Friday, March 28, 2014

Where to Buy Cakes and Pastries in Marikina? Wolly Winkle

Now, before anything else, I have to say that this was not paid nor endorsed by the owner. I simply came across the tiny patisserie while waiting for our car to get upholstered, which took about 3-4 hours!

To make a long story short, I got hungry and checked what was in the Wolly Winkle Cakes and Cafe shop.

Don't let appearances deceive you.
Wolly Winkle is located near MG Square Upholstery at G. Fernando Ave., Corner Dragon Street, Marikina City. It's directly beside the newly-opened, awesome-looking Car Wash and Restobar whose name I have not taken note of.

The Wolly Winkle Cakes and Cafe's atmosphere suggest a cozy and welcoming vibe.
So I entered the establishment with sky blue metallic sticker plastered all over its front display. I'm not sure why the owner chose to do this with the cake shop as you could barely see through it during afternoons.

This cake shop may look barren in the outside, but once you've entered, you'll certainly appreciate the thematic choice of blue and Alice in Wonderland artwork hung throughout the small room. 

I especially love that their service water is served in a wine glass instead of a regular cylindrical one.
There aren't that many tables, which makes sense since it's not an ideal place to eat dinner in. 

However, if you're going to hang out with a friend and just want to try some cakes, it's definitely a place to consider (especially if you're near Sta. Lucia Grand East Mall).

A slice of cake cost within 100 php range. The portions are smaller than what I expected, but I won't judge this yet since I haven't tried any of it.
Cake pricing is as follows:

(Cake - Slice/Whole)
Blueberry - 125 / 1000
Oreo Cheesecake - 125 / 1000
Classic Sans Rival - 105 / 840
Chocolate Dream Cake - 95 / 760
Chocolate Paradise -  95 / 760

Unfortunately, I forgot to name of their best-seller... It had something to do with Marshmallow; it's the one located at the upper right corner of the picture directly above. 

I ordered their Mac and Cheese (95 php) and Revel Bar (45 php). 

The bread was a little chewy (perhaps from having been refrigerated). Nevertheless, the Mac & Cheese was real good.
Okay, so the price is a little steep compared to mainstream restaurants and fastfood joints. After all, Goldilocks' Baked Mac cost about 65 - 75 php. 

Still, it's definitely a place I would consider visiting again. I wasn't able to taste their cakes, but their revel bar sufficed to tell me that its preparation was home-made.. and I just love home-made cooking.

To sum it all up:

***** Ambiance/ Atmosphere - cozy, thematic and just great for friends who want to hang out.
****   Food - Good enough. I haven't tasted the cakes yet, but their Revel Bar was OK! It's not too sweet or too jam-packed with flavor.
***     Price - A little steep in comparison to Banapple (my favorite cake place), but all the well good. Can we go back to the ambiance? It was really cute and adorable.  On the other hand, the pricing just sounds about right if you were to go to a cafe to hang out. It's cheaper than Starbucks albeit the lack of specialized  coffee blends.

Will I go back there to try their cakes? Definitely!

Wolly Winkle Cakes & Cafe is located at #32 Gil Fernando Ave., San Roque, Marikina City
Tel No. 631-76-44
Read More

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

How to Root Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 (Newbie Guide with Pictures)

Last time, I discussed about restoring/ resetting/ reformatting your Samsung Galaxy Y. This helps with problems regarding slow android phones and frequent "forced close" apps.

For one, a friend of mine paid a whopping 250 php simply to have her phone reformatted because she couldn't text or call or do anything functional with it. That's a less-than-5-minute process. Others have actually charged her 500 php when all they had to do was do a hard reset/reformat.

So, for my first tip of the day: LEARN HOW TO REFORMAT/ HARD RESET YOUR SAMSUNG GALAXY Y.

Rooting a Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 is actually easier than rooting a MyPhone A818g
Let's get down to business, shall we.

Rooting... Why should I root my phone? (in layman's words)

To be honest, I've barely rooted my phone. And to be more embarrassingly honest, I have bricked  a MyPhone A818 because I was dying to root it. So why do we root?

1. Rooting your android phone can help you adjust the parameters for which your phone is functioning e.g. kill bloatware and manufacturer apps that hog up battery life.

2. Rooting your Samsung Galaxy Y will allow you to install custom roms. Mine, at the moment, is running on ChobitsDigitalis ROM.

3. Rooting gives you that SuperUser icon that looks so cool because it shows you have the briefest idea of what you just did. Oh, and having superuser rights allow you to download the infamous ClockWorkMod/ ROM Manager.

FAQs:

1. Is rooting the Galaxy GT-S5360 difficult? 

No.

2. Do I need to back up my old files? 

In this case, no. They will remain there. 

However, just to be safe, when it comes to tweaking, rooting or installing custom roms, backing-up your files is an imperative.

3. What do I need to root my Samsung Galaxy Y?

a. your computer, to download the update.zip
b. a USB cable to transfer the files from your download folder to your SD card.
c. a Samsung Galaxy Y that has a minimum charge of 50%
d. your concentration

4. If I accidentally install the update.zip more than once, will I brick my phone?

Not to my knowledge. While doing this article, I actually rooted my Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 3 times. Just don't try it for the sake of testing the theory.

5. Will this update.zip work on Galaxy Y Duos?

I haven't tried it (for the absence of a Duos phone). However, I strongly advice for you to look for a Samsung Galaxy Y Duos root instead. 

How do I root my Samsung Galaxy Y?

1. First, download the update.zip.

2. Attach your USB cable to your computer's USB port with the other end on your phone.

USB Connected notification in android phones.
3. Once you see the notification 'USB Connected', just press it and choose "Connect USB Storage". Press "OK" on the next prompt. Your green Android will turn orange and the phone's memory will become visible under 'Devices with Removable Storage'.

Some devices will have another pop-up message before green Android turns orange. Just press 'OK' if this notification pops out.
4. Copy the update.zip into the main folder.

Main folder just means the very first window that opens when you click on 'Removable Disk'
5. Once done, go to your phone again and select  "Disconnect USB Storage".

6. Turn off your phone in preparation for 'Android System Recovery'.

7. Once it's off, press the Volume Up, Home button and Power Button simultaneously. Once the Samsung Galaxy Y logo appears, just let it go  

8. Using the Volume Button as your scroll keys, just press it to go to "apply update from sdcard". Press the "Home" button to choose the update.zip package.

9. Scroll down again to highlight update.zip. Press "Home" again to install the zip.

Select update.zip. If you accidentally placed the zip file in another folder, just select the folder name (the one with a / after each word) and choose update.zip
10. It's a pretty quick process. Once it's done, your phone will have the message on its screen saying: You've been rooted! Install from sdcard complete.

11. Select "reboot system now" and we're done with rooting. You should now see the superuser icon in your menu.

Viola! Now, you've successfully rooted your Samsung Galaxy Y.
And that's how the cookie crumbles, folks.
Read More