There is also a chest full of Ender Pearls at the Noob Hotel now.
I always try to keep one in my pocket, when exploring. It is just so comforting to know that I can teleport home if I should get myself stuck in a corner of some sort.

About the new stuff, like the comparator: Gosh, I had not realized that this game was designed for electronics engineers as their main target group. Well, I will learn it one day.