Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johorian Drink
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Goodbye Sandee
Yesterday and this morning, she gave me her hand and scratched my hand, as if we humans holding another person when in pain. So I decided to take her to Dr Yeoh and told him the situation. Dr Yeoh agreed that I should put her to sleep. It is sad, but it is so sad to see her suffer like that. So, after signing the consent papers, 12.10pm, Sandee was put to sleep. According to Dr Ben, it is painless. It was so fast. After half the injection, Sandee was all numb. Then after the other half, she left us. I forgot to close her eyes. :-( There goes my 8 years of friendship - just memories....all pleasant ones.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Survived My 1st Week @ Linaco
On Wednesday, went for my first food tasting. We are supposed to try two types of coconut milk, give our comments, then eat the agar-agar then the curry chicken. It is fun, yet confusing, because you may not be able to tell the difference. Majority of us felt that the competitor's coconut milk taste better than ours.
On Thursday, I had a factory tour. And I found out the strong smell is "Tong Kuai". The smell will be at its strongest when it is in the oven. Very interesting to know what goes on behind when consumer buys the products. The herbs are all from China. Pepper from Sarawak. We also pack the fried chicken seasoning powder for KFC. I am looking forward to visit the factory in Batu Pahat. Ayam Brand uses our coconut milk, and we do the packaging for them. There is an agreement that we will not sell our coconut milk (small carton) in Malaysia. We only sell the big carton. Surprisingly, we do not have enough coconuts. We import from Indonesia, forgot how many millions a month. WOW!
I am having a PC culture shock! The pc I am using is old, Windows 98 and is so slow. I was using Excel today, when I click format cells and after I choose what I want to do, I have to wait 5 minutes. Print Preview - also 5 minutes.
Share with you one drink - try nescafe or milo with coconut milk.
Monday, November 14, 2005
1st Day at Linaco
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Another Milestone for Melody

Today, Melody Choir successfully presented 2 new songs. It is the country premier for "Don't Worry about Tomorrow" taken from Heavenly Melody, and rearranged by yours truly for 2 voice and men. The other song was a Cantonese Song, song from a Cantonese series, and words by Mrs Foo. That would be a country and world premier. Then the 3rd song was "How Great Thou Art", which we have sang many times. Edwin did the videotaping and Tze Yoong took pictures. Yup, CSS, Tze Yoong, Min Khuan and Irene came to hear during the church service. After the church service, we proceed to RSGC for late lunch, where we chatted.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Do Your Homework First...
I get many phonecalls from Banks offering Credit Cards or their services. One telemarketer from a particular bank called and offer a credit card. I told her I already have one. Why didn't the bank provide the telemarketers a list of people who are already their customers? Or why didn't they run the database list and cross check? Is it laziness? don't know how to use excel? or the bank has a lousy computer system? I am sure I am not the only one, and if the names could be eliminated, then the bank could save some money on phonecalls.
Same thing with Headhunters, the many Headhunters I know are very reactive. They wait for the sky to drop. They do not have the "oomp" to be proactive and check with their clients. One gave me a reply - the client didn't call back. At least some would say, I will check with the client in one week's time. And there is no follow-up. And I observe that most of them don't have the passion, and some reasons I can think of are they are not Human Resources Professionals before, they just want a job and their network is not good.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Use the Dictionary!
Using the right words to convey what you wanted is very important. Here, I am not just saying English Language, but any language. For my following illustration, I will use English Language. Today, I was asked - what do you call someone who edits, makes suggestions, comments, corrects an article/document, etc? I said it could be a proofreader or an editor. One of his colleagues wanted to call this person a Commentator and worst still later use Commentor. I told my friend, Commentator is someone who knows the topic well and reports on it. Or someone narrating on a Commentary. Commentor or Commenter just does not cut it.
This is just one example. I have seen many more. It does not look good on a company's image, if this is a document going out to a client or public. Spellings too.... worst I find so many in STAR Newspapers, and worst, STAR has a section on English Language.
It all boils down to attitude of the society, wonder why is it so hard to look up the word in the Dictionary when in doubt? Is it laziness? Or the Tidak Apa attitude? It is not a heavy investment. I use Longman Contemporary English Dictionary, where it has the British and American English. So, use the DICTIONARY.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Linaco, here I come...
Funny, some friends live in Klang, but work in KL. I live in KL, work in Klang. ;)
Monday, October 24, 2005
My VIP Bus Ride
One Day in Penang

The last time I was back in Penang was in January for work. Godparents are back from England and grandma Chu is back from US, so I went back with my parents by bus. I bought the tickets from Plusliner. Now there are double-deckers going to Penang. Last time was only to Singapore. So I thought let's try it out. Cost RM57.10 one way. We left at 4.30pm. The bus can take about 30 passengers. Below is a lounge and toilet. On Friday, there were only 9 of us on the bus. We were given a cup of water, sandwich and a hot drink and watched a movie. I asked the driver to stop us at Juru, and Bro Pein and Jessie came and picked us up. We had dinner at my favourite store, where I had Char Kuay Teow. Spent a nite at Bro Pein's house, whereas dad and mom stayed another night.
The next morning, after breakfast, we borrowed Jessie's car and went to see the agent at the Changkat Minden House. Mr Chew put up the signage for rent. Since Mr Chew was recommended by grandma Chu and he has known her for quite a number of years, I seeked his assistance to lead us to Howe Cheong to pick grandma Chu. Picked her up and went to pick up Godparents. The streets in Penang have changed a lot to one way. We were trying our luck and finally we found the house. Kai Yeh took his brother-in-law's Unser and loaded all 6 of us in. We went to eat at Ocean Green, a seaside place in Penang city where grandma Chu has brought me there before. It is a nice place, with sea breeze and won't chase you away at 3pm. It is also a place where you can bring your dogs. Kewl! There was a table who brought 2 Pekingnese and a Bull Dog. They sat the 3 dogs on a chair each. The 3 dogs just sat upright and watch them eat. So obedient.
At about 3pm, we made a move. Kai Yeh drove all of us to Loh Guan Lye Hospital to meet Bro Pein and Jessie. They followed us to Kai Leong's mother house. Here, bro Pein took parents back and on the way, dropped grandma Chu, while, Jessie and Sue Lyn took me to the new bus terminal to catch my bus. This way, dad don't have to drive back to Butterworth and no worries of him getting lost.
I have to go back Saturday because on Sunday, I have a final rehearsal with my choir mmbers. Arrived here at 7.30pm and spent a nite at Bro Khon's house. I came back to feed Wrinkles and Sandee, and to my surprised, Sandee is locked inside the Utility Room. She was yelling. Luckily I came back. At night, we wanted to go watch midnight movie, but nothing available. So ended up watching Catwoman from HBO and DVD - The In-Laws. Very nice.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
My Sandee is Blind
It has been a while since I posted ... was busy. Mainly since Sandee is completely blind since last week, I paid more attention and spent more time with her. How I knew? She was knocking into chairs and stepping on slippers and shoes. She already has arthiritis and in pain.Amazingly, there is a website for owners with blind dogs and a support group. The articles informed that I should act normal, don't let the dog feel that you feel sorry for her. She is already depressed. In terms of senses, dogs use more of the smell, hearing and third is sight. So, losing their sight is not the end of the world. And as long as the dog is in the same house, she had already the surroundings mapped in her head. So don't move any furniture, let it be, let her knock and she will get use to it. And she will be familiarized in a week or so. True enough, Sandee nows know her way a bit. She still don't dare to cross the drain with iron grills and is aware of the steps. I will be guiding her as long as she needs me. Just wish that she can talk.
Editing....
Friday, October 07, 2005
Vietnamese Kitchen

Vietnamese Kitchen is one of my favourite restaurants which I frequent. It used to have a branch in SS2 and since they closed that one down, I patronise at the 1 Utama branch. This one is bigger and the decor inside is very nice. There is one special thing which caught my attention - the sinks. So today, I went with Kat, Ming Ming and Jay and I brought my camera along. The water comes out from the slanting bamboo through a drinking straw and into another bamboo. Really neat!
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Another Milestone...
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Quarterly SMSP Gathering

The Savvy, Motivated, Successful People got together last Saturday for a sumptous Seafood dinner at Pantai. There were 13 of us and two of them were Steff's friends from France and Germany. More pictures can be viewed at http://community.webshots.com/album/461301508ZFBrrQ
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Insects are getting creative! So people....buck up!
I started realizing rashes on my arm since last Tuesday ort Wednesday. It was itchy, and of course it is so nice to scratch sometimes. And at night, you scratch unconsciously. Then as Thursday and Friday came, it developed into mosquito-bite type. And it is a smile sign, happy that it was a success, and when I look at it, it is a sad smile for me (see the picture attached). Today, my neck and back have the rashes, small spots only. Just seen the doctor, and he also said he has never seen that type of smile before. He actually used a ruler to measure the distance in between the red spots. Ha!!!
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Oh Sandee!!! / Happy Birthday Sandee

2 weeks ago, I found out that Sandee was not looking at the food when I extended my hand in front of her. She was smelling and looking here and there. I also did more things, and I realized that could be blind one side. So today, her birthday, exactly 8 years old, I took her to Dr Yeoh to get her annual vaccincations. Yes, she is blind. Could be cataract. Poor Sandee!
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Love Your Car & Respect Others' Cars
Yesterday evening, I was at Section 17, waiting for Kelvin to call me. I parked, and stayed in the car while I called Jay. In the midst of our conversation, a white Iswara Hatchback pulled up next to my car, kind of close. I told Jay that this man just came and it is so near, let's see how is he gonna get out. He didn't even have the courtesy to open his door slowly, he opened and hit the wheel fender of my car. Thankfully I have the stoneguard to protect it. So I horned at him and he gave me a very angry stare. He slammed his door back, reversed his car and accerlerated very loudly. He came out of his car and spitted next to his car in a very unsatisfied way. (This is very typical of Asian to show anger).
Still staring at me, I quickly asked Jay how to say "stupid" in his language. I wind down my window and told him, excuse me, you hit my car. He replied, but I didn't scratch your car. But you hit it. I didn't want to argue further. If everyone hits the wheel fender everyday, then it will create a deep dent.
What bad judgment he has by parking so near. He is not that thin to squeeze through. I said "Stupid" to him in his language, but I don't think he heard it because I may not have pronounced it correctly. I have my pepper spray ready should he want to do anything. But I don't think he would do anything more, as he has 2 kids with him.
For those who reads this, please always think of others, park properly, park straight and in the designated box. Also use your indicator lights always. It is there for something, so use it! It is your communication tool for other drivers.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Beware of USAFIS or ISS - Making your Green Card Dream Come Thru?
Lately, there are some organizations who offer their services to help you apply and ask you to pay a fee. I did that twice, with two different organizations.... and I learned my lesson. You filled up the same form, and they help you check the application form to see if you fill in correctly because they claimed that some questions or information asked, we may not understand the American lingo. Pleasssssseeeee.... as if I don't know how to check. And if you are talking to someone who has not gone to school, maybe they need help. And not understand the American lingo, come on!!! You don't know your customer well enough. And if this organization can gurantee the green card, why not. But their chance is as good as applying via the United States. So why not go direct? No fee at all.
USAFIS has representatives in US as well as United Kingdom. Someone from UK called me 2 years ago, and then last year, then a month ago and then just yesterday. All these times, I informed them I am not interested. They sounded very suprised. And I was a bit annoyed, why didn;t they update in their system, that I was already talked to.
Yesterday the representative got me fuming mad. She was telling me this great offer to enter the lottery. Before she finished, I told her I am not interested and I have already told one of her colleagues a month ago. She asked why? Don't you want the green card? She kept asking why. I told her I have my own reason. And she asked what was the reason... I said I don't want to tell. She said she is asking in a polite way. I told her I don't want to tell. She said I have an attitude. And she hung up. Gosh, is that the way to treat a customer? If people don't want to tell, let it be. Your organization is not credible enough, so please don't push for an answer which will antagonise the situation. Also I am trying to save their phone calls. Well, just give me 10 reasons why I should pay so much when I can do it free???
See, as an Excellent Customer Service Facilitator, statistics have shown that if you give bad service, 8 other people will get to know about it. Here, more than 8 people will read my blog. If it hadn;t been for that rude lady, I will not even bother about writing about USAFIS or ISS and informing you all not to use them. One bad representative in an organization, tarnish the whole organization. Below is the warning from the US Government.
Please Note: There have been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites. Some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money in order to "complete" lottery entry forms. There is no charge to download and complete the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
E Excel, Enrich, Nu Skin, Sunrider, Amway or No Way
I am not brand loyal, but whatever product fits me, I will stick to it. I am a user of Amway, Clinique and Body Shop. Especially Clinique - I have used it for 20 years and it is suitable for my skin. I have full confidence and trust. Now, why change to something which you are not sure if it works, and something which may harm your skin? You may end up paying more to see a doctor. I know of an agressive agent from one of the above companies. He kept saying this is good and that is good. And he played doctor. If this company can produce something which can fit everyone in the world, then we do not need so many types of brands in the market, right?
I just hope that some of these agents will know the limits and not just think of the dollar signs. Of course there are those people who wants to get rich fast and those with the passion. Target those people please.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Anyone has AIA Insurance?
Apart from Insurance, yes, "Falling Sick is not for those without money". It is expensive now, so take good care of your health and start saving. Even though is a dollar a day to start off with. Going to the vet is more expensive than seeing a normal doctor. I have to spend almost RM500 over for two dogs last month. But last week, I went to see a doctor for cold and cough and it only cost me RM13!!! I have to ask the nurse twice, how much?
Dickory - speedy recovery to your dad!
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Still Celebrating Birthday...

In the Siemens Dysfunctional Family, Kelvin, Kat and I have our birthdays in the same month. Jay and Hui Ming bought us dinner at Delicious, One U on September 6. Each of us have a piece of cake. Nic could not make it as he is in Penang. This restaurant is very unique, it is behind a boutique called Ms Read. There is another Delicious in Bangsar Village.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Melodying in Nilai

The Melody Choir charted another milestone - they received many praises and great feedback from the congregation after they sang at the 6th Anniversary and Dedication Service of Nilai Methodist Church on September 3. We presented 2 songs - an English and a chinese number. It has been 5 years since we last sang an English song.
I have both of them back
Friday, September 02, 2005
SMSP Quarterly Gathering
Cure for Cough and Cold via Acupuncture???
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Incident at Pet Safari
Dog left to die in agony (STAR, August 24, 2005)
Story and photos by CHIN MUI YOON
A POPULAR pet shop in Ikano Power Centre, Petaling Jaya, has come under fire for letting a sick dog under its care die without receiving medical care for two days. A customer had returned a toy poodle to the Wonderful World of Pets inside the Pet Safari outlet two weeks ago when the animal was found to be suffering from severe diarrhoea due to a viral infection. The puppy was put into a cat cage and left in a secluded corner of the store near the fire exit. It could not take any food or water but no veterinarian attended to it.
When The Star visited Pet Safari on Aug 10, the puppy had already died and its legs were hanging through the cage bars underneath which was a puddle of bloodied, watery stools.
The poodle died a painful, miserable death in a secluded corner near the emergency exit stairwell.The puppy section is managed by the Wonderful World of Pets, which is renting space at Pet Safari alongside eight other tenants.
The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) animal inspector Sabrina Yeap said this was a case of unchecked animal abuse in pet shops. “The bloodied watery stools are an indication of a dog stricken with the Parvo virus, or it could have been suffering from internal bleeding due to a fall or a beating,” she said. “It is normally difficult to save the animal when it has reached this acute stage. However, the poodle should have been euthanised and allowed to to die in a humane way,” she explained.
Wonderful World of Pets director Lewis Tan admitted there was a breach of protocol by his pet shop in handling the case. “I was not in town, and my staff tried giving it food and water,” he said. “We were waiting for our vet who was unable to come. “The puppy was suffering from a genetic virus attack and its antibodies could not overcome it. There was little chance of it surviving. “Being Buddhists, we do not believe in putting animals to sleep,” he added.
Yeap said the SPCA could not accept such an excuse given by the pet shop.
“Pet Safari has eight other tenants under its roof, including one that provides qualified veterinary services,” said Yeap. “Why didn’t Tan get the vet to attend to the animal? Or he could’ve sent the puppy to any other vet outside Ikano, the nearest being in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, just 10 minutes away. “Immediate action should have been taken when such a severely sick animal is placed under the pet shop’s care. It was pointless having workers feed the animal.
“From the SPCA’s point of view, any action that causes an animal to suffer is animal abuse. Irresponsible pet shops that do not care for animals should not be allowed to get away with it,” she added.
Veterinary Services Department, Shah Alam director Tee Thian See said his department would not take any action because they “did not see anything,” although there were witnesses and photographic evidence.
“Everything was in order when we checked the shop,” he told The Star. “We can only monitor the situation. There was nothing there when we visited, so how can we take up the case?”
On Tuesday, Yeap, Tan and Pet Safari director Ng Whye Hoe held a meeting to clarify the issue.
Ng said Pet Safari was horrified at such an incident and promised to revise tenancy regulations. He said as landlord, Pet Safari had the authority to intervene if there were suspected cases of animal abuse under its roof.
“As a responsible pet company with over six years experience in Malaysia and Singapore, we will not tolerate such acts of cruelty,” he told StarMetro. “We acknowledge that it happened at our premises and we will not avoid the issue. “We pledge to improve our services and care to the animals. “We are shocked because we select our tenants carefully and we have over 100 years of combined experience between all our nine tenants,” explained Ng.
The SPCA appeals to other buyers of similarly sick puppies to make statements or to report cases of animal abuse in pet shops by calling 03-4256 5312.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Another Birthday Dinner

End of August coming, and the celebration keep coming as in previous years. Had dinner with Peggy, Ai Leng and Bee Chuan. Due to Peggy's schedule and with the kids around, we are also celebrating Ai Leng's birthday too. However, Peggy bought us dinner at Zen, Sunway Pyramid. Ai Leng and Peggy bought me a Salt Crystal Lamp. And Peggy and I gave "ang pow" to Ai Leng to buy a chair for her computer table.
Danga Bay Special Drink
I ordered my food and 100 Plus. I told this waitress who took our order that please get me a non-cold one.A few minutes later, a waiter came back with our drinks. I was given a can of 100 Plus with a glass of ice. I touched the can and realized that it was cold, so I told him, I told that girl who took our order that I do not want a cold one. He then took it away.
Few minutes later, he returned. I touch my can and wanted to open it, and suddenly i felt that the can is very hot. I touched again, yes it was hot. I was confused for a second, and I asked my friend to touch. He too confirmed it was hot! It is as though this guy has put this on top of the fire and make it hot! The manager was walking around, so I waved at him and then I told him the situation. I think he was surprised and then even more shocked when he took the can away as he has to let go because of the heat. Bet that waiter must have got scolding.
Sitting there, I wonder, should I laugh or ??? Boiled 100 Plus aka Danga Bay Special, anybody???
Come to think of it, that guy wants to make it to above boiling point of 100 plus degree fahrenheit.
