Went to Kota Bahru for Business

Last week, I was in Kota Bahru, Kelantan for business. I stayed there overnight and the next day, my colleague drove back to Penang. He went to see a client and measure the sports court. As there are very few hotels around, we stayed at the Renaissance which is next to a shopping complex. So it was quite convenient for us to do our shopping for drinks and water. I also bought 4 long pants there as they are only half the price of what you would get in Penang for the same type. They range from RM29 a pair to RM34. So it cost me slightly more than a hundred ringgit to cart them back. On the way back, we stopped halfway at a rest area and had our dinner there. As my colleague needs to get back to Penang quickly, he drove quite fast, overtaking many slow cars in the 2-lane road. It can be quite stressful hoping that there are no cars coming in the opposite direction.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day falls on the third Sunday of June every year to honour the fathers worldwide. Yesterday, my church gave a buffet lunch for the fathers at the premises instead of giving a mug each like last year. This year they are more practical - offering free lunch. My sister and I gave our father RM50 each and he is waiting for my second sister from China to come out and treat the whole family together by delaying the food treat from using the common fund. Yes, the 3 of us contribute RM600 each to the common fund while my dad gets to keep 100% of his pension of RM1,200 allowing him to go for holidays frequently this year. I don't know about other fathers, but my dad loves to receive money from children - hence the compulsory contribution every month.

Gold Coins

I used to collect used stamps and coins in my school days. During Chinese New Year in 1993, my uncle gave me geniune gold coin instead of red packets of money or 'ang pows'. It was about 10 ounces of 99.9% pure gold which is now very valuable. On one face, it showed an animal to represent that particular year in the Chinese zodiac. Amongst all my coins, this is the most expensive coin that I have received and the price of gold has increase drastically since then. During my time, an ounce of gold was worth RM20 and it is not more than RM100 per ounce. So for those who have invested in gold and keep their investment until today, they will sure make tons of money.

Penang SOCSO telephone number cannot be contacted!

I have paid the worker’s SOCSO company contribution for April 2009 and until today, 12th of May, I have yet to receive a receipt and form for May payment from them. SOCSO stands for Social Security Organisation that was established in Malaysia to make monthly payments to workers becoming disabled in the course of their employment. It is like a form of insurance. Today, I tried to contact the numbers that I have in the SOCSO letterhead and they have changed to a new number that is non-contactable at all and simply send a thank you message and hang up when you select all the options! Even the operator number leads to automatic message with no one to pick up the phone! I don’t know who is the director or head of department for SOCSO but they sure try to find ways to automate their telephone calls with no single person to pick up calls and attend to enquiries. This is surely the ‘makan ular’ (lackadaisical) attitude of the staff who is missing in action! Typical of the Malays who are so lazy, and depend on the UMNO government to take care of their needs to the exclusion of other races. I am still wondering how sincere is the government in advocating 1Malaysia concept.

Chicken Pie for only USD50 cents

My parents ordered 30 chicken pies from Penang Hill for only USD50 each or RM1.90 which is very affordable. Each chicken pie consists of chicken slices, potato, quarter egg, beans, carrots and onions. The cost is so affordable because the cook gets to use free electricity staying at a government quarters in Penang Hill. I heard that there are orders every day and they have to commute between Penang Hill to customer's place in town. And I just had my chicken pie for lunch today, which saves us from going out too often. Since there are 4 of us in the family, we take our own sweet time to finish off the pies that are kept in the freezer. All that is required is to defrost them in the micro wave oven for 4 minutes are you are ready to be served a full meal.

Happy Easter Sunday

Yesterday was Easter Sunday and my church in Georgetown Baptist Church put up a wonderplay play with a short movie of the Passion of Christ showing Jesus before his crucifixion. It is also a time to forgive previous grievances and hurts done by others. Easter is to celebrate the resurrection power of Jesus when he died at the cross and he is now alive in Heaven. One day, when all Christians die, they will reunite in heaven and stay there for eternity - which is a very very long time. While it is better to stay in heaven where there is no sorrow, pain or death, it is good to make ourselves useful here on here promoting the Kingdom of God by preaching to our loved ones so that they can be saved from eternal damnation in hell and by tithing.

The World's Fastest Magician

Going to Genting Highlands in a Short While

Today is Tuesday and I will be going down to Genting Highlands, the highest casino in the world for a break. It is located on a mountain resort in the state of Pahang. Genting Highlands was the brain child of the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong who had passed the baton to his second son to run the show. I will be staying in First World Hotel, deluxe room using the free points that I have accumulated over the years. To me gambling is a no-no and I will not even enter the casinos. I have seen my own grandmother came to poverty due to gambling, the only activity she knows to generate more income hopefully but ended up poorer and had to hawk laksa in the streets.

At the same time you might like to know more about Chloe Mays who hope to pursue a degree in Law and is currently a 10th grader. For now, her Gen-Y blog addresses Gen-Y and teen issues. She hopes that her teen blog will help make a positive difference in her generation. In addition to blogging, Chloe plays musical instruments like the guitar, bass and trumpet. She also plays golf, debate and joins many other clubs. There are also college scholarships for teenagers to apply if they have excelled in their studies. There are not many teenagers who are multi-talented like Chloe Mays and you might like to visit her blog for more information about this young determined wizard.

Marley & Me the movie

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog is a The New York Times bestselling autobiographical book by journalist John Grogan, published in 2005. Told in first-person narrative, the book portrays Grogan and his family's life during the thirteen years that they lived with their dog Marley, and the relationships and lessons from this period. Marley, a yellow Labrador Retriever, is described as a highly strung, boisterous, and somewhat uncontrolled dog. He is strong, powerful, endlessly hungry, eager to be active, and often destructive of their property (but completely without malice). Marley routinely fails to "get the idea" of what humans expect of him and at one point the comment is made that mental illness might be a plausible explanation for his behavior. His acts and behaviors are forgiven, however, since it is clear that he has a heart of gold and is merely living within his nature.

The strong contrast between the problems and tensions caused by his neuroses and behavior, and the undying devotion, love and trust shown towards the human family as they themselves have children and grow up to accept him for what he is, and their grief when he finally dies in old age, form the backdrop for the biographical material of the story.

Going to Langkawi in a short while

I am going to Langkawi by Firefly which was booked and confirmed last night. It takes about 30 minutes to arrive from Penang Airport to Langkawi's Airport. We need to take measurement for a sports court for a customer before flying back the next day on Sunday. Most likely, we will stay overnight in Langkawi after doing the necessary. This is a short business trip. And I just found out from my sister that a return trip by boat is about RM100 plus. Had I known that earlier, we would have taken the boat and save us about RM620 for 2 persons return by flight plus airport tax.

Financial Meltdown

Since late last year, we have been bombarded with a slew of news of job cuts, credit crunch, lay-offs and financial meltdown of big institutions like banks that have been around for more than 100 years. Millions will be jobless this year as more and more companies retrench their staffs especially in USA, Europe, China, Singapore, etc. Malaysia is not spared from this punishing economic woes though the government refuse to admit that recession has come to our shores. Every day, as I read the newspapers in business section, I see more job cuts everywhere and people are getting desperate. Families with young children to feed are turning to the parish priest of our local cathedral of the Holy Spirit to share their stories in the hope of securing new employment. According to Pastor Joseph Prince, prosperous economies previously will be awakened while developing nations will rise up.

Yes Man the Movie

Over recent years, Carrey continued doing his thing, moving from comedy to dramatic roles and vice versa. The problem is that all of the sudden he wasn't alone in the ring anymore, and countless other comedians have tried to slip into his shoes to various degrees of success. There was no place to deny it; Carrey was in need of a hit to re-establish his place in the Hollywood sky.

Cue the brand new comedy Yes Man, that finds Carrey once again in his favorite "What if...?" sub-genre. This time around, he plays Carl, a lonely divorcée that has somehow alienated even his best friend (portrayed successfully by Wedding Crasher's Bradley Cooper). Carl is stuck in a dead-end job at a bank, yearns for his ex-wife and spends his evenings watching rented DVDs... all by himself. When an old friend introduces him to a corny self-help program (lead by a hilarious Terrence Stamp) that persuades him to answer "yes" to every question thrown his way, Carl's life takes a dramatic turn.

As expected, the new approach gets our hero into all kinds of wacky situations - such as spending a steamy morning with his horny elderly neighbor (!); meeting a potential Iranian wife through an online service; partying all night whilst drinking countless cans of Red-Bull and over excessively helping a homeless person. Luckily enough, it also introduces him to the extremely free-spirited Allison (portrayed by the ever-so-cute Zooey Dashnel).

Go for Blood Pressure Check if you are Above 50

When you are over the age of 50, go for blood pressure check up to see the systolic and diastolic figures. It should be 120/80 which is normal. Anything above and much higher than this figures spells CVA (cardiovascular accident) which may lead to stroke or heart attack. Life is too precious to take chances and the risks are increased if you are a smoker, above 50 years of age, drink alcohol or have high cholesterol levels. You should also go for complete blood test to check for cancer, blood glucose, liver function, etc. As we age, we need daily medication to keep us going and to keep the engine in good condition.

Happy New Year 2009

Today is the last day of the year 2008. It has indeed been a memorable year with many events happening - some good, some not so good like the financial upheaval emanating from the USA. And Christmas is just over but the Yuletide season still lingers on. Many people are in a holiday mood resting at home or visiting friends for a friendly chat over a cup of tea. Others might choose to go window shopping and browse for things to buy for the new year such as Holiday frames or a new pair of spectacles.

Our eyesight is very important and for those who are short sighted or myopic, this can be corrected by wearing the right lens so that they can see properly again. Our sight allows us to admire the beautiful Christmas trees with presents all wrapped up at the foot of the tree and snow capped mountains during the winter. There are many types of frames like titanium that is light weight and very resilient. Forget about the round frames of Harry Potter's glasses that makes him look so child like. You can find many types of quality frames from the link and choose the ones that suit you. Some make you look trendy and in season like the one Sarah Palin wears that suits her face.

Developing your Site with SEO

Building an SEO-friendly site is fairly easy for anyone with minimal development skills. Your main focus is to eliminate all the flashy content and stick with a simple, solid architecture. Search engine spiders have no trouble comprehending text and have a thing for text links, more commonly known as anchortext. When keeping your visitors in mind, the design process gets much easier. Building for the search engines will increase your visibility on the web and help to bring new prospects in.