Over the past couple of months I started on a new project which brought me to a location where access to certain social media sites are blocked as well as the need for me to have more of my data with me when I go for meetings. In my previous project I managed that by using my iPad 1 and logging on to the wifi network. Now I have no wifi network to connect to so I've gotten a data plan for my iPad. Maxis came into my mind first because there was a Maxis store located so nearby. After a couple of minutes of signup and inserting in the new sim card, I was good to go. It did take Maxis around 30minutes before the service is activated.

Now a lot of people asked me why not I just tether the data from my iPhone and I did try that out for a month and realized that it was extremely unreliable as well as it drained my battery way too fast hence I decided against that method. It is a heck of a lot more convenient and a lot faster to search for data on the fly instead of quickly turning on my personal hotspot, trying to detect the phone with the iPad, restarting the wifi and then cursing why personal hotspot is so unreliable.

A good feature which I also enjoyed on my new iPad is the ability to take pictures with it. Definitely so much easier to take photos with it and then straight upload it to Facebook. It's really handy being mobile and with the iPad I find that I don't need to bring my laptop around so often. Just two weeks ago when I was at training, I loaded up movies into my iPad and the hotel provided a facility where I could just plug in my iPad via a HDMI cable and I could stream movies from my iPad on the hotel room's 42-inch LCD TV. Another good feature is to be able to present presentation slides using my iPad. Now I just can't wait for Microsoft to launch their MS Office for the iPad later this year.

Since I have been using the iPad quite a fair bit now on a daily basis, I feel that I need a keyboard to complement it and to enhance my note taking skills. Saw a couple of them I liked online but it's not available here yet.

The one above is a sleek keyboard which also acts like a cover. It connects the same way the Apple smart covers do via the magnets.

The other case is a little bulkier but it doesn't use any batteries but it is solar powered. Both these keyboard cases are made by Logitech and are quite new in the market. Hence I guess the lack of it's availability in our local stores.

I really can't seem to make up my mind.

I was so looking forward to a near season of Top Gear but alas, there will be no more episodes of Top Gear this year (except for the Christmas special). There were rumours of it flying about but Jeremy Clarkson himself has confirmed that via his Twitter account.

[caption id="attachment_3390" align="alignnone" width="534" caption="Sunday night is full of fat people singing"][/caption]

Personally over the past 3 seasons I felt as if they are repeating their same stunts over and over again that it has become cliché. Although I loved the India special which of course drew a lot of flack, I would definitely support if they did a Malaysia version since they covered Vietnam and India already. I fear if they tried riding their bikes here in Malaysia, they might get knocked down instead.

So it looks like fans will have to wait till 2013 before the next season of Top Gear is released.

The title says it all, if someone were to ask me what have I been doing with my free time lately, my answer is being tied up with renovations. Went to HomeDec 2012 last weekend and also during lunch time as well to check out accessories and good deals on furniture.

Then over the past two weeks, I have visited various tile shops to choose tiles for the house as well. Choosing tiles hasn't been easy, there are so many varieties, colours to choose from, brands and designs. All of these choices to make and then trying to see if it fits into my budget. From floor tiles, wall tiles, table top tiles, decorative panels and even more, it was a fun process although at times I might have been a little edgy but I blame that to lack of sleep rather than the process of choosing tiles.

Some of the shops that I visited included the Niro showroom near 3-2 Square, the Guocera showroow (Wisma Kemajuan) opposite Niro near 3-2 Square, Buimaco at Taman Megah, Hoover at Section 17 located at the same row as Kanna Curry House, Super Ceramic at Jalan 222, and Sing Mee at Jalan Penchala off Jalan Tandang. Personally I would say if you were a first time tile hunter, just head straight to Sing Mee and you can probably find your tiles there. I also visited Feruni and Better Living at their HomeDec booths but didn't like some of the tiles they had on show there.

[caption id="attachment_3368" align="alignnone" width="430" caption="Living Room"][/caption]

Overall, I stuck with 2x2 tiles for the living room, dining room and dry kitchen. I chose 2x1 tiles for the wet kitchen floor and 1x1.5 tiles for the kitchen wall. The toilets will be using a mixture of 2x1 tiles, 1x1.5 tiles and 1x1 tiles. Will snap pictures of them once they have been laid out.

With the house design, I have decided that I wanted a more spacious area for my living room and dining room. That was achieved by knocking the wall previously separating the kitchen and the living room.

[caption id="attachment_3371" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Look ma, no more parquet flooring!"][/caption]

Another option I wanted was to remove the older parquet flooring and replace it with other types of flooring. From laminated flooring, vinyl flooring, hard wood and even engineered wood, I found that hard wood was my preferred choice. Hard wood is nice but it takes a long time (9 weeks) to get it all laid and cured.

[caption id="attachment_3370" align="alignnone" width="960" caption="Laying out the aircon points and piping"][/caption]

Learnt some interesting tips as well, once the wiring and cables have been laid, take a picture of them so that the next time when you want to do a bit of drilling or knock in some nails to hang a picture, you would know where the wires are located. Thanks for the tip guys!

[caption id="attachment_3369" align="alignnone" width="960" caption="Huge dumping site on my front porch"][/caption]

After experiencing fantastic water pressure at hotels, I really want to have the same pressure for my house especially since I will be using a rain shower head. Looks like I will be hunting for the water pump as well as the water heater for the house this weekend.

I really have to thank my parents for being so supportive and helpful with the house renovation as well as checking up with the contractors. Definitely wouldn't be able to progress this far at all without their help! Thanks Mum and dad!