11/04/2017

Homomonument, westermarkt, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)


Photo by Adam Carr, Public Domain, Link  

In my humble opinion, doing nothing is always better than doing something bad or mediocre. If you want to honour the gay community, great,  do so in a way that is clear that you are doing so; do it in a way that the monument is visible and everybody can easily identify it and photograph it. Instead, this supposed homage is unnoticeable and nothing you would stop by unless you know this is a monument.

I was there, looking for this 'monument', I expected a lovely sculpture or visible thing you can call monument, not this. This is a triangle on the floor that leads to a triangled set of stairs that ends on the canal. For a second, I thought that the deco smoking booth by the canal was the monument, until I realised that there was a set of stairs leading to the canal, and a bunch of flowers there. 

Amsterdam is a beautiful city and this was one of the most disappointing sights I've ever seen!

Lagoon Spa (Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia)


I found this place through Tripadvisor, to whom the photo is credited. 

I was staying in another hotel in the area and I book my preferred package the day before. I booked by email and, just in case, also by phone. Afterwards, I received a clear email with information about price of the package, without taxes and with taxes included, length of the treatment, and pick up hour, as they offered me a free lift to their place. 

I had the Lagoon Delight Package, two hours and a half of pure bliss with rain shower (ohmy!), full facial with Pevonia cosmetics, full body massage and traditional coconut scrub. 

The lady at reception and the therapist were really friendly, caring and helpful. The therapist was very attentive to my needs and did a fabulous job. 

The premises are inside the Seminak Villas hotel, and the treatment rooms are beautiful, and have a bath and mini-pool in the attached garden area. 

I was sorry not to leave a decent tip, as I was leaving Bali a few hours later and I had got rid of most of my Indonesian money, but I thought they deserved it. Pricing was very good for such a long and good quality treatment. 

I wanted to go to a nearby Post Office walking, and no way, they didn't let me do that and asked the hotel caddy driver to drop me there. 

I really enjoyed my visit and I would certainly go back there if I happen to visit Bali again. Terima Kasih!

Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse

  I have many mice at home, and Microsoft's are the best for work purposes; I have had some of them for over a decade and they are still working.  In my quest for the perfect elusive work mouse, I came across the Microsoft Ergonomic Mouse, and I had to have it.

Overall, this is a great mouse. It looks beautiful, it is made of good quality materials, and feels luxurious and even sensual in the hand. The mouse is very responsive and sensitive to movement, and provides a smooth fast mousing experience. It has a very soft pleasurable not-noisy clicking.  My hand rests naturally on it, and the thumb rest area is very comfortable; the angled positioning of the wheel and clicking buttons really work for me. The side blue button allow you to open Microsoft start menu and it is really easy to use in the position where it is.

I tested the mouse on a Windows 10 computer and run without a problem.

Unfortunately if you, like me, have small hands, you are going to return this mouse because it is too high, too bulky and too heavy for small hands, and not a keeper if you work in front of a computer the whole day and want to have a health hand and arm posture.

I hope Microsoft sees the light and makes a mini version of this one, because I would love to have this keeper in my hand size.  

Lenovo Yoga Mouse


7/10
I travel quite often so any flattish mouse is going to grab my attention instantly, especially if it is as cool as this one. The Lenovo Yoga Mouse can be folded and unfolded at ease and has the USB dongle conveniently stored within the same mouse. An internal pivot allows the lower part of the mouse to rotate and get into mouse position, or go back to flat and use it as a mini-remote with slides or media players to adjust the volume, move back and forward, and rewind. When the mouse if flat, the clicker feature is activated, and the contrary happens when the mouse is on.

I found the mouse lovely, very good looking, lightweight, and sober in looks. It is easy to charge through the provided USB cable, it charges fast and the power lasts for a long time if you don't use it as work mouse. It has no scrolling wheel but a touch central strip that does the job and has a Microsoft button that activates by clicking on.

On the down side, the clicking is a bit hard and metallic in noise, which can be hard on my hands at the end of the day. The touch area seems less responsive to touch than other touch mice, and the bluetooth tracker seems also less sensitive or accurate than other mice I have.

The mouse is comfortable in general, but not for long periods of time or for full-time work. I noticed that my hand and arm were getting tired and stifg. My thumb and pinkie finger hang from the sides like two outcasts, and for whatever reason it feels unnatural because, once the mouse if bent and in mouse position, the angle on is a bit sharp, not rounder, on the sides. To be fair, I have small hands, so a person with bigger hands and fingers might have no issue at all. For me, however, it makes it perfect as a secondary mouse, to use it with my entertainment and travel computers, and as an alternative mouse for work when I want to give a rest to my hands from my usual mouse.

The packaging is very flashy, but it has a lot of unnecessary plastic waste. I would rather have a fabric pouch provided to protect the mouse than a bulky hard plastic case, difficult to store, and totally impractical.

The mouse does not have removable batteries; it charges by using the provided USB cable from any power source.

The main virtue I see in this mouse is its versatility, it is an overall nice mouse, perfect for travelling and a good price for the fanciness in it.

I have used the mouse in two different computers running on Windows 10, a new one and a very old one, the latter with less touch and connectivity capabilities, and the mouse works perfectly in both.   

10/29/2017

Grocer & Grind (Seminyak, Indonesia)

https://www.grocerandgrind.com 

Nice all-round Cafe. 

 This place is a quiet corner in the busy heart of Seminyak. It has a modern spacious layout, and a menu of Western food favorite dishes and drinks with a bit of Indonesian flare. They had young fresh coconut, and that always makes me happy and is my fav Indonesian drink. 

I had a veggie burger, which comes with fries. The fries were excellent, crunchy, golden, delicious. The burger was lovely but a bit dry; I think a bit of mayo would have solved the problem! Also the patty was too big or the bun too small, so the patty kept sliding out of the bun all the time. 

Staff were lovely, very friendly and talkative. 

Pricing is similar to what we pay in Australia for the same thing.

Sisterfields (Seminyak, Indonesia)

Sisterfields could be anywhere in Melbourne. It has very good creative food, trendy decor, spacious premises, different seating areas, and a great vibe from early in the morning. 

Most visitors are Australians and foreigners. 

Service was fast, attentive and very friendly. 

Coffee was excellent. 

My Shashuka breaky was delicious and satisfying. 

I paid 23 dollars or so for my breakfast and a coffee, the same I would pay in Oz for a similar thing.

A very enjoyable visit. 

4/21/2017

Crown Promenade Perth (Western Australia)

Great Eastern Highway, Burswood, Perth, Western Australia 6100, Australia Phone: (08) 9126 7118 
Photo courtesy of the Hotel website.  

I've been to a few hotels in Perth along the years, mostly for work purposes, and paid similar prices in some; comparing value for money, level of service, level of comfort, and styling of the rooms, the Promenade is in my list of happy and repeat, something that none of the others has achieved. You get the posh treatment without blowing up your budget. Here a wrap up of my experience

THINGS I LOVED
+ Very helpful polite staff at reception, concierge and cleaning. Some of them extremely friendly.
+ Great bedroom! Quiet, spacious, trendy, beautiful and very comfortable. I was upgraded to a room with spa-bath and Nestpresso machine, and I was in heaven!
+ Very good comfy mattress. Firm but not hard on the back.
+ The plush robes are fabulous!
+ Kettle and tea/coffee facilities in the room.
+ TV with plenty of national and international channels.
+ Great variety of quality toiletries and very good quality towels.
+ Very comfy table and chairs to work in my room.
+ Buffet breakfast at the in-house café. Pricey, but really good. They don't prepare coffee for you, but there is a decent coffee machine that prepares it for customers for free. A guy called Scott at the eggs cooking area went the long mile to please me and every other customer there!
+ The 200$ bond turned out to come handy. I ended dining and coffeing in the complex a lot, so I diverted all my expenditure in the complex to the Promenade. I got the remaining unused bond back before my departure.
+ Free general Crown Internet worked great, fast and no limit for browsing and general emailing and photo uploading. It demands re-login every hour or so, though.

THE SO-SO
> Location is a bit out of town. Nothing beside the Crown Complex, so if you want to shop around or have a coffee in a proper café, there is none but those of the different hotels in the complex. I had to take a taxi to the city, and Perth is not a cheap place for taxis.
> The pillows. Huge and soft, but not the best if you have neck and shoulder problems.
> The wardrobe is perhaps the biggest let down in the room. Not much space inside for a person, even less so for two, and not even a horse to put a big suitcase on in the corridor either.
> Small OK outdoor pool.
> Small crowded lobby and not specially charming, comfy or inviting.
> Ugly view from my room.
> The in-hotel café doesn't have breakfast a la carte. Proper coffee is paid separately.
> The guests' Internet didn't accept the correct login data I was giving. So I used the general Internet in the complex and was great. I took my own portable Wi-Fi hotspot for work and used that for work-related Interneting and mailing.
> Just one café in the building.
> No spa, beauty or hair salon. They are in the other Crown hotels, at a five-minute walk. At least the spa in the Twin Towers is overpriced for the services they offer; you will be paying mostly for the fab premises. Go elsewhere.

OVERALL
I loved this hotel!