Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Trip

This is a long overdue post about Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I made that trip in August of 2010. I came from Bangkok, Thailand to KL. It was the day when a Filipino had taken hostage several Hong Kong tourists but I did not learn of it until I got to my hotel room and watched BBC. I remember being really dissapointed with what was happening in Manila and part of it was because our entire family are scheduled for a tour of Hong Kong that September. I rode Air Asia BKK-KL. It was a short ride and it landed at KL's LCCT. Upon arriving, I was naively waiting just outside the Arrivals area for the pre-booked Air Asia Skybus to take me to the KL Sentral but sensing that it will never come, I looked for it around the airport's vicinity. Turned out it was parked some way out between the LCCT's Domestic Departures area and the LCCT Foodcourt. After sometime it left and off we went to KL Sentral. At first I was really impressed with Malaysia's roads but when we approached KL, particularly the Brickfields district, I thought I was being transported to a third world country. Brickfields is the Indian quarter of the city. All the while, I was excitedly eyeing for the Petronas na, thinking it will come into view wherever you go in KL. Not. In KL Sentral, I scrimped a little by not riding a taxi to my hotel and instead I opted forthe  KL Monorail to Bukit Bintang. Bukit Bintang or BB is where KL comes alive and happening. It is littered with malls from the high-end to the mid-budget as well as 5-star hotels and boutique hotels. I stayed at Replica Inn. It was just okay, much of my time were not spent there anyway. It is rather just a place to sleep and shower after a long and tiring day touring. Rate at that time was 120RM single occupancy room. Replica Inn's location is a big plus. It is just several steps away from BB Plaza and Sungei Wang malls and just nearby is the famous Low Yat, the electronics haven of Malaysia. After sleeping for several hours, I went out to check out the area and along with it several malls like BB Plaza, Sungei Wang, Lot 10 and Pavilion Mall with its famous multicolor-water crystal fountain. Naturally I shopped. It was the Malaysia Sale at that time.

Dinner was at a restaurant stall in Jalan Alor, just infront of Replica Inn! Jalan Alor is listed in all KL tour guides as the foodie paradise of KL. At 8PM, it is still bright and sunset happens not until past it. Woke up the next day to a yet dark KL at 8AM! I was excited, it was time to visit what every visitor to Malaysia, I guess, wants to see, the Petronas Twin Towers. I rode the KL Monorail from Bukit Bintang station to Bukit Nanas station, just 2 stations away. Then I walked to Dang Wangi station to KLCC station where the Petronas Twin Towers is. Dang Wangi station/ Bukit Nanas station is where you can also reach another KL landmark, the KL Tower. I did not go to KL Tower, saving it for another visit to Malaysia hopefully soon. Reaching KLCC station, I never thought that under Petronas Twin Towers is KLCC Mall. Two entrances to the KLCC Mall offers best views of the Petronas Towers and sorrounding areas.

Inside Suria KLCC Mall

The next day was spent shopping for more! I checked out a bit of the KL Chinatown in Petaling St. but then I got bored because of the scorching KL heat and I went to Midvalley Megamall instead. Frankly, given our gigantic malls here, I was not also impressed much but it has Cold Storage supermarket where the usual pasalubong fare from Malaysia, Beryl's chocolates are aplenty.

I window-shopped like there was tomorrow, hoping for great bargains, after all it was the Malaysia sale and I was to depart KL, Malaysia for Manila that evening. Went home tired but with a big grin on my face. LOL. That's was all there was to it, a short but memorable 3 day KL trip. And I did not even go to the Batu Caves, Genting Resort, Sunway Lagoon pa and the other must see places in KL. I planned on seeing those places I did not see there soon.

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

It's been a year or two since I was in Singapore, but I just couldn't find the time or enthusiasm to write an entry about my visit to the Marina Sands Skypark, the newest landmark in Singapore. The Marina Sands Skypark is in that uniquely shaped like a surfboard structure atop the three towers comprising the Marina Bay Sands Resort and Casino. It was fairly new when I visited. The staff were all very courteous and friendly. Skypark admissions cost SG$20 for adults. You are then ushered to an elevator which will take you to the Skypark which is located on the 56th floor. Once there, you can walk around the 'park' and along the way, a 360 degrees view of Singapore will greet you. Look out for the Merlion, The Esplanade, Singapore Flyer, Youth Olympics Stadium and Marina Floating Stage,
Singapore Science Park, etc.. and just the entire Singapore city skyline as a whole. You will see it all there.

It was a bit overcast when I went there so much so that just minutes after, a thunderstorm ensued. I sought shelter on the Sky Park lounge. The rain did not stop and went on for more than an hour, what a bummer. I got bored sitting on a couch inside the building and just decided to leave soon after the rain stopped.

Take Screenshots of iPhone Without Using Any App

Grab a screenshot image of your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch screen without using any screen capture app or worse another camera! There is a hidden Print Screen function in your iPhone/ iPad/ iPod Touch. I actually just discovered this nifty tweak awhile ago while writing my earlier post about the iBooks crash error. I was trying to screengrab my working iBooks library after doing that iBooks fix.

Once again, the method is as easy as 1-2-3 (not even 3 actually!):

1. For this trick, I am using an iPhone 4. Press and hold the Home button that is located at the bottom center of the iPhone and is more often used to return to the default screen of your iPhone.

2. While holding the Home button, also simultaneously press the Sleep button (also known as the ON/Off key on top of iPhone). You will then hear momentarily a clicking sound to indicate that a screenshot has been captured. The screenshot of the existing screen will then be saved to your iPhone's Camera Roll photos folder.

You can now post away to your favorite online forums or whatever purpose you wanted this trick to accomplish. Cheers!

How To REALLY Fix iBooks Crash Error On iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad With iOS 5.0.1 Untethered Jailbreak

How to REALLY FIX the iBooks Crash Error on an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad With iOS 5.0.1 Untethered Jailbreak. After trying sometime finding a way to fix this annoying error I finally made it to work on a method that is actually very simple and here is how to get it really working, easy as 1-2-3:

1. Download iBooks from the iTunes App Store (Free) and install it, as you would normally.

2. Open Cydia, go to Manage tab, followed by the Sources section, click the Edit button in the top right corner of the screen and finally click the Add button that should appear and add http://cydia.xsellize.com/ as source. A pop up window appears, just click the Add Anyway button.

3. After the xsellize repo is added and Springboard restarted, go into the Cydia Search tab, and search for: iBooks Fix for iOS 5. When you see iBooks Fix for iOS 5 on your Cydia search results, click, purchase (free), download and then install the iBooks Fix for iOS 5. If you have previously used another iBooks Fix, uninstall/remove it first.

4. Don't open yet iBooks, you need to search Cydia again and download SBSettings. Same method as above, find it, purchase it (free), download and install it. Open SBSettings, scroll to bottom under System Wide Options -> tap System Options -> then tap Fix User Dir Permissions. Wait for it to be restarted (if it does not restart, close SBSettings and iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch will restart (respring) and Voila a working iBooks! No more annoying crashes.