What is unconditional love?

I believe everyone has heard of this phrase 'unconditional love' before. But does everyone truly appreciate and understand what it means? When you think about it, this phrase indeed bears a deeper meaning that it appears to be. Many people think that they are giving their partners unconditional love, especially when they are in love. or during the early stages of courtship But have you ever asked yourself, would you still be with the same partner if he/she

• has an incurable disease?
• lost all his money and is surrounded by debts?
• wants to relocate permanently to another location which is far far away from your own family?
• meets with an accident and becomes permanently paralysed/handicapped/etc so much so that constant care is required from you?
• does not have the capability to breed?

Now for those who are married, perhaps they might think there's no choice but to stick with the same partner and try to make the best out of it. But for those who are just in a relationship, what if one day you discover your partner to have one of those things listed above? Do you think it will change the way you love your partner? I'm not saying that I'm being cynical but really, when you think rationally, don't you think most people would flee if given a choice?

I think I would not. What about you?

Earth Hour 2009

After much hype and publicity, the Earth Hour has come and gone. What did you do during that one hour on 28th of March 2009? As for me, I was back in my hometown in Kampar, spending time with my family members. When we talked about Earth Hour, especially with my grandparents, they shooed away the idea, saying that it was silly and it would make us vulnerable to theft in the dark. Of course, my brother and I both said that as long as all of us were at home, there should be nothing to worry about. My grandma also opposed to the idea, because she said it would be difficult to eat in the dark, while my grandpa said that as long as all other lights were off, then we could turn on the dining area lights to eat!

Earth Hour 2009

Anyway, come 8.30pm on that night, my brother was persistent, and he went to fetch a couple of candles to light up the dining area. He also placed a couple on the dining table, so we effectively had candle-lit dinner! The drawback was, of course, with the candles being lit, we had to turn off the fan as well to prevent the candles from going off. So, I think we were more affected by the hot temperature rather than the dim lighting. But we persevered and watched Deal Or No Deal during that period. (I know we're not supposed to watch TV as well, but majority wins in our family) Which reminds me, the contestant that night was silly and greedy to have pursued even after being offer RM20+k for his case. In the end he only got RM3k. *shakes head*

So, I suppose for the first-timer like me, my experience wasn't that bad. I think as long as we have the will to do it, we can convince others to as well. In this case, both my grandparents gave in finally and we had an enjoyable candle-lit dinner for the first time at home. *LOL*

What did you do during Earth Hour?

Christmas countdown at The Curve

It was the Christmas eve, and I took Firefly down to KL for my long holiday. Did you know that Firefly now has a whole new flight of planes? Their seats are all leather! Previously, my friends used to complain about Firefly's seats because there was this smell that they couldn't stand. Somewhat similar to the smell of the seats in the cinema. :P Anyway, now there's no more such smell, only the smell of brand new planes. :)

Back of seats

Leather seats

What's more, they even serve refreshments on the plane! Granted it's just a muffin and orange juice, but still, it's so much better than having to pay exorbitant fees for a cup noodle (note: Air Asia). Anyway, the flight was just less than 1 hour, so by the time they serve the muffin and the orange juice, it was almost time to land. So, I'd say it's a pretty good distraction. Plus, the muffin was actually yummy! I was surprised too. Never judge the book by its cover, they say. :)

Pandan muffin and orange juice

By the time I reached Subang airport, it was around 7.45pm. Saucer was already waiting in the car for me by then, and we proceeded to look for dinner. Our initial plan was to go to Cineleisure Damansara's Tony Roma's for Christmas Eve dinner. However, as luck had it, we were stuck in terrible traffic jam at the LDP. Of course, it was Christmas Eve and we wouldn't expect anything less than a massive jam. After painstakingly enduring the jam, we were in the carpark of Cineleisure and fortunately found a parking space. By the time we were in the mall, it was already 8.45pm.

Heading towards Tony Roma's, my heart fell when I saw an extremely LONG queue in front! When we approached the restaurant, we were told we had to wait at least 40 minutes for a table! I was already starving at 9pm, so we went to search for other restaurants. All of them had long queues! Gosh... Now you know it's not a smart move to go to restaurants during peak periods without reservation.

In the end, we went to some hidden kopitiam in the LG floor, where there was no queue. I was too frustrated and hot by then that I didn't even bother to take pictures of the food I ate, or where I went.

Anyway, after that, Saucer suggested that we went for coffee to calm my nerves down. *LOL* We went to Gloria Jeans, which was luckily not packed at all. We even found a nice spot in the aircon room! This is me enjoying my drink. :)

witch at Gloria Jeans Cafe

At around 11.45pm, we proceeded to go to the countdown spot, where many people were already waiting.

Christmas tree

The crowd there was just incredible! It was almost impossible to even move! There were people at every spot on the ground. Simply amazing.

Crazy crowd

Since Saucer's car was parked at Cineleisure, we attempted to cross over the huge crowd, but with punishment! Our punishment was those annoying aerosol foam. People surrounding us were spraying the foam everywhere and the smell was just appalling! I'm telling you, I never knew those foam could have such a strong, pungent smell. It made me and Saucer choke and cough for a long time even after crossing the crowd.

More crowd

By the time it was 12 am, there was a countdown and then more foam. Saucer and I just quickly went indoors to avoid the foam. Never shall I go near anyone who has a can of that anymore.

Halfway crossing

This is a little late but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I end this post with my favourite snack of all time! *drools*

My love

My first time with Aeroline

I have heard many comments about Aeroline before, and once it started operation in Queensbay Mall Penang, I took the opportunity to give it a try. Basically, what made Aeroline different is that it claims it's a convenient way to fly. In other words, apparently it gives you the same comfort of flying without the hassle of checking in, going to airport, etc. It also claims to bring the standards and comfort of air travel to customers to ground travel.

Apart from that, Aeroline introduced the concept of mobile business lounges on the road, with attentive on-board crew to serve food and drinks. There is actually a lounge area on the first deck of the bus, with sofa and a table in the middle, sort of like a mini conference room. Plus, every seat is powered with a AC power point, so using the laptop is not a problem!

What I like about Aeroline:

1) Online booking for Penang-KL or KL-Penang
This is extremely convenient especially if we want to book tickets to come back from KL. Usually you need to buy the tickets from KL bus station itself, but for us who are in Penang, it would be difficult to buy the tickets beforehand. We'll have to ask someone from KL to help us buy, or take the risk and only buy the tickets only when we reach there.

2) Pick up/Drop off at shopping malls
This is another big advantage of Aeroline, as it does not stop at the busy Pudu bus station. I can't tell you how much I detest Pudu! It's always freaking crowded with people and cars, and the place just gives me the creeps especially at night. But with Aeroline, it goes directly to the shopping malls in KL such as KLCC, Sunway Pyramid or One Utama. Isn't that cool? Door-to-door shopping! Also don't forget the safety part.

3) On-board toilets
This is extremely useful for people who tend to visit the toilets often. Having toilets onboard means that you never have to worry about drinking that bottle of water, or that cup of coffee. However, the toilets are for light usage only, so heavy users are requested to inform the steward/stewardess so that the driver could stop at the nearest rest area. :)

4) Meal on board
Depending on your boarding time, Aeroline provides a meal for the passengers. I have friends who were served with Subway sandwich before, and for me, I was served with Chicken Rice once. Food was not too bad, but it was definitely convenient and useful for the long journey.

Dinner

Chicken rice

5) Movies on LCD screen
There were two movies shown during my journey from Penang to KL. One of them was Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was really entertaining and kept me occupied for almost 2 hours. Even though the big screen was shared, each seat has its own speakers on top of your head (near the aircon vents), so you would not have problem of not being able to hear what's being said.

6) Blankets on board
For the very cold night time journeys, or when the aircon chose to be extra cold on that day. The blanket is very useful to keep warm.

7) Comfortable seats
In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a very tall girl and I always have problem with legroom - be it in cinemas or in aeroplanes or cars. However Aeroline's seats are comfortable and have plenty of legroom. Plus, you could actually recline your chair until it's almost horizontally flat! Of course, the drawback is that once you're lying flat, your head is pretty much close to the lap of the person behind you. Very weird position. *LOL*

Window seat

Leather seats

What I don't like about Aeroline:

1) Long journey
No matter what they claim, it's still a bus and it depends heavily on traffic conditions. If your travel time coincides with the peak hours, then be prepared for massive traffic jams. I went to KL on a Thursday evening at 5pm and boy, the jam on the bridge took more than 30 minutes! :( I was just unlucky because jams usually occur on Friday evenings only. *sigh* The whole journey took me exactly 5 hours to reach 1 Utama. Butt ache OK.

2) Limited travel times
Perhaps due to its relatively new service, there are only 3 time slots to KL each day, and each of them goes to different malls. 1 for KLCC, 1 for Sunway Pyramid and 1 for One Utama. If you want to go to 1 Utama, you have to take the 5pm bus. There is no other choice for you unless you want to go to a different drop off point.

3) Aircon too cold
This is by far the biggest problem for me on bus! Traffic jams, I'm still OK, if the bus is comfortable enough to distract me. But the aircon in this bus kept blasting onto my head, it was TOO cold and strong. Even after I closed up the vents, there were still small holes where cold air could escape from. Gosh. During the first couple of hours, I could still stand it. But during the last 2 hours, I was shivering and even the blanket did not help much. Unless I covered my whole head underneath the blanket, which would mean that I couldn't breathe. *frown* Next time I should bring some cellophane tape to close up the holes! :P

So, there you have it, my 2 cents on Aeroline. It is indeed more convenient and comfortable than other buses which stop at Pudu, but of course my first choice will always be Firefly! :) If the Firefly tickets get too expensive only then I will revert to Aeroline. After all, nothing beats flying when it comes to travelling. :)

Petrol price has a minimum!

I read The Star news today to find out whether there was going to be any reduction on petrol prices, seeing that it's almost the end of the month now. What I was greeted with, was a moron by the name of Shahrir Abdul Samad saying that the petrol price will have a minimum of RM1.92/litre, regardless of global oil price. According to him, this would bring some stability to the retail price of petrol. I do not understand what he meant by this? Is there anyone complaining on the recent reduction in oil prices? If anything, we as the consumers don't mind this kind of instability at all, if the prices keep plummeting.

Also, on the point of petrol station owners' losses, I think this is just an excuse. Really, if proper planning is being done, I'm sure this could be very well-managed. There was this petrol dealer quoting in the same article:

Ahmad Sarpur, a dealer in Johor, said dealers could lose between RM13,000 and RM25,000 each time petrol is reduced by 15 sen per litre.

“This is because there is a minimum order quantity of 21,000 litres that we must pay for immediately. There is no credit,” he said.

I wonder how he did his calculation? Let's say he orders a minimum quantity of 21,000 litres, and with a reduction of 15 sen per litre, that would come up to 21,000 x 0.15 = RM3,150. Where, pray tell, did the figure of RM13,000 to RM25,000 come about? And I haven't even included the 12 sen margin allocated to all the petrol dealers. If that is taken into account, the losses would only be 3 sen per litre, translating to RM630, assuming minimum quantity is ordered. Also, another assumption is that NONE of the petrol is sold from the morning when the dealers get the petrol delivery, until the night when announcements are usually made.

Now, do you think the excuse provided by the certain moron is actually bullshit? If the petrol dealers really want to minimize losses, the government could either:

1) Provide the dealers 2-3 days notice in advance, so that the dealers could buy the minimum amount for that few days. Or better still, the petrol dealers should be smart enough to know that petrol prices will usually be adjusted at the end of the month, and should only stock up the minimum quantity by then.

2) The government can always reduce just 12 sen per adjustment, but with NO minimum amount of RM1.92/litre. If they reduce 12 sen each time, the petrol dealers are theoretically not suffering from losses.

Finally, the same moron also mentioned selling the petrol at the minimum of RM1.92/litre would enable the government to reduce its subsidy on petrol if the global price fell further. So this is the main reason of setting the minimum? So that the government could SAVE and the rakyat should pay the so-called 'subsidy' instead? This is such a stupid excuse! In the first place, the subsidy amount has already reduced to a meagre value, and if the price reduces, I don't think the subsidy should be reduced! That was what was promised to us when the petrol price was increasing. Now that it's on the decreasing trend, they want to consider pulling back the subsidy? Is that fairness?

I am appalled by how and what the moron thinks. How could he not think on behalf of the consumer? And that, coming from a Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, who doesn't really take the consumers' welfare into consideration.

I don't agree, why must the government put a minimum on the petrol price if the global oil prices keep plunging? Does it make sense to the consumers if say, one day the petrol price retails at RM1.80/litre and we STILL have to pay RM1.92/litre?

Guilty as charged

I am utterly fuming as I'm writing this post. Is there any word stronger than anger to express anger? This coming from an Umno division chief himself on a ceramah! I am flabbergasted to say the least. In case you didn't know yet, the innocent Bukit Bendera Umno division chief, Ahmad Ismail has outrightly claimed that he's not guilty for mouthing racist remarks last week. And to quote him: "As far as I am concerned, I did not say or do anything wrong. So why should I apologise?". I have never heard of anything so ridiculous! The fact that he could openly declare that he's done nothing wrong even after the Deputy Prime Minister himself apologized on his behalf while he was busy having fun with his sepak takraw game, totally baffles me. How could anyone be so irresponsible and be outright bold about it? Without a feeling of guilt? Just to refresh your memory, Ahmad was allegedly claimed to have described the Chinese as “immigrants squatting in the country, thus were not entitled to equal rights in Malaysia”. Which part of that statement is not racist? I say the whole statement is so immersed with racism that I could smell it from 100miles away! And yet he still refuses to apologize, claiming that he is innocent and did nothing wrong. As far as I'm concerned, he can certainly go to hell with such remarks.

The fact that he could boldly stand by his racist remarks and claimed that he's not done anything wrong would definitely spark fire in the Chinese community. This coming at a time when BN support is at one of its lowest (if not lowest), will really boost the popularity of Anwar Ibrahim, who has stood by the notion of racial equality in Malaysia. I applaud Anwar for being able to look at people past the colour of their skin, unlike some. What I can say is, if Ahmad still refuses to apologize and admit he's done something wrong, havoc will occur especially by the Chinese community, and rightfully so.

Change

The Mother of all elections has just come to an end. Were you all waiting with bated breath for the news announcement yesterday? I know I was! But I had no doubts in Anwar though, from the first announcement of the partial results, he was already leading by more than 3000 votes, which was significant. If you didn't know yet, Anwar Ibrahim finally won with a landslide victory, landslide because of the huge majority that overpowered the previous win by his wife Wan Azizah. Anwar Ibrahim garnered 31,195 votes, Arif Shah Omar Shah (from BN), 15,524, and Hanafi Hamat, 92. Anwar won with a majority of 15,671. (From malaysiakini) Some people say that we should salute the Malays in this election, because they're the majority in terms of Permatang Pauh population. Apparently, Malays have always been subject to immense pressure to vote for BN candidates so as to ensure the future of Malay race is safeguarded. However, today, it shows that they are not afraid of the pressure anymore, and they have come out from their shells and daringly practised democracy to fight for change.

Change. That is the only thing we're hoping for right now. The only thing we can do. As the people of Malaysia, we can only go so far as to voice out our choices in the elections and I believe that we've done so bravely. We have done our job. Now, it is the time to sit back and marvel at our chosen leaders doing their part of the deal. We will never know whether they are going to do what they promised earlier, or whether they're going to be better with the current leadership. But what we all know is, we're definitely not going anywhere right now. So, why not?

Sex or making love, does it matter?

Just two days ago, I came across an interesting article with this question: "Is sex important to you?". Of course, most of the male respondents in the article answered affirmative, whereas the minority said that as long as there's love, it doesn't matter. So, I took it upon myself to make a mini survey of my own, by asking close friends on their opinions of sex.

First of all, do you think sex and making love are the same? Well according to my respondents, they're not. Loosely speaking, sex is just for own, personal, selfish pleasure, whereas making love means ensuring both parties are having a good time on bed. A good 'sex' example would be a man satisfying himself with a woman, without regards on whether the woman is having a great time or not. In fact, as long as he is satisfied, he feels happy. Yes, this is nothing different that hiring a prostitute!

On the other hand, a gentleman who is 'making love' tries his best to ensure both parties are enjoying the whole process thoroughly. He will put his woman's satisfaction on top of his own. Furthermore, most of my male respondents stated that their woman's satisfaction will make them happier than their own. Talk about ego indeed. It is just something that men feel, that they are ABLE to generate such pleasure in a woman, that they have the power and capability to do so. Yes, egoistic indeed, but if we're the women shouldn't we feel happy that our happiness is prioritized? *winks*

Well, now that we're clear on the difference between making love and sex, my question would be, is making love important to you? For this question, ALL of my respondents said yes! In fact, most of them said that it's a natural human being feeling, without which they would feel that something is missing in their lives. Love has an emotional and a physical part to it, so even though you love your partner with all your heart (emotional part), but you're not able to enjoy great sex (physical part), it will still not be complete. One of my friends even said that if he can't have a satisfying sex life, he will be prone to having affairs just so to satisfy his inner desire. I guess I can't blame him for that, because this is after all, natural. If you have it all, why would you look elsewhere, right?

But, as a girl, I think it is somehow rather shallow to place so much importance in sex. Sure, it is part of our natural needs as human but I read from Cleo that some girls indeed don't enjoy sex! In fact, they find it painful and avoid it. So does that mean these girls will never find someone who could accept them? I don't know as well. Dilemma. What do YOU think?

But ultimately, I should think that if there's still something that can be done to improve a couple's sex life, it should be done. See a doctor, a gynae, even a sex therapist. Go for all means to see if things can be improved. You deserve it! :)

Liar and coward

I am angry. No... more like fuming. Furious. How could anyone change his mind SO quickly? One minute he's claiming a whole list of things that have happened and convincingly so, and another minute, he's telling a whole new story! Who does he think we are? Mindless idiots? This is so demeaning and insulting to the point of being rude. If you still have no idea of what I'm talking about, you should go read today's news.

Shocking, isn't it? All the revelations by this Private Investigator called P. Balasubramaniam. In fact, when I read it, I thought the time has finally come. That the people of Malaysia are finally strong enough to come out and tell the truth, and to clear away the barrier that is clouding everyone's eyes. Never did I know, just less than ONE day after the revelation, he retracted it! Read this news. And I quote from it, "I wish to retract the entire contents of my statutory declaration dated July 1 2008. I was compelled to affirm the said statutory declaration under duress." Under duress? That's the excuse given by him! For God's sake, could he have told a better lie?

In his earlier revelation, he was apparently forced to sign a police statement that had omitted some of the information provided by him. When asked why he signed it, he mentioned: “If you have experienced being in a lock-up, definitely you will sign the statement." Which means, he was signing a police statement which was not entirely depicting the information that he provided. That should not even be considered as a statement! Where is the transparency in our system? Why are certain people protected from the law? So is this how it's going to be? Every time you're under some kind of stress or threat, you can use that as a reason to do things which you could easily RETRACT later on? You signed a statement which is not entirely complete, and you claim that you did it under stress. And now, you came up with a statutory declaration on what was actually MISSING from the statement and later, you retracted it claiming it was under duress!

To Balasubramaniam out there, I think you're treating people who read the news as fools, by insulting our intelligence and telling us convincing lies that you think we would believe. In real fact, we're immensely pissed off at you, you coward. And that is from someone who's served the police force before. Shame on you! Where is the justice and honesty that the police force apparently uphold? You're really making the whole scenario to appear as a joke to the people of Malaysia. I wish the truth would prevail soon and I would gladly see what kind of excuse you would give if you're proven to be telling lies. Maybe that time, you would come up with another excuse that you were ALSO under DURESS when you were forced to retract your statutory declaration!

Save whenever you can

As mentioned in my earlier post, the Malaysian government has increased our petrol price to a whopping RM2.70/liter, which is a 40% increment from our previous petrol price. Certainly, this is not a small amount to be taken lightly. Just look at the newspapers daily and you'll see many small traders having a hard time to make ends meet. As a result of this increase too, the crime rate is indirectly affected. More people are having a difficult time to survive, and some of them are resorting to illegal means just to get an extra dollar or two, even if it means robbing others. Just today, there was a man who was beat up by a gang of four just because he was flagging down passers-by to send his dying mother to the hospital. What has the world become? Is there no mercy anymore? Even if you want to rob, you shouldn't target helpless people who are asking for your help! Anyway, my point is, times are hard now and especially so for people who have mounting debts, which is common among credit card holders. Since the standard of living is increasing, I'm sure the amount that one can afford to pay back will reduce drastically. Therefore, for those who still have large amount of credit card debts, it is advisable for you to transfer your balance to other banks to reset your interest rate. In order to do so, I strongly advise you to search for the best balance transfer credit card deals either in the internet or from your local banks. At times like this, even a small percentage of interest can mount up to a large amount without you realizing it. We could definitely do away with these unnecessary expenses now.

Beware of credit card frauds!

Just yesterday, there was a forwarded email on the latest credit card scam at petrol stations. For those who are not aware of this, apparently, there’s a new tactic at gas stations where the employees of the station abuse the credit cards of the customers after they have purchased petrol from those self-help pumps. The email mentioned that once a customer charged the card to a self-pump station, his or her information would remain stored at the station until the next customer inserted his card. This would mean that, as long as there are no other customers after your turn, your credit card information would be at the risk of being misused by the employees of the pump station. Imagine what could happen if these information fall into the wrong hands! One advice from the email was to press the ‘Clear’ button every time after pumping petrol, to ensure that the information would not be stored in the pump. This is one good example of credit card frauds that are taking many different forms and figures these days. There are definitely much more ways that these scams could happen especially in the internet. Therefore, it is very important to find out about credit card fraud protection from reliable websites so that we are well-equipped with knowledge to prevent credit card frauds. In the event that frauds should happen, we would also know what to do first and where to go to for help. Just make sure that we report any suspected frauds right away!

My petrol pumping experience NOT!

Just yesterday (4th of June 2008), our Malaysian premier announced the inevitable news that was bugging our minds since a few months ago. Fuel price has always been going uphill and the government has been informing us over and over again about how it would not be able to withstand providing petrol subsidies anymore. So, yesterday, Pak Lah made the announcement that our petrol price would be increased to a whopping RM2.70/litre, compared to the previous RM1.92/litre. That is a 40% increase! Definitely not meagre at all.

Apparently, by doing so, the government is able to save up to RM56billion in subsidies, of which would be used on development and other food subsidies. I say this is just bollocks! I am not politician, neither am I an economist, but I am seeing an unjust treatment to the people of Malaysia here. True enough the price of crude oil is on the rise, and RM2.70/litre might still be one of the lowest in the region, but are we really ready to embrace the market oil price? Our country is not even close to reasonable standards in terms of public transportation. Those who are in the lower income bracket would be devastated to fork out an extra 40% in total petrol expenses, because they just have no other choice. By increasing the oil price without providing people with alternative, this is just equal to using brute force to squeeze money out of everyone! Tell me if this is not true.

Apart from that, we are also heavily taxed in our purchase of cars or vehicles, especially imported ones. If the government wants to be so FAIR and JUST, they should let us buy everything in market price and not tax us without giving it back! Seriously, other than those mega white elephant projects which usually focus in the city centre, I do not see where our tax money went to. Those are our hard-earned money and we're helping the government to develop but they're not helping us in return. I am really disappointed with the way things are run.

That aside, yesterday I got the news of the petrol hike and I told myself I should go fill up my tank since it was only 1/4 full. Coincidentally, I had a movie due at 7.20pm so by the time I left work at 6+pm I thought it was too rushed to go pump petrol, what with the massive traffic jam that was already building up. I naively thought that I could still make it after the movie, which was 9.30pm.

There I was, driving around at 9.30pm and I saw the first Mobil station with an extremely long queue. I was used to pumping Shell petrol so I was praying inside, hoping that the condition at Shell would be better. When I reached the second station which was a Shell, the queue was even worse than the first one, not mentioning the bottleneck it was causing to all the road users. So I frantically drove to the third Shell station, with the same condition happening. Finally, thinking that everywhere would be the same, I reluctantly settled for Esso instead, seeing that the queue didn't look THAT long. At that point, it was already 10pm and it started to drizzle! That was definitely the last thing I wanted to happen-raining that could lead to more serious traffic jam.

I waited patiently in queue for Esso but after 10 minutes I didn't seem to be moving at all! Another 10 minutes down the road and I was getting restless. Poor Saucer had to wait with me and he was starting to persuade me to just let it go. I was angry and snappy and irritated at the same time, thinking that the worst could actually happen. The worst being after waiting for say 1 hour, the petrol could have been finished up, or that I couldn't even make it to my turn before 12am, when the new price would have taken effect. *sigh* Saucer calmed me down again and even offered to pay me the price difference due to the extra price hike in petrol. He told me he would pay me the difference just to buy my time. =)) He was being sweet and nice but I was just cursing away. I guess now that I look back, I felt like a bonehead for even driving out in the first place, and wasting my precious RM1.92/litre petrol. :P

At 10.30pm, and still 30-40 cars ahead of me, I told myself, I wasn't going to make it at all. And I didn't want to spend the rest of the night waiting in the car, in the rain and wasting petrol. I've really learnt my lesson for waiting til the last minute to pump petrol before a price hike. During the previous price hike, I was in KL and I saw the exact situation at petrol stations and I laughed at them thinking that these people were so kiasu. Look who's the joke now. It's ok... RM30 lost but a lesson gained.

Price war!

Did you guys read the news lately? Malaysian Airlines (MAS) has finally jumped onto the bandwagon of cheap airfares. It is now promoting RM0 airfares to domestic destinations. Can you imagine? This is MAS we're talking about, a 5-star carrier, offering FREE seats to the public! Well, it's not exactly free literally because we still need to pay for airport tax and fuel surcharge, etc etc... But still, it shows how huge the other low cost carriers have made an impact on MAS.

Fireflyz, which is also a subsidiary of MAS, is not without its own RM0 attraction. Being a low cost carrier and using a different airport, its fuel surcharge and airport tax is slightly lower compared to MAS. However, I have heard news that the planes they use are really old and smelly. :P

And finally, our first ever homegrown low cost carrier AirAsia never fails to satisfy its customers by being the LOWEST fare carrier nationwide. Not only is it providing RM0 airfares, it is also slashing the fuel surcharge by RM5! That is SUB zero airfare everyone! For the first time, AirAsia has outdone itself and impressed its customers by providing the lowest ever fares to everyone.

Now in order to do a comparison, I searched for a domestic flight from Penang to KL, return ticket, on all three carriers.

1. Malaysian Airlines total = RM152 for 2 ways
2. Fireflyz total = RM102 for 2 ways
3. AirAsia total = RM82 for 2 ways

Do you guys see it now? The winner is clearly... AirAsia!!! *applause*applause* I would say, if based on price alone, AirAsia definitely wins hands down. However, if you have other considerations, you might want to think twice about it. For example, if you take this as a connecting flight to an international destination, it will be better to opt for MAS, as it is usually on time. Even better if your subsequent flight is also MAS, so you could check in for both flights at the same time. And of course, who doesn't love numbered seats? Not having to line up LONG before the plane touches down (ala AirAsia), or fight with people to get the better seats is already an attraction in itself.

On the other hand, if you only intend to go to the destination and do not need a connecting flight, you might want to consider Fireflyz. This only applies for the case of Penang-KL, ok. Mainly because Fireflyz airport is in Subang, which is so much nearer compared to far away Sepang. Hence, it will be so much easier for your friends to pick you up from Subang, or for you to take public transport to where you want to go. Otherwise, if you land in Sepang, you either have to take the RM35 ERL to KL central, or the RM9 express bus to KL central. Either way, both methods will set you back at least 45 minutes to 1 hour, including the waiting time.

So, there you have it! My honest and humble opinions on the three main carriers in our country. I am SO loving the fact that we, as the customers, would be the one benefiting the most from the price war. *evil laugh* I'm hoping more cheap flights will come our way soon! Woohoo!

Malaysian Dreamgirl Top 6 for the second time

I know what you guys are thinking... Wasn't it just Top 6 last week? This is not an outdated post, mind you. In this extraordinary week, there was no one who got eliminated. Oopss! Did I spoil the suspense for you? *gasp* Sorry for those who haven't watched :P Anyway, I have mixed feelings about this decision of not eliminating anyone. On one hand, I think that this is rather unfair for all the prior contestants who got eliminated. On the other hand, I do agree with what Sazzy said, that Jay is one of the favourites for the Top 3 (how come no one votes for her then??). I really believe that having Jay in the show does boost the standards for the overall contestants. At least she has experience in this field and she does her walk nicely. I can't imagine if the Top 3 are Cindy (who overdoes her walk and does it oh-so-quickly), Nadia (who's a real moron) and Ringo (no offense, but I really cannot see her being in the international fashion show runway). Hence, Jay is an essence, I say. To heck with fairness, if this has to be done to maintain the standard of this show, then it shall be done. I hope she will get her fair share of votes next week!

This week's episodes are quite blah. I have been watching the show ever since it's inception and to be fair, there have been significant improvements in terms of post-editing. However, there are definitely areas that need improvement:

1) I don't see the purpose of the judges: Elaine Daly, Kenny Sia and Lim Jimmy. In the first place, they were the ones with all the comments and criticisms, which made the show interesting. But now, the only judgemental comments come from Sazzy. I know she's hot and all but sometimes I really don't find her comments to be of substance. She likes to repeat the same statements for the same contestant week after week. "I can't see your eyes", "You need to work on your angle", etc etc. There was also one episode where she said, "You do know this is a competition, right?". I was like, duuuuhhh... Of course we know! And I'm sure the contestants are not dumb either. Why does she need to treat them like they're little kids? And when a girl gets eliminated, there goes "I still want to see you in the field, okay?". Blah... I could just predict what she's going to say before she says it. Also, her presentation skills need to be worked on. It's really boring listening to her mundane tone and limited vocabulary. Where are the judges??? What's the point of having them when they're doing anything BUT judging? As a viewer, I would be very interested to look forward to comments from the judges right after every shoot, just like American Idol. At least, it gives us a gauge of how each girl fares from a professional point of view, no?

2) Too much of unnecessary footage on the same event. For example, the episode where the girls were doing kickboxing in the gym? That was shown for a good few minutes, and it was draggy! I was just waiting and waiting for something interesting to happen but no! It was boring and it could have done away with half of the shoot.

3) It would have made the show much more interesting if the voters have a choice of voting someone OUT as well as IN. Sometimes there are just people who irritate the hell out of us and we would be more than glad to see them leave the show. I tell you, there are seriously times that I felt the stronger urge to vote for someone OUT than to vote for someone IN. At this point of time, I really cannot stand Nadia. She is ridiculous! I was annoyed with her ever since she started bitching away every chance that she could get in front of the camera. I think it was the last straw when she said and I quote, "Jay slapped me from the back". What the hell was that? She was being WAY too sensitive and definitely outrageous! That was not a slap, my dear Nadia. After all, what did she, of all people, expect? A WARM hug? It's not that she's good friends with Jay in the first place. It was good enough that Jay even bother to entertain her 'fake' hug, I say. I bet Nadia was feeling more than happy when her name was announced as being safe. And she wanted to complain about some person slapping her? Get real! Right, that aside, I seriously urge the producers to consider giving voters a chance to vote someone out. It just means more votes and more income now, no? :)

Muahahaha...

Now that I've vented about my dissatisfaction, we shall go through the pictures from this week's shoot. :) May I just say, I am absolutely head over heels with the batik gowns! They are amazingly gorgeous and elegant. I didn't know batik could end up being so classy. I would most definitely consider purchasing them if I have a proper event to dress up for, and if I can afford it, of course. :) Also, kudos to the two artistes from Lim Kok Wing who, in the humble opinion of someone who has no eye for arts, did a wonderful job of decorating the pictures. I love how each picture's drawing is complementing the models and dresses, rather than over-powering them.

1) Adeline
Purple is one of my favourite colors! Complementing the picture with orchid is perfect! This dress is lovely! The person, however, is just okay. Adeline's expression has improved this much *forms a small gap between the thumb and forefinger*, which is better than no improvement I guess. Her body is nice though, and her height! I could imagine her gracing more magazines and posters in the future. Well, once she works more on her facial expression, that is. :) And I wouldn't mind if she could work on her English as well. :P

2) Cindy
Here's the girl who created much of the drama during the early episodes of the show. I must say, she brought colours to the show. What's a reality model search show without girls fighting right? It is just like eating sandwich without tuna. Simply wouldn't do! Gosh, Cindy looks ghastly in this picture! I couldn't quite figure out what's wrong though. Is it her expression? Or is it her make up? Her hair? Her pose? She looks rather pale here (lack of lipstick?) and her eyes are just not doing her any good. Did I see eyebags? *gasp* She looks like she's 10 years older! On another note, I adore this dress too! This shade of purple is really elegant and unique.

3) Hanis
Hanis was never my favourite from the start. I always felt that she looked too young for many of the pictures and she's too 'manja' for my liking. However, she has started to change my mind since 2 weeks ago. I find her more likable now, and she speaks proper English in front of the camera, which is much better than her 'manja' tone when she spoke in Malay. She seems sincere as a friend and being cute is a plus point! Among all of the contestants, I think she is the one who has had tremendous improvement ever since the first day of the show. I could still remember her during the auditions, when she was telling the judges that her boyfriend was not comfortable with her entering this show. I wonder how they are right now. If anything, I think the boyfriend should be proud of her! Because I am! :) In this picture, she portrays a sultry look which is so sexy. Her pose also shows the details of her batik gown very well. Great picture if she's trying to sell the gown!

4) Jay
I thought it was a bright idea that she wore something light to complement her dark skin. Indeed, the contrast just makes the whole picture more colourful and striking. However, I find that her angle in this picture makes her face look too masculine and angular. Also, it's rather weird how she places her hands. It's also difficult to judge whether she's standing still or she's jumping? I can only see one leg. Where's the other one? Hmm... Anyway, the dress is, as usual, gorgeous! But this picture is not doing her justice. I'm not biased, I'm not biased :P

5) Nadia
As I mentioned earlier, Nadia is really a moron. She's getting on my nerves more and more often now. After the incident of Jay apparently slapping her, she's making a huge deal about how Hanis was passing her the Escada perfume. I'm beginning to wonder whether she's trying to create a big fuss just for the sake of publicity? Seriously, the things that she complained about couldn't be any more trivial! I thought I just have the right word for her, let me think, what was it? Bitchy? That's right! This picture makes her look really weird. Her mouth is weird, her hands are awkward. Her whole pose is just awkward. If I didn't watch the video, I wouldn't know that she's attempting to take a picture while jumping. She could very well be standing on tiptoes and placing her hands in a weird manner.

6) Ringo
Her fame in the blogosphere is really helping her to survive in this show, which might not be a good thing. For starters, she definitely lacks the height to become a model. She is just too petite for runways! She absolutely drowned in the crowd of models during the MIFA show. The same happened during the Escada advertisement show. She somehow just blended in with the other people's shadows. No offense really, but do you seriously think she is model material? Would she make it big in the international scene? Do think properly before casting your next vote, yes? In this picture, she looks pretty (height aside) and I think it's the best of her so far. Her gown is also uniquely attractive. But I guess it would have been nicer if she could show more of the batik design on the piece of cloth she's holding? After all, this is a shoot on batik couture, no? I just have a feeling that no matter what, she'll still be able to get through to the finals.

There you have it, my two cents on Malaysia's first online reality series. Everything considered, I must say good job to the producers and everyone behind the scene who made this show a reality. Yes, there is definitely room for improvement but you guys have made Malaysians proud by having this show available throughout the world! *applause*

Wrongly dressed

My dearest little brother has grown! Oh how he has grown... I still remember the time when I came back from school about an umpteen years ago, excited and happy, because I knew my mom was back at home. And more importantly, there was this new member in the house! I was just an 8-year-old kid, and was easily excited with anything cute and soft, like a baby. :) There he was in the cot, sleeping soundly and smelling like an angel. He was the cutest thing I had ever laid my eyes on back then, and I took all the opportunity I had to carry him around. I was a very proud sister, you know how it is when you're so much bigger and wiser, and you think that you know so much more than the little ones, such that you're filled with the eagerness to pour out the wisdom and knowledge.

Anyway, fast forward 18 years down the road, I could still remember vividly the same day he was brought into the house. How he has grown, literally even taller than myself. It is now the time for his next chapter in life, time to move on after completing the secondary school. One of the options for this tertiary studies is to study at University of Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), which is located none other than at sweet old Kampar in Perak. Since I was back in Kampar at that time, I took the opportunity to visit the brand new university that has just grown its roots here.

I must say the guardhouse seriously needs some improvements. It definitely gives people the wrong impression, by having a shabby banner and sort of rundown guardhouse.



Guard house

Just look at the background, isn't it a lovely place? Looks like somewhere in the highlands, with all the mist and cool breeze. :) I must say, I was pretty impressed with the construction and the structure of the university, seeing that it is private, independent and built from donations from the kind people.

Cafeteria


Somewhere outside the offices

Most importantly, the environment was just amazing! It is not only peaceful and quite, it is also serene and soothing to the eyes. Heck it is located right next to the lake! In case you didn't know yet, Kampar was previously a flourishing tin mining area, with lots of wealthy businessmen making big money. And because of that, Kampar still has many ex-mining lakes scattered around the quaint town. The sight of water just brings a sense of calmness and tranquility to me. I can totally see myself just sitting by the lakeside with a good book, preferably under the shades. ;) So conducive, so relaxing...


Next to lake


Beautiful lake

After admiring all the nice views, it was time for me to carry on my mission. I proceeded to the offices building, all of them having glass walls and doors, very transparent indeed. Make sure the lecturers never fall asleep or dig their noses when they thought no one is watching. :P


Offices


Towards the offices


The admissions office corridor

I was given the task to buy application forms from the offices so I roamed around, trying to figure out where to get them. Then I came upon something interesting: What NOT to wear in the campus

Unacceptable!

I felt so paiseh at that point of time! Then I got very self-conscious and looked around the innocent-looking students eager to get into the campus, wearing decently. And I looked at the poster and realized I was committing two of the 'crimes' - shorts and sandals!

What I was wearing -.-"

Movie break!

I'm not sure about you but I'm definitely one big movie fan! I used to (past tense because I'm smothered with work these days) frequent the cinemas at least once a week and sometimes for the same movie! For those who know me, they'd know I prefer to watch on Wednesdays, simply because it's movie day! ;) True enough, it's on a weekday and most people might just be too tired after work to go out again. But I think that's what we all need in the mid-week for de-stress :) Imagine working the whole 5 days without taking any break, you'd definitely be drained of colors and of life at the end of it. So what better way to have fun than watching a nice movie, settle back and relax? Also, because Wednesday tickets are only RM6 *smirk*. To top it off, Golden Screen Cinemas is having their Fun Break promotion yet again!



For those who are not familiar with this, GSC usually has this kind of promotion every year during the school break. It is a Buy 1 Get 1 free coupon and in my humble opinion, really worthwhile. Just imagine, if you use this coupon on a Wednesday, you could get TWO tickets for the price of RM6, that is RM3 per ticket! Isn't that amazingly cheap? =) Now isn't that reason enough for you to go out and get the movie tickets now? *LOL* Remember to print out this coupon first!

Opposition wins in Penang!

Possibly for the first time since Gerakan's victory 40 years ago, the Opposition has managed to win the Penang state! According to sources from Malaysiakini, Lim Guan Eng is set to be the next Chief Minister of Penang. I'm so excited! I've never been in a state ruled by an opposition party before, and I'm looking forward to the changes that they will bring upon the state. As the tag line goes, "Just Change It!". I guess this victory has proven that the people has finally spoken and the democracy of the country is reflected. It is time for the Opposition to show the people what they have got and to prove that the people have indeed made the right decision.

We shall wait and see ;)

Can love change a person?

I was having a discussion with a good friend of mine (you know who you are, girl *wink*) this morning and we were talking on the topic of love and personality. Well, we were talking about how couples have to be compatible in terms of character and personality in order to maintain a long-lasting relationship. Of course, we do not believe that there is one such couple that could be compatible in all senses without having to compromise.

My argument was, if one loves someone enough, then one would not mind going the extra mile and changing to be a better person for him/her. For example, I used to have a male friend who was always the clubbing and flirting king. Practically every girl in school knew who he was and he must have attended clubs way before we're even allowed to. Then, he met someone.

Someone who changed his life, literally. I've never seen him so in love before. He went to such an extent just to get to know that girl, and to get her number and finally to get her out. And the transformation from then on was just amazing. I couldn't believe it myself, and so said my fellow friends. He minimized his outings to clubs just for the girl and he became loyal. =) I was always very amazed by the power of love, and I respected him tremendously. So I said love CAN change someone.

But on the other hand, my friend was saying a person's character just simply cannot change. It is only a matter of compromising. When one is willing to give up his/her bad habits, it doesn't mean he/she has changed. It merely means that he/she is compromising and trying to avoid doing things that will create unhappiness. All because of love. And I believe she does have a point. Changing a habit/character means that it stays on forever, no matter there is love or not... but Compromising... means that it is only done purely out of love.

I suppose there is a bit of truth in both our stands. I believe it takes more than a great man to make a change for the better, for his loved one.

And that man... earns my respect. What do you think? :)

P.S. I Love You...

I have just finished reading this wonderfully amazing and lovely book by Cecelia Ahern, called P.S. I Love You... and might I say, I am now obsessed with waiting for the movie to be released! I really hope it reaches Malaysia! :) This is the book...

Sometimes, you have to live life one letter at a time

It is about a young woman, Holly, who's so very in love with her husband, Gerry. Unfortunately, Gerry passed away because of brain tumor, and Holly was simply devastated. She used to live her life, used to exist just because of Gerry. After his death, she was simply shattered, broken, falling apart and crying every single minute. She was lost. She was unfocused. She just didn't want to live anymore.

Gerry foresaw this to happen and he thoughtfully prepared a bundle of messages to be addressed to Holly after he passed away. He wrote her 10 messages, all in different envelopes, meant for different months of the year. Each message was filled with either notes of encouragement or things to do to make her life better. But on top of it all, each message was always ended with P.S. I love you... Isn't that the sweetest thing?

The book revolves around Holly's friends as well, namely Sharon and Denise... and their amazing bond and closeness. It makes you reflect on who your real friends are, and to appreciate them more. The book is definitely a good read to get some light-hearted laughs, to discover one's romantic side and to have a good cry!

The movie apparently is coming out on the Dec 21st '07 in the US and Jan 4th worldwide. I really can't wait! :))) Official site

Amazing pillow...

I was complaining the other day regarding my neck and back pain in the morning. Either the way I positioned my head on the pillow was not correct, or the pillow was not good. But it WAS a goose feather pillow, no less, which was rather costly in the first place :(

After several days of complaining, I was given a nice surprise gift! Introducing Jean Perry (pronounced as John Per-ree cause it's French) Memory Pillow...

Well I bet everyone will think that Memory Pillow, based on the name, is supposed to improve my memory, right? How I wish it were true! It is just a name... Apparently, the pillow has some cutting edge technology foam material which can mold itself to support your head and neck while at the same time absorbing pressure and heat. I believe it is how the pillow can maintain this particular and customized shape throughout the night, to ensure a good sleep, that led to its name as the Memory Pillow.
It is also Anti Dust Mite as well, what an angel!
There are two ends to the pillow, one being the thinner end and the other, thicker. Depending on the person's sleeping position, the required height of the pillow also varies. For normal usage, it is recommended to sleep on the thicker/higher end, which can support your neck better. On the other hand, if the person chooses to sleep on his/her stomach, then the thinner/lower end would suffice.
I have used this for a week now and I'm proud to say that I don't have neck and back sores now! What a wonder this pillow is...