October 2008

The Archives

How Many Times Do I Need To Cancel?
10.31.08 | Permalink |Finances| 4 Comments

Last year I cancelled my supplementary UOB credit card because I have no use for it and it cost RM30 for admin fee. When they gave it to me, it was free. Somehow along the years, they added the RM30 policy but didn’t bother to inform the customer.

Anyway, to avoid any nightmares, I cancelled it. After I cancel it, it was deleted from the online system. Everything was fine until this year, it appeared again on my online system. Initially I wasn’t aware of it when I called the credit card helpline for another issue, they asked me whether I had any supplementary. I said no and she said yes. Hrmm…I told her I cancelled it last year.

What made me really frustrated was the officer asked me to submit another cancellation form? I told her no and why should I? I already did 1 year ago. I am not going to submit any documentation every year to cancel the stupid card. They told me that they didn’t receive my cancellation form. I bet they must have lost it.

I heard so many cases of bank making it difficult for customer to cancel the credit card. It is so unprofessional of them. Next time, I will charge them admin fee for asking me to submit a cancellation form. What should I charged? RM30 for 1 cancellation form.

Next time you sign up for a credit card, ensure the bank provide a easy way to cancel the card!

Popularity: 2% [?]
Audio Books
10.31.08 | Permalink |Book, PP| Comments Off

I always wanted to read many books but I do not have the time. One way for me to catch up with good books is to get audio book. Now I can get them online and it is affordable. With my iPhone, I can upload these books and play them where ever I am.

I can listen to a good book when I am driving long distance or stuck in a traffic jam. Now I don’t have to flip any pages to enjoy a book. Cool!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Melamine Food Products

10.27.08 | Permalink |Food| 1 Comment

After the big sad tragic incident on China milk powder that contain the chemical substance of melamine that cause many children in China sick, now everyone is very concern about their food intake. I am very worried because I heard more products now contain melamine that is harmful to us. How can the food company be so irresponsible and not have the food tested for toxic substances? Even as we speak, there are biscuits that are not melamine free. Worst is government just ban the foods produce but not close down the company.

I went to the fsq.moh.gov.my and downloaded the spreadsheet which has a list of products that has melamine that is over the acceptable level. In another words, these product can make you sick or put stone in your kidney.

Here are they, please don’t buy any of these foods. By the way, there is another list in fsq.moh.gov.my that has food list :
http://fsq.moh.gov.my/uploads/produkmematuhi251008.pdf,
that is not melamine free but on an acceptable level. Whatever level, I do not want to eat food with melamine in it. I hope government will enforce the food company to label the melamine ingredient in all products.

Ego White Rabbit Creamy Candy 135 ppm	Vigour 888 Filling Roll 4.71 ppm	Taro Biscuits (Bairong) 75 ppm	Biskut Creamy Chocolate (Dikilangkan oleh Khian Guan 3.66 ppm
Biskut Lemon Pof 3.7 ppm	Biskut Square Puff 4.36 ppm	Biskut Cocoa Puff 4.91 ppm	Biskut Jagung Puff 6.46 ppm
Potato Cracker 17 ppm	Biskut Ais Jem 3.33 ppm	Biskut Marie Besar 6.64 ppm	Biskut Campuran 7.99 ppm
Biskut Family Crackers 7.6 ppm	Tasty Cracker 2.57 ppm	Biskut ABC 12.6 ppm	Zoological Biscuit 5.16 ppm
Supercrown Cracker 9.11 ppm	Healthy Puff 8.85 ppm	Biskut Sandwich Oren 5.05 ppm	Biskut Mini Puff 22 ppm

*Note :
Action Level
• Makanan Bayi / Baby Food : 1.00 ppm
• Makanan Lain / Other Food : 2.5 ppm
ppm= parts per million (mg/kg)

Stay away from the food above!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Life Without A Maid
10.24.08 | Permalink |Living, PP| Comments Off

A friend of mine, who has a maid that takes care of household chores for and her family. She hardly has to raise a finger at home and everything is done nicely for her. She is really blessed. However tables turn when the maid had to go home for a vacation.

She was struggling as she has to do all the laundry, ironing, house cleaning and cooking. She is a little fat and now she practically can throw away her diet pills. All the house chores will make her slim down instantly. She was happy to report to me that she has lost a few kg. Isn’t that great?
Now if you want to slim down, do your house chores!

Popularity: 2% [?]
Express Passport
10.24.08 | Permalink |PP, Travel| Comments Off

I remembered I used to hate getting my passport done. I had to rise up early in the morning and beat the crowd. I had to wait the whole day for the officers to process my passport and go from one queue to another. End of the day, I am told to collect it in a week time. Imagine if I have an urgent business trip, I will sure to miss it. If I were a businessman, I probably would lose a deal over a lousy passport.

Now with technology, weeks will turn into days. You can even apply for a new passport online. In addition, you can also submit Visa applications and get it done right away. It is so much simpler and easier now. No more hassle.

Popularity: 2% [?]
Favicon On Blog URL
10.23.08 | Permalink |Internet| 1 Comment

I always wanted to add favicon onto my blog URL but never had the time to do so. I procrastinated until I saw a very nice icon while surfing. I decided to add it.

Favicon is the little icon that appears in front of the URL on the browser address box. It also appears in the bookmark if you save it. It works very well with firefox as for IE, it takes an extra step for it to appear onto the browser.

How do you add this favicon. It is very simple and here is how:
1. Surf the internet for a nice favicon. You can use Google to search by typing “favicon gallery”.
2. Save the favicon into your PC folder as favicon.ico
3. Go to cpanel of your domain and upload the favicon.com in the main directory of your site. Example if my blog is www.parkbay.net , then the main directory is /www/
4. Also upload into your blog theme folder.
5. Go to your wordpress admin page under Presentation -> Theme Editor, look for the header file. Click the header file and add the code below before and save

For firefox, you just have to refresh your page to see it appear in the address box.

For IE, you need to clear the cache and add your page as a bookmark. It will then appear.

Happy trying!

Popularity: 2% [?]
RC Helicopters
10.23.08 | Permalink |Hobby, PP| Comments Off

I got one of these rc helicopters in the states and it is so cool to maneuver it up in the air of an open field. However the one that I got was a cheap version and it didn’t run so well.

I hope to get a better quality one to play with. It takes a fair bit of skills to be able to direct it around and avoid any crashes especially onto people. If you are interested to get one of these, go to ThinkRC.com. It has a good range to choose form. It will be a great Christmas gift for any boys.

Popularity: 3% [?]
Lunch Break Chat
10.23.08 | Permalink |Health, PP| Comments Off

One of my lunch break chat was on the topic of health. We discussed that many major illnesses are the cause of obesity. Some of us came up with how we should reduce obesity like taking diet pills, exercise, refrain from eating fatty food and others.

However with diet pills we have to be careful that the diet pills are really suitable for our body system. There are so many out there in the market like alli diet pills, orovo, Nuphedragen, and etc. I guess it is best that we check with our doctors and read the reviews on those diet pills.

We concluded that our body still needs constant exercise and a good intake of water.

Popularity: 2% [?]
3.4!!! Cheers To Health!
10.22.08 | Permalink |Health| 5 Comments

Today I am so very happy. I got my blood test back and guess what. You gals are gonna kill me for this. All normal and my cholesterol level dropped from 3.7 to 3.4. The desirable level is below 5.2. My doctor said that I can have a few more packs of Nasi Lemak.

Anyway, it was a long awaited blood test and I tell you why. I have to do the blood test every year to monitor my thyroid hormones. The doc will throw in the entire blood test package instead of doing just the boring thyroid hormones. After all it is free for me.

On 3rd of Oct, I was happily shopping in Ikea and suddenly a SMS came telling me that I have a doc’s appointment. Oh no, I totally forgot about it. Anyway, I reschedule the appointment. However when I go back to Penang, my menses came. I tried not to have my blood draw during my menses so I postponed it again to another week.

Third week came and both my children were sick with high fever. Bumma, if I was superstitious I might have thought that the blood test is a jinx. I caught a fever bug too.

Finally fourth week, I called up the doc’s clinic to check whether I can see him. He may have surgeries in the morning. I got a spot and I went. I took my blood test and he called me in the afternoon to tell me the results, everything looks good.

My records of Cholesterol Level:
1996 2.4
2000 3.7
2006 3.7
2007 3.7
2008 3.4 (Gain 4 kg in weight too)

I strongly believe that genetic has something to do with having low cholesterol level. I will definately celebrate this good results with my family.

Popularity: 2% [?]
Gift Baskets
10.22.08 | Permalink |Gift, PP| Comments Off

I would recommend gift baskets any day for anyone who do not know what to get for their friends. Now gift basket comes in many choices. Do you know that presents do not necessarily need to be packed in a box with wrapping paper?

You can gift wrap your presents in a nice basket with a transparent pattern paper. A nice ribbon bow to put on top of the basket handle. Very need.

You can wrap gifts in a basket for birthdays, newborns, get well soon, wedding and all. I don’t see the point of hiding our lovely gift in a box.

Popularity: 2% [?]
Difficult Fruit To Eat
10.19.08 | Permalink |Food| 3 Comments

Do you know what fruit is the most difficult to eat? It is this one:

Yeap, it is the pomegranate. If you are not careful the juice can stain your shirt or clothes. How do you eat a fruit filled with seed? If you bite onto eat and you probably will get the skin which is bitter. Let me share this method which I discovered.

First you need to cut the fruit into 2 halves. Take a big bowl so that the seed will not fall all over the place. Take 1 half and use your fingers and break the skin so that the seed fall out onto the bowl. Slowly break the skin and the seed will just fall nicely on the bowl. Do not use a spoon to scoop as the juice will squirt all over.

When you have all the seed removed, look into the bowl for unwanted skin. You don’t want to chew on those skins as it is bitter. Wash those seeds and you can add a little sugar. Now you can scoop it with your spoon and suck the juice out. Spit out the seed into the garbage can. Need?

Popularity: 2% [?]
Beautifeel Shoes
10.19.08 | Permalink |Living, PP, Shopping| 2 Comments

I have a hard time getting nice shoes for myself. Most of the shoes in the market are good to look at and not really comfortable. I dislikes those really high heels ones because it will numb my feet if I walk too long with it.

Anyway, I like the kind of shoes from Beautifeel shoes. It is beautiful, elegant and yet comfortable. I can find my working shoes, my daily wear shoes and evening wear shoes for event or function. Not that I need so many pairs.

I can surf and browse the latest release of Beautifeel Shoes in BeautifeelShoesUSA.com without physically walking from shop to shop. It saves me a lot of time and energy. Hey I found a good pair there that I want to get.

Popularity: 2% [?]
Child Friendly iPhone
10.16.08 | Permalink |iPhone| Comments Off

One thing with the iPhone is that it is very children friendly. Imagine my children know where to find the games and can operate on their own. My youngest is only 4 and she can maneuver it. She is able to take pictures, remove pictures and view pictures by herself. I just show her once and she could do it.

Ooh, my 4 year old can even call the papa using my iPhone without help. She did it when I was driving.

I must give it to Apple team to create such a phone that is so easy to use with minimal tech knowledge. Before the iPhone I used to own another brand. To date, I still do not know how to dial a number using short cut key. The menu drives me crazy as most the functions are not categorized properly. There are so many layers.

Too bad, now the purchase of the iPhone comes with a 2 year telco plan. If anyone knows which country is not offering a plan, I would want to get another one. Nah, it is not for my kid. Maybe for my mom who has no knowledge of IT whatsoever. It will be so cool.

Popularity: 2% [?]
Häagen Dazs Mooncake
10.12.08 | Permalink |Food| Comments Off

I wanted to review the Häagen Dazs Mooncake but I forgot about it until I saw those pictures in my hard drive. Yeap, I got 2 mooncakes from Häagen Dazs, all because I have vouchers for it. It is very costly too.

Anyway, I like the chocolate coating plus the creamy ice-cream inside. I didn’t like the mango sorbet that was supposed to be the egg of the mooncake. Somehow they sorbet doesn’t mixed well with the sorbet ice cream. Overall, it was okay but I really wouldn’t get it if it is not free. No doubt the quality of the ice-cream is there.

If I have more Häagen Dazs vouchers, I probably would try the cake next. Are they good, anyone wished to comment?

Popularity: 2% [?]
Where Are The Cables?
10.12.08 | Permalink |IT, PP| Comments Off

I was managing a project whereby I need to deploy IT system to another site. The execution plan was great and according to schedule. In fact, it was too well that I got worried. The network was in place, all the applications were tested and all servers were ready. On the actual day as we were deploying the system to the new place, something happen. Someone forgot to order the CAT5e patch cord. Talk about details, I really wanted to scold the network engineer for missing that out.

Anyway, I had to go around asking for any spare patch cord to ensure the project is delivered on time. I am glad the supplier could loan us some patch cords. Yes, Murphy Law do happen and we do need to prepare for it.

Popularity: 2% [?]
5 minutes meeting
10.08.08 | Permalink |Work| 1 Comment

Yesterday I have the fastest face to face meeting. The project manager invited all of us, asked us if there are any issues. We voiced our issues and gave our recommendations. He agreed and it was the end. We can be as efficient as we can be.

Lots of time, we go into a meeting and have an hour discussion or even ran over time. Yet no decision can be made. Coming out from it, we realized that we wasted precious time. Who is responsible for that? Now I think about it, it sounds very much like our parliamentary debate.

It really takes a good team players and a decisive leader to make things go more efficient.

Today an engineer asked me whether the hard disk cage is lockable? I wonder why she want to lock the hard disk. *giggles*

Popularity: 2% [?]
Out Of Place
10.05.08 | Permalink |Kuala Lumpur| 2 Comments

During the Raya break, I went back to my hometown in KL. I was feeling a little out of place. I didn’t get used to many things which I liked to jot down.

First, the people drive too fast. I believed I was once like that. When I was on the highway, drivers were going fast not only on the right side but left as well. They like to cut in real close to my car even when I was driving on a constant speed which is the speed limit. Of coz, their signal lights were protected accessories that they seldom used.

Secondly, I was shopping at Mid Valley. As I was queuing to pay and I was the last in the queue. A lady came by, looked at the queue and went straight to the cashier. She dropped her stuff at the cashier table. She was standing there waiting for the cashier to service the guy in front of me. I stared at her but she paid no attention to me. If I was my usual self, I would have told her off. I didn’t but kept staring at her. She felt no shame for cutting queue.

Thirdly, at my very home, drivers like to park in the middle of the road or double parked. My mom said it is a norm here. *roll eyes*

I always wondered why some KL (not all) people are always in a hurry. Where are they going? Or is it the lifestyle that makes them like this. I wonder….

Popularity: 2% [?]
Overworked
10.05.08 | Permalink |Health, PP| Comments Off

Lately, I was overwhelmed with a lot of projects and on top of it, I am under staffed. I am glad that an addition headcount is approved to join my program. I guess there will be lots of late nights working on my projects. Let’s hope I don’t need a acne treatment at the end of the day.

You know lack of sleep, stress and long working hours will developed acne or pimples. Anyway, I don’t have to worry because there are many good acne creams available in the market that works for me. If you want to find out more about acne cream, go visit AcneCuresRevealed.com

Popularity: 2% [?]