‘07, of gaming

I have been playing Simicity series of game since Simcity 2000, then 3000 and the fourth installment, Simcity 4. It is released back then on 2004. Simcity is a city building simulation game. This is the end of 2007 and I am still playing it. I do still play newer game like Need For Street: Prostreet, World in conflict and some others but still this is my favorite over all.

‘07, of new Computing rig

I got myself new laptop, Dell XPS M1330 valued at about RM5.5k. It is customized such a way a little pricey for future proof, so that I won’t be changing laptop anytime in at least 3 years hopefully. My previous laptop, Acer Aspire 2010 apparently failed to Aspire anymore and got itself Expired after almost 3 years using it. Acer not really a bad laptop after all but still some other brands beat it in term of build quality. I purposely added Dell Care Premium for 3 years in order to cover all the unforeseen accident or damages that might incur to the new laptop.

On the other side, I retired my old Intel P4 3.0ghz rig with a Core 2 Duo, basically, whole set of desktop. I got myself a Samsung 226BW also replacing my old faithful Dell 196FP. The dell lcd is then used for my other rig which is specialized for 24×7 downloading purpose now.

‘07, of new fuel

I have been using Shell V-Power ever since I got my first car few years back. I do believe in performance that it offers and no doubt about it. Recently, judging from the price of fuel and the possible fuel hike in 2008, I tried to use Shell Regular. To my disappointment, transmission between gears is uncomfortable or rather jerky. Performance-wise, there is just slight decrease in acceleration and not feeling that smooth as before with V-Power.

I  remember reading somewhere in lowyat forum where people suggested that Esso and Mobil offer better gear transmission change, more smooth. Given its strong publicity and advertisement on Smile points program, I decided to give it a green light. To my surprise, Esso does give better feeling in picking up, gear transmission and I can say its as good as V-Power except that it might have slight decrease in performance in term of acceleration. In a nutshell, it is a wise idea to continue using it given it’s comfortable ride and the Smiles point that can be traded with cash later on.

‘07, of travelling

I actually planned a backpack trip to Hong Kong but given its high living cost, I changed to Singapore. This is the only place I went oversea this year. Singapore, in a whole, is ok, will go again. For 2008, I planning for Cambodia, Vietnam or New Zealand maybe. Backpacking or traveling without tour is preferred at the moment. I like the feeling of planning myself, going anywhere without time limit, no body chasing after you, and must importantly, free to go anywhere anytime as I like!