Should I return to blogging?

Should I return to blogging? I wonder if I still have the writing passion and skill to make coherent sentences, especially after the Facebook phenomenon of updating status messages.

Lunch at Commons cafe

We frequently have lunch at Commons cafe. They serve a large variety of food that tastes pretty decent. Sure, sometimes it takes quite a while for the food to arrive but usually it wouldn't take any longer than 20mins.

But today's experience was terrible. Firstly, the place was exceptionally crowded. Then they screwed up our orders. And when some orders took too long to arrive (more than 45mins) they didn't even bother to check or explain or apologize.

Needless to say, this pissed us off quite bad. They think they can be arrogant just because they have relatively good business? Just wait lah... Keep up this attitude and you might just lose all your loyal customers!

Tiring...

The past few days have been extremely tiring... what not with the non stop work, the traveling to-fro Penang, and the back to back recording sessions in the studio.

My body's sore and weak, and my withered face pale with defeat...

What can perk me up?

A nice bowl of tom yam noodles :P:P

PM Najib, Tun Abdullah... Tun Jeanne?

Najib is officially the country's 6th Prime Minister. Congratulations to him.

Abdullah Badawi is now a holder of the highest honour in Malaysia - Tun. Congratulations to him.

Jeanne Abdullah is also now a holder of Tun.

Quiz: which of the above is the odd one out?

Hak Seh Wui?

Refer to this article.

Seriously... territory?! What has become of our nation?

What the heck is wrong with the Thai?

Refer to this news article.

Seriously, the entire world is in a massive financial crisis. Jobs are being lost, recession is imminent, entire countries go bankrupt. And yet here you are storming the Government House aiming to oust your incumbent prime minister?

Are you going to cost your country millions of tourist baht? Are you going to cause your international airport to shut down thereby inconveniencing visitors? Are you going to scream and shout without really understanding the issue?

Get real...

How well known are you?

Stumbled upon this comic strip:


Seriously though... what reputation do you have out there in the job market, or even in any other field?

Am I Making The Right Choice?

Indefinitely...

The proposed toll hike has been postponed indefinitely (meaning, after the 3 by elections and a certain political party's general assembly)... while the highway users do not have to fork out extra money for traveling on expressways, our taxpayer monies go to compensating the highway concessionaires for "lost profit"... sheesh... with this type of terms in the contract, profits are guaranteed for the concessionaire anyway. It makes me want to start a RM2 company and "bid" for future highway concessions!

Change Your Lifestyle / Ubah Gaya Hidup Anda

Toll rates in Malaysia are scheduled for increase, and will take effect on 1st March. PLUS Highway tolls have been increased by 5%, which means that my KUL-PEN-KUL trips just got more expensive.

Subang-->Jelapang
Old Rate: RM26.50
New Rate: RM27.80

Jelapang-->Juru
Old Rate: RM16.80
New Rate: RM17.60

Penang Bridge
Current Rate: RM7.00

Total Cost
Old Rate: (RM26.50 * 2) + (RM16.80 * 2) + RM7.00 = RM93.60
New Rate: (RM27.80 * 2) + (RM17.60 * 2) + RM7.00 = RM97.80
Total increase: RM4.20

RM4.20 can buy 2 packets of Char Koay Kark from Penang. Crap...

zubedy's message to Malaysian politicians

I know about zubedy because CJ once worked with them, and I think that this company is really unique in their posturing and Malaysian way of life.

In today's The Star, zubedy put out a full page advertisement. However, the message it carries is so much more than self promotion and marketing. You can read the message here. The message is plain and simple: "Please stop the power chase, call for a truce and focus on the economy."

Yes, it's time for Malaysian politicians to stop fighting and start focusing on the economy! We are going to experience a recession soon, if it has not already started. Where is our economic reform committee? Where is our economic stimulus plan? Where is our government in these times of need? Who is running the country?!

Aseana Cafe KLCC - it sucks!

Some internet reviews of this cafe seemed to suggest good food and great ambiance. Well, my recent visit there proved that both of these attributes do not exist.

Let's start with the ambiance. The entire outside area is so crowded and full of smoking people. The inside was cramped and there were actually flies buzzing around! Jeez...

Moving on to the food. The menu was very limited and super expensive. Malay style prawn noodles cost RM12 and comes with 3 measly medium sized prawns. Nasi Lemak cost RM22 and came with dry beef rendang and the other standard condiments. I asked for extra sambal and unknowingly was charged extra RM4. Craps.

The taste? Nothing to shout about at all, and bordering on bad.

I paid almost RM80 for the crappy food and lousy ambiance. Let this be an advance warning to all prospective diners: do not eat at Aseana Cafe KLCC!

applying for streamyx

How difficult can it be to apply for Streamyx? Very, as I am now experiencing...

It all started when I went to Carrefour's Streamyx agent to apply for the Streamyx Combo package. All fine and dandy then. I didn't need to pay for anything, just needed to fill in the form and wait. That was in 2008. 

One entire week later with no feedback from either the agent or TM, I decided to call TM's customer service line, and found out that there was some mix up with my records and the application was rejected.

*TULAN fact 1: Why didn't anybody call me!!?!?!?!?!?*

Anyway, I was advised to visit TMPoint center, so I had to sacrifice 2 hours of lunch time to go to the DU center and register myself. OK, all fine here. No issues on the phone line application. Everything went smoothly, and the phone line was setup the next morning. Now, all I needed to do was to wait for the Streamyx.

Here's where the confusion begins. A total of 4 different people called me up asking me if I subscribed to Streamyx. To all 4, I said the same thing. Yes I applied for Streamyx. They all asked me for user name. I gave them all user names. They all said that they will get the application done for me. None of them called me back.

*TULAN fact 2: Why isn't TM and TMNet talking to each other about my application records and status?!?!?!?!!?!*

Anyway, I just called back one of those 4 people and even there the person said they don't know what's happening and have no records of my phone number or my user name. I was advised to wait until later in the day for them to call me back. Yeahh right. As if they will call me back.

*TULAN fact 3: Why no standard operating procedure for these things???!?!! Why do I have to call and chase and find out so many problems?!!??!*

Streamyx... it's the fact that it's the only ADSL provider, so I apply for it. Otherwise, I would have gone with Maxis Broadband instead... KNS!!!

back to work...

it's certainly difficult getting back to work after the long breaks in December and the excitement of moving and unpacking... and less than 3 weeks from now we will be celebrating CNY :D

you tell me lah, how to work like this?

happy 2009

Yes, the new year has come. 2008 passed by relatively quickly, and 2009 has emerged anew. It's time to seek new opportunities and new options in life.

Here's to a productive new year!

LCCT shortcomings not Air Asia's fault...

The writer of this letter has very valid grouses against Air Asia, particularly in terms of staff attitude and flight delay handling. In fact, I believe Air Asia should properly retrain their ground staff in basic customer service, courtesy and interpersonal communication. As for their cabin crew, I have no complains.

However, the writer then links the shortcomings of the LCCT to Air Asia, where I believe that this is not valid. In the first place, Air Asia never asked to operate out of LCCT. They would have been happy to operate out of KLIA (if not for the ridiculously high operating charges and constant pressure from the airport authorities). In fact, they actually asked to operate out of the old Subang Airport, but was given all sorts of excuses that prevented them from doing so. (Ironically, Fireflyz now operates out of Subang Airport with no restraints!)

Anyway, LCCT management is not synonymous with Air Asia management. LCCT is operated by Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) and so any complaints about "crowded, uncomfortably hot and stuffy terminal" and "used toilet paper all over the floor" should be directed against MAB, and not Air Asia.

whole body aching...

...didn't realize that moving is such a tiring experience... and this was with full force help from my family... imagine if it were only myself!

The process started actually on Monday. We did some house cleaning and cleansing, and put up all the curtains. Meanwhile I went to get the Buddha rupa from Sukhi Hotu, and brought it to Maha Vihara for blessing ceremony. After lunch, Uncle Yap came over with the fridge and washing machine, and also Astro installation. With everything over, we went for a quick dinner in Asia Cafe. Then, we went back to pack up the remaining stuff and dismantle the bed for transportation.

Early the next morning, we had the fire crossing ceremony, and then I proceeded to setup the altar for the Buddha image. After that happened, we patiently waited for the lorries to arrive. Soon, IKEA delivery arrived, carrying the wardrobe, TV rack, work table and bookcase system to my upstairs library and master bedroom. While the assembly service was going on, the delivery lorry arrived with all our stuff, and unloading began. All this was happening while we were enjoying sumptious desert cooked over the charcoal stove. Soon after, the water filter guy arrived and installed the outdoor water filter - by the way, the water is still murky!!! X-( 

Anyway, Roland came after that and installed the house number plate, and then we went through some defects list (e.g. the clogged drain). After a pizza lunch, we proceeded upstairs to put together all the IKEA furniture (book cases, TV rack, work table). That took up the entire afternoon, and we waited patiently for the furniture lorries to arrive. Around 7pm, the first lorry arrived, unloading the dining table, sofa set, altar and coffee table. Around 9pm, the second lorry arrived carrying the downstairs TV cabinet, console table and shoe rack. All ended around 9.30pm, and we went for Lok Lok supper.

Special thanks to all my family members who helped me pack stuff into boxes and cars and lorries, move stuff up and down and up and down and in and out, cook and clean and clean and cook... couldn't have done it without all of you!

There's still many boxes which are still packed up, and the house is in a mess, that I'll need to do some cleaning again. But, thankfully tomorrow's a holiday, so hopefully can do more stuff.

Oh ya, the bulat-bulat bedroom curtain rod came off the wall :( have to fill up the holes and re-drill... who can do ar??? Also, the doorbell suddenly did not work after the house number plate was drilled up. Sigh... the defects list just never ends right? :P

Happy Anniversary!

Dearest... happy 2nd wedding anniversary :)

Crapz...

The software tool which we use suddenly had a license error after a hard PC restart, and now we can't do anything... that really sucks!

Beli lampu pun beribu-ribu...

Seriously, who would've thought that lighting an entire house will cost thousands?!