What do you do when you do not have Internet? The other day when I was having a telecon at night, working from home, my streamyx went down. It was frustrating because I cannot view the presentation. After the meeting, I didn’t know what to do as I cannot surf or work. I had to resort to watching TV. My friend did the same thing.

I faced the same problem every time I return back to my hometown. No internet available in my parent’s place. Today I was at LowYat Plaza with a mission to source for the cheapest way to get myself on Internet. You cannot put a techie like me without Internet.

I got myself a Vadafone USB modem with Celcom Broadband Prepaid Pack. Celcom Broadband Prepaid is a life saver for me as I can pay for the internet when I need it. No monthly fee, no activation fee and no contract. The daily rate is RM6 and the weekly rate is RM20. I can live with that.

It is my backup solution if my streamyx goes down. With the USB modem, it is plug and connects. Wah lah, I got myself connected within a few minutes. The USB modem provides HSDPA connection with 3G. It is just so cool!! I wonder if I can plug the Celcom SIM into my iPhone?

P/S: Performance is not bad.

Today I am going to show you how to weave a cross. Usually most people would use palm leaves to do it. However, I would use a pandan leave because it gives a little fragrant and you can keep it in your handbag or drawer.

Step 1: Take a strip of pandan leave. You can split it into 2. Make a L shape with a little triangle in the middle.

Step 2: Fold the triangle downwards twice. You will end up a square covering the triangle.

Step 3: You take the left strand of the leave, move it backwards to make a loop and go through the pocket of the square. Tighten it to have a square pocket.

Step 4: Weave the leave through the pocket to make the vertical bar of the cross.

Step 5: Weave the leave through the back pocket to make the horizontal bar of the cross.

Wah lah…you have a nice cross. Adjust it to make it proportional.

Happy Easter to all!!!

I must salute CIMB for coming up with a 150 pages catalog of things I can exchange for my credit cards. The catalog ranges from household things to electronic to vouchers to fitness tools to toys and many more. It is suited for everybody. Somehow they got it right. Not only that, with a minimum of 3000 points you can get something.

If you do not have sufficient points, you can opt to go with special buy, paying cash with minimum points. I kind of like this idea because I can buy stuff at discounted rates. Do check the price properly, it may not be the best price for some items.

I have already identified some items I would exchange for. Looks like I will make my credit cards worked harder. 😛

I found this cool website: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/earth_hour_2009.html that show us the earth hour around the world. The pictures capture before and during earth hour of major landmark in the world. You can turn off and turn on the lights in the picture. However loading could be slow if your broadband speed is low. Here is one of the pictures below, the rest please go to the website above to admire it for yourself. Too bad, they didn’t have the Penang Bridge.

Pic Credit: www.boston.com

I pulled out my DVD drive from my notebook and everything went upside down. Yeah the screen turned upside down. I was chatting with a friend and I have to turn my head to read what she was typing. She told me to reboot my notebook. I did reboot, put it to safe mode but it doesn’t help.

I had to Google for answer. It is putting my brain to the test because I move my mouse right, it went left. I move it up and it went down. Fortunately the mouse clicks are the same. I have to retrain my brain to think opposite.

Oh well, finally got the answer to turn the screen right side up by going to the display screen with all windows minimize. Right click -> graphics options -> rotation -> normal. I wonder why do they have this option to begin with??!!

I just love doing origami. I picked up origami when I was in my primary school. I remembered my first origami was folding a sampan. My mom thought me how to do that. Later I picked up more and I know how to fold birds, airplane, cup, ball, shirt, flowers, etc. I like doing things with my hands.

Now I am folding Japanese Paper Dolls. I wished to learn how to fold 3D Japanese Dolls. It will be kind of cool. It is amazing how the Japanese can come up with lovely creation. You can turn this into a bookmark too.

I will get more lovely Japanese paper in Isetan when I am down in KL. Maybe fold a few Japanese dolls and frame it up. Looks like it will be my next project. After that, I will probably put it out to bid in eBay. How much do you think I should sell it for?

I was about to head home from office and the phone RRRRRRINGGGGG….grrrrhhh

Me : Hello, Michelle speaking.

Caller: Hello, please can I speak to Michael XXX? *always pronounce my name wrong*

Me : Michelle XXX speaking.

Caller: Hello, please can I speak to Michael XXX? *ok didn’t get through to her*

Me: Michelle XXX here. There is no Michael. How do you spell her name?

Caller: M I C H E L L E

Me: It is pronounced as Michelle, not Michael.

Caller: Oh sorry. Please can I speak with Michael? 😡

Me: There is no Michael, only Michelle. Hey I am rushing for time. What do you want?

Caller: I am from CIMB Telemarketing. I want to speak with Michael. Is he around?

*I give up, she still insist that M I C H E L L E is pronounce as Michael. She is also expecting a male. Gatal Betul*

Me: Sorry I am not interested. *hang up*

Now you know why Malaysian needs more English subjects in school. If you are promoting stuff, please ensure you know how to pronounce your customer name. It also reflects poorly on the company to send out marketing staffs and does not provide any customer service training to them. Isn’t it a golden rule to get your customer’s name right first before selling?

Second golden rule is to LISTEN to your customer. I already told her that she has mispronounced my name. Or could it be she doesn’t know the meaning of the word “pronounce”. Sigh.

I really wanted to ask her name and call her something else. It really annoys me when someone called me Michael. Just spoil my Wednesday evening!

On Saturday, I had breakfast with a view. I must say that it is really refreshing. Away from the hustle and bustle lifestyle. I was enjoying my delicious nasi lemak with a lake view of Bukit Merah. A short journey of 45 minutes driver from Penang Island.

Bukit Merah Resort is famous for its waterpark where children go there for splashing and water play on a hot summer day. Besides the waterpark, you can enjoy the nice lake scenary or visit the Ecopark where a small zoo of animals resides.

I booked myself into the Laketown Resort. It is a 2-3 stars hotel. The rooms are spacious for a family. One thing lacking there is good food. They do have a variety of local Malay’s stores, offering local delicacies but most of they are spicy food. The food was just ok. Lots of room for improvements. All I can say, I did enjoyed myself there.

I got a package from someone and the courier service Skynet failed to deliver it after many attempts. They really drive me mad. First, they called me on my off day at 3:30pm while I was having a nap. The customer service asked me whether will I be home? I told them I am and he put down the phone, not giving me time to ask any questions. He didn’t tell me when he will be coming.

He turned up at 5pm and I went out to fetch my son. If he told me the time he was coming, I could have waited for him. I cannot just sit around the house does nothing and wait for them to come.

I told him to come during my lunch time at Xpm, next day. Second attempt, he came. Xpm – 40 minutes and expect me to be there like I don’t work.

The customer service calls me again and this time it was a lady. She asked me whether they could deliver to my office.

CS: What is your company address?
Me: XXXXX
CS: How do you spell that?
Me: *oh no, spell it for her*
CS: Address?
Me: Free Trade Zone
CS: Apa tu?
Me: *sigh*, just put FTZ
CS: Thank you

I cannot stress that English is very important in school. Any day I am for Maths & Science in English! I am so proud of us every time a foreigner say to me, Malaysian do speak fluent English. It means more jobs here too!

Ever since this picture had been published in the newspaper, lots of people or photographers came to this street to enjoy the beautiful flowers that blossom. Actually the trees have been blooming beautifully every year. However this year, due to the rainy weather and the right time, it has bloom very beautifully.

Yes, Penang does have a sakura street. Everytime I passed this street, I been asking my the other half to take some pictures. It was like 2 months ago when not many people discover the place. Oh well, due to his busy schedule, it didn’t happen.

For those of you who are interested to know where this is. It is the street from PISA to Pantai Mutiara Hospital called Persiaran Mahsuri. A little word of advice, if you are a photographer, be careful of incoming cars and not too carried away with photo taking. It can be dangerous. There are some silly photographers who stood in the middle of the road to take pictures. It is very dangerous to do that.

Today, I saw a family wearing winter clothing and have their pictures taken. Sorry no snow in Penang yet.

I wished the govt will plant more of these trees and make Penang famous. 😉