What exactly was it on the screen, that got these guys’ attention?

Babes?
Nope.

Balls?
Kinda.

3D soccer balls, to be exact

They were watching / experiencing flying soccer balls from a 3D soccer trailer, projected by Epson EH-TW8000, one of the 3 projectors available that night.

The EH-TW8000 allows users to experience brilliant images, easy conversion of 2D movies or images into 3D for a cinematic experience (no loss in quality based on my experience), at the comfort of their living room. And of course, works as a projector for work purposes (doh! )

Not forgetting a comfortable 3D glasses (battery powered)(IMO), which proved much more comfortable than the ones we wore, at cinemas. As for how long is the battery life of the glasses, that’s something I would really like know. Pretty much on par, in terms of price, with those 40″ LCD TVs but definitely more portable.

Good for large family gatherings and soccer nights, eh?

As for Epson EB-435W, is made for ease of use for presentation in small meeting rooms and even classrooms. It can double up as an interactive whiteboard as well, which means you can doodle or write without having to bring markers everywhere. That means light, portable and less hassle.

And lastly, Epson MG-850HD, which happened to be some of our tech boys / guys’ favorite, as it’s an all-rounder projector (for work & home entertainment), with a docking system for Apple products (compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod).

Do i hear a ‘Yippee?!’

Not just presentations made easy, since you can just save everything on your phone or iPad, it works great for videos (decent sound quality) and photos too.

We tested it with Genghui’s iPad, viewing his Eclipse photos (enlarged by 12times, shifted to weird angles but adjustable and still projected clear images) and for video, Achmed the Dead Terrorist youtube video (based on quality of video, it was pretty decent and on board speaker was pretty good).

Oh and it’s light too, 3.9kg.
Tempting, tempting

Summary: all rounder and lightweight

*****

Many thanks to the friendly team from Epson Singapore and XPR, for the invite to their first Epson blogger engagement and photos for keepsake
And my apologies for this verrrrry late post :X

Photo credits – XPR

Heard that it’s out and available at all starbucks outlets. Some friends, aka Starbucks supporters or coffee addicts (:P) got the chance to try it first, seems good and quite popular with the regulars.

So I dropped by Thomson outlet to get it.

At $3.90 for 3 small packs (they do have it in 12packs at $13.90), it is more expensive than our regular instant coffee  (doh at self) but the aroma and taste (Italian Roast) is definitely smoother and stronger than the usual kopi-o … (didn’t put in milk/creamer/sugar).

Not bad, i like it
At least I can temporary satisfy any Starbucks coffee craving with VIA Ready Brew

*Caffeine happy*

Went ‘Omg it’s huge…’ when it was delivered, it took a while to remove it from the box and set it up on my messy desk, due to its size and weight. Probably a two person job.

Installation, easy as pie.
Slotted in the driver CD and install, restart computer or laptop (in my case) and it worked just fine.

Some of my photo print outs (direct phone upload, total injustice to the print outs but can’t seem to tweak without losing details):

Here are the ‘Pros & Cons’ in point form:

Pros:

• Easy installation and stable connection with computer / laptop
• Reminders that are not overly annoying, when color cartridges are at low or need to be changed status
• Simple and fuss free cartridge changing… totally mess free and no dirty fingers
• All in one printer (photo printer, scanner, network print and read) with card reader… I don’t have to dig around for the card reader, just slot in and it’ll load up and show all photos on the LCD screen
• Choice of network cable or usb connection to computer / laptop
• Photo Enhance function push and make photos brighter / vibrant
• Fast print for 4R and A4 photo print outs… less than a minute for 4R, around 2-3minutes for A4 photo prints.
• Quick dry ink, smudge free
• CD / DVD cover surface printing… but i didn’t try it out, too obsessed with photo printing… *grin*
• Acceptable photo paper pricing… 20pc semi gloss photo paper sold for S$4.50 (i bought an additional pk to print)

Aside from going all photo printing crazy with the machine, eg. i finished all the paper within 3 days and even buy a new pack, it was a little noisy after the initial setup and shutdown, not sure if it’s warming up or re-calibrating but it went quiet after that. So i guess it’s probably just initial setup issue.

Most of my print outs, were close to the original digital shots, vibrant and color mostly retained or enhanced! Even the photo subject texture was retained, didn’t soften or lose its sharpness that much… excluding those shots which were backlit and night. Slight lost of contrast and details during settings but still within acceptable range (for me).

Cartridges pricing is a little high(IMO). It would be great if there’s a cartridge bundle pack for users to get, at a slightly lower or quarterly promotional price.

But for an all in one photo printer, which was going at S$298 (during Comex 2011) and good photo quality, it would be great for daily print / scan / photo / network usage at home / office

And of course…

Had so much fun with it and now a nice collection of prints for collection

Check out Amanda’s post on Epson iPrint and photos

I was attracted by its packaging (yes, i love strange and unique stuff) and the Japanese are well known for the crazy yet strangely yummy food combinations for snacks. So i got this during grocery shopping at Cold Storage.

Very strong macha (green tea) taste with slight hint of oreo / chocolaty taste.
Not bad for an afternoon snack.

Comes in individual packs of 3 (total 9 sticks) for S$2.50.
A little on the pricey side but still acceptable, compared to other imported snacks.

Fisherman’s Market, is the latest Japanese-Western Seafood Buffet and Bar that opened in town.

Opened daily from 11am to 11pm, with operations on both levels (buffet starts only from 6pm).
Ala carte menu is available, if you aren’t into buffets.

Webpage – Fisherman’s Market
Facebook Page – Fisherman’s Market

Updated Pricing (as of 26/07/11):

Seafood Buffet(Dinner 6PM-11PM)

*Mondays to Thursdays:

Adults $39.90++ Children below 12years old 22.90++

*Fridays to Sundays and public holidays:

Adults $44.90++ Children below 12years old 22.90++

Seafood Buffet(Lunch 12PM-3PM)

*Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays

Adults $39.90++ Children below 12years old 22.90++

Mondays to Thursdays:
Adults: S$39.90 ++, Children below 12 years old: S$22.90++

Fridays to Sundays:

Adults: S$49.90++, Children below 12 years old: S$27.90++

Promotion (Opening discount):
10% discount till 31st July 2011

******

Photos of the restaurant and food:

Day view of it (press photo)

Night view of it… (glowing crab!)

Layout of 2nd floor seating area (press photo)

Appetizers / Salad counter

Teppanyaki counter

Fresh Oysters, Mussels & Scallops

Sushi

>

Dessert counter (the choc fountain wasn’t ready when we were there)

Others

*****

Thoughts:

I was there before the official opening, so the selection and photos are a little different, compared to others.
Which means, to go back soon and try the new items and crabs (didn’t eat any) =P (hint to bf)

The variety of seafood, cooked food and appetizers were good and fresh… (loved the sashimi and sushi)
Nice selection of desserts too, yummy cheesecakes and cream puffs =D~

The cheese fondue was mine and Amanda’s favorite, heh…
I think i dipped almost everything (including the grilled sausages and beef)  into it, just to finish the dip =P

And I noticed that they provided each item with its own serving utensil and staff ensured that it doesn’t mix / contaminate, which is definitely a plus point.
Friendly and efficient serving staff, on bringing grilled items, drinks and clearing dishes

As for improvements – it would be nice to have more selection of soups and not over grill some of the food items (was a little dry).

*****

Thanks to Amanda for inviting me along

Her post / photos of the place – Avnjl