First it was the pliers and then I found a beads shop. Put them together, I get to make wire jewelry. I got a set of jewelry kit for a long time and I had no time to play with it.

However, one of my Sunday School children thought me how to make a nice simple earrings. I like it very much especially twisting the wire with the pliers.
I found a beads shop called JoJo accessories which sells very nice Swarovski crystal. I wanted to make some bracelets with it. Here are my innovations:

Ok, I am still beginners and still mastering how to twist the wire nicely. If you know where I can get cheap and nice beads, let me know. By the way, I will be in hobby lobby soon and I tell you I will sure go broke if I enter that store.

I have 2 trips waiting for me to decide whether I should go or not. With the H1N1 scare, I am in a dilemma. I have already booked the flights, hoping to bring my family back to KL during school holidays. I can change the dates of the flight but it will cost me extra RM$200.

I bet I am not the only one facing this problem. I really hope that the H1N1 virus is under control. I am not worried if I get it. I am just worried for my family.
So should I fly or what?

Full week of late night meetings and I am having fruit loops for supper, instead of breakfast. I always like to eat fruit loops. Yeah I know it is all coloring. I have to eat it with milk. I was afraid of my children were sensitive to the coloring that makes me hold back on purchasing a box of fruit loops.

In the end, I could not resist any longer. Fortunate for me, they ate some but didn’t have any problem. Yeah for me!!

And here is my supper….

Many have asked me what USB Modem is or how it is used. Well with advanced technology, we do not need any wire to make a call or use Internet.

A few months back I bought an USB Modem from Celcom for a backup Internet usage. It is important for me because I need it for my work. It is kind of frustrating when I am in a teleconference and my ISP decided to sleep.

The Vodafone USB modem allows me to insert a SIM card, the normal SIM card that you would use for a mobile phone. You can use any local telecommunication SIM. You can pick from Maxis, Celcom or Digi. Whichever that provides you with the best internet plan for your need. I went for Celcom Prepaid broadband as it is my backup ISP. The 3G speed is pretty good.

Here are some pictures of how you would go about using it.

1. Plug in the SIM card into the USB Modem. Actually the SIM should face down for this model. I took the picture face up to show you the SIM.




2. Plug the USB modem to a USB port on your notebook or PC.




3. The USB modem will come with mobile connection software that is store inside the memory of the modem. It is pretty need. Your PC should be able to auto run for installation. It will also install a SMS program that allows you to use it to activate your SIM, top up and check balance on the SIM. You do not need a mobile phone to do any of those.
4. Once the installation is completed, you can launch it and detect available signals around your area.




5. Select the 3G signal as the GPRS signal is slower. The cool thing about this Vodafone USB modem is that the color led light will tell you which kind of mobile network it is connected to.




• Green blinking – GPRS network found
• Green solid – GPRS connected
• Blue blinking – 3G network found
• Blue solid – 3G connected
• Light Blue solid – HSDPA connected
6. Once you are connected, you can start surfing. No other configuration required. It is that simple!

The SMS program:

I received an electricity bill for my new condo last month cost RM1.70 and I thought I didn’t have to pay as the govt stated electricity bill under RM20, we do not have to pay. This month I received another RM3.00 but last month RM1.70 is added, totaling RM4.70. My new condo meter is still showing 0 kwh.

I went to the TNB office to seek clarification. Guess what the customer service told me. He said very loudly that the budget 2009 stated that you do not have to pay if the electricity bill is below RM20 with consumption. He repeated the 2 words “with consumption”. Can you believe that?

Does that mean, I have to use go and on a light bulb to ensure the meter have reading before I get it free? How absurd! If I do that, I will be wasting electricity, just to get it free.

Ooh, I just called from the TNB officer after I submitted a online complaint, the criteria is to use at least 5 kwh of electricity. Are they asking me to waste 5 kwh to enjoyed the RM20 rebate? *shake head*

Looks like, they are adding more criteria to this rebate to prevent customers from claiming. By the way, I do not see any of these criteria being published in the newspaper. If yes, do let me know. I cannot find any criteria in the TNB Website either.

The statement that support my dispute and I quote “As part of the Government’s effort to further reduce the financial burden of the lower income group, households which incur monthly electricity bills of RM20 or less, will not have to pay for electricity, for the period from 1 October 2008 to end of 2009.”

Source: (http://www.epu.gov.my/bajet/enbudget2009.pdf)

Now I may have to go to my condo to use 5kwh of power every month. TNB, you forced me to waste electricity!

Today getting MC is a breeze. I came down with flu, nothing serious but now with the spread of swine flu, everyone is very cautious. I do not have fever because it is really hard for me to get fever. The panel doctor will not give me MC if no fever with some exception cases.

Anyway, I went to the in house clinic and try to get an MC. I was really feeling dizzy and body aching, not fit to work. Maybe lack of sleep due to late night conferences. To my amazement, the doctor issued it right away, no question asked. I jokingly said that most of my colleagues are avoiding me because I am having flu. She asked me whether I want a mask. Sorry, I hate those masks and I rather stay at home.

Today I am working from home for the benefit of others. I don’t want to spread my germs around.

A little memo came out to say anyone having flu, avoid going to the office and seek medical attention.

I love to hear birth announcements and last week there were 2 moms who had 2 newborns. I am so happy for them and I believed they will be thrilled welcoming the baby into this world.

I remembered when my babies were born, I did a nice birth announcement cards with my baby photo attached to the card and send it to all my friends. It feels good to share good news to people, don’t you reckon. I believed those who receive it will be excited. One way to spread good feelings around.

Almost reaching boiling point, maybe it is the time of the month. Maybe not, 9 days more. I was shopping at GIANT Bayan Baru and saw a dual pack Dettol shower gel refill. It said SAVE RM8.90, I overlooked and I thought I saw RM8.90. It can be very deceiving with prices, be careful! Especially in hypermart, it hard to find the exact price on the shelf. You got to look for the check price scanner to find out how much it cost.

Anyway, I checked out and the price stated on the receipt was 16.89! Not a good deal, so I went to the staff to return the product and told him I saw the wrong price. He directed me to customer service. In the customer service, I had to fill up the form and everything was done. The staff asked me to wait. I waited and waited while my 2 children were snacking. It was nearing lunch time.

I heard the staff paged the cashier supervisor a few times, more than 4 times. No one came. 5 minutes passed, 10 minutes passed and 15 minutes passed. I had enough. I asked the staff a few times, she made excuses that the cashier supervisor was busy. Yeah right.

I stomped away, looking for the store manager. Blasted at him, saying “I waited for 15 minutes for a cash return, your staff page the cashier supervisor at least 4 times and no one came. Futhermore, look my children are getting hungry!” He looked at my children, each eating a packet of honey coated cashew nuts. He then signal the cashier supervisor, guess what she was doing. She was chatting with other staff. *shake head* Probably deaf because she didn’t hear the page. By the way, the walk from the counters where she was to the customer service counter is less than 5 meter away!

She returned back my money and I stomped out of there! If any of the GIANT management staff is reading this, please make your service a little more efficient for your customers and priced your goods clearly so that everyone can view.

Once I saw the big sign stated the price as RM9.99 but at the shelf, it is stated RM29.99 for the same product.

I remembered in my school days, I was taught to keep to the left side when walking. It is just like how we drive. When I go up the stairs, I need to keep left. I wonder did you have the same teaching. I found many did not because in my work place hallway, people just walk however they like.

These tend to bang into me when they corner on the right side. Sometimes these people like to take short cut.

And then there is the escalator. Malaysian escalator has no standard. Some time the left side of the escalator goes up and sometimes the right side goes up. They are a confused lot.

At the escalator, people likes to stand in the middle blocking people who want to go down fast. Haven’t they learned to keep left and leave the right side for traffic flow? I believed in Singapore, signs are everywhere to make sure people are aware and do the right thing.

Keep left next time you walk yeah except when you are in a different country. Different county has different directions.

Don’t you hate it when a shop offers you a free voucher that is useless? I have received many of these vouchers and it a marketing scams. Too bad I cannot report them to anyone. Sometimes these companies think we are stupid or greedy.

Here are the top 10 loser vouchers I received:
1. Free $10, you can use it next month on certain range of books.
2. Free $5, you can use it next month if you spend more than $10.
3. 3 Free $10 vouchers, you can use it next month but a single voucher for each item.
4. Free $10, you can use it on your next purchase next month.
5. Free $10, you cannot use it on grocery items, cosmetics or promotion items.
6. Free $5, you can use it on your next purchase expired end of the month.
7. Free $10, you can use it if you spend more than $100
8. Free $10, please collect the voucher in the nearest branch next month.
9. Free 1 set meal if you purchase 2 sets.

And the top 10 loser voucher is……..
10. Free $10, you can only use it on 31st Apr 09. (Opps, there is no 31st in April)

No wonder my wallet is always full of vouchers and I never know when which one expires on what date. Yeah they cannot make thing simpler for customers.

However, I like Tesco because when they give vouchers, you can use it any day and any time with no condition. The expiring date is 2 years from the date issue.

If you don’t want to give genuine vouchers, please don’t give it! I rather you keep it.