Can you be too optimist? The other day I wrote a feedback to a local D telco company, telling them there are too many menu options with their call directories and no direct options to reach an agent. I went through their list of options and no options to report a fraud. Don’t you think a fraud is important?! Or they are aware of it but there is nothing they can do about it.

You see I receive a SMS spam saying I won 20,000 00 from telco. I realized it was a spam and wanted to report it. However after calling their service line, I gave up. I tried their company website instead which was much easier.

I reported a fraud and gave a feedback of their lousy helpdesk service.

The reply of my feedback came back:

“Thank you for your feedback on the Interactive Voice Response(IVR) service. Be rest assured that your compliments will be escalated to the relevant management for review and it will be taken into consideration for future development in line with our continuous effort for customer satisfaction.”

Since when did I compliment them? Hrmm….

A. Are they being too optimist, taking every issues as a compliment?

B. Are they just generating the same message for any customer feedback? Like a robot with no personal touch, just like their Interactive Voice Response.

C. They don’t know the meaning of “compliments”.

D. Just making themselves feel good???!!! If they treat all issues as compliments, that will be a good performance, right…..WRONG!

My advice to any company wants to use an automated receptionist:

1. Always give an option to your customers to get to a human.
2. Always allowed your customer to go back to the previous menu.
3. Only have few options (3 max) to select and do not have no end listings. Imagine how long I have to wait if my option is the last selection (>10). Don’t torture us!!!
4. No advertisement played at any time, customer time is valuable.
5. Do test out your call system with a group of people. Get feedback to improve. The turn around time for your customer to get to what he needs is very important.

My mom taught me how to make good double boiled soup. She gave me some Cordyceps Sinensis which she gets from the local Chinese medical shop. Cordyceps used to be very affordable but lately it is getting expensive. I heard one piece costs RM70. Fortunately for me, my mom gave me whole packets years ago.

Cordyceps are a type of fungi. It looks like a worm but it is not. The Chinese called it “Dong Choong Cao” It is said that cordyceps strengthens body immunity, improve respiratory conditions, improved fatigue and stress resistance.

It is simple to make delicious soup with cordyceps. All you need is a chicken, water and cordyceps. For my family, I usually just use a chicken drumstick. Put them all into a double boiled pot and boiled for 8 hours or more. After it is done, you can put a pinch of salt to taste. Believed me it taste delicious and it is nutritious. You try it.

Durian season is here and it is every where in Penang. Some are cheap and some are branded. My hubby and I went on a hunt for branded durian. We do not know the price of branded durian. We went to this “Durian Cap Kaki”. We asked for a few of the branded and good ones. I believed he said one of it is Ang Heh and 3 other different kinds. One guy, I believe is the boss, wearing gold chain and rings stood there. I guess you can strike rich just by selling durian.

The ah pek (aka uncle) charged us RM30 each. For those durian lovers, is it overpriced? My hubby said that previously he can get 5 for RM20. I believed that the price was expensive because it was branded. Next time I probably will do a market research on where I can get good cheap branded durian.

Night came, invited my FIL and have a durian feast. I love the Ang Heh, it is creamy and sweet. The rest of them were creamy too and fleshy but bitter. The aroma of the durian filled the entire house even before we open the durian. I guess this is the difference between branded and non branded durian.

It was simply satisfying. Next mission to hunt for cheaper ang heh. Tell me what brand of durian is the pic below:

Original Deluxe Bumblebee Transformer from Hasbro
PN: 6633541500
Height: 5.5 inches
Year of Model: 2007

If you would like the above for RM80 excluding shipping charges. Shipping in Malaysia will cost around RM5-10 using post laju. If you are interested, please leave your email on the comment box.

Me: I am so and so, I would like to engage your legal service for …
Officer: Your file is 9 years ago, let me locate your file in the store. You know, it is so long ago, it takes time to locate it.
Me: How much is your service?
Officer: I need to find your file first.
Me: When can you have that done?
Officer: I don’t know, need to find your file first.
Me: How long does it take?
Officer: I don’t know.
Me: What is the process step of your service, please can I get some info.
Officer: I need to find your file first.
Me: Can you please call me back when you do locate my file?
Officer: I will call you when I locate the file.

Up until now, no calls from her. In fact, I gave a second chance which I call them to follow up. She told me the file has been found and it with the lawyer. She didn’t bother to call me. She also said the lawyer is busy. I guess her company doesn’t want business from me. It is either they have too many customers or the officer is plain lazy.

As compared to:

Me: I am so and so, I would like to engage your legal service for …
Officer: Let me passed you to a senior officer so that she can explain the process to you.
Snr Officer: Bla…bla..bla…
Me: How much is the fees?
Snr Officer: Let me call you back on this, I need to ask my boss.

She called me a couple of times to get my info and provided what I need. She also has a friendlier voice and efficient too. Bottom line, I rather pay more for this type of service.

If I engage the first legal firm, I will probably vomit blood, calling them for follow up. Who knows, they may loose all my files.

I ordered fish and chips and this was what I got.

What a big fish on my plate. Frankly speaking this is the first time I see a chef served the whole fish on the plate for fish and chip. I can understand if it was a shared dinner. However the fish was really fresh and delicious. It was a trout. Cost RM14.90. It has some steam vegetables and a slice of bread with butter.

My children were going for my chips, no matter how I protect it. It ends up on their plate.

Every time I worked late in the night, I will go hungry. Yeap, it is my high metabolic rate that I do go hungry fast on certain days of the month. I just want to chew something. Sometimes I will have chopped carrots to chew on. Other times it will be unhealthy junk food.

Today I got a pack of marukku, an Indian type of snack. It is tasty, crunchy and some actually are spicy. It is made out of flour, urad bean and flavorings. At least it keeps me awake at night.

That’s delicious in Korean. I loved Korean food especially the different types of side dishes called banchan. Side dishes such as Kimchi, spinach salad, glazed potatoes, cucumber pickles and others.

I went to a nice Korean Restaurant called Arirang @ 11-G-1&2 Jalan Gottieb (aka new Bob Center) Penang. The atmosphere of the place is good with a small room of toys and books for the children to play while we dine.

My family ordered the Kimchi soup based vegetables set, bbq pork, the fried glass noodles and the ginseng chicken. The bbq pork was really tasty. They provided a free flow of Korean tea. You can also ordered the beef where they bbq on the spot. It has lots of side dishes that come with what we ordered. The Kimchi soup was a little too sourish and spicy. It can be very acidic to your tummy. My advice, eat some rice to fill your stomach before attempting the Kimchi soup.

I will recommend this place to anyone who is visiting Penang. The owner is a Korean and you get authentic Korean food. It is simply delicious. Enjoy the pictures.

After a tired & stressful day at work, I came home with this delicious treat. Thanks to shooi who was so kind to bring some of her mother’s specialty for me. Pork Leg Vinegar is usually cooked as a confinement food. It has ginger, pork leg & meat, vinegar, dry chilies and I believe sugar. The ginger is good to relieve air from your body.

I had my confinement lady cooked this for me once every week. No matter how big a pot she cooked, it is always finished. I loved to eat it with warm rice. It taste so good and you can drink the sauce too. Although it is vinegar but it is not too sour. It is simply delicious.

If you ever cooked this, please invite me. 😛

I am craving for the Aussie Chinese food every since I left Australia. I have been staying there for 5 years and I love every moment of it. When I am there, I get home sick too.

The Chinese food especially in Sydney is simply delicious. Most of the big Hong Kong chef migrated and start their business there. The seafood like scallops, abalone, king crabs and oysters were the best I ever tasted. If I ever go back there, I will sure spend myself a scrumptious meal.

During my studies there, I always brought back some huge abalone whenever I came home for summer break. It is really big. I remembered when I was a secondary student, I told my teacher that I ate a big abalone, she wouldn’t believe me. Abalone at that time was affordable. My mom will cook something delicious with the abalone.

Recently I got my friend to bring me some abalone back which I missed. With abalone, you need to know how to cook it. If it is not cook properly, it will become like rubber. You need to tenderize it. It can be cook with any vegetables like broccoli. You can also make double boil chicken soup with it. It is simply my favorite.

If any of you coming back from there, please bring me some more abalone!