Dream Homes In St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands

I probably have heard a hundred times, my sister telling me how she loves her house and that it is her dream house except for her house number which is 114 and in Cantonese, means "everyday die". That led me to wonder if it's possible to live in a house we own and that we are totally satisfied with in all aspects.

When I was young, I really wanted to own an island home. At first, I dreamt of a home in Hawaii and then Monte Carlo became my top choice but I was a kid and all those remained just a dream.

Now that I am older and most of my friends already own properties, some of them overseas too, I remember my dream and it s actually more achievable now. Besides, my Geography has improved and I know of way more islands apart from Hawaii and Monte Carlo!

People who are keeping track of island real estate would probably know that St Thomas Real Estate in the Virgin Islands are gaining popularity among investors. This is because the Virgin Islands can provide the serenity and tranquility that many islands no longer could due to commercialization.

If you check out the beautiful dream homes on St. Thomas on the website of REMAX Dream Properties at http://www.vidreamproperties.com I believe you will agree with me that these are homes to die for!

Closure

Yesterday, I finally did what I have wanted to do for a long time but did not. I threw away a whole box of college prospectus. Like all school leavers just after my SPM, I diligently looked for the perfect college to attend. I wrote to almost all colleges in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, USA, Canada and even Europe. The only continent that I was not interest3ed to study in was Africa. And that was how I collected a whole box of them.

In my young naive mind, I believed that like all my friends, my parents would be able to put me through college and looking back at the calculations that I did back then on tuition fees, board and lodging and general living expenses, studying in a fairly good college in the United States only required something like MYR25,000 per year while this same amount could put me through two years in a local college in Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya.

But that was not meant to be. I remember that we were so broke that I nearly didn't even complete my secondary education. I guess I could have worked part time to put myself through college or that if my grades were better, I could have gotten a scholarship but my father is a proud man and to have his children work part time shows his inability to provide an education for us and he will not have it.

Well, what's past is over. There's no point going over and over about it and so I threw them all away. They would not be relevant anymore, anyway. Besides, I was thinking, now that I could pay for my own tuition, why should I? I'd rather buy a house with the money. LOL

Tracking 'em

You probably have read about my experience with GPS when I got lost in my own city and my friend had to use his GPS to backtrack our route to the city. And there was another time when this same friend had to send me home and he had to track his route to enable him to get back out from my residential area which he is totally unfamiliar with since he is from out of town.

Actually, these are only two of the uses of the GPS. This friend, a gadget freak, has started to place his GPS tracks on Google maps to benefit everyone.

With the numerous long distance bus accidents in the country, I am thinking that GPS should be fitted into every bus so that each and every bus could be tracked. Now, you may think that certainly a bus can't get lost..... but the purpose of tracking a bus via GPS is to stop bus drivers from speeding. When a bus is tracked, headquarters will know how fast a bus is being driven from Point A to Point B and sometimes, buses are drove at speeds that are really not humanly possible!

I believe that once bus drivers realize that they could lose their job if they continue to exceed the stipulated speed limit, they would mend their ways and in the process, we do not have to add busloads of numbers in the accident statistics.

Today, I thought of this issue after I came across the website of GTX Corp which offers human tracking services as well. Now, I think that this is great to be used on people with Alzheimer’s Disease but that’s another story for another day!

Who Is The Malaysian Dream Girl?

OK, I admit here and now that I do not watch this reality show at all. Heck, I don't even have time for the NEWS, let alone something as frivolous as the Malaysian Dream Girl. It IS frivolous because I will never have the chance to be THE Malaysian Dream Girl, that's why! LOL

Spending the majority of the day online, it is not easy to escape from the hype. Besides, no matter where I turn, Malaysian Dream Girl seems to be on the lips of everyone. Urghhh select the winner already!

What I do know right now is that the competition was down to three final contestants named Hanis, Adeline and Cindy... and then I somehow lost it. I know that the Malaysian Dreamgirl Grand Finale was held on the evening of 29th April, 2008, and that was like just hours ago, and that the winner will be decided by SMS votes from fans. You know what's unfair about SMS votes? The one with the most ammunition gets an edge over her contestants.

Well, curious about the winner, I did a search on Petaling Street and apparently, Cindy has been crowned the first ever Malaysian Dream Girl. Will there be a second? I don't know... I expect now, instead of hearing about the Malaysian Dream Girl reality show like a broken record, I will keep hearing the name CINDY, CINDY, CINDY ..... too bad Cindy's not my name LOL

Registering With The National No Call Registry

The other day, I wrote a post on how annoyed my father was getting a sales call from Maxis and I myself got a similar call from Astro. The thing is that they were pitching sales to us without knowing what product package we are already subscribed to and that just totally wasted our time.

I think though, that my father and I had it easy. Some of my friends, are getting calls like these almost on a daily basis and it is annoying to say the least.

My sister told me that in the United States, phone line subscribers are given provisions to stop such calls from getting through by blocking the phone numbers of marketers.

What American phone users, whether land line or cellular line, need to do is to register their phone numbers with the National No Call Registry and they will be given FIVE years of reprieve from sales calls! How awesome is that?

If your telephone number is registered with the National No Call Registry, you do not even need to use Reverse Phone Lookups services. However, if unidentified calls still get through despite being a registered number already, you can utilize this service who are the actual callers and take necessary action from there.

Overwhelmed

I've been so busy clearing, packing and cleaning for the past week that I did not bother to check my Yahoo! Mail. And when I decided to log in today because I am started to get annoyed by the shiny yellow new mail icon in my system tray, I just want to give up reading all the emails and just select all my new emails and DELETE LOL

Yea, I know, I am terrible but then with almost a hundred emails, I wonder how I can finish reading and replying to all of them and Yahoo! Mail isn't even my primary email account because it has been almost taken over by spam that was why I switched to GMail.

Besides, there's no PUSH service for Yahoo except for on the iPhone but then I disabled it because all the Junk Mail were coming through and I get alerts for those as well at all odd hours. BAH!

I was just now reading through the mails and I thought I'd do something more productive... like BLOGGING LOL*sigh* Don’t know when only can finish clearing my emails :(

Sports Equipment For Kids

The other day, I watched a video interview with David Beckham where he said that his sons are already very much into football. Now that he is playing in America, though, they call it SOCCER instead.

My friend thought that he has to be kidding because his sons are still young and how could they use adult soccer gear? Well, there ARE soccer equipment and kits for children, SILLY!

My friend isn't really into sports at all so it never crossed her mind that children start sports training very early on. I forced her to check out http://www.soccergoalzinc.com, the website of Soccer Goalz Inc., an online store that specializes in junior sporting gear. It's cute that no matter what adult sports players have, the store carries the same in junior sizes!

Although soccer is not huge in America, well, not as hugely popular as baseball or American football, with the stellar showing of their women's team and being graced with the presence of a British football icon, the popularity of soccer is picking up.

My sister told me that driving past the suburbs in her neighborhood on weekends, she could actually see kids out in the yard kicking or batting balls! Now that summer is just round the corner, there will be more if such weekend activities!

Running Slow

Recently, I wondered why my computer is running so slow. I thought that it was draggy at first because of computer virus or that I did not defrag it but after a format, it was still the same.

I suddenly realised that it is because it needs more memory. Heh... it now only has 512MB and running Windows XP and 512MB is barely enough for XP. And what more when I am running multiple applications and using various windows as I multi-task!

Yerrr why did I not think of this earlier? Now PC Fair is OVER and the RAMs are not being sold cheaply anymore. My friend told me that computer RAMs are cheap during PC Fair, though she did not tell me how much they are. Cheh... now I will have to pay full retail price OR wait for PC Fair (II) in Ipoh LOL

What do you think?

A Career In Baseball

My friend Evon's son is only months old but Evon and her husband are already envisioning that one day this boy will grow up to be a sports star. Although Evon is Malaysian, her husband is Korean and you may know that baseball is the number one sport in Korea. Well, couple with the fact that they are living in America where baseball is also the most popular sports, I tell you, they have a career in baseball all planned out for the boy! And based on his strength, I know that he will excel in it!

Although his first birthtday is still many months away, Evon has already told us that we have to get him baseball gear for his birthday to condition him. LOL I know that there are junior baseball gloves but certainly they don't come in baby sizes!

I did a check at the website of Kid Sports Inc. at http://www.kidsportsinc.com and they have a wide range of sports gear and equipment especially for children. They certainly start them young! They are running a sale right now so if you are looking to buy sports related gifts for your children or their friends, you should check out this place. They have a five-star customer rating so I won’t worry about shopping with them.

Colourful VS Shades

I was trying to shop online for gifts when I came to Victoria's Secret. I thought I would look for VS accessories. Which lady does not like VS right? I chanced upon their range of shades ad just take a look. So large! Is this the current fashion for shades? LOL I wouldn't even know had I not surf to Victoria's Secret website this morning.

I was told that when it comes to buying shades, we need to find one that suits the shape of our face. With such a colourful range of shades, I am thinking that we should also find one that comes in a colour that matches our complexion. What do you say?

These shades from VS are being sold at US$30 for two pairs which means US$15 per pair only. Eh, cheap lah. Can share an order with a friend. Too bad they look ugly to me. LOL

Professional Art Storage Services

I spent the past two weeks clearing out my room and ended up with a stack of postcards which are reprints of some of the best known art works by popular artists. One day, I should scan and publish them on my blog just to share. Well, I received these postcards for free and I did not know that I had so many of them through the years!

Well, the thing is that I love collecting postcards and what more, I got them for free. My friend, Paul, on the other hand, collects REAL painting and each time he tells me that he has expanded his collection, I cringe. Why is there anyone crazy enough to spend an obscene amount of money on just an art piece?

Paul told me that thankfully I am not his wife or he will end up not being able to continue to collect these art pieces like he's doing now. Hahah! Paul says that I should treat art as an investment. Sure, they give us pleasure to collect and display but ultimately, Paul will sell them to the right buyer at the right price.

For art collectors who require fine art storage services, they should check out this website called Mind's Eye at http://www.imaginemindseye.com/. The website itself is a work of art and depicts what the business of the company.

if you consider your art pieces as investments for the future then you would require professional Art Storage services from an experienced storage and moving company.

I Love Edison Chen [EDC]

Or perhaps I should say, I love Kira. LOL

Some time back, I asked my sister why doesn't she start a blog. You know, I am sure she has plenty to talk about since she is now living in a new place, meeting new people, working in a new company and going to parties that she will never go had she continued to live in Ipoh. She told me that she leads a pretty boring life because commuting to and from work takes up two hours of her day and once she is home, she would rather just stay home. Rising gas prices do not help with social life, I guess!

She asked me how I could find so many topics to write on daily and keeping so many blogs must be crazy. Well, I don't blog daily and there are days on end where I don't feel motivated to write at all unless absolutely necessary.

Well, when we bloggers run out of topics to write, there always someone like Kira who will suddenly bomb the internet with sex scandal photos of celebrities. It's just too bad that Edison Chen is his target.

A few weeks ago, I wanted to write about Sufiah Yusof, the Oxford child Math prodigy who decided that being a hooker [we call it prostitute here] is a way better life. She went by the name Shilpa Lee, whatever that means. BUT, I ended up not writing about her at all and now, it's too late because she is considered stale news already.

See, there really are so many things that we can write about today, if only we open our eyes and ears! Sufiah Yusof may be old news already so we write about Jolin Tsai lah!

Paul McMann of Massachusetts, USA

As an active blogger, I get introduced to many new products or famous figures. Just last night, I was telling my father that I have visited so many websites of products that I would not have known about, let alone be able to use because they are not available here in Malaysia, if I were not a blogger. Well, it's the same for coming across personalities from all fields of expertise.

This morning, a fellow blogger asked me if I have heard of Paul McMann of Massachusetts, USA. Honestly, I have not but I did a search on the web and a slew of results were returned. I was thinking to myself, if only a search of my own name would return half of these result numbers! Too bad I am not famous at all. LOL

Paul McMann has a personal website which you can read all about him and his work if you are interested. From what I see, he is a jack of all trades, master of some, namely in real estate and insurance. Can you imagine, he is the guy who is helping insurance companies in auditing workers' compensation due to loss of revenue from the ever changing policies that they are unable to keep up with?

Besides these, Paul McMann is also an expert in energy deregulation. This means that he helps companies run their businesses in an energy efficient way to reduce energy cost while not compromising on performance.

If you think that this is all, how wrong can you be? Paul McMann was a professor at a college in Massachusetts. My uncle was a professor as well and he told me that it’s a job that comes with heavy responsibilities that leaves him no personal time.

If I were to write all of Paul McMann’s accomplishments, it will take me a day or more, so do check out his personal website at http://www.paul-mcmann.com/

I once thought that it is not possible for someone to have his finger in so many pies because we all have 24 hours in a day only and how can we devote our time equally to all our projects? My friend told me that it all boils down to one word: PASSION. And Paul McMann has plenty of that!

Kira Is Back This April 2008 With New Edison Chen Sex Photos

I have been so caught up with packing and cleaning up my room that I have not much of a chance to surf the internet or update my blogs properly. In fact, some of my blogs have been left idle for the past month and a half. Sigh… if only I have a maid to do the cleaning while I do the throwing and packing LOL

OK, the news is that, a reader kindly left me a comment just this morning, Kira has released NEW EDISON CHEN SEX PHOTOS and like the photos of old from back in late February, 2008, this new set of photos, believed to be released by Kira who is now in hiding in Mainland China, this new Edison Chen photos feature Jolin Tsai, the popular Taiwanese singer. Some people may spell her name as Jolin Cai.

While some people may scream that we should just let this story go already because it’s getting stale, I think that if you are a blogger and you have a blog like mine where everything goes then you must inform all and sundry that there are new EDC photos on the internet already, though I will not be publishing these photos, which you can easily find on the web by just typing on any major search engine both names: Edison Chen and Jolin Tsai or Jolin Cai.

Happy hunting. I know you want to see them!

Interest-Free Installment Plan With Credit Card Purchase

As you know, I bought a laptop recently but did you know that I nearly fainted when my friend told me that I could buy a better laptop, with higher specifications and pay for it by interest free installment by charging my credit card?

Gosh.... I didn't tell him that I no longer have a credit card. I don't have a credit history and do not know how to get a credit card with no credit history. Is it possible?

According to a friend who owns a slew of credit cards, even though she is "only a homemaker", yes, it is possible and there are plenty of credit cards for people just like us.

There was once when I went out with her and what surprised me was that she charged her credit card for every little purchase even though the amount was nominal. I took a peep at her purse and at a glance, I would say she has more than ten cards from major banks.

I think I need to find out from her how to apply for credit cards so that when I purchase my next big-priced item, I could pay by interest-free installment as well!

When It's Too Good To Be True

I was talking to a friend last night and I asked him if he would like to invest in gold if he is guaranteed a 36% annual return and he was surprised that there is such a high return rate!

Of course, we know better than to play with our capital like that. When it comes to gold investment, I would rather take the slow and steady but guaranteed way of profiting.

There are many ways to invest and it is our responsibility to only invest through licensed companies. Those who go through get-rich-quick schemes that are offering 36% per annum are only looking for trouble. Just think, if anything happens to this company, they will not have any legal recourse to recover their capital.

The bottom line is that even if we have the cash to invest, we have to do it smart!

Is It Good Or Bad News?

I was complaining to friends and family and everyone within ear shot that my monitor is going to KO on me and I was thinking, this month, I am bleeding money and have spent more than I earned. How am I going to pay for my living expenses and bills?

And I said that the reason I bought a Samsung was because the previous Samsung monitor I had lasted more than seven years and in fact, I could still use it. The fact that it was retired is because it's only 14 inches and too small for my needs.

Well, I have only used this monitor for 26 months only and I was rather disappoint that it did not last as long as my previous monitor, even though the monitor is turned on for extremely long hours without reprieve.

Anyway, I later found out that there was nothing wrong with my monitor and the reason my display was cranky was because my graphic card is acting up. Well, now that I have found the real culprit, on one hand, I am glad that I do not have to spend MORE money this month but at the same time, I no longer have a reason to purchase a new monitor. I was thinking to upgrade to a 24in LCD which costs over MYR1000. LOL

Life's Strange

My friend, whom I have lost touch with for the past fifteen years, told me that she got married two years ago. Well, that's not strange. The strange thing is that all her life living in Ipoh, she did not know this guy but when she went to Singapore to work, she met this guy and the strange thing is that this guy lived just ten minutes from her own parents' home!

The guy's parents still lived in the house in Ipoh and now, both of them, who are working in Singapore, can come home often to visit their parents since they are just so nearby.

LOL People say that if you hold your chopsticks close to the tip, your husband or wife will be someone who lives nearby. I don't know how true this is.

I have a neighbour who went to KL to work and met a guy whose uncle and aunt lives just next door of this lady! And his own home is just two streets away and only five minutes walk away from her parents' home where she grew up.

Now, the weird thing is that these people never met in their lives when they were living so close by. But like my friend says, if they have met any sooner, things may not have worked out at all.

Drug Info On The Go

I wrote before that my sister is not at her best, health-wise for the past year. I am sure we have read before, and even watched on TV, how advanced medical science is in the United States but the strange thing is that my sister has been to consult a few good doctors and they could not pinpoint what was wrong with her. It is worrisome to say the least.

Last evening. I was chatting with my sister on the internet and she told me that she wished she was back home in Ipoh. We have a family physician, who although is already into his 70s, who still has the "touch".

My sister says that in the United States where most doctors are equipped with mobile devices and are able to access information on medical and drugs via mobile CME, she misses the old doctor and his traditional ways!

*** This announcement was paid for by Epocrates ***

Who's Got The Look?

Remember the old Roxette hit, "She's Got The Look"? If you have got the look [or looks] then you just have to check out http://www.lookoftheyear.com.

I believe that many of us dream of a being a model, leading a glamorous life, jet-setting with the rich and famous, rubbing shoulders with beautiful people whom we see on TV all the time, being interviewed and appearing on glossy magazines.

You can do ALL THESE if you win the Look of The Year! Even if you do not bag the grand prize, which is a cool US$10,000, Look of The Year is an awesome stepping stone to be exposed to important people in the industry!

Many of today’s most famous models were spotted at one beauty contest or another so if you think that you have what it takes to shine through, submit your photo. Yes, they accept submissions from around the world so what are you waiting for?? Ah... I wished I was young again!

Talking To A Brick Wall

For the past two weeks, I have been trying to communicate with an American company online but each time, my enquiries were replied with a standard form email and there was no additional information in the reply.

What is extremely exasperating is that there is money on the line and while the amount is not great, I do not wish to lose it. With all the hassle going on with this company, I wonder if it’s worth the stress.

I did not count the number of times the SAME email was sent to me. It must have been five or six times already. Just imagine, here you are trying to obtain more information and there you get people telling the SAME old things that you have already read a hundred times.

It's like talking to a brick wall, except it's much worse because you are talking virtually and not face to face. If we were talking face to face, I would have physically hit out at the person.

Now, all I could do is curse and swear but believe me, this bad experience is off putting and of course, I am going to tell the world about it.

Santa Fe

Have you heard of the old Bon Jovi rock song called "Santa Fe"? Ever since I heard that song, it has been one of my favorites. To me, Santa Fe, with such an exotic sounding name, is a city full of mystery. Of course, that's just the imagination of a teenager.

If I have a chance, I would like to take a vacation in Santa Fe and it would be like revisiting the old times and it would be like a dream come true to own a piece of Santa Fe NM real estate. I know it's a far-fetched dream but dreams are free!

Actually, when my sister was planning to buy a house, she went through Santa Fe MLS but in the end decided to set up her home in Tennessee. Shucks...I think that if she managed to talk to Santa Fe real estate experts, they would have convinced her that Santa Fe would make a better home! If I was my sister, I would have chosen Santa Fe in a heartbeat!

The Business of Blogging

Most people think that a blogger does not need a business card, let alone a professionally designed logo. Well, the importance of networking for a blogger is only realized when you attend blogging conferences and as a serious blogger, I am sure you do try your best to turn up at these events!

As a semi-professional blogger who runs fifteen blogs and treats blogging as a "job", I know that it is high time that I print my own business cards. How many times have I had to search high and low for pen and paper when giving out my website addresses to friends and family? With an artfully designed business card, I can just hand ONE card to each person and these people can come and check out my blogs if they are interested.

When it comes to business cards, the logo design is extremely important. Many people overlook the fact that the logo should depict the industry they are in and reflect the primary approach of their company.

Checking out the free DIY logo design feature of Logo Yes, I came up with this design. I think it does reflect that I am in the business of writing [blogging] thanks to the script that I have used on "An Anonymous Journalist" and red is a representation of the color of my blog.

If you are contemplating printing your own business cards, check out Logo Yes. It has a simple interface which I believe that even people who are not web savvy will have no problems coming up with their own logo designs. Just follow the numbered steps, from selecting a logo template that most suits your business, to selecting your font, color and layout of your logo. If you would like to be one step ahead of your competitors, get business cards and matching stationery. You need to be unique; with a logo that is creative, eye-catching and so interesting that people will remember it at a glance. Logo Yes can do this for you at a reasonable cost.

The Petronas Super Car Craze Is Over. It Is OVER!!!!

This morning, I don't know why, I flipped the newspaper. You know, it has been donkey years since I last actually read through a whole newspaper.

Yes, I have been that busy and have been totally out of touch with current affairs, except for what my family discusses around the dining table during dinner, of course, what I read in blogs and on news sites and what my friends tell me.

That's why, some of the news may not be accurate. I still remember one day, my dad telling me, "KL SNOWED!" Wah... really??? So I took a look at the papers and .. cheh.. it was an advertisement! See, things like that could distort the news I get. Luckily I took a look or I would have blogged about the "snow" in KL. LOL

Anyway, I digress....

This morning, Petronas had an advertisement of the six extremely luck people who won their super cars. EEyyerrrr so bad. Guess I am not as lucky as I thought. Sigh.....I don't have money to buy a car. I want to win it!

Work Comfortably In Ergonomically Designed Furniture

As you know, the other day, I bought a writing desk. While I think its value for money, it's not what I ideally want. It would be awesome if my OFFICE FURNITURE were ergonomically designed!

You know the long hours I spend slogging at the office, I NEED something that would be good for me physically and ergonomic furniture are especially made to help us work more comfortably.

I was surfing the net and came across these ergo-furniture. How good it would be if THESE were in my own office. I would then work happy and not complain so much about back ache for sitting too long in front of the computer LOL

What do you think? If cost is not a concern, would you buy ergonomically designed furniture or normal ones? I’d get these without a doubt!

Oh My DATA!!!!!

Last week, I am sure you remembered that I sent my computer to the shop because I was having blue screen when I tried to switch it on. Before that, I received a notice that my computer has been infected with virus. No big deal, since I get that all the time. I think it's because I never shut off my computer so it makes it more vulnerable than other people's system even though I have anti-virus progamme and firewall, that I update all the time. In fact, I scan my system for virus DAILY. Is there anyone who is as diligent as I am??

Well, suffice to say, the junior technician was lazy to retrieve my data for me that I kept in the C Drive. So now they are all GONE. GONE!!!!

And he has the nerve to tell me, "These files are not that important hor?" Oi... if not important, do you think I would save them? Do they want me to throw a ruckus at the shop or something to show how important those files were? Cheh...

CDYNE Death Index

My sister, who lives in the United States, tells me that identity theft is a major concern there. She says that if your Social Security Number and other personal particulars fall into the wrong hands, your entire identity could be taken over by another person.

Another major concern is credit card fraud. And when you combine these two together, there's a huge problem on your hands!

Did you know that there are people who may try to apply for credit with details of a deceased? Yes, that happens!

For companies that issue credit, they can prevent this from happening by checking the Social Security Number against the CDYNE death index, an index that is directly updated from the Social Security Death Index Database.

By refering to the CDYNE Death Index, credit companies can reduce fraud and loss!

Mucking Out My Room

The other day, I wrote that I have to declutter my room so that was what I have been doing over the weekend. Actually, way before the weekend started and into the new week... and I still have yet to finish!

I was surprised that I have collected many letters, newsletters and brochures from 10 - 11 years ago! And while I found that back then I was keen to keep them because there was something or other that I wanted to read later on or refer to, now, I have no qualms about discarding them... I guess my priorities have changed. There were many magazies that I have not even read and letters left unopened.

And I found quite a stack of letters from Reader's Digest telling me that a huge sum of money awaits me and all I have to do is participate in their mega contest.... and I did not even have to purchase anything from them. In reality, it just does not work this way.

I remember that I started receiving these when I was 13 or so and most of my friends in school also received the same and I wondered where and how they managed to get our names and addresses.

I also found some funny stuff. Maybe I will scan them and post on my blog. Just for fun.

Are You Game For An Online Treasure Hunt?

I just got to know that there will be an online treasure hunt starting this coming Monday and it is expected to last a week. There are plans to run this treasure hunt once a week for four weeks.

If you are participating, you can expect to spend a month surfing the internet looking for treasures. I don't know what treasures we are supposed to hunt for. It could be diamond jewelry! And wouldn’t that be awesome?

I am not even sure if I will be participating. You know Lelong's Spot The Total? I gave up! Told you I'm hopeless in all these! Well, it all depends on my workload. I’d definitely be game for it if I could spare the time. You know I love freebies!

Taking Safety Measures At Home

How time flies. This morning, when I was looking for an old blog post of mine, I was rather surprised to note that I wrote it almost two years ago... which means that my friend's father passed away almost two years ago too.

This morning, I was told of the walk in tub that will make our bathroom safer for the senior members of the family which made me recall how my friend's father died. He slipped in the bathroom.

I thought that this is quite a common cause of fall and/or death and it is not only the older people who are victims though they are more prone to slip in the bathroom. That's why I thought that we should rubberize our bathroom floor but now that I have been told of the walk in tub, I think that it's a must have for all homes. The conventional bath tubs are just too slippery and dangerous. It's something that I don't have and I don't regret it though a good soak in the tub at the end of a day is welcomed!

The Return Of Mariah Carey

I bought a writing desk for my room from Tesco last evening and this morning, my dad helped me to fix it up. More on that later. Well, I spent the whole day today clearing up some of the junk that I have accumulated over the years on my old student days' study desk over to the new writing desk and guess what I found? A box full of old CDs! I never realized that I have collected more than a hundred!

Some of you may know me as this rock chick who is into Bon Jovi, Metallica, Scorpions, White Snake and Guns N' Roses.... but among the CDs in my collection, I also have Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Mandy Moore, No Doubt, Christina Milian and Mariah Carey. Of course, if I were to list them all out, it would take me the whole day!

Going through all my albums brings back fond memories of my student days! Can you imagine that back then, all I had to worry about was which single was number one on Top of the Pops, the U.S. Billboard 200 and American Top 40? Hahaha! Yes, studies were not even as important. Maybe that's why ..... well, I'll leave that for another post on another day!

Mariah Carey in the early days

You can imagine my old CD player has been on overtime today, playing my collection of CDs, especially Mariah Carey! I love her, but don't we all? My all time favorite remains Love Takes Time, from her debut album. I get goose bumps no matter how many times I have listened to it already! Maybe it touches too close to my heart. Oh yeah, I also love Hero and My All.

Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston in "When You Believe",
soundtrack of "The Prince of Egypt"

I think that Mariah Carey is a great solo singer but her collaborations with Whitney Houston on "When You Believe" and with Boyz II Men on "One Sweet Day" are just as memorable. Actually... if you ask me to name ONE track from Mariah Carey that I love most, I can't decide.

Mariah Carey's latest album E=MC² [2008]

This year, after a break of three years, Mariah Carey is back with a new studio album titled E=MC² which hits US Stores on 15th April, 2008. It has been touted as the most anticipated album of the year and I am so glad to say that Mariah Carey delivered!

Are you a fan of Mariah Carey? Even if you are not, you just have to check out E=MC². You will not be disappointed!

Touch Screen Totally Wrecks Your Brains

At least it does mine! Many times, without being aware of it, I find myself touching screens, even when those screens are NOT touch screen screens at all. Well, I do realise that but only after touching, or trying to touch.

And when I am blur, like the second I just woke up or something, I find myself poking and scrolling the screen of my Nokia E61i and at the same time wondering to myself, "Why no response?????"

Eyerrrr it's not touch screen capable, of course no response lah! How stupid.

You know, there's nothing like reading an email on a small screen and it's that interesting that you wanted to read till the end of it as soon as possible. That's why la ... touched already!

And the worst thing is.... going OUT and touching screens, like the ATM screens or something. If you see someone doing that in Ipoh, on a non-touch screen ATM, she's probably me. Bleh...

Lighting Up The Garden

My friend, Markus, suggested that I should put garden lights throughout the night to deter trespassers. If you have read my blog from the early days, you probably have read that there were three break-in attempts over two years. That's pretty bad statistics because I live close to the police station!

I also know that I should install more garden lights since our compound is rather large and there are plenty of blind spots with all the trees and plants but I thought that I would install solar outdoor lighting instead of electricity powered ones because you know, electricity is not cheap.

After changing a new State Government, we don't get any of our tariffs lowered also! How can??? And by the way, I just checked, if Perak households get the first twenty cubic metres of water free every month like Selangor, it will only save us RM6 per month. I still want it!

Why Can't My Laptop Sleep?

The weirdest things happen to me and I know not why. Twice I tried to put my laptop to sleep since I was going to bed as well but when I wake it up, there was an error message that says that the system has just recovered from a serious crash. And when i clicked for more information, it says the problem was "Blue Screen".

Dammit... the reason I did not shut off my laptop but instead put it to sleep was so that I could get back online as quick as possible and yet not tax my screen but with the recovery from Blue Screen, I had to open all my browsers and tabs again. Gah!

It is as if my desktop computer Blue Screen of Death is not enough, now my laptop is also afflicted with the same disease but at least my laptop could recover from it by itself, whereas my desktop cannot access Windows at all..... sigh, I am so lazy to troubleshoot it myself and I didn’t even back up my important data yet. I think I'll have to send it to the shop tonight.

Save On Your Long Distance Telephone Calls

Some of you may know that my sister has migrated to the United States. Every time I meet my friends and relatives, they will ask me if I am in contact with my sister. But of course! We keep in touch via email, instant messengers and regular phone calls. What is so difficult about keeping in touch?

These people are rather surprised that my sister is willing to spend so much money on long distance telephone calls and each time, I need to explain to them that there are many companies that offer cheap international telephone cards that my sister could use to call home. In fact, even here in Malaysia, we have many similar international telephone cards that reduce our telephone charges by so much, you would be surprised that calling to the United States is cheaper than making outstation calls within Peninsular Malaysia. Let’s not even talk about making calls to East Malaysia!

If you are in the United States, you can get an international phone card> from Phone Cards Avenue, for instance, which will enable you to save up to 80% on your telephone charges. If you think that you will not have good quality telephone connection, think again. These days, VoIP calls are no longer like the old days. Noisy lines and frequently dropped connections are things of the past.

Oh, by the way, did you know that for added convenience, you can purchase these cheap call cards online swiftly and securely? No longer do you have to queue up at some kiosks on the street because now you can buy online phone cards at a secure website on the internet. This is one of the reasons I love to shop online. You can buy just about anything, including cheap telephone cards!

Oh yeah, if you would like to make international calls with your cheap calling card, do check out the call rates first. You can do so at the website of Phone Cards Avenue.

Sigh, Computer Kena Virus

Susah la... my computer is infected with virus AGAIN. It's only just April and my computer has already been infected with virus for the second time. Last year was pretty bad as well. I think that it's all because my computer is way too vulnerable as I hardly shut it off.

I think that on the average, my computer is connected to the internet for twenty hours or so daily hence it's open to random virus attack even though I do not surf to any websites that would expose my computer to dangerous elements. I SWEAR I do not visit porn sites!!! Really la, where got time to be horny???

Even though I do use firewall and anti-virus programmes and in fact, I update my anti- virus programme daily and then scan my computer almost daily, I am still infected so frequently. Now, I can't even boot Windows and what I get is the blue screen. Bah....

My friend told me that the only way I am safe from computer virus is to shut off my computer and unplug it from the internet! He thinks I no need to cari makan meh??

Kava For Anxiety Relief

As you know, the weather has been pretty bad for the past month. I don't think there was a day that passed WITHOUT thunderstorm. If you know my "monkey" well, you will know that he is not tolerant of lightnings and thunderstorms. There have been times when he lapses into seizures due to accumulated anxiety attacks from the loud claps of thunders.

The other day, I was talking to my friend that I have been kept extra busy because of the lousy weather. Each time it rains, I had to drop whatever I was doing and just accompany the "monkey" and literary wait for the storm to pass.

My friend suggested that I add kava to his diet which is said to help with anxiety relief. Well, I have heard of the health benefits of the kava root but I have not read about it helping to alleviate anxiety. Well, we learn something new each day!

However, my monkey is already 14 years old and in human age, that's over a hundred years old! With his poor medical history, I am rather afraid of introduce new supplements into his diet. I'll have to speak to his vet about it.

FOUR (!) Alarm Clocks

A little while ago, I wrote that I have equipped myself with three alarm clocks because I could not wake up. The third one came along when somehow my Nokia rebooted by itself and shut off my alarm. Well, it never happened before but it did make me wake up late! I don't know what caused the reboot in the middle of the night. It must have tripped while being hooked to 3G on the computer, which I never shut off even when I sleep.

So, I got a small desk alarm clock and I tell you, I have not used one of these since my schooldays. I remember setting the alarm at 6am back then and boy, I thought that was EARLY but I now set my clock at 5am... which is like UNGODLY!

Still, with three alarms from the Nokia E61i, iPhone and a proper clock, I still slept through them all. So the fourth clock joined them yesterday. Ah, this morning, I managed to wake up. But I realise that the reason I did not hear the alarm from the clock was because I keep forgetting to put up the button! GGrrrrr and there are times that I fall asleep whilst setting my iPhone!!!

I hope that FOUR is enough to get me out of bed!

SunPorch - Winner of the 2007 NSA Award

When my sister was designing and building her own home in Tennessee, she told me that she is going to have a sunroom. Well, people in the United States have the option to build their own homes unlike here where we are lucky if we get to buy and own a cookie cutter terrace house.

Anyway, my sister has always wanted to have a sunroom but the sun is so string here in Malaysia that it is not practical at all. Now that she is in the United States, she gets to build her home however she likes it.

This morning, I was told that SunPorch sunroom has won the 2007 NSA Design Awards. The National Sunroom Association (NSA) awards a winner every year for their innovative designs and installation of sunrooms, solariums and patio rooms.

There are a few criteria that the NSA looks into when awarding this award and they are: design, functionality and how the structure enhances the architecture and its surroundings. This means that SunPorch Structures has managed to combine these three factors into most of their designs and installations, beating all their competitors to bag the prestigious NSA award for 2007.

It’s too bad that my sister’s home is already completed or I would ask her to check out SunPorch sunrooms! Surely they are the sunroom designers of the day!

SUNPORCH SUNROOM WINS 2007 NSA DESIGN AWARDS

WESTPORT, CT April 16, 2008 - The National Sunroom Association (NSA) announced the winners of the NSA Design Awards for 2007 at the association’s annual meeting in San Antonio, TX. For the fifth year in a row SunPorch Structures of Westport, Ct, prevailed over 196 industry competitors to win the Best in Class design award in the Glazed Roof Sunrooms under $15,000 category for 2007.

The design award recognizes excellence in the design and installation of sunrooms, solariums and patio rooms based on three important criteria; aesthetic appeal...interior appeal and functionality...and finally on how well the structure enhances the architecture and natural surroundings of the home or commercial setting.

This year the SunPorch’s NEW Easy-Slide Window system, that allows the SunPorch to convert from sunroom to screenroom in a matter of seconds, was an exciting innovation that was of particular importance in the judging. “We are particularly excited about the award this year because 2007 was the first year we produced our new Easy-slide Windows.” said Dean Schwartz, General Manager of SunPorch Structures. “The Easy-slide Window system is a major design change that we are very proud of!”

This remarkable new window system has also received high marks from SunPorch customers. Robin Quiles, Customer Service Manager at SunPorch says “We have received extremely positive feedback from our customers about the Easy-Slide Windows and the NSA Design Award is icing on the cake for this new window system!”

For over 34 years, SunPorch Structures has produced and sold innovative and award winning SunPorch sunroom/ screenrooms nationwide. Its’ complete ready-to-assemble design mounts easily on an existing deck or patio without costly site prep making the SunPorch a remarkably affordable home addition.

No Power, No Water

At the beginning of this month, we found out that we will have to go without power supply for a couple of hours as the new home owner opposite of our house wants to relocate the electricity pole as it's blocking his gateway which he intends to enlarge. So, fine. We were told that we will receive an official notice from TNB so that we could prepare ... but they came this morning without notification and started to get to work. Thank god there was nothing exceptionally important.

However, what a coincidence it is that we are also experiencing a disruption in water supply. Of course these are two separate issues but it's so weird to have these happen at the same time! So now, we are going without power and water for dunno how many hours!

For power supply, we were told that they need approximately two hours but water, there's no indication when supply will resume. Bah... the leceh-ness!

Am I This Dummy?

If you read my earlier post, you would know that I bought a notebook lock that has a number combi lock and not the key lock type. After buying, the sales lady of my notebook told me that I bought it more expensive than what she was selling but she has no stocks right now. Oh. Well!

I then sent an SMS text to my friend and told him of my purchase and he said that TARGUS has a good retractable notebook lock…. I have to agree after coming home and checking it out on the TARGUS website.

Anyway, I already bought it, what to do? I opened it and tried to use it and found that I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SET MY NUMBER COMBI! That’s right, even after reading the instructions at the back of the packaging for the umpteen time. I blame it on the broken China English! So I thought I’d call up the shop which I bought from but I don’t even have their phone number. PC Fair purchase you know la, so many stores from all over Perak. :-/

So I called up the shop which I bought my notebook from and asked them if they would mind teaching me how to use it they said no problem and asked me to go over. SIGH!

For Coffee Lovers

Although I love drinking coffee, I don't think I am addicted to it. At least not as addicted as some of my friends and my mom! They need to have at least two cups of freshly roasted coffee a day! Some people say that we should not drink coffee just before bed time or we will have difficulty falling asleep but I don’t seem to experience that at all.

Just now, I was introduced to this website at sanmarcocoffee.com which is an online store selling coffee beans, pods or ground. Can you believe that they are selling these on eBay as well? I didn't know we can find coffee on eBay too!

San Marco Coffee Company not only sells coffee that you can brew at home, they even specialize in American and Espresso coffee and cappuccino brewing machines! No matter if you are an expert in coffee drinking already or a newbie, you can basically get the coffee and the equipment from San Marco Coffee Company!

PC Fair Purchases

Well, last evening, I finally managed to make my way to PC Fair before they closed at 9pm LOL. Am I a last minute shopper or what? by the time I reached there, PIKOM's free gift of a pen holder was already out of stock. Can you believe that that was the only thing they are giving away for a proof of purchase of MYR300 and above? Students get the gift for a minimum purchase of MYR200, but still, a plastic PEN HOLDER ONLY?

I didn’t have the time to visit every stall so I bought what I could; a retractable optical mouse for USB/PS2 ports and a notebook lock that uses number combination. The mouse cost me MYR25 and the lock was bought at MYR16.

After buying these, I went to the shop that I bought my laptop from, they also had a store at the PC Fair, and the lady told me that I bought these way more expensive than what they are selling at their shop. SAY WHAT???? Tell me I was not pissed off!

What to do? Money already changed hands and she was the one who told me that they don't have stocks for what I wanted. Cheh....

Through The Eyes Of An Indian

There's this India blog that I discovered last evening which at first, I thought was a German blog, but turns out that the blogger is an Indian living in Germany. I was told that this blog is written in a mixture of three languages but I could only see the posts that are in German and Indian. Which is the third language??

Although the blogger is in Germany, the blogger of India blog also touches on life and culture in India where he is originally from, his home country, besides writing about life in Germany. Did you know that I always wanted to learn German but found it too confusing? My friend, Markus, gave up, finally. Haha! I think I would need to LIVE there and get bombarded with German before I could get the language into my thick skull!

I checked out the long list of tags on the sidebar and it looks like the blogger really touches on plenty of topics. If you ask me what niche this blog is, I would say, a personal-cum-cultural blog.

Last Day of PC Fair Ipoh (I)

Gosh, can you believe it?!? You know how I have been harping bout going to PC Fair and even made a shopping list that has grown even longer. How could I forget that this weekend is PC Fair? Yes, I totally forgot about it. You see, I do know the dates of PC Fait but I did not know that time flew so fast that we already arrived at the weekend!

Last night, my friend went to the KL PC Fair in KLCC and he told me of the stuff he bought and I was like, "SHIT! I also want to go to PC FAIR!!!" *stomp feet*

So today's already the last day and I hope that I could make it before they close at 9pm. I live nearby, actually, and could even walk there if I do not have transport (GOD I NEED MY OWN CAR!) but it's not safe out there and I would hate it if someone snatched my purchases while walking home HAHAHA call me a pessimist! :p

Sleep Deprived Work Performance

My friend told me that the less I sleep and the longer I work, it will only affect my performance at work. And it is true. The more tired I am, the more mistakes I make and that will cost me money.

Sometimes I really want to be pissed with myself when I make mistakes but it is true with the old wives' tale that no matter how much you earn, how much you eat and how much you wear, these are all already fated. Do you believe so?

I was advised not to push myself too hard and remember to go dating LOL but I really am not interested in that until and unless I put my life in order. That's my priority. Well, unless someone comes along that is too hard to resist. Haha!

Yoga For Beginners

My friend, Ket, invited me to join his Yoga class. When I first found out that he is diligently attending yoga three times a week for two hours a session, I was like, "What? But you're a guy! I thought Yoga's for women only?"

Ket told me that actually, more and more men re taking up yoga just like they are taking up knitting, compared to five years ago. I told Ket that my bones are already too stiff to take up yoga at my age!

But Ket told me that there are new people joining his Yoga class every week and that the class is divided into three sections; for beginners, intermediate students and advanced level students. He told me to watch a yoga dvd for beginners to see the kind of light stretching that we are taught... I still think that it would be pretty tough on my old bones!

I asked my friend, Amy, about yoga and she said that I should take it up as it enhances our overall health physically, physiologically and psychologically. HHmmm

WomanSavers - For Women By Women

There was this guy whom my mother's sister was married to back in the 1970s. She thought that he was a pretty good catch; an educated man holding an executive post and drawing a good salary. Hardly did my aunt know that his standing in society did not reflect his inner personality.

Each night he returned home was a nightmare for her. I guess we could understand that a man will sometimes beat up the wife if he was drunk or pretended to be drunk but this guy was very sober, just that he was full of rage and jealousy every single night even when there was no cause to feel so. Maybe something happened to him during his childhood but as far as we could tell, he led a pretty normal life like every other boy.

My aunt made plenty of police reports but back then, domestic violence was something the police did not want to meddle into. After a few years trapped in an awful marriage, the guy lost his job due to an economic downturn and he decided to find work overseas. He went to the United States where he found a new life and a new woman so he sought a divorce. That was the only way my aunt managed to be free from him physically and legally.

A few years later, out of the blue, my aunt received a call from a lady. This lady was calling from the United States and apparently, she was the "new woman". I don't recall if they got married but this woman wanted to know if she was the only one beaten by the guy or if it's his habit to beat up all his women. Once she heard my aunt's story, she packed her bags and left that very same day. Truly, no woman deserved to be beaten like that and for nothing too.

Now in 2008, we are living in an internet age and I think that we have way more resources than my aunt's time. With a website like WomanSavers.com, women can let others know how a man is, especially if he is a cheater or an abuser. Like in my aunt's case, if it happened to her right now, my aunt would be able to warn other people about this guy!

WomanSavers.com provides a platform for women to support each other and exchange views or seek dating expert advice.

I may not be a relationship expert, but just think about it. If all women band together and alert each other, the bad apples among men like the guy who used to be my uncle will have no way to get close to women at all. Don’t you think so?

Pregnant "Man"

Did you watch Oprah on the "man" who was born a girl and is now pregnant as a man? It's all pretty complex but to give you the low down, this person was born as Tracy, obviously a girl, and grew up beautifully too, that she was a contestant in Miss Teen Hawaii.

Somehow, in her twenties, she "found" her true self and even had girlfriends. Hhmmm what happened that caused that switch in her gender [mentally], nobody knows. I am sure, she finally did a sex operation because she now looks like a man and grown a stubble and named Thomas.

That's not strange though. Thomas got married to a woman who knows of Tracy. But the strangest thing is that now Thomas is pregnant! How can???? Does he want to be a man or not? I am sure that they tried for a baby using donated sperm BUT why can't they plant that sperm into the wife, I believe her name's Wendy. Why make Thomas pregnant instead? It's as if the whole situation is not freaky enough. I bet the kid will have an identity crisis when he/she is older. While everyone came out from their mom, this child came out from the dad! Eyerrrrr!!!

Interested In Forex Trading

My friend, Fatty, sent me an invitation to trade in forex with him on FaceBook. I find it kind of interesting. So far, I have been keeping tabs on the Forex market mainly due to my foreign income and trade BUT I have never traded in currency for real.

Coincidentally, just now, I was told of this Forex brokerage company, E-global Trade and Finance Group, Inc, a British company, that is said to give us one of the best Forex rates.

The company allows us to open a demo account to trade and upgrade it to a full-fledged account once we have gotten used to trading in forex. I find this thoroughly helpful, especially for newbies like me.

E-global Trade and Finance Group, Inc is the leading International Forex-broker. It deals with internet electronic payment systems. Employees of the company work in Europe and Asia. The main office of the company is located in London.

These days, the company offers one of the best deals in the Forex market, which are suitable for the newcomers and advanced traders.

MicroForex is from 20 USD, MiniForex is from 200 USD and StandardForex is from 2000 USD. We use cents and dollars accounts, the trade terminal MetaTrader 4 and mobile terminal MT4. It is the real practice on the real account with minimum risk, which involves 30 currency pairs, including gold and silver, leverage 1:500, spread from 2 points, news from Dow Jones, automatic orders transactions, online support, offices in Europe, Asia and partner’s offices around the world, automatic online cash withdrawal within e-currencies and credit cards, withdrawal and support of multi accounts in traders room.

We are honest and reliable.
High service support, flexible trade conditions and wide opportunities for withdrawal and deposit of money is our competitive advantage in the Forex market.

Welcome to E-Global Forex!

What A Strange Dream!

I guess I have been sleeping too much now that my strange dreams are back. Early this morning between 12.30am - 1am, I dreamt of my paternal grandmother again. If you read my old post, I dreamt of her about two weeks before Qing Ming and I thought that she wanted to see me so I visited her grave on 5th April with some family members.

Well, this morning, in the dream, we were at a hotel for a buffet meal, just like we always do when she was still alive. This time, my grandmother looked a little bit fleshed out but I could still recognise her. She told me that she doesn't have a chair. I guess now that she no longer has a physical body, but a spirit, nobody would leave an empty chair for her. In the end, she found a place to sit, next to me. She was making small talk with me but I could not recall what was being said. She also kept rubbing my right hand. In real life, my hand was aching because I have been working non-stop these past few days. Either I brought my pain to the dream or my grandmother really knew of my physical pain.

At the same table, I "saw" someone who looked exactly like my uncle and was sitting next to him and I thought to myself, "Eh, Uncle X's unborn brother, who as a spirit has been following him around, is also present." HHmm that is rather odd because I never heard of any unborn child of my grandmother and there is no way to verify this because she is no longer with us.

Later, I dreamt that my cousin wanted to court my sister and we were like, "He's crazy! That's not possible because we have the same surname!" But in real life, this cousin is very, very good looking. Heck, he was a male model but he had to stop once he started to practise law.

And it really is kind of super weird because in the dream, he was driving an older BMW whereas in real life he used to drive a new BMW but has since changed cars. It was like my memory was stuck to that point in time, though I don't know what happened that it was an old model BMW in my dream!

It was all just totally strange stuff.

Are You Ready For PC Fair?

Of course you are ready, but is your budget ready for it? I have my list done up and I am not going to add anything more to it before the weekend when PC Fair Ipoh (I) will be held.

I expect the bill to come up to MYR300. Although these are all accessories only, I hope that I would not be tempted to get more computer products. Really, after the amount of cash I splurged on my laptop, my budget is already maxed out. Of course, I am not going to charge any credit card! I don't believe in living on credit LOL

As with all PC Fairs, I expect to see a display of electronics and digital camera products as well. Although I have plans to get a digital camera, I don't have plans to buy one this time. I will just be window shopping. Luckily the crowd here in Ipoh is not as crazy as the one in KL. *shivers*

Too Old For Zits

When I was 13, the first spots appeared on my face. I was told not to worry and that when I am 18, they will go away because it's all because of "hormones". I wonder if my complexion would have been better if my mom had bought me supplements or something to arrest the pimples but she never did that.

When I was 18, I was told that they will go away naturally when I am in my 20s. They never did go away. Now, I wonder when my pimples will totally go away because I still suffer from them way too often especially when I am exposed to the hot sun for long hours.

The other day, I was telling a friend that I am going to get something to arrest my pimples once and for all. It is said to be natural acne treatment so I would like to try it.

My friend said he thought that I never cared about having pimples! Heck, I may not wear make up but I do care about things that grow on my face!! I don't need zits to make me uglier than I already am. My friend said that luckily, I only have zits on my face and not on my back or butt. To tell the truth, I would rather these zits grew on my butt because no one would know about them except myself. Call me weird! LOL

Black Rubbish Bin Ruling

If you are living in Ipoh, then you had better get yourself a black plastic rubbish bin before they run out of stock. Not only that, you have to paint your house number on it in white.

Do you remember that this ruling was proposed and passed by the Mayor of Ipoh a few months ago but they somehow decided to postpone the implementation of it? Back then, we were forced to buy the bin in a hurry and paid a high price for it due to the low stock. We end up not having to use it.

Now, even with a change of the State Government, they have decided to follow through with the rule. According to somebody, it's not expensive to get the bin. It's cheap. BUT obviously, high rank people do not think about the number of times we have to buy the bin each time it is stolen so that we will not get fined!

With a rule like this implemented, when you place your rubbish bin outside of your house, it will be like placing RM10 out there for people to pick up. And, it's going to be a little bit more trouble not only for us to cart our rubbish out but also for the rubbish collectors who would have to open the lid to take the bag of rubbish! Bah...oh by the way, I was told that this rule will be in effect from 1st June, 2008.

A Stateless Society

If you have been following the political scene of Malaysia, you would shake your head and wonder why there is utter chaos. Why are people so corrupted that even when they are discovered, they still refuse to vacate their public office. I think they just want to stay put as long as possible so that they could cover their corrupted tracks.

And if you think that voting for the opposition is any better, well, I think that humankind is basically the same. Put them long enough there and you will be seeing the same traits. I know I mentioned that politics in Malaysia is very interesting but I treat the whole thing like a drama. They act, I watch.

But, it leads me to wonder, how would live be without Central Government? Would we be living as we are now, or would we turn into unlawful people who have just gained "freedom" and do whatever we want to do? Will we start killing the people we hate because there is no law to convict us?

I came across the Stateless Society Website a couple of months ago, and reading it, it opens up my imagination to wonder if we as a large community of people, can live in peace and harmony alongside each other without fear, irrespective of our race, religion or creed. I think this will not happen in Malaysia but if you think that there is a possibility of this happening in your place in the distant future, then check out the stateless society website at FreeofState.org and see what you think about it.

Where To Buy Oral Me Toothpaste?

Hahaha as a follow up to my post on Oral Me, it has been getting tremendous response overseas. Many people asked me where to buy it? I'm sorry, I really don't know. In fact, I never even heard of it, even though I am in Malaysia, until I read the article in the New Straits Times!

Does anyone know where we can buy the Oral Me toothpaste ah? Not to use, mind you, but to play a prank on others LOL Imagine giving this as a birthday gift and the birthday girl opens it at her party in full view of everyone! LOL

I asked my friends in KL, Penang and Johor and they all said that they never seen this toothpaste before also wor. I think that this one's actually from Thailand and not Malaysia la. You know, Thailand has plenty of "branded" products like Danhill and Nikee haha!

Overseas Property Investments Simplified

Many people I know do not have much hope for the country. They would rather invest their money overseas so that they would have a place to stay in should the political climate in the country change. I don't blame them actually. They would like to secure their children's future and by investing into property overseas, they are able to do that plus secure their future financial situation.

This morning, I was asked to check out the website of OurHomeAbroad.com, a real estate website of overseas property agents. Right now, this site looks pretty new covering real estate in six countries.

They have a pretty comprehensive write up on each country, which basically gives you an idea of why you should invest in this country. Searching for properties in these six countries is simple where you can filter your search by country, area and property type.

You can save your search results so that you can follow up at a later date or you can request for brochures of the properties you are interested in which would be sent to you in .pdf file via email. Really, investing in properties overseas has never been so easy. I believe that with the simple layout of the site, even people who are not web savvy would have no problem navigating around the site!

It's Time To Declutter

I just realised how much junk I have accumulated throughout the past year. I was shopping for a laptop and I think I went to all the computer shops in the city, visited all the PC Fairs in my hometown and just about searched all over the internet for information on the latest laptop.

And throughout my research, I have collected so many printed paper on promotions, brochures, flyers and what not. I think I have a small pile of these. But they are all over my room right now.

A few days ago, I bought a laptop and I swear I am not going to look at another unit for the next three years! My pocket is bleeding now and I don't need to know that my laptop is not $X cheaper than when I bought mine or that there are faster and newer models coming out every other week. Blehh.... I don’t need the heartache!

My friend told me that the price of my laptop will fall the minute I pay for mine. Apalah....

Supplementing The Children’s Diet

I met my cousin’s children earlier this month when they came back from Kuala Lumpur for Qing Ming. It has not been that long since I met them. I remember seeing them for a short while during Chinese New Year earlier this year.

Anyway, it looks as if these two children are rather under nourished. I know that their mother is stingy and would rather save up the money for their education but I reasoned with her, if the children are not getting the nutrients that their bodies require, do they have the energy and concentration to study? Can they score in their studies?

I showed her the many Child Nutrition Supplements from the web that she could buy for her children to supplement their diet. Some people think that we can get all the nutrients we want from fresh food but how sure are we that we are getting the sufficient amount, right?

I told her that it’s not too late to provide them with these supplements because they are still growing and developing. I hope she listens to me for once!

Huge Price Difference

The other day, my mom asked me to buy Colgate toothpaste home. I went to this shopping that is near my house but I ended up not buying because it was RM5.90.

The next day, I went to another place to shop. You see, living in Ipoh, I can go to a different shopping complex every night and not have to worry too much about gas or toll. That's why people say the cost of living is low here.... but one the flip side, our earning power is lower as well.

I went to another place and they were only selling it at RM5.20 and I have a coupon code for Colgate too for RM1.40.

Can you imagine buying the same product at PLACE A at RM5.90 and at PLACE B at RM3.80 only? That's RM2.10 difference. Can eat a full lunch already in Taiping lah! Hahaha!

SEO and Search Engine Marketing

I was chatting with a friend regarding her venture into SEO and how she, managing a slew of blogs, is able to garner the desired traffic numbers to all her niche blogs. I find it difficult to maintain fifteen blogs and as soon as I stopped publishing fresh content, the traffic stopped coming.

My friend, on the other hand, keeps working on her blogs which she started at the end of last year. According to her, all her unique visitors are from organic searches. Did you know that there are millions of internet users who search for information online using the handful of major search engines in the White box world?

That's why companies need to realize that they should, as soon as possible, capitalize on the power of online marketing and advertising, including blog advertising. Of course, for someone who is not interested in online marketing and advertising, SEO would be terribly boring but for people like my friend and I would are trying to scale the search engines with our blogs and positioning our posts in the first page, it makes a very interesting subject.

For further details on how you can make full use of the trend in web usage and to listen to podcast interviews with business leaders, please visit this page on 3i.com

Are There Any True Friends Left?

Sometimes I wonder if there are any more real friends left or is it the crowd I mix with where these people are highly competitive that they want to edge you out of the race, although they are friendly towards you in your face but do something else behind your back.

It's like back in school, in the top class where everyone wants to be the number one student and being in the top class is not enough.

I know it's a dog eat dog world but then why must people do stuff or talk about stuff with the intention of making me jealous? of course I am not jealous but I don't like it that these people are trying to jibe me or something just to get a negative reaction from me. I don't know, maybe I am sensitive, maybe these people think that they are sharing a part of themselves with me but I would rather not know about their stories if they tell me half and withhold the other half.

Feed Your Blog With Fresh, Keyword Rich Fresh Content

This morning, a friend told me that we can buy content for our blogs. You see, she did a little research when she found out that a mutual friend, who is also a blogger, has been running over a hundred blogs and websites. We find it humanly impossible to do so! We only have that many hours in the day!

However, I told her that if she is really untested to head that direction, she does not need to buy as there are plenty of free content that she could use. It is just that we do not know how since we prefer original content.

Well, coincidentally, I was told of this rather unique website that contains a database of online articles that we could feed to our site for free. These are original content and once we have generated the code and installed to our site, web articles will be fed to our blogs.

Curiously, I browsed around the site. It is very simple to navigate and read through the web articles. I personally kind of like such a services if I have to manage that many sites. We get to choose the articles or niche topics to appear. If our blog is on Web services, then just select articles in this topic to feed through. It is all very easy to set up.

I love it that as quality control, only original articles are accepted by the site. With keyword rich, fresh content passing through our blogs, it certainly helps the search engines to spider our blogs and websites way faster than they normally would!

Oral Me Toothpaste

My goodness, did you see the New Straits Times today? There's this local toothpaste by the name Oral Me. Obviously, the manufacturer is trying to lean on the popularity of the established brand name, Oral B.

You really cannot deny that Malaysians have an excellent imagination. You can't say that we are not creative. And the imaginative one is not the manufacturer but the public at large.

Oral Me? Obviously, the copycat does not even understand what "Oral" means LOL I wonder how well these toothpaste sells. Do you want "Oral Me"? I would like to have "Oral Me".

Seriously, though, if the manufacturer asked me to copy the name Oral B by changing the B to any other letter in the alphabet, I also cannot think of a good letter. Oral C or Oral Z (Zee the American pronunciation) would sound like Oral Shit. Oral S would sound like Oral Ass. LOL Can you think of a good sounding letter in place of B?

Boots

The other day, I went looking for a pair of boots. If you have read an old post of mine, you would know that I have been looking for a pair of boots for ages but every time I see a pair, it's too expensive. I try it out and convince myself that it's not comfortable enough. Of course, it does not help that I have awkward 1/2 feet!

So I passed up the chance to own a pair of leather boots yet again but my friend quickly snapped it up. However, she said that she will only wear it once her ENGO Patches arrive in the mail. She said that they will help her in breaking the boots and ensure that she does not suffer from blister.

She told me that many people mistakenly think that ENGO patches are for Blister Treatment but they are actually patches for the inside of the shoes and not for sticking onto the feet!

One Month Into The 12th Malaysian General Elections

It's been a full month since the 12th Malaysia General Elections. Did you regret voting for the opposition? I KNOW you voted for the opposition. I KNOW you wanted a change so badly that you did not care who contested in your area and you voted for him, her and it as long as this opponent does not represent the dacing.

Do you regret placing your vote for the opposition and are they performing as you expected them to. I know one month is not a period of time long enough for you to evaluate their performances but there are already signs that you can tell if they are heading the right way or the wrong way.

Personally, I was rather disappointed that certain parties have gone all out fighting for positions in the State governments. Hey, I thought that you are serving the rakyat in whatever capacity you can. Why need the specifics, right?

Let's see if they are worthy of our votes in the next General Elections!

Are You Vitamin B-12 Deficient?

A friend has been telling me since last year that she is not feeling well. He has undergone medical test but his doctors could not determine his problem. And I always find this strange as he is in the United States where medical science is way more advanced than many other countries.

This morning, I was told of a health article that says that perhaps, people who are always feeling lethargic and “down” lack Vitamin B-12. I Read the entire article at ProHealth.com just now, it is rather long but makes an interesting read and I believe that many of us may lack the common B-12 vitamin.

HHmm could this be what my friend is experiencing as well? I better let him know about this article and see what he can do about his health!

Could a Common B-12 Deficiency Be Causing Your Symptoms?

by Dr. Dana Myatt, NMD, and Mark Ziemann, RN

prohealth.com

Less than 20 years ago, patients complaining of fatigue were often given a "tonic shot" by their doctor. Many people claimed this worked like magic to improve their energy levels. What was this miracle tonic? A simple injection of vitamin B-12.

Although the practice of administering vitamin B-12 injections has fallen out of favor, modern medical science now understands why vitamin B-12 supplementation makes people feel better, and the reasons extend far beyond just the "placebo effect" of receiving a shot.

The Far-Reaching Effects of Vitamin B-12 Deficiency

Vitamin B-12, called "cobalamin" because it contains the mineral cobalt, is required for a staggering number of physical functions and chemical reactions. Best known for its participation in the manufacture of red blood cells, B-12 is also needed for production and maintenance of the myelin sheath that surrounds nerves and for production of DNA, the genetic material of all cells. And that’s just the beginning.

The serious health consequences of vitamin B-12 deficiency can adversely affect nearly every system in the body.

Energy: Even minor deficiencies of vitamin B-12 can cause anemia, fatigue, shortness of breath and weakness.

The Nervous System: Deficiencies of B-12 can cause neurological changes including numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, balance problems, depression, confusion, poor memory and Alzheimer's-like symptoms. Long-term deficiencies of B-12 can result in permanent impairment of the nervous system.

The Gastro-Intestinal System: B-12 deficiency can cause decreased appetite, constipation, diarrhea or alternating constipation/diarrhea, weight loss and abdominal pain.

The Immune System: Vitamin B-12 is necessary for normal functioning of white blood cells. Studies show that B-12 helps regulate Natural-Killer T-cells and prevents chromosome damage.

The Cardiovascular System: Vitamin B-12 participates in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine. Elevated homocysteine levels are a known independent risk factor for heart attack, stroke and thrombosis. Without adequate B-12 levels, homocysteine levels typically rise.

Special Senses: Degenerative changes in the central nervous system caused by B-12 deficiency can also affect the optic nerve, resulting in blue-yellow color blindness.

Other symptoms of vitamin B-12 deficiency include sore mouth or tongue.

With so many physical functions at risk, it is easy to understand why knowledgeable clinicians and researchers consider B-12 supplementation beneficial.

Are You At Risk for a Vitamin B-12 Deficiency?

Medical science once believed that few people were vitamin B-12 deficient. This false assumption may stem from the fact that vitamin B-12 is produced in the body by a normal, healthy population of bowel bacteria.

Secondly, unlike other water-soluble vitamins, B-12 is stored in the liver, kidneys and other tissues. Deficiencies of B-12 often appear so slowly and subtly as to go unnoticed, and blood tests for vitamin B-12 levels miss early deficiency states at least 50% of the time.

So, who is at risk for vitamin B-12 deficiency? Recent research shows that a much larger segment of the population is likely deficient than previously thought...

My Sister So Low Tech

You know, I wrote before that my sister is so low tech that she needed help on how to compose an email on her Hotmail account? If you used the web-based Hotmail account as well, you will know that they have a new interface not too long ago. Since the change, my sister was lost already. I told her to set up Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail but she does not know how.

After sending blank emails home, I know this is like a rather rampant problem with other people as well, I am not sure why, I set up a Gmail account for her. That solved all the problems.

Just now, I told her to sign up with a Survey website so that she could at least earn a little money online. This survey site has been proven to pay members so it's a good place for her to start. Whoa... I headache, man, had to guide her from start to finish and the worse thing is that I had to do it over MSN Messenger! And yes, this is the only instant messenger she has on her computer.

Be Your Own Boss

A week ago, I received a message from a friend who wrote that she wants to be her own boss, if only top avoid waking up at an ungodly hour to get to work and brave the morning traffic jam! Well, don't we all want to be our own bosses? It is easier said that done, right?

Just now I was given the heads up on how we can be our own boss by owning a travel business right at home. Is that even possible? Yes, apparently, travel is a huge business and we need to capitalize on that. Also, working from home, we get to escape from taxes too.

Anyway, there are a few money making opportunities from this program. You can check it out here at www.myownboss.com. For a low start up fee of only $20, you can earn by referring others to join the program. Or upgrade your membership to create a larger earning potential.

If you would like more information, I suggest you click on the link provided. Reading me would only cause you to be more confused!

Comedy Court's Who Wants To be A Billionaire?

The other day, I was sent the video of Comedy Court's Who Wants To Be A Billionaire. Actually, I don't even remember who sent it to my anymore but you can find the video on YouTube if you are interested to watch it. It is so funny that I showed it to my parents who thoroughly enjoyed it.

This video is a parody of Who Wants To be A Millionaire and it's also a satire on the current political scene. Well, current here refers to 2002 or so when the Approved Permit was a hot topic.

It is more enjoyable if you watched the Malaysian version of Who Wants TO Be A millionaire before and actually know how the game is played and the words or terms that are used.

If you check out Comedy Court’s Channel on YouTube, there are plenty of other funny videos. One was also made on the recently GE2008. I didn’t find that so funny though but I would love to watch a rerun of Who Wants To be A Billionaire any time!

Beautiful Stewardess

My friend, Lawrence, who was sent to Bangkok by his company, met his girlfriend, who works as an air stewardess for a major airline in Thailand. He showed me her photo and she is really beautiful! Lawrence told me that they are the real "Beauty and the Beast!"

Hearing from Lawrence, she really has an interesting flight attendant career. Can you imagine flying to a few different cities in a week? And after a long haul flight, she gets a long period of holiday too. And let's not forget about the free air tickets that she and her family could use. Lawrence even gets free flights now!

A little while ago, I came across a flight attendant blog and I read that the girls have a pretty stringent schedule to keep up with. You really have to be in tip top condition to be a flight attendant. Well, you have to be if you have the world literally at your feet!

According to Lawrence, she attended a flight attendant school so she had no problem coping with the demands of her job. She is already conditioned to handle all sorts of people and situation. That's what they teach at the school, I was told. Since she graduated from a flight attendant school, she even has a brighter prospect at work than those who did not.