Jackie Miao

As much as there is so much to be fixed in Kota Kinabalu, I’m very proud to say that DBKK is going forward in the right direction by launching the ‘No Plastic Bag on Monday‘ Campaign.

Today is the official kick-off date, and participating stores which include Parkson, 7-Eleven, Tong Hing Supermarket, Giant hypermarket, Milimewa, Southern Bakery and Popular Bookstore will not be giving out free plastic bags to shoppers at the checkout counter for free.

If you are shopping today without your own bag or basket in any of the stores above, you will be charged 20 cents per plastic bag. Those proceeds will go to fund environmental and cleanliness projects by DBKK and the Enviromental Action Centre (EAC) around the city.

But why stop today? Say no to plastic bags everyday! I guarantee you it’s a much sexier look and you’ll be kind to the earth and all who inhabit it.

So bring your reusable bags to the supermarket today!

If you want a reason to get off your couch, now is the time. The Sutera Harbour 7k Sunset Charity Run is just around the corner. Whether you are going to do it for charity, health and/or fun, this is the hottest active event to go to in Kota Kinabalu! With 10,000 people expected to participate, it’s the ideal event to show off your muscles to a band of screaming kids or prove to yourself that you can hit the distance with the grannies!

The best part of all is that you’ll help raise funds for the Sabah Thalassaemia Society and Special Olympics Sabah.

The run will be held on Saturday 10th July 2010. Registration costs RM25 for adults and  RM 15 for children (comes with a t-shirt). For more details on the run and where to register, visit the Sutera Harbour website. See you there!

Here’s a list of the best coffee shop foods in Kota Kinabalu, as submitted by a reader called Ah Bing. If you’re always getting asked where are the good places to eat local food in K.K., now you have a handy link to pass on. Enjoy!

Visit AhBing.com

10 years. That’s how long I’ve been waiting for my ideal phone.

If you’re one of the last few people on the face of the planet who haven’t heard, the iPhone 4 was demonstrated by Steve Jobs at WWDC 10 on Monday morning. Now I’m not going to  go through the 100 new features that comes with the device and iOS 4; you can find that out on Apple.com, Scobleizer or the Engadget website.

AS A USER
What I will say though, is that I was one of those losers who stayed up till 3:00 am this morning to find out about the iPhone 4. When I get my hands on one, I’ll be tweeting nonstop on the pretty thing, meanwhile switching over to taking videos of everything that moves (or not) with the HD-capable camera. Why wouldn’t I now that the phone comes with two cameras, front-and-bank, equipped with an LED flash!

So forgive me in advance… I really won’t be able to help myself. I was never truly moved by handheld devices. Never had my sensationalistic moment, not even for iPhone 3G when the world camped outside Apple stores to have a taste of that. I never bought any of the Palm Pilots, Blackberries, or HTC, not even the Nokia N95. In fact, I don’t even own the iPhone 3GS I’m currently using. Why? Because I have HIGH standards and none of them did what I wanted them to do, until now!

FaceTime, iBook and Other Features
Already, I imagine falling in love through FaceTime, but video-calling currently only works with wifi.  3G’s tardy speed may be to blame but that’s understandable with the upgrade in display resolution. Already, I’m thinking of buying books on iBook for environmental reasons. Already, I’m thinking of the many apps that will enhance our life experience, among other things!

AS A DEVELOPER
When I’m done sensationalizing from a user’s perspective, I’ll be all over the iAd platform and app development with HTML5 for the iPhone 4. The possibilities are endless and how it reminds me of the first time I fell in love with the Internet!

GETTING IT IN THE U.S. UK, FRANCE, GERMANY & JAPAN
You can reserve the iPhone 4 from June 15th and pick it up on June 24th at Apple Retail Store if you live in any of the listed countries. Everyone else will get it in July!

GETTING IT IN MALAYSIA
@MaxisComm tweeted that Maxis will be offering the iPhone 4 in Q 3.  There’s also a statement on Maxis.com.my stating that they will be launching it in Malaysia in the coming months. It’s a little vague, but can you blame them? Most of that will be up to Cupertino. Not sure if Digi’s going to offer it as soon as we think they should, but we’ll see!

GETTING IT IN SINGAPORE
Not sure about the date yet, but the local Apple site is promoting the iPhone 4 as opposed to the iPad on its front page. I’m guessing they’ll get it a lot sooner, but it’ll be a SingTel and M1 locked-network deal as usual.

Traditionally, it’s the Hong Kong and French phones that are not locked to any network. Last I heard it is illegal for telcos to monopolize in France, so it’ll be interesting to see if the French release will be the best option for those who can’t wait!!

Guys, I’m really sorry about not having been able to sit and blog at great length. I’m in Kuala Lumpur at the moment, sorting out some stuff I left behind and exploring some potential leads.  As I didn’t bring my laptop with me, it’s been challenging to conquer the world with an iPhone and sporadic access to a computer.

This decision was in large part due to baggage weight issues, as I was intending to caddy back some of my stuff to KK from KL and also buy a new Macbook Pro here. Unfortunately, the standard units for the 17″ sold at Machines (the official reseller of Macs in KL) doesn’t come with the anti-glare screen. So I’ll need to order mine online, but because I’ve been staying at three locations in KL it hasn’t been easy to figure out where I’ll be to wait for the delivery.

Anyway, in short, it’s been inconvenient and I’ve been  on the move. The good news is I’m working on something very exciting and hope to share that with you very very soon! Toodledeedoo!

Photo: Photographed at the bathroom of a pub in KL!