It ain't the same anymore

Stayed out a tad bit too late last night.
Only slept at 3am, as expected couldn't wake up for morning gym.
And the rest of the day went by in a daze.

This is a symptom of aging.  During younger days, sleeping at 3-4am was no big deal..we could still wake up at 7am to go for classes, games etc.


Sleeping in till 10am did not help.  I thought it did initially..and went for RPM at 4pm.  It was rather disastrous. My mind was strong but my legs were weak.  When my legs finally got some momentum, the rest of my body refused to co-operate.  Hence, all systems went haywire.  Mission failed...it wasn't even half way.  I had to abort as signs of blacking out was beginning to kick in.

Boo.

Some Pasta

What shall I call this?

Recipe:

Half boiled egg

Caned tuna (with oil)

Dried chilli

Fresh tomato puree

White mushroom

Garlic

A little bit of extra virgin olive oil

Appearance ok?  I think it will look better without the egg but add on some greens.

What do think?

What shall I call it?

=P

Seems like busy but not busy..

I have some work to do..finally. It's due early next week.  May be it seems still far away, that's why I'm still playing a fool.  Working at home can be real hard.  So many distractions.

I skipped going out for breakfast with my SIL today, hoping that I can 'start work' earlier.  Not. I got distracted..very distracted. So distracted that I didn't even have time to answer to all the pending Draw Something requests.  But then I have not done anything..it's almost 3pm.

I couldn't help it..I really liked that Sketchers Gorun shoe..I HAD TO BLOG ABOUT IT.

By the time I was done and got into rhythm to do some work..hunger kicked in.  I cooked chilli tuna pasta today! It was a yummy and satisfying lunch.

So..now..instead of going back to real work..I'm blogging...AGAIN.

Back is really sore now..can't sit for long..gotta go back to the gym to loosen up :/  I had to lay-off for a few days due to over playing on Sunday where I did BC51 in the morning and then I went to play badminton in the afternoon. My plan was to only go there for some light playing..but ended being quite hyper until..I pulled an oblique muscle.  Monday till Tuesday I was aching all over ...

There you go,..another excuse not to work ~

SKECHERS GOrun

Love it and hate it when I "fall in love" =D

Skechers..which never occur to me as a 'serious' sports shoe brand had been actively promoting its fitness range of products.  As far as I can remember Sketchers had been more of a walking or fashion product.

It was quite a 'gotta have it' item when I was in my 20s..I bought one from HK back then.

Over the years..I think I kind of 'out-grown' or rather their fashion sense got ahead of me ..plus my priority changed. With my gym and running activities..I moved on to the Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Asics world.


But..check this out..if only they launch this before I got the Nike Eclipse.

Aww...

http://www.amazon.com

And I love love this color.
Well, they had Sammi Cheng wearing this at the launch.  I swear..its not because Sammi Cheng that I like it.

https://www.facebook.com/Skechersmalaysia

 While I do like her..but her fashion sense and style is way beyond me..but this shoe..I want it!

Read more about it here..http://www.skechers.co.uk/info/go-run

I'm still not sure if it's good enough for running, I have funny fussy feet.  I've written to Skechers UK.  Why UK..cos the Malaysia's website doesn't have any detailed elaboration on the new product yet.  Typical.

They are already in the stores though..priced at RM300+. Siao!  I can get a good pair of Asics or NB at that price.

Sigh...

Still Drawing

Yea..we are still at it. Although, I think the craze will die down soon, if they don't inject new stuff quickly enough.

For now, it's still quite entertaining.  I admit I've gotten abit lazy though.  When I first started, I will google for ideas and spent some time on coming out with the best 'artpiece' I could manage.  

But when they start repeating the words..and with time constraint..I got lazy.  Hence, my squid looked  like this:

 

The Draw Something page had been posting some really good examples from other players.

And I mean really good !

How is that even possible?  But then..in minutes..I can come out with something obvious enough :P

I had to google to check what exactly a hippo looks like :D

On the other hand, I've learnt quite a lot from this game :D  General knowledge, word power, creativity, imagination etc etc. Last night I learnt that Ariel is the name of the mermaid Disney character !  Then I learnt about ewok a star wars character.  And Pegasus ...yes..I am that Duh in all this fantasy stuff.  

Otherwise..it's been very entertaining..watching different friends of different characters and minds coming out with some really out of this world art piece.

TEETH for example ... WTH:

  

And,.what a way to describe an EYE BALL !

and..GOGGLES ???

And..sometimes,.when I couldn't guess something, my imagination goes wild :D

BODYCOMBAT 51

The latest release is so so tough!

The gym launched it over the weekend. I was totally wrecked on Monday after trying it for the first time on Sunday, so bad that I decided to skip meeting Chris for dinner.  Head to toe, I literally felt like I just ran a half marathon.  No joke.

I've been learning BC for over 3 years, never before I felt this bad after a class.  BC 51...really works all  muscle groups hard..real hard, if one puts in 100% that is..  Shoulders, arms, abs, butt, thighs, calves...all sore.

Come to think of it..the moves are not hard to execute..but the cardio work is really very intense.  Before BC51, I told Mich that I needed twice the endurance strength to get through a bodyattack class compared to bodycombat.  With BC51, I think they should be equal now.  Or...have they raised the bar for BA as well, I wonder.

I won't go into more details about the moves.  Don't know how to, anyway.

Just imagine this, there are close to 200 continuous jabs/ punches during the last part of track 8, the last working track before conditioning and cool down.  And there are ..god knows how many abs crunches during conditioning.

Happy pain ~
But I'm starting to miss the old fun tracks already. They will have to do new release for 3 weeks :/

Customer Service

Brand owners, product owners, service providers, etc invest a good amount of budget in creating awareness to your brand or service and hopefully awareness translates to consumers trying out and eventually become loyal users.

But what about taking care of current customers? Are current customers important to the business?

Of course..at least I strongly believe so.  That's why most organisations has this thing called Customer Service in place.

I've had interesting experience in the last few weeks with Customers Service of different levels.

I owe it to Maxis, so I've got to highlight this.
I know I've complained about Maxis' coverage a lot, I eventually realised that instead of complaining out loud, I should play my role as responsible customer by giving constructive feedback via proper channels. That is if there are convenient and accessible channels available.

I must say Maxis has done a very good job in striving to encourage, accept and act on customers feedback and complaints.

I've tweeted to MaxisListens several times on coverage issues with different locations.  Each time, I received almost immediate replies in the form of direct messages or tweet replies and there will be a follow up call  on the same day to get more detailed information pertaining to my complain.

They will then follow up with a case reference number via Twitter.  I'd normally get another call within 1-2 weeks to update me on the outcome of their investigations and actions taken.

At such instances, even if the problems were not 100% solved but the efforts put in to acknowledge the problems is highly commendable.


My other experience was with T, a local auto care company that I had brake pad issues with.  I filed an official complaint via their official website's feedback link.  If I'm not mistaken, it was a Saturday night.  I got a reply within 24 hours.  There were a couple of email correspondence.  The source of the problem remained unknown to me, I was offered "some compensation", I'm not sure if I will continue using their other services...but I know or at least they appear to have tried their very best to handle the complaint as sincerely as they could.  Thumbs Up!

And most recently, I had some problems with a day cream that I've been using for a long time.  They recently 'expanded' their product range to include a Whitening and another another improved Non Whitening  variant,..that's the way I understand it.  I bought the Whitening version not knowing that my face will be have sensitive reaction to it.  Actually I didn't realise its different from what I 've been using. You know..what's like when they suddenly make changes and we don't actually see the differences.


Anyway..I scanned through their website..but couldn't find anything that explained the change.  My questions were simple..WHAT SHALL I DO? CAN I HAVE THE OLD PRODUCT BACK?   I tried calling the only phone number that I could find in the website for days but I couldn't get through. My friend who is working in the company offered to pass my contact to the PR dept.

I waited.

And waited.

I couldn't wait..I bought the other Non Whitening variant.  Reaction was slightly better..but it's still not as good as before. I had to apply water to dilute effect.  wtf..

Sorry for the lingo..but I'm really quite mad.  It's an established and international brand, by the way.

So..no calls.  I tried writing in via the International website since the local website doesn't welcome write ins.

No replies.  International brand my foot.


Alas, I managed to get through to the local office today. and actually managed to speak to someone.  Hurray~

And oh...they remembered my name.  They are aware that I'm expecting some response...and someone is actually checking with 'so and so' about my problem...and will be calling me in the next two days.


ahem...what went wrong here?
May be..they don't have a Customer Service setup? PR should not handle customer complaints..



But hello..international brand, what could be worse than desperate customer in need of advice not being able to reach you ?

I'm still waiting...

Draw Something

I'm really amaze by recent developments in the social gaming community.  It's very interesting to observe how developers design and adapt to meet the fast changing interests and demands.

It's no longer like those days where we got stuck in one stupid game like the Octopus in a Game and Watch for years.  In this century, especially mobile gaming, gamers defect and move on to other games in an instant.

Games are constantly updated with new features and levels to keep gamers loyal to the game.

But yet..a game doesn't have to be some hi tech to gain popularity.

I got hooked to Draw Something over the weekend.

It sounded silly.  It looked silly.  I wasn't convince that I'd be hooked.

But hey..it turned out to be quite addictive.

We can opt to to play with random strangers or like me I prefer to link to Facebook where it tells you all your other Facebook friends who are playing it too.  

All I had to do was Create a game with someone, Draw something (out of 3 options of difficulty levels), and wait for the other party to guess my drawing. If the other party guessed it right, both gets the points allocated, and he / she will draw something else for me to guess. And it goes on and on...until either party decides to stop.  Yeah..sounds silly, I know. But...

One can even opt to watch a live replay on how your opponet guessed your drawing.

I ROFL when I saw that my friend initially guessed my GRENADE as GERMANY :D

It's really quite fun and requires some imagination and lots of creativity.  

This one must be the mother of all drawings :

Hong Kong ??!! 

And..what do you think this is??

I was told it's a Corndog ..duh!

And then, some people are born to be good in art, like my dear sis, here:

But I'm desperately stuck now, cos I have no idea what she just drew here, can someone help me!

This is a MONKEY from ML , lol.  

ANd tadaa..here's the best from yours truly, so far.

What did I draw, can you guess?

Health is Key

Andy Lau once said ... "I'm not afraid to die, I'm not afraid of old age but I'm afraid of ill health"

That's very true. what can be more important than being able to live a normal healthy life?

Let's not deny that all of us are guilty of forgetting to be grateful to one of the greatest gift in life.. Health.

I've experienced losing the ability to walk, grip, even sitting up on my own. I was bloody lucky to have recovered and able to do all that I'm able to do today.

I watched how the dearest person in my life fought and lost her battle to the big C.

And yet sometimes I still forget and took health for granted.

Last week a lil gal dear to us was diagnosed with  acute lymphoblastic leukemia . The doc is confident that there is a 95% cure rate. That's extremely good news but the treatment duration takes two long years.

There wasn't any early symptoms nor warning. The diagnosis hit her parents and all who cared like a cement truck.

How is such a small person going to endure two years of on going visits to the hospitals, constant jabs, medication, tests..

She's only three.

But what doesn't kill makes one stronger.

The strong mom rightly pointed out that this is God's reminder to her about how fragile life can be and she shall ride through this strongly with her dear princes and all who cared..

So my dear friends and who ever reading this. You got the message.

Health is key.

And ... yes, please remember to get sufficient insurance coverage!

I made Char Siew !

Few days back, when I saw a piece of fatty pork in the kitchen, I had reminisce of those char siew that my mom used to make.  It's not those that we had in chicken rice shops..but home made ones.  

It was pan fried until very dark brown...the oil and black sauce extracted from the frying goes very well with white rice.  

So..I tempted to make that.  

I had no idea what was the recipe...I just went about doing it based on what I think my mom did.

I marinated with dark soya sauce and sugar.  Should have been longer..but I started late.  Never mind.

At first it looked and tasted totally out.  Color was light brown instead of very dark black brown.  There was brown gravy instead on oil..  Meat tasted bland..no fragrant at all. 

Hmmm....based on memory it should be fragrant..clsoe to charred (that's why it's called char siew).  It should be sweet and..gravy should be just oil and some black sauce.

Decided to give it another go..I added more sugar and dark soya sauce, turned up the the heat !

Here's the outcome :D

Very very close I would say.  

I'd give myself a pass ^^

It should taste better if the meat has more fat and marinated longer..

I think I have a natural cooking talent :D

I'm sorry...

I'm sorry I didn't understand you when you meow-ed for help.  

I felt so much better to find one of the kitties still alive.  

This pic had over 200 views in blipfoto 

Your eyes ..said it all.."you are welcome..sweet gal" 

Everything seemed fine and the little one seemed to be heading to a healthy journey with us.

But.. life..is unpredictable. 

I thought I'd come back and take more pics of the little survivor...

The survivor did not survive

.I failed to understand you..once again.

I'm sorry ...

Being a mother is really the toughest job in the world.  To all mommies out there....hang in there, and be strong. 

Mogwai is a Mummy !

She wandered into my compound in July last year.  A cute little darling she was.

I didn't send her for neutering.  Reasons..

..didn't want spend the money

..too troublesome to make a trip to the vet

..the other female cat never got pregnant !

well..she did get pregnant :/

So..my cutie pie has been walking around carrying a huge baby bump for the last few months.

Yesterday, my dad noticed that she her stomach was smaller, I fed her in the morning and I didn't even noticed~

She was just her usual self, lazing around the compound..asking for food.  Didn't look like she has to take care of any babies.  Neither did we hear any kittens meow-ing.

I actually wondered if she had eaten all her kittens, since she likes to eat rats.. euw, I know.

Her vagina was still slightly bloody and wet..so she must have given birth the night before.

Her tits..looked like she's been feeding though...so that was a relieve :D

We then saw her entering our neighbour's unused garbage room.  That's where she chose to have her three little ones.  Such a safe place..it will take a while for the kittens to find their way out. 

Such a clever mommy =)

Tomorrow

http://thedoghousediaries.com/3474

I don't know what else to say..

Just solved the brake pads saga..now this ~

I don't know what else to say !

By the way,  I don't recall being hit or being involve in any accident unless I have alzheimer..

It's not about the money

I was at  at my sis' place while she was a cooking simple dinner.  She made omelette with minced pork and french beans with sliced fish cake. Dinner served in about an hour.  Nothing fancy but food was good enough and satisfying.  She calculated the cost...probably under RM10.  Similar kind of dishes will probably cost at least RM8 each in a shop.

When I was 'working', lunch by default will be a 'full meal' e.g. a whole plate of chicken rice with drumstick, wan tan mee with chicken drumstick or fatty char siew,  etc.  Each meal will probably cost at least RM5-6 without drinks.  Most of the time I'd end up feeling overfed.

Nowadays, I keep to simple lunch at home.  Mainly because I ain't no home maker like our super moms and there are limited cooking ingredients in the fridge.  I have a "chinese stomach", I need warm and cooked meals and starch.  I won't be satisfied with sandwiches and salads. And I can't possibly have instant noodles so often.

So I've been somewhat ...creative.  Getting better by day I must say ^^.  This week, I've had ...

...fried rice with bacon and 'wallet egg"

... sliced pork and mushroom with angel hair pasta..simply cooked with garlic, butter, olive oil and cheese

... fried rice (again) with some bacon and egg and black dace (leftover from dinner)

Simple dishes..but enough to fill me up and quite satisfying too.  Portion is kept small....around half of my usual portion in the shops.  Cost definitely much lower.  Bought the bacons some weeks ago for RM9.50..still using till today.  Pasta..bought much much longer ago..can't even remember the price.  

In a restaurant, I'd spent RM20+ for a plate of pasta..well they have better ingredients..and more "professionally cooked" and portion is bigger. But, I believe it'a matter of time..one day I will be able to cook proper pasta dishes..with condiments and all.

It's not entirely about the money... these few days while cooking and washing up..I can't help but wondered if I've been over feeding myself.  I didn't have to insist on that drumstick.  I didn't have to ask ask for those extra ingredients in my soup noodles.  Hmm..

By the way..preparation wasn't difficult.  Almost same time like our usual 1hr + lunch hour. I'd normally start preparing around 1 and done eating and washing up by 1.45pm 

And my dear friends..do not worry, I am and will always still be a foodie.  I still come out for meals on certain week nights, Friday nights especially.  

If you are wondering,,what was today's lunch? I got tired of angel hair. I got tired of bacon.  I got tired of olive oil.  I got tired of fried rice.

So..ta daaa...here's my proud creation =D

Instant Mee Goreng with minced pork egg omelete and mushrooms  

Instant noodles will never be the same ^o^

How long do brake pads last? - Part 2

..where was I?
In case you missed Part 1, click HERE

So..I was saying..consulted several parties for advice.



The Big Question:
What was the main cause of the fast wear out? Product fault? How can I prove that? Can I get more compensation?


What's next?
Which brand shall I opt for? 
Back to RM300 Original Nissan pads? Or cheaper alternative?


Where shall I go to for the change? 
Back to the previous workshop who supplied the problematic pads, back to Nissan but pay premium or else where?





Regardless, the fact remains, brake pads needs to be changed, fast. Nissan couldn't guarantee that the RM300 part will last.  Whether it is a RM100 or RM300 product, they sing the same song - generally they should last atleast 30,000 to 40,000 km, but it also depends on pne's driving habits, road conditions, bla bla bla.  So there's no guarantee.

I was also told that original parts cost more but not necessary they are of better quality, it's largely because they are imported has there are import taxes.  So..why should I pay more?

I decided to go back to my "trusted" neighbourhood mechanic.  He recommended Mintye, a local brand but trusted.  I paid RM110.  The noises disappeared immediately.  I shouldn't have ignored the noises in the first place.

As for the old pads, he checked and confirmed that they were original, but what was the condition of the pads when it was assembled in August is a question mark.

I decided to write an official complaint to T, the workshop that sold me the pads in August. Mainly because I think the management should be made aware of the issue.  Secondly, I would like to see what they can offer to regain my confidence in them..since I've been a regular customer.

Outcome:
Reply was quite prompt.  Within 24 hours although it was a weekend.
Some general reasons were givien to explain the premature wear out.  
Offered a free inspection by the chief mechanic to determine next course of action,.
Offered another brand at RM130 instead of RM260 - free installation, etc

I replied to say that I've already replaced the pads and there were no more noises. I also highlighted I consulted their mechanic when I heard the noises in August but were told that I can drive on,..bla bla.

Reply:

Is good that is no more sounds or noises after you replace Mintye brake pad. The possibility for the previous brake pad causes the noise is not due to installation method but may due to the following reasons:

• previous brake pad doesn’t bond well with the old brake disc
• previous brake pad quality faded
• old brake disc noise due to even surface already even out with the previous brake pad

Sometimes there are brake noise cannot be eliminate so it ok to drive on with it when no faulty found in the brake system. Since your car is driving with new brake pad without any noise now, is not necessary for us to inspect unless you found something not right with your brake system. Do let us know how much you pay for the Mintye as we will discuss how we can compensate you back something for goodwill. Thank you very much,

Well..I think they realised that there's really nothing much they could do.  I was offered another RM25 goodwill (on top of the earlier RM30) as compensation.

 I hope they will do some internal investigations to clarify the matter and ensure that other customers will not experience a similar experience.  It could be a product fault..it could be a human fault.  I don't know.  

Some financial loss on my side.  

Paid RM218 for original pads but worn out prematurely.  Had to fork out another RM110 for new pads.  Total Compensation - RM55.  What's my net loss? How to calculate?

Now, the other question is..do I still go back to T for tyre & wheels alignment?

荷包蛋 - Wallet Egg

An ex colleague / friend (Irene) invited us over for a simple dinner recently.  She and maids cooked nasi lemak.  There were chicken rendang, Indonesian tempeh, prawn sambal.  All the dishes were good.  But..there was one other simple dish that I loved most.

The 荷包蛋.

Slightly oily.  Slightly salty although she confirmed many times that she didn't add any salt.  Yolk was rare medium cooked - just the way I like it. Exactly like my mom's fried eggs.  I was so tempted to take two eggs~

Didn't remember to take any pics, didn't intend to blog about it anyway.  

Here's one from the net that looks the closest .  Simple yet looking delicious.

http://www.travelloves.com

Inspired by Irene, I tried making 荷包蛋 today.

No where near Irene's nor mom's.

Not rare enough.  Not wet enough.

No taste.

Hmm.. I miss my mama~

Facebook in Real Life

This is so true.

If we imagine what we I do in Facebook, if doing the same in real life.

LOL~

http://thedoghousediaries.com

Kung Fu Warrior

=D

Hiioiyaaa..

Got bored with the few games in the phone

Ouch..got slashed from the back!

Randomly downloaded this :D 

Died~

So fun..reminds me of Street Fighter ..haha