10/25/2015

Mandala Colouring Pages by José David Pujó

I am going to use the F word... Free, Fun and Fabulous.

Mandala Colouring Pages is a free app that allows you to do something that is very trendy right now because it is very relaxing and enjoyable always -- colouring. You have 90+  mandalas to colour, a large colour palette and a binaural tune that absorbs you in ways that I find difficult to believe. Some of the mandalas are very basic and simple, while others are very intricate, and  there are some figurative motifs as well. 

The app has many features that put it ahead other similar apps. Music on and off, huge colour palette, easy way to undo and redo an action, touch zoom in and out, easy way to size in/out the colour palette and the mandala, save your mandala to your SD card, share it easily, the app runs fast and is very light, the adds are minimal (a small banner at the bottom of the screen, which invades the full screen occasionally) and much more. The price for the add-free version is little over $1 and worth paying because this is an awesome app and  you will get endless hours of creative relaxing Zen.

I recommend it to anybody, especially if you are anxious or nervous or find difficult to concentrate because the app is extremely relaxing and absorbing and seems to bring your mind to the right now of pure Zen.  If you are are already a relaxed and cool dude or 'dudine', this app works with your natural strengths and helps you with your creativity or to make your visit to the toilet more colourful :P. 

Some of the things I miss in this app are: a larger number of mandalas, a way to move the single drop colour selection because, when you zoom it  in a lot, there is no way to fill in the space that the icon uses. Also the colours change noticeably from the phone screen to the screen in your computer, so there must be a way for the images to keep the colour you choose in the photo when they are are saved. Although I love the tune, I would love having different tunes to choose from. Finally, there must be a way to lock-in colours, so even if you touch the screen they do not change again unless you unlock the colour there. 

Below some of my mandalas. Pity that the real colour isn't there. 


9/15/2015

Dots: A game about connecting by Playdots Inc

 There are many dots games, but this is the best and the most imitated, and the most challenging. There is a reason why it has a cult-following -- once you start playing you will understand why. 

This is a simple colourful puzzle game, clean and sleek, customisable and fun. You will find yourself totally addicted to it. The game is easy  to play, without locked levels to pass. What you have to achieve is to get a high score, get to 500+, which is something very difficult. That requires focus, strategy and also a bit of luck and knowing how the system works to undermine it a bit in your favour. Getting 100 or 150 points might be relatively easy, but getting 200+  is far from easy and I am stuck in the 300+ benchmark right now in the Moves Mode and about 200+ in the Timed Mode, and, honestly, it is difficult!

What do you have to do? Connect dots of the same colour and score high. The aim of the game is to make as many squares as possible, as one square gets you 10 points not 4, and squares beget more squares, which start to appear more often the more you make.

There are four playing modes. The Timed Mode (60 seconds) which is the most difficult; the Moves Mode (30 moves to finish, that is the one I recommend to learn and find your way without the pressure of time); the Endless Mode (which you have to pay for) and the Blind Competition with other gamers. To help you with the scoring. you are given three tools to improve your changes. They are called runners-up. One is the time-stop (the clock stops counting for 5 seconds), the shrinkers (you press one and it eliminates the dot you press from the screen) and the expanders (it eliminates all the dots of the same colour from the screen).

The game is free but not cheap, if you know what I mean. It is pleasing to the eye, customisable, scores are kept safe for next time you play, and your best score on each mode is recorded without you having to do anything. So, there is no need to access Facebook or Google+ to save anything or play with other gamers. There are several free themes and colour schemes. I tend to use the purple one a lot, and the original white. The other ones are not as good to me.


You get extra bonus points for playing certain number of matches, at certain times of the day, with certain themes, for benchmark points, for using the runners ups, for number of dots eliminated by one move and so on. Each time you get one of those bonus it will show at the end of your match by small red characters with a description. 

The game gives you plenty of points that you can exchange for any of the runners up, if you want, for free, without the need of purchasing anything.  


The best way to score high is to make as many squares as you can. It sound easy but it is not. Sometimes the  initial dots panel is set in a way that makes difficult to make any square at all, no matter how good you are. You cannot do anything about it. But you can restart the game and start it up again with a new dots panel. I do that until I see I have some workable changes to start with and I am not doomed from the start. 

I have played the game in my tablet and phone, and for whatever reason I find playing with the pone is easier, probably because there is a bigger distance between the eyes and the screen and one can spot shapes better. 
EXTRA KUDOS
+ I find the game easy to find on buses, planes and in moments when you don't have much time. Lunch break or bus commuting for example. 
+ It occupies little memory and runs smoothly.  
+ It saves your scoring and piles up on it automatically.
+ Unisex game.
+ All ages game. 
+ Colour blind mode.
+ Play matches with other players without the need of registration or interacting directly with them.
+ Free exchange of points for runner-up dots.
+ No annoying ads or promotional interruptions.

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR (MY) SCORING
> Start with the Moves Mode to practise your focus and strategy without the pressure of time.
> Use your shrinkers and expanders wisely. Unless you are getting a high score and want to improve it, you are wasting them.
> Set the theme that best suits your sight and you feel most comfortable with. I personally found the original and the purple the ones that work best for me. I cannot resist purple anything
.> Restart the game if you see that the initial dots panel is setting you for a low scoring.
> Avoid the temptation of linking many dots in a long line. By making a square and linking four dots you are getting 10 points, which is more of what you get with long lines most of the time. 
> Focus, focus, focus. Patience, Patience, Patience.
> Don't rush. I have seem that a mechanical impulse of my fingers has just destroyed a square that I saw a millisecond after my fingers had touched the screen. 
>  If you are playing the Time Mode and need a few seconds, instead of using your time-pause runner up, press the time/moves on the left top of the screen and the game is suspended automatically. Then, you can press the green button and return to the game as you left it, or you can restart by pressing the red button.
>  The use of shrinkers and expanders is very useful, but it is worthless if you are scoring low and waste them in this occasion. Use them when you are scoring high to score higher and get more squares! The shrinkers are specially convenient as they are very cheap to exchange for your gathered points.

DOWNSIDES
# Initial explanation about what the function of shrinkers and expanders is missing from the game unless you press on them and you see what the text says. The game starts with a simple exemplification of how the game works, why not doing the same with the runners up?  
# You cannot adjust the sizing of the dots to your liking.
# If you want to change the colour palette and customise it, you have to pay for it.
# You can buy double scoring dots. This being the case, any gamer who is using those has way more chances of scoring high that you will ever have even if you have the same skills and create the same number of squares. Unfair!

I tend to download heaps of free games and they have a very short life in my gadgets for several reasons. Basically they don't give me what I am looking for. Dots is difficult but gives me what I am looking for. It is here to stay!

9/06/2015

Comfort Inn Wenworth Plaza Hotel (Perth WA)


300 Hay St, Perth WA 6004
(08) 9338 5000
Bookings:1800 355 109

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I stayed in this hotel for a night during my last visit to Perth. There are two good things that this hotel is worth staying for. The first is its central location at the corner of William St with Murray St, surrounded by many shops, cafés, bars, and the Rayne Sq Shopping Mall. The train station is across the street as well. The second is that this a good value-for-money hotel taking into account that it is in Perth, a city with indecent prices for everything. These two things make it a winner if you intend staying overnight or want a couple of nights in the heart of the city without spending a fortune. This is also an upgrade from a backpacker hotel, cheap enough if you are sharing room and with more facilities and comfort that any backpacker place in Perth.


There is secure access to the rooms as you need your key card to access the lift. 

The Hotel is directly communicated with La Bohème Bar and Restaurant, where you can have breakfast (from 7am onwards) lunch, dinner or just a drink at night, when the place is very popular with locals for after-work drinks. The English pub Moon is next door as well.   

On the other hand, the hotel looks old and run down, outdated (1950s like) with ugly rooms and decoration. If you love the style, my apologies. Having said that I loved the style and colour scheme of the corridors.



My room was very basic and functional. I had everything I needed for my overnight stay, TV, clock, desk, complimentary coffee and tea facilities and a mini-bar. I loved the toilet with its retro look, and the set of toiletries was basic but good enough. Both the room and toilet were spotless clean

The mattress was medium hard, so not my cup of tea, as my back suffers with those, but not bad either. The main problem of the room is the the lack of natural light as the window faced an inner courtyard full of other windows. Also, the rattling of the ventilation system was noticeable during the night. 



The staff  member at Reception when I arrived was matter of fact, not specially welcoming. On the contrary, the girls in the morning shift were truly friendly. Yet, I asked something to one of them and I was misinformed, so another staff had to correct her. 

EXTRA KUDOS
>There are always taxis at the door, so no need to call one or wait for one.  

FUNNY MOMENT 1
In my booking online page, in the room information area, among the facilities in the room, the following are listed:
> Toilet
> Bathroom
> Towels
> Linen
Woohoo!!! I am impressed!!

FUNNY MOMENT 2
I organised a wakeup call for 630am just in case I missed my phone alarm and my connection. It was 6.19 a.m. according to my watch and to the room's clock when I heard the phone ringing. It was one of those pre-recorded wakeup calls, and said "this is your 6.30am wakeup call." WTF. There are many minutes from 6.19 to 6.30... just saying. It seems that the wakeup system is jet-lagged.  

FUNNY MOMENT 3
Well, guys, remember, just in case you come from the North Pole, or you have just left your hut in the jungle that the contents of the mini-bar are not complimentary. 


IF THIS WERE MY HOTEL
> I would revamp and change the colour palette used for bed covers, cushions and bed linen to make it more modern and pleasant to the eye. 
> I would fix the wakeup system.
> I would make sure that the staff, even trainees, are informed of the basics. Otherwise, well, let them have a trainee badge. 
> I would fix the power points that do not work. One of those in my room.
> I would make sure that sachets of creamer are added to the set, or just replaced. None in my room.

9/05/2015

WTF Foodie Moment 9: Strong Coffee

I order my coffee, a regular size that has two shots of coffee.
The barista prepares it.
> Do you want sugar?
> It depends, how strong is it?
> It has two shots.
My eyes roll around my head like  a Saturn satellite.
> Yes, but the strength depends on the beans used and the roasting so two shots can be strong or weak. (not to mention the size of the regular cup, that is not always the same or regular.)
She looks at me as if I am talking in Chinese.
>  I don't know at all, I don't drink coffee.
WTF!
Where? Two Brews Cafe

9/04/2015

Kungfu Kitchen (Northbridge WA)

Shop 3, 145 Newcastle St
Northbridge WA 6003
0413 908 997


Kung Fu Kitchen on Urbanspoon Kung-Fu Kitchen is a little eatery serving authentic Szechwan Chinese food at cheap prices. The place is not glamorous, but is very luminous, functional and quiet.

The selection of dishes is varied, and you have them photographed on the wall with both their Chinese and English names.
They have plenty of soups, and dishes using products that Australians are not that keen on: tongues, paws, and other animal body parts. Others, on the contrary are the sort of food that you find in Chinese-Western restaurants.

My spicy dry noodles were fresh and tasty, full of flavour, a nice mix of textures, a bit hot, and a large serving portion. The noodles were cold, so a bit of the joy dissipated when I tried them. Perhaps this is how they are originally served in China, I don't know. If this is the case, would be worth adding a "cold dish" sign to the photo. I do not want cold noodles in winter! 

The searing hot pot is so spicy hot that it was impossible for me to eat. A priory it was great. You choose four vegetables and two meats and they prepare your soup. When it arrived it looked great, fresh and yummy. However, the chilly was so strong that no flavour came out but that of the chilly. Two girls from Hong Kong  were eating the same soup and agreed that the soup was extremely hot. I was crying a river out of spiciness even though I eat very spicy hot food without a problem. I told the lady behind the counter to have it medium spicy, but I want to think that she did not understand me well.  
 

Some of the soups I saw looked yummy and were huge in size, and customers were positively commenting on them, so I will definitely return for those before summer kicks in. Their simplest of the simplest burgers are also in my to-try list.

They have free barley tea for customers. Free self-refilling makes me always happy.


 
The place is fully packed with Chinese people, which is always an indication that the place prepares authentic food. It is becoming increasingly popular with non-Chinese, but there is not much hype because the place is not glamorous and very simple, and because the Tuck Shop Cafe is just across the street.

The service is matter of fact and not especially welcoming. The lady behind the counter is very cold, I think out of shyness, and you feel that you have are being punished and given the the cold shoulder for something naughty you did in your past life. The girls attending to the tables were, on the contrary, quite friendly.


Pricing is very good, with most dishes under 15 bucks, and the serving portions are generous.


It is open every day, almost every hour of the day. It is perfect for a lunch escapade if you work in the Northbridge area. Yet, are you prepared for authentic Chinese food?

Kailis Brothers Fish Café (Leederville, WA)

101 Oxford Street, Leederville, WA
(08) 9443 6300
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Opening hours:
   Mon-Sun: 7am-11 pm


The place is comfortable, and very functional in its decoration, but also crowded and noisy depending on the day and time you visit. The restaurant seems to attract large crows of +70yo on Sundays, and families, and +35y.o. couples and groups on Saturdays.

The staff are lovely, and they are very accommodating about everything. Service in general was fast, friendly, and attentive -- Very good.



As you can expect, the fish they use is super-fresh and yummy, but the food I tried was nice overall, nothing more. The fish and chips were average. The fries tasted of frozen ones. The fish was good, but very oily, and needed a bit of a dry-off. The creamy chowder was utterly disappointing and tasted more of corn flower than of fish. That is unforgivable! I have had a better chowder at Bivouac, and they aren't fish experts. The entrées of prawn croquettes and zucchini chips were the best thing I tried there, really flavoursome. 

They have a decently priced and varied chart of local and international wines, and a good selection of sweets. 


The place is utterly overpriced for the quality of the cooked food they offer. Example: 4 little croquettes, tapa size, 20 dollars. A rip-off. It made me want to swear the continental way. I swallowed a WTF instead!I have found better prices for croquettes in posh restaurants in Perth. Just saying.

The fish markets are great, but you will pay top dollar for the fresh fish and marinated goods they have for sale. Yet, this is Perth.

Circa Bistro (Mount Lawley, Perth WA)


676 Beaufort St
Mount Lawley, WA 6050
08 9371 9971

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Hours:
    Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 10:30 pm
    Sat 8 am - 11 pm
    Sun 8 am - 4 pm
Circa on Urbanspoon 


I have tried almost everything at Circa, as I was a regular visitor when I lived in Mount Lawley.

THE PLACE
Occupying what
once Diva was, Circa revamped and upgraded the space but kept the layout. They added a cushioned seating area, some Art-deco elements of decoration and turned the café into a simple elegant one.  I love all the Art-deco items of decoration (the starry mirror, the hand lamps, and the horny chandelier at the top area)At night, the candlelights and the subdued lighting create a cozy, romantic and chic ambience.

The place is always clean and tidy and rarely crowded. The place attracts people from all ages looking for a quite place with nice food to catch up and relax. 

They have clean very nice toilets, as well.

THE FOOD
I have been there for breakfast, lunch and dinner, quite often, and this is so because they have a small but interesting menu. Sometimes the food has been delicious and done to perfection, while others (even for the same dish) the dish was just nice (aka mediocre). The fact remains that after so many visits, their food has never wowed me, but it has never let me down either;there is a lack of consistency in the quality of the dishes. Many times I told myself, this dish would be great just if.., only if the added... They have great ideas, but the realisation of some dishes lacks that j'ai ne sais quoi that brings any dish to a level up. There are a few dishes that I thought were great (the Roasted Root Vegetables, chorizo and manchego toasts, the beetroot ravioli, the beetroot infused salmon breakfast, and some of their pasta dishes), while others were average (Spanish eggs with pecorino, polenta chips, some of their breakfasts, some of their pasta dishes).

They have a really nice chart of wines, my favourit was the Calo Rioja Tempranillo, worth every cent of the 11 dollars per glass I paid. 


Portions are always on the small side for mains, something that bothers me a lot. If I am charged a lot of money for a main dish I want a decent serving portion, unless I am in a fine dine restaurant, which is not the case.    

COFFEE AND DESSERTS
They have always had a nice selection of desserts at Circa, but, like the food, they could have been great but they got aborted midway, lacking technique and authenticity at times. Yet, lovely overall. 


Regarding their coffee, they use Origins Coffee, which is not amongst my favourite beans, as it is lacks in flavour. However, they prepare a good coffee even though the quality varies from barista to barista. 

SERVICE
The staff are always lovely, some of them extremely friendly. The serving tempo is not bad, on the slow side at times, perfect others. The staff are often distracted (even when the place is half full) and their warmth and willingness to please gets blended with a lack of attention to the most important thing in the restaurant - customers. In the past I have seen people leaving the restaurant because they got tired of waiting a waiter approaching them to take their order despite the place being with few clients.


PRICING
Although the food is really nice, this cafe has always been overpriced for what they serve. My opinion. More expensive than Cantina 663 at times for dishes that do not match the quality of Cantina's kitchen.
 
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
>> I know that in these days using foreign names for the ingredients and dishes is the last new thing. I don't have a problem with that if what I get in the plate is  what it is supposed to be or it has the essence of the dish. For example, if you call something a "mousse" I expect something to have the consistency of a mousse, and to be fluffy and light. If you call something "pannacotta" I expect the consistency and texture of the pannacotta. That sort of thing. Please don't mislead.
 >> Their dinner menu has (or used to have) most of the things you find for lunch. Why not creating a complete different menu for dinner?

>> They didn't have specials for ages. Then they started offering some specials, but not regularly or changing them frequently. That is not good for them. You can cross the street and go to Cantina 663 that succeeds at keeping a huge amount of regulars by constantly renewing their menu.  
 >> They need to work on their music. There is a mismatch of tunes. If you want to create a certain atmosphere you need integrity and consistency in the music. The selection is better at night but, in general, music create ambience or destroys it, if you know what I am saying. 
>> I think the methacrylate chairs don't blend well with the Art-Deco woody style of the place. They feel odd to me. But this is just a personal preference.


IN SHORT
Overall Circa is a lovely place, with lovely food, high prices and nice staff. Some of their dishes and desserts will surprise you for good, and others will let you indifferent but with a big bill. The perfect place to catch up and great for night dates.