The questions never strike me, but a quite few have asked me these...
Can you still get a loan? You're unemployed
Why are you still looking at cars at these price range? You're unemployed.
Firstly, I'm not unemployed, I'm self employed.
Secondly, while I may not have a stable flow of income, I still have sufficient income to support my current lifestyle and commitments, otherwise I won't be able to sustain for the last 1-2 years.
Still, applying for a loan is quite different. It was so much more simpler then, being a salaried worker, where all you need are last 6 months pay slips and bank account statements to prove your steady income flow.
Being self employed, especially smaller business with lesser transactions, 6 months bank statements may not be enough to prove that there are have sufficient income flow to service the loan. Basically, the bank will evaluate your overall financial status eg other loans, credit cards, property ownership and/or rental income if any, etc.
I had to submit prove of my company registration, company account statements, personal account statements, other relevant documents to prove that my other loan commitments are taken care of.
My loan was approved :)
So, what it means is, the criteria of getting a loan doesn't solely depend on one's employment status. More importantly, we should maintain healthy repayment habits. I.e. Pay loan repayments on time, clear credit cards bills every month and on time, etc.
*Touch wood* I'm still able to maintain those habits so far :)
As for, why I didn't opt for a more economical option eg a lower price range car? Hmm..I think I 'll have to address that in another post. It's complicated. Think..in between, comfort, safety, money and err...of course status and / or style.
It's a matter of which is more important. The accident is still very fresh in my memory. The loud and strong crash, the impact, the pain, the shock. I still jump at the slightest sound of honk or when a car comes too closely to my car. While many may argue that life and death are beyond our control, I don't mind spending more on a better car even if it means letting go of some other luxuries in life.
The tendency of our lives, businesses, art, is to keep adding: more furniture, clothes, gadgets, tasks, appointments, features to websites and apps, words to our writing.
Continual addition isn’t sustainable or desirable:
Too many things to do means we’re always busy, with no time for rest, stillness, contemplation, creativity, time with loved ones.
Overwhelming customers with choices means they’re less likely to make an actual choice. They’d prefer that we curate the best.
Too many possessions is clutter, visual stress, cleaning, maintenance, debt, less happiness.
Too many tasks makes it harder to focus on any one thing or get anything done.
Too many things we want to learn means we never learn anything well.
Subtraction is beautiful: it creates space, time, clarity.
Subtraction is necessary: otherwise we are overburdened.
Subtraction can be painful: it means letting go of a child.
Subtraction is an art that improves with practice. Subtraction can be practiced on your schedule, task list, commitments list, possessions, reading list, writing, product line, distractions.
Last night's message from a friend goes something like this - "Need you to accompany this Friday, can? Help me to read map while I drive to xxx"
I paused for a while after reading it...it was close to midnight, brain was shutting down. Well, we've shared some adventures together taking leave and going out together. There was a time when she was taking a break from the workforce, she came to pick me up from while I was waiting for my car to be serviced.
Those were the days.. we've not done that for some time..
So, my next reply was - "Er, I got work la"
And, her innocent reply was - "Eh, I thought you freelancing"
Lol..I think there are some misconception to the term "freelancing"
I was guilty too. Before I started freelancing, I imagined myself, spending a lot of time working and/or relaxing leisurely at cafes. Unfortunately, that didn't happen often enough
Going out means cost eg petrol, parking, food, drinks all translates into cost
Going out also means time eg being stuck in jam, looking for parking
And it costs even more at places with wifi!
Oh, at home, I can work in my most comfortable shorts and sleeveless top :D
So, realistically, it's always more realistic and efficient to stay indoor. Well, once in a while, depending on work load and urgency, I do give myself a treat - hanging out with a latte cafee at my favourite, using my flashy Asus, with my sunglasses on the head, lol. Not often though.
FREELANCING is a very broad term.
It doesn't mean freelancers are free all the time, in fact, Free time means No Income for us!
However, the no. hours worked vs. income earned very much depends on the type of work that a freelancer's skill set, and this can vary greatly from professional consultancy related services to mid-executive support roles to less professional but more hours-intensive desk job
It can be quite different from those with a passive income. Yes, if one had worked hard enough to establish the base to get sufficient passive income, yup, these group can idle and yet have some form of income in-flow
Unfortunately, the third point doesn't apply to me. So, I gotta work my ass off when there jobs. The only difference is I don't have to report to work on a fixed time period everyday. And I get to control how much I can take on. Eg I can choose whether I wanna work 20 hours a day to earn more or less.
Some jobs are relatively easy, eg just monitoring, hence, I can afford to be away from the desk, as long as I respond when needed. Some jobs requires me to be glued to the desk 12 hours a day, like now.
In conclusion, Freelancing is not a bed of roses. I believe many freelancers work their asses off in one way or another. Especially, when there are more than one job, and we only have ourselves and no one else to do the work.
The nice part is we can opt to take a rest during quiet times. But remember, the expenses bills continue to run when we rest, ya :) As opposed to being employed, one can have paid leave anytime.
I rambled about Talking to Air before..back in 2009 to be exact (read HERE)
Boy..it was THAT long ago. Back then I was referring more to the changing forms of communication..starting from the creation of mobile text messages and instant messages, we talked less and less.
Then we move on to blogging, social networking, micro blogging and now with smart phones taking over our lives...we started to Not even text....for instance ..with Instagram ..we post pictures and like pictures instead, some of which belongs to people we don't even know. With foursquare..we check-in as a way to let people know where we are hanging out...what we're eating..who we're with.
Hmm..what have we become of.
Anyway..i digressed.
I wanted to say that I agree to this totally as a so called blogger myself.
As I type away now..I am in fact holding a conversation between myself and nobody. I'm talking to the air.
Similarly..I think..our lives has become like that in some ways.
Right..I better log off and go down have dinner and TALK to my old dear old Dad, who's not connected to the internet.
Yesterday I met someone for a work meeting at a bistro at a hotel lobby. Guess how much was the latte / cappucino ? Yes..it was a fairly big glass / cup and we sat there from 4 till 7pm.
But still... each drink was RM25! wth.
If I knew earlier..I would have suggested to cross the road to Pacific Coffee at Farenheit ..each of us can have many many cups for RM25!
Not that I picked up the bill la..but still.
So..ya....I just wanna say..that price doesn't come with quality all the time.
As you may have read in the recent posts..I was going hoo haa about LewisGene...a new humble outlet at Solaris Dutamas.
RM13.90 with pancake
Well..not a posh environment..but..its cosy and comfortable. Why not?! For RM13.90..you get really good coffee and snacks. Go figure.
And then..there's my all time favourite, Espressolab at an open corner at Garden's Mall. Limited seating..not exactly air conditioned. Pretty open setup as seats are located along the first floor link walkway of Gardens - Mid Valley.
RM10
But it's really really good coffee for RM10. And..it's really kind of nice sitting in the midst of the the hustle bustle..especially when the weather is cooling.
This was from Jin Yi by Cofffee Ritual, when they first started in D'sara Uptown. Looking awesomely good at RM7.50.
RM7.50
And this.......
I don't even know what to say about this. It was from some posh bistro and cafe.
Some biggie with several outlets across town...
And no.. the pic was taken before I took any sip..it looks exactly like this when it arrived. LEt's not even talk about taste...
And guess how much it was? I can't remember the exact price..but it's definitely double digit..RM12..13 may be.
I'm disappointed with this year's Shape Night Run running vest. I've participated in the last two runs by Shape and their vests by Reebok had always been my favourite tops for gym use.
We were skeptical when we saw a change in sponsor..but we signed up anyway.
What a let down : (
Almost everything from design to material to workmanship is not up to standard..in my opinion.
Compared to last year ...
The team should have put in more thoughts on these details ...in my opinion (again). Very simple reasoning....if I'm not mistaken, the brand had been trying to penetrate into the running and fitness community with its latest shoe range and now ..becoming the main sponsor for a popular running event. Good move..as the brand gets thousands of runners carrying the brand ..and may be eventually liking the brand.
So..why not put in more thoughts (and cost) on making at its best possible.
Well..may be I have high expectations ..but seriously, while I'm not a serious runner but I've signed up for enough running events and a self proclaimed sucker for sports brands..so I believe my views have some worth here.
May be I'll give it the run a skip since ankles are not 100% fit.... No motivation..so to speak ...heee
Coincidentally, same time last year (read HERE) I was also recovering from injury..but I went anyway, ran the 5km instead of 12km ..cos the pinky vest was simply too motivating to resist..
All that had happened at the Energiser Race in 2011 was an excellent learning for all events managers and marketing brands too. Everyone saw and heard about how the event turned out to be a total failure but the event owner, Energiser was quick to react, bit the bullet and immediately took control the post event mess. I'm sure it was a long painful process
A senior person in the organisation stepped out and issued an official statement, even organised a short meet up cum jogging session at the park. Human beings are generally well natured, with such good and sincere gestures, the participants were quick to forgive and forget.
Energiser Night Race 2012 came back with a bang, in the same venue. There were some hiccups..but it was all good. Much much better than the previous year.
PJ Dawn came and went.
It was a much smaller scale event. Heard that the crowd turn out was much less than expected. There were a couple of complaints e.g. no isotonic drinks, post run F&B were not enough for everyone, finisher tee weren't enough, many who qualified claimed that they were not aware of the finisher tee, etc. Comparatively, these were minor hiccups. I wasn't quite bothered since it's over and done with. Moreover, it wasn't a branded event in the likes of Energiser, Nike, Adidas.
But..as with many other runners..we expected some sort of follow up and closure. Many, many questions have been raised at the official facebook page that they have been using actively to communicate with runners before the event.
..the official results, the e-cert, when can we download?
..are they going to send the finisher tee to those who didn't get them?
..we could see our official timing and ranking but it doesn't mean anything we have no info on the total no. of runners per category
That's all we need to know....as a closure.
It has been six days. Replies from the admin had been nothing but slow and cold. In fact there hasn't been any reply in the last 20 hours.
Whatever problem they are facing internally, they should at least have the courtesy to inform us. Keeping silent and leaving us in the dark will only make the matter worse. After all, they are planning to host Putrajaya Dawn 2013..there's a reputation to upkeep here...if there's any left.
There is a Chinese saying that says:
"If you're at the wrong - must admit, and stand still to take the beating/punishment"
..use of tear gas against a jam-packed crowd of normal civilians
..unexplained force used by 'police'..5 against one, 10 against one, and of all the videos that I saw..none fought back...
CANNOT. BE. RIGHT.
I'm not even tagging this post under Political Views.
It's nothing political. It's a VIEW from a human being, a Malaysian citizen, an observer...and I was there before the chaos started, we were really peaceful.
It's amazing how much of ourselves can be revealed from something as simple as our online activities.
In short, Facebook stores our usage data.. our friends, status postings, comments, photos, locations, etc etc. Advertisers pay good money to use these data for custom advertising. Do you notice how the page sometimes intelligently flash out ads or page suggestions that fits your interest? Like just a while ago, it has an advertising on Pilates..may be my data indicates that I like sports stuff?
It does sound scary but yet..unavoidable in the current digital world. Everything can be conveniently stored and saved when it's digital.
At the other end of the spectrum, in the world of smartphones, privacy is becoming an increasingly outdated concept, argues technology writer Sam Biddle. What might once have been considered "creepy" and invasive is becoming normal...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15730499
I've been working in the market research industry since the late 90s. In MR, we collect consumers behaviour data, manually. Manually, we screen and select respondents that fit our target profile, and ask them questions that we designed manually based on marketers' needs and objectives. The MR code of conduct states that we can only analyse the findings at agregate level and we aren't allowed to reveal or share individual respondent responses in any manner. After all, it is more relevant to look at overall data patterns to make out representative findings.
So..shall we be afraid of using Facebook? Shall we switch off all the smart features of our smartphones? Or better still switch back to dumb phones?
I don't know.
As the article rightly quoted..privacy is becoming an increasingly outdated concept.
Personally, I'll still use Facebook, 4sq, and whatever not..strictly for fun and social purposes.
They can track all my comments, postings and check ins all they want, I'd be glad to be part of the statistics, just like a respondent in a traditional MR survey. I doubt anyone will take to scrutinizing an individual data to come out with a marketing plan. It should be in terms of overall data trending.
UNLESS, I commit a major crime..or I become a huge celebrity one day, then my individual data will be very valuable and in demand !
A friend posted this recently on Facebook to warn everyone on why we shouldn't post any personal pictures (especially kids) or even our whereabouts i.e. location check ins, on the internet or in any social networking sites.
On first thoughts, what was shown in the video does sound scary. Made you wanna immediately stop posting photos isn't it? Well, my personal view, I think we shouldn't be too paranoid.
For a start, make sure you do the following:
Set your ALL Facebook postings to Friends Only
Do not add or accept anyone who you do not know personally
Switch off Location Services for your Camera in your smartphone
If you are really paranoid, switch off ALL location services, but then you may not be able to use some functions like the Map
Check out the comments under the video..some make quite good sense...
"Anyone ever heard of whitepages (the one in your phone book) or appraisal district web pages. You can look the address of anyone just by knowing their name (at least their last name) and the county they live in."
"When I was a kid (in the 80s), strangers knew where I was too, BECAUSE I WENT OUTSIDE."
Well, the video did make a valid point. It does pose some danger when we use location services like Foursquare, FB Check in..and it was also new information to me that the eve the photos will have location information tagged on it if the camera location service is on.
There has been many debates about the danger of using our smart phones in public the danger of checking in at public places because technically I can be tracked down.
Well, we've seen in the movies, as long as our phone is on the police or anyone with the right tools can track us down. A tap on our touch and go card tells us our travel pattern. A call to the internet service provider, they can tell you your location details and sites you've visited. Facebook has all the data of who you like to 'creep' on around Facebook. Google has information on the type of sites and information that you tend to search for.
So..what do we do? Stop using all these gadgets?
My view is..well well well...everyone in every developed corner in the world is exposed to such "risk". There more than 800 million active facebook users in the world, there are at least 3 million foursquare ceck-in in a day, over 3 billion photos loaded in Facebook each month...
Don't believe? See HERE - it's only a random outdated article I pulled out from the internet.
So..with all those numbers, how likely do you think I'd be tracked down? Well, not saying I'm not worried, I did check my setting after watching the video, my camera's location was off anyway - phew . Lol.
I only left the necessary ones on e.g, Facebook, Foursquare, Runkeeper etc.
Yikes..does that mean stalkers can track me when I run?
Nah..as I told FY long time ago, I ain't any celebrity, I aint' filthy rich, nor I'm beautiful, so IF someone really stalks me up one fine day and appeared at my doorstep that person must be damn smart to be able to do so and may be crazily in love with me.
=P
Nevertheless, just play safe...I repeat:
Set your ALL Facebook postings to Friends Only
Do not add or accept anyone who you do not know personally
Switch off Location Services for your Camera in your smartphone
If you are really paranoid, switch off ALL location services, but then you may not be able to use some functions like the Map
How can I not write about BERSIH 2.0 when the whole country is talking about it, right?
Honestly, I didn't give a damn initially. I only had a very vague idea about it... it is some initiative from some lady called Ambiga..and somewhat related to the opposition and the government is very against it. That's all I knew...
Sometime in May/ June, I noticed, some friends 'liking' the Bersih page in Facebook, then , many started to have a Bersih logo on their profile pictures, but I didn't dwell further.
Occasionally, I'd glanced through updates from Malaysia Insider via Facebook news feed but didn't really click into them to find out more. Basically, the word Bersih appeared often enough in my news feed..so indirectly I was forced to 'know' about it existence.
Tony Pua, the only politician that I 'follow' in Facebook stated something that somehow got stuck in my wandering mind, it went something like this .."Thanks to the BN goons, Bersih 2.0 is becoming more well known than ever" .
How true!
The final trigger (for me) was when I read Patrick Teoh's simple yet informative blog post - What's it all about? on June 28th, where he listed out the 8 simple points about Bersih 2.0. I read and understood immediately. From then on, I kept track on the developments.
The analysts were right to say that the cyber space played a huge role in making Bersih 2.0 such a phenomenon. Bersih 2.0, July 9th, 2011, should will appear in Malaysia's modern history...I hope to see the children (or grand children) of our children reading about this meaningful day in their history books 20-30 years from now.
A Malaysiakini article on July 10th, (a day after) , described the crowd as such:
"Notably, the crowd was made up of many Malaysians in their 20s who were first-time demonstrators. Ibrahim Suffian, director of independent research house Merdeka Centre, dubbed this group as the Facebook generation."
Even the traffic to my little blog here was affected by all the hype. Just because of an entry about Ambiga (here) posted in 2009. Every other day, at least 10 new visitors landed on the page. Some 14 person clicked the 'like' facebook button hence attracted even more visitors via Facebook. It is now the most read entry in the past 4 weeks at 227 pageviews, that's 40% of total pageviews in the same period!
Below is the visitors overview chart from Google Analytics.
Check out the orange trend line (new visitors) which is now way above the green line (returning visitors i.e. loyal readers supposedly). Total visitors per day increased by at least 50% as of today.
How can I not pay attention to Bersih 2.0 when it keeps popping into my everyday life..even though I'm almost totally un-exposed to the mainstream media.
On the night of July 8th, everyone chose to skip the usual Friday night out because of the road closures.
Many were caught in unnecessary traffic jams because of the closures. Frustrations built up even more. Since there was nothing much to do at home, we turned to the cyber space for entertainment....Facebook in particular. "They can shut down the city but not Facebook, let's paint Facebook YELLOW" - one of my friend initiated. Good idea ..so I changed my pretty profile pic to a plain YELLOW background. By the next day, my sis' profile became a Sunflower while my bro's became a Yellow Elephant (cartoon). Lol.
By Saturday noon, me and my sis were glued to our Iphones (while watching over our nephew in the park) getting latest updates via blogs, Facebook and tweets. I finally had to Like the Bersih page to get the latest updates.
By evening, I was all over Malaysia Insider, Malaysiakini, #Bersihstories on Twitter reading all I can find about the rally. I told my father to quit waiting for the TV news..they won't report the real scenario !. I showed him some of the videos instead.
I'm still so awed by Aunty Bersih. I still wish I will be like her one day. MCA claimed that Aunty Bersih is an actress paid by the Opposition to cheat us. How can it be??
Read so many good stories from those who participated. It was really moving and inspiring.
My friend, Fel did ask me if I am supporting it. Not sure what she meant by 'supporting' but my stand then was quite simple..I said .."well, I have no intention to join the rally, the only way or move I can make is during the real elections, for now there is nothing I can do"
So..I was really really surprise to see so many people, people like me, who are not aligned to any political party, normal citizens like me, working executives like me, retirees, students, some came as far as from other states came to support the rally regardless of race, income class, gender.....despite the inconveniences.
I'm ashamed. But..I still can't give a definite Yes, if I'm asked to join Bersih 3.0.
That's why I truly admire people like Aunty Bersih. My salute you all of you.
I read quite a few entries via Malaysia Insider, they were all very touching. I don't even know which one to highlight now. Here's one..that I chose conveniently cos I recommended in Facebook (yes..Facebook, again):
I went to the rally as a spectator. I returned a believer. And I had ice cream with the FRU.
By Charis Ding
....About twenty minutes later, I was in the middle in front of the Maybank Tower with the throngs of people on my right and the FRU line on the left. The crowd had just gathered, they weren’t even moving forward yet. The FRU shot water cannons. It was unprovoked. Then the gas came. When it hit, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe. And it hurt. I grabbed some water from my bag and washed my face with it. I covered my face with my baju. In the chaos, one, two people offered me salt. "Makan", they told me. It really helped. I crumbled and sat on the corridors for a minute, eyes and nose watering.....
....I ended up in Pudu, watching the marchers and listening to their shouts of "Hidup Rakyat!". When we had to run later, at one point it was tricky to escape and we had to climb a railing at Pudu station. In the huru-hara, the man beside me, instead of just climbing up himself, was yelling to his friend – "Tolong amoi ini dulu!" He seemed more anxious for me than he was for himself, or even I was for myself.
Just remembered that I have not posted this :P This was published in Personal Money's April issue. It will be slightly different in the published version of course..the editor must have made some fine tuning.
How did this come about? Well, I remember it was after I wrote about what I did with my credit cards during one of my bigger purchase, a writer from Personal Money emailed to ask if I'm interested to rewrite a similar topic and submit to be published in a column - I think the column is called In My Opinion, meant for the public to write in to share their ..opinions on how they manage their financial related matters.
So..here it is ! Oh..they even sent a professional photographer to take a profile pic of me for the column..but I'm not gonna post it here :)
In December, I had no choice but to hold on to paying for quite a number of items that I carefully chose as Christmas gifts just because I didn't have the right credit card with me. Well, I did have a choice, which is to pay using the only card I had with me at that moment and not enjoying any discounts.
I was quite impressed that this bookstore has a good practice by telling customers about available payment options to get better deals. Many outlets do not. What’s the point of participating in merchant offers programmes when you don’t inform your customers about it, I wonder.
So, anyway, back to my purchase, I was told that a particular card that I left at home offered a 10% discount on all items when the total purchase hits RM90. I decided to hold purchase and returned a week later to another outlet in a different mall. Why another outlet? Cos' I wanted to check out decorations of another mall. That's killing two birds with one stone! Plus, I'd always choose getting presents from bookstores. Why? Cos I can get tax rebates!
I ended up spending an hour or so short listing and choosing gifts all over again because about half of what I chose in the first outlet weren't available in the second outlet. Not a big deal to me since it wasn’t about getting the same items anyway, it was about getting a better deal, I saved a total of RM17.01. Not much?
Depends how one sees it. I’d think the savings was a nett gain, as it wasn't an out of the way trip, it was a Friday and I made arrangement to have dinner there anyway. In a way, the savings paid for dinner! To me, it’s not about the amount, it is about our attitude, our mindset.
On one occasion it may be only RM17 but on other occasions it may lead to greater savings.
Just like when a friend casually asked if I have a credit card from this particular bank. She jumped in excitement when I said Yes. Why? Because the card entitles her to get a 15% discount on a birthday cake she ordered for her sons' birthday. As that was the only day I was available, she "begged" me to drive all the way to Sunway (from Mid Valley) to swipe my card for her. It was 6pm in the evening! Sigh ~ things we do to get savings. She saved about RM67 from the RM450 cake. If she didn’t ask she would have to pay RM450!
Well, I did have to drive a distance but it was a favour I didn't mind doing for a dear friend. It's good food for the soul to be able to do something nice for someone.
Do all these make sense to you? Going a little bit out of the way to get some savings by making full use what your credit cards entitlement?
Some may seem small and unattractive but it really depends on how one looks at the picture, similar to the phrase that says "is the cup half empty or half full?"
For instance, I went out of the way applying for additional credit limit just so I can use this particular card for a kitchen cabinet and wardrobe purchase to enjoy their cash back offer. I got back RM120 hard cash. One can either say: “RM120 is so little, the whole bill was over ten thousand, what's RM120?” Alternatively, I'd like to see it as: I can use RM120 for a good meal with my family, why not! Or RM120, that's my one month's gym membership fee. Why not?
It's not about being kiasu, it's about having the right mindset, spending wisely and making the best out of what we have and mind you, we paid for the cards. And, it's money, hard earned money.
Some of you may argue that it is not worthwhile keeping too many cards when we have to pay RM50 annual service tax for each. I had that in mind too.
Well, at the end of the day, it’s all about learning to be smart consumers. First, make sure that the cards that you are planning to keep are worth keeping i.e. they have regular and good programmes. Diligent consumers will probably have a spreadsheet with summaries and calculations! Otherwise, it’s quite easy, just keep your eyes, ears open and be sensitive and observant to advertisements.
Hint : Normally the popular ones have less attractive offers.
After short listing one or two that are worth keeping, cancel the rest. Cancelling cards can be another ordeal especially when the card has many auto debits linked to it i.e. utility, insurance, charity donations, etc. I’m in the middle of sorting out one! It’s painful.
The best solution is of course to keep only one card, load all your purchases into it, maximise the points and use the points to offset the RM50 tax. Oh, how I wish life is so simple.
I need to keep Card A due to some outstanding instalments and it always offers very good cash back deals. Card B gives me 0.5% instant rebate on all purchases, better than nothing right? Card C was my main card, it has numerous auto debit linked to it, but it has been pretty useless in terms offers and discounts – I think I shall dump this.
Do you have the same problems? How many cards do you keep? And do you believe in having a few cards to enjoy different kinds of discounts and offers?
As the title sponsor, Energizer Malaysia will now be taking over Expose Media’s prior commitment to fully distribute all certificates, medals, finishers’ T-shirts, headlights and complimentary gifts to every registered participant in the race....(continue reading)
In summary:
Energiser has taken over the operations. The event organiser will no longer be involved.
All participants were assured that they will be receiving the full refund
Headlights, certificates, medals, etc will also be distributed to everyoone
Additional details were provided to entertain change of address and contact details for the above purposes
Concerns and frustrations on the race results and official timings were also acknowledged. Assurance were given that they are looking into the matter.
Don't cry over spilled milk, let's just move on - someone commented in one of the many pages. I agree to that. No one can deny that almost everything that can go wrong, went wrong during the race. But this is life, things can go wrong. When things go wrong, we learn and strive to work out the best solution to minimise further damages.
I believe that's exactly what the Energizer team had been doing in the past few days - fire fighting!
I've done a fair bit of that in my work . No fun at all!
No way they can turn back the clock and make everything right again...moving forward is the only way to go. And, this is about the best they can offer. Let's appreciate it and move on.
There's a new Check-in function in Facebook via Smartphone i.e. we can check into places (e.g. annouce) that we are at. To me it's just a Foursquare 'wanna-be'. I've been using Foursquare long before this and I've mentioned that most of my friends do not fancy it.
FY thinks it's no fun, don't see any point of checking in and earning badges for no significant gains
My sis didn't think it isn't safe to tell the world where you've just arrived to.
SY thinks the same too..why announce to everyone her whereabouts.
KT thinks..it's boring.
I laughed when I see these same people happily using the Facebook check-in as soon as it is made available in our shores. Why ? It's ok to tell the whole world where you are now? The only reason I can think of is..may be because Facebook is only opened to own friends...so it appears to be 'ok' to check in Facebook and not Foursquare.
FY even asked "why bother about Foursquare when Facebook Check-in is available now?"
Well, I tried to use once, yesterday, in Facebook. Fair to say, it functions the same. May be it feels cleaner or safer..as there isn't a third party 'intrusion' into our profile..i.e. we don't have to allow a third party app to gain access in to our Facebook profile. But..what about when I don't want my friends to know where I am but I'd still like to check in ..I can do that with Foursquare =)
Let's do some quick comparison....
Left : Foursquare, Right : Facebook
Obviously, Foursquare has a more colourful interface, it even indicates if there are any "specials' nearby i.e. merchants who offer discounts to Foursquare users.
Assuming, I wanna check into Mid Valley, see the difference? Facebook...yawnzzz. Foursquare tells you how who is the mayor, how many people ahve checked in, and most importantly - TIPS i.e. what other people say about this place! I use this very often before I decide whether to eat in a new place, for example.
Maps & Directions : fair..both seems to have that function. Very useful especially when you want to locate a place. Wait...I think Foursquare's map is more detailed and elaborate. Isn't it?
Well..I think those are about the only functions that Facebook has ...and Foursquare has too, obviously.
What other stuff that Foursquare has..but Facebook doesn't have?
A personal profile page that summarises all yours and friend's activites...
Badges....ya ya..you may say...what's with this badges..?? Nothing..it's just fun collection. Just like collecting stamps. Oh..there is Mayorship too...if you patronised a place often enough, you will be promoted to be a Mayor of that place. Some merchants may offer goodies to Mayors..not many here though in M'sia.
One thing I like about Apps is that there are continuous efforts to improve and upgrade the software. So..we get new features very often. And it gets updated automatically. The above is the most recent feature update. It summarises all our check ins and tells you your most explored categories, favourite plalces, etc.
The above is what I meant about tips. It records all users feedback and comments about each places. Very useful indeed. Well, some can be silly or irelevant...we just have to disregard those. General rule of thumb for me - if 5 out of 10 tips are negative I will think twice before trying :P
I just got RM120 cash back from my PBB card! Genuine reward for using the card! It's that simple..and that's what we want. I went out of the way to increase the credit limit of this card just so I can use it to sign off the cabinets and wardrobes with Kian. For that effort, I'm rewarded with cash...real cash :)
Which card do you normally reach out for when you make a purchase? and why?
I used to be very loyal to HSBC..cos it was my very 1st card. Not anymore.....the SCB card gives a 0.5% rebate on all purchases. Spend RM10, rebate is 5 cents. Spend RM100, I get 50 cents..if total bill is RM1000...RM5 rebate that is. No doubt, it's very little but when other cards do not offer anything...why not use this right? With that thinking..I started using this card more and more.
Then it came out with the Ipod shuffle guaranteed giveaway with a minimum RM2500 spend in month. It's not about the worth of the gift, these kind of promotions gave me a very good reason to reach out for this card instead of other cards who offer nothing
HSBC had some complicated promotions at around the same time. But it was soooo complicated I didn't even bother to participate. Something like, spend certain amount on certain hours of the day..etc etc. It's so complicated..I didn't bother to understand..let alone participate.
MBB? Nothing from them..I'm so gonna discontinue this card!
A wadeh and a curry puff cost RM2 from the mall near my working place.
Stomach satisfied..detoured to get a loaf of Gardenia bread for home.
A standard loaf of Gardenia Classic white bread's retail price is RM2.30 but the neighbourhood shop charged only RM2, equivalent to my earlier snack of curry puff and wadeh.
A loaf of bread can feed a whole family and lasts at least 2 days...for RM2.
Something's not right with pricing of snacks like curry puff and wade?
It's late..I'm not gonna say much. I have not been following much of current affairs ...but then..it's quite straightforward. Don't need a rocket scientist to understand what is the fuss all about.
RM5,000,000,000 to build another tower
Does that sound right?
That's a lot of money isn't it?
Since Day 2 after the budget announcement someone started an online campaign to protest against the RM5 bil tower. I finally 'joined' the protest a while ago...not because I was patriotic and supportive of the government before this..I just didn't think clicking LIKE to an online protest will change anything.
Not only I clicked the LIKE button but I'm writing this post now..touching on a topic that I'm not familiar with. Mainly because I got very upset when I was driving home today..
The road conditions! are getting from bad to worse! pot holes every where. syabas, tm, etc etc take turns to to dig up the road ...and who suffers??..the motorists. Underground foundation were badly done...potholes kept appearing. I travel on the same route for the past seven years..and I don't see any improvement. We don't need no Tower....fix basic infrastructure, fix basic mentality of developers, works dept, whoever responsible of maintaining the roads. If I'm not mistake..they've mentioned before that they do not have enough budget for these things.
Secondly...the buses! Bas kilang, Rapid KL and metro buses especially...are all not in the proper working conditions. Disrupting traffic at a slow speed 20km per hour not to mention emitting thick black smoke. There are no proper schedules..they come and leave as and when they like. LRT and LRT stations are not up to standard as well. No need to look far..just hop over to Bangkok if you don't like to be compared to SG. Buses, taxis, tok tok, etc...in BKK are much much more well managed! We don't need no Tower..fix basic public transportation, fix mentality of providers, operators.
That was only 2 main points. I need not elaborate..although I can come out with many more...even though I'm half asleep now...e.g
...quality of teachers - more budget to improve training & salary to attract better candidates
...same goes to the police force..pay more ...and the quality will improve
...and the list goes on.
I manage projects of smaller scale at work..I know it is always easier and cheaper and takes less time and effort to "solve the surface" only..so that it looks good from the outside. That's exactly what everyone is doing...not only the authorities but all of us. Time to change folks! Change from within. Solve the root cause of the problem!
Saw the TVC some months ago. Finally got to try it.
Somehow I associated it with Kraft more..
Didn't realise it's branded as Cheezels until I come up close with the packaging when taking these shots.
Cheezels ..to me ..is always ...the cheese ring snacks that we all grow up with...always in a Ring format..and it's salty n crunchy...
This is a biscuit : /
And, I wasn't expecting it to be Cheezels. I was expecting Kraft Cheese...just like the cheese I ate with bread or pasta.
Not...Cheezels cheese.
Verdict : /
Tastes like Cheezels, but It's not Chezzels lor.
It's still tasty though...but I'll need more more time to get used to the taste..the brand..as in..Cheezels..is also biscuits...you know what I mean?
Was also expecting it to be some sort of snack filler in between meals..just like those little biscuits, but now when I see the brand is Cheezels..so is it healthy cheese? You know what I mean? Didn't get around to check the nutrition details yet.
Try it out,..and let me know if you feel the same :)
Thoughts:
Will it be a different effect if it's not branded under Cheezels?
