My Shrimp/Prawn Fried Rice

Don't know what's for dinner and have leftover rice? Here's a simple recipe that I cooked up during those 'oh-so-familiar-hungry & just-back-from-office' moments..

10-mins Blitz Prawn Fried Rice

Ingredients:

2 tablespoonfuls of canola/corn/palm oil or any high smoking point oil (not olive oil, ok)
1 stalk of leek (the white and pale green parts only, throw the leaf into a stock pot..)
2 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 small cup of frozen corn/peas (mixed veg will do just fine)
6 small bowls of cooked rice
1 handful of shelled and de-veined medium sized prawns (I normally split them lengthwise to get more prawns per spoonful of fried rice)
1 large egg

salt and pepper to taste
flat leaf parsley/coriander leaf for garnish

For Soya Sauce & Chilli 'Potong'

1 handful of bird-eye chilli (the hotter, the better)
1/2 cupful of salty soy sauce (not sweet - Cap Kipas Udang is what I normally use)
1 tablespoonful of lime/ lemon juice

Steps:

1. Put your raw prawns and a pinch of salt into a small Microwaveable container with half a cup of water and cook on high (1000W) for 1 minute. This is to create an instant stock/flavor base that the rice can absorb

2. Heat a large wok on high heat with the cooking oil. Coat the wok evenly with the oil.

3. Stir in the chopped garlic and leeks until slightly caramelized (the garlic will start sticking to your spatula/chopstick)

4. Pour in the prawn stock, and reduce liquid volume slightly to intensify the flavour. The leftover prawn should be slightly undercooked at this point.

5. Throw in the rice and coat the grains evenly with the stock. You might see the rice grains puff up slightly.

6. Pour the cupful of frozen peas/corn (I like corn with my prawns) and followed by the prawns while gently working the rice around

7. Create a well in the middle and crack an egg into it. Break the yolk and scramble it quickly as it will curdle and harden very quickly. You might want to add a drop of oil on the base off the wok right in the middle of the 'well'. This is to stop the eggs from sticking and so that you can crumble the eggs evenly throughout the rice.

8. Turn the fire off and all this should take less than 8 minutes.

For the hot soy sauce condiment, in a small bowl, crush the chilies. You can add them in like this or finely chop them to release more heat. Then, add in the soy sauce followed by the lime / lemon juice to taste. It should taste sharply acidic and zingy with a mellow salty undertone.

Plate the rice with the hot soy sauce and garnish with the herbs!

Asia's Top 20 Restaurants

From Miele's List. Not even 1 from Malaysia..

1. Iggy's, Singapore
2. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Hong Kong, China
3. Les Amis, Singapore
4. Gunther's, Singapore
5. Mozaic, Bali, Indonesia
6. Robuchon a Galera, Macau, China
7. Garibaldi, Singapore
8. Yung Kee, Hong Kong, China
9. Hutong, Hong Kong, China
10. Antonio's, Tagaytay, The Philippines
11. Caprice, Hong Kong, China
12. Zuma, Hong Kong, China
13. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Tokyo, Japan
14. Bukhara, New Delhi, India
15. Grissini, Hong Kong, China
16. Nobu, Hong Kong, China
17. M on the Bund, Shanghai, China
18. Fook Lam Moon, Hong Kong, China
19. Zanotti, Bangkok, Thailand
20. Kyubey, Tokyo, Japan

My Crawling Angel..

Here she is:

Moving Blues..

Moved in new place..

Here's a nice piece to share:

The Premier League Beauty Table

1. Liverpool
2. Fulham
3. Tottenham Hotspur
4. Sunderland
5. Chelsea
6. Newcastle United
7. Arsenal
8. Bolton Wanderers
9. West Ham United
10. Manchester United
11. Derby County
12. Middlesborough
13. Manchester City
14. Birmingham City
15. Aston Villa
16. Everton
17. Wigan Athletic
18. Blackburn Rovers
19. Reading
20. Portsmouth

More here.

Cooking the Perfect Steak

OK, OK..

Everybody who loves red meat, would love a fat, juicy, piece of steak. Now, I know most of my Hindu friends would not share the same enthusiasm, but for the rest of the meat eating world, this prime beef dish is usually the single most expensive (gram per gram) order you would have in the local restaurant, up there with lobsters, I suppose.

Now, I've given up eating steak at the local restaurants way long time ago, because I found out that they were overpriced and not really nice. I don't really know about the newer, swankier steak houses in town, but so far, I had only two really good experiences with this dish out of maybe 50 visits.

Which is not really encouraging, by the way.

So one day, I thought, "Why don't I cook it myself?". Which is what I'd normally do when I'd like to eat something really, really bad out of the blue. Well, in all honesty, eating out in a nice, posh steakhouse is really an experience in itself. There's the service, the ambience to savour, plus you get to impress your relatives and friends. But a really nice meal?

So, as per my lasagna tips, I'm giving you a really condensed and concise version on how to cook a really good steak.

STEP 1: Cooking Utilities

Now, if you spend as much time in the kitchen as myself, you would naturally understand in spending good money on really quality kitchenware and cookware. In this case, a really heavy piece of copper or cast iron skillet, or grill pan. This would last you for ages, and the really good ones start at about RM300. Make sure you season it (never wash it with detergent) and cure it (vinegar would do just fine).

STEP 2: The Meat

If you don't know the difference between a sirloin and a brisket, then by all means please go and google up the difference between the common cuts. And while doing that, you might also want to know the difference in the grading of the meat, and cooking techniques for the different cuts.

STEP 3: The Seasoning

Salt and Pepper only. Period.

STEP 4: The Sauce

None, if you get the best meat. Normally the Bearnaises of this world are only there to mask the inadequacies of the quality of your meat. But if you really like a particular reduction of your favourite liquer, then by all means.

Marinades, did you say? Well, this is again another point of debate which can go on and on. Ask yourself this question - "Why am I marinating this RM40 piece of ribeye?" If you don't know the reason for that, then, don't do it! For flavour, perhaps? Tenderness? Come on, buying the best quality of cuts for a steak negates those reasons. Marinates are for meats with tougher muscle tissue fibre, or cuts cooked for a long time and if they are, then you are not putting that on your steak plate.

BTW, if I wanted a garlic & basil infused striploin, I would've fed it to the steer in the first place.

TECHNIQUE:

A nice crisp outside is a combination between the caramelization of the proteins on the outer layer of your meat, and a dry environment which allows it to stay crisp. Thus, you would need a really hot pan, or if you like a charcoal/gas grill which allows all the moisture from the cooked side of your meat to escape. No overcrowding of your pan, and no flipping of the meat over and over.

Tip 1: Meat at room temperature

I sometimes cook my steak straight out of the chiller, because I know my grill pan well, and how it cooks. I normally want my steak between rare and medium, which means I can cook it longer to get a nice crust if the meat starts off colder. Confused? Try it out.

Tip 2: Your pan needs to be smokin'

A really heavy griddle or skillet retains heat evenly and conduts heat more thoroughly. Putting a piece of cold meat on your pan reduces the temperature of the cooking surface. If it does not come up back to the original temperature fast, then any moisture left will steam your meat, and the heat will not penetrate your meat enough, which will leave you with a mushy/charred outside, raw inside scenario.

Tip 3: Season well

Pepper you meat well on the side to be seared first. Not all the pepper would stick, so freshly cracked black pepper on just one side is just fine. Once on the grill, sprinkle your salt. Putting salt while the meat is not on the grill will only suck the juices out via osmosis and your steak would be drier as a result.

Tip 4: Leave it as it is

Now, depending on your preference, a medium cooked steak, 1 inch in thickness should take 4 minutes on the first side, and 2 and a half on the other. Play around with your skillet to know more. The colour on the inside of the meat determines the doneness. Red is definitely raw, pink with red in the middle is rare, a slither of redness in the middle is medium, pink line in the middle is medium well, and brown in the centre is for missing door stoppers.

You can also press gently with your fingers and measure it against the forepart of your palm, near your thumb. Make a number five with your right palm. Now poke the 'belly' of your palm, at the base of your thumb. See how soft it is? Now that's raw meat.

For rare, touch the tip of your forefinger with your thumb. Poke the base of your thumb again. That is now how rare cooked meat should feel. Go on touching different fingers and you should get the whole doneness scale sorted. Simple.

While on the grill, you shouldn't even touch the steak. Never flip it until you are really sure it's cooked as you want to seal the 'pores' of the meat with the heat in order to lock in the juices. Heaven-forbid, never-ever-EVER poke it with a fork or anything else for that matter.

Tip 5: Rest it

Now I know how most people love piping hot food. Please be a civilized bunch and understand that all cooked meats need to be rested. It's because all the juices need to return to where they came form, and the cooking continues while the meat is rested. I'd normally have a wire mesh ready and tent it with a piece of aluminium foil.

There you go. Nothing to it really. If you want to know what gets into your steak plate, than by all means, go to your butcher and bring home a prime cut of meat, and cook it your self.

As the cliché goes, Bon appétit!

Kancil Trouble Again..

Ever since the RM400++ repair of the engine block, my wife's kancil has not been the same. The engine sounds very brash, the cooling fan doesn't spin when the air cond is turned off and worst of all, the fuel consumption has increased significantly.

Compared to my new IAFM Persona, which gets around RM0.14 per km, my kancil now is only getting about 400km per full tank - 28 litres. That's roughly RM0.17 per km, and 400km is really the ultimate limit. It used to get 450km in the past, now realistically, 375km is the norm.

So, I should be sending the kancil to an authorized service centre anytime soon, and hopefully, after minor repairs and part replacements, the efficiency should slightly improve, failing which, I am looking at throwing in a new (read: halfcut) Mira L2, or even a normal 660 c.c engine as a replacement.

From memory, these are the things that need replacement:

1. Shock absorbers
2. Tyres
3. Oil & Filter
4. Air Filter
5. Dust arm cover
6. Brake pads

Let's just see, what's the cost going to be like..

Beef Foie Gras?

I should say that while most people would throng hotel buffets and other glitzy eateries for their 'buka puasa' treat, I on the other hand would rather stay at home and try cooking something special for the family.

Which is why when I saw Cold Storage stocking Wagyu Beef at RM33.90 per kilo, I quickly bought a slab of this really good meat without any hesitancy.

Only that it wasn't RM39.90, but more like RM399.90!


It was too late as I only realized it when I reached the till, and because the have already cut the meat from a big roasting chunk (which later I found out costs more than my wife's monthly wages..), there really was no turning back.

Now, I've heard of stories of people having to fork out RM300 - RM500 per dish in a fancy Japanese restaurant, so at RM139, I have wasted money on something more ridiculous than this.

Halal? Well if my PTD sis-in-law from the Agriculture Ministry is to be believed, then all beef imported into Malaysia should be Halal by default. So, no qualms there.

But honestly, just take a look at this piece of red, gloriously marbled meat:


Have you seen anything more spectacular?

I haven't cooked it yet, but perhaps if something special happens in the Liverpool vs. Man U match this weekend, I'd just might be having my grill all fired up and ready to roll!

Cooking instructions? Well, not like traditional steaks, you'd want the marbling fat to baste the meat from the inside, so intense heat is a big no-no. Seared crust outside, a reasonable time to rest, and hopefully a short trip to gastronomical heaven in a few quick slices with a steak knife (some say, you should be able to cut it with a fork!).

Well, we'll see.

Carrying On..

Okay, okay.. The last posting was maybe a bit too lewd for a wholesome family blog fun such as this, but I have not gotten around doing many things that needed doing, which explains the lengthy lapse of posting anything..

Mah, my daughter was in the hospital for a couple of days due to mucus/phlegm in her lungs. Fortunately, the X-ray shows everything to be clear, and she was give doses of breathing inhibitor in gaseous form.

She's still wheezing a little bit now, but alot better than a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for taking care of her, Mamei..

Happy Merdeka & Ramadhan..

I just had to post this:

Why you shouldn't tease old ladies

Defence  Attorney: Will you please state your age?

Little Old  Lady: I am 86 years old.

Defense  Attorney: Will you tell us, in your own words, 
what happened the night of April 1st?

Little Old  Lady: There I was, sitting there in my swing on my
front porch on a warmspring evening, when a young man  comes
creeping up on the porch and sat down beside me.

Defense  Attorney: Did you know him?

Little Old  Lady: No, but he sure was friendly.

Defense  Attorney: What happened after he sat  down?

Little Old  Lady: He started to rub my thigh.

Defense Attorney:  Did you stop him?

Little Old  Lady: No, I didn't stop him.

Defense  Attorney: Why not?

Little Old  Lady: It felt good. Nobody had done that since 
my Albert died some 30 years ago.

Defense  Attorney: What happened next?

Little Old  Lady: He began to rub my breasts.

Defense  Attorney: Did you stop him then?

Little Old Lady: No, I did not stop him.

Defense  Attorney: Why not?

Little Old  Lady: His rubbing made me feel all alive and 
excited. I haven't felt that good in years!

Defense  Attorney: What happened next?

Little Old  Lady: Well, by then, I was feeling so "spicy" 
that I just laid down and told him: "Take me, young man.  Take me now!"

Defense  Attorney: Did he take you?

Little Old  Lady: Hell, no! He just yelled, "April Fool!" 
And that's when I shot the little bastard.

Busy, busy..

It has been really difficult to find free time nowadays given the situation with my employer's impending move to their new office in KL, as well as my wife's constant reminding of her needs to get a new car.

Those issues also relate to other pertinent requirements as well, like moving houses, getting a maid as well as maybe, getting a new job.

Now, I am not such a big fan of job-hopping, but I do believe that job requirements not only comes from an employer, but most importantly, the employee must also set his own standards on what kind of company he wants to work for - even if you happen to own it yourself.

Now, for me to be happy working in a company, I have set certain prerequisites:

1. Accessible location
2. Profit making / cost saving benefits (like stock options or comprehensive medical coverage)
3. A great pay package
4. An unlimited growth/learning potential

After maybe about a couple of months, then other issues come into play:

5. An understanding manager
6. A cohesive team (politics abhorred..)
7. Meaningful day-by-day existence (opportunity to contribute)

It really depends on your pain threshold I suppose. The more you can tolerate, then the longer you would stay.

Back at Home..

My family checked into the Holiday Villa hotel (HVH) right after the ceremonies of the 50th Birthday Celebrations of his Highness Sultan of Kedah.

There was a stretch of nice cars at the front entrance (this hotel is a co-tenant of City Plaza and has no 'proper' covered porch) which caused a massive jam along Jalan Tunku Ibrahim. One wonders how could this be the top hotel in the city, when its basement car park can only handle like 20 cars, but then again, I'm not from around here.

The check-in was a breeze even though we were slapped an RM80 surcharge for the week being the Sultan's birthday. I was actually expecting a lot because that have put up HVH in the same category as Equatorial Penang, which in my opinion takes a lot of beating.

Anyway, the moment we stepped into the room, we knew who the winner was straight away. HVH, in all its desperation to lock in all the profits derived from the full-house public holiday week stretch, had forgot to check the refurbishments of the amenities in their rooms during the croom make- up process.

No info folder, room service menu, mini bar stuff, etc.

Did I mention it was RM310 for a really small Superior Room? No free internet service, lousy, lousy buffet breakfast, and stingy toiletries and vanity packs.

Now, I won't be saying this if it wasn't due to the exorbitant price. But again, Putra Palace in Kangar, at RM 195 a night, gave a lot more value than HVH, which in all honesty is a total rip-off.

The only good thing is the location, which is along StarWalk, and that gave us enough opportunities to try the Mihun Sup Utara and Laksa Kedah, which really did not dissapoint us one bit.

We were glad to check out the other day and left for Ipoh. The weather was a bit dodgy as it rained down half of the way there and looking for a place was a nightmare in the middle of the Ipoh peak hours traffic jam. We at last settled for Seri Malaysia, which at RM150 was the cheapest of the bunch, but as far as the value proposition is concerned rates higher than HVH in my eyes, just because it has the SAME breakfast spread as HVH PLUS free WiFi!!

The location is also not too bad as it only takes about 5 minutes driving to the 'City Centre' and we did that at 10.50 pm, looking for grub along Jalan Tawil Azar. We were pleasantly surprised to find a Damanasara Uptownesque environment, which also had its own flea market and bootleg peddlars. Fantastic!

After a notable cheap meal of Rojak Basah, Mihun Soto and Char Kuey Teow (shared with the wifey), we headed back to the hotel, got lost, and found our way back - no thanks to Ipoh's elaborate one-way street traffic system!

Northern States Eat Off!

I'm off to a 1-week long baby sitting tour as my wife completes her audit run of the Northern Region for her company.

We have since hit Penang and currently in Perlis where so far eating wise, it has been a heavenly experience, what more with my self imposed diet while I was in the States due to the limited number of halal food establishments in Michigan ex-Detroit.

We have sampled the fabled Line Clear Nasi Kandar off Lebuh Chulia as well as the famous Laksa and Ikan Terubuk Bakar of Kuala Perlis jetty. We should also be on our way to Alor Setar where again laksa and hopefully other dishes of worthy mention would grace our picky palates!

Not forgetting to mention are my collection of future reviews of the lodging places in the cities that we have visited, which means I should be very busy in the next couple of weeks compiling and editing my notes and snapshots which would need a LOT of help from my ever deteriorating memory..

Airport Codes

Just came back from the States..

Planning to go on a vacation with my family, and found out that there's no list for our airport codes. So here it is:


AOR - Alor Setar, Malaysia Sultan Abdul Halim
BKM - Bakalalan, Malaysia - Bakalalan Airport
BBN - Bario,Malaysia - Bario Airport
BLG - Belaga, Malaysia Airport
BTU - Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia Bintulu
IPH - Ipoh, Malaysia Ipoh
JHB - Johor Bahru, Malaysia Sultan Ismail International
KBR - Kota Bharu, Malaysia Sultan Ismail Petra
BKI - Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Kota Kinabalu
KUL - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - KLIA Kuala Lumpur International
SZB - Kuala Lumpur - Subang, Malaysia
TGG - Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia Sultan Mahmood
KUA - Kuantan, Malaysia Padang Geroda
KCH - Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia Kuching
KUD - Kudat, Malaysia - Kudat Airport
LBU - Labuan, Sabah, Malaysia
LDU - Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia Lahad Datu
LGK - Langkawi, Malaysia
LWY - Lawas, Sarawak, Malaysia Lawas
LMN - Limbang, Sarawak, Malaysia Limbang
LKH - Long Akah, Malaysia - Long Akah Airport
LBP - Long Banga, Malaysia - Long Banga Airport
LGL - Long Lellang, Malaysia - Long Lellang Airport
ODN - Long Seridan, Malaysia - Long Seridan Airport
MUR - Marudi, Malaysia - Marudi Airport
MYY - Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia Miri
MZV - Mulu, Malaysia Mulu Airport
PEN - Penang, Malaysia Penang International
SDK - Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
SMM - Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia Semporna
SBW - Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia Sibu
TMG - Tomanggong, Malaysia - Tomanggong Airport

So, go get those tickets and take your family on a break!

Chicago Cubs Go!

I had the privilege to visit the city of Chicago last Sunday and had a great time..

We were in Stu's little car and started the trip at about 9 am via Gary, Indiana and through three states (Michigan, Indiana and Illinois) before getting to downtown Chicago at about 11.30 am.

We hit the Sears Tower first which was truly an amazing architectural achievement. Now this was the tallest building in the world up to the completion of the KLCC, but I can help noticing that in the into video that the let you watch, they emphasized the fact that the Sears had 110 storeys vs KLCC which has 80+ and that KLCC won due to the length of its antenna.. Yeah.

The view from the top floor was really magnificent to say the least. You are able to see the other tall buildings that make up the skyline of Chicago very well, and we were fortunate that it was a clear day as well.
I bought all sorts of souvenirs and we later headed to our boat tour.

Now this is one experience I'll never forget. Not only did the tour showcase the best of the downtown great buildings, but near the end of the boat ride, the skies completely poured on us, and if not due to some fancy footwork getting down to the lower cabin, I would probably have been soaking wet.The tour had a very knowledgeable guide from the Architect Institute, and she really educated us on the history of some of the more famous buildings which I now can hardly remember : P..

Anyway, we did have a splendid time and we then hit some really cool places like the United Centre (home of the Chicago Bulls) and the Union Train Station.

The next stop was the theatrical performance by the Blueman Group (a.k.a The Mirinda Guys) which was interesting, humourous as well as intelligent very well thought of. Location - Briar Street Theatre which directions you have to Google up.

Then, we just had to stop at the Wrigley's Field, home of one of two Chicago's biggest baseball teams - The Chicago Cubs (the other being White Sox).

I am not sure whether that actually was a good idcea as they actually HAD a game on that day, and the traffic crawl was just terrible. We managed to get there eventually and it was worth it as I got to see first hand what the atmosphere was like, and given they WERE playing the White Sox, it made it extra special.

The stadium was huge and the noise level was tremendous as the build up to the game grew every second. As it was right smack in the middle of some shop lots, you could see some fans on top of leased roof of these shophouses, trying to catch a home run ball.

Unforgettable!

My last stop was Hard Rock Cafe, just so I could get a souvenir T-shirt.

Stu drove all the way home as I dozed off in the car and reached back at the hotel at 11.30 pm!

What an experience!

Yo, Homies..

I went to the mosque with Suleman today which was in the rougher part of town.

The weather was really nice and the turnout was also very good. We were there early which was good, and I then knew why as Suleman (in yellow shirt) turned out to be the mosque's muezzin!


The imam though, had to go to England for some function, thus the khutbah was read by a replacement imam, who talked about mirroring the qualities of the prophet pbuh.

After work, Stu, my colleague, brought me around to for our kosher and halal foodstuff hunt. We we zipping around in his cute Smart car, which actually got a lot of attention as there were very few of them in Michigan.



Our voyage started in the Mediterranean Market, which I've been with Suleman, another colleague. Stu wanted to see what was there as his wife said that the shop had really good cuts of meat, purchasing them earlier in the day for our Saturday's cookout.

We then headed of to JB Russo, a local deli. What we found was a great collection of Italian delicacies as well as authentic ingredients, not found in many other stores around town.

I got to source some truffles (from China!) as well as truffle oil and dried morels. Stu however, didn't get his kosher cheese. I was also looking for dried anchovies, but definitely realised that that was the wrong place to look for it.

The store hand, Yasmeen, who is a Muslim guy directed us to the Halal Depot, a South Asian shop along 44th St. He said that they might stock some stuff that would be useful, so we then went there at about 8.30 pm. Unfortunately, even though the sign on the door said that business was till 9 pm, there wasn't anyone in the premise, and the lights were all out. They also had some sewing machines in the shop, plus some authentic looking Indian garments. This is a place definitely worth visiting again.

Stu drove me to another store that he said was along the way to the office. This time, we went to the Middle Eastern Market which was owned by a nice guy by the name of Imad.

Imad showed us around and I was impressed again with the array of middle eastern and halal foodstuff that he has stocked in his shop. Stu asked Imad about a local halal diner, J 'n' J's, which Imad said was owned by their family. Great stuff! I was particularly hungry and so went searching for the joint.

Stu was telling me about how the place we were going to was in the rough part of the neighborhood as we drove along, and I can actually sense the quiet, tense hostility of the area. It seems that the neighborhood in Division along Franklin and Todd was the roughest part of the town, and if you look at my pictures, you might get an inkling of what I mean.

Here you have people hanging around at porches, giving you the kind of look that made you know that you'd be in a lot of trouble if you stayed along for too long..

Thankfully, we found the place we were looking for and were greeted by the friendly shopkeeper Khader.
Khader was so impressed by our ride, so much so that he asked Stu to let him sit in the car. Khader, from Jordan later told me that he was working as a part time college professor in the U of Arizona's campus downtown.


He surprised me further by telling me that he used to work for our two biggest competitors, and is now looking for a full time job after being laid off. "Why don't you open a good Middle Eastern halal restaurant?" I asked. Well, he replied that there are none currently as there have been very little demand for such cuisine, as well as the state of economy which has been very slow.

I also met to 'hood brothers who grew an interest in Stu's car. The guy in the white bandanna is Angelo who thinks that my Sampoerna is the coolest smoke he had for a while. "How much are these?" he asked. "Two bucks" (cue look of amazement and shriek of horror..) was my reply as he expressly asked for another two sticks to put on both his ears..

Well, the food wasn't that great anyway, but like I said to Stu:

Turkey Bacon: 4.99
Food at J 'n' J: 18.21
Experience in Division: Priceless

Haha. For a rougher experience, Stu's going to get me to Detroit..

Missing My Family..

I have to say that I underestimated greatly how much I'll be longing for my wife and kids, having to be apart from them all these while. There hasn't been a day that my mind did not fly away with the wings of memories staying at home with them and just goofing around..


My toddler son has picked up quite a new range of vocab, as well as special effects which was well used in my teleconversations with him. I did buy some early reading flashcards for 99 cents at a local discount bookstore at Centrepoint Mall here in Eastbrook.

Hopoefully, he'll grow up, travel the world and contribute as much as he can to the society.

I miss you guys, Din & Mah!

Thanks for taking care of them, honey. Love you.

New York, New York!

Stopped over in NY for a night in the midst of heavy rain whilst the rest of the Midwest experiencing floods not seen in 100 years.

Fox and CNN giving hourly updates on the situation with Iowa being severely affected.

Went to Times Square to grab something to eat, and met a friendly Jordanian who runs a Gyro stall.
It was still raining when I got back to the hotel, but thankfully the trip back was smooth given the fact it was a Saturday night..

I was rushed for time to take the free ferry ride around Ellis Island, so I decided against it, being quite content to see Lady Liberty from a distance.

Rushed back to EWR for the flight to Michigan, only to discover that it was delayed for a full 2 hours due to the previous flight delays caused by the bad weather..

Oh, well.

Friday the 13th..

It seems like ages since I last had time to post something, but admittedly a chunk of that precious time was spent reading up on New York traveling tips as well as settling the chores needed for my 3-week working trip.

Thus I wouldn't comment about the oil price (which makes me feel bad with the huge carbon footprint I'm leaving..) or the fact that Obama won the vote to represent the Democrats in the presidential elections. (BTW, the incumbent ruling party in the House of Senate had voted against a motion to impose taxes on extraordinary profits by the oil-industries Big 5 - ExxonMobil, Conoco, Shell, Chevron & BP. See here on how they voted.)

What I would comment on is the fact the the government is mobilizing all the Post Offices in Malaysia to act as disbursement centres for handing out the vehicle rebates amounting to RM625 for cars with engine displacements of less than 2.0l and RM150 for bikes with 250 c.c or less.

What would the involved cost be in such an exercise? Overtime pay on a non-working Saturday for Pos Malaysia employees?

To those unclear with the mechanics of getting your rebates, you just basically need to come in person, with your IC to the Post Office. Once there, fill up a form and they will evaluate whether you are entitled for the subsidy (correct engine class, road tax renewal period between April to June 2008).

Once they have verified your fingerprints, you should get the promised rebate. Well, that's how it was promised to be anyway..

Mine isn't due till the 29th of July. Hopefully, it won't be a big issue by then!

Never Say Die!

Fantastic News!

I just got back from the CIMB branch in Bandar Puteri and happily so.

After going there earlier in the morning, I was shocked to hear that to claim back my money, I had to write a letter via CIMB to say that I wanted my money back.

The officer at the counter was helpful enough though, and made sure that I was able to submit the request without a hitch, and she also said that it would take a few days for the whole thing to settle and even so, the service charge was not part of the deal.

Hearing that, I started my whining technique, just to get the point across. I left, hoping for the best, even though the best was looking as bleak as it can be.

Quarter past 4 pm, and the officer called me back and said that all monies were refunded! She asked me to come over to collect it - as I duly did, but what surprised me more was what actually transpired prior to the reimbursement process..

From what I gathered, the corresponding Western Union agent was in Australia, and they initially had refused to entertain my request for the service charge refund (USD22). Thankfully, the CIMB officers were on my side, so they said something along the lines of "If you don't give him back his money, you're in deep shit with the Central Bank..", and duly faxed over the complaint letter that I wrote which had the same threat on it..

Truthfully, I actually had collected the grey "Pengaduan Terhadap Institusi-Institusi Kewangan" complain form which would go to "Jabatan Pengawalan Bank, Bank Negara Malaysia" in case things turned ugly.

But since I got my money back, hey, I gotta give it to CIMB. You're in my good books, man.

But Western Union, you've just lit the first July 4th cracker.

Western Union? Waste of Money!

My in laws went for their Umrah recently, after my MIL got a free ticket from his good buddy who is also an owner of a travel agency.

My DIL hesitantly tagged along as his funds were quite low, and also because he has had to leave the running of his business, which in actual fact did not run at all throughout his trip there as none of his children are interested in helping him out.

We have relatives there it seems, in the form of my dad's brother, who conveniently is marrying off my cousin later next month.

All the circumstances combined, I was really asking for it when I sent him an SMS asking whether everything was OK and if he needed extra cash to cover up any holes while he was there. At this point though, I assumed that everything was OK, as I haven't discovered about the wedding yet.

I don't know whether it is customary there, but my DIL told me that my uncle asked him to chip in a bit and dad dearest thought that since he won't be around for the wedding, it should be OK to throw in a couple of gold bangles for the bride.

Which was OK until he said he was flat and needed me to send some money..

Being the kind and obedient son that I am, I just said yes and asked him how does he want it sent. DIL said that the fastest way was by Western Union, as he could get the money in a couple of hours.

Marvelous!

After a short trip to CIMB and filling up the form given at the counter with his and my details, I was given a 10 digit MTCN which was the code that I needed to give my dad when he goes to the respective WU agent over in Saudi to withdraw the dough.

I thought everything was OK as I parted ways with USD222 (USD200 + 11% in 'service' charge) in good, clean clear Ringgit Malaysia notes.

A day after, and I got a call from my DIL who said that the teller refused to handover the money as "the code was incorrect"!

As for any service in Malaysia (which sucked badly), I thought that the problem was a phone call away. I launched my IE and tried looking for the WU's website.

Horrified at their sheer effort in avoiding human contact for customers in Malaysia, I quickly ran through the form that I signed for the transfer of funds and was relieved seeing a 1300 number at the back of it.

My joy was short lived however as that number was for CIMB's "too-bad-you-don't-have-a-million-dollar-account-with-us" call centre which frankly had the option to speak to an actual person buried in tons and tons of key tone entries, as with other shitty IVR driven call queuing system.

Pissed and totally felt screwed upside down, I sent the Customer Service a note at the provided address:

"Hi.

I sent my dad some money to Mecca but when he tried to claim it, the teller person keep telling him that the code was incorrect when it's not.

There is no one to call when things go wrong on your side, and the number at the back of the form I filled was connecting to your agent's call centre.

Your service sucks big time and I want my money back.

If I don't get it, I will make sure that the Consumers Tribunal will know about it and I hope you will drag your manager's sorry posterior to court.

PLEASE DON"T GIVE ME THE BS ABOUT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF YOUR SERVICE BECAUSE NONE WAS RENDERED!

I will also post this incident on my well visited blog site so people know who the devil are taking their hard earned money. Please take my mail seriously and reply with a real person's answer within 24 hours or you will feel sorry for yourself.

You can call me at Malaysian International Code (Six) ZERO ONE SEVEN- (phone number)"

I actually wasn't expecting anything as the email was really a way to vent my frustration while gathering my wits to then figure out what to do next.

When I came to work early this morning, I was surprised find a reply in my inbox:

"Hello (Me).

Thank you for contacting Western Union. We are writing regarding your inquiry.

We apologize for any inconvenience. Please provide us with the following information so we can further assist you:

Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN)
sender's name
sender's phone number
sender's city and state
receiver's name... or biller's name
receiver's country... or code city & state
amount of transfer
date of transfer

If you have any additional comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at customerservice@westernunion.com.

Sincerely,
Fernando M.
Customer Service Representative
www.westernunion.com"


I have already sent them the information that they've requested, so let's see which worm hole are they going to hide into. To my worm friends, sorry to drag your asses into this but scums like this deserves to be buried in the dirt.

Not only they charge you exorbitant amounts, they don't even give you a proper person to talk to when things go wrong, EVEN WHEN IT'S NOT YOUR OWN FAULT!

Sorry WU, this fish ain't gonna swallow your bait, but I'll definitely be looking forward to swallow your boat.

Tongue Trouble..

I have had a sore tongue for about a week now and it is driving me crazy.

Started with something like a burnt tongue, then became as painful as an ulcer, but now half of my taste buds are numb. Yesterday, I could not even taste salt properly anymore, but luckily that's ok now.

One of my tiny tongue feelers bleed every night so I have resorted to rinsing with Listerine. That seems to alleviate some problems, but since I have only started yesterday, let's see if tomorrow it gets any better.

My wife has also developed the same problem, and she said that some of her officemates have been telling her that they too have had the same symptoms.

Back to Malaysia's most popular antiseptic mouthwash.. A question that has haunted me for many years is whether do we need to rinse after gargling with it? Yes? No? Don't know?

Well, again thanks to the greatest invention of human kind - the internet, I have concluded that you can/should rinse off with water afterwards. Well, some forums say only after 30 mins, and some say you can right away.

It DOESN'T specify on any official Listerine pages (correct me if I'm wrong) the correct answer, though.. Trust me, I'll get it out from them sooner or later..

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner mentioned this interesting fact:

Listerine was invented in the 19th century as a powerful surgical antiseptic. It was later sold, in a very distilled form, as a floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea. But it wasn't a runaway success until the 1920s, when it was pitched as a solution for "chronic halitosis", the faux medical term that the Listerine advertising group created in 1921 to describe bad breath. By naming and thus creating a medical condition for which consumers now felt they needed a cure, Listerine created a market for their mouthwash. Until that time, bad breath was not conventionally considered a catastrophe, but Listerine's ad campaign changed that. As the advertising scholar James B. Twitchell writes, "Listerine did not make mouthwash as much as it made halitosis." Listerine's new ads featured forlorn young women and men, eager for marriage but turned off by their mate's rotten breath. "Can I be happy with him in spite of that?" one maiden asked herself. In just seven years, the company's revenues rose from $115,000 to more than $8 million.

Go figure..

News from the Kampung..

No updates for a week just because I was left without an internet connection after an emergency excursion northwest to the sleepy town of Bagan Datoh, Perak for the funeral of my dearest aunt we fondly called Mak Wa ('Wa' as in 'tua' - meaning the eldest sibling).

All the supernatural stories aside, everything went smoothly as there were many relatives who came back to lend a helping hand. Being the eldest in my dad's family, naturally she married the earliest and thus I had the oldest cousin in the form of Yeop Mat ('Yeop' is the nickname for the eldest son) who is already 60 years old! And from Mak Wa's lineage, I discovered that I have first cousins, twice removed which in the Malay Kampung makes me a 'Tok Sedara', loosely translated to grand uncle.

Looking at the Western view of the family tree I noticed that in the Malay states (well, at least in Perak..) there is a concept called 'Waris Emas' where the cousins who share paternal grandfathers are held in much regard, so much so that they are as good as your own brothers.

This is important I suppose because in Islam, you would need paternal family to hand off your daughters in matrimony in certain cases, plus there may be an importance as far as inheritance is concerned. I'm not a pro here, so please do up your own reading on this subject.

Anyway, back to the trip.

The journey was terrible as my brother Ali with 'expert' advice from my dad got lost a few times (which is actually a common thing. More on that in future posts!) in Sg. Besar as well as Sabak Bernam. Leaving at 5 pm, when my aunt was in still in a coma, we got a call from my cousin (from another uncle - Pak Uda) that she has left us.

Before we reached my dad's kampung, we stopped for supper at Rungkup. It seems that the round-the clock eating culture has spread to the town with many youths with their bikes came and sat in groups chatting happily, I suppose discussing the current UMNO turmoil.

There were also families, maybe in the same situation as us, having to travel due to family commitments and stopping for a cuppa'.

We arrived at Kg. Sg. Pergam at 11 pm, and was greeted my my cousins. As the common practice is to recite the Quran until the next morning, we got some much needed sleep while the others take turns.

The next day, after the funeral formalities have concluded, my family decided to take a spin around my dad's old turf..

Bagan Datoh is as I have always remembered it to be, sleepy, peaceful and mysterious. There are many stories to be told if you ask the right people, and most right people are elders as many young 'uns have left because there are no industries there.

The main produce used to be coconut and cocoa, but cocoa has since been replaced by oil palm due to problems with insects and uncontrollable diseases.

Fish in the market are much fresher as there is a nearby jetty, with Sungai Perak the main fishing area. I was fortunate to be able to buy fresh ikan kerisi (Sharptooth Jobfish) which had just been landed 20 minutes before. As our hosts, my Mak Su ('Su' from 'Bongsu' - the youngest ) is a great cook, I just bought some fat shrimps, mackerel as well as several types of vegetables and 'ulams' to go with it.

The most notable item during lunch however was not the fish, but her kerabu pucuk paku (fiddlehead fern shoots salad). Blanched and seasoned with pounded shallots and fried anchovies, it was the bomb!

Never had that salad that good, and believe me, being my favourite type of salad, I have came across really good ones..

I was surprised, but not astounded though as this came from a lady who defied logic my cooking the famous 40-minute lemang (glutinous rice in bamboo) . If anything, lunch that day only exemplified her status in my eyes as the one of the greatest living traditional Malay cooks in my life.

Another one from the list has just left us with her legacy, and hopefully her soul is blessed and placed together with those of the faithful. Al-Fatihah.

The Truth About Time.

How many parents actually have time to bring their kids to the playground and actually play with their kids?

My parents certainly didn't have time other than their weekends, and since my mom was always sick (she died of cancer when I was 10), my dad spent most of his time looking for money.

My theory is that parents tend to splurge their kids on things that they themselves had little of growing up. Never had toys? Betcha' kids have tons of toys now. Grew up malnourished? Your kids are a bit on the heavy side with frequent trips to McD and KFC..

Me? Well my kid gets to spend a lot of time with me. But I do fear that when I am no longer around, they'll lose direction and not be independent enough to carry themselves through. As long as they stick together as a unit, and take care of each other's backs, I'm ok with that.

Yeop Din, please take care of your sister and Mom when I kick the bucket. Be a decent man of principles and know your purpose in life. I will always pray for you.

Coming to America..

Got my visa settled yesterday (at last) even though it took more than 3 hours in waiting in the queue. The interview did not take a long time, but the process to get to that point would sure wilt any kiasu quick-getaway hopefuls.


My day started at at 8.30 am when I reached the office to fetch the necessary documents for the interview. As I work in a US-owned MNC, I needed to bring my passport, letter from my employer stating among others:

1. Why the trip
2. They are paying for it
3. How long I needed to be there

I also had to fill up the DS-156 & 157 forms, together with a US Visa photograph (2" x 2") as well as the interview appointment form and the Alliance Bank payment receipt for RM467.

Once I reached the embassy, parking was a tricky issue. Thankfully I decided to ride my bike there, avoiding the jam whilst enabling me to park at the office tower parking area right beside the US Embassy.

You would need to get your Visitor pass (orange in colour) by showing the guard at the control post your interview appointment letter. After that is when the waiting starts.

They will allow about 2-3 person at any one time into the compound, but first you have to pass through the security check and metal detectors. Once in, you are not allowed to bring in your electronic gadgets, having to leave it with the guards in their numbered pigeonhole. You would have to register in the logbook the items that you have left for safekeeping.

It would be about a 15 metre walk to get into the Embassy's building. Again, another metal detector, and you would be given an 'Axx' number - A for adults and C denoting children. Applicants are required to wait in the 2nd waitng room (the 1st waiting room is where the interview takes place) where it would be a good idea to sort out your documents before you are called for the first time.

1st Call:
You'd need to proceed to Window 1 or 2 to pass your documents for checking. The embassy staff would then tell you if your documents are complete or not. If it is, they would take them and ask you to wait some more..

2nd Call:
To Window 9 for you to get your fingerprints sorted out. You would then be officially in the US biometric database system! Uncle Sam has a hold on your balls from this point onwards..

3rd Call:
Your actual interview session. The interviewer are multi-lingual. At least two of them were seen speaking in Mandarin and one of them in Swahili..

The officer would start by asking "Tell me why you're going to the United States..". If you are from local companies, he would most of the time ask how much salary are you paid. But if you are a student, the question would be whether you have family in Malaysia and in the US.

The questions are cleverly interrogative without appearing to be so. Questions are fast and furious, nonchalantly mixed with humor to keep your guard down. Give the wrong answers, and they'll home in for the kill. Freakingly professional, I have to say..

Anyway, if you got through all that, the visa and your passport would be ready for collection at 3 pm, the next business day at the VFS office on the 19th floor of Wisma MCA. If you don't collect your passport after 10 days, it will be returned to the nearest Immigration Dept!

*****

The rare trip to KL enabled me to start my PNB fund EPF scheme. It seems that there were a 2% free unit offer for the Amanah Saham Gemilang as well as Amanah Saham 3 Imbang funds. I actually wanted to open the Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 account, but changed my mind after knowing about the special offer as well as the fund objective in risk exposure.

The required documents were:

1. Certified copy of your latest EPF statement
2. 1 photostat copy of your IC

You would also need to open the funds account prior to activating your EPF investment scheme. I was sent running around to actually get this done, no thanks to PNB's staff incompetence in giving out basic instructions as well rudimentary Customer Service skills.

BTW, there are specific requirements from EPF to start investing.

The special offer for the free units ends on May 20th, so do hurry up. Prices for ASN3 goes up and down, so do check you risk appetite before going any further!

Out and About!

My daughter has finally been discharged from Putrajaya Hospital after spending 4 nights under the kind attention and care of the doctors and nurses there.

The phlegm from her lungs has been sucked out, so she's breathing a lot clearer now. I also borrowed my DIL's ionizer cum HEPA air filter so that she can breathe fresh air, given the current hot condition of the weather.

I had to rush to the office tonite to prepare documents for my US Visa interview tomorrow. Basically, there are 2 forms to fill - the EVAF DS-156 (Non-Immigrant Visa Application) & the Supplemental Nonimmigrant Visa Application (All males between age 16 and 45 from ANY country must complete Form DS-157 plus if your are from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, Syria and Libya) .

The EVAF needs to be completed online so that you can get a PDF copy that you need to bring on the day of the interview. BTW, this is all after you've gone to the nearest Alliance Bank branch to pay the US131 (RM467) processing fee.

You would then need to go to their Online page to book your interview slot as early as possible

Make sure you bring all your supporting documents, plus your Alliance Bank receipt to the Embassy.

My Poor Little Girl..

I am sad to say that my 2 1/2 month old has been warded for viral infection of her lungs. She is currently in the Paediatric ward in Putrajaya Hospital after being referred to by our private paediatrician here in Puchong.


The whole family had a bout of flu these past few weeks, but my wife and little girl seemed to suffer the worst. I suppose it's a different strain of virus, which admittedly is a bit difficult to knockoff using OTC drugs.

Even my coughing is still around after 3 weeks, and that is not normal.

One thing I realized is that my kids have thicker than normal 'tahi mata' or eye-crusts. Upon referencing the web, it seems that that in itself is rarely harmful, but again given the current state of things, I'd just like to be aware on anything that's going on.

So, my wife had to take a week off to tend to my daughter, which means that my little boy is keeping me company at home. Thank god for the daycare centre, although my boy hates going there, at least I know he's in safe hands while I'm at the office.

Another reason to quickly achieve Financial Freedom!

On that note, I have restarted my Unit Trust consultation business, just to get some extra income for the kids' future. I took my license in 2000, which is good because I don't have to resit the exam to reactivate my membership with FMUTM. All I needed to do was pay RM140 for the membership fee, and off I go..

Don't worry, being as shrewd and picky an investor like myself, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm gonna make people some extra money..

(Sigh) I hope I make enough for my kids.

What A Game!

Sorry Liverpool fans, but the Moscow dream is over.

After 180 minutes of pulsating football (which was MUCH better than the Barca-Man U game), at least you could see that the two teams were really up for it, and whoever won the tie should go on to Luzhniky Stadium and win it.

I thought both Drogba and Torres had a massive game, with the supporting midfield cast for both providing the platform for trading blow after blow. It was a balanced duel but two names really impressed me the most - Cech and Essien.

In Cech, Chelsea has an Immovable Object which sometimes is more important than your multi million Euro strikeforce. He has been very consistent, and as the game at Anfield showed, was really dependable when you needed him to be.

Essien is the heart and soul for Chelsea in my opinion. With his steely determination, unending supply of energy, he turns it on when it mattered most and is also a big game player.

He's like the Kuyt-Gerrard-Carragher clone, and just like Cech, dependable like a Duracell.

My take on the match was that it was lost when Liverpool's defence switched off in the closing minutes of the first half of ET, when they allowed Anelka's pass to find Drogba for the third Chelsea goal.

Hyppia & Co. was clearly looking forward for a breather when that happened, as Liverpool was in it to capitalize on any mistakes that Avram Grant's men would make.

The penalty incident shouldn't have robbed the Reds of any motivation as the game would have changed if they just got the other goal. In such big matches, concentration is key as the small mistakes would often prove very costly.

Having Skrtel out through injury also affected things as I thought Crouch would have definitely been involved in later stages of the game, and with his aerial prowess (is it me or doesn't he seem to always lose headers to shorter defenders?), and Pennant and Riise bombing in the crosses, he could have added extra dimension to Liverpool's play.

Anyway, congratulations to the finalist in Moscow, but I am putting my money on Grant's idiosyncratic ways this time!

Free Publicity..

Read all about it, at #1152..

My Portobello Tale

I brought my family out at The Gardens and had lunch at Tony Roma's yesterday because my wife just had to have their shrimp farfalle! Not ribs, not burgers, but pasta..

Anyway, while there I had the chance to stock up on my cooking condiments at Cold Storage as many would know that they stock stuff that many other supermarkets don't (even though they and Giant stores share the same parent company).

While pushing the shopping cart + my little boy, I stumbled upon a crate of Portobello mushrooms. Here's how they normally look like:
Now, I love mushrooms, but neither my kid or wife eats them. Here is a fully matured fungi, the size of my palm and costs like RM4 each, and I just had to find a way to sneak it into their dinners, without giving the robust, wholesome flavor away..

To the Jamie Oliver wannabe's out there, mushrooms are a joy to prepare - as long as you know how.

Most of the issues surrounding the prep work for them are whether you need to wash them, dust them, remove the stems, discard the outside 'skin' and/or removing the 'gills'. My advice is, as long as you know how they taste like once you've cooked it, and if you do like it, then you should be ok.

*****

2 hours later, I was still thinking of how many mushrooms should I take. My kid was urging me to take him to the cereal corner, so I just plopped two pieces into the plastic bag at RM7.10. Guess how much it's gonna cost you at the upscale diners?

So, I woke up this morning, with full enthusiasm to prepare breakfast. I decided that the best way to appreciate the exquisite flavor of the mushrooms were by cooking it on its own, minus all the fancy-schmancy sauces and what-have-you.

I picked up really fresh sausages at Jaya 33 supermarket a couple of days ago, so that went onto the grill together with the mushrooms, tomato halves as well as a couple of eggs. Oh, the mushrooms have to be dry for this to work, so too your pan which needs to be very hot, if not you'll end up steaming the fungi which is what we don't want to happen.

You might also want to drizzle some good olive oil and a teaspoonful of unsalted butter just to get the flavors going. The tomatoes could also use a pinch of salt and some freshly cracked black pepper, but be careful not to overcook them.

Served with a hot piece of freshly toasted baguette, and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice - Yum!

*** NEWSFLASH *** Wonder-kid Stuns Dad!!

I just have to break this story out; My 2 year old kid (well actually 2 years, 3 months and 21 days) has just showed me that he can use the computer!!

The YouTube page I opened for him had his favourite rock band playing, and as I was doing work on my laptop, he clicked the 'Replay' button when the song ended..

He then proceeded to amaze me by clicking on another song by the same band which I've opened for him previously!

Congrats, son!

The Vacuum Cleaner Story

I don't know if you folks in Malaysia know anything about Dyson. They make the coolest vacuum cleaners known to mankind, and the story of Sir James Dyson is a must read for every wannabe entrepreneur.

Not many people though (especially in the States) know that like Dell laptops, these über cool machines are made here in Malaysia!

As my correspondence to the people at Dyson will tell you, I was shocked to note that our retailers here don't stock them appliances. Why? I am yet to know why, but I suppose the potential is huge. How else can you explain a group of school kids having lunch at Carls Jr in Sunway Pyramid? When I was back at school, McD's was at the high end of the scale..

Us, Malaysian urban dwellers just love premium items, man! As long as the brand name brings association with the good life, we'll buy it!

So, I decided to write to Dyson..

Here I reproduce my e-mail in its entirety, minus personal details:

"Dear Mr. Dyson,

I am writing this from Malaysia, a country you surely would know well by now as your low-cost manufacturing facility.

I have been a great (read: fanatical) admirer of your goodself since my student days in the UK back in 1997, where I would read up about you in tech magazines, when the latest hot contraptions were handphones, HiFis and LCD TVs.

I know it is a bit belated, but congratulations for making it big, as I knew you would 10 years ago.

My great big thanks for providing my countrymen with jobs, even though at the risk of great flak from people from your homeland.

But my greatest gratitude is for saving our planet Earth, by making use of recyclable plastics in your products, as well as reducing the usage of paper bags globally.

The thing is, I was given a vacuum cleaner (a cheap Made in China model) as a wedding present by my brother, and thus, by local customs, were obliged to use it (especially when he came around) even though it was worse than a traditional coconut-leaves skewer broom! The worst part, as you would guess is when one needed to dispose off the dust stored in the cloth-bag (like the paper bag, only this was a permanent fixture), which was quite filthy and troublesome with all sorts of clips and such.

We were blessed when one day, (by accident of course) my wife broke the attachment (like I said, it was cheap), and like all other non-aesthetically inclined, low-cost driven, no customer support product, we happily noted that there were no spare parts for that sorry excuse for a vacuum-cleaner.

Not wanting my wife to despair, I sought to get a replacement for her and your Dyson machine was the first thing that popped into my mind!

I have worked hard to be able to make enough to support my wife and two kids, and knowing how steep your price is, I think now, I should be able to happily pay for your premium piece.

BUT WHY OH WHY OH WHY?

I have scoured the internet through and through, and I need an answer urgently; Why would you be selling the Malaysian made product in Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and China BUT NOT HERE IN MALAYSIA?

This is beyond belief.

Do you know how many people have I mentioned your success story to since a decade ago? People who I motivated enough to come back from the UK and rather than the HiFi sets, they brought back your vacuums instead (albeit from a car-boot sale)?

Do you know how Malaysians hunger for your products?

For it to be produced in Senai, Johor and not getting sold in Kuala Lumpur and Pulau Pinang is definitely mind-boggling.

And I have a broken vacuum cleaner.

Thus, I would humbly request for a Dyson machine sent to me free of charge for:

1. The grief that I had after I realized I cannot get your product here in Malaysia

2. For the decade long dedication and effort in providing word-of-mouth promotion and brand awareness

3. In exchange of greater publicity (not to mention the highlighting of my life-long gratitude) to the general Malaysian public via my Blog site and word-of-mouth marketing campaign.

Your Marketing/Customer Service people should be able to get me via e-mail or call my mobile phone number at: (+xxx)xxxxfive2.

Your swift reply is highly appreciated.

Many, many thanks.

Yours sincerely,

xxx xx xxx"

Spooky Rock Song..

Everytime my kid listens to this, he'll get his guitar and goes berserk!!

Cold Days, Cold Noses..

Working from home today as I caught a cold in the midst of unpredictable weather here in Puchong. I thought it was the rain, but I didn't really get myself wet..

Then, yesterday I found out the reason why. My cubicle was right below the centralized air-cond vent, so when it rained outside, inside was as cold as an Eskimos pop sickle..

So, when I went for lunch I've already felt feverish and was sneezing non-stop. My eyes felt like popping out, and nose running. There wasn't any flu tablets around, so I weathered the storm until 5 pm.

Reaching home, I was so tired and so I had some food, medication and off to bed.

Was up at 3 am to watch Liverpool taking on Chelsea, though!

But honestly I feel Liverpool have a great chance in getting to the Final after a great display of controlled football. Chelsea was caught wrong-footed many times, and if not for the gallant display of Cech, Liverpool would have gone 3 goals up.

Anyway, looking forward to the Barca - Man U game tonite.

If only I could wake up..

Aahh, Refreshing Saturday Again..

This week went by quite fast for me.

Maybe it was because I spent much time keeping myself busy in the office as there were too many things to get sorted out. We had vulnerability issues that needed taking care of, as well as the formulation of new processes to get things going smoothly for the first time.

I am also still in my 'real-estate agent' mode, spending hours and hours scouring the net for property and mortgage tips as well as reading the the predictions on the future outlook of the world's economy. The Star yesterday carried some news on the properties market which wasn't really comforting, especially with the interest rates going up and all.

I then stumbled across a good piece of writing from George Soros that talked about the current US economic crisis which has been coming for some time now. As I understand from it, the greenback has really lost much of its desirability, which explains why it is hovering around the RM3.15 - 3.16 mark lately.

That however is great for me cause I'll be shopping on my business visit to my company's HQ in Michigan come summer!

My main target is the Dell's XPS 210 which would fit nicely behind my 24" WFP2407 while looking sleek at the same time. Another one of my target buys would be the Dell Bluetooth Media Combo which would make my rig wireless and as clutter-free as possible.

I am currently using a Belkin wireless router which would also allow me to network the would be PC without extra cables. The thing about WiFi routers though is the fact that you still need to plug in the phone cables as well as the power adapter which means hanging it on the wall would disclose all the cables, thus making the appearance somewhat unflattering.

Oh, there's one other thing I might be tempted to get on eBay and that is the rarely heard of (well, at least in Malaysia that is!) Dell All-in-One LCD monitor stand:


Unfortunately, this model is known to only support the 17" and 19" LCD monitors, so if it doesn't fit my 24 incher, I'd be happy to let it go at eBay.

I understand that Dell are not offering it's full catalogue of products here as Malaysians only has a limited level of purchasing power. But that really starves us of their most innovative and practical accessories plus add-ons which would increase Dell's desirability level.

Just like upgrading cars, consumers would like to feel that they have a customized product, although the assembly line back at the plant churns millions of the same type of thing everyday.

The Customer is always King, I heard!

Something I learnt about Home Loans today..

Loan approving officers look at several things when they are approving your loan request:

1. The kind of loan you are requesting (unsecured or secured)

2. Debt ratio (whether you are 'high' geared - >50% of your gross income paying off debts, or 'low' geared)

3. Your previous loan payment record (this is where CCRIS and CTOS comes in)

4. Your income record (whether it is consistent)

5. Your demographical background (Age, Sex, previous employment, Education level, etc.)


If you have a debt of 8k and other monthly commitments of 2k and you are making about 2.5k, most probably a loan for a house valued at 200k might not get approval.

But if you earn 5k (lower debt ratio, higher gross income) you should have a fair chance.

If you have been starting-quitting-starting-quitting-starting jobs for the past 2 years, it will trigger a red flag to the lender (bank), and your chance would be lower.

But if you have an FD of 10% of the loan amount (semi-secured), some banks would take that as a sign that you are cash-rich and a worthy borrower.

The approval given is not just because of CTOS or CCRIS, as these are only a factor in approving the loan. Most banks would allow their loan officers to fight your cause, thus they will be looking at the applications on case-by-case issue to gauge as accurate as possible your credit worthiness.

In lending out money, the bank wants to be 100% sure that you would be able to service out your loan throughout the full tenure. They are not as interested in taking back the property what more dragging you all the way to the courts for some NPL from John Doe.

Your responsibility is to provide them the necessary documents and evidence that you are worth their gamble.

How Time Flies..

Well whaddya know. It's already nearly halfway past April.

Me and my family are back at our old rented place in Puchong, sorting out stuff to be taken to our new place (if my loan gets approved that is!). Any which way I look at it, we should still need to move as the thought of walking up 4 winding, slip-prone flights of stairs with 7 bursting bags of your latest purchase from Cold Storage while carrying a 13+ kg toddler asleep in your arms, is honestly, very scary.

So we went condo hunting for the past couple of days. Target areas were Bandar Putri, Bukit Puchong and Puchong Permai.

I do have a problem in the fact that my company's moving to it's new office near MidValley in a couple of months. I however have decided that I'd rather commute than move closer to the office even though my wife works in KJ now.

The real big reason is the fact that we have a trusted daycare for the kids, whom we pay nearly RM500 a month to take care of our two children. That and that reason alone. I was really skeptical about the place initially but because it was recommended by my friend, I thought I'd give it a try. All the screaming and yelling during morning handovers aside, the place seems OK for my eldest boy who happens to have a lot of friends there.

Anyway, back to the housing issue, I am still contemplating whether to stay in this particular unit that I'm purchasingas it seems that there is a huge rental potential for that particular area. That, as well as the thought of moving the pieces of furniture that we have at our rented place at the moment..

I do really hate moving, that's for sure.

I was reading up the difference between freehold and leasehold properties and I found out these facts.

Decisions, decisions..

Autobots, Roll Out!!

Aah, the day has come for me to move my family out of my in-laws..

We are planning to purchase a small condo, as my BIL is getting married, so we are letting him move into the family home instead (and pay the lion's share of the bills, hahaha..)

As my wife is preparing to get back to work, I just found out how impractical it is for her to commute from work whilst at the same time fetch my kids from the nursery. Now, she does all the fetching simply because she gets off work earlier than I do.

My MIL failed miserably in her test to take care of both her grandchildren single-handedly, which to be fair is a mammoth task only accomplished so far by my dearly beloved wife. So, we have to contract a nursery to keep a tab on my two children while we’re off working, and thankfully there’s a good one near where we used to stay in Putra Perdana.

So we decided to test out the daily arrangements by running a pilot today in anticipation of my wife’s first day back to the office on Thursday.

What do you know, a mere glimpse of the nursery gate sent my two year old son into complete hysteria as he wailed in protest..

Even telling him that he was in charge of his little sister didn’t seem to work as he steadfastly held onto the front passenger seat, not wanting to get out off the car. The look on his face was pure unmistakable dread, and I sure hope he doesn’t remember this when I grow old and in need of tending to.. : (

He was still screaming when I handed him over to the caretaker, and I thought that was that only to discover I couldn’t move due to an irrepresible force yanking on my shirt and hair.. Oh, goodness me..

I was weeping inside to see my little boy in that state of despair, but I did read somewhere that goodbyes are supposed to be swift and neat, so I kissed my boy’s cheek and told him that dad’s gonna take him on a motorbike ride in the afternoon and said goodbye.

I hope he doesn’t take me to task on that..

Telly's best programs..

I don't really watch much TV nowadays, but the I programs I do watch would revolve mostly around football or the news. Well that was until my wife started to record American Idol on Astro Max.

Out of all the contestants still left standing, I suppose the three male singers are my favourites. You have the two Davids - Archuleta & Cook as well as Michael Johns who hails from my favourite city, Perth.

The rest are ok in my opinion, just that the three I mentioned seem to have an extra dimension to their weekly performance, are are very consistent week in week out.

Unfortunately, I've ran out of space on my AstroMax, and am forced to delete old episodes of Football Focus because of that. : (

I am also waiting for the warranty to run out as I am anxious to rip the box apart and plonk a megasize HDD to replace the preinstalled 80 GB disk. I'll definitely post the pictures on that.

I have to also say that my experience with the contraption is not to pleasant as I've seen the box freezing up too many a time. The remote also sucks, and there are many instances where hitting a button activates something else. Crap is all I can say. Great idea, crappy execution.

I've read in some forums that the box doesn't store the programs, but only shortcuts to the Astro server. My take is that the programs are in you HD, but you need the SIM card to unlock/decrypt the programs, as I've tried it by using my SIM card in place of my dad's and I could see that the previously recorded programs are all intact.

Would definitely wait for the warranty period to cease for me to find out more..