November 2008 – Vinko’s Thoughts On…

November 29, 2008

Movie Review: The Beast Stalker

Poster

My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie The Beast Stalker at UA Cinema, TimeSquare, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Another late addition to my Must See Movies list.

This was only my second movie (on the big screen) in over 3 weeks. Those who knows me will find this extremely unusual, as some of them say I watch almost anything. Although I disagree, but I used to watch on average 2 – 3 movies a week. That was before I returned to Hong Kong over 10 years ago, now one movie a week was typical. The reason for this recent hiatus was quite simple, I found there were nothing interesting enough to watch.

Until I came across a review of this movie in HK Magazine (Friday, Nov. 28, 2008 issue), which gave it high praises. It had been years since I last watched a Hong Kong made movie and there is really nothing American to watch at the theaters, I decided to give it a try.

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November 29, 2008

Ridiculous Hong Kong Government Decision

Just read in HK Magazine (Nov. 28, 2008 issue) that Hong Kong Customs officers from inspector to assistant commissioner levels can travel to vineyards in France for wine tasting. These are suppose to be working trips to educate them on wine, so they can tell the difference between real and fake wines. All these trips are funded using public money.

That is absolutely outrageous, even if we are not in a global financial crisis. On one hand the government wants to raise salaries of government workers 3%. While they make spending decisions like the one with HK customs.

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November 24, 2008

Review: Burgeroom [Update]

Tonight I decided to give Burgeroom of Causeway Bay another try after my visit last Thursday, which you can read all about in my post, Review: New Found Burger Joint.

This time I tried their “Bacon Chicken Burger” and was surprised with a very juicy piece of chicken and Canadian back bacon. Of course they did not miss out the usual fresh thickly cut tomatoes and crisp lettuce. The one thing not as good with the chicken burger compared to the regular beef burger is the chicken texture, making it hard to bite off with each mouthful.

On this visit I found out an important point with regards to eating a Burgeroom burger, that is not to cut the burger in half before eating, even if the burger may be too tall for your mouth. This is because the bun and the over diameter of the burger are not very large large, so cutting them in half will cause the burger to fall apart almost right way when you bite into it.

BTW: I found out that Burgeroom has a Facebook page for fans to join.

November 22, 2008

Developments of Hybrid

Recently I notice both Toyota and its Lexus brand have made hybrids. These are not the typical hippie boring family car, but the Highlander and Camry models for Toyota and GS and RX models for Lexus. Honda did not stand still either, they have hybrid models of their Civic models. There are other American manufactures who also produces hybrid models. Luxury manufactures like: Mercedes and Porsche also have respective hybrid models at a even higher premium.

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November 21, 2008

iPhone Firmware 2.2 NOT for Hacked iPhones

As rumored Apple has released the iPhone firmware 2.2 today.

This is a warning to all users who had either jailbroken or unlocked their iPhone or iPhone 3G, this warning even goes for anyone using the iPhone 3G who had not done either, but may want to unlock in the future.

I strongly advice these users not to upgrade their iPhone firmware to 2.2 until the iPhone Dev Team had released an updated version of their PwnageTool.

This applies to the new version of iTunes 8.0.2 also, as we currently do not know if the latest version of iTunes will be compatible with jailbroken or unlocked iPhone and iPhone 3G.

I will update here when it is safe to upgrade your iPhone or iPhone 3G, please stay tuned.

November 20, 2008

Review: New Found Burger Joint

Double Decker Burger @ Burgeroom

Originally uploaded by Vinko T.

Today I was introduced to a new “local” burger restaurant in Causeway Bay, called Burgeroom. By “local” I mean that it is an independent restaurant as compared to franchise or chain restaurant.

As many readers know, a few days ago I gave the new Fatburger in Wanchai a try. You can read all about it in my HK Fatburger Experience article.

Previously I pointed out there are four major “premium” hamburger restaurant chains here in Hong Kong. These being: Shake ‘em Buns, Triple-O’s, Freshness Burger and MOS Burger. I consider these to be a class above chains/franchises like McDonald’s and Burger King.

Being a burger enthusiast I was surprise that I had not heard of this place until now. The number of choices on their menu is quite large for a burger joint, with 19 distinctive burgers, from the Classic Burger to Lobster Burger. They even have a heart stopper Foie Gras Beef Burger.

I chose the Classic Burger with Bacon this time. Biting into the burger I receive a suitably juice piece of all beef patty. Next my palate was surprised by a familiar yet unique custom sauce. Then came the fresh thickly cut tomatoes and crispy lettuces. With the lightly toasted kaiser bun running out the bite.

The photo here is the second thickest burger they have on the menu, Double Decker, which you may have difficulties biting into, as it is at least 6″ high.

If Burgeroom survives this economic down turn, these other foreign hamburger invaders will have a strong contender on their hands.

Price:	$$$$
Taste:

November 19, 2008

Movie Review: 証人

Poster

My Rating:

剛剛睇完《証人》，一散場就叫好…好久都未試過睇完港產片就叫好，上次叫好是睇完《無間道》。

＂証人＂情節拍得好細緻，好緊湊，前呼後應，睇得出拍得好有Heart,一些都無諗過當觀眾低能，特技效果”正”，每一個演員都是好戲之人，特別係謝霆鋒，張家輝，智叔。未睇套戲之前都聽說影評讚好才去睇，詁唔到真係咁好睇，超水準之作，港產片真是掂的。

Another late addition in Vinko’s Must See Movies list.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it on iTunes
	Waste your time elsewhere

November 19, 2008

Wine: Lindemans – Shiraz Cabernet

Tonight at dinner I came across a set of wines from Lindemans, Australia that are on promotion at Outback restaurant. The one I tried was their Premier Selection: Shiraz Cabernet 2007, selling for HKD220.00/bottle or HKD58.00/glass.

This wine has a dark plum colour. A medium bodied palate that leads with an initial burst of sweet berry fruit, later joined by flavours of cherry and stewed fruit. It was not too dry, I say a medium. It is best to drink without letting it breath too long.

November 18, 2008

Review: HK Fatburger Experience

On the weekend I walked by the new Hopewell property, Queens Road East, on Queen’s Road East, and noticed the long boarded up store front of Fatburger is no longer boarded up. There’s a buzz of activity, but I just finished shopping at Park N’ Shop so it was not convenient for me to check it out. Instead I went there purposely to give Fatburger a try.

As many readers and Twitter followers know, I favor burger joints and is a self proclaim burger connoisseur of hamburgers. Before Fatburger there are four main premium hamburger chains: the local “Shake ’em Buns“, Canada’s Whitespot “Triple-O’s“, Japan’s two invasion “Freshness Burger” and “MOS Burger“. By “premium” I mean more than simply McDonald’s or Burger King.

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