Mizzdrey's 2 Cents Worth

Adventure in Singapore

2011-01-02T02:19:00.000+08:00

It had been such a long time since we last went to Singapore....alright...not exactly a long time...I think the last time was in March 2009. This time both sun and I decided to make a quick trip down to Singapore to pay a visit to our cousin Ling Ling, and our friend Prichelle (who had been bugging us to visit her since we knew her in Aug)

Since it was such a last minute thing, we were contemplating how to get there to Singapore. In the end, we decided to go by coach and fly back with Tiger. It was RM72 for the coach and RM115 for the one way trip back.

Earlier that week, I have already booked and collected the tickets from the Super Nice express bus stand below the IMBI monorail bridge across Times Square. It was our first time taking a coach to Singapore. Even though the tickets were a little bit pricey, the recent accidents involving long distance buses cause us to decide that we would rather pay more and go with a reputable company than to save money and risk our safety.

http://www.supernice.com.my

The office is behind the 7-11, you will need to check in there before boarding

See? Its Super Nice!!

So, why Royal VIP you ask me? First, the timing...we didn't want to reach SG too late and we decided to leave only after the service where we can only reach Times Square at tops at 2pm.
Secondly, the website promotes that you get to enjoy a personal entertainment system if you board the Royal VIP bus.

Now heres the "personal entertainment system" for you! Pfffttt...

To sum up our Royal VIP coach experience.

1st Day of HCG, Home made sandwiches thanks to Miao!

Bus arrived at 1530, left Times Square 1545

Personal Entertainment System where you have to read the subtitles/lips to know

what the actors are saying, songs that I don't think even my parents listen to anymore

and games? what games?

Stop at Yong Peng for dinner - 1830

No...there was no dinner provided on the bus...wait...i think they did give

us one 500ml bottle of water, but thats not food..

Finally we reached the checkpoint at 2100.

I think Prichelle almost tried to kill me when I told her that we were still at the customs (somehow my sms to her indicated that we had already cleared the customs and are already on the island) Thank goodness Harry was there accompanying her at the bus terminal.

Had to find fatty food....

Having done her homework, Prichelle brought us to this little Taiwanese shop (Lai Lai Casual Dining) that sells really good beef noodles! We also ordered pig intestines =D yummy yummy...

After the scrumptious supper, Harry went back while our gracious host (knowing that we only have so little time in Singapore) took us to Orchard Road which is famous for its Christmas decor.

We can now tell our boss that we went to TCC when we were in Singapore!

Macam mana pergi? Jalan Kaki lar!

True...its was already late at night and no one was there...hey...but we don't usually get the chance to do this!

A half drunk man saw this....

And offered to use Prichelle's Polaroid camera to take a photo for us....

Thank God we had the discretion not to let him use the Polaroid...so he took this instead...

The next day we went from here....

Our cousin's office

To here....

Trust an artistic person to bring us to Arab Street, the entire street of flea market in

colonial buildings. Where someone will ask you to have a puff of Sisha every 500m

Interesting home made ice creams - Tiger Beer, Squid Ink and

last but not least...durian! mao shan wong （猫山王）

P : Come come...lets go in and take photos

A : Eh...u sure can ar? The toy shop uncle is like not very happy leh...

P : Can wan....I always do that!

As we were leaving to head to our next destination, the shop owner refused to let us go, insisting that we pay a visit to the toy museum upstairs. Finally, we gave in and purchased the tickets for the museum

We were the only people in the toy museum, it was a little place, but we did spend quite some time there looking at every single piece of toys...some brought us down memory lane. Most of them obviously was not from our era...nevertheless, I thought the S$2 was worth every cent.

I have this at home too! My parent's wedding present! lol!

Dinner was at a Swedish restaurant Fika...where they sell the funniest drinks....

Honest-tea is the best policy...hehe...geddit?

After the hearty dinner, off to Clark Quay we went =)

Phew....another day gone by...too little time spent...didn't even have time to warm the seats of any of those chill out places there....

Singapore...I'll be back...

Birth of a dream

2010-07-08T00:15:00.001+08:00

Who is going to pay the bills? Who is going to pay for Lynn's piano
lessons and Lenard's books? Who is going to pay for her tuition fees
when she starts going to college? She had been working at McDonalds as
a cashier during the holidays. She had planned to save up for a new
SLR camera, it looks like there will be some other plans for the
money. These thoughts were running through her mind as she sat in the
backseat and her mother broke the devastating news to her.

Lucy's dad had just been fired from his job only a week before
Christmas. He was dismissed because of company politics, due to a
personal vendetta held against him by the general manager. Her father
was the main breadwinner of the family. How would Christmas be like
this year, what would her dad say when nosy relatives start asking
about his job? How can they celebrate Christmas knowing that there
will be no more money coming in for a while?

Her mum, tried to be optimistic and assured Lucy that God is their
provider and would take care of all their needs. Her dad also tried to
lighten the atmosphere by saying that it was a blessing in disguise as
he didn't have to take nonsense from his boss anymore.

With hot tears burning in her eyes, Lucy went straight into her room.
She was confident that eventually God will take care of their needs
and that financially, although everything seemed bleak, it will take a
turn somehow. What she couldn't accept is why it always seems like
evil people are always having the last laugh.

As she cried out to her father in heaven, her heart broken. She picked
up her bible resting on the bookshelf next to her bed, a verse crossed
her heart, a verse from a well known story in the bible- the story of
Job. The first sentence that God spoke: "Who is this that darkens my
counsel with words without knowledge?"

A cocktail of emotions stirred in Lucy. Lucy knew that she was in no
position to blame God. Her sadness slowly turned into anger. No, she
will not allow this incident to press her down and to keep her from
loving God. Her anger channeled towards the situation. She grabbed the
phone and called her best friend, she told him the whole story and
made a promise. A promise that she would graduate as the top student
in her class and that she would only work for 10 years to learn the
tricks of the trade. After that she would venture out on her own never
to work under employment and would give to Christian organizations
that change lives.

Lucy's first step towards her destiny had just started.
It is only her first step of many more to come, there will be
mountains that will come in her way whether she reaches her
destination or not we do not know, only time will tell.

I remember writing & posting this on a private group forum among my close friends

Date : 4th March 2007

Back to Blogging?

2010-06-28T00:45:00.000+08:00

Its been 4 months since I last blogged.

Many interesting events had took place since then.

I changed my job.

Invested in a new company.

Became an assistant carecell pastor.

Fell in love all over again with life.

Life is interesting isn't it?

Sungai Chongkak - Federal Territories day

2010-02-02T10:41:00.000+08:00

Its been a long time since I last went to a waterfall.

The last time I went was perhaps with GG3PG to Sg Chongkak as well. I must say that I miss those times.

This was a good break for me...out from the normal routine. Well, its a new season for me personally too =) I can't ask for a better outing than this to break out into the new season!

In the morning, Sam took us to "the best fish head noodles" in Serdang. This happens to be one of my favourite chinese dish and I tend to be quite particular about it.

With Tony & Jeslyn in my car, we met up with Sam, his parents, Tim, Kenneth & Jamie for breakfast.

Nice fish head noodles - This one from Serdang

This fish head noodle was quite good, tastes like the one I really love in Taman Desa (we later found out that they are actually from the same branch)

It took us about 45 mins to reach Sungai Chongkak in Kajang. Surprisingly the crowd wasn't as big as we expected.

Sam in his full attire

Fancy staying in a "resort" here?

Lets get it started!

The first thing we did was....to get wet and wild!!

Sam took out his home made "water guns" and started to attack each of us.

We came well prepared. Sam and his family took care of the food there...which was one of THE MOST IMPORTANT thing!

We were well fed alright.

Play

Eat

Play

Eat

Well, that technically sums up what we did for almost 4 hours there.

Of course, we also went back to the days when our ancestors didn't have burger patties to cook and had to catch their own food.

I must say...based on our catch and the number of people in our group, we would have starved to death a long time ago....

In the end we only caught a few shrimps and some small fishes, good enough to feed the fishes in Uncle's (Sam's dad) fish pond.

In the end we decided....Forget about fishing!! Lets just relax....enjoy the natural jacuzzi

We packed up around 5pm and adjourned to Sate Kajang (Haji Samuri) for our dinner. (Yes...eat again)

Sad to say, the facilities in Sungai Chongkak is quite run down.

All in all, the best thing about this whole outing is the company and the experience.

Response of Senior Pastor Rev. Ong Sek Liang from Metro Tabernacle Church in regards to the church arson

2010-01-09T14:17:00.000+08:00

In the wee hours yesterday, tragedy struck our beloved country Malaysia. Our prime minister Najib's vision of 1Malaysia looks like it was going down the drain.

3 churches in Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur & Selangor) were attacked with Molotov cocktail bombs. "Besides the Assumption Church, the Life Chapel, also in Petaling Jaya, and the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati, Kuala Lumpur, were fire-bombed.

Only the molotov cocktail hurled at the Metro Tabernacle Church exploded, sparking a fire."

Its hard to believe that this happened in my country.

Many people have expressed their opinions over this cowardly act. I stumbled upon this blog by a muslim rallying people to raise funds for Metro Tabernacle Church.

This is Ps Ong Sek Liang's response to the incident.

All Malaysians should approach this incident in an objective manner and not do or say things rashly.

People...use your brains!

Best of Dree

2010-01-07T00:37:00.004+08:00

Heres a list of a few of my personal favourite posts

Dree's version of chicken soup for a Christian soul

Wealth and Riches

Friends

Travel

Others

A rude awakening

2010-01-06T07:23:00.000+08:00

Mum woke us up early today.

The house directly across our home had just been broken into.

We got up to flashing red & blue lights.

I was rudely jolted to my senses. This neighborhood that I am living in is not safe.

Without going into too much detail, the robbers took everything they could and when our neighbours didn't have money, the robbers demanded for passports.

There are really desperate people out there...

Everyone who is reading this post...please be vigilant and be very careful.

Absolutely hate this when it happens to someone I know.

First step to wealth creation

2010-01-05T08:13:00.002+08:00

I believe that it is God's will for us to live in abundance in prosperity.

Picked up a book "How to prosper in hard times" at Borders yesterday.

To be rich or not to be...its all in the mind....

On the first page, a poem by Christian D. Larson.

The following version, without the title "The Optimist Creed," is quoted from Science of Mind 71 (June 1998)

Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.

To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

The first step...its all in the mind...

Read... "Think and grow rich" by Napolean Hill. Great stuff.

Its not easy to become rich...its not that difficult either. =D

Have a wonderful day today people!!

Hello 2010!!!

2010-01-04T01:46:00.001+08:00

Hey People!! Happy New Year!!!

my last camwhoring photo of 2009. Relax. I am usually a responsible driver...hehe....

Woo hoo!! My first blog post in 2010!!

Spent my last moments of 2009 doing this....

Tim would have loved the PS3...

Instead of joining the New Year's eve crowd at the malls and restaurants, we decided to have a little pot luck...

Kee's Potato Salad

(holding camera, recording) Dree : "Alright...here we have Kee's Egg salad..."

Kee : "Its potato salad lar ..."

Dree: "Cannot see any potatoes wan...only eggs.."

Kee : "Its all under the egg larh...doink*"

Li-Anne's Fried Chicken

Dree : "Li-Anne...you cooked this?"

L-A (sheepishly...) : "Erm...I helped to marinate the chicken lar...then my maid cooked..hehe..."

Tara & Nicolas' Pizza

Tara : "Ohh....you all cooked such nice food...feel so pai seh"

Janet & Shi's Oh so famous...choc fondue

Chop chop chop the banana skin

**evil grin**

Sun who couldn't join us for the countdown did her part of contribution by giving me (the kitchen noob) specific instructions on preparing Dad's pork rib ginseng soup. It turned out to be alright =)

The real reason why Sun & Tim are not here...muahahhaha...*evil evil laughter*

I didn't manage to take photos of the other food that came a bit later...hehe...too busy guzzling the food by then...we were super hungry already.. There was also KFC, chips and ice cream.

Personally I prefer celebrating New Year's Day this way, with friends and family. It might not be glamorous or even cool, but at least....No squishing with the crowd and risk being "accidentally" touched by strangers.

2009 had been an awesome year for me...I've learnt so much for the past year and grew (not only my love handles =P) so much as a person.

Looking forward to 2010...I hope I still get to update this blog as often. Just checked my Nuffnang account. I now have RM28++ I'm sure I get to cash out before the end of 2010...

Once again....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

*No Siblings were hurt during the making of the soup...Sun & Tim are still alive & healthy*

Facebook & Twitter - The good, the bad and the ugly

2009-12-30T03:08:00.001+08:00

Now before I proceed, I need to clarify that I am by no means a social media expert. I'm merely stating my own personal views on facebook and twitter.

I might not come across to many people as a geek and sometimes I am such a noob at tech that my sister laughs her head off at me when I ask her the stupidest questions about my laptop. Nevertheless, I am no stranger to social networking. *surprise surprise...*

A little more than a decade ago, when I was in my 2nd year in high school (yes...now u know how 'old' I am) I was first introduced to the internet. My friends and I will hang out in cyber café for a couple of hours (at that time, it was RM10/hr...no joke man!!) after school. The "in" thing back then wasn't gaming, for us, it was mIRC. Being exposed to the border less world at such a tender age, I must admit, there were several interesting encounters back then.

In between, there was ICQ, Friendster, a little blogging craze...but then very recently I was introduced to Facebook & Twitter.

all too familiar "Fail Whale" for Twitter junkies

For those of you who want more of the fail whale check out - 50+ really cool fail whales

Logging on to FB & Twitter had became an almost daily affair. I think that FB & Twitter had became somewhat a double edged sword.

Back when I was naive and stupid, the internet wasn't such a dangerous place (I'm still naive and stupid...but at a much lesser degree now..)

GOOD
- You get to reconnect with old old friends that you never thought you'll meet again
Remember those times when you thought you'll never see your best friend in kindy - ah lian again, lo and behold...she pops up in your suggested friends in your facebook homepage. Then you find out that now that she is actually your boss' cousin.
Before that High School reunion, you can surf facebook first to check out that latest happenings in your friend's lives. Viola! You'll be the soul of the party because you seem to know what to talk about to everyone!

- Vast platform for business networking & marketing
Facebook recorded their 200 millionth active user on April 8th 2009, Twitter has more than 13 million users as of 20th April 2009. I'm sure the number of users will have increased since then. These social networks are growing at an alarming rate. This is a huge audience for a business. Most business small or big are no longer strangers to the word "Social media marketing". Its seen at the next gold rush.

BAD
-Countless of productive hours down the drain
As much as Facebook & Twitter is great for catching up and networking, most of the time is spent browsing through from friend to friend, "liking" other people's status, reading someone else's Tweet, looking up the link you friend RT-ed. To one a undisciplined as I am...these 'sideline' activities can very counter productive. I think many companies realise this and have to resort to blocking FB or Twitter during working hours.

-Freedom of speech & expression might get you into trouble
The question on top of my Twitter homepage used to be "What are you doing?" when I first joined. Its now "What is happening?".
Many people don't filter through what they post on their FB status or Twitter and end up getting into trouble. Like this teenage girl who was sacked after moaning on facebook about her totally boring job. Another case is this woman whose insurance company cut her benefits because she posted photos of herself smiling on facebook. Apparently 8% of US companies had sacked social media miscreants. Its only a matter of time the companies here in MY catch up. No prizes guessing why my HR director is on FB.

Young people nowadays are carelessly posting updates on their FB & Twitter, now is that a wise thing to do?Hhhmmmm....I always believe that nothing you post on the internet ever disappears...so there...

UGLY
Cyber Bullying
A friend of mine became a victim of a cyber bully when his Facebook account was hacked into and false statements were made in his name. However, this is already considered mild as compared to the situations that some of the victims face day in and day out. In the internet's always-on playground, schoolyard harassment can turn deadly.
I read in Reader's Digest Asia May 08 issue about Ryan Halligan who was taunted for months when his classmates spread rumours via IM that the 13 year old boy was gay. A popular girl then pretended to like him and chatted to him online only to copy their exchanges to her friends. Unable to cope, he eventually killed himself. Adolescence is fragile.

There you go...the good, the bad & the ugly.

I'm still using Facebook & Twitter though =) Tell me what you think, agree? disagree?

Book Review - The Shark and The Goldfish - Jon Gordon

2009-12-19T00:27:00.000+08:00

Went to watch Avatar with Nicki, Sun, Liang Xin, Cheryl & Eugene last night.

Reached 1 Utama fairly early and headed straight to my favourite hangout place (esp. when I have a lot of time to spare) - MPH bookstore.

I headed straight to the business section and started picking books randomly off the shelf when one particular book caught my eye.

The Shark & the Goldfish? In the business section?

I flipped through the book and read it from the beginning and didn't stop until I reached the last page.

The most basic principle of entrepreneurship taught through talking marine creatures.

In a nutshell, the whole book is about this goldfish who had been fed all his life suddenly finds himself being washed into the great big ocean. He befriends a friendly shark who teaches him how to survive the great ocean.

I was slightly amused to find illustrations like this...

Reminds me of my mum's kindergarten teaching aids.

The goldfish then jots down all the important principles on shells like this:

In the end, the goldfish was so inspired by the Shark that he decided to open a school to teach the other marine creatures how to live like a Shark

Jon Gordon even has a website for The Shark and The Goldfish where you can actually download all these posters, print them and use them as motivational posters.

It was a quick read, but without a doubt, in my current situation this book spoke to me.

The source of my strength

2009-12-16T02:31:00.000+08:00

The reflection of Mt Kinabalu in the clouds

"You know how bad I want this, to reach the top, I've failed once...I don't want to fail again. You are God, you know my physical limitations, you know what it takes for me to be able to reach the top, in your own special way, let it be done!"

Huffing and puffing, I almost turned back.

Then he showed up, a stranger, a guide.

He held my hand throughout the journey and let me rest to take in deep breaths every few steps.

"I want to reach the top in time to see the sunrise" I said gazing up at the never ending rock face.

"Don't worry" he said. "I will let you know if you are too slow, now lets go..."

I finally reached Low's Peak on my 2nd attempt.

Every time I feel that the road is too steep, when the journey to reach my destination seems like a never ending rock face.

I hear this still voice within me saying

"Just like that mountain you conquered, you will conquer this one. I know how much stress your physical body can take, I know who to send to guide you. Don't worry, I know where you want to go, lets go!"

For the love of backpacking

2009-12-11T15:07:00.004+08:00

Its been a while since I went backpacking. The last time I went with my friend last year to Bangkok & Chiang Mai .

It was an interesting experience especially taking the night train to cross the MY-TH border

I even did a write up on what to look out for in Bangkok

Why I think you should go backpacking?

1. You are in control
- Unlike tour packages where you pay a lump sum & the agent plans everything out for you, you get to choose where and what time you go

2. You save a lot
- Our 8 days backpacking trip across KL-Bangkok-Chiang Mai-KL only cost me less than RM1000 (incl. transportation - we technically traveled by land,sea & air)
- You can save if your trip is well planned

3. You get to meet the locals & also interesting people
- If you go with an open mind to learn, its amazing how many interesting people you can meet during your travels.
- Of course, you need to exercise wisdom and not be too naive to disclose too much of yourself when talking to strangers

Got to know Olivier during our mountain hiking trip at Chiang Mai

He is French living in Paris and travels often to this part of the world

Olivier dropped by MY around November last year and we being the nice hosts took him for a road trip

where my dear friend Nicki nicely documented the whole road trip to Perak

part1 part2 part3 part4

wah...this girl is super "cheong hei" 4 blog posts dedicated to 1 road trip

Olivier has several studio apartments in Paris out for rent

Last he told me he got an apartment in Bangkok also to be rented out soon,
I asked him to update his website and who knows?
If the price is good I might consider renting it while I am in Bangkok

Bangkok - Sawasdee Smile Inn : its only RM40/nite

Chiang Mai - Ben's Guest House & Restaurant. Bigger Rooms, homely and cheaper than Bangkok

Ahh...yes...it can be stressful to perfectionists...but hey...just take it easy, its a vacation...

For some reason, backpacking seems to be more of a western culture than an Asian one, nevertheless, I see more and more Asians picking up the backpack esp. the younger ones.

Heres a list I dug of from a pile of newspaper cuttings I kept for some time, I'm sure it'll be of good use to all of you who are first time back packers as a guide on what to pack.

(taken from The Star weekender - 8/9/2007)
Packing list
Travelling light is the way to go when backpacking, but for hostel living, these are the essentials

1. Earplugs
With 5 people sleeping in your hostel dorm room, there's a pretty good chance one of them snores. An earplug is heaven-sent whenyour roommate is making enough noise to wake the dead

2. Post-it notes and a marker
Put your name on food containers you leave in the fridge. It's also useful to leave notes for your roommates or reminders for yourself

3. Padlocks
Have plenty of padlocks in different sizes for your locker and backpack just in case one of your roommates is looking for creative ways to extend his trip. Be sure to lock even the empty pockets because you don't want somebody putting stuff in your bag as a joke when you are not looking, that can prove to be a nasty surprise at the next border.

4. Flip flops
If you don't want to walk away with feet fungus, slip onto slippers before treading on questionable surfaces

5. Fast drying towel
Last thing you want to do is to pack a wet towel in your backpack. A small hand-towel will also do the job...provided you shake off the excess water first

6. Sleeping sack
This is simply a sleeping bag made out of sheets. Simply take an old queen-sized sheet, fold it in half and sew the edges. Some hostels do not allow conventional sleeping bags because bugs and ticks can penetrate the seams and when you unroll them unto your bunk indoors, they can become a health hazard

7. Flash light
If you don't want to be that person who turns on all the lights and wakes everyone up at 5am because he has a morning train to catch and can't find his toothbrush, bring a torch. Better still, if you plan to leave before sunrise pack your bag at night.

My friend Han Fong does loads of backpacking too...this guy once backpacked trans siberia from China to Rusia. His blog is in chinese though.

Hope this post helped you gain some insight to what backpacking is all about

Cheers~

When a loved one dies

2009-12-09T00:03:00.000+08:00

There are times when words don't mean a thing....

I wrote this blog post few months back when a family member of a friend died.

Today, this issue hit too close to home when I heard news that one friend had succumbed to depression after his uncle's death while I personally witnessed someone overwhelmed by grief of a close family member.

When a person dies, the people whom we should look after are the living.

I never knew how to comfort a bereaved friend.

All I know is that they need all the support that they can get from people around them.

During lunch, I was talking with a couple of guys discussing about the friend who was depressed and they said something like this

"We'll bring him to Thailand, and all his depression & worries will go away..."

Well...personally I think its not such a bad idea...to take his mind off things, but if he isn't finished dealing with his feelings within, he can be all hyped up with the troubles far far away, only to come back after the holidays and be smacked with reality once again.

I found this website about coping with grief.

Once you have dealt with yourself inside...then its time to move on.

Email Scams & other illegal money dealings in Malaysia

2009-12-07T23:23:00.000+08:00

I really don't understand these people....

Now will you reply when you see an email like this?

Sad right...

Unfortunately, in Malaysia the law is not really standing in favour of us internet users when it comes to online scams.

Picked up a brochure at Bank Negara today talking about illegal money dealings in Malaysia

It talked about what a get-rich-quick scheme is, how to spot these scams, how to protect yourself from these scams and what to do if you are a victim of such scams.

One thing which caught my attention was a warning towards internet investment schemes

Members of the public are cautioned to be on guard against some investment schemes promoted on the internet as these schemes are not licensed or authorised by Bank Negara Malaysia to accept deposits or deal in foreign currency. Such schemes often come in the guise of attractive investment returns or opportunities involving unrealistic rates of returns with zero to low risk.

Investors are reminded that they should only place deposits with institutions licensed or deal in foreign currency with institutions authorised by the Bank. Unlicensed operators may cease operating their business resulting in the investors with no means to recover their investments or seek redress against the persons connected to the scheme

So remember people :

1. If its too good to be true, it probably isn't

2. Deal only with licensed financial insitutions & authorised dealer. Make it your responsibility to find out!

3. Check with the relevant authorities before investing

4. Don't, never rush to invest! (heck! Its your hard earned money! You have every right to do whatever you want with it)

5. Be extra careful with investments on the internet

6. Be skeptical of any investment opportunity which is not in writing

7. In case an investment had been made, keep copies of the investment (s) & communication (s)

In support of financial freedom and not letting our hard earned cash fall into the hands of crooks

I am graduating soon....what now?

2009-12-05T23:19:00.002+08:00

I love talking to final year students in Universities.

You get a variety of answers when you ask them
"So....what do you plan to do after you graduate?"

You mean work?

Some have a definite answer on where to go, some have a vague picture of which sector they which to spend the rest of their lives working on. Some are just clueless and are just relying on their parents or relatives to suggest the best place to find a job.

My friend Mao was just sharing with us which are Malaysia's 100 leading graduate employers

The sector winners are as follows :
Accounting & Professional Services
- PricewaterhouseCoopers

Consulting
- Accenture Malaysia

Banking & Financial Services
- CIMB group

Leisure, Travel & Hospitality
- Hilton Kuala Lumpur

Energy & Utilities
- Shell Malaysia Bhd.

FMCG & Retail
- L'Oreal (M) Sdn. Bhd.

ICT
- IBM Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.

Insurance
- Great Eastern Life Assurance (M) Bhd.

Property & Development
- Sime Darby Bhd.

Telecommunications
- Maxis Communications Bhd.

This research was conducted by GTI media.

I find that its a good list for graduates or soon to be professionals to get to know a few more big players of the industry of your choice.

Now I don't believe in being a wage slave forever.

However, in my opinion, working a few years in an international company can give one who is willing to learn a lot of business insights, best practices etc. Not to mention a fair portion of office politic drama.

All the best to all the graduates, soon to be graduates out there.

You can download the magazine and read up on the companies from the icon below.

Working at Mutiara Damansara - Where to eat?

2009-12-01T07:46:00.000+08:00

When the office first shifted over to Surian Towers (next to eCurve a.k.a.Cineleisure), being a typical Malaysian, our first reaction was...food is gonna be expansive here....

Gone were the days of eating mixed rice at coffee shops along the road.

With Cineleisure, The Curve, Ikano, Ikea, Tesco all within walking distance, there are so many choices, yet...so few worth going to.

Heres some of my personal opinion about the lunch munch around that area

Places to get over priced hawker food :
- Little Penang Cafe (The Curve)
- Kluang Cafe (Ikano)
- Lan Kwai Fong (The Curve)

Hong Kong food (reasonable pricing)
- Kim Gary (The Curve)

Our favourite place to go for lunch, where you can get cheap (around RM5) & nice (not awesome...but hey...its lunch @ work) food
- Food court at the LG floor of IKEA - mixed rice, chicken rice, Jap food, Vegetarian mixed rice, Nonya Food there

I'm sure you'll want to know more about these places, perhaps one day I'll arm myself with a camera & snap some pics of the food.

BTW....Dree is Coke Free for 30 days!!! yay!!!
Beginning my Coke fast

Book sales at Amcorp Mall!!(and also some real cheap 'iphones'...)

2009-11-27T00:14:00.002+08:00

I'm so glad I have friends who love to invest in books.

At noon today,an SMS was received from Jeff (a fellow bookworm)

"Dear felow bok lovers, Big Bad Wolf bokfair at Amcorb (sic) Mal, 2day til 2nd Dec.Quality bok wif 90% marked down. D best bokfair I;ve ever been 2. Crowded"

We usually inform each other about various book warehouse sales around the city - Jeff, Yew Meng, Xiang Gin & I.

Will this bookfair be the same as the other warehouse sales we have been to?

Not quite convinced by Jeff's i-am-trying-2-squeese-d-whole-msg-into-1-sms notification so I posted the query on Facebook which thankfully Liang Xin replied

I was so excited that I rushed over to Amcorp Mall, PJ around 8pm.

The open air car park (which charges by the hour in the day, but its on RM2 from 7pm-7am ; on weekdays) was packed.

Previously working just a stones throw away from Amcorp Mall, I knew this phenomena wasn't normal and that something great (usually some really great sales) must be cooking up in that place.

I walked smack into a handphone & broadband fair right at the main doorway. Asked around and found out that they were selling copy iphones (apparently when I asked if they were made in China, the sales girl answered that it was made in Singapore not China) from RM299 (for a mini iphone lookalike version)

I couldn't find the bookfair that Jeff mentioned and called him, found out that it was located on the top floor same floor as McDonalds.

OH MY GOSH....

I'm gonna be brutally honest with you, I didn't know that there were that many people who actually read in Malaysia....

I was like a child in a candy store!!!!

I scampered from table to table, piled with books. We are not talking about just old books that the company was trying to throw out to reduce their working capital

There were John C Maxwells, Napoleon Hills...going for RM10, RM8...etc. Not just your normal 10%, 20% off.

I grabbed a box and piled my selection in...I spotted fellow book lover Yew Meng at the counter paying for his books...I pried myself away from the books and greeted him then went back to do my book hunting.

It was getting late and the queues got longer, I mean we are talking about almost having to wait behind 20 people. The shop attendants had to shout "We will still be here tomorrow, you can come back, we are going to close in a while"

I grabbed all of these
1. Business French (teach yourself - 3 audio CDs, 128pg audio transcripts & vocab booklet, 160-pg culture bk)

2. Knowledge and the wealth of nations - a story of economic discovery(David Warsh)
3. Starting a business from home (Colin Barrow)
4. Emergency - One man's story of a dangerous world and how to stay alive in it (Neil Strauss)

5. Bad Language - Words and phrases to avoid in business (Graham Edmonds)
6. The top 10 habits of millionaires - Transform your thinking and get rich (Keith Cameron Smith)

7. The gods that failed - how blind faith in markets have cost us our future (Larry Elliott & Dan Atkinson)
8. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (an owner's guide) (this is a gift for a friend)
9. If only they could speak - Understanding the powerful bond between dogs and their owners (Nicholas H.Dodman)

Apart from the last book (published in 2002) the rest were new books! (2007-2009)

Guess how much the bill came up to be?? RM100 only!!!
with the 1st Business French being the most expansive - RM30. The rest were RM8-RM12

Thank you BIG BAD WOLF SDN. BHD. for the Big Bad Wolf warehouse sale!!

Maximum tax deduction for books (for all the working folks out there in Malaysia, just in case you didn't know...) is RM1000.00...so for those of you who have not maximized your tax deductions yet...hop over to Amcorp Mall this very weekend!!

a tip to all who are planning to go...bring cash...the line was much shorter than the credit card line, perhaps it was only because I went near to close of business...

Dree is coke free for 26 days

Sunway Lagoon & celebrating a young lady

2009-11-25T00:33:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was a blast!!!

And yes...we celebrated this wonderful, awesome

young lady...

Right before we sent her off to prison for all the horrendous crimes that she had committed...

i.e making everyone "miao" at each other ; sticking weird velcro strips on her hair etc. etc.

Its been such a long time ago since I last went to Sunway Lagoon...I must admit....it was still fun!! I believe apart from the theme park...the company plays a bigger role in the reason why this whole outing was fun!

One significant improvement...instead of flimsy wax paper around the wrist

we now have a Sunway Lagoon 'watch' band as our All Park pass!!!

**note** this watch is not a real watch to tell time

We were blessed by Nicki who got free tickets for all 5 parks (Water park, Amusement park, Wildlife park, Extreme park & Scream park) which initially costs RM90. You get to go for single parks too...check out the Sunway Lagoon website here for the rates.

You can't bring in outside food & drinks and everything inside costs at least twice the price as it does outside the theme park.

Don't worry, there are drinking fountains situated all around the park.

We only got there around 12pm. It was quite crowded although it was a working Monday, it was already school holidays. I would describe the crowd as fairly crowded (i.e. having to queue for 15 mins for a ride)

Died after queuing up too long

We didn't get to enjoy all 5 theme parks, we simply had no time. We only had time for the Amusement park, Wet park & Extreme park.

We were lining up to get into the Scream park when we saw the group that went in before us wandering out the main door looking a bit blur and confused. The first thought that went through my mind was...OMG...something bad must have happened...did somebody hurt the "ghosts"??

Soon after a Caucasian man came out and apologised to the crowd...as the Scream park would be down for an hour because of a power cut.

Several rides at the Amusement park (the snake ride & buffalo ride, not sure about the name) was closed for maintenance. So we queued up and went for those that were opened.

After that we went on to the Wet park, which in my opinion was the one we enjoyed the most out of the 3. Furthermore....the best part is...you don't need to queue up!!!Well...unless you want to get on the rides...you can just sit in the pool and wait for the barrels of water to gush down on you!

The wait for the water rides were much shorter than the waiting at the Amusement park as well and boy...they were so worth the wait.

We had loads of fun...reminded me of my high school days when I was running around with a bunch of my girl friends taking photos in our swimsuits

By the time we decided to go onto the next park, it was already close to 4:30pm.

We decided to go for Extreme park instead of the Wildlife park. Which was a good choice...because I don't think I'll recommend Extreme park

Reason why...is...you need to pay extra for some of the nice stuff at Extreme Park like if you want to play G-Force, Go Kart, or Paint ball (tournament) you'll need to fork out another RM20 or so (depending on which activity you wish to go for)

The one activity that I totally liked about the Extreme park was the ATV (all terrain vehicle) ride...I found that it was just too short...

However, the young man who was handing out our safety equipment to us seemed a little grumpy and came across as a little rude at the beginning, maybe he had a long day

All the rides closed at 6pm, so we didn't get to go for the Flying Fox, which was a waste.

Finally we went to grab our stuff from our lockers (RM5/locker), took a quick shower and got ready for our dinner.

By that time we were already dragging our feet.

It was a full workout already! Walking here and there.

We still looked fresh though see...

One tip...if you want to redeem your Sunway Lagoon ticket-watch for a real watch for your little brother as a Christmas present (it usually costs RM39.90 at the souvenir shop), do so before 6pm.

All in all, the Wet Park is still one of the best (well...at least I can say out of the 3 parks that we visited) I still enjoy the slides where you have to come down in a tube and the one where you have to lie on your tummy and race down with your friends.

Have you been to Sunway Lagoon recently? Which park do you think is the best?

Dree is Coke free for 25 days

Chick Flick alert....Twilight....oh no...I have fallen...

2009-11-23T01:51:00.001+08:00

Gosh...I feel really embarrassed to say this, but I just watched Twilight on Star Movies a while ago.

Yes...gasp if you want to..

Since the New Moon premier is just around the corner, I had to catch Twilight before watching the second installment of the saga.

This has nothing to do with the fact that almost all of the young girls in youth are crazy about this saga and I was not curious about this movie. Just happened to stay on the Star Movie Channel after watching Sweet Home Alabama =)

I hate to admit this but I like chick flicks...

Yes...

Still...Hollywood keeps producing them because.....

**grins evilly**

Women are having greater buying power today and anything that tantalizes a woman's taste will sell like hotcakes!

It is no secret that educational growth, earning power and consequently the purchasing power of women had been on an upward trend.

Just out of curiousity, I googled "branding for men" and it came up with 6,980,000 results where hence "branding for women" got me 7,720,000 results

Interesting....you can decipher the results yourself

And yes...I want to watch New Moon =)...enjoy this banned trailer I found on youtube...

Are you looking forward to New Moon too?

had to recount how many days I fasted on Coke...now lets see...started on 29/11/09 that means...

Dree is Coke free for 24 days =P

Memories of Childhood...

2009-11-20T00:34:00.001+08:00

Last week it was the 40th anniversary of this Children's Television series....

Mum used to tape the series when we didn't catch them after kindergarten classes. That time we were still used the VCR...yes...these kind of tapes

I must admit that I do not recall every single episode...but I can remember the song clearly...

SUNNY DAY - THEME

Sunny day - Sweepin’ the clouds away,
On my way to where the air is sweet.
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street.

Come and play, everything’s A-OK
Friendly neighbors there that’s where we meet
Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street

It’s a magic carpet ride. Every door will open wide.
Happy people like you. Happy people who.

Like a beautiful sunny day sweepin’ the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame street, how to get to Sesame Street, How to get to . . .

Gosh...I learnt my ABC from this very show!!

Back when I was a kid, I was really fascinated by puppets and all...I loved this particular episode that mum recorded where Elton John was the guest star. We kept watching that episode over and over again...I guess mum & dad really loved Elton John's songs back then. It was one of our very early exposure to pop music when we were still kids.

I still can remember that was the first time we listened to Crocodile Rock, Yellow Brick Road, Bennie & the Jets & of course who could forget...Elton John's rendition of "Don't go breaking my heart" with Miss Piggy!

Enjoy the vids & songs!!

I still remember vividly thinking to myself when I was a kid towards the end

"poor things...they have to swallow all those feathers"

Dree is Coke free for 18 days

Naming God

2009-11-18T00:09:00.001+08:00

As much as His Sanctuary of Glory played a major role in forming my identity in Christ. I learnt a couple of valuable lessons during my Uni life as well.

It must have been few years back (I believe it was in 2005) when I joined a conference organised by SUFES by the name of National Conference.

I met many young people who loved God from all over Malaysia. These young people came from diverse Christian backgrounds as it was an interdenominational Christian camp.

I still remember the verse that Kim Cheng shared which I hold dear to my heart until today - Ezekiel 22:30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none."

You mean that ONE person could make a difference?

Call it wishful thinking, call me a builder of castles in the air. I truly believe that if ONE person can believe that he can make a difference, he can.

By the end of the camp, we were asked to give God a name. This was supposed to be personal as in - who God is to you? Or in my mind, I thought, if I were to call my Father in heaven a personal, nickname, what will it be?

I named God - the elephant

Lol...don't pelt me with stones yet. Being a Zoology student back then, I guess I tend to associate many people around me to animals based on their behaviour and nature.

They say that "Elephants never forget"

I believe that God will not hold us to our past sins

I believe that my God never forgets the promises that he made to me.

Dree is Coke free for 17 days

Mizz Drey's take on 2012

2009-11-17T00:24:00.002+08:00

Another end of the world disaster movie - 2012 one of the most talked about movie of the year.

Went to the 2012 premier screening by Nuffnang last week. Had to line up for 20 mins to deposit my handphone & camera at the counter. Fortunately after that Robb whisked me ahead of the long queue to get into the cinema.

The movie which was supposed to start at 9:30pm only started at around 10pm++ as there were many people who were still stuck at the queues.

Another disaster movie from the producer of Day after Tomorrow, Independence Day, Godzilla director Roland Emmerich

Personally, I thought there was not much to shout about for the storyline.What captured my attention was the special effects and all. A reviewer described the movie as "disaster porn" To me that just means being bombarded by tumbling buildings, sinking cities, crashing monuments over and over again.

Look at this......

this....

and this...

If you are looking forward for a good movie with a good story, this is not for you. If you are looking for action and great effects and love seeing things fall apart then you have to watch this in a cinema.

There is no good guy-bad guy roles in this movie, just a prediction of normal human reaction when disaster strikes home.

Love the Bentleys in the movie though....that was probably my favourite scene =)

Mizz Drey's rating : 3/5 (A must watch for action movie fans, only so-so for me...)

Dree is Coke free for 16 days

Every Blogger's Nightmare

2009-11-12T23:25:00.002+08:00

I must admit, when it comes to blogging, I am still learning so many things each day.

Recently, I did some major revamping on this blog.

I was so bored my blog's template that I decided to go skin hunting for my blog. I came across several good websites which provided free blogger templates and eventually I came across this website - http://www.bloggertricks.com/

Its a rather good website for Blogger users like me. At least a layman like me could understand his website clearly.

I changed my template beginning of this month (around 2nd or 3rd Nov). All went well, until the morning of 4th when I went to my view my blog and was absolutely horrified when I saw this!

OMG!!! What happened???!!

I couldn't believe my eyes!! I was wondering to myself...where did the problem come from?? Blogger? My PC? The original template? What the heck??Photobucket???

Then I realised that the problem was from the template.

I did a trackback to the website where I got this free template from.

I was in a relief that the webmaster had foreseen that this problem would happen and did a writeup on this find out How to save your blog now??

To cut a long story short...my blog is saved now =)

Dree is Coke free for 12 days

Thank you Nuffnang!!!

2009-11-12T02:49:00.002+08:00

Just got back from Nuffnang's premiere screening for 2012.

Its my first time ever winning something through my blog and man...it feels great!!

The movie was totally awesome!! I was practically at the edge of my seat!! I'll be doing my write up soon...but for now...

Just wanted to post a lil' Thank you speech to Nuffnang & Sony for the PS3 =)

Its my first "thank you" speech (eleh...as though I just received an Oscar like that...lol...) I'm sorry if I am such a noob at this...couldn't even hold the badge to fit into the web cam...and I keep saying "and"!! But you guys know my heart right? =D

Thanks so much again..for making my day!!

Cheers Nuffnang ~

Dree is Coke free for 12 days