A sunny day in Auvkland, January 2012

Took these Picts last month on a gorgeous day last month.

It seems that New Zealand is a truly blessed country endow with beautiful places and fabulous views.

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World's Most Livable Cities (city, ranking, world, top, 10, ten, places, lifestyle, people, culture, location)

This year's world ranking on most livable cities in the world.  (Source: wikipedia). http://tiny.cc/city2010This post is sponsored by Abby Technology Limited.  Professional Android, BlackBerry, iPhone 4G Repair and unlock services

The Economist's World's Most Livable Cities 2010 (Top 10)
	City	Country	Rating
1	Vancouver	Canada	98.0
2	Vienna	Austria	97.9
3	Melbourne	Australia	97.5
4	Toronto	Canada	97.2
5	Calgary	Canada	96.6
6	Helsinki	Finland	96.2
7	Sydney	Australia	96.1
8	Perth	Australia	95.9
	Adelaide	Australia	95.9
10	Auckland	New Zealand	95.7

39 Money Weird Facts That Will Blow Your Away (amazing, news, report, facts, finacne, cash, Auckland)

1. More of our fantasies are about money… than …
2. If we could have any luxury in the world (and money didn’t matter) more of us would choose to spend money on a butler and a maid than anything else.
3. 90% of Americans who own pets buy them Christmas gifts.
4. Money is the leading cause of disagreements in marriages.
5. 65% of Americans would live on a deserted island all by themselves for an entire year for $1,000,000.
6. For $10,000,000 most of us would do almost ANYTHING! Including abandoning our family and friends and our church. A very high percentage of us would, for that same amount of money, change our race or gender. And, 1 in every 14, would even murder someone for ten million bucks. What’s really strange about this is, the statistics remain the same whether it’s ten million dollars all the way down to three million. For three million bucks, most of us would do the same horrible things we would do for ten million. But, guess what? Few of us would do these things for a “measly” two million.
7. 92% of us would rather be rich than find the love of our lives.
8. Here’s a weighty one: Money (or the lack thereof) is the biggest stress inducer in the lives of Americans. We worry more about money than our marriages, our health, or even who’s going to win the Superbowl Game or come out on top in the latest Survivor TV show.
9. If you get your money out of a Hitachi ATM machine in Japan, it will be laundered. The way they do it is, they briefly press the bills between rollers at high enough temperatures to kill most bacteria.
10. Women have very fixed ideas on how much they are willing to spend on a bra. 38.3% of women won’t spend $30 for a bra. 28.4% won’t spend $50. 10% would pay as much as $75. And, only 3.5% would shell out $100. But, you know what? Almost 20% of womensay they would pay almost anything for a bra. This is because they consider (and I guess so do a few men) that the contents of what those bras are encasing is of extremely high-value.
11. Nearly half of the people who sell their houses with furniture included will take all the light bulbs out of all the lamps when they vacate the premises.
12. Most people won’t bend over to pick up money lying on the sidewalk unless it’s at least a dollar.
13. Most Americans think pennies are a pain in the ass and the U.S. Mint should stop making them.
14. There is about 405 billion dollars in circulation. Only 32 million of that amount is counterfeit. That means, the percentage of counterfeit money in America is .0079%. And, $20 bills are more often counterfeited than $100 bills.
15. Do people care if their bills are crisp? Indeed, they do. Fresh, crisp, clean bills are considered much more valuable than those which are old, wrinkled and dirty. I once sent a ‘dollar bill thank you’ letter to a guy who sent a sincere letter back to me bitching the free $1 bill I sent him was wrinkled instead of crisp as I had described in the letter.
16. Let’s flip a coin and try to guess whether it will come up heads or tails. Three times as many people guess ‘heads’ than ‘tails’.
17. Here’s one I personally think really sucks: One out of every four Americans believe their best chance of getting rich is by playing the lottery.
18. How about this one for a shocking fact: 5% of lottery ticket buyers buy 51% of all tickets sold. (Trust me, none of these people belong to the “Einsteins of America Society”.)
19. A staggering 74% of us are influenced by how much we can win in a lottery as opposed to the odds of us winning. That’s a good thing for the Government because the odds of winning a lottery jackpot are about 10 million to 1.
20. A person who drives 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket is 3 times more likely to be killed in a car accident while driving to buy the ticket… than… he is to win the jackpot.
21. Sunday newspaper coupon inserts are the second-most read section of the paper, after the front page. Few people know it but, you can buy single-disease insurance.
22. Only 6% of people in America regularly buy clothes tailor made just for them.
23. Here’s one that’s really important: 63% of us decide NOT to buy a product advertised on the Internet… because… we think the shipping and handling charges add too much to the order.
24. Eight times as many Americans would rather use an ATM than deal with a real live teller.
25. This one’s going to blow your mind: 83% of Americans still pay with checks instead ofcredit cards!
26. Almost 30% of us say we would need 3 million smackaroos to feel rich. This ties in with the fact most of us would do anything for as little as $3 million… but… not nearly as many of us would do those identical things for a measly $2 million. (Hey, here’s your chance to take advantage of that situation. If you only want to pay $2 million to have something done, ask me if I’ll do it. The chances are, believe it or not, I WILL DO IT.)
27. Here’s another fact which is really, really important: 80% of Americans say giving personal information (especially their credit card information) over the Internet scares the living shit out of them.
28. Two-thirds of Americans say they wouldn’t let their spouse spend the night and share intimacy with another person for a million dollars. Many of these people are liars. There’s a big difference being asked if they would do it for a million dollars… as opposed to… handing them a paper sack containing the million fungolas and simply saying, “Here, you can have this if you’ll let me sleep with your sweetie tonight.”
29. The average wedding in America costs a staggering $20,000.00.
30. More than one-third of American women consider money more important than intimacy to the success of a marriage.
31. According to Employee Benefits Research Institute 96% of all people who have jobs right now won’t be eligible for their full Social Security benefits when they reach age 65.
32. When it comes to houses, more than anything else, people want a state-of-the-art kitchen.
33. When people shop for a car, what they want more than anything else is reliability for the best possible price.
34. One of the best ways to raise money for a charity is to have a free dinner for a lot of people and have an empty envelope tucked under their plate… for the express purpose… of making whatever size donation they want.
35. People tip more on sunny days than they do on dreary days.
36. More than 80,000,000 people call the I.R.S. Information Hotline phone number every year. One-third of those calls go unanswered. And, according to the Treasury Department itself, 47% of the answers the ‘get-through’ callers receive are incorrect.
37. Almost two out of three people have modified their financial behavior because of their fears.
38. Almost three times as many people who live in the South worry about losing their jobs as compared to people who live in the Midwest.
39. Which would you rather do: Shop till you drop… or have an intimate relationship? For men, this is a no-brainer. However, more women would actually rather have an unlimited shopping spree than spend a weekend with a fabulous lover. In fact, the #1 favorite fantasy of women is to have a blank check to shop at their favorite store. The favorite fantasy of men (at least in my opinion) is what we would like to DO to the sales girl… rather than… what we would like to buy from her.
This post is sponsored by Abby Technology Limited.  Professional Android, BlackBerry, iPhone 4G Repair and unlock services

Top ten best countries to live on the world (lifestyle, economy, leisure, freedom, health, safte)

This post is sponsored by Abby Technology Limited - "Keep you in touch". Professional Android, Apple iPhone and BlackBerry repair services.

The lastest ranking of best countries to live in the world (with consideratin to Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.)
1. France
2. Australia
3. Switzerland
4. Germany
5. New Zealand
6. Luuxembourg
7. United States
8. Belgium
9. Canada
10.  Italy

http://tiny.cc/2010city  Source: International Living

Halloween 2010: New Zealand Style! (Auckland, event, people, culture, lifestyle)

Went out late noon yesterday to capture some pitures of cute little ghost, creatures and ghoul around Auckland area.  My kids are in the teens, so does not go out for Trick or Treat round any more. <http://tiny.cc/H2010>

Years ago, I remember when we live on Richardshon Road, Mt Roskill, my two girls used to go for trick or treats with our Kiwi neighbours. Now my eldest daught who is only 15 is taller than me! Time sure flies by like an arrow!
Happy Halloween 2010!

 

On top of Owairaka Reserve, Mt Roskill, Auckland (scenery, view, field, holiday, garden, lifestyle)

 On a hot evening, I went up to Owairaka Reserve and took some pictures of  plants and view with my Nokia N85 camera.

 __________________________________

Post is sponsored by: Abby Technology Limited - iPhone Repair Specialist

Skippy Lim at home, 27 Septemer 2010, Auckland, New Zealand (pet, Jack Russell, dog, lifestyle)

A few photos of Skippy Lim our dear pet.  I use only my good old Nokia N97 to take these pictures.  It was a bit challenging to take good photos of a pet dog who is always moving around!

 

You can click on the picture for a larger view.  I have posted more pictures of Skippy and Auckland at my other blog too

  

2010: The Top Ten Happiest Countries in the World (Ranking, smile, factor)

The recent Gallup World Poll, has put Denmark as the world happiest country, way ahead of the world’s richest country- the United States.  http://tiny.cc/happycountry

Looking at data collected across 132 countries, the Gallup Organization based their marks — released this month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology — on representative samples of more than 136,000 people in each country. 

Respondents were asked how they would rate their lives on a scale from zero (worst possible) to 10 (best possible), as well as answering a series of questions on positive or negative emotions.
 
Gallup’s top 10 countries are:-
 
1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. The Netherlands
5. Costa Rica
6. Canada
7. Switzerland
8. New Zealand
9. Sweden
10. Austria

Posted by Abby Technology Limited, Aucland, New Zealand

Tattooed Head, Three Kings, Auckland, New Zealand (March 2010, "David Lim"

http://tiny.cc/tattoo3kings

I took picture of a mate, who works at the tattoo parlour on Mt Smart Road, Three Kings, Auckland.

These are the new art work he had just completed when I took the picture with my iPhone 3GS.  Note the "key" to the brain design just above the left ear?

Check out the diamond of tears next to his eyes. Hmmm, what does that mean?  Technology Blogs

The Circus Circus Cafe, Mt Eden, Auckland -- A trip down to memory lane! (Auckland, "David Lim", places)

http://tiny.cc/circuscircus

Today as I passed by Mt Eden, I decided to drop by the Circus Circus Cafe, 447 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland, New Zealand. Tel: (09) 6233833.  Their website is located here.

The setting, the mood and ambiance is simply marvelous.  The Flat White (my favourite) taste really great, the staff is friendly and very professional too.  To top it of, the decoration along with the color theme makes you feel like you are in jovial mood as a kid at the Ringling Circus of the by gone days.  Apparently the business owner had done a long and careful planning the deck out his cafe.

You can see the giant size lions (made of wood), the monkeys, the acrobats swinging across the ceiling.  Sipping my coffee and drawn in to deep relaxation; suddenly the song "How Bizzare" by the late OMC singer Pauly Fuemana started to play in my mind.  OMC (Otara Millionaire Club) originates from Otara, South Auckland, New Zealand.  This song some how fits the atmosphere of the Circus Circus Cafe.  Believe me, you will not feel bizarre after you had your first visit here.

During rainy days or lazy days even happy day; I would highly recommend you to visit the Circus Circus Cafe to slow yourself down a bit and to catch up with the pace of life.

This post is sponsored by:

David Lim, sole owner of Abby Technology

For real! Women find Men with iPhones more Attractive (science, report, tech, social, news, Auckland, iPad)

Men with iPhones are more attractive to women than their counterparts who don’t use the Apple Inc. device, according to a survey by a British cellphone retailer.

Among 1,500 women surveyed by Phones 4U Ltd., 54 per cent said they would be likelier to date a man with an iPhone, the Newcastle-under-Lymebased company said.

The iPhone has helped Apple to surpass analysts’ earnings estimates. The company said Wednesday that second-quarter net income almost doubled to $3.07 billion US, boosted by the shipment of 8.75 million iPhones.

About two million iPhones have been sold in Britain, with 75 per cent of the touch-screen devices going to men aged 18 to 40, according to Phones 4U.

Downloads of dating applications for smartphones exceeded 250,000 last year, Phones 4U said.

In the survey, 37 per cent said owning an iPhone, which is typically marketed under a long-term contract, makes a man seem more reliable and a better candidate for a second date.

So Guys better save some cash and buy an iPhone.You wont regret it 

Abby Technology - Mobile Phone Repair
Email: abbytechnology(a)gmail.com
Mobile: 021 264-0000

The Best Coffee at Starbucks Isn't on the Menu (drinks, people, latte, flat, white, Auckland)

Like most office drones, it’s hard to pass by a Starbucks on the way to work without stopping for a cup of America’s finest. But a new trend has baristas cringing and customers rejoicing: the Instant Brew. It’s not on the menu, but most baristas will make you one if the store isn’t too busy.

The Instant Brew is when baristas brew coffee directly into the cup and not into a giant vat of joe. It’s also known as a pour-over or single-drop. This trend is becoming more popular among small specialty coffee houses, and it produces a stronger brew similar to a French press, but without the grit.

There's a few more items from Starbucks which may further piss off your local barista.

• The Short Cappuccino: A cheaper, better cappuccino served in a smaller eight-ounce cup. This is a more European-size portion of the drink without the extra milk most baristas use to fill the tall cups. Most foodies agree that a proper cappuccino should be one part espresso, one part steamed milk and one part foam.
  
• Biscotti Frappuccino: buy an individual biscotto and ask your barista to blend it into any Frappuccino drink for a crunchy treat.
• Red Eye: a shot of espresso in regular drip coffee
• Black Eye: two shots of espresso in regular drip coffee
• Green Eye: three shots of espresso in regular drip coffee (with a side of insomnia and serious heart palpitations)
• Poor Man’s Latte: order an Iced Americano with no water and half ice, then pour in your own half-and-half at the condiments station; the result is a Breve Latte for a fraction of the cost.
• Chocolate Cream Frappuccino: a Frappuccino made with chocolate syrup and chocolate Frappuccino base
• Cake Batter Frappuccino: a vanilla Frappuccino made with both vanilla bean and almond flavoring
• Crunch Berry Frappuccino: a strawberry-and-cream Frappuccino with hazelnut flavoring; it tastes just like Crunch Berries cereal.
• London Fog: Earl Grey tea blended with vanilla flavoring
• Zebra Mocha (aka Penguin Mocha): a combination white-chocolate/chocolate mocha
• Red-Tux Mocha (aka Bleeding Penguin): a Zebra Mocha plus raspberry flavoring

Starbucks is also testing new brewing methods in key markets. Their concept store, Roy Street Coffee and Tea, also serves beer and wine and creates little heart-shaped designs in their cappuccinos. More importantly they offer custom brew coffee using the elusive Clover coffee machine, an $11,000 device that auto-adjusts its temperature and brew time to the individual bean. If that isn’t expensive enough, there is still the $20,000 siphon coffee maker imported by Ueshima Coffee Company which Starbucks has yet to offer. To experience the siphon’s cold brew you must visit specialty shops like Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco.

--Abby Technology - Mobile Phone Repair and Unlock Specialist