I was fortunate to be chosen to be part of the closed beta testers group for Smart LTE.  I got my dongle from the Jump Experience center in Megamall last Thursday and tried to set it up that same night.   Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it work due to my impatience.  I kept clicking on “Connect” before the dongle can pick up a Smart signal.  But I was able to make it work the day after, and I’ve been regularly using it.

So far, I haven’t encountered the LTE signal yet.  I always get HSPA and HSPA+.  According to the other testers, the best places are Greenbelt 2 and Greenshills, but I haven’t had the chance to go there.  I was hoping to connect to LTE when I was in Greenbelt 3 and 5, but that didn’t happen.

For a ‘regular’ user, the HSPA signals are fast enough.  But I would love to get those amazing LTE speeds at least once!  Too bad it’s December, I’m avoiding Greenhills.  So Greenbelt 2 is my hope.

Here are the results of the speed tests, so far.  The format of the captions: <specific location with floor if applicable> <city> <date> <time>

2F Casmer Salcedo St Makati 120811 442PM

Myrons Greenbelt 5 Makati 120811 651PM

GF Telus Araneta QC 120911 3PM

Pioneer West Highlands Mandaluyong 121111 1230AM

Pioneer West Highlands Mandaluyong 121111 1235AM

7F Zeta Salcedo St Makati 121211 433PM

7F Zeta Salcedo St Makati 121211 436PM

GF Zeta Salcedo St Makati 121411 333PM

GF Zeta Salcedo St Makati 121411 342PM

Greenbelt Cinemas Makati 121411 650PM

Greenbelt Cinemas Makati 121411 654PM

Car Paseo cor Ayala 121511 138PM

12F Solar Tower Tordesillas St Makati 121511 150PM

Arcadia Subdivision Ortigas 121511 1030PM

Will post again soon. Hopefully, the next time I post, I would have gotten that elusive LTE connection already.

Last year, I witnessed one of the best concerts EVER, featuring the most amazing band.  Last December 13, 2011, I watched U2 360 in Sydney with some of my best friends.  And it was EPIC.

My friends and I chose the Red Zone section because if we’re going to travel to Sydney to watch, why not go all the way?! It was such a long journey from the time the Sydney concerts were announced, until the day itself. We planned everything – who will register at U2.com to be a member so that we can buy during pre-selling, who will buy the tickets, what time we should buy… I was assigned to buy the tickets and I kept refreshing the website until 7AM (9AM in Australia). I got in 2 seconds after and I was able to buy 4 Red Zone tickets within a few minutes. Sadly, we needed two more, and my other two friends had to buy during the regular selling period. The Red Zone tickets were sold out within the first 5 minutes!

The day before the concert, my friend and I researched on the best way to commute to the venue. We had to take the train, then transfer to a bus, and we were there! The Red Zone tickets had to be claimed, and we made sure we were there at 12NN to do so. Which meant we had to kill time until around 4PM when we lined up. We made new friends while we were in line, and a couple gave us tips on which spot was the best spot, for Red Zone. After the gates opened, we ran and saved our spot.

Everything was worth it. We were literally just a few feet away from Bono when we would go to our area. It was an amazing experience. It has been a year and I still get a high just thinking about it. Same with my friends. We were actually 6 friends from 4 cities – Manila, Melbourne, Jakarta and Adelaide – and we all met there to experience it together.

Here’s a video for “City of Blinding Lights”:

Here are some photos:

Photo by Elvin Uy

Showing our tickets while waiting in line. (Photo by Dom Diocera)

Photo by Elvin Uy

After the concert. (Photo by Dom Diocera)

]]> http://carambs.com/blog/entertainment/music/u2-360-reminiscing/feed/ 0 http://carambs.com/blog/entertainment/movies/mission-impossible-ghost-protocol/ http://carambs.com/blog/entertainment/movies/mission-impossible-ghost-protocol/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 09:00:14 +0000 carambs http://carambs.com/blog/?p=955

Press Screening Ticket

To be honest, I went into the cinema expecting the movie to be bad.  From what I can remember, I really only enjoyed the first movie.  I’m also not a Tom Cruise fan.  Plus, how can a movie franchise come up with new something new for this 4th installment?

I was so wrong.

Minus the criteria of “novelty”, this may very well be the best movie of the franchise.  Now, what did they do to turn things around?

They kept it simple.  No crazy interweaving sub-plots.  Nothing was forced too, from the jokes to the characters to the story to the action scenes, well, except for the last one with all the cars which I felt they stretched too much.  Also, they had the right mix of everything – there was enough genuine funny moments mostly by Simon Pegg, there was a hint of drama, they still showcased amazing technology together with the old ones (those masks!), and my, the action scenes were awesome.  You will literally hold your breath in some of them. They got the right comic relief – Simon Pegg. He was a very good addition to the movie.

Of course it’s not a perfect movie. It’s still the same formulaic action movie. They chose an old nemesis in Russia (!) which isn’t relevant right now. (I had the same reaction to Salt.) Maybe they were playing safe, I don’t know. Jeremy Renner was okay, but he could have replaced by other actors and it wouldn’t have mattered.

Some of the scenes were shot on IMAX, and they really translated well into the big scene. This movie is best watched on IMAX, to get the full effect of those scenes.

Rating: 7/10
Rottentomatoes rating as of December 17: 95%
Official Website of Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol

The press screening tickets...

[NOTE: This has spoilers, so don't read it if you haven't watched the movie yet...]

New Year’s Eve is an entertaining movie, even with all its flaws.  But I think you can skip it and just wait for it on DVD.

Here are my thoughts on the movie:

The good:

• I think Zac Efron did well, and he was perfect with Michelle Pfeiffer.
• Sofia Vergara was absolutely funny, even if she was only a “sidekick” here.  She channeled Gloria (here name here was Eva), which makes me worried that the only thing she has to offer.  I would love to see her in a different role.
• Jon Bon Jovi and Katherine Heigl had chemistry, surprisingly.
• Josh Duhamel.  Cute.  Hot.  Eyecandy.
• Hillary Swank’s speech.
• I like how you will keep on guessing until the end whom Josh Duhamel was supposed to meet.
• The bloopers after the movie – I think this was the best part.  The scenes were so funny!  It seemed that the actors really enjoyed making the movie.  (If this is the best part, that says something about the movie, no?)

Dive Bar - Malted Milkbar

I LOVE malt chocolates.  I love any chocolate drink with malt (hello there Ghirardelli chocolate drink from Cheesecake Etc.!) I used to love Horlicks when it was widely available.   Which is why when I read about Sebastian’s Malted Milkbar, I knew I just had to try it!  It was on my mind for a week, but I didn’t have time to pass by Podium.  I was finally able to go last week and WOW, IT WAS AWESOME!  The ice cream itself, malt-vanilla , was so good I could have eaten it alone.  But it was so much better with the frozen chocolate and crushed maltesers around it!  This is a must-try guys!

Last friday we had dinner at Mike’s house.  He served us steaks and mashed potatoes and IT WAS AWESOME!  I learned so much from him, and I think the learnings are worth sharing!

• It pays to have gadgets in the kitchen!  It makes preparation and cooking so much easier.  I’ve been meaning to buy a small chopper for the longest time but I always put it off, but I saw how it was so helpful in chopping the onions and even ‘blending’ the potatoes.
• For the steak, always go for the good steaks from the best sources, in this case, from Santi’s.  It’s a bit expensive, but you really get what you pay for.
• You will need a good cast iron skillet to cook the steak.

Though the first  movie had better songs in general, this was still very entertaining, and it also had its fair share of fun songs.  I liked it from start to finish!  Everything was just right – cuteness, great visuals, the message, funny moments, and of course the awesome songs.

Here’s the list of things I really enjoyed (these are SPOILERS, in case you haven’t watched it yet):

• Pink was awesome.  Love her voice, and she nailed her songs in this movie.
• The little penguins had really, really cute voices.  They were so adorable.
• There were times when it was fun listening to Brad Pitt and Matt Damon as krills.  (But there were times when I thought their scenes were forced.)
• The “We Are The Champions” bit.

from kalleboo on Flickr

This was a good movie year for me!  I am fortunate enough to be invited to press screenings of many movies so I was able to watch many movies this year!  I got the idea of listing down all of the movies from Teckie.  I’m planning to do this every year.  I hope I can post a review for every movie I watch I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

So here’s the list of the movies I got to watch this year, plus my ratings.

No Strings Attached | 6/10 | Very predictable. But hey, it’s Natalie Portman! I’d watch whatever movie she’s in.

Rango | 8/10 | I didn’t think I would like it because of the use of reptiles but it was surprisingly good. I think it was well-made.

The Adjustment Bureau | 7/10 | I absolutely loved the first 95% of the movie. The end though kinda ruined it for me though.

Limitless | 9/10 | Such a good movie! Plus, Bradley Cooper is HOT!

Sucker Punch | 6/10 | Loved the effects, but the story was awful. I think a more apt title would be “Zach Snyder’s favorite things!” It’s like he became a kid again and just put together everything he likes.

Source Code | 8/10 | Very interesting concept and story, and Jake Gylenhall is such an eye-candy.

Rio | 9/10 | Absolutely loved it! Very entertaining! So colorful, very funny, and I loved the music.

Something Borrowed | 5/10 | Predictable. Characters were so shallow and unbelievable. And Kate Hudson is so over.

Thor | 7/10 | Very good special effects, interesting story, so much eye-candy in Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth. Would have been better if characters were developed more but they focused more on the effects I guess.

Bridesmaids | 8/10 | Very funny! But I wouldn’t say it’s the female version of The Hangover. The latter (the original) is much better.

Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides | 7/10 | It’s alright. Nothing great. Just a way to continue the franchise. The love story of the mermaid hit me more.

Kung Fu Panda 2 | 9/10 | LOVED IT. I loved it more than the first, though I think I’m in the minority.

The Hangover 2 | 7/10 | Same formula as the first. Still funny, but more crass. Bradley Cooper is still HOT.

X-men: First Class | 9/10 | Very well-made. So much better than the past X-men movies. And James McAvoy is Super 8 | 9/10 | I am a JJ Abrams fan. I loved the movie – the way the story was told, how it was able to put together an alien/disaster plot and a coming-of-age story.

Green Lantern | 6/10 | It could have been great, but it wasn’t. I liked the visual effects, but was about it.

Bad Teacher | 5/10 | Not funny at all.

Cars 2 | 6/10 | Visually stunning, with so many new cute cars. But that’s about it.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon | 5/10 | Trainwreck!
Monte Carlo | 6/10 | Very predictable, but it was a guilty pleasure! Still enjoyed.

Horrible Bosses | 7/10 | Funny enough, though I thought it should have been funnier. Very refreshing to see Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston is crazy roles.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 | 10/10 | Absolutely perfect.

Captain America: The First Avenger | 8/10 | I wasn’t a fan of the comic, but I enjoyed the movie. Well-made I think, for a superhero movie. It made me look forward to The Avengers.

Crazy Stupid Love | 9/10 | Loved how a simple movie can drive across its message. Love can be crazy, love can be stupid.

Puss in Boots | 7/10 | Entertaining enough. More for kids though than adults. I thought the story was too simple.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 | 7/10 | I think Bill Condon was able to turn a trainwreck into something acceptable. I absolutely hated the book, but he did alright. This is the movie that non-Twilight fans would appreciate the most, among the 4 so far.

Happy Feet Two | 8/10 | Though the first movie had better songs, this was still very entertaining. There were some scenes which I felt were forced (mostly the krills) but they all tied everything in the end.  The little penguins are just so damn cute!

New Year’s Eve | 6/10 | Watch it for the all-star cast and Sofia Vergara.  Predictable, tried to be a lot but ended up lacking heart and laughs (except for Sofia Vergara).  Also, Rachel Berry is transported from Glee to the big screen – not my thing.

Mission Impossible | 7/10 | I didn’t expect much, which is probably I really liked it.  It was very entertaining – amazing ‘technology’, lots of funny moments, lots and lots of action (it was too much towards the end I think), and enough drama.  You will hold your breath during some action scenes.  Simon Pegg was a wonderful addition.