Happy 4th of July!

3rd of July BBQ

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The 4th of July fell on a Monday this year, so I got Friday and Monday off. I think it would've made more sense to give us Monday and Tuesday since Independence Day is really a late night holiday. Since that wasn't the case, it was nice to have the family get-together on Sunday, July 3rd. That way, we could relax knowing the next day is an off-day.

Wireless Eee Macbook

When I last left off on my Windows XP/OS X Leopard dualboot netbook, everything was functional except for the wi-fi on the OS X side. Most instructions I came across mentioned a hardware swap of the internal 802.11n card. I went as far as doing a trial run of this just to see how far I had to dig to get to the wi-fi card. On the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE, it's surprisingly hard to get to. You seriously have to take apart the entire machine, including part of the monitor. So I backed up on that idea and put everything back together. I don't think it's worth the risk. There's actually a much simpler solution that none of the sites mention and I hadn't thought about it initially either... a Mac OS X compatible external USB dongle! There aren't many of these out there and of course it's ideal to find one of those new ones that has a short dongle. I did find one on Amazon for just under $15 (AirLink101 AWLL5088) and now I have wi-fi on the OS X half of the netbook. Since it has the short dongle, it's pretty much just as good as an internal one. It doesn't stick out and I don't have to remove it when I pack up the machine.

iPad2 Keyboard Case

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Originally, I was looking at the Clam Case for my iPad. The design really makes it look like a laptop as it's solid and well constructed. They even made a white one to match the new iPad2. The $150 price tag factored into the decision not to get it though. And while it has a nice protective shell, it looks like it susceptible to scratches. I didn't want to get a super nice case that's going to make me baby the iPad even more than when it was unprotected. So instead, I found a $35 generic keyboard that works pretty well.

Related: iPad2, Clam Case, Generic Keyboard Case

Highline Preview

For Ifore's last night in New York, we went out to the Highline. It was a place I've been meaning to go to. I met up with Ifore, Jiselle and Emily after work, so it was still bright outside ans we had the dusk lighting as we walked across the tracks from 14th St. to 20th St. There were a lot of people there, but I was still able to get all the shots I wanted without interference.

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I titled this post "Preview" because I forgot to bring my real camera with me. All of these shots are with my HTC Incredible smartphone. I'll have to go back later this Summer with my Canon G10.

Serendipity (for Dessert)

Location: 225 East 60th St., New York, NY
Cuisine: American
Hours: SUN-THU (11:30am-12am); FRI (11:30am-1am); SAT (11:30am-2am)
Phone: (212) 838-3531
Website: www.serendipity3.com
Prices: $20/person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 8
Service: 4
Value: 7
Environment: 2

Frequency: Unique

Ifore has gone to Serendipity the last couple of times he visited NY, so it's a little weird that today was my first time there. I got to the area a little earlier and there were people waiting outside, but it looked like people were leaving and entering at short intervals. So I didn't think the wait was going to be that long. When we all arrived (party of 4), they told us it was a 1 hour wait. We went shopping and came back in an hour. We were then told it was a 20 minute wait... followed by another 20 minute wait. Another party that had just arrived was told their wait would be 2 hours. So long waits are normal for this place.

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Even though the wait time is known, I factored that into the service rating. Waiters weren't really that friendly and were pretty slow. The food we had was good and the portions justified to some extent the high prices. The desserts were unique too. This is not a place I would come back to as a native New Yorker, unless I had out of town guests. While the food was good, it wasn't worth the 1 hour and 40 minute wait.

The environment is extremely crowded and uncomfortable. No matter where they seat you, you will be next to a a stranger. There's no elbow room at all. If you have a party of 2, you'll be at a table for 1. There's no space to walk around because the place is always full and there are tourists shopping for souvenirs at the front, conveniently blocking the entrance.

Dominican Republic TOC

This post is a table of contents of all entries related to our Dominican Republic family vacation. I wrote many of these within the past 3 days, but posted them based on the original dates of occurrence:

- Punta Cana Cast
- Heading Out
- Arrival in DR
- Rock Spa
- Day 2 Lunch & Afternoon
- Zen
- "Normal" Dominican Routine
- Rock Spa II
- Ipanema
- The Dominican Experience
- Pizzeto
- Moon Rocker Adventures
- Ciao
- Romantic Dinner
- Snorkel Paradise
- Cafetto
- Toro
- Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Location: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Phone: (809) 731-0000
Website: www.hardrockhotelpuntacana.com
Price: n/a (part of timeshare)
Credit Cards: All major

Rooms: 9
Service: 9
Value: 9
Amenities: 9

Length of Stay: 7 nights

Last year, I thought Beach Palace in Cancun was the best hotel, but Hard Rock was actually slightly better. The room was probably about the same sq. footage, but had a more original design. Everything was laid out on a diagonal and there was a step down to the jacuzzi and porch. Furniture and bath area were the same high quality that's probably characteristic throughout all Palace Resorts properties.

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There's no contest when it comes to services. I've never had any as good as this hotel. Everyone was super nice. The rooms were kept clean... almost too clean in my opinion. Housekeeping would come by at least 3x a day. I think once is enough! Occasionally a worker would mess up because of language barrier, but I didn't sense any hesitation from a single staff member when I came to helping people out. Everyone was polite and patient. Our tours, spa credits and photographer credits were allocated properly and I didn't feel at any point that we were being ripped off. I had suspected that in Cancun.

This resort is a truly self sufficient ecosystem. There's a comfortable amount of space for the amount of guests staying there. There are enough pools, dining areas and other services to go around. The fitness center is state-of-the-art in contrast to the tiny ones in Cancun. Phone calls to the US are included. Wi-fi has good coverage. It's only lost out in the beach, but that's understandable.

If this is Palace Resort's ultimate accommodation, then I'd rather come back to this one every year rather than go to another destination!

Toro

Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.
Cuisine: Buffet (breakfast & lunch), Steak (dinner)
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)

Food: 8
Service: 10
Value: n/a
Environment: 10

Frequency: Uncommon

Toro is supposed to be Hard Rock's top restaurant with it being a steakhouse. It probably had the best decor and service compared to all of the others. I gave it rare 10's for both. Other than Zen, it was the only other one that required reservations.

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We first went there as a group on 5/10. Most of us enjoyed the food, but a few who ordered the well done steaks thought it was too dry. That's the main reason I never order well done from a steakhouse. My medium cooked top sirloin turned out just right. For our last dinner of the trip (tonight), Ifore, Jiselle and I came back while the rest of the group took a chance on "Asian Night" at Zen.

The portion sizes varied depending on what was ordered. The beef tenderloin I had the second night was about half the size of the top sirloin. Both were pretty good though. Ifore's rib eye was thin, but juicy. Service and environment were consistently great after 2 nights there. I gave the food an 8 because it wasn't as good as the NY steakhouses, but a step up from diners and non-steakhouse restaurants.

At the end of the last night, it turned out that we made the right choice of eating at Toro. The others didn't enjoy their Chinese meal at Zen, solidifying my rule of no Chinese outside of NY and China!

Cafetto

Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.
Cuisine: Italian, Cafe
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)

Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: n/a
Environment: 9

Frequency: Common

I first tried out Caffeto when the rest of the group went to the timeshare presentation and then recommended it because they had a very good non-buffet breakfast menu. Most of the items were actually healthy too. I got my parents there one morning and the whole group for lunch after our snorkeling tour.

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Though it's a close comparison with Ciao, this would have to be my favorite breakfast restaurant because of the specially cooked eggs. But I didn't feel they had anything as special on their lunch menu. Service here was very good... well staffed for the number of seats and organized system. The place was also comfortable for the small space it had.