apparently I got blacklisted.. for 10 bloody years. Imagine that. One decade.. out of 3.. one third of my life.. and they could not find me. Imagine that.

I tried to register myself for postpaid but the lady in the counter was kind to tell me that I have an outstanding balance with TM Touch, now celcom. TM Touch.. celcom. Those who know me, knows that I have been using my current number since eternity.. actually since 10 years ago. What a shock.

So I walked across to check with the celcom booth to see how much I owe.

guess..

ONE RINGGIT TWENTY CENTS ONLY!

Fantastic. Now i need to go to celcom office in KWSP building to settle this one dollar and twenty cents. RM1.20.

Now recalling back, there was once I have a 013 number and that is the cause. I canceled the line 10 years ago and I am not sure what happened that I missed this payment

some of you may say I am stupid to not pay RM1.20 and get myself into a lot of trouble now. Well let me tell you, if I had knew I owe them RM1.20, I would have paid. Seriously… RM1.20..

The Mr Jackyl in me wants to pay celcom RM1.20 in kerosene but wife says anything involving kerosene and matches are sensitive issues.

So I am probably going to make them change me RM100. .. after flipping my wallet through all the RM1.

Crazy buggers.

Been away too long from this blog I think fungus is starting to grow in the free space.

Today is the 4th out of 5th day in my second module for my masters. It is a long way of saying one more day of hell. I put out of office in my email and people keep telling me “enjoy your training”.. enjoy? I never worked so hard even at work. Start class at 9.30am and finish around 8 for the past 2 days. The first 2 days was great, start class at 9.30am and finish by 6pm. Then.. we moved into 5th gear because I think the lecturer thinks we are good already. Today’s assignment.. is totally impossible. out of 4 question, I only finished 2 till 8pm just now. Will continue early tomorrow morning with the other 2 questions.

I am taking the class as part of the MSc but the class is also open to “single module” students. They take just this module and receive a certificate of attendance. These people, they are grumbling all over. I can hear the resentment. The assignments are not easy and they are here because they were sent by the company.. all paid for. Normally people associate training as “free time” something to enjoy. Not this one. They worked so late, they even brought the work home and finish it for submission the night itself.

I pity them. I know what I signed up for and I am prepared to grab the bull by its horn no matter what it takes. These people, they will probably not come for classes like this anymore because it is not a walk in the park and I can see that they are struggling. Well even for me, who supposedly do what I am taught on a day to day basis, find it hard to get all the question right. what about these other people who are not doing embedded programing.

Well.. that is the story of my life for now.

Just need to be strong. One more day and I think the lecturer is not pulling any stops. It is just going to climax tomorrow. luckily we have free coffee the whole day.

After successfully recreated grandma’s roti babi for the folks in Kuching and also getting the seal of approval from my mum, we want to learn how to make the dipping for the roti babi. It is called the white man’s vinegar, in hokkien.. ang mo chor. The commercial equivalent is the Worcestershire sauce by lea and perins.

We start the dish with a variety of spices and herbs… the quantities which are “up to taste”.

Then the ingredients are pounded the old fashioned way.

Grandma said it is not advisable to use iron or steel pot. She uses an old rice cooker pot which is made up of aluminum. The reason is that later, vinegar will be added which will react with the metal in the pot. Glass or aluminum pots do not react to the vinegar.

Pounded ingredients are then boiled to release the flavour. This is where sugar, salt and mustard is added in the mix.

A whole bottle of rice vinegar is added, boiled for a little longer.

And everything is strained with a coarse strainer.

The sewing machine that I got from grandma was still working as is. The only thing missing is the table. Some of the establishments are also rusty so I headed down to the sewing machine spare part shop in town to get replacements. There is a shop called Swee Hoe Pomar at the start of Carnavon street, nearest to Komtar. Well, if you can call it a shop because you really cannot “shop” around. You ask the man what you want and he finds it for you. They have spare parts for old sewing machines. So we bought a wooden table. It has to be either Singer brand or some locally made ones. The locally made table tops are bad quality. We can see that the workmanship is bad, some of the parts are not even aligned. The show owner said that Singer don’t actually make the table tops. They come in a set with the sewing machine but he has customers who wants the machine but not the table. That is how he gets the table.

So we went home with a table top and some parts.

Once we reached home, we put singer oil (also bought in that shop) in all the moving parts of the machine. WD40 whatever that we cannot reach with the oil. The machine now runs like new. We then proceed to replace some of the parts and find that they don’t fit!

Worse, the table is too small for the legs… I can still use the table but the legs are protruding out.

The leather drive belt is also too short.

And even if I can get the drive belt to be longer, it won’t come up nicely to drive the machine. It will always scratch the side of the table where the hole is.

Serious engineering reconsideration needed.

We went back to the shop immediately. Lucky they are open late. I think they stay in the shop so they can open late. I told the lady boss that the legs were too big but we will use it. The belt is too short and some of the parts didn’t fit. There was an old lady who was watching TV in the shop. The shop owner’s mother I come to understand. She quickly stood up said that if the legs don’t fit, then it has to be a very very old machine. I told her it was bought in 1955. Both of them started to smile and became very excited. They say there are very few of those machines left. They do a lot of service and rarely see machines like that coming into the shop.

WOW! Wife says if there is anyone to trust on the value of the machine, they are the ones because they can appreciate the machine more.

We decided the way to fix the issue that we have is by using an electric motor. She was showing me how to install the electric motor. She said there has to be a hole beside the machine for the hole and explained how to take out the “wheel” to install the drive belt.

We did it.. motor installed.. Tested and working.. the machine and up and running..

now I need a place to put it in the house /

At the end of the day, we wondered if buying a new machine would be cheaper. We went to Singer shop in Bayan Baru. A new machine (old fashioned one) is RM700 over. A new electric one is close to RM1K.

So yes, it may be troublesome. I have an oversized legs for the sewing machine table. But it is a working antique and still cheaper than getting a new one

New parts are Singer, old parts are Pfaff… a mismatched pair but they work

Last week, I was at grandma’s place after prayers and saw her sewing machine placed in the car porch. My mum and aunt saw it too and asked grandma why is it out side. She said she does not want it anymore as the table has been chewed to pieces by termites. Aunt said the sewing machine legs are still good as table legs, just buy a tabletop and put it on the legs as a way to salvage the remains of the sewing machine.

I gave a better suggesting. I will take the machine and restore it for my own use. The wife has been asking to buy a sewing machine for some time. Since this is free, why not! It is technically still working other than the chewed up table. So we stripped off the table, with the a whole colony of termites wiggling inside it. We literally chopped off the table from the legs and machine with a machete and burn the remains.

What I have is the legs, the machine… and the receipt. The machine was bought for $272 at staff price in… 1955. Wife says, she likes to use the term pre-merdeka. The sewing machine is older than the nation. 55 years old.

And it still works! Grandma said when grandad was around, he took good care of the machine. I guess now that it is in my possession, I need to take greater care of it.

Pfaff is a german made machine.

The embellishments are all rusty but the mechanical parts are still good. The sewing machine was working when I took it out from the table but decided to give it a good coat of WD40 and singer oil anyway.

Two price structures for petrol from May 1 (Updated)

PETALING JAYA: There will be two price structures for petrol from May 1 — one for Malaysians and another for foreigners — Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Thursday.

For Malaysians, the price of petrol will also be based on engine capacity, which means that not all would be entitled to subsidised fuel, he added.

Different petrol prices would be introduced for different groups of Malaysians, Ismail told a press conference here on Thursday after launching the new corporate identity of the F&N Soft Drinks Division.

Amongst the things that would be considered are the engine capacity of vehicles and socio-economic factors, he said.

He said that the subsidy for petrol would be retained but only targeted groups would receive the subsidy.

Few questions… how do they define the who belongs to which socio economy? Easiest solution is to say that all pakatan states are modern states (except Kelantan).
What about foreigners who are part of the MM2H program?
What about foreigners who work here and pay taxes?
What is the government doing with all the money it saved?

I have a strong suspicion that the government is out of money to distribute among the supporters. At least last time, badawi said he will save 4 billion when he raised the petrol price and that will go to improving transportation.

This is a depressing news.. Maybe people will be too pre-occupied with the Allah issue that they won’t notice.

Guard who shot robber dead detained

Guard who shot robber dead detained

KUALA LUMPUR: The security guard who shot dead a robber at the Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall on Monday has been remanded until Jan 10.

It is learnt that the 21-year-old man was being investigated under Section 304 of the Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Sources said the guard had opened fire on the robber who was unarmed.

In the incident on Monday, the 29-year-old robber was looking at RM3,000 gold necklace when he suddenly bolted out of the shop.

A scuffle ensued between him and the security guard and he was shot in the back of the neck when he tried to escape through an emergency staircase. He was found clutching on to the necklace when he died.

Remember the girl who accidentally killed the snatch thief who took her purse? Accidentally killed because it was a vehicle accident when she could not brake in time. Well, they charge her for murder.

Now, a thief got shot. Guard gets charged for murder.

Shouldn’t we praise these people from removing the bad guys from the gene pool? You commit a crime, expect bad things to happen to you. It is what I would call it, occupational hazards.

If the police have been going their job well, this man would not have been killed. If the government have done it job well, this man would not need to steal.

Pity the guard. If he did not do anything, he will be investigated to make sure that he is not part of the scam.. they will ask why he didn’t take action. Now that he has taken action, they say he is a murderer. I would wonder too then what is the right thing to do?

52 amorous couples face jail for hotel liaisons

52 amorous couples face jail for hotel liaisons

KUALA LUMPUR: Fifty-two unmarried Muslim couples face charges of sexual misconduct and possible jail terms after being caught alone in hotel rooms by Malaysia’s Islamic morality police during a New Year’s Day crackdown, an official said Monday.

Scores of officers fanned out across budget hotels in central Selangor state before dawn on Jan. 1, knocking on doors and detaining unmarried Muslim couples who were sharing rooms, said Hidayat Abdul Rani, a spokesman for the Selangor Islamic Department.

The detained, mostly students and young factory workers, are expected to be charged with “khalwat,” or “close proximity,” which under Malaysia’s Islamic Shariah law is described as couples not married to each other being alone together in a private place.

“We chose to have this large-scale operation on New Year’s Day because many people are known to commit this offense while celebrating such a major holiday,” Hidayat said.

In Selangor, “khalwat” carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine.

The Shariah laws apply only to Malaysia’s Muslims, who make up nearly two-thirds of the population, and not to the Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities.

News such as this might have dawned to us as a normal occurrence.  We have always been bombarded with news like this, where islamic council workers and now a “morality police” raids hotels for khalwat cases.

But to foreigners reading this news, it sends a different image. What they read is.. “officials  raiding hotels”.. and they think that they will be awaken in their sleep to be greeted by police. Some of these foreigners are muslims… and there are some who are “non practicing” muslims… will they be charged? What’s worse, everytime a hotel raid issue is brought up, the Langkawi incident, where an old Caucasian tourist couple was asked to produce their wedding certificate or they will be hauled up to the police station, will be remembered.

Reading on the news, you will see the word “morality police”? Since when we have that!

You could say that they have a caveat at the bottom of the article about this law being implemented for Muslims only.. but the image of hotel room raiders have been set.

Every since meeting my wife, she has been keeping track on how I spent my New Year. Even when we were staying in happening Klang Valley, I often spend my new year sleeping. I would fall asleep before the countdown and then wake up the next day hoping for a better year. No better way to spend new year than to sleep.

Well there was this once before my wife, then girlfriend came along that I spend new year in KLCC with a bunch of hostel friends who drove there.

But last year, the wife noted that I did not fall asleep. We were at home looking out of the balcony for fireworks. We only heard sound but could not see the fireworks beyond the hill.

This year is a totally new experience for me. It started with a call from my uncle while I was in Kuching, asking if I am free on new year’s eve for dinner. It was either dinner with family or duty with the RCS people, I choose dinner with family. The fact that my dinner would be free… is icing on the cake. It is a long story how I got free dinner. It was not free actually as the tickets were paid for but no one could attend the dinner.

We had the dinner at Copthorne Orchid Penang, formerly Novotel Penang.

The theme was Latin and it feature latin american cuisine.

We started with the cold dishes because they were the best presented.

You have smoked salmon in the west, we have smoked tenggiri. It taste weird. I can taste the smokiness but tenggiri is a very flavorful fish. Smoking the fish adds another layer of flavour that I would not really consider a good combination. When eating it, I cannot decide which is the dominant flavour. I feel “jelak” after one slice of the fish.

give this one a pass the next round.

Roasted turkey, chicken… some fowl. No signage. It was dry and cold. There were some sauce beside it so I just doused the sauce on the fowl.

The roasted beef looks nice but it does not have flavour. No roast flavour, no beef flavour. Tough to chew.

I think this is lamb

Cold seafood. picked some of this for grandma but I did not take any of these. Cold seafood (other than oysters) are not appetizing for me.

This cake was nice but no one dared to cut open the cake till half way through the dinner.

The dinner started at 7.30pm and was supposed to end at 1.00 am. Dinner cost RM125++ per person. The ticked was paid for so I hope I don’t piss off the person who paid for my ticket by saying that I did not have a great time in the event. For such a long period of time sitting, we were supposed to have some entertainment. The band was BAD. 1 guy, 2 girls.. the guy on the keyboard.. sings the best. One of the lady, hate to say this, is tone dead. My karaoke pals can sing better than her. I can hear when she did not hit the notes.. not just the high ones.. but the normal ones.

Then half way through the dinner, some dude came up to stage and he was supposed to be the star singer. FUH.. even worse. No tune at all. More like learning how to sing. On top of that he has this attitude like he is having fun and new year is about party.. but you can see in his expression.. he is just saying it.. the body language tells a different thing.

Then there is the latin dance.  A couple shows up once in a while to do some dance. I think they are a bit Kayu. I can see they are trying to get the moves right, technically.. move legs here.. move arms there.. twist twist.. But they lack the flair. Dancing tango or latin dance, you need to have spirit.. the enthusiasm… be one with the dance.  I have seen some colleague dance in the annual dinner and the wife and I think those colleagues are WAY better than these 2 fellows.

Enough of complain.. at the stroke of midnight, the balloons dropped from the ceiling and everyone went home for the new year.

I feel that the New Year dinner is a chance for the hotel to make a quick buck. My cup of juice was not replenished the whole night. Mum noticed that the wait staff only concentrated on the tables that ordered extra drinks. I mean, I paid 125++ for the meal and I EXPECT to be served!

What does new year mean to me? It means I have to change the calendar. Otherwise, it is just another day.

Ministry: Increase in sugar price caused by rise in price of raw commodity

PUTRAJAYA: Sugar will cost 20 sen more per kilo from today, with the new price being RM1.65 in Peninsular Malaysia and RM1.75 in Sabah and Sarawak.

Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Mohd Zain Mohd Dom also announced that the Government would withdraw its subsidy on white bread from today and remove it from the price control scheme.

He said the increase in sugar price was necessary due to the rise in the price of the raw commodity on the world market, especially since August, from between 14 and 16 US cents (48 and 55 sen) to 27 US cents (92 sen).

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/1/nation/5400437&sec=nation

Sugar up 20 sen, bread price freed

2009/12/31

PUTRAJAYA: Sugar will cost 20 sen more per kilogramme from today, with the new price being RM1.65 in the peninsula and RM1.75 in Sabah and Sarawak. Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Zain Mohd Dom, who made the announcement yesterday, said the government would also withdraw its subsidy for white bread from today and remove the commodity from the price-control scheme.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/8sug/Article/index_html