Why I love this bird app

It’s the school holidays. While my eldest Adam is in boarding school, his two younger sisters stayed at home all by themselves. Our youngest Asif? We send him to his babysitter anyway. If I was on leave, I would keep Asif at home by my side. It breaks my heart a little every day when I had to send Asif away. But Linda and I had to work and there was nobody to take look after Asif at home. Yes we could ask Mia nicely to look after Asif while we’re at work but we don’t really like to do that. It is not Mia’s or Adam’s job to look after their youngest sibling or become co-parents while we’re away. That is our job. Mia, Adam and Hana’s jobs are to be children or teenagers, doing what children or teenagers usually do.

And when Mia and Adam and Hana and Asif are fully grown up, I don’t expect anything from them in return. I don’t speak for their mother but I don’t expect to be rewarded with anything. If they want to, I wouldn’t mind but I have no expectations. If they’re happy and content in life, that’s good enough for me. That means I did my job to raise them well and to be a good human being. I know that sounds contrary to our stereotypical Asian values but that’s what I believe. I learned that and much more, believe it or not from Twitter. Yes that damned bird app.

As a matter of fact, I learned a lot of things, especially the correct values of modern human life from Twitter. I used to smack my kids or yell at them when they did something wrong. I don’t do that anymore when I learned from Twitter that that’s not the right way to teach your kids. You can teach your kids lessons without being a dick to them. I used to put some expectation and pressure on them to do well in school and exams and to try to get into a good boarding school, you know, just like Adam did. When Mia did not actually get accepted into a boarding school, I was pretty chilled about it because I learned that there’s more than one way for my children to succeed in life. It is not always that straightforward or obvious.

Apart from that, I always try to make my children question everything that they’re been told about and everything that they learn from school or their teachers or friends or the Internet. Never too early to let them learn some critical thinking and not just follow and swallow everything they’re being fed to.

Depending on the crowd or bubble that you follow, Twitter has a way of correcting wrong and obsolete values. And if you try to spread your antiquated or archaic beliefs, someone will always challenge you and point you to see reason. I’ve learned so much from social media and the Internet in general that it literally changed my worldview and my life, for the better. That’s why I love this bird app.

Best TV series of 2021

2021 has been a year of lockdowns and work from home stint so was I able to binge on more shows than usual? I would be lying if I said no. Yes I know Squid Game was a global hit but it wasn't best enough to be included in this list. Why? Because I said so. Without further ado, here’s some of the best TV series that I watched in 2021 in no particular order.


Wandavision



Although still a new kid in the streaming block, Disney+ brought a constant supply of fresh and good TV series. Wandavision is a brand new spinoff from the MCU, set in the middle of the Infinity War, tells the story of Wanda’s heartbreak after losing Vision. It’s an interesting story with lots of twists, turns and surprises. A must watch for all MCU fans.


Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan



Jack Ryan is not exactly a new series from Amazon Prime but I only managed to watch the show now after I signed up for the service. Based loosely on the Tom Clancy’s book (and movie), Jack Ryan is your typical spy/CIA series in a Murrica against terrorists plot. I’m a sucker for this genre so I find this one quite enjoyable.


Young Rock



Will I watch any TV shows or movies with The Rock in it? You bet! This one about the true-ish story about a young Dwayne Johnson is no different. Plenty of amusing and funny moments in this autobiography of the superstar. Available on Hulu.


Upload



What if you could upload your consciousness to the cloud and transfer them to a virtual body in a virtual world after you die? That is basically the premise of Upload from Amazon Prime. Is it all fun and games in the virtual afterworld? How do you manage your relationship with your living loved ones? Watch this series to find out.


The Falcon and The Winter Soldier



I was not convinced that The Falcon would be a good Captain America and after watching this Disney+ spinoff, I am still not convinced. Yes he does possess the strict moral codes that Steve stood up for but I don’t think he has the charisma or legacy that the Capt had. Together with the Winter Soldier, The Falcon fought a bunch of serum-powered terrorist group all over Europe. Still a decent series from the MCU franchise.


The Mandalorian



If you need one good reason to sign up for Disney Hotstar here, it’s The Mandalorian. This Star Wars spinoff took place some time after the Death Star was blown up and the Emperor was defeated. You get to meet another member of the Yoda species who naturally possess great Jedi powers despite being a wee baby. A memorable performance by Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian and who could forget the surprise appearance of the famous farm boy. Honestly, I think this series alone is better than the last three Star Wars movies combined. A must watch for all Star Wars fans


The Long Way series



What if you could hop on a bike ride your way around the world from west to east and north to south and back? Ewan McGregor and his best buddy Charley Boorman did just that. In the first series, the couple travelled on a BMW bike from London to Siberia and then Alaska to New York. In the second series, they hopped on a bike from Italy to Tunisia and then all the way to Cape Town. In the final series, Long Way Up, Ewan and Charley rode a prototype Harley-Davidson electric bike from Argentina all the way to Los Angeles in America. It’s a travel adventure series full of memorable moments and interesting people and places from all over the world.


Sweet Tooth



After The Sick (rings a bell?), half of humanity perishes and some of those who remained started to produce animal-human hybrids. And those kids are totally adorable! Follow Gus’ adventure in this post-apocalyptic series based on the comic book by the same name.


Running Wild With Bear Grylls



In this series, we follow Bear Grylls and select Hollywood celebrities brave the elements and challenges in the wild, from the deserts of Arizona to the frozen arctic of Iceland.


Loki



Another gem from the MCU and Disney+, Loki introduces us to the multiverse which I believe will become the main theme of the upcoming MCU movies. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed Loki’s and his variants adventure with the Time Variance Authority.


The Mysterious Benedict Society



If Wes Anderson was to direct a TV series, this would be it. Adapted from the famous children’s book, this series is a cinematographic masterpiece. At least that’s why I think.


Tales from the loop



Imagine Amazing Stories mixed with a little bit of Twilight Zone but more beautiful. This science fiction drama TV series is based on the art book of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. Only on Amazon Prime.


Hometown cha cha cha



I don’t usually watch Korean drama series but this one is an exception because the heroine is so cute and they make such an adorable couple. The fact that the storyline makes for an interesting love story also helps.


Cowboy Bebop



Prior to this live action adaptation, I’ve never heard of Cowboy Bebop the anime let alone watch them. The buzz surrounding this release got me interested enough to finish the entire series on Netflix and also watched the original anime as well. Critics be damned, I think they did a decent job with this adaptation and was appalled when they decided to cancel this series. Happy now assholes?


Hawkeye



Ending 2021 was the long-awaited Hawkeye spinoff from the Avengers. While Wanda demonstrates her enormous power and capabilities and Loki dabbles into the multiverse, Clint Barton spent most of the series fighting local gangsters on the streets of New York with his accidental sidekick, Kate Bishop. The bar set by the other Avengers series was so high and I can’t help but feel a tad underwhelmed with Hawkeye’s storyline. Nevertheless, any Marvel fans would be hard-pressed to miss this wholesome family-friendly superhero series, suitable to watch during the Christmas holidays.

Gunung Besar Hantu hike

The Movement Control Order threw a major spanner into my hiking and mountain-climbing plans since 2 years ago. It is only recently that after the restrictions were lifted that I managed to slowly get into the groove again. I actually signed up for this Gunung Besar Hantu (GBH) hike during one of the breaks in MCO some time last year. We were less than a week away from the actual date of the hike and then BAM!, the restrictions were tightened again and all outdoors activities were prohibited. All my hiking plans were put on the burner ever since.



So I’ve been jogging and exercising regularly in preparation for these hikes. And then two weeks before GBH, I took my wife and kid to Angsi and Datuk to work out my dormant leg muscles. I needed the workout because from what I read, climbing GBH is about as hard as doing Nuang. And Nuang in my opinion is one of the more challenging mountains you can climb for beginners or aging people like me.



November 27 was D-Day. Am I excited? Sure. Nervous? Heck yeah! This is my first real hike in many-many months. I decided to drive alone for an hour to Jelebu in Negeri Sembilan that early Saturday morning. Carpooling would be too much hassle. Waking up at 3:30AM alone was already a challenge and I’d hate to run around town picking up or waiting for other people. That decision proved almost costly for me because I never managed to find the mosque where we’re supposed to meet up. I solely relied on Waze to lead the way but the app brought me to a creepy bush in the middle of nowhere. I had a mild panic attack that morning, driving around in the pitch darkness and the drizzling rain trying to find the road to the starting point. Lucky for me somebody texted a picture of the signboard to the state park so in the end I had to trust my gut and follow Waze to the starting point in the Kenaboi State Park.



The fees that I paid included a 30 minute 4WD ride to the starting point but because I missed the initial gathering, I had to drive my trusty Alza along the beaten path there. Thank God the gravel road was not that bad (Gunung Telapak Buruk anyone?). Other than a few small branches scratching my car, I arrived in one piece at the park’s entrance and caught up with the rest of the guys there. There were around two-third of the 28 member group there when I finally checked in. Phone coverage was almost non-existent inside the thick jungle so if you are not familiar with the park, there’s a good chance you’ll get lost.

After distributing the packed lunch, a short briefing and a light warm-up, we started our long journey up Gunung Besar Hantu. The first part of the hike was an hour-long track along the logging road from the starting point to Sungai Kering. Nuang also had a 5 kilometer logging road but at least that one was relatively flat. The one near GBH, although shorter than 5 kilos, was a constant up and down hike across 3 or 4 mini hills which made it somewhat just as tiring.



We took a short break at Sungai Kering which despite its name was flowing rapidly with much water. The track after Sungai Kering was our real encounter with the thick jungle. Slowly but surely, we reached our middle pit stop, Camp Orchid, which took just over two hours from our last checkpoint. We took a much needed break and for some of us (just me really) had the packed lunch that we got earlier. If you’ve had Kembara meals before, you’d know how they taste. The instant nasi lemak that I had were not so good but I finished much of it anyway cause I’d hate to waste them.



From Camp Orchid, it was another 3 hours hike to the peak. That’s where the fun part began, including a steep hike at many parts of the mountain. Sometimes I curse and ask myself why do I even bother doing this, other times watching the clouds and fog enveloping the jungle and mountain brought much respite and serenity to my soul. As they always say: no pain, no gain homie. The summit of Gunung Besar Hantu presents some nice vantage points for sightseeing and taking pictures. It reminds me of Nuang but with a little bit more space to hangout. While the rest of them had lunch, I spent most of my time resting after the long hike. I did brought my yummy Brahim lamb briyani rice but I was afraid eating the whole pack might make me lethargic and too full for the return journey.



An hour later, we started our descent down the mountain. My pace is usually somewhere in the middle of the pack although most of the time, I’d like to make my own pace and take my own sweet time. Sometimes I go fast, other times I trot slowly amongst the tree roots and the muddy path. It was cloudy for most of the hike and the sky finally opened up by the time I got to Camp Orchid that afternoon. When it rains, it pours this monsoon season. I crossed two rivers and kept my boots dry on the way up but filled them up with mud on the way back thanks to the heavy rain. 11 hours and 1,462 meters later, I finally made it to the starting point in one piece.



I picked this trip with Ohana Adventure Sport or Ohana for short because of my pleasant experience with them in two of my previous hikes (I can’t recall which). They were really good organizers and the boss, Nik Mulya, was a pretty good cook. This time around though, Nik the boss doesn't really join much hiking trips anymore and spends most of his time in his comfy office. The packed lunch as I said before was not really good. I was hoping they were actually going to cook a proper lunch along the way but then again for a day hike like this, it was too much of a hassle to stop and cook at the campsite.



In hindsight, there’s a few things I could have done differently on this hike. For once. I could have brought more water - to drink and make more drinks. I could have also brought more tea, coffee or sugar. At the last checkpoint where we stopped, I should have left some of my belongings, especially the non-essential ones. Lugging the stove and empty water bottles for example just add weight to my backpack. A ziplock would have been useful to store my valuables and electronics so they don’t get wet when it rains.



All in all, I had a really good time with the hike, the experience and the good company. Met some new faces today, those who I never hiked before and mostly younger people than me. Can’t wait for my next trip with Ohana. Not anytime soon though because most of the regular mountains are closed for the monsoon season. I heard they will open again in March or April the soonest. One week after the trip, we received a really sad news about a member of the hike who passed away from a mountain bike accident. Al-fatihah to Amran and may his soul rest in peace.

KL weekend getaway

Since Adam is going back to school next week, we decided to go for a little vacation (staycation?) here right in the city centre. Yes the state borders are to open next Monday but by then, Adam had already checked in to his hostel and would not come home again until Christmas. So I looked up on Agoda for the best deals and found a pretty good one at Berjaya Times Square Hotel. Two bedroom suite with bath tubs and access to a swimming pool. Just perfect for the kids.

We actually went shopping for some swim wear in the morning because the kids have outgrown themselves and the adults have none to begin with. Don’t want to end up being denied entry to the pool just because we did not follow the dress code. In the end, we only got to the hotel around 4:30PM and were greeted with a long queue of hotel guests at the reception.

The queue itself did not bother me as much. It is the weekend and since the state borders are not yet to open, I half expected crowds in the city centre. It’s what happens next that shocked me. After checking a few times, the receptionist told me there’s no bookings whatsoever under my name. Apparently, the hotel started not to accept bookings from Agoda since last month because the hotel is already fully-booked but Agoda opened up the registration anyway because reasons. So at 5:30PM we were all packed, with luggages and swimsuits and snacks but nowhere to go.

Feeling angry and defeated, I was ready to drive everybody home there and then. But my wife, who rarely gives up without a fight, frantically searched online for hotels with any rooms left. We called about half a dozen hotels and finally managed to book one at Shangri-La just a few miles away. It will cost us double the price but at least we got two interconnected bedrooms, free breakfast for everyone and late 5:00PM checkout.





Needless to say, it was the most expensive and exclusive hotel that we have ever stayed at. All the facilities and amenities are 5 stars. The kids went from 😟 to 😃 in an instant. For dinner that night, we walked a little bit next door to Menara Hup Seng for a Burger King dinner. The plan was to go to The Weld further away but that mall was entirely deserted except for a pricey BBQ joint. Covid had hit hard for mall tenants. Back at the hotel the kids wasted no time soaking in the bathtub. It’s their favourite pastime when visiting pricey hotels.



The next morning, we had a glorious breakfast at the hotel’s café. It was a 5 star spread from a 5 star hotel. Later in the afternoon, we went to the hotel’s pool for a little dip. Following SOP, they have set a one hour limit for everybody at the pool. We ordered ayam gepuk for lunch and finally checked out at 5:00PM. It was one expensive stay but at least we enjoyed ourselves.



As for the Agoda fiasco, I managed to get in touch with their KL office and lodged my complaint. It was not easy getting their local phone number because it was not listed anywhere on their website. Since the booking that we chose have a no-cancellation policy, we also cannot request for refunds on the website itself. So unless we talk to an actual human being, I have no idea how we’re going to get our refund. The customer service agent was apologetic and blamed the mess on their “suppliers”aka middlemen who provide hotel rooms for them who overbooked the room for me and apparently 8 other poor customers. They promised to refund my booking entirely and credited 10 USD of Agoda cash into my account.



If you could see the faces of my children at 5:30PM that Saturday evening, 10 USD of Agoda credit is a joke. So I tweeted my plight regarding Agoda online and within a few minutes, an Agoda social media manager DMed me for more information. Long story short, they asked for some information on the hotel that we finally stayed at and promised to pay the difference that we had to fork out for the new hotel. I must say I did not expect that a faceless mega corporation would go above and beyond to accommodate me, a literal nobody but they did and I was pleasantly surprised. To tell you the truth, I will have trust issues with Agoda and all online bookings after that last fiasco but this gesture will go a long way in repairing that trust.

Moral of the story here, first, call up and confirm with the hotel immediately after you made that online booking. In hindsight, I did call the hotel in question but only to ask about breakfast and hotel facilities. Secondly, if you feel that you are wronged by a mega corporation, tweet or email to them to complain. It might not always work but sometimes they do respond and try to make amends.

Tenda Nova Mesh Wi-Fi review

We all know getting a good, whole home wi-fi coverage is a constant, never-ending battle for many of us. I’ve tried several wi-fi extenders and repeaters, homeplug ethernet and even a combination of both and still my wi-fi coverage in other rooms inside my house range from poor to intermittently unstable. That was before the advent of mesh wi-fi. Now I have whole home wi-fi coverage with excellent speed and reliability.



How does mesh wi-fi work? I have no idea, but in theory, it employs a technology that gives you whole house coverage. You basically place a couple of nodes (mesh wi-fi units) at different locations, they connect and overlap each other to give you a really good wi-fi signal around your house.

Often with new technologies in the market, the original price for these mesh wi-fis are, prohibitively expensive. 2 years ago, a two-pack mesh wi-fi set could set you back north of 800 ringgit. Last month I got mine for a mere RM279.00. There’s a few things to consider before getting your first mesh wi-fi. First of all, get a mesh wifi unit that complements your Internet subscription speed. Let's say you’ve got a 30Mbps Internet plan, while there’s nothing wrong in getting a mesh wifi capable of 1,000Mbps speed but it will be very expensive and totally overkill for your sub’s plan. Similarly if you’ve got a gigabit (1,000Mbps) Internet plan at home, you should not get a mesh wi-fi unit that has only 100Mbps top speed because your mesh wi-fi speed will be limited to that speed.

From my extensive research before buying, I narrowed down my options to either a TP-Link Deco or a Tenda Nova mesh wi-fi model. Initially, I was tempted to get a TP-Link Deco E4 unit. A 2-pack set costs RM232.00. But here’s the catch - it only has a 100Mbps Ethernet port. So despite boasting a 867Mbps top 5GHz wi-fi speed, the 867Mbps is not the actual speed, instead, it is the wireless negotiation speed of the 5GHz radio. Your top speed will be limited by the 100Mbps Ethernet port which is connected to your main router. The next best thing is the TP-Link Deco M4 unit which offers a gigabit Ethernet port but is more expensive at RM357 for a 2-pack set.

Which brings us to Tenda Nova’s MW5C model which offers gigabit Ethernet port and 867Mbps top speed with 5GHz band for only RM279.00 which is perfect for my 300Mbps Internet plan. The Nova MW3 model is much cheaper but like the Deco E4, only offers 100Mbps Ethernet port. I was excited when my Nova MW5C unit arrived but to my dismay, it refused to connect to my modem despite me following their instruction on YouTube. I spent the first two hours in the evening trying to get the mesh wi-fi to work and another two hours at 5 in the morning but still could not get it to work. Fortunately for me, Tenda’s post-sales support is really good and their assigned technicians guided me with the correct settings in the Tenda Wi-Fi app and I got my mesh wi-fi set up in just 2 minutes.



Apparently for Maxis wifi and Tenda Nova MW5C, you leave the existing router alone. Plug one cable to Lan port 1 or 2 from the main router into the Wan port of the Nova MW5C. In the Tenda Wi-fi app, set Internet settings to DHCP and ISP to General. Save the setting and you’re done. The official Tenda tutorial on YouTube actually tells you to connect the MW5C unit straight to the modem instead and configure the ISP straight from the Tenda Wi-Fi app which was why it never worked for me. It might work for Unifi or other ISPs but for Maxis with a phone line as the technician said, follow my instruction above.

The result? Apart from seamlessly switching automatically from my downstairs wi-fi to upstairs wi-fi, the upstairs wi-fi is also now at least half the speed of my main router. Previously using a pair of homeplug ethernet devices and a repeater, the top speed I can get upstairs is only 20Mbps compared to around 120Mbps with the mesh wi-fi. It’s a massive upgrade.

The Tenda Wi-Fi app also offers a few useful features such as guest network, parental control and fast roaming. Guest network allows you to create a time-specific guest wi-fi network which will automatically expire after the allocated time frame. Parental control lets you add specific devices to a group and specify when those devices have access to the Internet. Pretty useful if you have a bunch of school-going kids who spend too much time on their gadgets. Fast roaming is a setting that allows one mesh unit to quickly hand over clients to another. For example, it will automatically switch from the main node downstairs to the satellite node upstairs whenever I move there.



At first I bought a 2-pair pack of Tenda Nova’s MW5C model and put it one in the living room connected to my Maxis router. The second unit I put upstairs in the family area. It worked well for a while and I got pretty good speed on both nodes. Over time though, especially after I turned on fast roaming, many of my connected devices were mysteriously assigned to the 2.4GHz band which is pretty slow and never goes above 100Mbps. Even worse, there are no settings in the Tenda Wi-Fi app to manually assign those devices to the 5GHz band so I’m stuck with the 2.4GHz speed which is less than ideal. After some research, I found out that the 5GHz band is limited to 5 devices per node and after the 5 slots are filled, the rest of the connected devices will be assigned the 2.4GHz band which explains it.



As a short time fix, I started to connect some of my devices to the main Maxis router downstairs which has no limits with its 5GHz band. I was hoping once there’s less devices connected to the node, I could get my phones or iPad connected to the 5GHz band whenever I move around the house. Sadly, I still got mixed results with that. Sometimes I get 5GHz, other times it automatically connects to 2.4Ghz. The only solution I can think of is to add another node to my mesh wi-fi which leads me to buy another Nova, the MW6. Like the MW5C, the MW6 offers the same gigabit Ethernet connection but with a wider wi-fi coverage. I would have bought another MW5C but they don’t sell a 1-pack unit of that model hence why the MW6. In hindsight, I should have gotten a 3-pack set of the MW5C instead of buying a 2-pack MW5C plus another 1-pack MW6 and save myself 40 ringgit. That’s what you should do if you live in a two-storey house. Get a 3-pack mesh wifi set, it could save you a lot of money and some headache later on.



Now with 3 nodes around the house - one in the living room (the MW6), one in the family area on the first floor and the other in the master bedroom, I get excellent wi-fi coverage and speed everywhere. With 3 nodes, I get 15 slots for the 5GHz band which is plenty for my phones and iPad. If you have money to spare I would even recommend you to get one for each room of your house. Your family members will thank you. Adding another node is pretty simple. You turn on the node and then scan the barcode below the device with the Tenda Wi-Fi app. In a few seconds, you will be connected to the mesh wi-fi.

Mesh wi-fi is indeed an amazing advancement in networking technology which offers a great, whole house wi-fi coverage at amazing speed and affordable price. Say goodbye to annoying wi-fi dead spots in your home and say hello to high speed Internet everywhere. If you can invest between 279 and 400 ringgit of your money for something truly useful, I would highly recommend the Tenda Nova mesh wi-fi series. Sure, get the TP-Link Deco series if you got more money to spare but I’m sure it will work just as well as the Nova series.

The case for Android TV

I have used an Android TV, an Android box, a Mac mini and also a mini PC for my media centre device. While each device has its own pros and cons, I ultimately go back to the Android TV as my media centre of choice. Here’s why.

The Mac mini and the mini PC are two full-fledged computers with a standard desktop operating system running on them. Naturally they possess the most powerful processors, the biggest RAM and also the largest disk space. Watching video streams is a breeze but they both lack what Android TV and Android box has to offer which is the humble remote control. Sure there’s an app called Remote Mouse that allows you to use your smartphone as a remote control, or more like a mouse plus keyboard combo but controlling the cursor with the app is still awkward at times. The other choice is to use an actual mouse to control the cursor and navigate through the browser which is quite a hassle.



Yes a browser because unless you install Kodi, these desktop computers don’t have a dedicated media centre interface for your streaming purposes. And you know I don’t like to run Kodi. Who has the time to go around searching for the latest plug in just to watch Netflix, DIsney+ or Astro Go? It's too much work.

The other downside is the boot time. Unlike Android TV and Android box which are always on standby, I had to actually turn on these computers and shut them down once I no longer use them, just like a regular computer. I could probably leave them on all the time but TNB will have a field day charging me on my electricity bill. And the boot time is not instant like the Android boxes. Yes one to two minutes is not that long but feels like forever in this day and age. I want my media centre to wake up the moment I press the remote button.



I bought an Android box because I thought it would be a major upgrade from my old Mi Box 3 Android TV. The Mi Box 3 has only 2GB of RAM and a meagre 8GB of disk space while the TX6 Android Box has a bigger 4GB RAM and a generous 32GB disk space. It’s a no-brainer, right? After using it for 2 months, not really.

First thing first, there’s a few major differences between an Android TV box like the Mi Box and an Android Box such as the TX6. An Android TV box runs a dedicated Android TV OS which is custom-made by Google for certified devices like the Mi Box series, Nvidia Shield or many modern Android TVs or Smart TVs. It has a standard Android TV interface which receives regular updates from Google. An Android Box however is basically a generic little multimedia device which runs a modified Android OS not unlike those on Android mobile phones. They have several custom “skins” or user-interface like Alice on the TX6 but underneath it is a modified Android phone OS. Android boxes usually have much more RAMs and disk space, up to 64GB in the top end and they come with a little remote as well just like the Android TV devices. More about the remote later.

The problem with these modified Android OSes on Android boxes is that you can only find a handful of apps on the Play Store that work out of the box with the remote provided. I could count about a dozen apps that play nice with the remote, the rest, you will need a mouse or a mouse app to move around the apps. As I said earlier, the remote is central to any media centre experience. The Android TV, despite its modest hardware, comes with a remote that works seamlessly with all the apps available from the Play Store. The Android Box does offer Aptoid, the alternative app market and the usual sideloading but you will need to use a mouse to run all of the apps installed from those sources.

Did I mention the Android Box remote was horrible? You need direct line of sight to move around the UI unlike the Mi Box remote which uses Bluetooth and spares you the trouble of pointing directly at the box itself. Moral of the story here is, a powerful Android device is useless if the user-interface is poor and the remote experience is appalling.

Which brings us back to the trusty Android TV box such as the Mi Box 3 and Mi Box 4 that I have at home. Both of them still run on a modest 2GB RAM and provide 8GB of space, although the latter comes with a slightly faster processor. But the most important thing is that the Android TV user interface is a joy to navigate and the remote experience is top notch. Yes I still do need to use a mouse for certain unsupported apps but that’s only for running HBO Max, Hulu or Astro Go from the sideloaded Chrome browser app. It’s quite strange that they don’t provide a Chrome version which is compatible with the Android TV up until now. Once HBO Max, Hulu or Astro Go officially comes to the Malaysian Play Store, I can download them legally and use the remote like any other official Play Store apps.

So if you’re looking for a great media centre device for your living room or any room, stick with an Android TV box light the Mi Box 4. If money is no object, go for the thousand ringgit Nvidia Shield which is much more powerful. Don’t bother getting any of those generic Android Box sets which provide really poor user-interface design and experience. Most of them are only 40 to 50 ringgit cheaper than those Android TV boxes but trust me, the Android TVs are a real worthy long-term investment.

Sony Xperia 10 II review

It’s been a while since I last used a Sony phone (back in 2013 in fact). I must say I have a soft spot for Sony electronic products - I’ve bought their TV, radios, smartwatches but rarely mobile phones. Their mobile phone design and especially price in recent years leaves a lot to be desired. That said, their new tall and narrow 21:9 aspect ratio design since 2019 is eye-catching to me so when I sold my last Samsung Note 9, I decided to give the Sony Xperia 10 II a try.



At first glance, the tall and narrow design while unique, I still had time to get used to it. The Xperia 10 II features a 6” OLED screen, an outdated Snapdragon 665 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory. Unlike the Note 9, this Sony phone doesn’t have wireless charging. Fast charging is supported but you will need to purchase the optional Sony UCH32C fast charger. There’s no face unlock but you got this useful fingerprint sensor cum power button on the side.



The Android OS 10 that comes in the box is upgradeable instantly to Android 11. I like that Sony decided to use this almost stock Android user-interface instead of a custom Android skin. The side-sense and multitasking features are useful. Snapping photos from its triple lens camera you immediately notice there’s a significant lag between tapping the shutter button and the camera actually taking the picture. If the subject is moving you will definitely get a blurry shot. Low light photo quality from the Xperia 10 II is adequate but not great.



It does not take me long to notice the lack of performance of this phone. Compared to the much older Samsung Note 9, this phone feels slower and less responsive. The display despite being OLED is not that good, there's no always on display, the speaker sound mediocre, the battery does not last long and the camera quality is questionable. And that’s coming from a Sony sensor. Being a tall and narrow phone, watching most streaming website will leave you with a black bar on both sides of the screen unless you double tap to zoom in.



So basically, the Xperia 10 II is a downgrade from my Note 9. Yes the body and design is quite pretty on the outside but internally, it’s rubbish. Lack of wireless charging is a real bummer. The overall performance quality is below par. I have been warned about this from the many reviews that I saw on YouTube but I decided to buy it anyway and lived to regret it. But no matter, I have now disposed of this phone albeit with a little loss. You probably get a better performing phone with their flagship Xperia 1 II but that one costs as much as the latest iPhone. You might as well get an iPhone with that price in my opinion.

My Covid-19 vaccination experience

As a staunch pro-vaccine person, I registered my interest in taking the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as early February this year when they opened the registration in the MySejahtera app. 3 months on, the national vaccine rollout progressed at a snail’s pace with phase 2 of the programme, targeting people with comorbidity and senior citizens. Meanwhile not all frontliners in the first phase got their jabs yet with a sizable number of them being left out from the shortlist.

When they announced that a significant number of registered people pulling out of their vaccination schedule for their concern on the Astrazeneca (AZ) vaccine side effect, the minister in charge offered the vaccine to the public, outside of the scheduled national immunization plan. So on May 2nd, there were 268,000 slots offered through the national vaccination website for residents of KL and Selangor, the states with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. I stood by in front of my computer 10 minutes to time and by 11:58 AM, the booking link went online and I got my slot confirmed within seconds.

Despite several minor glitches in the first 10 minutes of the online registration drive, all 268,000 slots were fully booked within 4 hours. 68,000 more were put on the waiting list for the AZ vaccine. I purposely picked on the earliest available date. First because I had already applied for an annual leave on that May 5th. Secondly, every single day without a vaccine is another day I could potentially catch the virus. My company was sporting enough to give out vaccination leave for all staff that wishes to take the vaccine.



Since UKM’s Dewan Gemilang is a mere 10 minutes away from my home, it was naturally my vaccination centre of choice. I arrived 30 minutes early before my stated appointment time. There was a considerable crowd gathering at the hall by the time I arrived. I quickly fill up my consent form and wait in line for my turn. When I finally got into the hall, I had to wait in line before a couple of stations (6 in total). Despite the crowd, the queue moved pretty quickly until the actual vaccination station. Maybe it’s because it was the first batch of the day or of the place, the wait at that particular station was a bit longer than usual.

The actual shot itself was done in less than a minute. I waited another half an hour at the observation station before finally leaving the hall. Overall, it took me 1 hour and 30 minutes from the first queue outside the hall until I left the selfie booth. I got myself a vaccination card with proof of my first dose on it. A few hours later it was also shown in the MySejahtera app. The first minor side effect was feeling sore on my arm where they jab the shot. About an hour later, I felt lethargic and sleepy. I managed to get 3 hours of sleep that afternoon and woke up feeling still tired and sleepy the next day. I also started to experience mild fever for the next 2 days which quickly got better after I popped a couple of paracetamols.



There were several points of contention regarding the AZ vaccine and the national Covid-19 immunisation in general. Some people argued that there should not be a special stream for residents of Selangor to jump the queue of the national vaccination waiting list. It was as if we cut in line of other more deserving people. Well first of all, we didn’t ask for this special vaccination exercise. As I said earlier it was done in response to a withdrawal of a significant number of people after they were assigned with the AZ jab. While I understand their concern, it would be a shame if the entire vaccination program is jeopardized just because they were made to believe wild stories from irresponsible people. The fact remains that the benefit of the AZ vaccine far outweigh the minor potential risk of blood clot. That’s 4 in one million shot small. Heck there’s more risk of blood clot in birth control pills, cigarettes and not to mention the actual virus itself. As a man of science, I have full faith in the vaccine rather than worry about a few rare minor side effects.

Could the national vaccination programme run a little bit faster? Absolutely. The government’s excuse was limited vaccine supplies, blaming rich countries of hoarding most of them. While that is partially true, I honestly believe we could do better in procuring these vaccines from multiple channels. With Covid cases increasing at an alarming rate nationwide (over 6,000 new cases at the time of writing), it’s every man for himself right now. While I feel sorry for those who are still waiting for their turn, you can’t blame me for jumping at the opportunity that presents itself. On the bright side, this AZ vaccination drive helped to boost public interest and confidence after becoming a major talking point on social media. I believe that getting as many people as possible and getting excited about it is miles better than trying to convert an antivaxer or Covid-denier.

That said, I can’t wait for my second dose sometimes in June. At least I can feel somewhat protected whenever I venture outside whether for work or doing whatever. Yes this vaccine cannot 100% stop me from getting Covid-19 but it could prevent me from becoming seriously ill or spread the virus to other people. And I don’t care whether I got the “lowly” AZ vaccine from say the more in demand Pfizer or Sinovac because the best vaccine you can get is the one that’s immediately available to you. The sooner we can get herd immunity, the quicker we can end this pandemic and get our lives back to normal.