Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sea Residences Orientation

My wife and I can't stop thinking that our view and accept of the SM Sea Residences condo is only a few days away. It came to a point that on a Saturday morning we decided to gate crash on the house rules orientation even though we were not on the list for that day. It is our first experience to buy a condo and we can't get it off our minds.

Sea Residences is located in Mall of Asia Complex and is just a few steps away from MOA.

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I remember our experience in the World Pyro Olympics in MOA, the fantastic fireworks and the unbelievably long time it took us to get back home. I guess in the back of our minds, this was one of the reasons why we decided to buy a property there.

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A big arena and concert ground is near the area as well as PAGCOR City and a new Nayong Pilipino I also read somewhere that SM is negotiating to have some of the NBA games held in MOA Complex.

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Ours is a simple single bedroom unit with balcony where a maximum of 3 occupants is allowed. The picture above was taken from the model unit. Our unit will be furnished and designed by my wife.

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The kitchen is pretty decent with built-in electric stove on the granite countertop and a range hood above it (photo of the model unit also).

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Keys, keys, keys. A mailbox for each condo unit.

We don't have any condo owner down and dirty rules experience in the past so the house rules orientation is a big thing to us.

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Here are some of the highlights based on what us who attended raised.

  • During a power failure, the main electrical switch must be manually switched from Meralco power to the building generator. It is not automatic. So my mental note self: install a wall mounted emergency light. It's normal, I believe. Even hotels and malls have wall mounted emergency lights powered by rechargeable batteries. To protect the company I worked for from power failure, the whole plant ran on it's own energy center that houses several giant Myanmar generators 24/7. It was like this for more than a decade. Too much fuel used, Petron very happy. Then we decided to invest on UPS. But it is a very serious investment that needed tons on money.
  • The generator can't supply power to all lights and electrical outlets. It will supply power to only a select few. Requested that those lights and outlets be identified.
  • No garbage chute. Trash must be collected by unit owners, placed in bags and placed outside the front door on specific times. This stirred up the emotions of the attendees and images of hallways lined with stinky garbage bags floated in the air. This must be on top of the improvement items list of the the Home Owner's Association - us.
  • 1.5 hp max air con capacity. Everyone was interested to know what the other max ratings are. But no direct answer was given.
  • Allowed delivery window for items to be moved in is 9am to 5pm, Mon to Sat.
  • Swimming not yet allowed in the swimming pools, although already filled with water and cleaned daily.
  • Underground parking have no identification numbers yet so parking slot owners will be given random parking slots but it does not mean it will be their permanent slot.
  • No service elevator. All stuffs you bring inside will use the elevators in the lobby. If your stuffs won't fit, use the stairs.


After the orientation, I peeked at the label in the main electrical switch. Max ratings I saw there:

  • Water heater = 3.3 KW
  • Air con = 1.5 hp
  • Range/Range hood = 3.5 KW
  • Washing machine = 1.5 KW
There was also a note there that the emergency generator will supply power to the living room and bedroom lights and the outlet assigned to the refrigerator. So I guess that indirectly answers one of the concern above.


No earth shaking news in the orientation. Valid and typical concerns.
A few work items to be ironed out by the future home owners.
But I am really interested on how other condos manage their trash.
Can somebody share?
Thanks.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

2012 Toyota Innova and Toyota Fortuner

The first generation Toyota Innova and Toyota Fortuner were launched in the Philippines in 2005. Three years later, it received its mid life kicker in the form of a facelift of the bumpers and new rear combination lights. Now its life is coming to an end (the average Pinoy car's model life is 6 years with a minor facelift in the middle). So late this year or in early 2012, the 2nd generation Toyota Innova and Toyota Fortuner will be introduced in the Philippines.

Toyota Astra is already starting to slowly update their website to the second generation Toyota Innova and Toyota Fortuner. These models were already on display in the recently concluded International Motor Show in Indonesia. So the pics below are fairly accurate on what to expect here in the Philippines, plus or minus some features.

The new Innova and Fortuner borrowed some genes from the Toyota Altis in the form of more horizontal grilles and the protruding headlights. The Toyota family resemblance is unmistakable and is now spread across most of their product lines.

A friend was planning to replace their car. But for now, they will patiently wait for the release of the new models. Because if they buy now, it will quickly look obsolete next year. Waah, I also want one.

Next Generation Toyota Innova (2012)

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Innov2

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Next Generation Toyota Fortuner (2012)

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Saturday, July 30, 2011

CD-R King 7" Android Tablet - FastPad

CD-R King just introduced a 7" Android Tablet that they named FastPad. And it costs only 8,800 pesos.
The specs of their Android Tablet are pretty decent for its price.

  • 1 Ghz Arm Cortex A8 - based Samsung S5PV210 processor
  • 4 GB internal storage expandable to 32 GB
  • 512 MB DDR2 RAM
  • 7 inch 800x480 resolution capacitive touch screen
  • Android 2.2 (Froyo) with Flash 10.1 support
  • Android Marketplace
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
  • 1 HDMI port, 2 USB ports, 3.5" audio port, memory card slot
  • Built-in microphone and stereo speakers
  • 3MP front facing camera
  • Accelerometer for screen orientation and motion sensing apps and games
  • Video: 1080p HD, MPEG4, H.264, H.263, VC1, RMVB, RM, 3GP, AVI, MKV, MOV
  • Audio: MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, AAC+
  • Image: JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF
  • Ebook: UMD, TXT, PDF
  • Quickoffice support
The only things missing are GPS/A-GPS, bluetooth and 3G SIM card slot.

My guess is it's a re-branded DroPad A8.
Click here for extensive web reviews.

If this is indeed a DroPad, one neat feature is ability to connect a keyboard & mouse to the USB port. With these connected you vitually have a pretty well equipped netbook similar to an ASUS EeePad Transformer. The USB port also accepts 3G USB internet sticks (available from Smart, Globe or Sun) to have internet connection on the go. So the absence of a SIM card slot has a work around.

Good bang for the buck!

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

MMDA Online Traffic Update

I envy the Google Maps version in the US with the up to date layer of traffic info that can tell you where traffic congestions are and suggest alternate routes for your destination.

MMDA and TV5 launched a beta version of a traffic update service for 6 main roads in Metro Manila (EDSA, Quezon Avenue, Espana, C5, Roxas Boulevard and SLEX). It's years behind whats available in Google Maps US and GPS navigators there, but it's still a good start for Manila than nothing at all.

Traffic congestion levels are color coded red, yellow and green. System view, line view and Google Map views are available. The traffic condition is updated every 5 to 10 minutes between 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM.

I hope they get full integration will Google Maps for mobile phones so that Google Maps GPS navigation in Manila would be even better. For now you can access their website using either your PC or Phone connected to a wi-fi or 3G network.


System view of the traffic condition of parts of EDSA, Quezon Avenue and C5

MMDA Traffic Nav 1

Google Maps view of the traffic condition in EDSA

MMDA Traffic Nav 2