Tempted ... but ...

I've been to Singapore five times. The first time was in July 2000. Stayed there for only five days. Rather short, yeah i know.

The first trip was kind of an impromptu trip. Totally unplanned. It was on 2 July 2000 night around 8pm-ish that my dad told me we're going to Singapore the next day. Yeah, my dad just suddenly decided that it was time for us to consult some top-notch ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat specialist) in Mount Elizabeth Hospital. We hadn't even bought the ticket yet, just so you know. Next thing i know is that my mom was busy packing our luggage. What a pleasant surprise eh ? I was in so much joy. Didn't show it though. LOL !

The second trip was also in the same year on 11 July 2000. Yeah right, we just came back from Singapore three days ago and now we're going back there again. How so ? Because my dad decided that i should have the sinusitis operation in Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore. DANG ! We only came back to Kota Kinabalu three weeks later, just a few days before the Singapore National Day. Hated the operation but i truly enjoyed my three weeks stay in Singapore ^_^

Okay, enough of the past. I bought a ticket to Singapore on Jetstar.com in January this year, a Singapore-based low cost carrier for only RM218 total. Was supposed to meet up with Lai and Law Lee Hui during my three days stay there but the hotel room was too expensive in late April. Around RM600+ per night, if my memory serves me correctly. So i thought it was the best to simply forgo the trip and forfeit the ticket.

Kota Kinabalu as we all know, erm ... is boring. I don't really like Kuala Lumpur either as i am really sick of Kuala Lumpur already. Probably i go there too often ... LOL

The next best available option to escape Kota Kinabalu is no other than Singapore. Oh yeah, i am now tempted to go to Singapore again !! It is near to homeland and Singapore is a very safe place. No doubt.

Silk Air doesn't look too expensive considering my dad used to pay RM1200+ per person for a return ticket on the same sector on MAS. Besides, the flight time totally suits me. The hotel price is ... erm ... still kind of pricey but i guess it should be considered reasonable as it is a 5-star hotel located in the very middle of the legendary Orchard Road. I stayed there for four nights in January last year and i can tell you that the room in Grand Tower (now known as Orchard Wing) has the most stunning night view of Orchard Road. It is also conveniently located just between Somerset MRT Station and Orchard MRT Station.

So, did i book it ? No. I didn't. Why ? Because my credit card is broken. It still allows online transaction but my mom already canceled the credit card. We're now waiting for our newly approved credit card from another bank but we will only get it after next week and i'll be busy then. Besides, i think Lai would be busy too as if i'm not mistaken, his school will reopen on 14 August. Would definitely go this time if my CIMB Bank Mastercard is still usable as i'm almost going nuts here. I need to get out of here, pronto, even just for a few days. I couldn't take it anymore !!!!

Stupidity at its Best

MANGLISH MAKES US MALAYSIAN LAH

I REFER to the letter, "What's there to boast about when we're speaking Manglish". I was bemused by the writer's opinion because i feel that we should all be proud to speak Manglish.

Language defines us, and Manglish is a symbol of unity among Malaysians. It's what makes us Malaysian. We have made English our own, so there !

I can write extremely good English, and speak it too. I speak formal English when i go for interviews or when i speak to foreigners because they obviously do not understand Manglish.

However, when i talk to my friends, i use Manglish because i do not want to sound like a pompous cow, trying to sound British or American when i'm 101% Malaysian.

As a matter of fact, why doesn't the writer criticise Americans for speaking American English ? Even better, why don't we all speak the Queen's English ? What's the English standard for the writer, i'm curious.

To enunciate the T's ? Has the writer watched My Fair Lady ? Even the English can't speak English !

Therefore, it is okay to say "You Got See Ali arr ?" or "Got arr, you never see him mie ?" to Malaysians because we would understand it. It's a common ground to connect to each other.

If someone were to speak in flawless English with a tinge of English or American accent, then i would feel alienated and belittled. C'mon, i know you can speak perfect English lah, but please lah, we're all same same mah. I can speak, you also can speak. What's the problem ler ?

JULIA TAN

Penang

THE STAR NEWSPAPER, 24 JULY 2009

Ain't Karma a Bitch ?

What comes around goes around

Ain't karma a bitch ?

You bet !

Treat others how do you wish to be treated

Be nice

Be sincere

Be selfless

Be green

Or else

Be ready to face the music

Someday somewhere

PPS

PPS = Perempuan Paling Susah

PPS =/ Priority Passenger Service

A friend of mine told me that PPS stands for "Perempuan Paling Susah" instead of Singapore Airlines' version of "Priority Passenger Service". Just thought it's kind of funny and wanted to share with you guys. If you have no idea what i'm talking about. Please refer to the post dated 16th July 2009.

Or alternatively, please click the link below :

http://sia-krisworld.blogspot.com/2009/07/this-video-was-filmed-by-fellow.html

Only Country to Wrap Books in Plastic ?

I have travelled extensively throughout the world, and to my knowledge Malaysia is the only country where bookstores wrap books in plastic so that people cannot browse through them.

If you enter any bookstore in the US, you won't find books wrapped in plastic to prevent the public from browsing through them. Go to the UK, and there will be books on the shelves for the public to browse through, read or buy.

There will always be individuals who will damage books. It cannot be avoided.

Would it be appropriate to wrap all goods in plastic e.g. shirts, trousers, etc. for fear that someone might damage them ?

Often i have read that the government would like people to read more. But with books all wrapped up, it is like telling the prospective buyer : "Don't Touch !" It is not the way to get people to read.

I will not buy a book from any bookseller when the book is wrapped and taped up.

It is heartening to walk into bookstores and see young children sitting on the floor reading. It is delightful to see adults reading sections of a book and discussing it with their friends.

I find it exciting to walk into a bookstore, head to my favourite section and pick up a book (even though the price may be too high), and browse through it. I feel good about having done something worthwhile with my time.

EDWARD

Kuala Lumpur

THE STAR NEWSPAPER, 22 JULY 2009

What's there to Boast when we're Speaking Manglish ?

We Malaysians have always been praised by foreigners because we can speak several languages and dialects.

Most of us are able to at least master basic English and a few other languages.

We like to boast before our Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean friends that our English is better than theirs.

We even like to make fun of their English pronunciation and we feel superior to them.

But what is there to boast when we are just speaking Manglish most of the time ?

Many of us fail to improve our English because of a complacent mindset.

We ignore grammar and include lots of Malay and Chinese words such as lah, arr, hor or de instead of using standard English expressions to convey our thoughts and feelings.

We think this is fine as long as our Manglish is understood by others.

For a long time, we have been living in complacency while the standard of English in the North East Asian region has been improving fast.

More and more professionals and graduates from that region have made efforts to enhance their English in native English speaking countries and more and more of them are able to shine internationally.

Meanwhile we are still speaking Manglish like : you got see Ali arr ?" "Got arr, you never see him mie ?"

While out Asian counterparts are going the extra mile to master English, we may still be thinking our English is better than theirs.

In actual fact, the number of their professionals and graduates who are proficient in English may even exceed our population !

YEOW BOON KIAT

Petaling Jaya

THE STAR NEWSPAPER, 21 JULY 2009

August is a Fasting Month for me

Clearly i overspent this month ! The RM10500 charged in a single transaction was actually for some medicines. So yes, it was necessary and obviously unavoidable.

The total new charges accumulated to date is RM11932.01 and there are still another two weeks before they wrap out the account for this calender month. OH MY E**ING GOD !!! It means that it is still counting. I expect to spend another few hundreds bucks this weekend. This too, is necessary and unavoidable. It's a special occasion hahaha ... But that means futher diluting of funds in my bank account ... DANG !!!

You might also notice that i have spent RM228 at Tomei Gold Jewellery last week (as shown in the online charge card statement attached below). Well, just in case you're wondering ... No. I do not have a girlfriend. I bought a gold there for Corinne. Erm ... actually the correct term should be "we". We as in Paul, Liew Nyet, Yii Mei, Ha Chee, Francis, Tsen Xiao Ping, Willie and of course the blogger himself. The gold is meant as a birthday gift to Corinne for her big 21st birthday. She sure had a blast last Saturday !

Suria

Pictures speak a thousand words.

Lower Ground Floor

- Fast food & casual dining

- Beverage outlets

- Sports & active wear

- Fashions for work

- Metrojaya men's department

Ground Floor

- Renowned international brands

- National and regional fashion

- Cosmetics & fashion accessories

- Leather goods

- Metrojaya ladies' section

- Metrojaya high-end cosmetics

First Floor

- Ladies fashions

- Metrojaya ladies' section

Second Floor

- Times Bookstore

- Electrical & home appliances

- Electronic goods & IT

- Hobbies & home entertainment

- Metrojaya home department

Third Floor

- Supermarket

- Pharmacies, opticians & health products

- Food court

- Restaurants

- Metrojaya reject shop

Fourth Floor

- 550 car parks

- Specialist anchor (glass dome frontage viewing Gaya Street)

Fifth Floor

- 550 car parks

- Specialist anchor (glass dome frontage viewing Gaya Street)

Sixth Floor

- 550 car parks

- Specialist anchor (glass dome frontage viewing Gaya Street)

Seventh Floor

- 550 car parks

- Al Fresco food and beverage

- Rooftop garden

Eight Floor

- Golden Screen Cinemas

- Karaoke centre

- Amusement arcades

- Food & beverage outlets

- Rooftop terrace with outdoor eating

- Car park

Mr Lai

About two weeks ago Mr Lai called me from Singapore. Asked me to help him to book a return ticket on Air Asia back to Kota Kinabalu. The ticket is pretty expensive at S$171 as it was barely two weeks before the actual outbound flight. S$171 turned out to be RM420.03 after factoring in the foreign exchange rate, administrative fees imposed by CIMB Bank and Mastercard International.

I just realized i've got my money back but haven't shown him the credit card statement. So here you go, just to prove that i'm an honest and trustable person. Hehehe

My physical credit card statement is not out yet. So i can only show you my online banking statement.

This Rich Lady's a Disgrace

This video was filmed by a fellow passenger on SQ117 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport Satellite Terminal Gate C3 on 3 July 2009, whose flight was cancelled due to engine problem.

SQ117 was scheduled to leave Kuala Lumpur for Singapore at 6.50pm but was eventually cancelled. The plane was grounded for one night in KLIA while MAS engineers rectify the problem.

SQ117 finally took off the next morning back to Singapore at 9.00am, a delay for more than 12 hours as SQ117D.

Click the video below to hear the lunatic screaming at one of the poor Singapore Airlines KLIA ground staff.

Can you hear what the rich lady said ? Well, i can hear ...

- ??? PPS Lounge

- You don't look after your PPS passengers

- Are you crazy

- You all stand here

- PPS passengers

- Are you insane

- You never know this may cause you your job

- Now get your PPS passengers on the 9.45pm flight

So, what's a PPS ? How come the lady made PPS sounds so special that she demanded the ground staff to prioritize the PPS passengers ? Who and how one decides who's a PPS passenger and who's not ?

PPS stands for Priority Passenger Service. It is reserved exclusively for those who have accumulated S$25,000 worth of PPS value within a year. PPS value can only be accrued while flying Singapore Airlines Suites, First Class or Business Class and Silk Air Business Class. The PPS is divided into PPS Club, Solitaire PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club Life. An existing PPS Club member is eligible for Solitaire PPS Club when he/she has spent S$250,000 (RM612500) buying Singapore Airlines Suites, First Class, Business Class and Business Class on Silk Air within five years.

100 Truths

Tagged by Liew Nyet Yung in Facebook. Decided to post it here instead. Aint' gonna tag anyone.

WHAT WAS YOUR :

1. Last beverage : Plain water

2. Last phone call : This morning

3. Last messaged : Dad

4. Last song you listened to : Hot by Avril Lavigne

5. Last time you cried : A while ago

HAVE YOU EVER :

6. Dated someone twice : No

7. Been cheated on : No

8. Kissed someone & regretted it : No

9. Lost someone special : Yes. In 1999. Passed away abruptly.

10. Been depressed : Yes but not that kind requiring me seeking psychologist's help though.

11. Been drunk and threw up : No

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS :

12. Red

13. Blue

14. Black

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU :

15. Made a new friend : No

16. Fallen out of love : No

17. Laughed until you cried : Not that i remember of

18. Met someone who changed you : No

19. Found out who you true friends are : No

20. Found out someone was talking about you : Yes

21. QUESTION MISSING

22. How many people on your Facebook friends list do you know in real life : Most

23. How many kids do you want to have : Too early to think about that

24. Do you have any pets : No

25. Do you want to change your name : No

26. What did you do for your last birthday : I was sleeping the whole day. I did receive birthday wishes from Corinne and Liew Nyet Yung past midnight though.

27. What time did you wake up today : Around 12pm

28. What were you doing at midnight last night : Surfing the net

29. Wait something you cannot wait for : Trip to Hong Kong and London

30. Last time you saw your mother : Just a few minutes ago. Asking me to pack my luggage. We're leaving for KL early morning tomorrow.

31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life : ---

32. What are you listening to right now : Hot by Avril Lavigne

33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom : I think so

34. What's getting on your nerves right now : Nada

35. Most visited webpage(s) :

- A.net

- MW.com

- publicbank.com.my

- cimbclicks.com.my

- americanexpress.com.my

- juinyi.blogspot.com

- steven-gerrard-88.blogspot.com LOL

36. What's your real name : ---

37. Nickname : Nada

38. Relationship status : Single and enjoying it

39. Zodiac sign : Dragon

40. Male or Female : Male

41. Elementary school : SRJK Chung Hwa, Kota Kinabalu

42. Middle school : Kota Kinabalu High School

43. High school : Kota Kinabalu High School

44. Hair color : Black

45. Long or short : Short

46. Height : 5' 10"

47. Do you have a crush on someone : No

48. What do you like about yourself : Generous, caring

49. Piercing : No (gross)

50. Tattoos : No (gross)

51. Righty or lefty : Righty

FIRSTS :

52. First surgery : 15 February 2000 at Tung Shin Hospital in Kuala Lumpur

53. First piercing : N/A

54. First Best Friend : I don't remember his name (no, not that low-life prick. It was someone from kindergarten)

55. First sports you joined : NIL

56. First vacation : 1998 to Bangkok (KL is not exactly a vacation for me as my dad works and lives there)

57. QUESTION MISSING

58. First pair of trainers : Never had any. Not big in sports.

RIGHT NOW :

59. Eating : None

60. Drinking : None

61. I'm about to : Go out

62. Listening to : Hot by Avril Lavigne

63. Waiting for : Nothing

YOUR FUTURE :

64. Any kids for you : Someday

65. Get married : Someday

66. Career : I think i'm going to buy Malaysia Airlines over ... LOL

WHICH IS BETTER :

67. Lips or eyes : Eyes

68. Hugs or kisses : Kisses

69. Shorter or taller : Taller

70. Older or younger : In between

71. Romantic or spontaneous : Spontaneous

72. Nice stomach or nice arms : Nice arms

73. Sensitive or loud : Neither

74. Hook-up or relationship : Depends

75. Trouble maker or hesitant : Neither

HAVE YOU EVER :

76. Kissed a stranger : No

77. Drank hard liquor : No

78. Lost glasses/contacts : No

79. Sex on first date : No

80. Broken someone's heart : How am i supposed to know ?

81. QUESTION MISSING

82. Been arrested : No

83. Turned someone down : Occasionally

84. Cried when someone die : Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN :

85. QUESTION MISSING

86. Yourself : Sometimes

87. Miracles : Yes

88. Love at first sight : No. Only those naive will believe in such thing.

89. Heaven : Yes. But you can stop dreaming. I'm not going to heaven and neither are you.

90. Santa Claus : No

91. Kiss on first date : Do i believe in kiss on first date ? What kind of question is that ?

92. Angels : Yes

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY :

93. QUESTION MISSING

94. Had more than one girlfriend at a time : No

95. Did you sing today : No

96. Ever cheated on somebody : No

97. If you could go back in time, how far would you go : 86 months ago

98. If you could pick a day from last year to relive it, what would it be : Nada. Nothing special last year.

99. Are you afraid falling in love : Somehow ... yes.

100. Posting this as 100 truths : Ah ?