Yoobao Powerbank 15600mAh YB665 Review

 The Yoobao 15600mAh powerbank comes in a pull-out box roughly the size of a small hardbound book. Here's the product description:

Have you ever missed a phone call, lost a game on your mobile phone, or haven’t completed watching a movie on your tablet because you run out of battery? Worry no more. Introducing the new portable charger - the Yoobao Power Bank. With a whopping 15,600mAh capacity, it is designed to recharge your gadgets while on- the-go. Package with eight switched connectors, you can power and recharge your iPhone, iPad, ipod, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Blackberry, and other mobile devices anywhere. The five LED indicators show the current capacity of the Power Bank. 

The YooBao YB665 powerbank comes with a micro USB cable and 5 adapters for different gadgets. You get a Nokia charging pin, a mini USB adapter, an iPod/iPad 30-pin adapter, a PSP adapter and for some reason, a micro USB adapter.

The powerbank itself is a bit on the hefty side and has a black glossy finish. Very prone to fingerprint smudges but the unit feels solid to the touch. You can probably swing it at someone and it'll knock them out cold.

It has 5 LED indicators to show you how much juice is left inside and it comes with an LED bulb you can use as a flashlight. I don't really know why that's there.

It comes with 2 ports so you can recharge 2 gadgets at the same time. When facing upward, the port on the left is for phones and the one on the right is for tablets (this is according to the manual) but I tried to swap my gadgets and they seem to recharge just fine.

Charging the powerbank takes about 8 hours. I haven't fully tested how many times it can recharge my gadgets so I'll update this post when I do.

The charging adapters work fine although I had a hard time plugging in the iPad adapter so I used my iPad's cable instead. The micro USB adapter works fine too, I was able to charge my Blackberry and Note 2. I was happy that it came with a PSP adapter and it worked on my unit.

Pro's:

• USB and adapter are of good quality.
• Recharges 2 gadgets at a time.
• Holds a lot of juice.
• Powerbank feels solidly builty

Con's:

• Adapters need force to fit in the cable.
• Powerbank is prone to fingerprint smudges.
• Heavy. The thing feels solidly built but is heavy.

Overall, it's a good device. Very useful specially for long trips.

Late Christmas Gift from Gregory

Last year, Gregory gave me an Ozaki iPad case for Chistmas. This year, he gave me a Yoobao 15600mAh Powerbank and Kristin Chenoweth's book which I have been looking for for ages.

Gregory owns an iPhone 5 and he is very particular with cases. He likes boring classic designs. So my Christmas gift to him was one of those ridiculously over-priced iPhone book-type cases from the Apple Store. He said he liked it.

Over Christmas break, he kept telling me that his gift for me would be late. He said it wasn't finished yet. Apparently, he ordered the powerbank online and the book came from Fully Booked in Davao. Hangsweeeet! The powerbank had a note attached to it which basically said he loved me and he wanted to give me something I would use.

I was so happy. For some time now I've been meaning to buy a powerbank but never got around to getting one. Now I have one. And the book, I love the book! Anotjher addition to my growing collection of memoirs :3

Thank you for the gift, baby. Love you!

Unfotunate Incident

I had the worst of luck yesterday. I was on my way home yesterday when I decided to drop by the ATM to withdraw money that I will use this week and for my trip this coming weekend. Pagdating ko sa ATM machine, ang haba ng pila so I stood in line for about 10 minutes. Finally it was my turn.

I put in the amount I needed to get. I looked behind me and saw that the line was still long. Nung nilabas ng ATM yung card ko, nilagay ko agad sa loob ng bag. I waited for a few more seconds. Nilabas naman yung pera ko.

Seeing how long the line was, I folded the money and put it in my pocket thinking that I would just fix it in my wallet later on.

I walked around until I forgot na nasa bulsa ko pa pala yung pera. When I remembered that I should put my money in my wallet which was inside my bag, kinapa ko yung bulsa ko.

The money wasn't there anymore.

"Oh shit!", I said.

I turned my pockets inside out. I took out everything inside my bag. The money wasn't there. I tried to re-trace my steps. Nothing.

Needless to say, I was in shock the whole trip home. I've lost money before but not this much and not in this way.

Oh well, there's no point in harping over it. I'll just count my losses.

My Unhealthy Obsession With Wicked

Any long-time reader or friend of mine would know that I have this unhealthy and somewhat ridiculous obsession with the musical, Wicked.

So imagine what I felt when I found out that the rumours about Wicked coming to the Philippines were actually true. The joy I felt was unparalleled. I was through the roof with excitement. I told myself that I had - had - to watch it more than once because for a fanboy like me, watching it once is completely unforgivable.

As of the moment, I have booked 3 tickets. The first is for January 23 and I will be watching with my friend Mariah. The second is for Feb 15 with Gregory. I wanted to watch it on valentines day but considering the show is at 7:30pm and traffic that day will be a bitch, we opted for the day after. Third will be on Feb 23 which is also the last performance of the show and I will be with Gregory and 2 of our friends.

I waited 8 years for this show to come to the Philippines. Yes, I watched it back in 2012 when I was Singapore and yes, it's the same cast that will be here but I still want to watch it more than once.

I remember a few years ago, watching the show seemed like a pipe dream for me. It was something that seemed impossible because at the time, the only productions were on Broadway, West End, Stuttgart (Germany), Melboure and Osaka.

Now, it's finally here.

Up to this day, I do not know why I am obsessed with Wicked. It has baffled many of my friends and recently, colleagues but it has also baffled me for quite some time now. I don't know but there's just something so magical and surreal about the show that gives me comfort and a sense of tranquility.

Do I see myself in the character of Elphaba, an outcast. Someone who has been on the outside looking in. Feared, judged, hated for the wrong reasons. Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. It may sound ludicrous, me spending that much money for a show I could watch once but that's not how I see it from my own point of view. I see it as the fulfilment to a wish I had many years ago.

I have read all the books and have watched bootleg copies of the show more times than I care to admit but I never get tired of the show. From the moment the curtains rise and the music starts playing, I get transported to the wonderful land of OZ and for 2 and a half hours, I manage to escape from everything. It's quite the rush, if I'm being honest.

Once I asked myself, what if the day comes that I get over my crazy obsession with Wicked. It's been 5 years since I asked myself that. I'll probably look for another show but I know that a part of me will always love Wicked. Listen to me, I sound like a crazy person.

But like I said, there's just something so magical about the whole thing. The music, the story, the characters. Pure bliss.

So I've booked for 3 shows. Who knows, maybe it'll become 4. We'll see.