28 February 2011

Today we had an appointment at Pantai Cheras Hospital near Kuala Lumpur for Linda's maternity check. After having both our previous children born at Putrajaya Hospital, we decided to try someplace new. Don't get me wrong, Putrajaya was excellent for a government hospital. It's just Pantai Hospital is better. Last time Adam was admitted at Pantai Hospital Bangsar, we received preferential treatment from the doctors, nurses and staff there. The place was great and the food was outstanding. We thought we wanted to have that same hospitality nearer to home in Cheras.

After waiting for over an hour for the Guarantee Letter to be ready, we finally get to see the obstetrician for Linda. He did a very thorough check on my wife and set the dates for our fortnightly appointment. If everything goes well, we shall welcome our second daughter on the 17th of May this year. What's more, she will be born in the same city as I am. Can't hardly wait.

26 February 2011

This morning Adam followed his grandma to her school to witness a chess competition. He didn't actually took part in the competition, just attending as a spectator. A couple of school in the Petaling district took part in the competition including his own school. When one of the contestant didn't make it, my Mom decided to enter Adam into the competition.

Now Adam did played chess before, a couple of time with me at home but he loses every time. His lifetime playing experience was like 12 times with all losses. So when my Mom talked Adam into playing chess there it was like throwing him into a lion's den. First game he lost. Still okay. But when he the second time, he got so frustrated and sad, he cried there and then. I had to rush to the school and drag him into the car crying and wailing. I know my Mom meant well but Adam is absolutely not ready for any competition, at least not right now. Who knows he might be future world champion but at the moment, he needs practice, lots of it.

24 February 2011

3 weeks ago my beautiful and expensive Apple keyboard decided to pawn me and suddenly stopped working. I have no idea what happened. It was working fine one day and the next day when I came home from work it just stopped responding.

Since it's still under warranty, I sent the keyboard to an authorized Apple Service Center at Machines, The Gardens Mid Valley. The first week I called to ask for my keyboard and the service technician said something about me spilling water on that thing of which I vehemently denied. My wife can testify how well I handled the keyboard at home. Didn't even let my kids touch it. Then they said they're going to do more checks but I didn't hear from them until 2 weeks later when I myself took the initiative to call them again. This time they said they're waiting for the replacement parts which should arrive this week. By then I was clearly unhappy with their snail-paced service so I gave them a few good word for their incompetence. Only after that they called and emailed me to apologize. Yesterday I got a call from them saying my brand new keyboard is ready. Yes, Apple decided to replace my broken keyboard with a new one. So yesterday evening I went to The Gardens to pick up my shiny new keyboard. Moral of the story: Machines sucks, Apple is cool and keep the receipts for all your purchases.

This keyboard is so good, I can't bring myself to use any other types of keyboard anymore. So now only I can resume all my long delayed home works and assignments.

19 February 2011

You can say I'm pretty much a regular customer at R.S Auto in Puchong, a Proton Savvy/Renault specialist workshop. In fact I have put up a glowing review of this workshop on my blog which provided direction and answers to numerous Proton Savvy owners around the country whose having problems with their ride.

I send my car for regular service there every time and this year alone I went there twice already. The last time to change my brake pads which costs RM110.00 a set. Yeah they still charge a reasonable price for their labor and parts. It's only that their service had gone from friendly to indifference. I went there bright and early in the morning, around 10:00 AM when the place has just opened. No one else was there yet, I'm the only customer and yet they don't even cared to say hi or greet me, their returning and paying customer. Mr. Ho, the head mechanic doesn't give a hoot about you anymore. Most of the time he'll past all the work to his crews. I wonder if he does anything at all.

If I had it my way, I would like to take my car elsewhere to somebody who cares or at least give some semblance of courtesy. The only thing stopping me from visiting some generic Proton workshop is their exorbitant fees. Perhaps R.S Auto has got so successful, they've drown in their glory. R.S Auto sucks. The place is filthy and the service is dreadful. I'm not recommending this place to anyone again.

8 February 2011

There are 3 barbers/saloon to choose from for guys if you live in Taman Puncak Jalil. There's NS Hair Saloon and ShanM barber shop both located just next to MyMydin and Firzana restaurant. NS Hair Saloon is a one man show run by a mamak (presumably) and ShanM is run by a two man show. Since I moved here I've been going to NS Hair Saloon to get my hair shaved. For 10 ringgit he will shave my head clean with a razor blade and I get some free head and back massage from the man after every cut.

Today though there was a queue (like 2 people waiting) at NS so I decided to try ShanM instead next door. So he proceeded to shave my hair with what looks like a used razor blade, something I only noticed halfway through the job. When he's done I get no free back message but instead I get a few cuts on top of my head from his clumsy workmanship. To further add insult to my injury, he charged me 12 ringgit for his lousy job. Needless to say I have no intention of going back there ever again. Pray I don't get HIV or something horrible.

The other barber shop in Taman Puncak Jalil is run by a Malay dude named Rahman. Unfortunately I never get to try his service because he seemed to be missing all the time whenever I visit despite the sign showing OPEN. Maybe he's shy of me or something.

5 February 2011

If you didn't leave planet earth last week you should heard the big news/drama where Liverpool former number 9 Fernando 'El Nino' Torres handed a transfer request for a move to Chelsea, yes of all clubs. Things had been great for the Reds with Kenny Dalglish taking over from Woy earlier last month and completely transformed Liverpool from a mid-table team to a 4 games wining streak teams gunning for top 4 finish in just 3 days. What's more with the owners showing intent with the capture of Luis Suarez from Ajax, everybody thought good times are ahead for the club. And the Chelsea offered a bid for Torres which the club rejected only for the player himself writing a transfer request.

The rest as you know is history. Chelsea completed a £50 million transfer dateline day capture of Torres while Liverpool managed to sneak in Andy Caroll from Newcastle for a club record of £35 million. So we lost one potentially unhappy and under-performing 27 year old striker for 2 young and exciting strikers. Not a bad piece of business at all. Already so-called Liverpool fans were tearing and burning Torres' jersey outside the club while the former hero turned villain defending his move to a rival club saying he cannot wait anymore at Liverpool to fulfill his ambition of winning trophies at 'big club' like Chelsea. Tonight though it was his destiny to show a meek display at his club debut against Liverpool and subbed after 65 minutes without a single attempt on goal. 3 minutes later £11 million Raul Meireles scored the winner making it 4 in a row for the real big club to move up to sixth in the table for a fighting chance for Champions League qualification. Perhaps Fernando Torres can go home tonight content and count his money but 10, 20 years from now he will definitely regret turning his back to the club and fans who had supported him through thick and thin, bounced with joy when he performed and defended him to the hilt when he didn't. He who betrays will walk alone.

3 February 2011

Since I have a rather limited annual leave at work, I have to make the most of these back to back public holidays. Today for example we went to Manjung in Perak to visit my sister in law and their new home. I thought being Chinese New Year day, the roads and highways should be clear of vehicle since yesterday was supposed to be the rush hour. Wrong. Apparently everybody took the opportunity to go sightseeing and everything today. The (paid) highway was jammed from Tanjung Malim all the way to Bidor where we exited. Should have taken the free trunk road instead.

Anyway, Linda's sister moved into their new terrace home late last year. It only costs 140,000 ringgit in Manjung, a price that would be impossible to find here in the Klang Valley. On top of that she spent 14K renovating the house not including furniture and everything. In a way, government civil servants are so lucky because banks are more than willing to give out loans to them. It doesn't matter if you're a gardener or headmaster. Of course after spending so much, the house looked really beautiful inside out. Wish we could have that much money to spend (or borrow).