Ten Year Anniversary of My Morocco Adventure

Ten years ago I clearly remember we were all praying and wishing to own the coolest Blackberry phone.  It was the time when lifestyle magazine editors were the arbiters of taste telling readers what to see, shop and do.  Now our lives are ruled by the social media influencers!

me 10 long years ago inside our budget hotel in casablanca

Ten years ago, Alexa, Bixby and Siri may just be the names of your neighbor’s pets.  Now they are your reliable artificial intelligence who can help you with your missions and commissions.  It was also the time when watches were simply used to tell time and you have to manually count the number of steps you had for the day and need to go to the doctor to monitor your calorie intake.  Now these 3 aspects are just minor features of your smart watch!  

In fact this blog, ten years ago was still being powered under Friendster Blogging site prior to my switching to WordPress!  I switched/transferred Nengkoy blog to WordPress in 2011.

Ten years ago was my first long haul adventure out of the country.  Ten years ago was my Morocco adventure!  Though I spent my Morocco exploits with Australian friends, this was my first solo airplane long haul experience!  This I guess gave birth to my loving going solo on travels abroad.

me with joesel, the travel-savant

sahara dessert adventure!

inside a tannery in fes

And can you just imagine how backward technology was during that time?  So solo travel then was more difficult and more challenging.  Internet info then was a bit limited. I can still remember the countless times I personally called Qatar Airways to inquire and ensure that there is no transit visa needed during my lay over in Doha.

I have no idea about the existence of mobile wifi then!  Though internet was existing already, I clearly remember that me, Joesel and Charles had to go the nearest internet shop inside a medina so as to connect online and message love ones from other parts of the world. 

My cellphone was okay then but the camera I was using then was the compact digital camera type! Chinese has not invented selfie sticks and gorilla pods during that time so can you just imagine how we take turns in taking our photos and smiling on camera multiple times so as to get the best selfie angle?

a rest day at merzouga

casablanca mosque

Ten years ago, my Morocco experience was the start of the expansion of my viewpoints of the world.  My learnings of the world were no longer just sourced from the pages of the book I read.  It was the time when my comfort zone was ultimately tested.  It was the adventure that made me realize that I can actually do and accomplish things I never imagine I could do.  It was the start of my different way of growing. 

Wow! It was actually ten years ago and no way will I forget my Morocco adventure!

Stupendous Artechouse

When I was in Washington D.C. I tried searching for the quintessential place, piece or circumstance that I can share in my social media account (particularly in my unpopular Instagram) that would ultimately launch and make it in-style, so-prevalent and too-widespread.

I then found Artechouse.  It is some sort of like a seasonal museum and an art pop-up project with huge multiple projectors all over the wall.   On the time of my visit, the exhibit’s theme was fittingly about Cherry Blossoms since it is cherry blossoms season in D.C.  Artechouse named it “In Peak Bloom”

Here’s what I got and hope you click and check it out!

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A post shared by neil langit (@neillangit)

Artechouse’s stupendous #inpeakbloom exhibit brought something that is difficult to describe.  It is some sort of a contemporary art that seem to have been mixed with theater, music, film and technology that is interactive in nature.

Unluckily and as usual, this post only garnered few likes in my Instagram and it didn’t made me popular.  Though my Instagram remained unpopular and bleakly received I realize that this failure didn’t made me less of a person.  But In Peak Bloom exhibit, I guess brought in me some colorful peace with bundles and bundles of joy and gladness. I was stupendously pleased to have seen and experienced it! 

Ang hindi mag-click ng Instagram post ko na yan, Panget! Hahaha!

Xender: The Factotum

my samsung note 5 xender app

The modern world of mobile operating system has been at a war status for quite some time now.  The debate, debacle and competition has been so steep, it has actually divided human existence on the planet.  It is either you are an Android enthusiast or an iOS devotee.

Techies and interface experts around the world devote heaps of time and brain cells to improve their respective operating system. These techies are out to outsmart their competitor.

With all these rivalry, society has remained divided.  Thus, a bridge, an emissary or an arbitrator that can cross and convey impressions from one side to the other is needed so as to keep this world a safer and peaceful place to live in.

A mediator, a go-between, a factotum.  That is how I would generally describe Xender, a cross-platform file transfer and sharing app. This amazing app enables Android files to be accepted and recognized in an iOS and vice versa.

xender is one of the first few apps i downloaded in my new ipad air

I have been an Android user for quite some time now but has been an iOS user prior to it.  Now that I have a new Apple iPad Air (which I received as a gift this recent Christmas season), I am no longer worried of not being able to intermingle my files between these pugnacious operating systems.  And what is more amazing is that its free!  Using the Xender app, is like enjoy the amazing features of both Android and iOS worlds.

Dawnlowd na…

Modern Bowel Movement

I hate winding up with thriving colonies of molds and mildews bonding together like concrete on my bathroom walls and floor.  That is why habitually, routinely and tirelessly I would scrub my bathroom and my toilet.

Early today while I scour, soap-up and wash my toilet which I consider to be a medieval form of torture, I remember taking photos of public restrooms during my recent trip to Japan.  It come not a surprise that this highly urbanized country has technologically advanced and sophisticated toilets.  They transformed the basic toilet facilities into ingenious comfort room devices.

To prove my point, here’s one photo of buttons to press of a modern Japanese public toilet inside a mall when I answered a call of nature and do a number two.

Notice those patterns of raised dots? Those are Braille, making this toilet blind-friendly.

I was nuts about the right most button (in the photo).  When I pressed it, an artificial sound of flushing waiter played on a speaker inside the toilet to disguise what otherwise obnoxious tune my butthole is producing.

Hay tek na pag pupu.

Samsung Youm

This is mind boggling! Samsung truly is a rock star in technology. A wonder what Apple will come up with…

Ibang klase!!!

Bitter Apple

This is old news, but according to Colin Birss, a British high-court judge, Samsung devices “do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design”.  He said that Samsung is “not as cool”.  This court decision refused Apple to be granted an order for an injunction against importing Samsung devices into the United Kingdom and the whole European Union nations.

I guess for all its worth I do agree with Judge Birss that Samsung is not cool enough.  Samsung for me is not cool because it is actually blazing hot!  As in H.O.T.!!!

This is especially true with Samsung Galaxy Note II.  It is an extraordinary phone with hot personality. It is a charming device in a slightly larger-than-life kind of way.  Because of this, I made Samsung Galaxy Note II as an early birthday gift to my equally hot self.

my new phone

Now that I am discovering the awesome features of my new phone, I can conclude that Samsung’s claim for innovation has been solidified.  Some even believe that Samsung Galaxy Note II is Apple’s IPhone 10 in the future.

For more recent news, in compliance to the same court order Apple initially published a snarky and sarcastic apology to Samsung as if saying, “Samsung is dim-witted and we are the coolest”.  This resulted for Apple to be reprimanded by the same British court and was told to fix their apology.  On October 25, 2012, Apple published a revised yet still dry apology to Samsung.  For me, this juvenile impulse and unsophisticated actuations of Apple is neither cool nor hot.  I call it “bitter”.

Helow!