The first step for a long journey

Some things that I don't understand is the marketing of a product. I have been on the hunt for breast pumps from the day I completed my first trimester. There are MANY breast pumps out there in the wild and stripping down the options to a handful few was not easy. 

First of all, I wasn't even sure whether the milk would come. And if it did, for how long would it last? One year? Six months? I don't know. So given the multitude of options that comes in variables features and prices, I was just - lost.

I started out by researching understanding the mechanism of the process itself. Why pumps in breastfeeding? Then as I understood further, I started taking note on what I needed and wanted. Once that was finalized, it went on to which brand?

I researched for what is the best on the market. And obviously, the best came with heavy price tag. Which led me to another dilemma - find more alternatives and options. I finally came down to my earlier choice which was Medela breast pumps and listed Ameda as well as Spectra breastpumps as alternatives - just because they are cheaper than Medela.

After months of research, discussion and more research I finally settled for Medela. Then came another dilemma - which model? I was initially interested in Freestyle - for its handsfree option that came with it. That's what the name is all about! Freestyle = handsfree! Right? Wrong! 

Apparently, the Medela manufacturers decided to stop providing handsfree kit with the Medela Freestyle set. Why? Beats me to pieces to figure out why they did that. Then what is Freestyle all about? Swimming with breastpumps and the pumps are waterproof? That is why I said, I don't understand the marketing of a product. Freestyle became popular because of its handsfree and removing it from the set is just pure madness.

So I looked at the Freestyle alternative from Medela - the Swing Maxi. Works just as good as Freestyle, has the same features and 50% cheaper than Freestyle. I really don't understand why Medela wants to confuse consumers. Just Google around and you'll see heaps of forum discussion on Freestyle vs Swing Maxi. The best part is, most shops that I step into don't even know what's the difference between these 2 models!

Couple more weeks and I need to make the decision. So yesterday, Anand put a full stop for all my dilemma. We took a tour to the maternity expo in Midvalley Megamall. After almost an hour of negotiation, this is what he got for me to support my journey in breastfeeding.

The Medela Freestyle breast pump, and comes with free disposable breast pads, purelan nipple cream, Medela's Calma teat and the HANDSFREE kit for free!

With some additional buck (purchase with purchase option) he got the Medela B-well baby milk and food warmer. I initially didn't think I would need one of this. But then, since the price was at 75% off Anand justified it's a bargain that will make my life easier.

It didn't stop there, the next buy was the Medela B-well Steam Steriliser. Again, it was something that I didn't want to spend money on as I thought I could put up with the hassle of disinfecting the milk bottles and breast pump parts manually. Anand didn't like the idea of wasting my time doing something that can be done using an already available device. The steriliser comes with free four Medela 5oz milk bottles as well! So, with the 4 bottles from Freestyle set and another 4 from the Steriliser set, I have storage for 40oz of breast milk. At least enough for the next few months.

In addition to all this, he also got for me the My Best Friend nursing pillow. Something that will help ease the strain on my arms while breastfeeding :)

Long post huh? It actually took longer for me to actually decide whether I needed all this. I sure do hope these goodies from Anand will help me stride through my motherhood journey. :)) I am definitely grateful.

And the search ended

In 2004, when I bought Buster I announced it to the whole world through this blog. At that time, I was determined to get a new car by the time I'm done with the loan service. My target was 7 years. It got delayed by 1 year for obvious reasons...

I did not test drive Buster and neither did I know how much I would be spending for its maintenance and fuel. I sat down in the show unit model and felt, ok, I fit. I wanted blue and everyone else told me to get silver. I wanted my own number, and everyone else told me I don't need one. So, I paid my booking fee, placed the down payment and took Buster back home.

It served me well for eight years. And still does... :)

What I really wanted in a car was the joy of driving it. I spend a lot of time travelling and all unnecessary gadgets or accessories becomes secondary. What I wanted was a car that is a sheer pleasure to drive. Sure enough cars these days comes with attractive gadgets that may give it some edge from one model to another. When I bought Buster, it came with ionizer and a built in cable to charge the then-popular Nokia monochrome phones. Within a year, I realized I have no use for it - but it was indeed an attractive accessory to have as there are cars without it. It was something that I don't need, but paid to have it included.

And that taught me a lesson - why pay for something that you don't need? So when I started looking for a car recently, I kept this in my mind. Get a car that will make you happy every time you touch it. And I found that happiness in my Buster 2.0! :)

After almost a month of waiting, my second car arrived two weeks ago - from Japan.

This time, I got the car that I wanted to buy ever since I was a kid. I would consider this as fulfilling my childhood dream and ambition. Got the car I wanted, the color I wanted and even the number I wanted. Each time I step into my Buster 2.0, I feel a jolt of happiness that runs through my spine and strikes right across my heart and soul. That's how it feels when I sit behind the wheels. :)

Top 5 Applications on my Android

I have a total of four (yes, four) Android devices out of which three are in constant daily use. 

I have two mobile Androids running Gingerbread and Ice Cream, and one tablet running Ice Cream. One more mobile runs Froyo. So here's a list of top 5 application that is a must in all my devices (and these are FREE!).

Feedly

This is my favorite application of all. A news reader with a simple interface and so easy to use. The best part is, it integrates nicely with my Google Reader account. On my tablet, this applications turns my news feed into a magazine-like browsing experience. Highly recommended if you have plenty of reading materials that you follow online.

Million Moments

I had to admit Android's version of Gallery, although not the worse, but isn't the best either. And that is why I love Million Moments - it's yet another application for photos but with ease of use and has a wonderful layout! I just need to create some labels (for example, "food") and every time I take a picture of food (more often I do), I just have to tag the picture with the labels. What the application does, it turns the labels into wonderful "photobook" like gallery.

Any.DO
Having too many things to track is no longer a hassle with Any.DO for me. I add list of things I have to do in this simple little app and it keeps track everything for me, and reminds me when I do forget. I can strike out things I've completely and a shake clears everything done from the screen! The interface is simple, easy and clean. New version includes sync-ing with your Google Tasks. My favorite feature is the phone reminder (keeps track of missed calls and reminds me when I have to return a call).

Dolphin Browser HD
Chrome is one of my favorite software on my PC, but on my Androids Dolphin takes the reign being the best browser for awesome functionality and ease of use (easy for me that is, but it could still be intimidating for those who even think IE is daunting). It's just a browser, but there are so very little browsers out there that works properly on Android platform, so this one takes home my vote for being the best one (crashes less).

StumbleUpon
Given an option, I would want this application to be my #1 favorite app in Google Play. Unfortunately, this is also the most unstable application out there, but then again, I can't live without it. StumbleUpon is something that was discovered by Sathyan on its early days and he always shares a lot of interesting "stumbles" that he stumbles upon. It's one of the apps that I'd recommend to people who messages me, "I'm bored". So, if you're always boring bored and had to do something with your hands in a good way, have this installed, choose your interests and have fun exploring what's out there in the world wide web! :)

So there you have it, now you know what Leena uses on her mobile devices all the time. It is interesting to note that there are people who are keen to find out what application I have installed on my Androids. Of course these are not the only ones I have. Probably when I have more time at hand, I'll try to come up with Top 5 Android games installed on my Androids. 

Lifetime companion

People may know me as someone who is constantly engaged in technology. I am simply surrounded by gadgets and a whole load of technologies that make these gadgets work in an interconnected way. That's how people perceive I am.

Well, true to a certain extent.

What most people do not know is my appreciation for things that bring me out of from my tech world. I appreciate every little thing there is. Whenever I get the chance to disconnect from my wonderful world of gadgets, I do so oh-so-willingly! The work I do, the knowledge I strive to earn and the skills I try to develop often leads me to my own solo-world - it keeps me away from things that I enjoy - a good walk outdoors after a heavy rain, watching sunset with nothing running in my mind, watch the birds fly, read a good book with a cup of coffee next to me, waking up late hugging someone that I love very much, walk to no where with a good companion. 

These are simple things but they mean a lot to me.

That is why when I got a pen as a gift recently, I was overjoyed. Never has anyone thought of buying me a pen as a gift - never! :) It is such a personal gift that I honestly feel only someone who knows me deep within my soul would be moved to actually go through the hassle of getting a fine writing instrument for me. Like I said, most people would not even had a blip second thought that I would appreciate a good quality pen - something that I can treasure for years to come.

But then, someone finally did! :) It even came with my name on it!

And it's finally mine!

Yes, after much anticipation and going through the agony of waiting for an awesome piece of technology product to be released, I have finally owned Asus Transformer Prime - on the day it was released in Malaysia. The sweet, sweet smell of the Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0 by the way, for the non-geeks out there) is just sublime. 

If you've been wanting to get your hands on one and did not go beyond a demo unit (probably because you were being asked to wait few weeks for a new stock or was not sure this is the tablet for you), I deplore you my friend. I truly am saddened by your fate.

Anyway, to further rub the salt here's a box picture of my new gadget which I named CJ7 (which stands for Cherry Jubilee flavor from Baskin Robbins. Why 7? Go figure :P)

 The box

And this is the real product - designed the way a tablet should be. My CJ7 is in champagne - exactly the color that I wanted. 

So I've been using this tablet for almost 2 weeks now and I simply love it. The camera is just good (8MP at the back), the extended battery power by docking it to the keyboard is smart, the display is just awesome not to forget the Gorilla glass thing. Tegra 3 wasn't much of a remarkable feat but it's nice to know my tablet is powered by a quad-core processor (which basically runs 4 times faster than any other tablets out there). ICS 4.0 is just delicious. MicroSD slot, and most importantly, SD card slot and USB port which means I can expand my storage to whatever space my external HDD supports! Really cool. Really, really cool.

I would recommend this tablet to any photogs and book worms out there. I can finally view my pictures instantly on a good display out from the SD card instead of using my PC to transfer my pictures to the tablet. And I can finally purchase ebooks to read on my tablet. I just love it.

So, is your stomach burning yet? Hehe...

On Gadgets

These past few weeks I have been getting lots of things. Topping up the list are gadgets. I'm a girl with loads of gadgets surrounding me all the time. 

Let me begin with the my Sprocket Rocket camera! It is actually a lomography camera which is something that I have been wanting to own for a very long time! When it finally became mine, it was surreal. So surreal that I am yet to use it because I'm still trying to grasp the fact that I now own a lomo camera! :) Here's a picture I took from the web of my lomo camera. It came with rolls of film as well.

For the couple of months I have been working on a plan for a backpacking trip. The challenge is, I am definitely bringing my Nikon D7000 with me (why wouldn't I?) and I definitely need a tripod. But the Jusino tripod that I have is too big and heavy for me to bring on the trip. So I decided to get a Joby's Gorilla Pod from Amazon.com. Here's a picture of the tripod

I think this is probably one of the best photographic equipment ever invented for people like me of course. It snaps to anywhere, like poles and chairs, etc. Definitely will be useful for those self-portraits for my lonely travels. :)

So this post is dedicated to Puspa (since she wanted me to update something for her reading sake :P)

Introducing my Senshie

An unexpected birthday gift from a friend - Sennheiser HD229. Well, it's about time I upgraded my current earphones and this headphone came as a savior!

I named it Senshie. Loving it very, very much :)

Worth the wait!

Coming soon! *all smiles now*

An app for everything

Today I found an amazing mobile application from Citrix. Citrix Client Receiver for Android. I call it amazing because with this nifty technology my work is now mobile!

I am now able to access almost everything I need to do my work using my phone. I can even remote into and reboot a server from my phone! I can run database queries, approve change tickets, run through my incidents and the list goes on. It's really cool.

Ok, here comes the best part. This application is not limited to Android alone. Those who has Blackberry, Windows, or even iPhone/iPad can use this and turn their mobiles for business use. I find it very useful, because now I don't have to carry my notebook around with me when I'm on-call. I can take care of everything from my phone alone. :)

Here's a picture of a remote server on my phone using Citrix Receiver. It is really awesome.

Now, I have all the reasons I need to get a tablet...soon!