Are you Applying For Maxis IPO?

Frankly, an IPO at RM5.20 is not normally one that I would apply for but based on the track record of Maxis, not the current general share market sentiment, I think this is not a chance that stock players should pass up on especially if they qualify for restricted balloting, applying with the blue form or better still, green form, which is reserved for members of Maxis One Club.

If you follow my blog, you would know that I subscribe to Celcom but my brother subcribes to Maxis, and also Celcom and DiGi, and like all Maxis subscribers, received a text message about a chance to participate in this restricted balloting so I am coming up with the capital and we are going to share the profits, if any.

Actually, there isn't much time between the launch and the closing dates, only about a week, and it will be a mad rush for interested people who do not yet have a CDS account but those who live in Kuala Lumpur have an advantage because they can hand deliver their applications but for the rest of us, we have to send by ordinary mail. My mother says that Maxis is insincere. LOL

Normally, I apply for IPOs online via Mayban2U and I wouldn't even bother with application forms because it takes up too much time. This is an exception. Let's hope that it is going to worth all the runaround.

Purchasing A New Car

If you have been following my blog, you would know that I planned to buy my own car. I have a budget of $5000 which is enough to buy a 20-year-old Japanese make car but with the new conditions imposed under the NAP, I have to increase my budget by 50% which would only be good enough to buy a 10-year-old local car.

My friend, Mike, also owns an older car and he says that it is no longer viable to continue using it when the new conditions take effect. He plans to purchase a new car since his car is giving him mechanical problems already anyway. Whilst that would increase his monthly expenses by at least $400, he said that he could cover part of it thanks to the monthly Car Allowance that he receives from his company.

Actually, Mike's job scope qualifies him the use of a company car but since the company is doing away with that, Mike has to use his own car. I told Mike that it's timely that he is replacing his car. After all, when Mike is out meeting clients, he is projecting the image of his company and he can't do that too well driving his older car. With a new car, people would have more confidence in him. This is a materialistic world, whether we like it or not.

Budget For The People?

Budget 2010 was unveiled yesterday and boy, isn't it the same old tune again that it's for the people? Frankly, going through the list of supposed goodies, I cannot see anything concrete that would benefit ordinary people like myself.

Sure, you can say that the maximum tax cut has been reduced from 27% to 26% but what good does this do? Do we all earn that high an income? Definitely not.

University students get to buy a netbook package via an installment plan of RM200 per month for two years with free broadband but are we all university students? Do university students REALLY need netbooks to study? Isn't a netbook luxury? RM200 per month with free broadband thrown in may seem attractive but what are the specifications of the netbook? Who would really benefit from this proposed budget? A certain netbook manufacturer and a certain internet service provider, of course.

Another ridiculous item on Budget 2010 is the "service fee" of RM50 that will be imposed annually beginning 1st January, 2010, on all credit and charge cards supposedly as a measure to promote more prudent spending. This RM50 "service fee" is on principal cards while RM25 is on supplementary cards, including cards that have been issued free of charge.

What would REALLY promote prudent spending is not by imposing a service fee but to limit the number of credit and charge cards that we could own based on our income levels. Now, I believe this would really help. By imposing a service fee on the millions of credit cards around the country, again, who are the real beneficiaries?

Hefty Insurance Premium

My friend, T, told me that his insurance agent told him that he now qualifies for an upgrade to his insurance plan but for a limited time period only. T said that although it's a very attractive plan, if he were to get life and medical insurance inclusive of 36 critical illnesses until the maximum age of a hundred years old he would be paying premium to the tune of half a million dollars!

I thought that it's pretty hefty and wondered if one really needs that much insurance. How much is enough, actually? T said that he has to compare life insurance quote online first before committing to the new upgraded plan. It's not a short term financial commitment, you see, and because he is self-employed with no fixed pay at the end of the month, this commitment could be rather scary!

FIVE Months

Yesterday, 19th October, 2009, marked five months since Snoopy became invalid. Who is counting? It looks like only I am. The days seem too long; I am kept totally busy and yet at the end of the day, I felt like I have done nothing, NOTHING, at all. Life is short and I should move on but what can I do?

A friend asked if it was a good idea to keep Snoopy. What can I answer? Definitely this isn’t something that I wanted, but I am stuck too, you know? Snoopy has definitely outlived my expectations in view of his physical condition but then there are many invalid people who continue to live for YEARS! *shudders*

I KNOW I have spent too much time and energy taking care of a dog; JUST a dog, but Snoopy only has me while I could have many more dogs in the future if I wanted to. Could I leave Snoopy to die? I can’t do it. I’m so sad, nobody knows ……

Helpful Quit Smoking Information

Many of my friends are smokers. I ask them all the time what is so nice about smoking and they can't answer me because they know it's not cool, it’s bad for health and second hand smoke is bad for the people around them and yet they continue to smoke because they couldn't stop.

A friend, T, recently managed to quit smoking. It has been six months already and I would say that he is only a handful of people I know who managed to quit smoking successfully. T said that although he has tried to kick the habit before, he was not successful because he personally did not want to quit. He tried to quit because his girlfriend asked him to. This time, he wanted to do it and his willpower was very strong. Even though he continues to spend time with his friends who are smokers, he never felt tempted to smoke again.

There is a lot of helpful Quit Smoking Information on the internet and I guess a smoker who intends to quit needs to find a method that he is most comfortable with. T said that one day he decided to quit and so just stopped smoking altogether. Going cold turkey is not for everyone because it is the toughest method. T said that he suffered from ALL withdrawal symptoms but they only lasted a week.

The good thing about quitting smoking is that a smoker's lungs would be back to a non-smoking condition after about a year of not smoking. And T told me that he is now paying for a new car with the money he saved not buying cigarettes. And he now qualifies for a non-smoker discount on his insurance too!

Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2009

Although tomorrow is the first day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, Nine Emperor Gods temple around the world are receiving the deities from nearby rivers or sea tonight. I am going to miss this event this year, which will last for a total of nine days, because of Snoopy.

My friend sent me a text message just now letting me know that he spotted many women dressed in hot pants and blouses with plunging necklines at the temple. And then there are plenty of smoking Ah Bengs and advertisements by beer companies.

Well, I think that there is a time to do anything and certainly, this isn't the time to be dressed in clothes like that. Neither is this the time to be advertising beer. The Nine Emperor Gods are very strict and temple committee members have to be on strict vegetarian diet, abstain from smoking, gambling and sex, and also talk in the most respectful manner without peppering the speech with foul words.

But then again, religion is from the heart and even if we follow all those rules to a T and yet are not religious, it doesn't mean anything, right?

Even Lower Auto Insurance Interest Rate

My friend, Terrence, happily informed me that he received an approval for his auto loan and he is now waiting patiently for the delivery of his new car, a Myvi. Terrence told me that his loan is for RM29000 and the loan period is for five years at 3.5% interest rate per annum.

I thought that the interest rate was pretty attractive already thanks to a soft auto market but Terrence said that if he were to buy a car that is not as popular as a Perodua, he would even an even lower interest rate. I think it's true as I saw an advertisement offering only 2.5% per annum but I didn't know why there was such a huge difference.

Even so, Terrence decided to go with the majority of new car purchases. He said that he is afraid that he would encounter problems looking for auto accessories and spare parts some time in the future when his warranty period has expired. Well, that may be true. I wouldn't know since I have never owned a car before.

Deepavali: The Festival Of Lights & Firecrackers

I'm not living in multi-cultural and multi-religion Malaysia if I do not have Hindu readers. So in conjunction with Deepavali, I would like to wish all who are reading this and who are celebrating Deepavali, "Happy Deepavali. May the light illuminate your heart."

After doing some research on the web, I have found that Deepa means LIGHT in Tamil while Avali means A COLLECTION OF LIGHTS.

I also understand that while Malaysians refer to the Festival of Lights as Deepavali, Northern Indians know Deepavali as Diwali. So there are actually two names for this day and we use them interchangably in Malaysia now.

Last night, Snoopy slept early so I followed suit but was rudely awoken by the blasting of firecrackers at the stroke of midnight. SIGH... I thought that Deepavali is the Festival of Lights. Now it is the Festival of Firecrackers too.

Yet Another New Blogger

My cousin, Rich, who just started college this year, told me that he would like to start a blog. Somehow being a blogger seems to be an IN thing among his new friends. Moreover, with the start of a new chapter in life, he has many new things going on in his life to share with his family and friends.

I advised Rich to start self-host his blog and not use a free blogging service like I did. I started on the wrong footing and I have my regrets because of it but Rich should learn from my mistake. Moreover, with me to help him set up a WordPress blog and guide him along the way, he should encounter as many bumps in his new blogging journey like I did.

There are many web hosts that offer low cost hosting services tailored for new blog and small websites that Rich should look into. These are budget-friendly and he could upgrade his package sometime down the line when his blog gains more traffic. For more information, Rich could check out the top ten web hosting companies recommended by Web Hosting Choice. All these companies come with a comprehensive review so we know their strong points; from best host to best support, low price to fastest growing.

Bye Bye Nokia N97!

I couldn't stand having to charge my Nokia phone a few times a day and having my phone conversations abruptly cut off midway as my charger was not on hand so I finally asked my father to help me buy a compatible battery for my phone thinking that I would be upgrading soon, WHEN I could get away from the house to go mobile phone hunting.

My father came home within 30 minutes and told me that he has bought an original Nokia battery. He said that a compatible one is sold at RM40 while the original RM80 and it is not worth to buy a compatible one since it doesn't last. The funny thing is that the original battery DID NOT come with any packaging. I KNOW that original batteries have Nokia packaging but I didn't make an issue out of the. The funnier thing is that the shop is offering a year warranty for the battery. I don't know if Nokia does offer warranties for batteries. Do they?

Anyway, since I have spent RM80 on the battery, it looks like I will not be changing to another mobile device anytime soon. If this is an original battery, it could last me at least 3 to 5 years assuming that I do not use my mobile device as a modem as regularly as I did previously. So there goes my dream Nokia N97. Well, unless someone gets me that for my birthday. Heehee!

Every Little Bit For The Environment

I know that we have read too much about protecting the environment but how many of us put it to use? It makes a lot of difference even if all of us just contribute a little to the environment, and it starts from home.

I have been recycling for as long as I could remember; turning cardboards into postcards and sending old greeting cards to an orphanage in Penang so that they could turn them into fancy decorations to be sold for a small profit to upkeep the home. I hand down clothes and books to charitable organizations and sell all the old newspapers to be recycled.

However, all these aren't enough. I was watching a TVB drama, Life Art, the other day, and Little Kenny said that we should use hand dryers instead of toilet paper to dry our hands to help save some trees. I never thought of this before and I have to admit that I have ALWAYS used toilet paper to dry my hands after using the hand dryer because I thought my hands were not dry enough. Next time an opportunity like this arises, I am going to make sure that I use the hand dryer only.

Are Ipoh Folks Different?

No, I don't think so. We also have two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth. Well, at least the majority of us do! I think the fact that some people think that Ipoh folks are different and "ulu" is because Ipoh people have less expandable income, hence we spend less on food, clothes, etc.

Who doesn't want to use the latest devices, dress in the latest fashion and eat at the swankiest places? All these cost money, something that most Ipoh folks are not able to spend on, otherwise home and auto loans will not be serviced; parents and children will not have their allowances for the months. Well, you get the drift.

This doesn't make Ipoh folks kiamsiap. This doesn't make Ipoh folks out-dated. And certainly, this doesn't make Ipoh folks kampung-ish. I am in Ipoh and I know that most of us are just trying to live within our means because we are not paid as much as our counterparts in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru due to the misconception that Ipoh enjoys a lower cost of living. In addition, most of us do not have as many opportunities to earn extra income as those who are in bigger cities.

I'm A Skinny Panda

My panda eyes are back. Well, what did I expect when I don't get to sleep when Snoopy is not sleeping? Caring for him just makes me old, not only mentally but physically as well because it is just so taxing. And it's just one more week to hit five months. That's pretty long and I am surprised that he is surviving as long as this.

You know, I've lost so much weight, there are dark circles under eye and my skin is all wrinkly and the only thing that didn't happen is that my skin didn't break out. Well, at first, when Snoopy fell ill, I had a gigantic pimple on my nose. Once that cleared, I didn't suffer another zit. Strange, huh? Normally, I would break out all over my face already because of the stress. Perhaps, I have finally found the perfect product for my skin.

This morning, I didn't get to sleep again and was awake from 2am - 7am. I was very sleepy, though and even Kevin Cheng couldn't keep me awake. You can imagine how cranky I was. I still am!

Rest In Peace, Stephen Gately

Like the rest of the pop world, I am still in shock over the sudden death of Stephen Gately yesterday. While like Michael Jackson, I am not a huge fan of him, I did grow up listening to boybands, one of them being Boyzone, just like I grew up in the 1980s listening to Michael Jackson.

I remember the emergence of Boyzone, along with the likes of Bros, New Kids On The Block, Take That and Westlife. And then subsequently, there were newer boybands like Blue.

Even though I didn’t particularly idolize Boyzone, I thought that Stephen Gately was the cutest guy in the band, even though Ronan Keating was the band leader. Well, there are clichés that say cute guys are gay and the good looking ones die young. So I guess Stephen Gately proved both to be correct, unfortunately.

At this point, we still have no idea how he died and under what circumstances but the fact is that the world has lost yet another talented entertainer. Rest in peace, Stephen Gately. You will be missed.

Update: Stephen Gately is said to have died from choking on his own vomit.

Shifting Focus To Silver

My neighbor, Mr. F, who is quite an old hand in investing in commodities and precious metals, told me that because gold price has risen so much lately, investors with fresh funds have now shifted focus to other precious metals, particularly silver, instead of continuing to chase after gold. Silver may be known as the poor man's gold, it may no longer be so. Did you know that while silver is very popular for us in Asia, it has only just been discovered by European traders and investors? This also helps to drive the price higher.

Mr. F also told me that trading activity for silver increased in 2009 by leaps and bounds and one of the sustaining factors for the price shall be the increased holdings of silver by the Exchange Traded Funds to $2.9 billion, which translates to a massive 8348 tonnes of silver.

The purchases of silver in bullion bars and coins last year had been tremendous, something that we had not witnessed for a long time. Actually, this is true not only for silver but also for most other minerals and metals, probably because of the shoring up by growing super economies like China and India. If you are familiar with the commodity market, you will notice that trading of silver has continued almost unabated. Like I said, this was helped by investors who are no longer willing to commit fresh fund into the investment of gold. I think that they expect gold to experience a price correction soon since it has risen so high, so quickly over these past months.

You know, although I have always wanted to invest in precious metals because they require no topping up of capital or maintenance or even regular attention, it is too bad that I have missed the boat this time around. Of course I could still go in at this point but the risk is greater compared to the last couple of years, a risk that I am not willing to take. I guess I will have to hold my horses and wait for another sterling opportunity.

The Happy-Go-Lucky Me

I remember the time when I was in school and I was this happy-go-lucky person who was well known for my loud laughter. I would laugh even at the slightest things and sometimes I would smile to myself and people would ask me what was so amusing and to share with them.

Don't get my wrong. I have a bad family background too and every day was a struggle for us yet I didn't get bogged down by all those troubles mainly, I think, because I didn't feel the heat of it. And even though I laughed a lot, I was not the fat girl that you probably had in your class as well. You know, those jolly rolly polly girls.

This past five months, and even way before that, have been most trying for me, so much so that I have forgotten how to laugh. I yearn to feel the light-heartedness again but it's so tough; my mind is so tired, I am physically totally exhausted, so much so that I don't even feel like talking.

As usual, my question would be, “When will this end??” It’s a week to FIVE long months. I know it will end sooner or later but I just need to move on.

A Slave To Material Possessions

A friend knows that I am planning to purchase a car and since he is buying a Perodua Myvi now, he is updating me on his progress. My friend wanted to pay cash for the car but somehow, ended up taking a minimum loan of RM29,000. He said that the loan period is five years, which has the most reasonable interest rate compared to three or nine years. Of course the agent was trying to sell him a nine-year plan but the interest rate was way higher.

I was doing calculations on the monthly expenses he is now committed to with a new car and frankly, I am shocked. Remember, this is just a Myvi. Car installment comes up to close to RM500 per month. Living in Kuala Lumpur, where a lot of roads are tolled, conservatively, he has to spend RM25 per day on petrol and toll, and that's just driving in the City.

Paying for the car and fuel will come up to RM1250 per month and this will have to go on for five years. That's the duration of the loan. Well, we still have not taken into account road tax and insurance and miscellaneous expenses like transportation fare should the car be sent to the workshop. Well, it's covered by a five-year warranty plan but one still needs to move about even when the car is sick, right?

A few of my friends told me to buy a Perodua Viva. It is compact; a ladies' car. But frankly, all these figures scare me. I don't want to be a slave to material possessions. I don't want to spend the next five years of my life slogging at work, forgetting about everything else, just so I could maintain a car. I think I better stick to my plan of buying a 3rd hand car, paying cash for it. I just need a car to move around Ipoh, that's all. I don't need a spanking new car to do so, do I?

A Change Of Environment

My friend, Stella, told me that since she has been laid off work, it would be a good idea to go back to school, pick up some skills and upgrade herself and then only start looking for a job. Probably by then it would be an employee market again.

Stella told me that she has been scouting for cosmetology schools in indiana. She lives in a neighboring state but is looking forward to be away from the family for a little while for a change in environment. I agree that sometimes, we need something like this, a breathing space, to grow.

Stella hasn't decided exactly what she wants to do but she said that without work pressure, she could focus better on upgrading herself. This has been at the back of her mind for a long time but something would always come up at the last moment and she would procrastinate. Losing her job seems to be a blessing in disguise. At least it would be a good opportunity to finally do what has been long delayed.

Catching Up On Kevin Cheng Dramas & Movies

For lack of entertainment at home having been housebound for the past 4.5 months to care fo Snoopy, my bedridden dog, I have once again turned to dramas and movies.

I discovered Kevin Cheng recently and have since watched nothing but Kevin Cheng only. I started with Hard Fate, then The Seventh Day, followed by Under The Canopy of Love and now I am in the midst of watching Life Art, a rather slow paced drama but I don't care. LOL

Now waiting for me, I have Forensic Heroes II, The Ultimate Crime Fighter, Last one Standing, Burning Flame III and Super Fans, a 2007 Kevin Cheng movie.

Of course, there are still quite a lot of older dramas and movies by Kevin Cheng that I have yet to get access to. Old dramas are not easy to find but I am not going to give up easily as well. It would be nice to see a younger Kevin Cheng, though it is still difficult to believe that he is already 40 years old. It's so unfair that he doesn't look it at all. LOL

Upping Traffic, Sales & Profit Through Business Web Directories

My friend, Victor, has been pretty frustrated lately. He told me that he would be lucky if he managed to clinch ten sales a month through his online store. When he first set up the store selling men's jewelry and accessories, he had big dreams for it. It's a niche market targeted at metrosexual men, men who wouldn't mind paying a little more to look good.

As an eCommerce store owner as well, I know that the problem with Victor's store is not in its choice of merchandise but rather something that could be solved if traffic is upped. Once the traffic starts flowing in, sales would increase, which means a healthier profit.

I told Victor that he could try to list his online store at an online web directory like DMOZ. It's a human-edited open directory project so his application may be rejected. If so, there are others like Yahoo! Directory to try to get into. I trust that once his store receives this extra exposure, especially on an authoritative business web directory, he would see a difference in sales. I tried it and it worked for me.

I also told Victor that there are free and paid online web directories but no matter which one he uses, he has to be careful of where he lists his online store for bonus SEO value.

What Is The Right Decision?

Going into four and a half months since Snoopy became invalid, I continue to wonder if we had made the right decision. Of course, if I was the one to decide, I would still keep him although at times I would question if this is the right thing to do. Sometimes he would make me so angry that I just wish I had given him the mercy killing but I know that deep down, I would not be able to justify why I should since he is not deteriorating further.

4.5 months is certainly a long time, a long time to care for him, a long time to stay off work, a long time to halt life just so that I could provide him with the care and support he needs at this point. These past few days, Snoopy has been crying loud and hard occasionally as if he is in pain and once again, I question if this is what we should subject him to.

I could say this is all God's will but it is in our hands to put this to an end. Should we? Could we?

Disneyland!

My sister told me that she is planning a visit to Disneyland with her friend, Evon and Evon's two young children, this Christmas. My sister has been to Disney World numerous times but she expects Disneyland to offer something different and she is sure that the children would love it. I thought that they are too young to appreciate a trip to Disneyland but she says they already know all the Disney cartoon characters! My, how quickly children grow up these days.

Evon plans to book two rooms at hotel anaheim disneyland for the two families for its convenient location. She said she has to do it early even though there are still another two months to Christmas but then Disneyland is such a popular holiday destination they may not be able to get accommodation nearer to Christmas.

SIGH, I wish I could visit Disneyland as well. Even though I am no longer a kid, the magic of Disneyland still fascinates people young and old.

What’s On My Christmas Wishlist

Christmas is still two months away and I have my wishlist up already. I only have one item on my list seeing that wishing for Snoopy to get well and walk again is extremely unrealistic. Since the battery of my Nokia E61i is dead already, I would like to have a new mobile device.

The Nokia N97 seems to be the top smart phone right now. If I could choose, I would love to have the black unit as opposed to white because black certainly looks my classy. My friend bought a white Nokia E71 last year and it gets dirty easily. Where's the class, then?

This Nokia N97 is being sold at MYR2200 currently, which is, frankly, way out of my budget. SIGH!!! I could take out an easy payment scheme and install it over a period of twelve months but I see no justification in getting myself into debt just for the sake owning the latest smart phone.

Anyway, the only option is to wait for someone to gift it to me or to wait for the price to fall, fall, fall and fall until it is low enough for me to buy it. Double SIGH!

Aion MMORPG

Previously when I wrote about the Facebook games that I am addicted to and playing non-stop, like Mafia Wars, Restaurant City and Pet Society, a friend commented that these are not games and are lame. She said that I should try playing REAL games, MMORPGs like aion.

I actually got to know of Aion a couple of weeks ago while forum hopping and chanced upon an aion forum online. It is a fairly new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by a Korean game company. I actually am thinking of playing it due to its interesting storyline and plot. I think the graphics are amazing as well and would be able to keep my mind occupied while I spend my days caring for my invalid pet.

Like other MMORPGs, Aion has various schools and classes. If I do play, I know that my problem will be deciding on the school and class to build my game character on. But I also know that once I start playing, it will take me a massive effort to stop, or at least pause. Yes, I am easily addicted to games, especially when it seems as captivating as Aion, from what I read on the forum.

If I do start playing Aion, it will be my first pay to play game. Subscription fee is US$14.99; not cheap but then not that expensive either and within means too.

New Phone Or New Battery?

The battery of my Nokia E61i has totally died on me. How long have I used it? About three years if memory serves me right. Over this period of time, I have my phone on 24/7 so I guess this contributed to the lifespan of the battery. Besides, I use my device as a modem as well so I am not surprised that it has now died.

Right now, I can't decide if I should just buy a replacement battery, original or compatible or just upgrade to a better model. Buying an original Nokia battery would probably cost me MYR100 - MYR200 while a compatible one is probably sold below MYR100. Upgrading to a newer model would cost a lot more since it is a smart phone and I would really hate to spend more than necessary.

However, my Nokia E61i is under performing. It only supports up to 3G connectivity while I am subscribed to 3.5G. This means that I am paying for a service that I am not able to fully utilize. Anyway, whatever I decide, I can only take action when I am able to free myself from responsibility and commitment of caring for Snoopy.

Online Advertising Spend Surpasses TV

My friend shared an article with me on Facebook which says that online advertising spend has surpassed TV. I am not surprised actually and see that despite the weak economy, businesses continue to promote their products and services online while TV advertisement has fallen drastically, probably because advertising on TV is way more expensive than advertising online.

As you can see, blog advertising remains one of the most popular methods of online advertising. Blogs provide advertisers the eyeballs and search value, something that is very important to stand out from a sea of millions and millions of websites.

In fact, marketing through blogs is a top 5 online advertising form that small business owners use. Like I said, it is best for low budget advertisers and the effect could be viral. Imagine the effects it would have if a post is picked up by other bloggers who would then share the post on their blogs or social networking websites. As an active blogger for the past 3.5 years, I have seen this happening quite a few times and this is a bonus for the advertiser.

Creating a blog specifically for advertising purposes, of course, goes against the spirit of blogging. Bloggers should blog from the heart no matter if they are being compensated for a post or not. A blog is a journal on a public domain which is accessible to anyone so we must always be true to ourselves.

Having said this, there are companies that purposely create fake blogs for the sake of product promotion. Of hand, I can recall a couple of blogs and they were even quite successful. However, I noticed that these fake blogs do not last very long, especially when the hoo-ha over a new product has died down, or when the fake bloggers have been exposed. In any case, blogs are here to stay and blog advertising will always be a relevant web advertising model.

Kevin Cheng & Yoyo Mung Shooting In Hong Kong

My friend, Dan, read about my fascination with Kevin Cheng and how I am trying to watch ALL his dramas and movies. LOL It's quite a difficult task unless I have all the time in the world but I am working on it, I swear!

Dan told me that when he was visiting Hong Kong in September, 2007, he bumped into Kevin Cheng and Yoyo Mung shooting a scene either for a movie or television series. He even has photos to show. As you can see, I have stolen it for my blog.

In this scene, Kevin injured his leg, so I am going to watch out for that when I watch any drama which has Kevin Cheng and Yoyo Mung in it. Right now, I really have no idea what drama it was since Kevin and Yoyo collaborated ion quite a few.

Anyway, Dan made me so jealous. I wish I was there and I would have waited the shooting out so that i could have a picture with them and their autographs too. Dan didn't. Argh!

Reading eBooks On My iPhone

I just realized that I have had my iPhone for almost two years already. Besides using it as a camera and web browser, it is seriously under utilized. Lately, I am using it as my primary mobile phone because the battery of my Nokia has died on me and I have yet to find time to look for a replacement.

I have to admit that I bought the iPhone because of advertising and product differentiation but the iPhone really does have plenty of features. One thing I like about it is its large screen. It is perfect for web browsing and reading eBooks. I love reading but have not touched a book since I discovered the internet years ago so with eBooks, I am still able to read, just not the conventional way!

Now that the iPhone is my primary mobile phone and entertainment device, I plan to make the best use of it and have downloaded plenty of eBooks. I had to search the web on how to read eBooks on iPhone and then download the appropriate eBook reader so that I could open my eBooks to read.

Of course, I could go by trial and error testing each popular eBook reader but why waste good time? I'd rather learn from the experiences of other users who could tell me exactly the kind of eBook readers to use for the various eBook formats.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

It's Mid-Autumn Festival today. How did you celebrate it? The funny thing is that I already ate more than my share of mooncakes way before today! LOL Just now, kids in my neighbourhood came out in droves with their Chinese lanterns. What a sight, something that I haven't seen for years already, probably because my area has more old folks than young but these kids are of a new generation, and their parents came home to visit THEIR parents during this auspicious Chinese festival.

Although today is not a public holiday, it is so apt to have fallen on Saturday so that children could return from the capital city and other places to celebrate with their family in their hometown. Just now, the children and their lanterns reminded me of the time when my brother, sister and I played with our candy wrapper rabbit, rooster and goldfish lanterns. My, that was a LONG time ago!

Have GPS Will Travel

My friend, Stan, asked me to accompany him to buy a GPS device. I laughing asked why he needed one. Is it because he can't find his way back home? He said that he has taken up a sales job and he would need to visit the offices of many clients. He is not familiar with many of the addresses and having a GPS device would make his work easier.

Stan told me that he has to use his own car, which actually belongs to his mother, but the company will reimburse him for the use of it as long as it is for work. According to Stan, the company has a Mileage reimbursement program so he isn't afraid of not getting his expenses back doing company work.

Previously, companies would buy their own cars and assign them to employees but now, I understand that they no longer do that to cut cost and would prefer employees to have their own transportation. I have seen many job listings with this requirement too. See, it doesn’t matter if one has a small or big car or even a motorbike. If one doesn’t have his own transport, he is losing out in the job market already.

Anyway, I am going to look at GPS devices with Stan since I am planning to get one too.