Proton Perdana gets a beating from Malaysians!

When the Proton Perdana first came out at the end of 1994, I think many Malaysians were impressed with the designs, size and status as the first Malaysian made luxury car. It is actually a restyled version of the Mitsubishi Galant in Japan and uses almost the same parts as it's Japan sibling.

My first drive of a Perdana was my friend's mom's car back in Malacca.

Over the years, I have also driven the newer Pedana V6.

Lately, the hottest news around is about the Terengganu state goverment that replaced it's Perdana V6 Executive fleet with 14 Mercedes Benz E200 Kompressor. The state government claims that the cost of running this Malaysian breed vehicles is alarming and some costing more than RM 100k.

From talks with friends and family, the most notable problem is the automatic gearbox. The reason for this is the dramatic accumulation of heat within the gearbox. Over-time, the gearbox loses it's efficiency to change gears accordingly.

Apparently in Japan, the gearbox is fitted with it's own mini-radiator that maintains the temperature of the gearbox from becoming too hot. However, this radiator has been removed from the Perdanas in Malaysia and not forgetting my ex-car, the Wira 1.6. Hence, this would be one of the reasons for the damage in gearboxes in the Perdanas.

A brand new gearbox cost RM 25 k. Reconditioned ones cost RM 2k.

The radiator for the gearbox can be obtained from chop-shops or half-cut shops at around

RM 500 but are rare and you have to modify it to suit your Proton.

One of the reasons, why I sold my old Wira was because of the cost of maintaining it was too high and I guess this is the reason why the Terengganu state government feel the same.

I had to spent lots of money to replace parts which either resolve the problem, temporary resolve the problem or entirely do not resolve the problem. I was so sick of this as I felt it was such a bother that I changed to my current super-economical Myvi 1.3 EZi(I claim that it is economical lah... :P).

From my personal experience that I have shared previously on this blog about the high cost if maintaining my old car:

1. Roof lines accumulate buldges as a result of a certain coat of gum used after few years of use.

2. The bonnet has the same buldge.

3. The automatic gearbox gets cranky and tends to be stubborn at changing at times.

4. High engine-oil consumption. I spent almost RM 1k to fix leaks but the oil loss still persisted.

5. Vibration from engine bay.

6. Water leak on driver side tail end of car due to rust.

7. Rear automatic sunshade spoilt.

8. Master power window spoilt.

9. Boot spring breaks often so need to replace at around RM 80.

With so much talk about replacing the Perdana fleet to Mercedes fleet, some exco members from other states had suggested using the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry as another alternative to saving cost especially during the current high fuel prices.

My suggestion is why don't the Federal government really consider this and change the Perdana fleet to high-brid cars if indeed that the main reason here is due to the high running cost. We don't have to sell high-brid cars first then only use them as government cars. A small batch can be imported in for our leaders. The Toyota Camry High-brid would be the best option! It would be a good example for other nations to follow suit especially during this time with the global fuel hike and the concern for global warming.

World Youth Day 2008

World Youth Day 2008 is a Roman Catholic youth festival and will take place in Sydney, Australia and the event has already begun this Wednesday and will end this Sunday with mass by Pope Benedict XVI .


About 250 000 people are expected to attend this gathering and half of them are from around the world.


The pope did broadcast a text-message to pilgrims who registered for the event:

"The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles and gives u the power boldly 2 proclaim that Christ is risen! - BXVI."


It is a time for pilgrims to gather and share their stories on how God has touched them and changed their lives.


Let us pray that pilgrims attending this event will be safe amongst the large crowd and find meaning from this event that will not only impact them but also the people that surround them when they return home.


Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd welcoming the pope:

Give them their compensation!

Baby Lai Yok Shan has turned 1 yrs old already. She was the baby that lost her left arm due to a medical error.

"Yok Shan lost her left arm when it turned gangrenous and dropped off after a houseman at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) inserted an intravenous needle into a muscle instead of a blood vessel when the premature baby was placed in an incubator." - The Star

The government had initially proposed RM 60 000 as compensation to what had happened to the girls parents. The parents rejected it.

Is that amount acceptable to the loss of a human's full ability to live especially in this IT savvy world where there is an extensive use of computers?

She may have the potential to be a very outstanding person if it weren't for that impairment that has scarred her her whole life when she was actually born like any normal kid. I do not mean to offend people with such disabilies as not outstanding but as most people know the realities of life with a disability is not easy especially on this land.

Is the RM 60 000 sufficient for her to help her throughout her life-time?

That is unless the government will promise to provide non-monetary aid and basic necessities as well like food, shelter, education aid and health aid. Still, the amount is not enough to bare the high cost of living especially with the recent hike in petrol.

The family is tired and fed up that there is no more news about the compensation that they have asked for. Why is this taking so long when our government agencies are so called equipped with state-of- the art equipment and bragging about having staff who are graduates from top local universities?

The kid's parents are deffinitely concerned how they are going to support her, the baby's welfare and the compulsary compensation that they are trully entitled to. This is with consideration that the family are tax payers and adhering to the taxes emposed to them by the government.

This is trully sad to hear how citizens are being mistreated or should I say treated without respect when they are loyal to their king and country.

Where is the confidence level that we citizens should have for the government hospitals that are mushrooming in our country as a result of the governments perception of more talented and more locally trained medical practitioners in our country considering what has happened to this kid?

I hope the government will look into this seriously and rightfully grant the family the compensation that they deserve.

A suggestion would be instead of having more lavish banquets for open-house this year for Hari Raya and Hari Merdeka and God knows what, we should think of our fellow countrymen who are in greater need of help. I am sure that we can sacrifice the extra ketupat and rendang to fill up the stomachs of our already bloated statesmen.

Getting re-accustomed to KL

When I was doing my Industrial Training. I lived in Subang and got used to the life here adjacent to KL and Petaling Jaya.



It is no doubt very fast paced and swamming with people who I can see want a piece of the pie in this money making pot. When it comes to long holidays and festive seasons, they return home to their hometowns like Ipoh and Penang.



Two years in Dell Penang has been great and enough for me. In terms of growing in my career, I feel Penang has little to offer especially in my career in IT. Hence, I have realized that it's KL to expand my career and achieve my goals and with my partner to be.



I have signed up with SAP Malaysia to do a 25 days full-time course where I should obtain my certification in Basis(a major component in SAP). SAP is a Business software that is being purchased and used by big time players in the market from car manufacturers to oil and gas companies.



After I complete my course, I should have a buffer to find for a job. I will need to start at the bottom as I am new to the industry.



When I was in KL registering for the course, these are the pics that I took to remind myself of this place that I will to grow together with:

Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad with the tallest Jalur Gemilang flagpole

Menara KL in the background off Jalan Raja Chulan

KLCC. I MMS this pic to Ruby as I walked out of KL Convention Centre after the registration.

The importance of a Name

I was having beers with two Eurassian uncles few minutes ago at Arathis.

We were talking about so many things. Being the rookie, they offered advise or should I call it the lessons of life.

One interesting advise that caught my attention was this:

"We are given a name since we were born and we will live with the name till we die. Never ever change ones name for 'pussy' (women)".

I did understand where this uncle was coming from.

Clearly today we see lots of people; friends and even family members; that convert to other religions because of getting involved with people of different beliefs.

Honestly, I do understand that love is strong. We should love a person regardless of what they are and whatever they believe in.

I guess it depends on peoples preferrence and what they see important in life.

As for me, I love my friends and family members although of different beliefs. I also feel this is what makes Malaysians so unique and what keeps our country strong. I am trully in support of "bangsa Malaysia".

Fear... the biggest obstacle!

It was my third and final session of talks on healing held at my church. The talks were primarily to boost morale and motivate parishners of our church both spiritually and also in relations to real-life scenarios. To end the session, Father Simon talked about fear.

Fear can impact us in so many ways.

Here are some examples:

1. Fear of losing an argument with somone, we fight all out without considering their feelings.

2. Fear of being laughed at by our co-workers/ friends, we keep quiet when we know we are right.

3. Fear of not scoring good results, we achieve lower than the results we set out to achieve.

Fear can actually bring down our true potential and morale for doing things we set out to achieve. It tends to also lower our level of confidence. Sometimes the things that we fear of happening actually do really happen as a result of how we think. I have said this before that our emotions do speak through our actions.

Perhaps, when encountered with a task that you may not have a ready solution, be calm and stay focus on how to go about it. Common sense also does help and I am one who does not believe that there is such thing as stupid. In the instance that we as individuals have exhausted all possibilities, look for a friend who has the experience to help.

Malaysia highlighted on CNN!

It was an extraordinary change of feelings to be proud of my country being highlighted on CNN Home.

This is an interesting article:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/24/malaysia.lipstick.ban/index.html

In the midst of adapting to the hike in petrol price in Malaysia to finding alternative sources of energy, we have done it again by being in the international spotlight! Malaysia Boleh!

Are you proud to be a Malaysian?

Happy Feet!

Relax . Fun . Laughter . Originated from Turkey's hot springs, Garra Rufa fish is known for their specialty to nibble away dead skins and helps to bring the glow back. They are also known for their therapeutic micro massages once you get past the ticklish sensations. So, come to Happy Feet and give your feet a well deserved thank you and kisses from Dr. Fish! - http://www.gosh.com.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=179&Itemid=30

We got this advertisement circulating via emails around Dell. We decided to go ramai2 with friends but it was hard to find a suitable time to go for all of us. The shop is located at New World Park, Burmah Road, very near to the stage where they do performances.

So Ruby and I decided to book an appointment at 4.30 pm on Wednesday, the last day of the promotions @ RM 18. Normal price RM 28.

As per the pic above, one needs to submerse their feet in the water and the Garra Fura fish will come and nibble. I thought they will lay their eggs on my legs as I have hairy legs but thankfully they just nibbled! I thought I could just submerse my legs into the pond to kill the fish but everyone has to wash their feet first at a special place behind the shop and you are provided with the shops own slippers and a small towel to wipe later.

A kid came in at first with wounds and blisters on his legs so the shop owner got a bit cautious so plastered him up with plasters to avoid contamination to water and harm to fish.

It was ticklelish at first and you really feel like you getting electric impulses on your feet. After some time, you kinda get used to it. You get to see a swam of fish surrounding ur feet nibbling away.

Ruby feeling ticklelish!

Base on our observation, the fish feed more on womens feet because of the lotions that women put on their feet.

The Happening

It was Friday the 13th! I try to be cautious with everything I do although I do know that bad things can still happen although foreseeing them.

Naina and Ruby wanted to do something a little extra to commemorate this one day in the year.

So they suggested to go for The Happening, an apparently eerie movie. I was like what the heck so I agreed to join them. The invite was extended to Flo, Brian, Damian, Sharifah and Diq.

I fetched Ruby and headed to Gurney Plaza to catch the 11 pm movie. Before that, had my Ayam Goreng McD at 9 plus coz no mood to have dinner alone that day as Ruby had her own plan for dinner. Haha! I sound damn manja!

So back to the movie experience, we went up to the cinema and for the first time, we were the first to get there. Then followed by Diq and Sharifah and the rest. The rest came in Naina's Myvi! Haha! I had to say it coz I just love Myvis and glad I own one myself!

We entered the cinema. I already knew what I was getting myself into but played cool and macho. 5 mins into the movie, a character who is a woman stabs herself with a chopstick that she used to hold her hair. Shortly later construction workers jump off a building and fall to the ground with a loud thud.

This phenomenan has an unknown reason how it started or why it happened so rampantly apparently in th US. Basically it is caused by sudden difference in chemicals from one neuron to another neuron in the body which mentally affects the human body. God forbid that such a catastrophy will not happen.

Blady hell I was freaking scared balls! I was getting really stressed with how horrifying the movie was and felt like having a fag. I was tensed and did not move much from my seat. Ruby followed the movie very well and she had the ussual sudden shakes and gestures of shock and surprise. So it added to the whole thrilling experience of watching the movie.

She thought I didn't like the movie but I found it to be very creative and it managed to catch my attention although scary. Only have to admit I get scared easily while watching this kinda movies.

Later that night, I told her the truth and she smiled. I told her in order to overcome my fears, we gonna watch Kung-Fu Panda next ! Haha! This cartoon is endorsed by Melody, Hazzel and Ah Soon!

Other scary moments from the movie; old woman bangs head through glass till bleed, people shoot themselves, driver drives jeep right smack into a tree etc. You gotta see the rest for yourselves guys!

Bukit Genting last Saturday 14/6/2008

Bukit Genting is a privately owned agriculture estate at the top of a hill on the way to Balik Pulau where you can have reasonably good and tasty food and to just relax. It is a steep 1.5km from the foot to the top of the hill.

My little Myvi made it up there with Ruby, Naina and Tracy. Hazzel, Ah Soon and Seow Hui came in their Satria.

From the top you can see, the Andaman Sea on the west and the mainland on the east.

It was a clear day, so we had a good view. When it came night, the view on the land below were lit like yellow-come-orange fire flies.

Bukit Genting on the other hand has it's own man made beauties and reminded me something like a little Disneyland with the lights.

Ruby and me

Look at the animals below.

He has a few fountains as part of the water features up there:

Here is one of the beautiful concrete creations of a horse in motion which was so cool:

For dinner, to name a few, we ordered steam fish, fried kangkung, sotong, Thai green curry, omellette and belacan chicken. For drinks we had 3 jugs of herbal tea. The food and drinks there is quite nice and I wouldn't say damn fantastic. Per person it was like RM 22. They claim that the place is pork free but I am uncertain if the place qualifies as "halal".

Above us where we sat for dinner, there were "Morning Glory's" growing above us. It kind of made the place stuffy rather than open air so it got kinda warm.

Scientifically base on my theory, carbon dioxide from us was trapped and plants could not absorb the carbon dioxcide for photosyntesis as no sunlight. Carbox dioxcide actually absorbs heat, hence the warmness. Wow !

Also, there were lots of mosquitos being so deep in a secluded estate and Tracy even categorized the area as out of civilization. Haha!

We had a good laugh talking about work and the latest gossip. Haha!

After Bukit Genting, Haz suggested we go for some drinks at Crystal Point. I can't remember the name of the bar neither I had photos as left the camera in the car. The guys had beer while the girls had stout! All in all, it was a great time we spent together more like friends rather than colleagues even as a small group.

Gim Seong and Kelly's Wedding 2008

Gim Seong was my monitor in form 4 and 5 and classmate from form 1 to 5 in SXI. Kelly is my colleague from Dell. I was informed of his wedding via a chain email that ended up in my Dell email address. Ruby and I agreed to go for the wedding on 1 June 2008

Most of our old friends from school days were there and we occupied 3 tables solely dedicated to SXI boys and not forgetting their "partners".

Here is the group photo of the "batangs" @ SXI boys including the white shirt guy in front of me who is non-SXI!

Here is a group photo of the SXI boys and "partners".

Here is a nice pic of Ruby and me:

The guys had a group song to be sung on stage title "When You Say Nothing at All" by Ronan Keating(excluding Lai Hee and me who were taking photos):

Overall, it was a great moment and we had mostly not met in like 8 years since left school. There were still shouts for Kah Hee who was present which reminded me of the days his name could be heard along the corridors of SXI and when an Add Maths teacher called Zidan who looked like the footballer asked "What kind of pleasure we get from calling his name".

The gathering of old friends reminded me of the days when were into mini-4-wheel drive cars which we played in SXI drains, moments in the school band, plastic football at the court-angles, canteen fried rice, sports day, basketball, Kelab Bimbingan and Kaunseling, canteen day, openday @ report card day etc.

Aji Noren

It was Friday, after a long and dreadful week at the office! Haha! No lah wasn't so bad. :P

Ruby was telling me about this Japanese place that she wanted to take me for dinner at Prima Tanjung in Fettes Park, name as per this blog post title.

We reached there around 7.30 pm after lepaking at my place. We kinda missed our tables earlier because I was engrosed with some fella's blog that Ruby was showing me on my computer.
Haha!

First we sat at those kind of old coffee shop benches, where the table is in the middle of two rows of benches.


It was cozy with very light touch of Japanese interior design. They had a water feature kind of thing at the centre of the shop. There were two tortoises, each put into one bowl. There was one which barely had a place to move in the bowl.

Then there was a table available where we had to sit on the floor ala Japanese style. Ruby suggested we take it and I was all game for it as you know I love trying out new things. But then, after sometime sit on the floor like that, leg pain. There was one table that had a square hole in the floor where you can just hang your legs from the wooden elevated floor of the shop but I guess this won't be the ultimate Japanese dinning experience.

I had sliced pork, sesame rice, fried potato, miso soup and watermelon.

Ruby had almost the same thing except fish as her main course.

We ordered additional fried prawns and salmon skin sushi.

The price range for a set meal is around RM 20 to RM 30

The food was quite good and I felt damn full! Haha!

Karaoke!

It has been almost a week since my first karaoke session (17/5/2008)! Haha!

Yup! I did it finally. I had always wanted to go and this was the perfect time. Ruby and her dad went to catch up and they ajak me for a session with them! Thank you for the invite!

Initially we had just gone for drinks. Then her dad proposed I sang atleast 1 song. I thought I could have declined to his invitation. Then the rules were set. No song, no go home! Haha!

So I was a little nervous at first coz I never expected to start my first karaoke session in front of someone like Ruby's dad. Paiseh lah coz I really did not know how to sing.

Nonetheless, I thought to myself, this is no competition and most of the people there just sing only although out of tune and wrong tempo! Haha! It suddenly hit me that karaoke is not for professionals and any "joe" can just grab the mic and sing a song.

So I sang and it turned out pretty alright. I followed the changes in colour for the lyrics. Some changed fast and some changed slow. I tried my best to keep up or should I say sang the songs my way! Haha!

Her dad was very encouraging and said he respect me coz even though I did not know how to sing some songs, atleast I tried. I felt really encouraged and went on to sing about 8 songs that night!

Ultimately, I did not want to let go of the mic because it was so fun! I had never had so much fun in so long. I felt so much lighter inside and I felt that singing really took away the stress in me. People encourage you to sing by saying "Just let it go" and that's what I did and I felt so much better. It's very nice to see people hear you sing and clap for you. I felt like a star! I felt like an idol! :P

The club that we went mostly plays oldies and uncle himself really entertained me with "North to Alaska".

I can't wait for my next karaoke session! :D

Perfectionism... a deffinite no go!

How sure are you that if u draw a square with your free hand, you have a perfect square and each intersecting point has a perfect 90 degrees? No one can right?

So is life. A life that we yearn for to be perfect in happiness, success or prosperity!
We want it so badly that we feel that when we have achieved them, we have reached full attaintment. Some of us have, some are still working on it! Life is not like that show "Little House on the Praire" where everything is so nice and everyone smilling. The sun is always shining and the birds always chirping!

Unfortunately life is not so perfect in reality and most of you who read my blog do realize that. We are faced with challenges within and also beyond our capactity. But it makes life more interesting by setting goals and going out to achive them. We may have not 100% reached them but atleast we tried and we are somewhere rather than no where.

I know that if some of you have set such a perfect target to hit, you get disappointed easily if you even fail even a bit. This is without consideration that you had put in the effort but a little more effort may have been required.

When faced with failure, learn and move on. No one can turn back the clock but treat it as something you have learned and continue to develop and grow within. The next time you do that same thing, you would have had the experience in doing it regardless whether good or bad.

Some when faced with failure, just give up and do not even dare try again! Well, look at what went wrong. If you could change it to make it better, do it again. If you can't change it, treat is as a lesson and move on. There is more to life than that 1 thing you aim for!

If you have stress lose it! The stress will kill you! Stress can have such a big influence on our actions and our mental and physical well-being. The mind can make us do anything we want has long we put our heart and soul with it. Stress is not going to change anything but total consideration of the results you have achieved and the effort you have put in is a more worthy attittude to possess. I believe in totality which is the giving of ones best effort to achieve a result.

Lower your expectations of life so that you don't get disappointed so easily. Take life with stride, look forward to every moment good or bad and continue to learn with whatever you have achieved in this world.

Nothing is perfect but has long as your happy with what you have achieved so far this is just going to be the beginning of going all the way to "hit that home run". If not happy learn to be happy and appreciate the things you have. It is always good to be positive but not over confident.

If you have achieved your goals, congrats to you! Otherwise continue to pursue it with the capacity you have and with the knowledge of the external factors that may influence your results.

I am not the perfect person to give advise but I am sharing with you base on my experience. I used to try to be perfect in every possible way but I got disappointed easily and was left burnt out. Then I lowered my expectation on what I wanted out of life and things become easier and happier. I also did achieve some of my goals that I had set!

Sedition... I am kind of confused. :S

I think in any country, before we can find someone guilty of committing a crime, the accused has to go through hearing at the court and a result will come up if someone is guilty or not. We, the rakyat, cannot simply make conclusions if someone is guilty or not. It all depends on the judiciary system and also based on a detailed investigation.

Lately, I have been hearing about this Raja Petra guy from KL. I never heard of him before or may have heard about him but never really bothered knowing. From what I read in The Star these couple of days is that he made seditious remarks on a politician.

His remarks are obviously not going to smear the credibility and reputation that the rakyat have for the politician. I am most certain the rakyat is inteligent enough to vote people base on the credibility to perform their duties and help fight for the needs of the rakyat. Also I am sure the rakyat also is smart enough to understand it is not the rakyat that decides who is right and wrong as it is the perogative of our judiciary system. Neither has his statements have any impact on the findings of the investigation if there is no proof.

Then again what about freedom of speech? Does it exist? I thought there was based on what I heard from our then foreign minister's interview on Hard Talk on the BBC.

Whatever Raja Petra said may or may not be true as it is coming from a rakyat and not a member of the judiciary committee. So from my opinion it doesn't really matter whatever he says if it is true or not.

But this poor guy whom I have just learned is a sensitive, caring and interested member of the rakyat. It clearly shows how concern he is about the stability, harmony and equality of the country. He has dedicated his life towards knowing the politics of the country and even writes his views on how he feels on his website.

So this guy got jailed for like a week for what he did. Court granted him bail that came from equally concerned people about our nation. The guy did not eat food because he said that the food was paid for by the rakyat and that he did not see anyone because there was no reason to.

This man who has a really nice wife and 5 children said something because of his fight to ensure a fair system in our country where everyone should be treated equally by posting his views on that website. I think he most likely wants to share his view and make a few people realize that there is a possibility that such things may happen to us.

He put on a fight and went through all that sh*t for us the rakyat. We do appreciate his views but I guess it all depends on the court. I cannot say I agree with the guy but I will leave it in the hands of our judicial system to decide.

As for this county that I live in and I am proud of, I still have the respect and honour to my king, my country and the laws that surround it. I shall still continue to kibar the Malaysian flag on my Malaysian made car every national day! :D

A very chilled Tuesday

It was another rushing to close cases. Tried my best but stopped at 41. :( All time lowest was 24 last Friday.

Left for the day at 3.30 pm. I was super hungry and felt like the Kolonel's chicken at Larut Road.

At the same time, I could not stand but to fix the master controller for my power window of my Myvi. This is the second time it became faulty and hopefully the last. As still under warranty, got a change FOC. Also the co-driver vanity mirror-sun visor has cracked assumed due to heat or maybe to ketat with the mirror slotted in it. This one pending arrival of stock.

Hungry but still went to Perodua in Tai Shin Street near Gama to get it fixed.

It took like 10 minutes.

Then contemplated to go for KFC or for Mee Sultan at New World. Ahhhh... tough choice.

In the end due to Opex cut cost; Opex is a finance controller in Dell); went for Mee Sultan. Lol!

Apparently, they have changed owners and no more referred to as Mee Sultan. The taste also different but it was good!!! Picture below: Mee goreng with carrot susu @ milk .

Balik rumah, took a bath and slept off!

Ruby came to fetch me at 7 pm for dinner and went for Dim Sum. Same place where we bought the pork puffs the day before. The dim sum was nicer to me as less slimey like the one in Anson Road. Haha!

Picture aboive: Cintra Steet where De Tai Tong Dim Sum is located.

Kenyang and thankful for the food, Ruby drove me home!

BEC at my place

Today left work a lil earlier than ussual being a Monday as we invited over our BEC (Basic Eclesial Community) friends over to our home for their monthly get together.

BEC is actually a area zone group, built up of Catholics from my housing area. Around 20 aunties and uncles came over and had kinda like a pot luck thingy. We supplied the pork puffs.

Mom and dad invited over Ruby for the gathering and coincidently Ruby knew of this place in town off Campbell street selling the mentioned puffs. Initially it was kinda difficult finding the place because so many shops but we successfully spotted the shop called De Tai Tong.

It sells pork puffs and also dim sum at night. Not a bad place to hang out as lots of chairs and tables and not so crowded as other dim sum outlets. Parking is also easy and if you come after 5 pm it was free.

Besides the pork puffs, there was like chicken curry, sandwiches, rojak and not forgetting being typical Pulau Tikus people in this new era, they had to get a cake from Jenny's. Jenny's is next to Bandar Baru (The old Plus Zone). Nice cakes and really cheap. Although I do not know what is the bakers obsession is with the lower mush-mallow layer in most of the cakes.

My parents and the committee had a good time. Ruby and I watched the Travel and Living channel as kinda felt out of place. Haha!

Primarily what was supposed to be a religious meeting which did happen, ended up in discussion on politics, approval to get permission to extend house from the city council etc. It was a venue to catch up on what's going on in their lives. Almost all are retired and enjoying their golden years.

One aunty came up to me and said " Boy, can you give me your mom phone number". She explained to me that if the pork man rides by her place, she will call my mom to alert her that the next stop will be my house.

It is amazing that such simple and thoughful gestures like this still exists in the busy world we live in. I really admire that.

I also told the aunties to come by more often as my mom most of the time is at home so good to hang out at home and catch up. To be honest with you, I do not know what do these aunties talk about but there is substance in their conversations and they take time to explain.

9.47 pm, sent Ruby home as both of us were tired being a long day at work with the pressure of closing cases but a great relaxing evening in front of the telly!

Online... It's My Life!

I so love my Compaq!

In mid 2007 last year, I decided to try to keep up with technology and go for a new computer / workstation. Intrigued by the ability to go anywhere and wireless, prompted me to get a laptop. It was a worth well investment and also for the money I paid for. I am a very tuff customer and hard to please. :P

Basically, my concern was that I wanted a system with bigger hardrive, faster and ability to go mobile.

I am so in love with going online and you could call it my past-time. Actually, going online has become so much part of my life!

The fact that you are reading my blog is proof of the wealth of information from news to gossip there exists on the www.

Just Google it! That was one of the phrases I learnt back in MMU those days. Info on love, product details and programming source codes are all here. In todays world with the thirst for knowledge, I can't help but learning new things. I may not be the smartest of people but I always wonder how things work.

I am so into motivation, horoscopes and tips on living that I can find them all here. Most importantly it's free. Sometimes in life, you need some added boost or guidance towards effective living and for me it works and I can find all the motivation I need here.

I have been following up on politics mainly in the US and also the recent awareness in global warming. Well, atleast I am aware about things that are happening globally in the world I live in today.

Tech news has always been my favourite and I can find it on pcworld.com. There are so many new gadgets from miniature computers to cool mobiles.

I get news of the latest softwares from downloads.com. This place is like a heaven to fully maximize the usage of your computer. Did you know there are softwares to make your computer go faster?

Not forgetting my love in automobiles, I can find info from forums like my myvi.com.my, paultan.org and autoworld.com

Also, theres the luxury of keeping in touch with buddies. Friendship to me is an integral part of my life. With friends that I have made from Penang right up to Mauritius, it can be hard to keep up with everyone. But with the inovation of MSN, YM, Friendster, Skype, it has bridged the gap. I call and speak to my best friend in Australia almost every week. However, there are times when I get bored and call him on my mobile. Hahha! :P

I have never been more musically inclined in my life! I now download songs of today and from yester years. Just imagine listening to the Jackson 5, James Taylor and Richine Valens on your modern daylaptop! I bet some of you don't even know these legends. The songs are so real! Then theres of course the new ones like T.I.P. (my current most fav song from him is "You Know What It Is"). Haha!

I am not really into downloading movies because of the long wait to download. I just malas to leave my beloved laptop on for too long. Haha!

Having said all this, you may think I am a geek. But for those who really know me, I really try to balance everything I do from friends, family, hobbies, work and play.

Going online has just become an avenue for me to live my life more effectively and find meaning in so many ways.

Some of you may wonder, what the hell am I so fascinated about turning my laptop on and going online. Do I have a secret affair with someone online? Am I talking bad about someone?

Anyway, it is my life and as an adult I know better than to live it with respect to others.

Besides, if I find pleasure in doing things I like doing like going online, no one can stop me or question my freedom to live "partly" online. Haha!

Give our new CM a chance!

We like to be in our comfort zones where we feel everything is peaceful and so called perfect.

Was it perfect? What did we achieve? Were we happy? Were we satisfied with the so called "transparency"? Was there even "transperency"?

A new political party has emerged and is going to lead Penang now and hope to bring Penang to new heights! Hopefully they will be able to bring back to glory and majesty of Penang.

The new state goverment has it's own views on how to run Penang. It all sounds good and too good to be true at times. How can we ever believe in them?

Solution : Give them a chance!

I am not a fan of politics neither am I even a voter.

As of the last elections, we Penangites have chosen those party members as our leaders so let the games begin. Their win was because of the voice of the people. Penang people are great people and we all live as one. This is evident in offices, restaurants or shopping malls. We just want what's right and live happy! Has long the state government can bring equality, prosperitry and peace to the state, that's what I and most people wish for. Let us see.

When people are striving to prove their capabilities, it would be best for on-lookers (especially outside of Penang) to see what they can do and give people a chance. Yes there are people who lost. But do you need to be sore losers? To the losers, we did give you a chance. Due to what we saw, we wanted a change for our future.

As Malaysians, remember what makes Malaysia what it is in the past 50 years, today and beyond; Jalur Gemilang, Negaraku, Rukunegara. Malaysia united!

I would like to congratulate the new state government led by our new CM Lim Guang Eng on their win! Let us work together to build a new society! :D

Beer time!

I was chatting with Banyen the other day in the office and it occured to us how long we had not gone out for a drink.

So decided to check out this beer place @ banana leaf curry house in Tg Bungah. The invitation was extended to Peter Loh @ Ah Tat, Christine Lim, Carie and Melvyn. Yup all from Dell.

I was too malas to drive and asked Banyen come fetch me in her Wira at 8 pm. The new Wira SE is rather impressive in terms of build-up quality and looks. Supposed to fetch Chris but she cancel coz not well. You really missed out on the fun lah Chris!

Arrived at the place and saw Vendas and Shoba sitting with a bucket of Tiger. But where was Peter? Peter had just gone toilet coz someone decided to start drinking without us. :P

Took a seat for a while and Peter ordered Indalo wine. Indalo is from South Africa and retails for about RM 40. Not bad drink and lightens the mood! :D

Vendas and Banyen started talking and realized both came from Pulau Tikus kampung and they knew of all the historical moments and good times! I never felt lost as I could certainly relate to what they were talking about and about those particular times.

It was so fun talking and laughing. Basically talking crap.

Then we started talking about American politics and wondered where was the Ah Moh Kau buaya(Mark) was as he is really into American politics. He is a McCain supporter. Speaking of the devil he showed up with Ming, his new "friend" who had really red hair! Chinese girl with dyed red hair! No photos but can imagine lah guys. Lol!

We all got kinda high and out of no where Ah Tat got excited about Banyen's Wira SE. He asked her if can test drive and she happily gave the keys! Being a previous owner of a Wira 1.6 I certainly knew the feeling of a Wira! Revs and wheels spins!

Ah Tat was driver, Banyen was co and I was seated behind trying to play cool! When Ah Tat got permission to "test" the car I buckled up coz I knew what was about to happen.

Wheels were spinning at the Tg Bungah Hotel traffic light. Windows were all down coz all were smoking up and so was the tyres of the car! I could smell burnt smell coming from the wheel spin that Ah Tat did. We were blazing fast, taking corners and cutting in and out. Really cucuk a Merz bumper! Hell it's Ah Tat man! Trusted him with my life! Banyen was quiet initally or trying to act cool and had that I am not worried look. :P

Ah Tat had really good time with the car doing his thing and testing it like those car reviewers from Top Gear. I think Ah Tat should send his review in on the Wira as I am sure they have yet to test it yet. Haha!

Got back to the place, had a few more glasses of wine and they got started on playing dunno what cards. I was enjoying the moment while standing and having trouble balancing. Haha! I was high but happy! Kind of like sucked into a moment where I could forget my worries and fears! That feel good high feeling! Haha!

Left the place around 11.15pm as next day was working day.

Oh yeah, guess what? Ah Tat went MC the next day! Shhhhh...