Hollister Coastline Cologne And Abercrombie Fierce - The Same?

So it's been a while since I last shopped at Hollister. The reason is not because I've not had time but simply because their recent styles just don't appeal to me.


I mean what the hell happened? Hollister used to design clothes that were basic, plain, preppy - the look I love. Now their lines just look the same as all the other high street - H & M, New Look, Top Shop etc.


On this visit to the Hollister store in Manchester Arndale though, I noticed what seemed like a newly launched cologne - Hollister Coastline for guys. Great - a new fragrance! Since I'm a big fan of the SoCal cologne I decided to pick up the tester bottle of Coastline and held the nozzle up to my nose for a sniff. Hmmm... smelled familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.


I rolled up my sleeves to try a spray on my wrists. Just in case you didn't know, it's best to test fragrances on your skin because there can be slight variations in smell depending on who wears it. Every skin is different and colognes can react differently.


I let it settle before walking out of the store with my girlfriend. On the way out I had smell of my wrist and again it reminded me of another fragrance from somewhere but I still couldn't quite put my finger on it.
So I started thinking - what does that fragrance remind me of. Instantly the smell took me back to America - shopping - malls. And then it hit me! Abercrombie Fierce cologne.


Since I don't own a bottle of Abercrombie Fierce cologne I couldn't compare the two. But I'm 99% sure it's the same smell.


WTF!! Is Hollister Coastline just simply Abercrombie Fierce rebottled and sold for a cheaper price? I mean the main reason why I never bought Fierce was because of the price tag so at least now that Coastline is available for £28 I can have the same fragrance for less.


Has anyone else tried the new Hollister Coastline cologne for guys? If so what are your thoughts? Does it smell the same as Fierce by Abercrombie and Fitch?

Gok Wan Cooking Chinese Food - At Lowry Salford Quays Food Festival

Oh My Gok! Chinese Food Cooking Demonstration

So recently i went to see Gok Wan at Lowry in Salford Quays for his Chinese cooking demonstration for Food Festival 2015.

We try to go to the Lowry Food Festival every year because of our love for tasty street food and home made delights.

This year was a bit of a let down due to the terrible weather. Manchester always seem to get the worst of rain and wind. However, seeing Gok made up for it.

There was big marquee set up in the main court yard of Media City UK and we arrived early after having booked our tickets online a few days before.

The audience was a mixture of both old and young generation and we sat ourselves down on the second row from the front.

The build up to Gok's entrance was funny and it seemed to get the crowd warmed up. The introducer asked the crowd "who are you here to see?". After announcing a few names and events he shouted "are you here to see Gok?".
The crowd responded and this wad followed up by Gok's camp voice from backstage "yes, you are here to see me."

There were laughter amongst the audience followed by Gok making his entrance on the stage.

Overall Gok's cooking demonstration was very entertaining and i liked how he got got the audience to interact by picking volunteers to get up on stage with him to make dumplings, or "cornish pasties" as referred to by one of the participants.

The funniest part of the show for me was when Gok almost set the place on fire. He overheated one of the woks and upon dropping in the oil it set ablaze. So what does Gok do? He starts to blow on the flame. #facepalm.
One of the assistants swiftly came to the rescue and covered a wet towel over the wok to stop the fire.

So after the show we decided to join the queue in the Lowry shopping mall to get up close and personal with Gok. Got his autograph and a selfie.

It was great meeting you Gok and can't wait for anothet show next year!

Why I Prefer Android Phone Over Apple iPhone

I'm writing this blog post on my iPhone 5 as I sit on my bed in a tiny compact but efficient apartment in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

I take frequent glances out of my window at the densely populated, small but efficient city to gather my thoughts. 

These two words "small and efficient" describe the country very well but it's a real shame that I can't use them again to describe my iPhone, whilst struggling to hit the right keys on the touch screen keyboard.

What Am I Doing In Hong Kong?

I arrived four days ago after leaving my home city of Manchester behind for a week. Two reasons for visiting Hong Kong -

1. My girlfriend's Chinese family ties

2. An old friend of mine moved here a year ago

I've been planning this trip for many months and expected to rely rather heavily on my smartphone to aid me on journey. Route planning, navigation, camera and video recording, as well as social media for keeping in touch.

Replacement Phone Needed

Therefore, when my Sony Xperia Z1 began failing on me a few months back I instantly decided to take action and hunted for a replacement phone to use whilst Sony decided whether they want to repair or replace my Z1.

The iPhone 5 was my first choice because I've been working in an mobile phone and electronics store at the time and got to play around with iOS devices a lot, particularly the iPhone. I've also been meaning to give Apple tech a try. I'm on a 4G data plan as well so a cheaper iPhone 4 or 4s was not an option.

Fault Infested Second Hand iPhone 5

Bear in mind this was only supposed to be a phone that I would use until my Sony was fixed or replaced so I decided to hunt down a decent second hand iPhone 5. I decided to buy the phone from CEX. Main reasons being that I already had some store credit with them after trading in a few games and gadgets before; and they give 1 year warranty on their phones. Makes sense right? I'll get the iPhone 5, it'll be a great little phone because Apple made it and CEX will cover me for any faults and I will have a hassle free time.

Wrong!

What a terrible mistake it was. From the word go, I had issues. I didn't even realise it was possible for a mobile phone to have so many common faults. Even my Nokia 8850 still works fine to this day. However, I guess some may argue that because the iPhone has so much more advanced features than the Nokia, there's more parts of it likely to fail.
I don't agree, the new features should be supported by technology that's built to last. Not fail all the time. Otherwise what is the point? My Nokia 8850 does the main things that a mobile phone is built to do - make and receive calls, send and receive text messages. There's also the added bonus of playing basic games of that time such as Snake. None of those functions have failed yet and the phone is over 15 years old.
Compare that to mobiles of our current time - what are the basic functions of a smart phone? Make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, connect to the internet through WiFi and cellular data. So is it fair to say that if a phone of the current time consistently fails on the basic functions of the current time, it should be label a crap phone?

I'm currently on my fourth iPhone 5 from CEX. The first one had cellular data connectivity issues. Yes you heard me right. I couldn't connect to the internet without using WiFi.

The second iPhone 5 that CEX gave me had severe battery issues. One minute it's at 50% and then the next it'll have dropped to 20% battery.

Off I go again to CEX to get another replacement. So this third one seemed fine - no issues with the battery, 4G connects fine and everything seemed great. Third time lucky? I think not!!
The proximity sensor was faulty. This is the little sensor that detects your face when you talk on the phone and disables the touch screen by blacking it out.

The good people at CEX were helpful and apologetic and gave me a fourth replacement with a larger memory capacity of 32gb from my original 16gb. Guess what... this iPhone 5 has also started to develop problems.

Please bear in mind that although these iPhones are second hand, they have all been Grade A (the best condition) ones. CEX uses a grading system with Grade A being the best.

I could rant on forever about faults and annoying aspects of my iPhone 5 but for the purpose of this post i'll just focus on the three main issues that pisses me off the most.

Three Main Issues With My iPhone 5

1. Poor Battery
This is the most common problem amongst iPhone 5 owners. It's all over the net and everyone complains about their battery life on their iPhone 5. I mean come on Apple WTF??!! Not everything however, is rubbish with this phone though. Like for instance the camera - it's great. Even though it's not as high in Megapixels as my girlfriend's Xperia Z2, it still takes some stunning photos. And the thing I like most is the way it snaps a photo as soon I hit the shutter button. Unlike the Z2, Z1 and other Android devices that takes a split second for the focus to adjust before snapping.
But i'd rather be able to last longer taking the photos though. As we've been out all day every day admiring the streets and views of Hong Kong my iPhone's battery dies guaranteed around 3pm everyday - and that's after a full night of charging to 100%. Sometimes depending on usage, i'm getting extremely low even before lunch time.
Absolute crap!
I'm also not hammering the phone at full capacity all the time either. I followed all instructions available online to conserve battery life such as closing apps, turning off back ground refresh and many more. I even have my screen brightness at around 25%.

2. iTunes
I mean come on this is 2015. Restrictions should be a thing of the past. Why can't I just plug my iPhone into my laptop and do what I want to do just like all other smartphones? Transfer my MP3 files, use it as a mass storage device etc. I can't even move my music from my iPhone to my laptop without arsing around with various apps.
As I have a Microsoft Surface RT that I brought with me on my travels, I don't think iTunes is even available on the Windows App Store.

3. Over Heating
This issue is worryingly annoying. We were walking around yesterday in a shopping mall and I noticed heat in my pocket. Yup sure enough, it was the same pocket that carried my iPhone 5. The back case of the phone was heating up so bad that I had to turn it off as I thought I was going to melt.
Then when I turned it back on later the battery life dropped to 20% all of a sudden!! WTF!!!

Conclusion

Don't get me wrong, the iPhone 5 can be a great phone. I love the handset design and size. It's simplicity totally wins me over. I detest the ugly home buttons on Samsung's Galaxy series phones and much prefer Apple's design.
Music through headphones and internal speakers is also a winner for someone like me who enjoys loudness!
Not to mention the sheer number of gadgets and accessories that are available on the market for iPhones. Even in Hong Kong my girlfriend has been struggling to find a simply protector case for her Xperia Z2. But for the iPhone, there is an accessories stall on every street corner!

But the most important factor of a smartphone is where the iPhone 5 becomes a total let down - reliability.
We rely so much on our phones these days that they've become a necessity. I could leave my flat one morning forgetting to bring my wallet and I could still survive as long as I have my phone. My banking app will allow me to withdraw money using my phone.
It's not just a communications device anymore. It's an organiser, entertainment device, wallet, business tool and much more.
Unreliability is unforgiving and all I think of right now is getting my Sony back.