From Apple into Pineapple.. JAILBREAK!

5 days and i have turned my apple iphone into a pineapple phone - yes my phone has officially been jailbroken! And instead of a white apple appearing at startup- i have this pineapple staring right back at me. What a way to distinguish. Lol ! Just reminds me of those convicts having to wear those braceletes around their ankle, sticking out like sore thumb. I reckon one can remove and replace that pineapple, but I don't think I want to bother myself with it.

3 days after I got my phone, I was introduced to this one Mr Magnum and it was then that this word 'jailbreak' was first introduced to me. Within the 10 minutes I had with him, I had certain issues ironed out, whether jailbreaking is 'safe', whether it would void the warranty and etc. I think I am more concerned about the 'safety' issue - I don't want the whole phone to conk out on me in the first week and even more, importantly, especially when it is a gift. I thought he was going to 'jailbreak' my iphone for me that very afternoon but I was wrong, I had to wait.

And like I said, patience is not one of my virtues, and the very next day (didn't get down to it immediately due to work commitments), I was googling keywords "iphone+jailbreak+how to", "benefits+dangers+jailbreaking" & etc, poring over pages and pages of websites, going through youtubes, participating in forums, anything to assure me that jailbreaking is an ok thing to do. This one friend of mine, he got his iphone and one late evening he skyped and said - "I am FREE". That got the ball rolling - I bombarded him with questions after questions and finally I decided, I want to be free too!

Why jailbreak when one can install thousands of apps from AppStore? What does jailbreak offer? Allow me to say, it offers HEAPS! There is just a galore of 3rd party apps waiting for us to explore and download- just amazing. So far I love Cycorder and SwirlyMMs. Actually, these 2 are basic functions of a normal phone but for some reason or other a virgin iphone 3G has no such features. It has recently been announced that the blueprint for Iphone OS 3.0 would be released soon. Some of the functions would allow one to do as follows:-

Search your iPhone
Cut, copy, and paste
Send photos, contacts, audio files, and location via MMS*
Read and compose email and text messages in landscape

Obviously I can't be kept waiting.

Anyway I was most apprehensive about this whole jailbreaking process until i read this link - this is a Step to Step Process for Jail Breaking your Iphone 3G. Please click jailbreak Following these steps is as simple as 1-2-3 and i found my confidence there. Even then, covering all grounds, I did tell this friend of mine that he or his friend has to be on standby in case my iphone crashes. I was prepared to drive out during the wee hours of the night to get it fixed. But at 0233hr on 28-3-2009, I successfully JAIL BROKE the iphone! It was an ecstatic feeling - crazy I know but it's like personal accomplishment! YEAH ! Who needs Magnum when there's Haldawinge???!

Jailbreaking is at least 90% risk free. That 10% had to be discounted because the very next evening, my dialer pad was not working, I could receive calls but each time i touch the dialpad, it comes up and then 5 seconds later it disappeared. I was out for din with Al but I did not let on that my phone was facing that problem. Ha! I don't want to hear the 'I told you so' :). I tried uninstalling the earlier 3rd party apps but it didn't do the trick. I knew my final resort was - Reseting/Restoring the Iphone to its original settings, i.e. once restored, the iphone would be in that very condition it was in when we first laid our hands on it. And that was what I did that very night. And that very hour - I had it jailbroken the second time round!

Jailbreaking can only enhance the features of your iphone. Everything that works before jailbreaking continues to work after. There would be two additional icons after jail break - one known as 'installer apps' and the other 'Cydia' - and then the world of apps are at your fingertips! And best yet is that it cannot void our warranty. Should problem arises, MAKE SURE you restore the phone to its factory settings through itunes, failure to do so, the pineapple logo would give you away :)

I have yet to convince Al to jailbreak but hopefully soon enough... !!

I Phone Has Finally Found It's Way To ....

ME !!!

I welcome this bulky yet sleek silky black phone with open arms! Iphone 3G is finally here in Malaysia - official launch was on 17th March 2009 and we got ours on the 23rd! Thanks to my loving bf, Al - it's a dream come true.

It was the 1st week of March when I was first informed of the exciting news - IPhone 3G in Malaysia - Pre book your phone - NOW!! I have patiently waited TWO (2) years for the arrival of this toy, so the very moment I could tap into a wireless line, I was already googling "iphone3g+malaysia". I was then brought to the maxis homepage. When the clock struck noon, I already had the whole of the maxis post-paid plan committed to memory. You can access and view the rate plan by clicking on this link maxis

My excitement spilt over to everyone around me and I got them all so hyped up that one hot afternoon, I got a text message from dad simply stating "June comes in March?". I didn't get what he was trying to say and his subsequent message that came through minutes later painted a clearer pic - ah.... but i quickly declined.

Over the next few days, knowing Al was in need of a phone and knowing that he is one of the loyal apple supporters, I worked my charms - hush!! Of course, he being his pessimist self, gave me a talk on economic downturn & blah blah blah which went into my right ear and out through my left. I so wanted to pre-book the phone the next eve but he said why don't we wait. In my heart i was screaming - no, I want to have it soon - soon, cause if we do intend to get it, why not be the first few to tinker around with it, but of course I didn't say it, cause I bought his point when he said that the phones would be more affordable if maxis offers an interest free instalment plan and we can wait for that. Few years ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about putting my life savings into this piece of toy but because of financial constraints, I had to restrain myself.

Patience is NOT one of my virtues. I had to play down my excitement and subdue my insistent urge of getting one. THANKFULLY, Al brought up the subject again one evening and said.. "Hmmm.... it is rather confirmed we can't get the iphone, cause I just spoke to the maxis personel and they informed me that they do NOT offer instalment package and to fork out 4k is not possible". When that statement went through my ear, processed in mind, - this is all that I heard "Sen Mei, if Maxis offers instalment free plan, I will be able to afford and buy Iphone for BOTH of us which comes up to about 4k". Yes that was ALL that I heard. So, despite what he said, optimistically, I picked up my W850i and dialed "123" and I was put through to one of the maxis personnel. I couldn't believe my ears when she said yes currently we have interest free packages i.e. 0% interest and we are tied up with several banks. I actually had her conversation recorded and when Al came to pick me up, I got him to confirm that if at all Maxis has interest free instalment plan, he will sign up IMMEDIATELY for BOTH of us! He CONFIDENTLY agreed. Ha blackmailing couldn't have been easier LOL! Looks like he kept his word and surprise surprise, today we both are proud owners of an Iphone 3G.

Hurrah!!

Our Fears

'Trust your hopes, not Your Fears”
- David Mahoney

We all have our individual fears in life – it could be the fear of death, fear of darkness, fear of heights and more abstractly, the fear of the past, the present and/or fear of the future. Fear is unhealthy. It often grips our hearts, mixes our emotions and cripples our spirit and sometimes because of our own fears, we may also affect the hearts, emotions and the spirit of the people we love.
I used to think of myself as one who knows what I want in life and from life. I used to start the journey of each new chapter of my life with something in mind. We always have dreams. Sadly however, like I said in one of my previous entries ’30 Year Old Milestone”, I can now only lament about the things I have wanted to do but never got around doing it, the accomplishments I’ve always dreamed of but have yet to achieve. And when I look back, I think that it was ‘FEAR’ that held me back – the fear of venturing into new stuff, the fear of taking risks, the fear of exiting my comfort zone and at that time, the fear of the future – our future is that particular zone of life about which we have no definite idea (not that I am any more definite now). [that said, perhaps its time to reinvent? Or perhaps I can edit that portion of my life?]
Fear is not a positive energy – it drains us emotionally and psychologically and it makes us a more pessimist people. Fears come in many forms. One of my more common fears is that, I fear to see to the closing of each chapter of my life but that’s simply because I fear to embark on the daunting task of writing the opening lines to the each new chapter of my life. What would the storyline be and how would I want my life chapter to go?
I am 30 going on 31 (gosh, the numbers look old!) and, God willing, if I live to 90, that means I am into the second third (2/3) of my life. I always hold on to this believe that we are the author of our own lives i.e. our lives is how we live it. Just like a manuscript is broken down by different chapters, our lives are broken down and defined in stages. Guess it’s time to spice up my otherwise dull and dry life chapters? It’s important that chapters to a novel should captivate the readers – likewise life chapters should be spiced up otherwise it’s gonna be monotonous and boring.
Having said all that, as I ponder and delve deeper into these things, I realize that today it’s neither the closing paragraphs nor opening lines of each life chapter that puts me off. The fear perhaps could be myself dreading to write and/or go through the “preludes” to the next chapter of my life? I guess I don’t like transitions. I know I am speaking in riddles and some of it does not make sense but it’s so good to be able to put thoughts to paper, tho’ it be electronically at best. I am glad for this outlet.
Before I wind this entry down, I just want to say that fears are inevitable. In many cases, fear is now simply a flag to us that we are entering new, unknown chapters.

“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on” 
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Baguettes Anyone?

Baguettes dominate the breakfast menu in Laos. When they are fresh, Lao baguettes can be superb, so I was told. But if you are not lucky, you get one so hard that you can use it is as a cricket bat. My travelling companions pretty much survived on a morning diet of baguettes - I must say I lost a couple of lbs during the short trip (tho' I gained it all back within a day of touching down in Penang) -as the crispy, chewy, crusty-foot long dough is certainly not my cup of tea.

Anyway, it is not my intention to embark on a travelogue here right now as save and except for the baguettes, I can't remember the trip in detail. Trust me, if not for the pictures I have on the iphoto application in my macbook, I can't even remember who went on the trip - ha, kidding, I am not that hopeless. On a more serious note, reason I even logged onto this website was because I made a smilebox album on my Laos trip and it gave me the option of posting up my album creation on my blog and/or emailing it. I opted for the former. Be however forewarned:- the album does not depict Laos at all - and certainly does not do Laos justice - but it's just me fiddling and fooling around with my notebook on a warm Wednesday evening and posting up photos randomly. ANyway here goes.. oh yes patience is a virtue - exercise it, cause i think it may take awhile for the pics to load :)

I am hitting the sack now...

Make a Smilebox photobook

A day Being A Celebrity