easy to close all apps with just one button. 

After one month of usage, I certainly have no major complain using this phone. For anyone that need a decent phone with good quality. P9 lite should be in your consideration. Final remark, this phone actually has a notification light! My No. 1 criteria for buying a phone. 

Book Review : The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

(photo credit: google books)

One word to describe this book, beautiful. To be honest, I noticed of this book after the film "Carol" trailer caught my attention. I did't watch the film at first, but glimpses of the film already provide me some visual to imagine according to the story. It is far more easier to imagine the book with the face of Carol (Cate Blanchett) and Therese (Rooney Mara).

Basically, this book is about love, forbidden love between a young, fresh, a little lost woman with an independent, seasoned and resolute woman. The love relationship here is not complicated, but I feel that they are unsure of how deep of their feeling towards each other. Added to that is the uncertainties with the concept of homosexuality. There are no burning flame love or grand proclamation of love towards each other but everything is brought down to very basic love emotion: compatibility with each other. I guess that's why travel consists most part of the story. 

Apart from the romantics between the two, (I am not born in the era of this book setting) I truly understand how important the invention of mobile phone is today. I'll just say telegram is a chore, hotel is very important and postcards really something back then. Or I should say, telegram while travelling is a chore, going next town to pick up telegram, this hotel to pick-up telegram, and next hotel to leave a telegram (oh my, I can't even). Postcard is the best, it's just simple and concise. I cannot not think about this all the time reading this book.

Finally, I really really like the ending of this book. Some say in every relationships, there is a "reacher" and a "settler". In this story, I think they are both the "reacher".

Book Review : Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah

(photo credit: goodreads.com)

No doubt this will be one of my favourite book. This is a memoir of Adeline Yen Mah's journey from child to adult across some of the most difficult times and places in history. I am always interested with the life and settings of power family and Chinese cities. The book is easy to read, everything is narrated clearly and concise.

I consider this book some kind of a family's dirty laundry exposed. All the stories within the family, the gossips and the secrets. The writer basically told her stories growing up in an upper class with wealthy grandfather, aunt, and parents but never really have the chance to enjoy a grand upbringing. Her unfortunate life was mostly portrayed to be caused by her beautiful stepmother (the typical evil kind) and a father who is forever unable to be satisfied despite all her achievements academically. The whole family bond also got affected when the stepmother took her position as the lady-in-charge in the house. The already negligible daughter became more invisible. 

Besides all those internal drama, the story follows how family survived a series of event that happened to China and guarded their wealth safely. Adeline moved from one place to another and another to a point of being abandoned. Nonetheless, she was brought back to reunite with her family. She continues to be successful academically and later in her career, but struggles to obtain universal human needs: love, especially from her parents (including her stepmother).

I see the book as a daughter looking for love and recognition from her own father, waiting for a pat at the back, and "well done, Adeline".

Tech : Augmented reality - iproperty goggle

(photo credit: iproperty.com Malaysia)

I can only think of how futuristic home buying can be. This new little goggle device could walk customers throughout a building through virtual space, generating cool visual experience for buyers to grasp the sense of a space while helping customers to imagine the space specifically for them.


I guess in the future, visiting a development showroom will not be the same as before. Skip the usual 2D flyers and the scaled models, and try on the virtual showroom in a special lounge that starts simulating from the moment you "enter" the building.


Right away the virtual space can show several options of space usage or interior designs. Whether you are planning to have a party or thinking of usage planning, simulations can be done to show how spaces work or doesn't work according your preference. Even better, displaying how spaces can be transformed to accommodate occupants as family members grows.


The virtual space can be informative with all features highlighted together visual effects. Information regarding size and amenities or even better green features of the building that can show the efficiency energy consumption.


Well if this were to be implemented to something like self check-in kiosk as we experience nowadays, where human services can be substituted by machine, I guess developer can employ lesser sales agent and let the robots do the run-thru. Allowing making marketing reach greater public.

Perhaps in the future, showrooms or sales booths will something look like this.

(photo edited from Inception movie: warehouse scene)