Off to London, New York City & Netbook Chatter (Samsung NC10)

Well, I'm off to the land of the Union Jack tomorrow. Wrapping

up things today at work and then packing. It's sort of funny that
I've trekked to many far off places but haven't really had a chance
to tour London yet. I'll be going with my mom for a week before
stopping by New York City for a few days (a family friend's
wedding.) I'll be back on June 24.

I'm always super excited when I'm
getting ready to travel.

I think I've done enough research to be an expert at
London's transportation system. This is by no mean's
going to be a leisurely vacation as I often get very
ambitious when hitting a place I haven't before.

I always want to try everything I can. In fact, in planning the
itinerary out - I can already tell I need another trip back to
London already because I couldn't fit in everything I wanted
to this time around.

Since travel deals are so awesome this year, I did manage to
score a great deal on air fare and hotel. $1200 for round trip
tickets from New York City to London including 6 nights at
the Intercontinental Park Lane in London. Of course the not
so great thing is thath the flight has a stop over and is a
red-eye. I think staying at the Intercontinental will make
up for this. The Intercontinental Park Lane is in sight of
Buckingham Palace.

Items on the itinerary include Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Carlton,
time at the Royal Botanical Gardens (Kew Gardens), going to Bath,
England for what else but the hot spring, lunch while cruising down
the Thames River, Borough Markets and more.

We'll also be going to Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare's
hometown), visiting Warwick Castle and having lunch in the
Cotswolds.

Of course there's also the city of a thousand spires, Oxford
and Christchurch College where Alice in Wonderland was
imagined and written.

I thought this was a pretty fun picture from the Daily Mail
of cleaners on Big Ben. I don't even want to imagine what
it's like that far up because I'm afraid of heights (strangely
enough I have no issues with flying at all - but if you put me
on the edge of a precipice with no railing...)

I hope you don't mind if I deviate from interiors to some
travel posts instead. It's my other great love in life.

Prior to this trip, I was looking at netbooks including
the beautiful Vivienne Tam designed HP netbook. Sorry,
I'm going to get a bit geeky now. It sort of comes with the
territory if you live in the Silicon Valley.
This little netbook is less than 3 pounds and the red
lacquer on it is to die for! It's like red nail polish!

Feature include the following:

• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 1 x 6.6 inches
• 3 Cell Battery
• Comes with XP Home
• 60 GB of Hard Drive Space
• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor
• 1 GB of RAM (You can buy a 2GB RAM chip to upgrade)

HP Mini 1140 NR

The HP mini goes for just under $600 at Amazon. I've
seen prices range from around $600 -$700 with an
occasional one that's been refurbished in the $500 range.

There is a separate mouse that you can purchsae that
matches the netbook. It's available at Amazon for $69.

Before making my decision, however, I checked another
netbook by Samsung. Samsung has sold laptops for a while
now in Asia but they never released any laptops here in the
U.S. until recently. Their entry laptop was actually a netbook
and it's made a killer impression because of it's great design
and value.

It comes in 4 colors including pink. Girls, how can you
Not like this color? It's the perfect Bubble Gum Pink.
What's even more impressive are it's specs. When you
compare the specs of this pink babe with the HP Mini,
you'll see that it has twice the battery power and twice
the hard drive space for a much lower price. To top things
off, I'm really picky when it comes to my keyboards and the
Samsung NC10's keyboard is 93% of a regular keyboard
which makes typing a joy.

• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 1 x 6.6 inches
• 6 Cell Battery (8 hours of battery life
  and a 9 cell battery is also available)
• Comes with XP Home
• 120 GB of Hard Drive Space
• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor
• 1 GB of RAM (You can upgrade to 2GB RAM)

The pink netbook is fashionable with white on
the inside. It's got 3 USB ports which is also
more than the HP Mini, built in Wi-Fi card and
a built in web cam which is pretty cool.

The Samsung NC10 also comes in blue, black and white.
If pink isn't your color then perhaps this cool blue will
do isntead.

The white is actually pretty slick too.

Samsung NC10 Pink Power

But in the end, I couldn't resist the pink. I've compared
many sites for pricing and ended buying it at Amazon
because it had the best price. The ones I found on Ebay
for less were refurbished ones and not new. The Samsung
netbooks go for between $389-$420 on Amazon and shipping
is free.

Why did I go with the Samsung over the HP Mini? I think a
little bit of practicality won out. I think the HP Mini is the
most gorgeous little netbook on the market, but I couldn't
bring myself to pay $200-$300 more just for the paint job
when the Samsung laptop was less money, more powerful
and had much better specs - not to mention the fab keyboard
an 8 hours of battery life. I bought a 2GB RAM chip and
it was super easy to install. When typing on the keyboard,
you don't even notice that it is any different from typing on a
regular sized keyboard and I LOVE that! The mousepad does
take getting used to but I'd trade a smaller mouse pad for a
larger keyboard any day. My solution is to bring along a small
ditigal mouse.

I'm trying it out on my trip so I will let you know how it goes.
Have any of you considered the netbooks above? Any thoughts?

In the meantime, my posts will not be as regular but I will try
to get in a couple posts a week while I'm away.

Photos from photo-clicks.com, Daily Mail, scrapetv.com,
FreeFoto.com, Hotels.com and CanadianCarlsons.com

London Interior Designer David Carter and 40 Winks ~ Not your Average Boutique Hotel

When I found this boutique hotel called 40 Winks, I
must say I was absolutely enchanted by the decor.
40 Winks is probably the world's smallest boutique
hotel as it only offers 2 versatile rooms for customers.
40 Winks is actually the home of David Carter.

I think the moody walls above are to die for!

David Carter is an immensely talented interior designer
based in London. He opened 2 rooms of his historical but
elegant four story Queen Anne town home built in 1717
so staying at 40winks is almost like being one David
Carter's guests. Rooms in his home are often leased for
fashion and style shoots. Because he rarely uses these
two guest rooms, he has opted to use them for 40Winks
instead.

I totally fell in love with his chic but eclectic blend of
east and west. 40 Winks is located in Stepney Green
in East London. The house is just a four minute walk
from the Stepney Green underground station.

109 Mile End Road, Stepney Green
London E1 4UJ

It's so cool how he the windows have an
oriental pattern to them.

I love the illustration of the Chinese mandarin
on the wall against the black lacquered walls.

David Carter holds events at his home called
Bedtime Stories where pajamas are compulsory.
Bedtime Story events include an evening of stories,
wine and reading. It sounds like a fantastic way
of meeting new people and spending a civilized
evening.

If you're curious about his events, check out this
great interview with David Carter by the London
Word.

I could never own a piece like this but
I can sure dream!

I've always loved the Union Jack - it's a nice touch.

40Winks does offer a full continental breakfast but no
lunch or dinner. Guests can make themselves comfortable
in the kitchen for tea or coffee. What a rustic kitchen!

Even the hallways are lovely with floor to
ceiling wood paneling in David Carter's
home.

Here is the first of the 2 rooms available at 40 Winks.
this room features a single bed with a small writing desk
and goes for£65 per night or £390 per week (which is a
steal in London). The rooms do not have any televisions
in them but there is a common room that has a T.V. with
a dvd collection that is available for use.

Love the striping on the walls.

Here's the small but pretty writing desk.

The 2nd room is much larger and can be used for photo
shoots as well. This room features a double bed and goes
for £80 per night or £470 per week or £95 per night or
£560 per week for two people sharing.

The room has a lot of character.

With clean and crisp linens...

And of course, wonderful decor.

I'm saving the best for last - it's the
guilded bathroom.

Get a load of this bathroom with a wonderful
tub! The walls have such a wonderful patina
on them. David Carter can really create mood
and fantasy in his home.

If you are in London, I would definitely check
40 Winks out.

Photos from 40 Winks

David Carter Interior Design of London

Some of you may remember the post I did a couple weeks
ago on the small boutique hotel by David Carter called
40 Winks. I really wanted to showcase a little more of
David's work and not just his boutique hotel and home.

David Carter has very diverse style. As you can see above,
the room looks like it has a lot of age to it. David has a
unique specialty in using paint finishes of all kinds. The
room above genuinely looks old but in fact, it is not.

Here's a closer look at the aged and distressed paint job
in the room to give it patina. Isn't it amazing?

David also has works a lot of traditional styles
that are a little updated by color - without
sacrificing the luxury and old world feel.

I quite like the contrasting striping in this kitchen.
I had to look at this photo twice to realize it was
a kitchen. I thought it had been an office of some
sort at first glance. One thing is for sure, he never
gives up elegance.

This room has a modern feel with the walls
looking like iron. It's quite a cool effect.

I totally want to steel the chair.
The green velvet is absolutely
yummy.

David is very good at blending modern with
the old for an eclectic but unique and
luxurious look. I absolutely adore mirrored
tiles. He layers a large mirror on the mirrored
tiles with an impressive but heavy console
table. The light fixture is just stunning.

If I can ever afford this kind of mosaic
tiling for an entire wall, I would certainly
indulge.

This is what the entire wall looks like. The left is a mirror
version of the right by the way. Makes a cool effect for
the photo. All those golden and glimmering tiles makes my
eyes twinkle just looking at the photo.

What did I say about David being a master of using paint
finishes on walls? Here's another fantastic example. Don't
forget the ceiling!

I heard it through the grape vine...

I really love the huge cellos painted on the walls
of this music room. It's whimsical yet not little
kiddish.

As you can see, David uses very saturated
and vivid colors. I totally fell in love with
this particular hue of blue.

A closer look at the wall murals.
Isn't it just gorgeous?

A totally Crimson room if I've ever seen one.

I hope you enjoyed more of David Carter's
designs and work. What do you think of
his use of paint finishes? Isn't it amazing
what you can do with just paints and a brush?
A cool paint job can totally transform a room,
make it look decades old or make flat walls
look like it's got architectural details.


Photos from David Carter Interior Design