Ian CHEONG

2011-07-22: Macbook Air 2011 Benchmarks

2011-07-21T22:00:00.001+08:00

A couple of days after it's world debut in conjunction with Mac OS X 10.7 (a.k.a. LION), the Geekbench scores are out for both the new Dual Core Sandy Bridge ULV Core i5 and i7 CPUs for the 13" MBAs with the integrated Intel HD 3000 GPU! These are now known as the MacBook Air 4.2 series

Impressive!!!

1.7 Ghz Core i5 (2557M) @ 5400+

1.8 Ghz Core i7 (2677M) @ 5800+

With the Turbo Frequency boost of up to 2.9 Ghz, are we speculating burst scores of about 9,300? Foof!

To put other CPU scores into perspective:

3.06 Ghz Core i3 = 5,600+ | 2.3 Ghz Core i5 = 5900+

2011-01-09 Gosset Champagne

2011-01-09T13:06:00.005+08:00

Anyone tried this OLDEST Champagne from Champagne, France?

Will this whip the standard Ariston Aspasies, Baron Fuentes, Billecart-Salmons, Bollingers, Bruno Michels, Charles Heidsiecks, Collard-Picards, Elisabeth Goutorbes, Fleurys, Franck Bonvilles, Henriots, Launois Blancs, Laurent-Perriers, Louis Roederers, Marguet Peres, Michel Arnoulds, Michel Dervins, Michel Loriots, Moets, Nicholas Feuillattes, Krugs, Perrier-Jouëts, Phillipe Gonets, Pierre Celliers, Piper-Heidsiecks, Ruinarts, Taittingers & Veuve Clicquots?

The basic American prices are circa RM 100-115 for a 750ml Brut Excellence bottle.

High end bottles such as the Celebris range are nearer to RM 400 as shown here. Local taxation applies!

Note that the Flash enabled website needs you to be of legal alcohol consumption age.

2011-01-09 Caviar Azovka

2011-01-09T12:39:00.003+08:00

Anyone tasted this French product of Olivier Besson?

It's farmed from one of the 24 varieties of known sturgeons.

Perhaps have to get my Iranian buddies to get some since the word 'Caviar' comes from the Persian word "Khaviar" which means "bearing eggs"

Pricing is from Hong Kong Dollars 10 to 20k per kilogramme!

This translates to HKD 10 - 20 per gramme!

Typical can sizes are 30g and 100g.

2010-12-28: 3G connection is finally happening on the mobile device

2010-12-28T06:57:00.001+08:00

Finally got my 3G connection on my portable Internet device.
My mistake of not turning on the 3G button! Silly me!

Streaming all my favourite stations using Tunein Radio app.

Speedwise, nothing to shout about. With the Celcom 512Kb/s cap, getting such results below is acceptable I guess, but is less than half of what the Canadians would expect. Won't dare to see the comparison with Seoul, South Korea!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Jalan Tembaga,Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

iPad ANTI GLARE Screen Protectors for sale - cheapest in Malaysia

2010-10-31T16:00:00.004+08:00

Get your HIGH QUALITY iPad screen protectors here.

You can check out Low Yat, Midvalley stalls selling at RM 60 to 80 each.

Protect your iPads at RM 50 only!

There are other polythene sheets out there which are cheaper, but you will get "GLAD WRAP" quality. Good for covering your leftovers in the fridge!

Bulk discounts for orders of 10 and above negotiable.

CASH on DELIVERY and FACE to FACE transactions in Klang Valley only.

If you are NOT in Klang Valley, get your friend to contact me!

Sorry, no postal / courier services here!

20100719 Nuke da Duke?

2010-07-20T06:36:00.001+08:00

Typical current state of affairs in our transport planning department. Malaysia Boleh all the way. This was the scenario I was stuck in this morning on the Duke highway after I exited from the house at 8am.
Pic 1: toll

Believe it or not, there was a queue. Not surprising, since the 2 million working class tax payers had to join the rat race every morning! But this not just the "tunai" lane, but ALL lanes including the Touch 'N Go lanes. All this crap in the name of proper traffic planning and efficiency! Look at all the suckers priming the cash cow. 2 phuqs per entry per booth. There's 8 booths so u get about 10 phuqs/second since it's not really sophisticated enough to have real time collection like Singapore's ERP or Dubai's 4 dirham toll gantries! Hey, we are not far off, paying half of Dubai and 5x more in car prices with a per capita income of 4x less than them! Great economics at work!
Pic 2
So wutz da fuss

2010-04-18: PC Fair 1

2010-04-17T23:32:00.002+08:00

The annual fest is here again for the 1st tranche in the Klang Valley.

So today is the LAST DAY of this IT Fiesta in our capital

Here are some highlights.

27" Full HD LCD @ RM 1,100

32" Philips Full HD LCD (with USB support for RMVB!!!) @ RM 1,500

56" Philips super duper LCD with 21:9 aspect ratio (only one in the world) @ under RM 20k!

Memory prices not moving much. 8/16Gb thumb drives & SD cards in the RM 50/100 arena. U can imagine the MemStick Pros & CF prices!

HD prices still a bit sticky at about RM 300 for 1 Tb and RM 538 for 2 Tb. Looks like 1.5 Tb is best bang for da buck at RM 365.

800VA UPS for under RM 200
Buffalo 2 bay NAS below RM 300

Dlink has a nice Wifi-n router with 4 port GIGABIT for half da price of Airport Extreme! Woo hoo! Great for connection DROBOs or NAS with GIGABIT! No need eSATA / USB 2 or 3 / FW 800!

Projector prices down to RM 1,500 with free 6*6 manual screens. I know I'm eyeing the Viewsonic with 3D support (Superb! Who need's the baby sized 55" Samsung 3D TV @ over RM 15k?)

The usual suspects were all there:

A to Z PC / Camera brands (Nikon D90 with 18-105 kit plunges to below RM 3,500!)

Lots of DSLR trigger happy dudes snapping all the "booth babes" with the Chinese RPG online gaming ones sporting the best costumes.

Small techie shops, with Thundermatch stealing the limelight this year

All the telcos mashed into the last quadrant at Hall 5, just as u r about to exit.

Don't bother asking about HSBB @ Telekom stall. No difference in deployment. Just wait for 2010Q4 for further progress (Yawn!)

Photos here at PICASA

20091226: My Birthday blog

2009-12-26T23:55:00.000+08:00

OK, yeah, another year has passed. I thank all those who have assisted me in pulling through this tough year, especially for me.
Talking about tough, I went to Jusco Mid Valley to hunt for mumsie's birthday present. I was looking for this GADGET which my mumsie wanted. The price was right too, as it plunged from RM 3xx to RM 2xx now. Problem was it that stocks were diminished and they have not replenished!
Feel unabated, I recalled that Best Denki also sold lots of electrical appliances @ LG. So there I went. Believing that every cloud has a silver lining, I was blessed with that lining, as they had stocks, er STOCK, 'cos I took the LAST one! Better yet, they were also another RM 10 cheaper.
Since there was an Xmas promotion going on, I had to use my Mastercard credit card to amass RM 250 worth before I could redeem a token. So I had to grab a 4 pack of Sanyo's Eneloop AA 2000 mAh batteries, that cost a staggering RM 66!
With the token, I redeemed a nice wine glass, and on top of that, was given a Lancome voucher to redeem extra skincare freebies from the counter within Metrojaya.
Before I met my friend for lunch, I then lugged this gift up to Gardens Club, which provided me FREE gift wrapping. Timing was good, as the scheduled movie at 2pm, would only end just before 5pm.
Thus when all the goodies were left with the Concierge, I then proceeded to ISETAN which provided another freebie, courtesy of UNCA UNUNDA. Yeah, cut out a coupon and redeem a full bottle of Davidoff's ECHO Shower gel, worth > RM 100 (apparently). So there's all the freebies to date.
I went to watch AVATAR in 3D, costing a staggering RM 18. The morning queue was also outstanding. A long line of at least 200 people were in line prior to the box office opening at 10am! Effects were astounding, and it was Dejavu to see James Cameron team up with Supa Mama, Sigourney since the 1st ALIENS day.
Wrapping up in a cocoon incubator, now, doesn't that bring back memories? And all the robots, which are just ALIENS "cut & paste". Easy for ILM and Weta Studios!

In summary, it's LORD of the RINGS, mashed up with ALIENS running about in the Forest of Endor (remember the Ewoks?) killing each other at the end, Terminator style!

20091224: Xmas eve coffee break reunion

2009-12-24T23:55:00.002+08:00

After 25 years, we meet back @ Starbucks, Bangsar Village on Xmas eve.
Yeah, known Bala and Alvin since 1984 from the VI days!
Bala has really moved on, being one of the senior honchos in Posterscope, whilst Alvin is another senior dude @ IBM Singapore.

Ian Cheong has invited you to Dropbox

2009-12-23T11:11:00.000+08:00

We're excited to let you know that Ian Cheong has invited you to Dropbox!

Ian Cheong has been using Dropbox to sync and share files online and across computers, and thought you might want it too.

Visit www.dropbox.com to get started.

- The Dropbox Team

To stop receiving invites from Dropbox, click here

20091207: Malaysian TV Channels

2009-12-07T13:34:00.005+08:00

Finally got the Philips DVD recorder for my relatives to replace the aging Panasonic VCR!
Since blank DVD-RWs are cheaper than Video tapes anyway, so wuddaheck. The SLP recording mode can record up to 6 hours per disc too!
Better still, it has a USB port to plug in a thumb drive or hard disks to watch loads of DVix movies.

However, life still goes on by recording some lame terrestrial programmes over our 6 local TV stations. My relatives are reluctant to line more of Uncle Ununda's coffers, unlike a silly ME!
Thus no Astro & Wah Lai Toi for them!

I then found out that this superb Philips recorder actually scans the frequencies (AND DISPLAYS THEM) during the channel search function in the tuner.

So this is the conclusion for our local television channels. All of them transmit in NICAM stereo now.

VHF Channels 2-12: PAL System B
TV1: 175.25 Mhz
TV2 (started on 17 Nov 1969): 196.25 Mhz

UHF Channels 21-69: PAL System G
TV3: 535.25 Mhz
NTV7: 599.25 Mhz
8TV: 519.25 Mhz
TV9: 639.25 Mhz

More technical details are shown here

Anyone else know of OTHER recorders which display the frequencies?

20091030: Low Mac and iPod prices

2009-10-30T10:35:00.005+08:00

Low price indeed for my "Museum" artefact, just 60 Sing bucks according to the Mac2Sell site.

Even my iPods are valued more.

However, my "ageing" MacBook is still holding on well, garnering > 15x the value of the Cube.

Anybody interested, can email me directly!

20091017: ASTRO - are we taken for a ride?

2009-10-18T12:18:00.001+08:00

After spending 2 months down here in BROKEN BANGLE (aka Gelang Patah) in the southern part of Johor, I've come to learn a few things about public broadcasting.

Johoreans, particularly the southerners along our causeway, spanning from Gelang Patah to Pasir Gudang can attest to ONE FREEBIE, i.e the receipt of Singaporean TV, broadcasted by Mediacorp.

As a layman, I don't conduct many public surveys. However, don't be surprised that if a poll for Astro subscribers was ever conducted down here in this region, I'm quite sure that the numbers won't be that favourable to the bean counters, as compared to the other regions in Malaysia, which are "broadcast deficient".

Why am I being so sarcastic? Do I have anything against our Unca Ununda?

Well, not that because the following programmes are being broadcast FREE OF CHARGE i.e no monthly subscription from Mediacorp, nor that because we are not getting HD broadcasts.

Then there are the 2 new Asian premieres: Flash Forward (You can get the latest season off iTunes Store now) and Legend of the Seeker (excellent series written by Terry Goodkind)

In addition, there is also another channel featuring high quality documentaries to the like of Crime & Investigation, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. This is OKTO.

In addition to the high quality productions, there are weekend concerts (read: full orchestra & operas) every Saturday and Sunday evening.

So, the time has come to terminate my WAH LAI TOI subscription which is still broadcasting NON-HD programmes, whilst charging the Chinese viewers EXORBITANT rates. Anyone done any analysis?

It's ONLY the Chinese who have to succumb this "financial" torture, even though they constitute less than a quarter of the nation's population. I don't see any premiums imposed upon the Malay and Indian Channels.

My deepest sympathies to the Astro On Demand subscribers! Typically they are the local housewives who are just yearning for the next drama episode, but not the quality of the STANDARD DEFINITION broadcast!

Worse still, channels which are broadcast FOC in ALL OTHER PARTS of the world which can receive DIRECT satellite broadcasts such as BBC and CNN are also CHARGED in the BASIC package.

The Middle East, normally perceived to be backwards in civilisation as compared to the WESTERN world, is another testimonial to all this Astro hoax subscriptions.

In Qatar, satellite dishes are legal. You can purchase the dishes the size of a dining table large enough for a gourmet meal for 10 at Tai Thong, down to the standard KUALI sized parabolic pans we are using.

The set top boxes (STB) are also a dime a dozen. You can get different variations from about RM 150 to RM 1000 from the electronic racks of Carrefour! The cheap ones will allow you to receive all the FREE Satellite channels in the world, known as the FREEVIEW service.

Likewise for Dubai, however, with a slight notch of regulation. The only thing you will pay are the SPORTS telecasts and movie channels! I think that is fair! But not to pay for FREE Channels!

Here in Malaysia, we choose channels with ONE Satellite. In the Mid East, you get to CHOOSE which SATELLITE you want to view, then only do you choose the channels. Replacement transponders cost less than RM 50 each!

Even our decoders are like 2 decades old. Back in 1990, decoders in the UK already had STBs accepting 2 or more subscription cards (Ours has 2 slots, but we only have ONE choice!) To determine how outdated our sets are, there exists the ancient PARALLEL and SERIAL ports in the rear (for those who were pioneer subscribers like me, can attest to this)

I will urge those who have not been to the Mid East, visit Qatar and Dubai to VIEW 1st world nation channels! How many know that there is also FASHION TV Arabia and MTV Arabia, whereby lots of gorgeous Lebanese girls pelt our the latest Arabic hits. I can attest that most of them can outdo Mariah Carey, such as Nancy Ajram. However, Malaysia will NEVER show us MTV Arabia!

Can I find supporters to AXE & Cut off WLT? Just like how P1 Wimax is trying to get the masses to SNIP off STREAMYX?

Those pursuing an Economics course and need material on the subject matter of MONOPOLY, this is a great place to start gathering your thesis material.

Finally, I am still pissed that my favourite FREE channels are not available such as FASHION TV and Channel News Asia.

20090917: 1 Malaysia 1 Megabit! - Regional broadband speeds

2009-09-17T22:51:00.004+08:00

Unbelievable but true, we have come a long way since the modem days. It's now known as NARROWBAND.

For those who have used BBSes prior to the WORLD WIDE WEB back in the early 90s, will know what is meant by BAUD RATE. I think current IT techies would think it's a JURASSIC term.

During my early infancy days of internet in Malaysia, I had the chance of using equipment from a lowly 9600 baud modem, then slowly inching up with 14.4K, then to 28.8, 33.6 and finally 56k modems. Even my Nokia Communicator 9000 managed only a 9.6k connection (at least I received faxes on it, which the current one cannot, however I digress!)

After that, the 128k ISDN era dawned upon us, but resulted as a sunset technology.

Streamyx then entered the market, and from the modem heydays, we finally managed to meet Mr ADSL in the late 90s.

Fast forward till today, our VISION 2020 and HSBB initatives are "trying" their very best to get out of the 1 Megabit threshold, which is quite a norm now. (I still use a 384 to 512 K Streamyx connection at home, just to update my iPod touch RSS feeds, only when my Wiggy fails me!)

Some places get a FASTER 2 Mb and for those who have excess cash can dole out RM 268 for a 4 Megabit line! Boy am I glad I'm getting my 10 Megabit Wiggy for under RM 100 / month!

Then when you travel abroad, you open your eyes. I for one, have friends in neighbouring countries who tell me their fabled stories of their connection. Fabled because it remains as a "fairy tale" to most of us over here in the peninsular.

Just next door, our southern neighbour as whizzed past the maximum threshold of ADSL2+.

What is that, some may ask?

For those technically challenged, you can massage your cranial activity by checking this out, or just to know that current ADSL maxes out at about 8 Mb. ADSL2+ pushes the envelope to 24 Mb!

Now that's fast. But it can get faster!

Our internal office wired networking was just 230Kb (with Appletalk / Localtalk days in the 80s and early 90s). Then Ethernet surfaced with 10-Base-2 with BNC coaxial connectors and then 10-Base-T using twisted pair connections. My NeXT Workstation still uses both of them.

This has then ballooned to 100 Mb, and then 1000 Mb (otherwise known as 1 Gigabit).

Some advanced servers today are having 10 Gbits connectivity already.

Coming back to broadband, would you believe that our neighbours already have a staggering 100 Mb?

To believe it, look at the promotion here from STARHUB Singapore! They have been enjoying this for the past 2 months, albeit, currently from local sites only! At least the local content can really pump out HD movies as highlighted here!

For that amount of money, you are getting the subscription PLUS cable modem and MORE thrown in.

Even with our depreciating ringgit, that translates to RM 213 per month at today's rate of RM 2.45 to the dollar. Pro-rate that. We will be paying just over RM 2 PER Megabit.

And what do we have here? Just jog your memory here.

Incidentally, I also Skyped my buddy in Kowloon, Hong Kong, who informs me that nobody uses Satellite dishes anymore. That's for REMOTE areas (like Kampung) where CABLE technology is difficult. Now you know why Singapore has no use of these unsightly dishes anymore.

There, he was also enjoying 100 Mbits also. To prove that he was not pulling my leg, I requested for a SPEEDTEST.NET screenshot, and here is the EVIDENCE!

FLABBERGASTED? UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE!

Even with that performance, they just get a 2.6/5 rating! Should ours be like 0.026/5 since it's 100x slower?

Update: 20090103
2 weeks later, an Oxonian report puts us # 48 out of 66 in a 24 million record poll.

Thankfully I still have the little Wiggy to get jiggy with. Got an all time high of over 8 Mb download yesterday!
Alas, the Mac OS X driver installer dmg is still not out yet after 6 months of its deployment!

20090916: Samsung phones and cameras!

2009-09-16T18:30:00.004+08:00

This is a cute one from the KOREANS.Integrating Analog dials into digital cameras! Check it out here!

Review here!

I dunno why, but this month, I just had a fancy for SAMSUNG, as I just got a great deal on the world's thinnest 3G phone (8.4 mm) with VIDEO CALL (Hello Apple, are u reading this???) that supports Bluetooth and also MicroSD card support (Not SDHC though).

The price, below RM 300! Unbelievable. Lelong still retailing at about RM 500. Here is the phone.

20090714: Notice of the DEATH of BUBBLESHARE

2009-07-14T23:38:00.004+08:00

All good things must come to an end!

My favourite photo sharing site is going down the drain in 3 months from today. They have served their quarter notice today!

The flash animations were the spiffiest and the storage was UNLIMITED.

For those who stil wanna see how they fared over the years, do check them out here. (while they are still around)

My 40 albums since May 2007, will still remain in there till it's deathbed.

However, they will be transported over and posted into my DotMac account soon. The Picasa album is great, but the 1 Gb space limitation isn't!

I guess all the other photo sites like Picasa, Flickr and Facebook have made world domination over the past 2 years.

The following transcript is their eulogy for their own site:

Dear Bubbleshare member –

As of November 15, 2009, Bubbleshare.com will no longer be available and all links to all albums and photos will cease to function (including existing links within emails, blogs, etc). To access your photos in the future you will need to download your photos prior to November 15, 2009.

To save your images to your desktop, simply click the "Download Album" link next to your albums and double click on original photos. Your photos will then be saved to your desktop.

Again, all photos and albums must be removed prior to November 15, 2009. Effective immediately, you will no longer be able to upload any new photos or albums.

We apologize for the inconvenience. It was our pleasure to assist you with your photo sharing needs.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
The Bubbleshare Team

20090711 - P1 Wimax remarkable performance!

2009-07-11T11:11:00.002+08:00

Unbelievable but true,

Achieved a remarkable 7.9 Mb/s on P1 Wimax this morning! Evidence below!

Click on image for larger version.

No wonder those 90 - 100 Mb Harry Potter HD trailers downloaded so quickly!

20090704: Dinner chaos @ Dome, KLCC due to digital disaster

2009-07-05T09:20:00.003+08:00

This is my first time dining @ Dome, KLCC. Not really a fanboy of RM 4 water bottles, and RM 25 meals, which can be obtained easily for half the price. But hey, you are paying premium for the location and ambience. Soothing chill-out tunes could be heard throughout the evening.

Seating was comfy, with ample plug points underneath the cubicle settee to charge your netbook, tethered to the internet via Michael LAI's free Wireless@KL Wifi service!

So much for chilling out for dinner @ Dome, KLCC to take advantage of Nazir's CIMB points redemption promotion, until a SERIOUS technical glitch occured!

I had no choice but to draft a complaint to CIMB via their web response portal.

The transcript is as follows:

I was dining @ Dome, KLCC last night (Sat) to try out your promotion for points redemption. I checked my status prior to dinner, which had more than sufficient to cover the dinner. When I paid at 945pm, the manager return to say that the redemption was rejected, after a few trials. I then called customer service, and she told me that the system is DOWN after 10pm. As a life long customer (as your cards are free for life), I find this really UNACCEPTABLE and I put CIMB fully accountable and responsible for this SERIOUS error and oversight. I was so embarassed in front of my international guests, thinking that my credit limit is barred. In fact, it was all due to your computer system. There is NO mention whatsover of such a technical LIMITATION in any of your promotion literature. As a result, I had NO choice but to pay the full amount. I would expect a full written explanation to this matter, and please suggest a means of appeasing your customer, to ensure continued support for your banking services.

Well, let's see what's their response is next week!

CAVEAT EMPTOR or start washing dishes, if u truly depend on dining with the card only

At least, upon departure, I get my MELIUM Contest vouchers! Here's to good luck for a wardrobe makeover!

20090627: Continental Test Drives

2009-06-27T21:52:00.002+08:00

Phew, my First Aid test finished earlier than I thought! That leaves my Saturday afternoon free for something pressing in my TO DO LIST!

AUDI 1.8 T (RM 250k) | UK: 24,200

Finally get to visit the Audi showroom in Glenmarie.

Was met by this 4-eyed salesgirl, who kinda made the entire Audi experience totally embarrassing to say the least. Virtually every answer to my question was "I don't know?" Did she just "graduate" from government departments?

And to make matters worse, her name card had "liquid paper" over another person's name! Sheesh, talk about LOW QUALITY!

Anyway the Audi A4 was under the spotlight here. Nothing much to shout about. Just a 1.8 litre car, OVER RM 200k! I think my brain is overheating and my IQ is faltering here! Yeah, so it's turbocharged. Big deal! Isn't the Lancer GT also FULLY IMPORTED and is cheaper too? And if you are thinking TRANSPORTER 3, forget it! Not an A8 in sight. Just a basic A6 in the front of the showroom, with a new TT in the rear. There wasn't even a Q5 for show! Unbelievable!

Pros: Rear arm rest with cup holders, radio indicator in dash LCD, stereo kit with bluetooth support (Exora also got!).

Cons: Rear seats cannot fold. No Ski hole. LCD has NO GPS function! You are paying about RM 100k in taxes! Yeah!

Only good news is that the 2.0 Turbo variant will be later this year!

ALFA ROMEO 159 2.2 litre "GUILIA" (RM 188k) | UK: 24,650

Popped over to another Sime Darby outlet, this time to the new Alfa showroom in Section 14.

Very good service here. Young chap knows his stuff. Twin injector pumps vs single pumps!

Tested the Alfa 159, which is FULLY imported (CBU) from Italy, and CHEAPER than a LOCALLY ASSEMBLED (CKD) BMW 3 series! Sorry, I almost failed my Economics, thus I really can't explain this phenomenon!

Pros: Sunroof! Yeah! Skihole in rear centre seat, folding wing mirrors, auto anti-glare, non eed for separate engine start/stop button. Just press the ignition key! Unlimited mileage warranty

Cons: First to 2nd gear shift a bit jerky. Have to get used to this! Only 2 year warranty. Low headroom for rear passengers. No centre LCD

The sales dude did mention that a forthcoming promotion is underway, with the inclusion of a Bluetooth enabled GPS with Wide screen LCD and a wireless reverse camera support

20090626 - Wiggy Firmware Update Chaos

2009-06-26T22:00:00.000+08:00

Darn,

Updated the Wiggy modem firmware today!

And ALL the connection logs and statistics were wiped out without warning!

Email sent to Michael Lai's complaint department!

Furthermore, the Mac OS X drivers and updaters are still UNRESOLVED!

Wussumatter with these programmers?

Let's see what develops!

20090530: Jaya Demolition collapse - news from the ground

2009-05-31T17:20:00.000+08:00

As a construction engineer, I was really intrigued by this occurrence. Alas, your freelance reporter on foot caught these on Saturday afternoon.

here

The shots are taken from GROUND level and you can see that many spectators are having a grandstand view from their balconies!

SOME BACKGROUND HISTORY

The original contractor who constructed the building which is NOW listed on our BURSA Malaysia, never intended for the structure to be occupied with heavy machinery on its roof top.

Each of those excavators weigh anything from about 30 tonnes each. So do the math!

As comparison, a small car weighs about 1 to 2 tonnes only!

From reliable sources and eye-witnesses (familiar with the construction industry) who were present in the vicinity a few days before the account (patronising Digital Mall), they too, looked worried when they saw huge excavators beginning to demolish the building FROM the top WHILST the bottom was also being dismantled manually. Is this a sign of NEGLIGENCE here?

What ought to have occured as a quick and swift operation, as those seen in professional American demolition works (where the whole building can come down safely within minutes) was once again MUCH delayed! Apparently the professional demolition contractors were already specified and pre-qualified (investigators can check with the contractor on this!) but were finally given the rejection by the local government, as they were prohibited from bringing in their own explosives.

Thus the other option was to PURCHASE the explosives from local sources. However to due to APPARENT reasons (beyond the scope of this blog) whose news was "politically linked" last year, the option to purchase the equipment local was ALSO prohibited.

So, if bring in ALSO cannot and BUY locally ALSO cannot, what to do next? Well, have to resort back to CAVEMAN methods and hack down the whole building lah!

But with our "stringent" safety guidelines, this is the result to be seen!

However the news as of today (SUNDAY), many residents have been requested to evacuate and will stay in a nearby hotel fully subsidized by the contractor (I doubt they'd pay for PJ Hilton!). On top of that, they are to get a RM 150 per diem, just enough to cover basic meals for a small family.

20090521: HONDA MALAYSIA Quality issues on Wheel Hub Bearing

2009-05-21T22:22:00.002+08:00

I've driven a few cars in Malaysia: These are paid with hard earned salary though.

1983 Honda Quintet, Japan, CBU MANUAL - SOLD, STOLEN

1990 BMW 318i, E30, Germany, CKD MANUAL - SOLD, TRADE-IN

1995 Nissan X-trail 2.0, Japan, CKD AUTO - SOLD, TRADE-IN

2004 Hyundai Accent, Korea, CKD AUTO - ACTIVE

So far, touch wood, none of them have had any major problems.

I did change a fuel pump for the Beemer which was thrashed for over 200,000km over it's 10 years life span, and that cost me just under RM 1k!

Apart from that, it's just the basic oil change and servicing.

Then comes along good old HONDA CITY.

Yeah, this belongs to da missus.

2004 HONDA CITY, Japan, CKD, ACTIVE

So far it's clocked just over 65,000km and noises started appearing.

Upon inspection at the service centre, they first diagnosed it as something "from the engine".

So they proceeded to "fix" the problem.

Of course with their "educated" guess, all was NOT WELL!

So the second round, they put their ears to the floor and then found out it was the WHEEL BEARINGS?

WHEEL BEARINGS? Made of what? High Density plastic? Just after 65,000km and you have SEVERE wear and tear? Unbelievable!

After some checks on line, our INDIAN counterparts have suffered similar problems, even at LOWER mileage, around 30-35,000 km as attested here!

In fact, a quick check with my regular mechanic showed that he's even changed some with just about 25,000km on the clock!

So much for quality control. But the worst part is the PRICE: About RM 500 each. Quite close to the 6,000 rupees in India! (Actual price was RM 569.39 less 15% = 483.98!)

The part number changed was 42200-SAA G51.

More expensinve in EUROPE @ 190 Euros! Can buy from here or here too!

(An alternative site had similar ones bearing the number 42200-R3-A06, no pun intended!)

So for you NEW Honda City fellas who are paying about RM 40,000 PREMIUM for the car, please be beware!

New BMW Z4 - E89

2009-04-27T21:06:00.002+08:00

The new Beemer Z4.

Explore the American dream here if u have a spare USD$ 50k and above!

Production has been moved back to Germany from USA!

Blend automotive pleasure with divine expressionism in art here.

You can download the App from the iTunes Store for your iPhone or iPod Touch too!

Posted with LifeCast

20090409 - Malaysian New Cabinet

2009-04-10T20:38:00.005+08:00

A year has passed. 55 weeks on, and a few by-elections another NEW Cabinet is revealed for the Malaysian public.
Now, for those with multiple portfolios, I wonder if they get multiple salaries also?

Here's the new line up of 25 Ministries (down from 27) sorted in a logical ALPHABETICAL

order (unlike other sites which just copy & paste). This is listed after the PM's Dept.:

*Prime Minister (PM): Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (elected from DPM)

(retired: TUN Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (upgraded from Datuk Seri))

*Deputy Prime Minister (DPM): Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (from International Trade and Industry)

*Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department
Economic Planning Unit: Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (swap from Finance II)

Law and Parliament: Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz
Religious Affairs: Brig. Gen. (Rtd) Datuk Jamil Khir Baharum (Senator)
Unity and Performance Management: Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (Senator)

{History: Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim (resigned 20080915), Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz}

*Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department
NEW: Ahmad Maslan, Datuk Liew Vui Keong, Senator T. Murugiah

MAINTAINED: Senator Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim, Datuk S.K. Devamany,

*1 1 Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
1 2 Minister - Noh Omar {from Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development}
1 3 Deputies - Datin Paduka Rohani Abdul Karim & Johari Baharum (from Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department)

*2 1 Defence
2 2 Minister - Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (from Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department)
2 3 Deputy - Dr. Abdul Latif Ahmad

*3 1 Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
3 2 Minister -Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob (from Youth & Sports)
3 3 Deputy - Tan Lian Hoe (from Information)
{History: Datuk Shahrir Samad}

*4 1 Education
4 2 Minister - Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (2nd portfolio)

4 3 Deputies - Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong & Dr. Mohd Puad Zarkashi
{History: Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Datuk Razali Ismail}

*5 1 Energy, Green Technology and Water (was Energy, Water and Communications)
5 2 Minister - Peter Chin Fah Kui (from Plantation Industries and Commodities)
5 3 Deputy - Noriah Kasnon

6 1 Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development [ABOLISHED]
6 3 Deputy - Datuk Saiffuddin Abdullah

* 7 1 Finance
7 2 Minister - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (2nd portfolio: no change since 2008-09-22)

7 3 Second Finance Minister - Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah (upgrade from Deputy)

7 4 Deputies - Datuk Chor Chee Heung (from Internal Security and Home Affairs), Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein (Senator)

*8 1 Foreign Affairs
8 2 Minister - Anifah Aman
8 3 Deputies - Kohilan Pillay Appu (Senator) (from Plantation Industries and Commodities) & Lee Chee Hong
{History: Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri (Kudat MP) replacing Tengku Azlan Abu Bakar (vacant from 2008-03-27 til 04-21)}

*9 1 Federal Territories
9 2 Minister - Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin (Senator)
9 3 Deputy - Saravanan Murugan
{History: Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique}

10 1 Health
10 2 Minister - Datuk Liow Tiong Lai
10 3 Deputy - Rosnah Rashid Shilin
{History: Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad}

*11 1 Higher Education
11 2 Minister - Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin
11 3 Deputies - Hou Kok Chung & Saifuddin Abdullah
{History: Khoo Kok Choong, Datuk Idris Harun}

*12 1 Housing and Local Government
12 2 Minister - Kong Cho Ha (from Deputy Finance)
12 3 Deputy - Lajim Ukin (from Transport)
{History: Datuk Ong Ka Chuan}

*13 1 Human Resources
13 2 Minister - Datuk Subramaniam Sathasivam
13 3 Deputy - Maznah Mazlan (from Natural Resources and Environment)
{History: Datuk Noraini Ahmad}

14 1 Information [ABOLISHED]
14 2 Minister -
14 3 Deputy -

*15 1 Home Affairs (Was Internal Security and Home Affairs)
15 2 Minister - Hishammuddin Tun Hussein
15 3 Deputies - Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop (from Defence) & Jelaing Mersat (from Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs)
{History: Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Senator Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh}

*16 1 International Trade and Industry
16 2 Minister - Mustapa Mohamed (from Agriculture and Agro-based Industry)
16 3 Deputies - Mukhriz Mahathir & Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan
{History: Loh Wei Keong}

*17 1 Information, Culture, Arts and Heritage (renamed / merged from Information & National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage)
17 2 Minister - Rais Yatim (from Foreign Affairs)
17 3 Deputy - Joseph Salang Gandum (from Energy, Water and Communications) &
{History: Datuk Teng Boon Soon}

*18 1 Natural Resources and Environment
18 2 Minister - Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas [MAINTAINED]
18 3 Deputy -Tan Sri Joseph Kurup (from Rural and Regional Development)

*19 1 Plantation Industries and Commodities
19 2 Minister - Bernard Dompok
19 3 Deputy - Hamzah Zainuddin (from Housing and Local Government)

*20 1 Rural and Regional Development
20 2 Minister - Mohd Shafie Apdal (from National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage)
20 3 Deputy - Joseph Entulu & Hassan Malek (pending, from Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department)
{History: Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib}

*21 1 Science, Technology and Innovation (NO CHANGE)
21 2 Minister - Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili
21 3 Deputy - Fadillah Yusof

*22 1 Tourism
22 2 Minister - Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen (from Women, Family and Community Development)
22 3 Deputy - Datuk Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib [MAINTAINED]
{History: Datuk Azalina Othman}

*23 1 Transport
23 2 Minister - Datuk Ong Tee Keat [MAINTAINED]
23 3 Deputy - Abdul Rahim Bakri & Robert Lau (from Housing and Local Government)

*24 1 Women, Family and Community Development
24 2 Minister - Sharizat Abdul Jalil (Senator)
24 3 Deputy - Chew Mei Fun
{History: Noriah Kasnon}

*25 1 Works Minister
25 2 Minister - Shaziman Abu Mansor (from Energy, Water and Communications)
25 3 Deputy - Datuk Yong Khoon Seng
{History: Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamad}

*26 1 Youth and Sports
26 2 Minister - Ahmad Shabery Cheek (from Information)
26 3 Deputy - Wee Jack Seng & Razali Ibrahim

20090307: Sarah Brightman SYMPHONY concert review

2009-03-07T23:46:00.002+08:00

So Sarah Brightman's concert came and went in a jiffy!
The concert was not cancelled! Thankfully. I guess it's due to the patronage of the Perak royalty, who, incidently strictly adhered to the highest Malaysian standards of punctuality, i.e. about 15 minutes late!
The concert finally then kicked off at 850pm, instead of the planned 830 pm. Not too bad, considering I waited in sweltering SWEAT in the previous Mariah Carey concert for 45 minutes, (waiting for another VIP) held in the atrocious STADIUM MERDEKA years back!
My standards for concert venues have since elevated, and I am glad that Sarah's venue is in the project which I was involved in, 5 years back with a previous contractor, at the KLCC Plenary hall. Even met some other friends who were fans of Sarah too!

Overall, the performance was spectacular, especially when it was professionally accompanied by a local repertoire of string instrument artistes and also vocals from half a dozen strong choir!

The entire performance lasted a paltry 70 minutes, with Sarah rendering only 14 tracks on her set list. Three of them were duets with Alessandro Safina! An excellent tenor from Siena, Italy, that easily rivals Andrea Bocelli! This repertoire is paltry, compared to her kick off tour in Mexico last year when she had a staggering 25 tracks! Now that's value for money!

The entire atmosphere was quite plain (to my standards). I was hoping for some gala theatherical stage setup, AS REPORTED HERE , citing "Concert-goers will get to witness enormous realistic ballrooms melding into fairytale gardens and then morphing into giant fish tanks, as a backdrop for Brightman’s performance" I didn't see an iota of such a setup, or was I truly blind? I just saw a PLAIN BLACK CURTAIN! Were we short changed again, being Malaysians? I may have to write in to Sarah Reynolds to get an explanation!

What we witnessed was just a blend of a mini orchestra on one side and a modern jazz band in the rear, with a couple of percussion sets featuring the latest Yamaha keyboard synthesizers!

The plenary hall was NOT crowded. The hall was roughly HALF full! Is this a sign of RECESSION or have the tickets been too overpriced?
I'm sure if the tickets started from RM 50, the hall would be full. However, I guess the marketing director didn't really fulfill his/her SAT score for Economics 101 on PRICE * QUANTITY!

Only regret was that I didn't bring a long my super Lumix FZ28 which would have faired SUPERBLY with it's 18x OPTICAL zoom on a LEICA lens.
Loads of other audience were happily snapping away with D-SLRs, compact cameras and the ever ubiquitous cameras! No bag inspections were carried out nor were there any announcements of any prohibition of photographic or recording devices! I guess they were already too dismayed by the paltry ticket sales, and thus, wouldn't be too "diplomatic" if such announcements were made, knowning that it's just a ONE NIGHT STAND!

Being the intelligent Malaysians, after the plane "took off", many from the cheaper seats (RM 250) managed to change to higher value seats FREE OF CHARGE!
Droves of viewers scrambled to nearer seats at the bottom tiers after the second track was rendered! This was in true MALAYSIA BOLEH spirit!

Sorry that no photos were taken, but Sarah's 4 gown changes were utterly gorgeous. Fortunately, my 10x optical BINOCULARS from 1986 was brought along and shared with 2 other friends and 4 other family members!

The entire concert ended with a small encore, "Deliver Me". I was hoping that she would have performed a duet entitled "You and Me" with a Chinese singer, the same one she did at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 with Liu Huan. Well, that didn't happen!

After the 70 minute repertoire, the crowd left the hall to adjourn down to the lobby where a few memorablia were sold. CD/DVD packs at RM 50 and the official tour T-shirt and a large colour TOUR PROGRAMME BOOK sold for RM 100 each (More expensive than Canada, which was only $30)! I guess this was the only way to recoup some of the "losses" from the lack of proceeds!

Now, any signs of Norah Jones coming over?

20090226: Lotus Elise spin

2009-02-26T22:11:00.003+08:00

Tested the Lotus Elise this evening.
With the Malaysian alliance with Lotus, we are privileged to obtain the CBU (Completely Built-Up), or FULLY IMPORTED from the UK (United Kingdom) at CKD (Completely Knocked Down) rates!

However, at the current economic turmoil, certain parties are unhappy over this situation (I wonder if Kak Pidah is involved), and as a result, some units are apparently stuck at the customs in Port Kelang (Westport of Northport, unsure).
If you know someone in the JABATAN KASTAM, you could verify this claim.

Neverthess the heart was pounding hard as this baby accelerated from 0-100km/h in a mere 5.1 seconds from its 190 bhp 1.8 litre engine! Check out the performance here!

The super light 800+ kg aluminum chassis sported a cockpit that was super-duper cramped for my body size.
I think I'm gonna settle for the EVORA (not Exora!) since the Esprit is not sold anymore!
Saving my RM10 daily now! (Is that enough, with Kak Pidah still around?)
Well, perhaps enough to get a second hand Elise, which is as cheap as a new Proton Saga!
Remember it's only a 2 seater (like Smart car, and most other sports cars!)
All local dudes can join the club here!

20090222: Macbook Core 2 Duo For Sale

2009-02-22T10:38:00.003+08:00

Macbook for sale

Purchase Date: 20 March 2008
Warranty Details: 1+ more month
Condition: USED - pristine condition
Reason for selling: Economic stimulus / Cash for Palm Pre or new Garmin ASUS Nuvifone:
http://www.internetnews.com/mobility/article.php/3801146/Garmins+Smartphone+Strategy+Has+a+GPS+Twist.htm
or here: http://www.garminasus.com/garminasus/cms/
Location: Klang Valley (can meet @ Mid Valley)
Transaction details: (COD) or Maybank 2u
Price: RM 2999 ono
Unit(s): 1
Contact: Ian: cheongit@gmail.com

Details:
Macbook 2 Gb RAM / 80 Gb HD / Combo drive - Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz (can support 4 Gb RAM, unlike the OLDER versions!)
802.11n Wifi - damn strong signal. U can receive signals which 11g can NEVER detect!
Warranty 1+ more month - can extend with Applecare
Power Adapter
All the CD / DVDs in original BOX

System Info specs:
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB31.008E.B02
SMC Version: 1.24f2
Serial Number: WQ7439Z0Z62
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

You can check validity of the Malaysian Serial No here:

PERFORMANCE: Can encode DVDs to iPod m4v format in REAL TIME or slightly faster than real time!

Price BELOW RM 3k!

If u r thinking of getting a Mac Mini! Forget it, get THIS instead, with webcam, LCD monitor and built in UPS, keyboard and trackpad PLUS Sheer portability!

Email me: cheongit@gmail.com if interested to negotiate.

Pictures here

1. CLOSED
2. OPEN - Login / Adapter

3. OPEN - iSight - Combo drive

20090215: Sarah Brightman SYMPHONY concert details

2009-02-15T11:18:00.010+08:00

For those who don't know who this diva is, please enlighten your knowledge here

Back on 28th October 2008, Sarah launched her latest Album "A WINTER SYMPHONY"

You can buy this at your favourite record store or sample it first on the iTunes Music Store.
Sarah kicked off her North American tour in Mexico last November until 21st December 2008.

After having a good Xmas rest after her 32 nights of concerts, she will be kicking off her Asian tour in Japan, come forth 23rd February 2009, and ending in Taiwan on 05th April, after performing in Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, China and Hong Kong.
Looks like the Singaporeans fans should be heading up here for the ONE NIGHT affair!
Strangely enough, the ticket prices in HK are cheaper than ours (ranging from about RM 250 to 700 as compare to ours which tops out at a staggering RM1203!) Even in Japan, rates range from 10 to 15k Yen (RM 392 to 587) and in Korea 77 to 220k won (RM 198 to 564)
Does this mean our economy is more ROBUST than Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, even though they earn MORE than us?

More info has been revealed today, upon an email prompt in my GMAIL account this morning.

If you didn't get retrenched and still have wads of moolah swirling in your account, and aim to spur our ailing Malaysian economy, do head over here to splurge more cash for the BACKSTAGE meeting! Get at least US$400 ready! (About RM 1,400 at current rates!)

After managing to secure the discounted tickets via VISA Platinum last week, everyone is waiting for her performance with unabated breath! The Axcess phone hotline was TOTALLY useless. Had to leg it to Mid Valley Rock Corner to sort out the tickets! I hope that Sarah's concert won't be postponed like Rihanna's or cancelled like Peter Cetera!

I doubt PAS would retort on the skimpy outfits of our 49 year old starlet (or would they?)

The costumes during her HAREM (which meant HARAM in Arabic) tour 5 years back would have made many "Nik Aziz's" have many sleepless nights, even though Harems evolved from the Arab folks! (There's no internet during those days in the cold dsesert nights, so what else would one do to pass the time, apart from gazing at stars and keep the camel herds at bay?)

Nevertheless, here's waiting for 07 March 2009 to arrive! And to savour the holographic stage effects in KLCC Plenary Hall which I assisted to build back in 2004 during my Sunway stint!

Somehow, organisers during the Canadian tour weren't too fussy about photography as can been seen here. I'm uncertain if our ocal organisers will share similar sentiments.

If are keen to check out what her previous concerts were like, get a copy of her Las Vegas Harem Tour 2004 DVD.
Info here, here and here with photos from the Amsterdam concert.

20090213 - HYBRID CARs Status - Honda Civic

2009-02-13T18:00:00.001+08:00

Finally, after 6 months, the Japanese have agreed with their local counterparts to continue squeezing us with high taxes (no thanks to KAK PIDAH and her ministry)

Click on the title for the article written last September 2008 for some historical review.

The price for the 1.3 litre Civic Hybrid has been revealed at a staggering RM 126k (almost!)
I don't think they'd go for a 0 % interest promotion like Chevrolet (or would they?)

I still can't get the MATH to work out.
The following calculation reveals the OLD price WITH TAXES at almost RM 160k. You can test this in your favourite spreadsheet:
ACTUAL Value: (A) = 63,205.12
100% import duty: (B = A*100%) = 63,205.12
50% excise duty: (C = A*50%) = 31,602.56
Selling price: (D = A+B+C) = 158,012.80

So how does one get 126k? Somehow I think either I flunked my MATHS class for Engineering or the calculation is done by someone whose IQ is less than my waistline.

The ONLY logical equation I can see here, is that the price is ACTUALLY RM63k, but there's this ECONOMIC element called PROFIT.
So just add RM 63k profit to original price of RM 63k, and voila, you get 126k! Now that sort of calculation, I am sure someone with an IQ below my waistline could definitely pull off!!!

Just to jog our memory regarding the tax issue on Hybrids in Malaysia from our very "transparent" Budget 2008, no more taxes for Hybrid cars! Check item # 102. The keyword is EXEMPTION! (But can still add profit mah!) I dare anyone from Honda to REVEAL their calculation!

Get the OBI Index for transparency in PDF format here. Else just view the rankings here!

Thanks to my good buddy Paul, who's got a full write up here.

Obviously you can audit this claim by checking Honda's own site here.

20090213 - FRIDAY THE 13TH - HIGHWAY JAM NIGHTMARE

2009-02-13T17:55:00.003+08:00

Most people would associate this superstitious date with realms of horror, previously made popular by the MASKED Hockey Player back in the 80s and his friends such as Mr Freddy KRUEGER.

Fortunately, in Malaysia, we don't share such a fatalistic view.

However, this morning along the Federal Highway, there was a certain Nightmare of a different kind.

This was TOTALLY EXTREME! No blood or gore, but pure TRAFFIC JAM of the highest order!

From the PJ Hilton until the Sunway turnoff, the distance is a paltry 4 km. The time taken to travel this short distance was a staggering 60 minutes, or 1 hour.
For those who have passed Form 3 maths, this means that the average speed between these 2 points is 4 KILOMETRES PER HOUR!

See enclosed map below, marked in YELLOW. (click for larger image)

That same journey, if adhering to the regulatory speed limits, would have taken no more than about 5 minutes. Thus the nightmare this morning was compounded a DOZEN times (5 x 12 = 60!)

See routing table below. (click for larger image)

I would estimate that at least about 3,000 vehicles were affected (typical car is about 4 m long multiplied by 3 lanes spread across 4 km). And that's not including the mish-mash along the LDP. Imagine the time and petrol wasted for this.

So what was the CAUSE of this entire commotion?
Believe it or not, it was due to THIS:

Yeah, the closure of the roads around Bandar Utama, made the ENTIRE LDP Choc-o-bloc until it tailed off at PJ Hilton!

So much for the Tour for Langkawians, 405km up north (by air)!
About 510km from Shah Alam, Selangor to Kuala Perlis, Perlis and then another 25 km by ferry over to the Island!

I can't see the logic of this. Why can't they cycle elsewhere, like Sungei Buluh, where there's much cleaner air quality? Or at least do it on weekends in the city areas?

Only the INTELLIGENT and WISE organisers will know the answer! I'm sure their IQ level is larger than my waistline of 40! If not, god help us!

20090131: New ATEN 4 port KVM Switch

2009-01-31T20:09:00.006+08:00

Just got my new ATEN 4 port USB KVM from the poor shrunken FCC (now LENOVO) store in Midvalley today.

Now have to hook up the Tablet PC dock, Powermac G4 Cube, Mac Mini G4 and the MacBook to my Dell 24" HD LCD!

Still hunting for a 2 port DVI switch though!

UPDATE: Returned back to FCC in a week, due to green sync problem. Thankfully Ms GOH, the Manager had a standby 2 port USM KVM on loan (which she used for her server unit!)

20081231: HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

2008-12-31T23:59:00.001+08:00

Ian and Jessica CHEONG wishes all their friends a Happy New Year 2009!

Cheers!

╭┘└┘└╮∴°☆°
└┐．．┌┘───╮∴°
╭┴──┤ ├╮
│ｏ　ｏ │ 牛YEAR │●°
╰┬──╯ │ ∴°﹒ ☆
ˍ|ˍ/ˍˍˍˍˍ/
∴☆ 祝2009年心想事成

20081221: 2008 in pictures

2008-12-21T21:39:00.001+08:00

Just to recap the global events with some photos, just 120 of them here!

20081215: Singapore Day 3

2008-12-15T23:22:00.007+08:00

GOOD MORNING ALL!

Today is Monday, and is a working day for most.

As usual, holidays mean garnering enough rest. And enough rest means a good 9 to 10 hours of well deserved sleep.

Breakfast and brunch was skipped.

Our next date was with my 2 decade old classmate from A-Level days too from Raflles Junior College. He's now a top notch solicitor, much like Gene Hackman in "THE FIRM"
Our rendezvous was to be at his offices in THE GATEWAY.
Our MRT took us to City Hall again and we took the Raffles Link to cross over to Suntec City.

And what a small world it was. Fancy bumping into another Macuser here!
After a pitstop at the Wheel of Fortune at Suntec City, we connected via a bus, which took us past the rear of the GATEWAY. After legging it on "Bus 11", we discovered that we were on the WRONG path. We only found the GARBAGE entrance at the REAR of GATEWAY, as there was NO rear public access. Dismayed, we contacted our advocate and rescheduled the rendezvous point to the PLAZA for some Dim Sum lunch.
As we reached the PLAZA, our enquiries for such cuisine was met with startled stares, as they only had a Japanese outlet plus a few Ma & Pa mixed rice stalls for the typical office crowd.
Situational awareness brought us over to the Park Plaza hotel where there was dim sum lunch, but only found out that it was only DURING WEEKENDS. After some patience, the phone was used to redetermine the situation, and the conclusion was MISCOMMUNICATION.
The new rendezvous point was actually down at SHAW TOWERS, at Ah Yat Abalone Restaurant.
After easing myself in the exquisitely design lavatory in the Park Plaza Hotel, we hopped on the next bus, down to our intended destination.

Fortunately this was the correct place, as our gastric juices were working up in our stomachs already.
We finally met up with my legal partner and another IT CEO, running his business in Singapore for the past decade.

After a hearty rendezvous, we strolled around the Shaw Towers for some window shopping. A super large Lampberger outlet was on the 1st floor, with an astonishing array and selection of lamp variations.

Next pitstop was the St Andrew's Cathedral. Just a quick visit to view its pristine interiors.

Proceeding to the Fullerton Hotel at Raffles Place, we took the MRT from City Hall which sported an egyptian themed MRT waiting platform.

The decor within the Fullerton was dressed to the nines, no doubt. Christmas decorations were aptly decorated without much fanfare.

The lobby water feature had its fair share of its Japanese Koi.

Even the weekend Dimsums were affordable!

After the ubiquitous Daniel Boulud pose at the Fullerton Tea Garden, we passed by the concrete jungles, through Raffles Place MRT enroute to Orchard MRT to our next pitstop, Takashimaya.

This Japanese anchor tenant at Ngee Ann City featured a fabulous affordable food court.

Feeling tired, our next pitstop was a good rest in a cinema. The nearest was the Lido at Shaw Towers, where a movie UNAVAILABLE to our IMMATURE Malaysian audience was shown. This was an R rated movie (for above 18 years old), entitled "Sex Drive". Surprisingly, 2 months later, this movie was ACTUALLY shown in Malaysian cinemas. How much censorhip is up to YOU to find out!

As usual no cameras were allowed, so the only trailer you can see of this movie is at this link. You can view the lobby of the cinema here though.

After the movie ended circa 1115pm, we managed to catch the last train back to Tanjong Pagar MRT. What a tiring day!

Good night!

20081214: Singapore Day 2

2008-12-14T23:02:00.008+08:00

A good nights rest means having the luxury of 9 hours sleep in a serene and cool environment with a firm bed.
Upon waking up, hunger pangs set in. Brunch was on our minds.
The nearest spot was the Tanjong Pagar Hawker Centre, just across the road from the Hotel.
This is situated above the Market.
To our amazement, the food prices in this little republic hasn't varied as much as our Malaysian hawkers. (Could it be due to greedy landlords, where more than half the price of the food goes to unnecessary profiteering rentals?)
I could recollect that back during my A-level days, 2 decades back. prices were quite similar.
Drinks are still at about 80 cents to a dollar.

Our vermicelli soup noodles with FRESH fish slices (Yee Peen) were only $3.50 / bowl. Fruit juices were just $1.50.
Food ranged from a typical $2 to $5.

Somehow our Malaysian rate of inflation had gone through the roof!

Today's agenda is to achieve 2 rendezvous locations. In the afternoon to my spouse's cousin's abode in Pasir Ris and in the evening to my old friend's maisonette in Bukit Panjang. When arrived at the terminal, it was raining. Thanks to our purchase of an umbrella from the NTUC, just opposite our hotel, we didn't get wet. I was clad in my warm balaclava, thus no problems for me too. We boarded the connecting Bus # 111 to alight at Pasir Ris St 4, where we were met by Jessica's cousin at the bus stop.
As we approached the lift lobby, some notices struck our awareness. This is all due to the government's initiative of providing clear public announcements, where pertinent information related to wanted criminals are properly disseminated to all facets of the nation.

Another notable improvement in the society's safety level is the retrofitting of brand new lift doors with visible tempered glass, as a safety precaution against unforeseen elements such as petty thieves, or having people stuck in lifts. What a brainchild! Simple yet effective. Yet to see this implemented in Malaysia.
Once again, being guests, we were feted with a full course afternoon tea (sort of a late lunch at 4pm). Some delectable home cooked delights were savoured as folllows:

As evening drew near, we left the premises at 530pm to reach the Pasir Ris terminal to transcend the island over to Bukit Panjang enclave.
This was all across the island on the mideast. The MRT ride took us directly to Jurong East where we changed over to Choa Chu Kang. From there, we took our inaugural journey on the LRT directly to BANGKIT station.
We were met by my 2 decade old friend, who's still in Citibank Singapore. Thank goodness, he's still employed during such dire economic situations.

We met up with his spouse, mum and his baby daughter. They had choreographed a spread of delectable dishes. The curry looked enticing, and was not overly spicy, much to my spouse's delight.
As the evening drew to a close, we had to respect the host's schedule by not overstaying our welcome. Fortunately we had some excellent parting advice. Use the BUS service directly downtown to reconnect to Tg Pagar. What excellent advice. The bus ran down the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) without any traffic jams, as the proper bus lanes are adhered to, and DOES NOT cause congestions unlike in Kuala Lumpur, whereby the tight bus lanes were implemented as an AFTERTHOUGHT, without proper urban planning! Am I criticizing too much here?

The bus took through Orchard Road again where we caught another glimpse of Xmas lights, this time in front of the Paragon Shopping Centre.
We alighted at City Hall, where we visited the Raffles Hotel Boutique. Even though it was jam packed with people at 10pm, we only discovered that they were actually closed for business as they were conducting their stock check.
Alas, we just did some window shopping before proceeding over to the City Hall MRT which then took us back to Tanjong Pagar after a full day's Singapore's Trans-Island Escapade.

Good night!

20081213: Singapore Day 1

2008-12-13T23:54:00.015+08:00

An early journey commenced from KL Sentral on the ERL at 640am, whose fares are paid for with credit card WITHOUT any discounts, despite the "economic crisis".

I guess, it's just more bonuses for my alma mater, the YEOH family! To make matters worse, this was NOT a direct service, with 3 stops along the way, prolonging the trip by another 7 minutes. We had whizzed by the ERL depot and SALAK TINGGI below before arriving at 715am.

Check in was fast at the Jetstar counter. Managed to get FREE flights for our departure. However, our Malaysia Airports Berhad still had to pay wages to the baggage attendants and service staff, thus additional airport surcharges still applied! Noting that food would NOT be cheap aboard a Singaporean owned airline, a "down-to-earth" breakfast was sought after. The McDonald's queue was too long for our schedule. The high class dim-sum was too costly, and thus, our favourite chicken stall was the chosen ONE, i.e. KFC. The set breakfast consisted of a pair of sausages, coupled with some omelette and the famous KFC bun. The mashed potatoes and porridge are optional items.

The Airbus A320 punctually took off without any hitches at 850am after the stewardess demonstrated the necessary safety procedures.

The flight was fairly full, laden with passengers, tucked into their 3-3 configuration leather seats.

The aerial view of Singapore was evident as we approached its shores lined with droves of container yards.
The armada of various international vessels were also in full view, sailing towards its ever busy ports. Density is not as high during current economic times though.

Landing in the Changi Terminal 1 was also a cinch. After making a few FREE local phone calls and visiting the duty free stores, we feted our tummies with some food after clearing immigration and customs. As we were the last to come out from the flight, there was NO queue at all. Even the bags were already stacked out from the conveyors, much to our delight.
A promotion was present in a Chinese run restaurant called Imperial Treasure Noodle & Congee House, offering Citibank card customers a 15%.
What this means is that there is NO discount on the food, as the 10% service charge is thus waived, and the current Government Sales Tax is reduced from 7% to 2%!

Portions were NOT that hefty, just enough for a snack.

Since it's the airport, prices are expected to be high.

After the quick snack, we had to take the monorail to alight at Terminal to connect to the MRT which brings us downtown.

A large Burger King outlet was present with pork burgers.
We grabbed the Singapore Tourist Pass which the MRT chaps suck your $10 deposit for 5 days, on top of the $24 which validates unlimited travel on all public transport for 3 days, except for cabs. This includes the trains and buses. The MRT Station was as usual, clad in the latest architectural designs.

We had to switch trains at TANAH MERAH station (after discovering our mistake, when the train made a U-turn back to Changi Airport).
The interchange was simple as crossing to the other side of the platform.
Warning signs in the 4 major tongues was present on the tracks.
Announcements of trains were also clearly visible on 42" LCDs.

After reaching our destination at TANJONG PAGAR, we managed to grab a cab to the hotel, which was just 200m away, as the bags were taking its toil on my better half. It was a $4 well spent.

The taxis now are also being upgraded to nothing less than leather clad Hyundai Sonatas, which are fully air conditioned and accepts credit card payments, with issuance of receipts. Our Malaysian taxis are easily 20 years behind!
We checked into our Interval International Timeshare Resort, Amara Hotel. Rates for weekends were about $180 whilst weekdays were $250. Thus our entire week's stay was worth $1,610. Slap the prevailing taxes and surcharges of 17%, this brings the total to $1,884. At the time of writing, our WEAK Malaysian Ringgit was RM 2.44 to the Singapore dollar, thus prepping the value to RM 4,596 or about RM 657 per night on the average. Note that 5 star hotels are about $350 upwards per night.
Aren't we glad we got the timeshare? With 3 rounds of this hotel stay, our initial investment outlay, would have been recouped!

A business class hotel with a 4 star rating. Our arrival was timely as the tropical storm set in soon afterwards.

As our room was being tidied up, we patiently waited at the concierge desk, perusing though the local dailies, which was FILLED with numerous mobile phone ads, which offered FREE phones! Much to our jealousy, as compared to the "backward" plans available in Malaysia. We also enjoyed the Xmas decors at the lobby, which featured loads of Yuletide knick knacks.

The room was a typical 30 sq metre configuration with a king size bed, which was supposed to come with a harbour view, but got apartment views instead.

All the basic amenities are all there, including PAID Wired Broadband Internet service at $2.50 PER HOUR.

Lavatory facilities were comfortable enough with a separate shower stall and a half-sized bath tub.

P

After garnering a well deserved rest (waking up at 530am this morning to catch the flight is tiring, to say the least), we refreshed ourselves, and headed off to NOVENA MRT station, a couple of stops north of ORCHARD from our base TANJONG PAGAR. A quick interchange was executed at CITY HALL.
We headed to the United Square Mall via the all AIR-CONDITIONED underground pedestrian interlinks with CLEAR signage. All the public luxuries which one would ONLY DREAM OF in Kuala Lumpur!
With the festive mood in the air, the environment encapsulating UNITED SQUARE was aptly decorated.

Even at the basement concourse in this "outskirt" enclave, the level of modern Interior Design puts KLCC to shame.

A Barbie doll promotion was underway, with LIVE Caucasian models dancing and prancing on centre stage in the concourse.

We finally met up with my cousins and their friends for a sumptuous "home-cooked" Chinese restaurant called SOUP RESTAURANT. This chain of "family oriented" outlets dot many malls around Singapore. Perfect for the urban yuppy who missed Ma's meals.

The Dinner selection was perfect, all to my liking as noted below. Please don't salivate on your keyboards!

After the sumptious meal, a post-dinner exercise brought us around the mall and Cold Storage which had loads of sweet delights, normally not available in our local Malaysian supermarkets. All the foreign goods are taken for granted by the Singaporeans, but seemed to be "luxury items" for Malaysians. Look at this super large packet of Biscuits from Italy!

Shop selling exclusively, Xmas decorations.

No evening would be complete without a quick stroll to Orchard Road to view the Xmas lights. We had to fully utilize our "Unlimited Rides" Singapore Travel Pass too! Arriving under the full moonlight at Orchard station, we proceeded to the nearest shopping mall, i.e. Wisma Atria.

Loads of promotions were at hand. Wisma Atria had a live band to jazz up the evening (no pun intended). A spanking new Subaru Impreza was awaiting a lucky shopper!

I'm pretty sure the FRU would be at hand, to clamp down hoards of teenagers who would otherwise, succumb to nosebleeds, after viewing such a "skimpy" outfit, if this was allowed in Kuala Lumpur!

Loads of Orchard Road buildings were lit up, but not to the levels of yesteryear, according to some locals. Decorations of the Marriott and TANGs were at its best!

Wheelock Place was also lit up with its internal glass cone facade.
After the exercise, one can't resist the temptation of some supper. What better way than to bask under the moonlight @ Burger King to relish upon the Turkey pies from POLAR Cafe (bought at United Square, Novena)

Not forgetting that we had to rely on public transport, we promptly headed back to Orchard MRT, before the last train departs, after our hour preview of nightlife in this happening area. We passed by our Russian-American Japanese starlet, Anna Tsuchiya's larger than life advertisement poster, promoting Casio's Sheen series of lovely watches, donned at the entrance of the Orchard MRT station, adjoining the new ION ORCHARD Mall, now under construction.
Till tomorrow, good night!

20081124: Passports in Malaysia

2008-11-24T17:40:00.004+08:00

Is travelling a hassle nowadays in this modern age?

Marco Polo didn't need any visas or passports during his days. Neither did Cheng Ho or Parameswara. Columbus and Light definitely braved the seven seas in their heydays without such documentation.

It's only modernisation and colonisation that led to the birth of immigration. Though, traces of it have been found since the ancient Hebrew days.

WIth this "modern" problem, one can't even book an online flight ticket if your expiry date of the passport is less than 6 months away. Is this a conspiracy or what?

It's a Monday morning. Government departments normally start at 8am, but this one is hardworking. They start as early as 730am.

The location is found in a nook within the Sri Rampai enclave in Setapak area.

Where the heck is this? Hush hush, it's quite isolated from the masses, distinguishing it from other immigration departments due to its new location.

View Larger Map

Cleanliness of the neighbourhood vicinity is not really a top priority for the community there, thus it's no wonder, not many people know of it.

The curent premise is barely 2 years old, after shifting from the ever flooding area of Wilayah Complex, downtown near Campbell Road (It's Jalan Dang Wangi now, for those born post Merdeka!) Flood levels reach up to 2 metres in the basement car park. No wonder records go missing!

In line with our computerisation initiatives in the country, the department has forged ahead with loads of technological gadgets. You can now renew your passport from an automated kiosk. The only condition? Ensure that it's working! Cool acronym (no pun intended!) KIPPAS (which sounds like FAN, translated from Malay)

In true MALAYSIA BOLEH spirit, it is FAULTY. And no technician was seen to be fixing it in the 2 hours I was present.

So, no one ever doubts the tried and tested methods of yesteryear. You can still renew or apply for passports the old fashioned way. Just bring a copy of your current IC and 2 pasport size colour photos and fill in a form (which you can download from the website in PDF format) and print out both sides. That's all the documentation that is required.

The Immigration's neighbour, Mr WONG has been churning out polaroid mug shots for the department for the last 25 years. Now he starts his shop with his spouse as early as 630am! Due to "powers that be", the computerisation projects do not link to the Inland Registration Department (a.k.a. I.C. Dept) As a result you are "forced" to take NEW photos every 5 years (the normal renewal period) for the photos. One would have thought that they could SHARE the photo with the IC Dept. Perhaps it's just a minor side income for Mr WONG and the rest of the competitors around the area.

At RM 10 a pop for 4 photos, printed from his trusty Epson printer (with a complimentary copy of a photocopied IC), the business is very brisk. The Photo Shop can yield up to 700 pass ports a day. Talk about lucrative revenue!

So upon confirmation of your documents, you will be given a queue number from counter #1. The first no of the day managed to collect the passport in half an hour! Quite a record!

All payments are by CASH only at counter #8. So at RM 300 a pop for a measly 32 pages (double that for 64), imagine the collossal daily takings! No worries or agreements with credit card companies.

Assuming an average of 500 passports, at the minimum, the kitty holds 150,000 daily. With 5 day working days, that's a good 3 quarters of a MILLION per week.

Multiply that by about 10 branches, and you have 7.5 million a week. Discounting all the tremendous no of holidays we have in this country, say they work only 40 weeks out of the 52 annualy, that's a hefty 300 million per annum. Just printing paper cards with chips!

Patience for the result can be overcome by having breakfast at nearby premises. You have to option of either Mamak stuff or Non-halal Chinese stuff. I opted for the latter

Kedai Kopi

Pork noodles

Hot Barley

When your number is called, you will proceed to either booth 17 or 18. Sign a form, and your spanking new passport is given to you, with a defunct OLD passport for your memoirs!

Happy travelling, now that Uncle Tony is offering CHEAP FLIGHTS to UK!

20081114 Suncon Alumni Reunion 2008 in Dubai

2008-11-16T02:36:00.002+08:00

Believe it or not, we were meeting, more than 6,000km away from home.
Friends from all occupation levels (from Sr QS to Project Managers) from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah, congregated at the Deira City Centre, before detouring to the final destination, i.e. CHINESE RED HOUSE for some Authentic Chinese food!
Some of whom, I've lost touch for the past 3 years. Totally elated to meet everyone, who's basically all online now, and GPS savvy (with an iPhone user in the pack too!)

Photos here: cc FACEBOOK

BubbleShare: Share photos - Craft Ideas

Kudos to the group leader, Patrick who led us safely to a sumptious lunch.

If anyone wants the original 10 MEGAPIXEL versions, just drop me an email.

20081112: Stuck in the Dubai Desert!

2008-11-12T23:28:00.008+08:00

Our desert quest in Dubai begins after a 90 minute drive from Abu Dhabi!

Our trusty 4 wheel drive vehicle! A standard 2.5 litre Nissan Xtrail (only about RM 70,000 here!)

Discovering some familiar hoof patterns en-route, we noticed that the single humped herd was near by.

We explored further, and lo and behold, our discovery was made.

We then took a break under the fabled GHAF tree in the Arabian desert (somewhere in Dubai, UAE actually) to have a quick roast chicken sandwich lunch.

The 4 wheel drive trek went almost awry when the Xtrail got stuck in the desert today!

Amazingly, like an Angel descending from the heavens, a local dude was passing through in his Manual SUZUKI and assisted us in lifting out our woes!

After this grueling escapade, our attention turned to a new discovery in the desert.
Were these new plants sprouting out of the desert?

Nope, these were golf tees! The accessory to support your BALLS whilst you are driving.

Going home, we finally met up with a baby Oryx.

It was a bit shy, and sped away from us.

The final journey took us past a large camel farm along the highway.

Note: All photos taken on a Panasonic Lumix FZ28 which almost obtained 5 / 5 stars.
Read review here. The photos were not retouched in any manner. Only scaled down to 2 Megapixels from the original 10 Megapixels, and my Overlay trademark applied on the bottom right corner.

20080916: Superb Lego models

2008-09-16T22:34:00.004+08:00

Since I was a kid, I've always been fascinated with LEGO. This is the only "toy" that is still MADE IN DENMARK. The current high value fo the Euro doesn't help much in increasing its market share in the Malaysian shores.

However, over the past year, a few models have really caught my eye, and if any good samaritan would like to present a gift for this years Christmas, please add these to your shopping basket.

10181: Eiffel Tower (RM 1,300) / USD 200

Batmobile: 7784 (RM 530) Ebay prices here

8275: Motorised Bulldozer: (RM 900) YouTube action

20080908: More Hybrid Headaches

2008-09-08T17:44:00.004+08:00

Unless I failed my Standard ONE Mathematics, I can't really arrive at a figure that tallies with the purported "target price" by high end analysts from OSK in today's Star newspaper which anticipates that the Civic Hybrid will be about RM 120k down from the current 160k!

Here's my MATH:
ACTUAL Value: (A) = 63,205.12
100% import duty: (B = A*100%) = 63,205.12
50% excise duty: (C = A*50%) = 31,602.56
Selling price: (D = A+B+C) = 158,012.80

So, how on earth did they come up with 120k? If that were the ACTUAL value, then the Selling price would have been = RM 300k!

Even fellas like Premier Hybrid Cars Sdn Bhd "feel" that it would be about only 5% less than the CONVENTIONAL 1.8l model at RM 113k!

I don't mind booking one for about RM 65-70k. But if the profit margin is going to be about 100% then it's going to be ridiculous.
From further analysis, there are no more than a dozen HYBRID car manufacturers in the world as can be seen here.
From this "clean" dozen, only a third has the potential to make its inroads into our shores.
All these are from the Japanese camp, being: Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota.
The rest are mostly Americans and I strongly doubt they will create Right-Hand drive versions.
Since the government is only providing concessions to vehicles with 2 litres and below, the Lexus 400rh doesn't make the cut due to its gargantuan 4 litre engine. So much for luxury 4WD.

The USD pricing for the "4 heavenly gods" can be seen from the following links:
Honda Civic, Mazda Tribute, Nissan Altima and Toyota Prius.

I would strongly invite any person who can use a calculator to prove my calculation wrong!

20080829: 29 AUGUST 2008: BUDGET DAY

2008-08-29T18:10:00.001+08:00

My wish list drafted on 6th June this year, did not FULLY make it.

However, items # 3, 17 & 19 actually came true in line with the

National Energy Plan

* Exemption of import duty and sales tax on solar photovoltaic system equipment, import duty and sales tax on intermediate goods such as High Efficiency Motors and insulation materials; sales tax on locally manufactured solar heating system equipment; sales tax on locally manufactured energy efficient consumers goods such as refrigerators, air-conditioners, lightings, fans and televisions; and 100% import duty and 50% excise duty on new hybrid CBU cars, with engine capacity below 2,000 cc, be given to franchise importers. This exemption is given for a period of two years to prepare for the local assembly of such cars

MY POSTING on 06 JUNE 2008.

With all the BILLIONS Saved from fuel subsidies, the following 21 policies will be introduced.

50% Cuts for income tax for those with taxable income of RM 150,000 or less
50% Cuts for tolls at bottleneck toll booths (E.g. Sunway) and smart tags to be tax deductible to reduce congestions at toll booths (which burns unnecessary fuel)
ABOLISHMENT of any import duties for all forms of HYBRID vehicles (Give me my Civic Hybrid at RM 69k!!!)
Zero Road tax for Hybrid and NGV vehicles
Reduced insurance premiums for all SAFE vehicles with 2 airbags or more and those which meet NCAP 4 star and above
Full income tax rebates for installation of NGV engines
Full income tax rebates for installation of Streamyx of 1 Mb/s and above to promote SOHO activities, thus reducing transportation requirements
Full income tax rebates for membership fees of health clubs to promote physical activities and healthy lifestyle
Full income tax rebates for installation of solar panels in all homes and business establishments
All housing estates to have recycling bins installed.
Higher road tax for vehicles 2.5 litres and above, running on petrol
Govt to increase medical checkup tax rebates from RM 500 to 1000 to include cancer scans and dental care
Govt to give tax rebates to ALL petrol stations who install NGV pumps
Govt to give tax rebates to ALL companies involved in solar farms and associated and related activities
Govt to give tax rebates to ALL developers who adopt GREEN buildings meeting global standards
Govt to give tax rebates to ALL developers who include LRT infrastructure with feeder bus facilities in their new township developments (E.g. ALL Singapore HDB Towns!)
Govt to give tax rebates to ALL companies dealing in R&D in Biofuels & Solar technologies
Govt to convert and upgrade all current diesel supplies to meet EURO4 standards
Govt to proceed with Damansara and Puchong LRT extensions
Govt to sign MoU with Singapore Road transport authority to implement their advanced transportation system (which is about 20 years ahead of ours!) - to further study upgrade from LRT to MRT status
Govt to ban FOOD wastage from shopping malls and hotels who throw away food not sold at end of day. E.g. Jusco and 5 star hotels that have lavish buffets. Food to be distributed to all staff FOC to reduce food price burden.

Let's see what happens!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Petrol prices in Singapore and HK are higher than here, but they are more productive economically! WHY? Anyone care to comment and debate?

20080808: Beijing Olympics

2008-08-09T01:08:00.000+08:00

The 3 hour opening ceremony commenced at 8pm (GMT+8) on a warm and humid evening in Beijing, China. Thie spectacular event was attended by over 91,000 attendees from various walks of life in the "Bird's Nest"

Performance repertoires included Lang Lang and Sarah Brightman, together with Liu Han.

The retired Chinese gymnastics Olympian, Li Ning, was carried through the air to light the Olympic cauldron.

Excellent photography footage can be found from Boston & National Geographic, Chicago tribune here , here and here

20080605: Petrol in Malaysia up to RM 2.70 / litre

2008-06-04T18:31:00.003+08:00

Soaring costs are inevitable.
Increment of 72 sen / litre = 37.5%

This has ballooned my average monthly fuel costs by about RM150, based on my current driving patterns.

Let's see how the 2009 budget will be. Slash in income taxes?

Here's a photo of the previous price per litre which was RM 1.92 for nostalgic purposes

20080603: The Thais are smart!

2008-06-03T23:15:00.003+08:00

They have to be smart!
They have excellent food!
They have the best rice in the world!
They have a tourism hospitality competence level of at least a decade ahead of us!
They have the best car manufacturers in the world, selling quality cars at low prices!
They are the only ASEAN country which has never been colonised by any western power!

And now, we know that their EDUCATION SYSTEM even teaches Bahasa Malaysia!

How else would they understand this signboard, right?

20080531: Klang Valley Property

2008-05-31T22:25:00.005+08:00

Visited a few spots in Bandar Kinrara today.
What a convoluted place?
BK 1 to 3 is on one side of the highway (LDP) and the newer ones, BK 4 to 9, are on the opposite side.
Worst still is the darn highway (LDP) which FORCES you to WASTE 10km of precious FUEL to make a U-turn to return back to the same spot (at Giant Hypermart!)
Talk about SMART Highway planners! Definitely not environmentally friendly!

So, what was on offer?
First, a crummy 4 year old Semi-D in BK6! Looked like a sty to me! Reason for sale?Migration! Asking for 720k ono. Anyone know the Vice-President of Marketing and Communications, McDonald’s Restaurants, Malaysia?
Second Semi-D in BK4. Aging Malay family! Terrible architecture from a decade back which puts a fat 1 foot circular diameter column RIGHT in your face, as you enter the main door. And to make matters worse, one lousy car park in the porch. Asking for 560k ono.
Thirdly, a new semi-guarded corner lot 22x75 asking for a RIDICULOUS 700k!
Brand new, no occupants since CF from 1 year back! Facing main road, so quite noisy!
Fourthly, visited a nicely renovated house back in BK4. Owners want to "migrate" again. Shall visit the house this weekend and await the results.

So, back to the Classified Ads in the Star, and look what I found!

Bungalow lots at 36 psf. Only Caveat is that it is leasehold!

20080529: ASSTRO / AS400

2008-05-29T21:52:00.003+08:00

The #2 richest man in Malaysia… and yet the database is *expletive* up!

Just some thoughts on this GOLD card swap fiasco, I finally got the replacement card, and it DIDN'T WORK!

I called us ASSTRO 3 nights in a row, the final one having to wait for about 10 minutes. Luckily I had my Bluetooth headset tethered to my ear! I couldn't imagine those poor souls who use a conventional phone and had the patience of a nun!

The conclusion. My card is functioning, but my SECOND Philips decoder, which was replaced for a ridiculour RM 169, is considered "wonky" and thus justifies a visit by the technican, who will charge another RM 50 for the visit!

I then got a call today form ASSTRO to confirm the technician's visit. I told them, OK, call me first. When they wanted to confirm my address, that was the STRANGE part, as they still had the OLD address, whilst, they were already happily sending the monthly bills to my current abode! What gives? A not talking to B? IT Support not using iSync?

To make this inconsistent database issue funnier, which happened just about 1 hour later, the credit card company (from a developed country) I visited, STILL had the SAME OLD address in the AS/400 system, whilst all the latest bills are sent to my CORRECT and CURRENT address!

I bet you that they are not using FileMaker Pro!

So much for the MSC & IT Multimedia corridor! Basic stuff like customers' addresses couldn't even be put in place properly!

RIDICULOUS!

20080501: May 2008

2008-05-23T14:42:00.002+08:00

Happy May and Mother's Day.

Sadly, Labour day is not celebrated or recognised in the Middle East!

20080523: RICH = FINANCIAL WEALTH

2008-05-23T14:28:00.004+08:00

In the eyes of Forbes Magazine, this is the criteria

So are you one of them?
If not, then look here if your are still in the list

20080502: Naza Group founder dies at 54 in Long Beach, California, USA

2008-05-03T06:29:00.005+08:00

Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the Naza Group, passed away of lung cancer in California at 1.15am (Malaysian time).

More info here. So this ends the fate of a star result of the NEP!
Is this fated? Earning billions, but not healthy enough to enjoy it into the evergreen years?
Is this because of ONE person given the chance by ANOTHER to get more profits PER car than the original car manufacturer?
THINK about it!

So from an AP related timeline perspective, for 2008:

March - Kak Pidah (Aunty Raffy) is out

May - Nasimuddin is out

Sometime in the near future: REALISTIC prices for cars in Malaysia? Look east perhaps? Middle East?

Can my Honda Hybrid finally be a realistic RM 58,000 rather than RM 158,000? (OK, Langkawian's get to enjoy and save the environment at RM 100k!) I doubt Honda Japan gets RM 100,000 for each 1.3 litre car they sell. f they do, then US / UK MBA programmes can "terbang layang-layang!"NOt
Note: US SRP = US$ 22,600 (or RM 72,320 at 3.20)

My final word of advice to young budding entrepreneurs. Profit all you can in this world of material wealth. But never forget to give back to mother nature and your community.

Pain is felt more intensely via silent curses as compared to physical hurt.

20080419: Cars in Malaysia are cheap!

2008-04-19T16:36:00.005+08:00

Just spotted these UNREGISTERED CAR Ads in the S**R newspaper today: All currency in RM thousands

( US Approx Equivalent @ RM 3.20 )

Aston Martin VIZ?? (v12 I think) 6.0l, 6 speed, paddle shift - 2005 / 6: 1,400 (438) [012-268-6337 / 019-222 9886]

Bentley Flying Spur Twin Turbo, 552hp, Black / Beige - 2006: 1,550 (485) [012-268-6337 / 012-207 6229]

Ferrari 360 Modena V8, Red / beige leather interior - 2001: 999 (312) [012-297-5538 / 019-270-1513]

Lamborghini Gallardo 5.0l, V10, 500hp - 2005: 1,490 (466) [012-207-6229 / 019 270-1513]

Porsche C2S UK Spec dark blue / beige interior - 2005: 750 (234) [012-285-7205 / 019-320-7207]

TOTAL Cost = RM 6,189,000 (USD 1,934,000 / UK 986,103)

Noticed any similarities in the mobile phone numbers?

Sad thing is that if got money now, still can't get my Lancer GT with Paddle shifts!

Current UK prices for the above (NEW) are: (GBP '000) Exchange rate at: RM 6.27622 to the pound.

Aston Martin DB9 V12 5.9l: 114

Bentley Continental Flying Spur: 118

Ferrari 360 Modena 2001: (Out of production). Cheapest is now a 2 door 430 coupe at 139

Lamborghini Gallardo: 126 (Spyder at 136)

Porsche (997 or 911?) C2S: 132

TOTAL 629K pounds. The Unregistered ones above at 986k means the difference is 357k GBP!

SO, our Government makes LOADS of money from transportation!

20080326: Madonna's new album announced

2008-03-26T17:32:00.003+08:00

The world's top Diva is at it again. After a successful year from her Confessions Tour (The DVD which can be sold in Dubai, but not Malaysia!), she had the energy to release another album, just in time before her 50th birthday this year!

Mark your calendar for April 28th for the launch of HARD CANDY. Sweet name indeed for her 11th studio album (no pun intended!). The will be Maddy's last album from WARNER Bros Records. American fans will only get it a day later on the 29th!

This will be sold in 2 versions, a Standard and a DELUXE version.
If you use iTunes (which I strongly recommend), you can get to purchase FIRST single out NOW, i.e. 4 Minutes. This track was done in collaboration with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.

The track listing for the Standard version (US$ 11.99) are as follows:

1. Candy Shop
Written by: Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Produced by: The Neptunes

2. 4 Minutes
Written by: Madonna and Justin Timberlake
Produced by: Timbaland
Background Vocals by: Justin Timberlake

3. Give It 2 Me
Written by: Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Produced by: The Neptunes

4. Heartbeat
Written by: Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Produced by: The Neptunes

5. Miles Away
Written by: Madonna and Justin Timberlake
Produced by: Timbaland

6. She’s Not Me
Written by: Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Produced by: The Neptunes

7. Incredible
Written by: Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Produced by: The Neptunes

8. Beat Goes On
Written by: Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Produced by: The Neptunes

9. Dance Tonight
Written by: Madonna and Justin Timberlake
Produced by: Timbaland
Background Vocals by: Justin Timberlake

10. Spanish Lessons
Written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Produced by: the Neptunes

11. Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You
Written by: Madonna and Justin
Produced by: Timbaland
Co-Produced by : Danja
Background Vocals by: Justin Timberlake

12. Voices
Written by: Madonna and Justin Timberlake
Produced by Danja
Co-Produced by: Timbaland
Background Vocal: Justin Timberlake

The DELUXE version (US$ 13.99) will get you the following 3 additional tracks

13. 4 Minutes (Remix)
14. 4 Minutes (Remix 2)
15. Secret Bonus (Remix)

Both versions will come with a Digital Booklet AND another bonus track if purchased from the iTunes Music Store.
The bonus track is: Ring My Bell (Non-Album Track) [Exclusive] - Pre-Order Only

One of life's lessons which I have learnt from Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone some 2 decades back was the answer to this relevant question posed by her:

Do you know why most people don't get what they want in life?
It's because they DIDN'T ASK FOR IT!

20080318: New Malaysian Cabinet is out (revised)

2008-03-18T18:00:00.006+08:00

Yay! Aunty Raffie is OUT! Does this mean the END of AP?
Uncle Sam is also out, so have to make ends meet with the new Works Minister, crucial if you are to attend the CIDB Awards 2008!

Here's the new line up sorted by 26 Ministries in a LOGICAL alphabetical order (unlike other sites which just copy & paste), after the PM's Dept.:

Prime Minister (PM)
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Deputy Prime Minister (DPM)
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak

Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department
Tan Sri Bernard Dompok
Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz
Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim (resigned 20080915)
Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz

Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department
Datuk Johari Baharom
Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim
Datuk K. Devamany
Datuk Hassan Malik

1 1 Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
1 2 Minister - Datuk Mustapa Mohamed
1 3 Deputy - Datin Paduka Rohani Abdul Karim

2 1 Defence
2 2 Minister - Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (DPM - swapped with PM w.e.f 2008-09-22)

2 3 Deputy - Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop

3 1 Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
3 2 Minister - Datuk Shahrir Samad
3 3 Deputy - Jelaing Mersat

4 1 Education
4 2 Minister - Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein
4 3 Deputies - Datuk Wee Ka Siong, Datuk Razali Ismail

5 1 Energy, Water and Communications
5 2 Minister - Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor
5 3 Deputy - Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum

6 1 Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development
6 2 Minister - Datuk Noh Omar
6 3 Deputy - Datuk Saiffuddin Abdullah

7 1 Finance
7 2 Minister - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (DPM - swapped with PM w.e.f. 2008-09-22)

7 3 Second Finance Minister - Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop

7 4 Deputies - Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Datuk Kong Cho Ha

8 1 Foreign Affairs
8 2 Minister - Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim
8 3 Deputy - Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri (Kudat MP) replacing Tengku Azlan Abu Bakar (vacant from 2008-03-27 til 04-21)

9 1 Federal Territory
9 2 Minister - Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique
9 3 Deputy - M. Saravanan

10 1 Health
10 2 Minister - Datuk Liow Tiong Lai
10 3 Deputy - Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad

11 1 Higher Education
11 2 Minister - Datuk Khaled Nordin
11 3 Deputies - Khoo Kok Choong, Datuk Idris Harun

12 1 Housing and Local Government
12 2 Minister - Datuk Ong Ka Chuan
12 3 Deputies - Datuk Robert Lau , Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin

13 1 Human Resources
13 2 Minister - Datuk S. Subramaniam
13 3 Deputy- Datuk Noraini Ahmad

14 1 Information
14 2 Minister - Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek
14 3 Deputy - Datuk Tan Lian Hoe

15 1 Internal Security and Home Affairs
15 2 Minister - Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar
15 3 Deputies - Datuk Chor Chee Heong, Senator Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh "

16 1 International Trade and Industry (Kak Pidah is out!)
16 2 Minister - Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
16 3 Deputies - Loh Wei Keong, Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan

17 1 National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage
17 2 Minister - Datuk Shafie Apdal
17 3 Deputy - Datuk Teng Boon Soon

18 1 Natural Resources and Environment
18 2 Minister - Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas
18 3 Deputy - Datuk Maznah Mazlan, (Muadzam Shah MP), a Pahang assemblyman and executive council member, replacing Datuk Abu Ghapur Salleh (who resigned on 2008-03-26)

19 1 Plantation Industries and Commodities
19 2 Minister - Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui
19 3 Deputy - Senator A. Kohilan

20 1 Rural and Regional Development
20 2 Minister - Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib
20 3 Deputy - Tan Sri Joseph Kurup

21 1 Science, Technology and Innovation
21 2 Minister - Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili
21 3 Deputy - Fadilah Yusof

22 1 Tourism
22 2 Minister - Datuk Azalina Othman
22 3 Deputy - Datuk Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Abu Taib

23 1 Transport
23 2 Minister - Datuk Ong Tee Keat
23 3 Deputy - Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin (Beaufort MP) replacing Anifah Aman (who declined 2008-03-08 and vacant until 04-21)

24 1 Women, Family and Community Development
24 2 Minister - Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen
24 3 Deputy - Noriah Kasnon

25 1 Works Minister (Samy is out!)
25 2 Minister - Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamad
25 3 Deputy - Datuk Yong Khoon Seng

26 1 Youth and Sports
26 2 Minister - Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaacob
26 3 Deputy - Wee Jack Seng

20080308: Malaysian Election Day

2008-03-09T03:58:00.002+08:00

What a gruelling day! After departing Dubai the day before at 6pm to transit in Manama, Bahrain, the flight was delayed 2 hours. After the prompt departure at 1030pm on Gulf Air GF 280, the captain announced that there were technical problems and had to U-turn. So there we were, over 200 Malaysians, stuck in Manama, overnight, missing the elections!
So much for maintenance crew for the Airbus A340! The flight was delayed until 8am, and we didn't reach back to KL until 915pm! We didn't even get any compensation or hotel rooms! All we got was a late night chicken rice supper in the airport restaurant, some coffee breaks and an appalling breakfast. Rest was offered by the way of blankets, and we slept on the floor!

20080221: Abu Dhabi here I come

2008-02-22T03:53:00.000+08:00

My final day in Doha, rushing around in the left hand drive Proton Waja!
Boarded Qatar Airways to AUH (the airport code for Abu Dhabi).
Flight was quite punctual and arrived in a cool evening of 15C!
Immigration was the easiest by far, as the airport is miniscule compared to Dubai!
Went through immigration in 5 minutes, asI was in the front of the queue! Unbelievable!
Stayed at the company villa in Khalifah City. Humungous in size!
After the heavy lunch at Ponderosa, Doha, I managed to skip dinner and went straight to bed after a nice warm "CEDOK" style shower / bath to catch up on all the much needed missed rest!

Photos soon!

20080219: Off to Doha again

2008-02-20T02:49:00.000+08:00

Middle East. Is this in my blood?
Anyway, back here for a couple of days in a much calmer weather!
Cool breeze of 18C with sunny skies.
Had a few sandstorms too!
Managed to use the MAS Business lounge for the penultimate time before my Qatar Airways Silver Card expires by the end of this month! In fact, the Qatari buggers have downgraded me to Burgundy!
I need another 5 return flights before they can reinstate my Silver Status.
Well, all good things must come to an end, as they say!

20080211: Last day of CNY

2008-02-12T03:52:00.000+08:00

Today is the last day of my week long holidays!
Back to work tomorrow!

Managed to clean up some filing though!

20080210: Fo Guang Shan Temple visit

2008-02-11T03:42:00.000+08:00

Finally visited this colourful spot in Kuala Langat, Selangor, after meandering through all the trunk roads in Kelang!

Website here in Mandarin.

Loads of beautiful photos taken. Had a vegetarian dinner there.

Photos soon!

20080208: CNY Day 2 - I AM ON TV

2008-02-09T03:54:00.003+08:00

The moment of truth has arrived.

I am appearing on National TV (together with my wife)!

As usual, there was a mix-up! Supposed to appear at 830pm on RTM2, but was changed to 9pm slot on RTM 1 for an hour.
The 4 segment documentary kicked off with the Reunion dinner part.
My interview lasted under 30 seconds!

The FULL Episode is below: (11 minutes 26 seconds)

20080207: CNY Day 1

2008-02-08T03:51:00.000+08:00

YEAR OF THE RAT

Happy Chinese New Year to all my friends and family celebrating this Lunar new year of the Rodent, marking the first animal to mark the dozen Chinese Zodiac variations.

Had the annual photo ritual at home, this time using FOR THE FIRST TIME, my DIGITAL SLR!

Had lunch in Putra Heights at a good friend's new home before visiting the in-laws in the late afternoon.

Photos soon.

20080206: CNY Eve

2008-02-07T03:47:00.000+08:00

Had the day off. Company compulsory leave.
Managed to meet my realtor at the property unit to finalise sale of my aging apartment amongst the "slums" of Francis YEOH's enclave!
How a property such as Andalucia can command RM 400k in such a terrible area, is beyond anybody's understanding!

Had a scrumptious Chinese lunch at Overseas, Seri Petaling before meeting up with an old friend to pass over a gift from Dubai!

Dinner was at home (obviously) as it is Reunion Dinner night!

Photos to follow.

20080204: The Body aches!

2008-02-05T02:01:00.000+08:00

Back to work. The whole body is responding to all the acidic release throughout the blood system, after the Saturday intensive massage, wrecking every sensitive nerve in its path! This led to major aches, as usual a I had to head over to the OUG Doctor for the spinal ache. Some Chinese medication was prescribed, and I had to stick to the regime to remedy the ailment! Ouch!

20080203: Dad's birthday dinner

2008-02-04T03:55:00.001+08:00

An afternoon to Midvalley Shopping centre was meant to obtain presents for Dad.
A wireless Door Bell was picked off the rack in Jusco.
Upon returning home and testing, it was deemed faulty, and had to visit Jusco again!
Everyone was looking forward to Dad Birthday dinner, held at Overseas, Jalan Imbi.
Small gathering of one table. Food was the usual top notch Chinese fare.
Dad got another surprise present though. Something that our Malaysian shores don't carry. One that I had to gather all the way from Doha, Qatar. And even that, I had to search through over 20 shops to get it!

20080202 : Toast 8, Office 2008 and Leopard day

2008-02-03T03:24:00.000+08:00

Life is usual today, with another half day in the office. It's back to work to the Glenmarie HQ.
Lots to be done in the afternoon. Managed to check on my Sime property, whilst visiting a good old Macuser friend who stays a few doors away. Had a quick lunch in the nearby coffee shop. Great Kway Teow Kung Fu style, something heavily missed whilst in the Middle East. This is much better than the High Tea I missed at the Crowne Plaza hotel (hosted by a notable Land Banking entity in town)
Sime UEP, are never short of property launches and showcases, befitting their title of the being under the world's largest property owner, Sime Darby. A quick hour visit to 7 different homes under the banner of Putra Avenue. I still prefer my original purchase, which is ABOVE the highway!
After a pitstop to my secret friend's home, within the vicinity, to pass him a long delayed gift from the Middle East (Dubai, to be exact), the long journey across the Subang Jaya enclave to reach Damansara Perdana on the other side of the state ensued. The Tropicana pitstop for more eclectic magazine pickups had to take a raincheck due to time constraints.
A brief and strenous visit up the condominium to collect my new Apple collection resulted in a errorneous online transaction via Maybank2u.
This collection added another 6 nitsto my tally of over 40 now. The new members are a few G3 Clamshell iBooks, a rare Colour Classic and a NeXT subwoofer set.
After this investment, it was time to calm the mind, rushing to the RSGC for the 180 hour massage session. A quick sprint through the tolled Kiara Tunnel allowed a punctual arrival at the waiting hands of the masseur at Jalan Tun Razak.
The aching muscles was further soothed out by lounging in the barber's chair, to receive a much needed hair cut. Not that there was much to be clipped, but neat and tidiness had to be taken into consideration, with the Chinese New Year around the corner!

20080201: Back from Doha

2008-02-01T22:19:00.000+08:00

February is here, marking heralding another month of the famous LEAP YEAR.
Yup, for those on a payroll, you will have to endure another 24 hours prior to your paycheck receipt. Alas, this happens only once in 4 years.
Statistically,

As for me, I'm not too concerned, as I was not born on that RARE date.
What matters most is that I'm back in Kuala Lumpur. Home sweet home!

Was met by Dad after a long delayed luggage arrival at the airport and a 28 minute train journey to KL Sentral. Note the new Mercedes taxi in town
A short trip to the RSC for Malaysian Chicken Rice was next on the menu. Major white smoke emanated from the Straits Settlement Building, which housed one of my major legal benefactors. It turned out that mosquito fogging was underway. What a wierd time to conduct this exercise, at about 3pm! (Thats a NO-NO for those who wish to have fogging done!)
Reached home after the sumptious meal.
Retirement on the bed was the next agenda.