Spoofee's Blogspot

4 Servings of Frozen Yogurt = Bad Stomach

2008-08-02T00:49:00.000-07:00

Today, I had upset stomach at the end of the day, let me write why.

I've really been into frozen yogurt. At work, people have been telling me this place called Fraiche is really good. So drove some ways and visited one

Something about the way the cash register took my order and took my cash really bugged me.

The yogurt was pretty good. Very Fresh tasting. I liked it :)

Then Red Mango was nearby, so I decided to stop by

Got my standard yogurt with strawberries/watermelon and mochiballs. So good!

Then I saw their poster about a smoothie and decided to give that a try

After dinner, I decided to stop by a Frozen Yogurt place near my place called Frozo's. They aren't that great, but the location is convenient.

As usual ate some as I played their puzzle games.

and I got home and had to sit in the bathroom for a bit.

Yoshinoya

2008-07-07T04:52:00.000-07:00

So the other day I got an ad for Yoshinoya and wow, the beef bowl looked good!

I could not resist the picture and visited a nearby Yoshinoya

It doesn't look similar at all, but it was good.

Yogurt Fad?

2008-06-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been having a lot of frozen Yogurt. Every 3 days.

It started off with hearing about Pink Berry in Los Angeles, CA.
After a year later, we have so many versions of it everywhere in North California.

They just opened a Yogurtland, Tartini and now Red Mango.
It's quite good and feels healthy.

Memorial Day at the Casino

2008-06-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I visited Lake Tahoe, NV to enjoy some nature, but ended up all 3 days at the casino :(

As I lose money, I always start counting how much money the dealer has.. Here I am playing with $5 chips and the dealer has $10,000.. $20,000, $100,000... sitting in front of me. Then I sometime wish the lights go out so I can just take one $1000 chip.

Well guess what.. as I was playing at a craps table, the lights went out!

In the movie Oceans Eleven, when the lights go out, chaos breaks loose. Everyone smacks everyone trying to get all the chips they can

So when this happened, I was ready. I was just looking around to see who's going to jump in first...

Well I was a bit disappointed. What actually happens is.. everyone including myself covers their own chips and the dealers are told to not move.. and then the pit boss comes out with a flash light and returns everyone's bets. It's quite uneventful. The ATM machines are still running and slot machines return with the original credits.

One cool thing was that the lights went out when we crapped out and when the dealers were cleaning the chips, but apparently she didn't clean my chips yet.. so she thought it was my bet and gave me back the money I should've lost. Felt a little guilty, but there are plenty of times the dealer made a mistake and gave me less chips or just didn't give me my winnings so.. ok..ok.. no justifying.. I was evil. I walked off with the money. Sorry Harvey's Lake Tahoe.

Dog Chewed Up My Cell Phone!

2008-05-19T02:50:00.001-07:00

The other day, I was taking a nap and I hear this cracking sound but no big deal. Probably just the dog biting on his bone.

Lesson learned : don't leave anything on the floor. The dog will pick it up and chew on it.

There's suppose to be a picture there, but the lcd is damaged :*(
The phone doesn't vibrate anymore either.

I searched on ebay / Craigslist for a replacement, but they were all $200+. At that much I was thinking of making the jump to AT&T and buying a refurb iPhone.

Walked into Verizon today and they told me they'll give me replacement for only $50 :)

A little bit of furniture shopping

2008-05-12T01:45:00.000-07:00

It must be the free El Decor magazine subscription I got, but I'm starting to buy furniture. I use to just buy the bare essentials from Ikea until now.

Let's start with this useless giant clock from Crate and Barrel. Extremely useless, but it's so big you can see the minute hand moving, I had to get it.

Something was empty in the living room with just 1 sofa, so I found this Crate and Barrel Petrie chair. Of coarse I found it used on craigslist :) Got it for less than half the price :)

and the sofa was upgraded from an Ikea Klippan to a Crate and Barrel Axis sofa. Now I can lie down on my sofa. Once again, I found this for cheap on craigslist too :) Wasn't quite half, but almost 40% off and the condition was new too!

and the bed sheets have been upgraded! When Macy's had the 20% off, I looked for a bed sheet that was on sale and stacked the coupon :) I know Macy's still making a good profit off of me, but boy, it feels like I got a great deal!

The dog pretty much uses my furnitures like it's her's but I got her something too :)

Had to pay retail for it and she hates it:(

Happy News!

2008-05-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Turn of events! The previous owner kindly brought her to us and said we should be the owner :)

Hurray! She is sleeping next to me as I type this =)

Status with the puppy :(

2008-05-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

I apologize in advance for a bit of a sensitive post.

Although the puppy from the previous post peed and farted everywhere in the home, from spending almost every hour together for a week, I fell in love with her.

...
Guess what, the previous owner came back from a trip and decided to not put her up for adoption.

I was upset, but what can I do right?

I gave her back to the owner because I figured longer I have the puppy, it'll be harder for myself.

The last 3 days have been very depressing. The home is so quiet now :(

A new dog in the Family?

2008-04-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting a dog for a while and my brother mentioned one day he had a dog that needed a new home at the vet hospital he works at. Well one thing led to another and here she is!

She is very cute and very well behaved. She literally snores and farts left and right. It's ok, it's smelly, but shes cute.

I'd hate for her to sit at home alone for 8 hours everyday. I really want to keep her, but I have to think for the dog/puppy too. Might be happier in a home with other dogs or kids to play with.

I told my brother and apparently the previous owner may want her back.

In the last 3-4 days, I built up an attachment for this dog and would be a bit depressed to see her go, but I think it's the right thing :(

Gas prices now $4.17/gallon

2008-04-20T23:11:00.001-07:00

Yikes! It's as if every 1.5 weeks, I'm buying an iPod shuffle.

Staples $20 Shredder

2008-04-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm aging, but tearing junk mail started to hurt my delicate fingers so I finally gave into a junk mail shredder from Staples for $20 shipped after rebate

Playstation controller put beside to compare size

The unit is pretty heavy for the size and can serve as weights for training.
Build seems to be very quality. The only complaint I have is that the shredder makes a high pitch banshee like sound when shredding paper, but it beats having to rip junkmail by hand.

Good purchase :)

Long Trip to Japan Summary

2008-01-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

Recently used all my vacation hours and visited Japan.

Here are some differences I noticed

1. Many "useless job opportunities in Japan". Elevator girls, crosswalk guards everywhere, people standing in front of cash exchange machines, people everywhere to just be yelling the obvious, etc.

(pic not by me)

They can all be easily automated

2. Elmos are a rip off in Japan. ~$70 US + limit 1 / customer.

3. No tips accepted. I always scratch my head when they work so hard to please you. What's the incentive?

4. people love lines. not exactly true. But the tip to finding a good restaurant here is to find a restaurant with lines since they don't have yelp here so this forms lines at a few restaurants and keeps others empty.

5. Sushi is cheap in Japan! Well at least compared to US

6. Fruits are expensive in Japan. This melon here is around $29 USD, but many can be found for $100. Strawberries, watermelons.. ridiculous. It's not especially good or anything either. I bought strawberries that were about $0.75 a piece and they tasted exactly the same as Costco strawberries

7. Almost all bathrooms are nice and by Toto. First you sit down and the seat warms up, secondly, they have this button to air out the smell so even you don't have to smell your own poopoo, thirdly, they clean your butt for you with warm water (you can adjust the strength and even adjust the location it sprays), fourthly, you can select how big you want the flush to be. This saves water and toilet paper

8. Driver is "usually" on the right side

9. Almost every home is equipped with filtered water

10. Yoshinoya is the same in Japan. I heard many times that Yoshinoya in Japan is so much better and they do present it better and give you more options, but when it comes down to beef bowl vs beef bowl, it's the same

11. Cars have clear corners in Japan. US requires you to have amber in your corner lights.

12. In Japan, New Years is the biggest holiday. At the start of it, Japanese families usually eat "osechi ryori." Each part of the osechi means something. Like seaweed symbolizes happiness for the year.

13. Love hotels can be spotted everywhere. It's a hotel that let's you stay for 3-4 hours or more if needed. It only costs like $40 and they call it "service time" or "rest time." This one I took a picture of has some special theme

14. Many people are browsing on their cell phones, PSP, or DS. You sit on a train, 50% of the people'll have their cell phones out and browsing

15. Mister Donut is hot in Japan. Apparently it's a company that started in Texas, but spreading like virus around asia

16. Japanese Postal Service

17. A few restaurant differences. Many have this machine outside of the restaurant where you choose what you want to eat like a vending machine and get a ticket. Give this ticket when you enter and they'll start making the food. Also keep in mind the menus are usually at the table. First time, I sat at the table and just waited for them to give me one. I also one time handed them the menu after I was done ordering and they gave it back to me.

18. Amazon.co.jp gives free shipping if you order over $15 USD. =P They also ship EXTREMELY fast.. probably because Japan isn't so big.

19. Japan has Chinatowns. Yes. Strangely things are very expensive here.

20. Green Pearl Tea in Japan is the best! I always heard Pearl Tea in Japan is good and I suspected it to be the same as Fantasia, but this pearl tea gave me the same reaction as the food critic from Ratatouille when he ate ratatouille.

21. There's a lot of foot traffic, so many people perform on the streets

22. 7-Eleven and other convenience stores have great food! I think I ate at 7-eleven about 10 times.

23. Avoid trains during rush hour... I found it funny at first how they packed people into trains and I was still laughing when I was being pushed into the train but that turned into pain and fear really quickly. Never again.

This is exactly what happened

24. Supermarkets will lower the price of their food when it becomes about 30 mins ~ hour away from closing. I got ehse sushi/yakitoris for 40% off!

25. Every service treats you like a king. I walked into 7-eleven and bought a drink and they would bow and thank me like I did them a huge favor. I also asked a janitor which train to take and he was extremely helpful.

(pic not by me)

26. Openly sexist. Yes. Places would charge differently depending on your sex. This all you can eat place charges 1260 yen if you are a women and 1575 yen if you are a man.

27. UFO catchers are hot in Japan. Almost every block where there are couples/kids, there is a UFO catcher store and they are made extremely well. It's easy to win, but usually takes a couple of tries to win.

At first, I just didn't get it.. I kept losing my money, but then I watched this youtube video and I became pro.

Here are some of my winnings =P

28. Pachinko is hot in Japan as well. It's pretty much a legal casino. I lost about $10 and just didn't find it exciting so I left it at that.

29. Japan has a lot of temples.. and they take your money left and right if you are gullible enough. There will be a place for "love" "education" "career".. etc. etc.. and you feel the need to throw money for each subject so everything will be well.

30. Green Tea is hot in Japan. Remember "Maccha" is the word for green tea

31. Oshiri Kajiri Mushi (Butt Biting Bug) is apparently hot in Japan right now. Don't ask.

I can go on and on.. but definitely visit Japan once in your life time! :)

The rest are some random moments I've had in Japan

old cemetary

Fujisan

View from hotel

Greentea Ice Cream

Omote san doori

Ramen Museum

Kid about to step on dog's feet. Crazy timing. I was just trying to take a picture of the dog and this kid walked in. His mom bowed to the dog after this... pretty funny.

Yokohama

Flea Market

Akihabara - hentai and geek's paradise

Google Japan

Shibuya

Hiroshima

Tenpozan Ferris Wheel

Kaiyukan

Rokkosan Mountain Hike

Doutombori

Buy 2, Get 3 Free?

2007-08-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Was making a late night stop at Safeway yesterday and wanted to pick up a Diet Coke Plus 12 pack and then I saw this. "Buy 2 Get 3 Free"

I was first irritated that it's misleading the customers to think they'll get 3 free if they buy 2. They should type out "Buy 2, get 3rd Free" Kept grumbling in my own mind thinking.. how can they get away with this.

Longer I stared at this.. I started to scratch my head. It does say "SAVE $16.47 on 5" and 3 of these packs are equal to $16.47.. do you really get 3 for free?! I mean, isn't this strange?

I got super excited and loaded up my cart with 60 cans of soda and went to the cash register.. yes you get 3 of them free. Meaning, I got 5 - 12 packs of Diet Coke Plus for ~$10! Not bad!

What kind of car would you buy if you had all the money in the world?

2007-08-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Today, as I was riding my bike up to Google campus, I see a shiny new Lexus LS600hL in front of the campus. It's like the most luxurious environment friendly car. This car is over $100,000 so my eyes got big wondering what the face of a person that buys this sort of car looks like. No one was in the car.

Later that day, when I was heading out of campus, I saw the Google founder sitting in it. My guess is that Lexus brought it over to campus for him to test drive.

Evangelion

2007-08-16T22:37:00.000-07:00

Totally off topic. As an ex-employee of a Japanese toy shop, I had so many customers crazy about Evangelion.

I tried watching the anime at that time to see what the hype was about, but lost interest after the first 3-4 episodes. I mean, it was like another superhero show like the sentai series (power rangers)...

After 10 years later, someone brought this anime up to me again and I decided to give it another try. It gets really deep. At some points I thought I had do drugs to understand what is being said.. but I think I understand now and I liked the ending, but feels like they tossed the entire story line at the end.

Kaspersky Internet Security

2007-08-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

Free is too good to be true, but if someone offers you $5 to take something for free.. it's too great to be true... but that fantasy becomes reality with this deal.

http://www.spoofee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61148

I probably won't ever use this, but always useful in case Norton ever comes out with a "free after rebate for upgraders" type of deal.

and yes.. that is a bad banana in the background. My parents gave it to me and I just can't throw it away, I promise myself I'll eat it this morning just like I did yesterday morning.

Noo~ not the right time

2007-08-15T12:11:00.001-07:00

Today's been somewhat eventful. Got to work, had a meeting, had like 4 people waiting on me for something and then I got a call from a partner to troubleshoot something.. and then this happens.. My computer stops responding and I reboot and it just halts.

Arg!! Not the right time!... so since there's so much to do, I decided to take a picture and blog about it. =P

36 - 8oz of Organic Milk for $24 Shipped

2007-08-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

I ordered milk from Amazon. 36 reduced fat 8oz horizon milk for $24 shipped. Makes it roughly $0.67/each.

I was first worried how they were going to package the milk and would it be bad by the time I got it, but it turns out these milks are packaged in a way that they don't need to be refrigerated unless opened!

I threw a few in the fridge and had them later that night. It's.... the best milk I have ever drank. It's so good!

I just tried to go on Amazon to order more, but they are already sold out :(

Google Offsite Event

2007-08-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Had an off site event for work at Google. Our group went off to Half Moon Bay, CA to do team building exercises and training, etc. Sounds like fun huh?

Most of it was like this. Listening to team updates and listening to VPs, directors, important people talking. It's kind of like a slow brainwash.

The co-founder of Youtube spoke to us for like 30 minutes which is really all I remember from the morning session. Really seemed like someone that could be your neighbor.

(picture by Robert S)
The team I'm in at Google grew to about double the size in 1 year. I've been in the team for almost 2 years, but still feels like I'm new because most of the faces are unfamiliar

I heard how dangerous the freeway was on the way to Half Moon Bay. I saw a bad car accident but no one seemed to be hurt.

View from Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay, very beautiful. It's really a wedding environment.

I was surprised with the transportation the hotel provided us to go to our rooms. They could've had some golf cart and I would've been happy.

This is the only rant I have about this off site event. They put two of us per room, but how come one bed! I'm glad I got to pick someone I know, but must be awkward for those that were randomly paired... well actually it was awkward either way. The room's nice, but I wouldn't say $400/night nice.

(Picture by Robert S)
The highlight was that they brought Matt Harding (the guy that made wherethehellismatt.com).
Key takeaway from this off site was learning how to dance like Matt Harding

Avenue Q in SF!

2007-08-12T21:08:00.001-07:00

Avenue Q was in San Francisco and a guy at work was selling two tickets for $80/each when they were normally $90/each so being a deal crazy guy, I bought them

Later on, I was a bit bummed thinking $80 for a puppet show...

It turned out to be great! Some parts I didn't find it funny as others did, but enjoyed the musical all the way through. It was definitely worth $80. I also got suckered into paying $20 for parking :( Went into somewhere that had a big "PARKING" sign and when I went in there was a sign that said "$20 parking".. I could not back up because of the traffic on the back..

This is a picture I snapped before the usher yelled at me.

Gambling Problem

2007-02-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

Starting to think I have a gambling problem.

One of my new years resolution was to not go to Vegas. What I should've wrote is no gambling this year.

When I heard Superbowl, I had no idea who is playing or even some basic rules of Football, but my friend said that he'll give me $230 for every $100 I bet, if Chicago Bears win.

Well as we know.. my $100 became my friend's.

Superbowl is a lot more fun when money is on the line though!!.. no.. I must stop. must stop...

Photography Section

2007-01-12T03:22:00.000-08:00

New photography section! We'll be moving images in the next few days from the old photography section to the new one. :)

It turns out the server issues we've had through 10/06 ~ 12/06 was caused by bad code in the older version of the photography section.

Great Deals and Wiiiii!

2006-11-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, I guess I've been too busy playing the Wii and also my wallet is shrinking from all the great deals lately. The Google Checkout is soooo hot! :)

Wii Sports, Zelda are great. Controls, graphics, very happy.

Red Steel was a bit disappointing. I thought the sword fights would be so fun and it is, but the controls are very very difficult. After playing a hour, I still can't get use to it.

Look what we got from Costco!

Please remove the Playstation 3 ad for Costco. Sold out and too many people are still trying to buy despite that which is causing Costco's site to fail and not load. People are coming to spoofee for the information and spoofee is a great site for good deals and info but now this ad is causing too many problems for our website. Thanks.

Costco Customer Representive
Steve

We're glad we have so many users that Costco has to email us! =)

Wii / PS3 Craze

2006-11-12T03:52:00.000-08:00

I'm at Toys R Us right now in the cold waiting to get a Wii pre-order. Freezing, lonely, and dark. Let me think back to how I got myself into this mess.

Wii and the PS3 is releasing in a week.

Today..rrr yesterday, I stopped by Toys R Us to buy Guitar Hero 2 for PS2 and for the heck of it asked if they are planning to open at 12am on 11/19 for Wii, and the worker told me they will be taking 20 pre-orders tomorrow, but advised lining up early.

First I thought, ok 7am, then 6am to be safe.. and then I read articles where people were waiting 1pm the day before.. so I came here at 3am.

I think I forgot what the Wii was for me. I think the demand made me want it more. I just know everyone wants it.. so I want it.

I remember lining up like this for Furby several years back.

Bungee rockets have arrived!

2006-10-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

Click here to find out how to get one!

Thank you cierrablue!

2006-10-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

I was just browsing youtube and found this! Thank you so much!

Traffic Ticket

2006-10-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

So I got a ticket like 2 months ago for driving in the carpool lane + expired registration sticker, and I finally took care of it.

I read on ticketassassin.com how it's good to always request a trial by written declaration. This is because the police officer does not get paid to write a report against you and if the police officer does not respond, you automatically win the case.

Side Note : If you request a in-person trial, police officers do usually get paid for this, so there is a good chance they would show up.

So today I marched to the clerk and requested for a trial by written dection (yes that's how I said it).. I think I just had that line in my head for a long time, when I actually said it, I got nervous.

She told me how, if I do a trial and I lose (if the police officer responds), I will not have the option to go to traffic school and there will be a point on my record making my insurance rate higher.

SO... I called my insurance company to find out how much more insurance would be, if it's worth gambling, etc.

these were my options.

If I just paid the ticket
- I pay $399 + $15(fix it ticket) + $30(traffic school) + traffic school = $444

If I had a trial and won (I win if police office doesn't respond)
- I pay $15(fix it ticket) = $15

If I had a trial and lost (I would lose if police officer responded)
- I pay $399 + $15(fix it ticket) + $100 extra/year for insurance = $714

It was a difficult choice. I was not sure if my police officer would be lazy. I asked the clerk if police officers usually respond and she said.. 'It's probably 50/50'.. and I debated if I want to gamble $270... My police officer seemed pretty sharp and I thought he would actually respond so I just took the damage of $444. :(

That's like a nice digital camera. That's like a Xbox 360.. :(

I have to move on... :(

Spoofee Bungee Rockets Coming Soon...

2006-10-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what we're going to use these for, but just ordered 1000 bungee rockets.

Youtube on Forums

2006-09-20T02:48:00.000-07:00

We had to remove html posting capabilities from our forums, but we brought a new [youtube] button so people can continue to post videos

Link to Instructions

Congratulations to ChoochooJr and Babuska

2006-09-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Choochoojr has been a long time member of Spoofee and met Babuska.

Look what it led up to!

Truly happy for these two.

I also wish Blogger had a spellchecker.

Spoofee Hack Attempts

2006-09-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Looks like some people have nothing to do during the Labor Day Weekend other than to find vulnerabilities and hack sites.

There were multiple attempts and the main 2 issues are fixed.

Thank you everyone for the notification and thanks Choochoojr/Kage_ for paging me :)

Security holes were caused vBulletin mods (FlashChat / Top X ).
Both have been disabled and we'll keep an eye on vBulletin.com to see if any other vulnerabilities are found.

Tell a Friend Button

2006-08-27T23:35:00.000-07:00

Minor little addition to the deals page.

There is now a "tell a friend" button so you can let your peers know about a hot deal.
I also gave it a minor look & feel change, but I'm not sure whether it's easier to see. Needs a lot of work.

My iPod Nano

2006-08-21T01:51:00.000-07:00

I recently got an iPod Nano. I met this lady from Craigslist selling it for a decent price and I asked if there were any engravings and she told me how her daughter got it and it's brand new..

I give her the money, come home and open it.. it has "Genentech 2005" engraved on the back.

So anyways, I head on over to the Apple store to buy some accessories to protect the nano.
First I wanted the Lanyard, but at $40.. I thought I would rather buy a nice Sony earphone for that price.

So I go look for that little sock to just protect the Nano from scratches

It's $30! Well, you get 6 socks so it's more like $5/sock but COME ON! Even I don't get socks that expensive for my own feet.

I came home empty handed hoping Amazon would have them cheaper and they do but only by a few bucks :(

Good Deal or Evil?

2006-08-12T02:13:00.000-07:00

I had the late night munchies so I drove over to safeway and picked up a drink / sandwich.
The sandwich was $3.99 and the drink was 89 cents. It rang up 95 cents.
Then I was faced with this "should I tell him about the mistake or should I feel lucky"

My dad always used to talk to me about being honest in this situation and I always have been. I can remember at least two times where the cash register gave me $10 extra change, and I gave it back..

but today.. I just let it by...

I felt totally fine about it until I wrote this blog.. now I'm feeling I wish I paid $3.99 for this sandwich. Arg..

Spoofee Made it on ABC 15 News!

2006-08-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for their contributions!

They mentioned how there are freebies posted from members, shows the weekly ads, the coupon section and even zooms in on the funny looking manitee.

Thank you very much guys and gals!

Link to Video / Article

Spoofee Graffti Board

2006-08-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Tell everyone why you like Spoofee! No sign up needed - Link here

Santana Row

2006-08-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

One tourist area near me is Santana Row. It's a pretty area with unique restaurants / stores. On the expensive side and pretty lively at night. Let me show you around just a little bit.

This is the only hotelon Santana Row, at night there's always a line to get in the club and there are ALWAYS expensive shiny cars parked out in front.

Every Sunday, they have a farmer's market! The strawberres are the best.

Some of the unique restaurants I said earlier

It's very lively with live music and people playing chess or dancing around in the middle.

All the wasted Kettle Korn on the ground =(

Deal Tip : Wait until the farmer's market is about to close (3pm), they will give you great deal!

We got
2lbs of grapes for $2
Kettle Korn Value Pack for $7
2lbs of organic strawberries for $7
3 Corns for $1

Searching Car for Scoopons

2006-08-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

So I heard that Scoopons is looking for a car so I go to help today.

Scoopons is looking for a car that is under $20k and reliable, fun, useful.

We first head to Scion, I keep saying how it's for a younger crowd, but Scoopons has a strange attachent to it. I personally felt the xB was pretty cool. Spacious and looks like fun to cruise in.

My favorite quote from the dealer was "Well.. the thing about Scion is that.. we give free test drives.. that's the thing"

Then we went to Honda to checkout their Element. We were sold. Looked like fun, very useful and wow, the space in the backseat. The price was a little passed $20k, but I'm sure we could find it used for lower.

We stopped by/drove by some other places, but nothing interesting

For the heck of it, we stopped by BMW. Wow.. some day.. some day....
Everything looked nice, but I fell in love with this one car.. labeled M5. So I take a look at the price.. $90k+.. no thank you.

This is a M6.

Visiting Mozilla

2006-08-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

One guy I worked with from Mozilla yesterday asked for my shirt size... ALRIGHT FREE SHIRT! I love FREE SHIRTS. We couldn't pick a time that was convenient so I just invited myself to Mozilla to pick up the free shirt. I was a bit hyped since ... it's MOZILLA. I was wondering what kind of campus they have, etc.

I thought it would be nice to get him a little something from Google so I asked our secretary and front desk for freebies. I wanted to keep the shirt for myself =P

So it turns out they were REALLY close by. So I just grabbed one of our scooters and headed there. It was a small office, but the environment inside was very dot comy. Not like I know what is the dot com lifestyle, but if everyone says Google is dot com lifestyle, so is Mozilla. Pool table, bean bags, a lot of snacks. They were having a meeting about Firefox 2!

Anyhow, I have a small friendly chitchat.. introduction with the guy and got my free shirt and stickers. Saw this on the way out.. apparently it's made by the CEO.

Thanks Mozilla! I'll slap the sticker somewhere on my computer.

First Production Change on Google

2006-08-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

I got to make my very first production change on Google!

I only got to touch internal tools or backend goodies until now!
So small, but still makes me proud =*)

The startpage for Firefox, the bottom portion, I got to switch it out with a promo for World Firefox Day.

Emmigrant Direct sent a Free Hat

2006-08-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

If you have money sitting in your Bofa/Wells Fargo/etc. please put it into one of these

I just opened an EmigrantDirect account and they sent me a free hat!

Seeing the difference...

2006-07-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

There is supposedly this area near me called Los Gatos that supposedly only have rich people living in. I heard Tom Cruise and many founders of companies live there.

I really never cared, but yesterday I drove through there and my jaw dropped! Many homes were like the home from Monte Cristo. It's one of those home where there is a gate way up front and there is a huge house somewhere inside the gate.

Btw : Monte Cristo is one of my favorite movies. If you have not watched it, I highly recommend it.

I thought to myself "someday... someday..." and today I sat at my table and started to look through homes in Los Gatos and tried to plan how many years it would take. So.. they are around $3 million.

okay nevermind then.

Little Feature for Advertisers

2006-07-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

A few advertisers on Spoofee asked for how well their ads performed.

So I added a feature so Spoofee.com will automatically email the advertisers when their ad is about to end with how well their ads performed ( how many clicks )

Free Umbrella from GM, etc.

2006-07-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

Wow! The GM free umbrella really came!
If you ordered one and didn't get it, you may be in the same shoes as JerryP

At work, I get this email thanking me for referring a friend and to come pickup a gift.

a 2006 Google calendar. I was happy, but it seemed like a left over from a Google China promotion. The writings were all in chinese and the year is half over. =[

Stopped by Express for Men because I had a 20% off coupon and found these for $4.99

Wow! and these are so much more comfortable than the Banana Republic $40 slippers. SOOO much more comfortable. So squooshy and perfect fit. I guess higher price does not mean better.

My sister is going off to college in New York and has always been wanting a digital camera. I saw the deal on the SD600 and decided to buy it for her for her going away gift and all the birthdays I missed on her.

This camera was sooo nice! The LCD on the back of the camera was soo big and just everything seemed smooth and cleaner. I was actually thinking of keeping the camera for myself and giving my old one to my sister at first.

37 Albertsons Closing

2006-07-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

I got a call from a friend telling me Albertsons going out of business and I almost blew food out of my mouth. I love Albertsons and there is an Albertsons near me that keeps their fruit/vegetable section beautiful.

So after further research, it turns out only 37 stores are closing and those stores are having a clearance sale. I went to one today, they really don't have much left, but it's kinda fun. Like a treasure hunt. The coolest thing I found was a cold medicine.

Spoofee for Mobile!

2006-07-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

So many talk lately about Mobile software, and I thought... wouldn't people want to check for hot deals from their phone/mobile device?

So here it is! Try going to spoofee.com from your mobile device :)
Feel free to send me comments at webmaster@erasethis.spoofee.com

Random blabbing

2006-07-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I updated. I think it's the heat in California, workload at Google, and Warcraft.

Let's start with a sad news

Yes, someone has gone to every Honda/Acura/Lexus car in our neighborhood and ripped off our emblems. =( My Acura emblem is not just gone, but they/he/she carved the paint =( Arg.

I always go to Famous Footwear and only buy footwear when they have something like, buy 1, get 2nd half off. I also only buy shoes like once a year, so I thought maybe it's time to grow out of them. I tried $40 slippers from Banana Republic.

They are VERY uncomfortable. I'd go with Nike sandals.

At Google, they have Smart Water. What's special about them? They supposedly have electrolytes in them. I really like their design! The most left bottle is what Google gives and the two right ones are store bought atAlbertsons.

Do you know know what this is? Yes, it's the Razor which was on sale at Target. It's great to get around the office and kind of dangerous to play with outdoors.. almost flew off because of a bump on the road :(

Deal is still going and can be found here

And I also got this free coffee maker from this deal. Very sexy

I debated for a while if I should get this laptop or not. It was a great deal, but it was a HP... I mean, it's always been a battle between Dell and IBM right? But once I opened the box, I was totally impressed. I'm very happy! For $594.99, I'm enjoying it... a lot.

Let's end with sad news.

I... got my first traffic violatio ticket. =( I was late for a dentist appointment so I drove a little bit on the carpool lane. Arg... I heard the ticket is around $300 for these.. Hurts. I might try this ticketassassin.com.

Late night munchies

2006-07-10T02:22:00.000-07:00

It's almost 2:30am on a Sunday night.. rrr Monday morning.
I just don't want to go to sleep yet, because as soon as I sleep, my weekend is over and it's work time.

Got hungry so stopped by Jack in the Box. $4.19 for 4 chicken strips. Quite expensive?

Price Increase on the side 125x125 Banner

2006-07-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

The 125x125 banner on the side of the page was only $10/month.
Extremely cheap.

Spoofee was starting to look like another ugly page with a bunch of flashy banners, so I raised the price to $30/month.

Still cheap =P, but this should keep things in control.

Incident at Fry's Electronics

2006-07-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

It was very hot.. I think it actually reached 107 degrees in the bay area.

Everywhere was sold out of ACs, except Fry's. They had a unit that was $499, but I just had to get it.

After I got it, the weather cooled down. It was no longer hot. I decided I only used it once, I'd probably never use it this summer so I went to go return it at Fry's.

The girl told me "no returns on Air Conditioners"

but the receipt clearly stated "Appliances such as ..., air conditioners, ... can be returned up to 15 days after purchase"

She brought out the manager and he stated the same "no returns on Air Conditioners"

I hate to be one of those customers that argue, but this was for $499 + tax!.. I had to!

I asked "so how do you explain what's written on the receipt?"

Once again the manager said "no returns on Air Conditioners, everyone is returning them"

Another sales rep started talking to me saying things like "why?! it's going to get hotter you will see!"

I said that I would take store credit if it makes things easier for him and... long story short, I was able to get the return in store credit form. I thanked him in the end, but he ignored me =(

Ridiculous or Reasonable?

2006-06-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

I grew up in North California and would like to stay in this area. Unfortunately.. the real estate is extremely expensive here. :(

I saw a new community coming up and on sale. It said "Townhomes" so I went to go take a look.

Stopped by and asked what's open and the cost.
There was a 3 bedroom / 1150 sqft for $750,000 which I thought was not too bad (yea.. isn't it nuts). After looking into units on their map, they were all connected and sharing garages, etc. like a condo, not a townhouse.

So I asked if it's a condo or townhouse and the reply I got was "it's a townhouse style condo" I just blurted out "it's $750k for a condo?!" and the realtor replied "of course it's CUPATINO. GOod educatioN!" I was also told HOA is $450/month. Quite high so I asked if I get a pool or gym and the answer was no, but I do get insurance and I can use the pool across the street.

=( Seeing from one way, it's totally stupid I'm even considering to pay this much for a space in the air. But I felt this way 2 years ago when I was considering a 1 bdrm condo for $350k. That same condo is now worth $500k.

It feels like the longer we (renters) wait, we lose out.

I spend a lot of time saving $5-50 here and there..., but I feel like I'm being ripped off $200-300,000 on real estate. It's frustrating.

Coinstar Offering Gift Certificates

2006-06-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

After read this post by SharonL

I got my bucket of change and headed to a Coinstar machine.

Yes, it's a CD-R 100 pack spindle cover used as a coin jar.

The coinstar machine.

$77.79! Wow! and of course I chose an Amazon gift card. Always shop there so good as cash!
and many many left over Golf Land / D&B / some asian coins came out of the coin jar. rr. spindle.

Thanks SharonL!

Worst Woot of 06

2006-06-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

A co-worker saw this on Woot and couldn't stop laughing.
He bought it and replaced another co-worker's workstation while he was out.

It's so ugly and annoying that it's funny. The eyeballs wiggle around.

Exploring Seattle

2006-06-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

So I am now back from a short trip to Seattle, WA.

To sum it up, very beautiful place.

Where should I start... I guess the rent-a-car.

The Enterprise rep asked me where I work and after he heard where I work, he asked if I wanted to buy his condo (seriously) and that I should be taking out the Infiniti G35 because I "am a balla" (his exact words). I guess the first thing that comes to people's mind when they hear Google Employee is.. "rich". I am not rich!

Anyways, I asked to take the lowest class car, but he offered me the Nissan Altima for $7 more a day.. I took it! Oh.. and I did use a coupon for a free day from our favorite Entertainment book.

My review : feels cheap inside and quite noisy, but felt nice and strong.

Also rented a Garmin GPS. I was totally impressed with the goodies they had on here and how fast it was. Many casinos, food places, every hotel around the area. Great great..

BUT! It kept moving around on it's own, changing the street I was on, losing signal. Not recommended if you are planning to use it in an area with a lot of streets close together.

This is a view from downtown Seattle. Almost every intersection, you can see the ocean. Very nice.

The Pike Place Market. It was okay... these people are all waiting for the guys there to throw a fish. Apparently when anyone makes an order, they throw around the fish and everyone's waiting for them with a camera to do that.

Ordered Fish & Chips, crab meat, and fried scallops. Total came to $21+ and I was quite... upset at how small it was.
Scallops - mm so juicy A+
Fish - ... this is.. good B-
Crab - C+
Fries - soggy fries F

I apparently walked by the first Starbucks. Missed it though DOH!

The space needle was okay. There are cafes and gift shops and just 360 degree sight seeing areas up at the top.

So for the heck of it, we typed "Nintendo" on the GPS and it showed us where the headquarters was! Having a long history with Nintendo products, we had to check it out.

It was a Sunday so no one was in.

I think this was the coolest thing we found in Seattle

I'd drive one. The license plate was Pika 2 and Pika 4.

Then we sniffed around Microsoft.

Very pretty campus. On a weekend, people were still hanging out.

Guess where we headed to next.

We looked up.. Bill Gates (the richest man in the world)'s home on the internet and see how close we could get to it.

He lives in a VERY VERY nice area. Many huge homes and all have lake view. Very quiet green area.

So..... this is what we saw and.. pretty much ends our tour to Bill Gates' home.

We also stopped by the Starbucks headquarters

People inside were dressed VERY nicely. Now I see why people refer to bay area people as badly dressed.

We attempted to go to the main office, but didn't make it passed the lobby.

The mistake we made in this trip was discovering the Indian Casino. It was so close by.. we decided to stop by to waste some time.. wow.. the first night. we ended up staying until 6am. I mean.. no break. Just continously playing Blackjack / Craps
We went back the next day.

and the night after..

I ended up losing about $400. Sad times.. I tried to make myself feel better by watching the high rollers lose $1000s. It's sooo bad. I need to learn how to stop.
If I am winning money, I continue to play thinking I'm playing with their money.
If I am even, I contnue to play thinking I need to win something.
If I am losing, I continue to play trying to get my money back.
Sigh....

Drove by this in Bellevue. I'm not sure if this was the headquarters. A lot of Coca Cola trucks.

Went on a dinner train ride that took us around Seattle/Bellevue area.

Don't know why but it dropped us off at a Winery. Maybe they were paid by the winery to do this. I didn't read / hear anything about this =P

I also stopped by Amazon and was able to browse inside because I had a friend working there. Sorry no pictures. The office was very normal though. You have to pay for your sodas, 19"ish dual LCDs, and cubicle style offices.

Some cars parked in the parking lot were nice though.

I fell in love with this place. It's an asian grocery market, but with EVERY possible asian food there. Pho, korean BBQ, Udon, Pad Thai, Pearl Tea... wow.. they have it all. I can really come here everyday.

The library.. was THE best library I have ever seen. This was the.. 5th floor, supposedly a floor where everyone can use the internet. So what you see on the right is everyone quietly using free internet. The elevators / escalators were neon green. Very futuristic. Love the architecture.

Airport so beautiful... =*)

... this was a long post.

A Little Purchase Happy

2006-06-10T03:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I posted last.

I got in a very bad cycle... where I work really late and still attempt to go to work on time so I sit at work super tired.. and take a nap after I get home.. and work late to make up for not doing much during my work hours.

Anyways.. onto the important stuff

Random Fact : Safeway sandwiches are such better buys than Togos or Subway. They give you sooo much more meat and the sandwiches are huge and fresh. This was for $4.99. I put a golf ball so you can compare the size.

I got my free Audi 32mb USB drive! This deal is mentioned here
http://www.spoofee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31149
Audi > Microsoft in terms of doing what they say.

I just wanted a simple watch so when I saw that $29.99 deal at Amazon Friday sale, I decided to get it. Nice case!

Scrubs season 3, Barnes and Noble - buy 2, get 1 free. I sold the other two to co-workers so I got mine for about $10 =)
http://www.spoofee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34461

Sylvania dolby digital speaker system with DVD player for $99.99 shipped!
I can't wait to try this out! For $99.99, I'm pretty sure I won't be disappointed.
http://www.spoofee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34768

I use to play DDR a looong time ago. When I saw this.. I had to get it! It's definitely not as challenging as the real one, but the music is funny and it's cool watching Mario/Koopa dancing on the screen. =P They totally modified the music from ice climber and other mario series.

Gosh.. I'm so tired. I'm flying to Seattle in a few hours.. and I have not packed yet. rrr.

Feel Lost on Weekends...

2006-06-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

My current work feeds me breakfast, lunch, and dinner so during weekends.. if there is no event or anyone asking to go out to a restaurant... I feel so... lost.

I started to starve around 9:30pm.. so I started looking for a place to eat.. Starbucks was open so I grabbed a turkey sandwich and Chai tea latte.

Very sad dinner. Maybe I'll stop by Jack and the Box later. =P

New Toothbrush!

2006-05-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

Purchased a new toothbrush. Sonicare Elite 7300 from eBay for $50 shipped!
The one in the front is the new one and the one in the back is the old Sonicare..

wow.. it feels so different. The Elite is so much more slim and powerful!
Should've done this swap years ago.

What's even better is that the seller sent me the wrong tooth brush (OralB something..) and I said he sent the wrong one.. and he just sent the Sonicare Elite 7300! :)

So I have a great substitute toothbrush! Maybe I'll open the OralB and write a comparison... =P

First Time Using Priceline!

2006-05-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

Just tried using priceline.com for the first time.

You can offer how much you are willing to pay for a ### class hotel and they will see if anyone'll meet it.

So I've been looking for a hotel for a while in Seattle/Bellevue area.. and I just couldn't choose.. rating / price / location... arg..

The best price for a 3 star hotel I could find for Bellevue was $126. I requested $100/night and I got it! Very pleased. Not only is it a bargain, they took the hassle out of choosing the best price for the location / rating.. :)

No.. I was not paid to say this.

A few bug fixes...

2006-05-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Few minor fix / changes
- Front Page - "Past 5 Days" link at the bottom of the front page did not work correctly. Issue resolved
- Front Page - Added links to top of front page to this blog and others
- Photo Album - Added image preview in list of users. Looks a bit awkward with.. but easier to navigate. =)
- Photo Album - Users were getting error when they start a new album in the Photo Album section

Free Spoofee Email Address!

2006-05-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Spoofee.com is now offering free 2GB email accounts!

This is the exact same style as gmail, but your email address would be yourname@spoofee.com
If you would like a spoofee email address or haven't tried Gmail, PM me on the forums or email me to get an account!

http://mail.spoofee.com

First Porn Snail Mail Spam

2006-05-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

I got a black envelope that said something like "Do you like hot steamy action?" and I'm thinking "well.. I guess I don't mind" and I open it up to find this.

I always get these through emails and popups, but never through snail mail. Very bad.. very bad.. I wonder where they got my info.. =(

Google Acquires Spoofee.com

2006-05-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

ok.. just incase someone's going "OMG!" this is fake.
So many bizarre and fun things can be found on the forum.

Thanks Spazntwitch for this thread.

Google Adsense Revenue Sharing!

2006-05-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

We wanted to thank the members that contribute deals/freebies/etc. to our forums!

So today we introduce Google Adsense Revenue Sharing.
Spoofee.com will share 50% of Google Adsense revenue with the original poster of a deal!

If a member is contributing, we will thank and ask them if they are interested in doing this.

New Air Filter

2006-05-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

I always thought air filters are such a scam and couldn't understand why people paid such high prices for them.

Google offices made such a big deal about having clean air in the office so I became a believer and splurged on a Sharp Plasmacluster air filter.

It's a good deal.. $274 for something that's normally $328 ~ $520 shipped. - deal link

I can't tell any change in the air.. but the lighting is cool on this.

Price mistakes that actually came?

2006-05-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

I get so excited when I spot a price mistake!

I don't even look at what I'm ordering.. for example, if I see something that is usually $100.. and is down to $30.. I just buy it whatever it is.

When it actually comes in the mail.. it makes me wonder.. was it really a price mistake? and the excitement disappears.

These are two recent purchases I got this way.

Recent Example #1 - Queens - DVD Box Set - Retail was around $120, it was at Overstock for $30.. I jumped on them.
Now... I don't even know who Queens are. I scratched my head on what to do with these.

Recent Example #2, this KitchenAid 12Qt. stock pot + heart mogu pillow. It was normally $150, but it was priced at $30. Ordered right away and actually arrived.

This stew pot is way too big for me and I never do cooking for more than... 2 people? The heart pillow is a little girly but very soft.

I need to learn to hold back myself when I spot hot deals.

I guess even if the price is low.. if I don't need it.. I overpayed.

But still if this happens again, I'll jump on it for sure

Such a Powerful Book...

2006-05-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

The entertainment book is such a good book to have for anyone that ... spends money.

There are so many Buy 1, Get 1 free meal coupons in here.

I also used a "free day car rental" coupon.

and the cost of the book was only around.. $20 shipped. Very good deal!

Post Age is Back!

2006-05-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

I'm long overdue on this one. When we updated Spoofee's discussion board software to vBulletin 3.5, all our hacks were written over or had problems with the new software, so I had to get rid of them.

Now it's back and also a feature to sort by original post time is in place too! :)

Spoofee Business Cards!

2006-05-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

Whenever it became a discussion about cheap prices at work, people would see me and go "oh hey, you own some deal site right? What is it called?"

and they end up going to their desk and typing spoofy.com | spoofie.com.. and they either
1. think it's a crappy site and will not say anything to be nice.
2. they come up and ask "is this it?"
3. they just go back to work.

so... here is the solution!

If they ask, they'll now get a card.

I brought this to my mom's home for mother's day gathering.. and the family.. kinda gave me a "okaay.. this.. is .. nice" look, but my sister nicely placed them on her dish. Thanks!

I have these in magnet forms too. Let me know if you want this on your fridge :)

More cereals!

2006-05-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

I forgot I also ordered the Kellogs 60 pack of cereals too! I am a happy happy person. Now all I need to find is a microwaveable meal deal.

A Lotta Cereal

2006-05-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

Ordered these cereals in a bowl from Amazon.

I believe it was 60 corn pop packs for $29.98 shipped - Deal Link

Hoi hoi! I think I'm set on cereal for a while..
.. I apologize. "hoi hoi!" is the sound I make when I'm excited.

Yes, it's actually a better deal to get those huge boxes at your local grocery when they are on sale, but these cup-o-noodle style buckets are sooo convenient. You just pour milk, get a plastic spoon.. eat, and throw it all away.

Perfect kit for the lazy.

Added - Chat Feature

2006-05-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

Added a new "Chat" feature for our forum members today.

Great idea suggested by Choochoojr.

I thought it would be cool to have members talking or being alerted about deals real time or just chat, but I'm afraid this feature might take away from the forum.

I need to think about this one a little more.

Welcome!

2006-05-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to Spoofee's blogspot. Recently tried out Blogger to see what the hype was about and I liked the cleanliness and how it's easy to write down thoughts / changes / etc.

So here's a little intro.

I've been a deal-aholic since I got a credit card in college.
Great "make money after rebate" deals shipped to my dorm room non-stop and people would obviously ask how / why.

So.. got tired of replying to everyone's "Any good deals?" in my IMs.. that I just made a webpage to announce anything that I found.

Terrible little static HTML / framed website at the time, but I think was helpful. Posted about 2~ 4 deals a day and people were happy. I think word just got around.

Now after 5~6 years, it's still fun doing what I like to do (being cheap), having a community of supporters (Thanks everyone and special thanks to the moderators/helpers), and learning all at the same time.

So what is my life outside of Spoofee like?
.. very normal. I have 2 18" LCDs.. I guess that's kind of cool.. I live in a normal apartment. I would like to own a home one day, but may not be soon if I stay in the bay area, CA.

I have a regular job as somewhat of a tech support / web developer at this small dot com company called Google. In short, my job is to eat there. No no.. I'm not a millionaire. I think it is true for the early Googlers, but I just joined them about 6 months ago =P.