February 2009

The Archives

• Park Or Not Park

  02.28.09 | Permalink |Driving| Comments Off on Park Or Not Park

  If you look at this picture, you will be confused like me whether to park or not to park. First it has a parking box and also a yellow line at the side of the road. Yellow line means no parking at all times but you can drop off passenger. As most Malaysian, they will park their car as we have the culture of convenience to us first, law comes second.

  
  
  

  On another note, one night I was driving back from a meeting. I was coming down from a highway and it has no car at first. I slowed down as it was towards the end of the highway and reaching the traffic light. Suddenly there is a car speeding behind me, flashing asking me to move out of the way. Such impatient driver but I guess he has no brain.

  I was in a good mood, so I move out of the way as it was approaching a traffic light. Both of us stop. He was stopped at the right but there were 3 cars in front of him. I was stop at the left with no cars in front of me.

  When the lights turned green, I moved ahead and he had to wait for the 3 cars to move. The moral of the story is you don’t go very far without any brains or patience. So what if you speed, there is always someone ahead of you.

• Time For A Change

  02.26.09 | Permalink |Finances| Comments Off on Time For A Change

  After being loyal to my credit card bank for more than 10 years, it is time to change. I found that my current credit card’s reward is not very attractive and service is deteriorating. Imagine after 3 years using my card, magnetic strip coming off and many calls to the service desk, just to get them to renew the card without the change of account number. I gave up and did no transaction on the card, then finally the approved the change.

  I was surveying the market to see which credit card that will meet my needs. Recently I found one from CIMB, it is free for life with no condition and no administration fees whatsoever. I was really surprise and ask the agent a few times. Not only that, it is also a discount card for many places like Guardian, MPH, World of Cartoon and others. Lastly their reward point’s book is as thick as the Ikea magazine. Of coz the number of points collected is not a small number. It is alright because there is a variety.

  I am glad they have a road show in Queensbay mall where I sign up for a Platinum Free for life card. The agent gave me a Swiss knife, a multipurpose torch and a huge umbrella. Good deal eh?! I cannot wait for the card to arrive at my mail box with the catalog and the discount outlets book.

  
  
  

• Blocking The Way

  02.22.09 | Permalink |News| Comments Off on Blocking The Way

  In Cantonese we call this “mo sek choong” meaning blocking the way. There is a whole stretch of empty space but this bus driver chose to park in the middle of an entrance to the pedestrian bridge. Everyone who wants to use the bridge has to squeeze through. By the way beside it, it has a big drain. How inconsiderate bus driver! *shake head*

  
  
  

• Roti Tisu

  02.21.09 | Permalink |Food, Penang| Comments Off on Roti Tisu

  I just discovered this in one of the mamak store in Penang called Roti Tisu aka Tissue Bread. It is made from the same dough as Roti Canai but finer. Roti Tisu is crispy with hot margarine and sugar coated on it. It is usually served in a con shape.

  
  

  
  

  Have you seen such a big roti tisu? Oh my children love this! You have to try it if you are at the mamak store. Simply delicious.

• Gmail Locator

  02.18.09 | Permalink |IT| 1 Comment

  Now your gmail allowed you to detect your location of where you are. You have the option to turn in on or off. In order to activate it, you go to your gmail account. To activate the locator, you go to Settings -> Labs -> Location in Signature. Check Enable.

  Before you activate the locator, you must enable your signature by clicking Settings -> General -> Signature. Add a nice sign off message like “Bye There!”. Check “Append your location to the signature”

  After that, whenever you compose an email, you will find your location there. I tried but the location detected was way out! It said that I am in Kota Kinabalu and I am nowhere near there. Oh well, give Google sometime to get it right.

  
  
  

  It will be very useful if it is used in the mobile. If you are lost, you can use it to detect your location. However the location now given is not accurate to the street. If it has the street, it will be good. If you want your privacy, just disable it.

  By the way, there is no privacy of your location once you are online. Every PC/notebook/mobile will have a unique IP address. With IP address, the location is exposed whether you like it or not. If you don’t like it, stay offline.

• Kuala Lumpur Taxi

  02.15.09 | Permalink |Kuala Lumpur| Comments Off on Kuala Lumpur Taxi

  I dislike not having a car when I am down in Kuala Lumpur. It is very difficult to get around. It has the most unreliable transportation. I hope the govt will improved on it.

  Take for example, when I was shopping in Mid Valley. I wanted to take a cab and started to queue for a cab. There was no queue but there were plenty of cabs. However none of the cabs want to take me home. Most of the drivers asked for more money. They refused to use the meter. Worst it I got scolded for standing there. They asked me to go to another cab stand.

  I faced the same problem when I was down in Bukit Bintang. All the taxi stand were filled with cabs but none of them want to use the meter. They want to take tourist and probably charged them a hefty rate.

  Now what is the govt doing about it? Nothing, they are busy fighting among themselves to gain more power. Sigh. How can Malaysia progress?

  However I am glad to say, not all taxi in KL is like this. I did get into some good ones who really work hard for a living. Kudos to them!

• Shoes Oh Shoes

  02.11.09 | Permalink |Living| 4 Comments

  I am not a shoe person so I do not have many shoes. I have one pair for work, one pair for casual wear, one pair for evening function and one pair for sports. Now I am eyeing on a pair of CROCS but they are overpriced. I probably will wait for the sale.

  
  
  

  Here are my working shoes made of leather. One is Bonia brand and the other is Alain Delon but guess which one lasts longer. Both are about the same price too. Apparently the Bonia last much longer. I wore my Bonia for 2 years before I bought the Alain Delon shoes. However Alain Delon only lasts for 2 years. Now I am back to my Bonia shoe again. The Bonia leather is still smooth and nice. No signs of any wear and tear.

  Bonia:

  
  
  

  Alain Delon:

  
  

  
  

  Time to shop for another pair and I will probably go back to Bonia brand.

• What Is This Fruit?

  02.05.09 | Permalink |Food| 2 Comments

  Yesteday I saw this fruit at the fruit store. Out of curiosity, I bought it to try. It can be eaten just like that with 1 seed in the core. It taste a little like jambu but it has a fragrant in it. I believed it can go well with the rojak sauce. If anyone of you knows the name of the fruit, do tell me.

  
  
  

• Mind Your English

  02.01.09 | Permalink |English| 1 Comment

  Spot the bad English here and this sign is put up by the popular American Swenson Restaurant. It is really sad.