Archive for the 'General' Category

The difference between living in a house and a condo is that in a house, sometimes you have unwelcome visitors ringing your doorbell. From salespersons, to grass cutters, to surveyors etc etc etc.

So when the bell goes *DING DONG* normally what I would do is take a peek to see who it is. If its a dubious character or someone I don’t know, I usually pretend I’m not in. Being the paranoid being that I am, I’m worried that if I decline their offer for services, they may get angry and come back for revenge. Haha. No, seriously, its easier to feign being out than to answer to some of these undesirable visitors.

However, recently I found out that pretending that I’m out is not such a good idea anymore. I heard that there is a new modus operandi by those crooks who do daytime breakins. What they will do is send someone who looks trustworthy like a child or an elderly person to ring your doorbell with some excuse and if you don’t answer, they breakin into your house.

Now, what shall I do when the bell goes *DING DONG* Hmmm…. with pretending to be out no longer such a good idea, I still hate the idea of opening my doors to unwanted visitors.

*DING DONG* Oh oh. What shall I do now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Took the kids to the KL Bird Park recently. Also known as the “The World’s Largest Free Flight Aviary” it certainly houses a large collection of birds. They look well fed too. I could see that they were feeding on papayas, corns, bananas and other fruits. Yum yum. The fruits do not look like discards. They look fresh and good.

The birds were used to tourists I suppose because they flew about freely right before our faces. Some of them were really colorful and some looked like they were wearing pretty headdresses. Now, I know where some designers get their ideas. The colors were really beautiful and striking. Bright hues of red, yellow, turquoise, blues, greens, purple and pink. There were quite a number of peacocks too and one of them decided to showoff to us, spreading its beautiful tale wide open. It was quite a sight to behold.

To my amusement, I saw a signboard in front of some green leafy plants. There was a brief description about the plant. The signboard labelled it as the Malaysian Ginseng. It was a Tongkat Ali plant. Hahahaha. Well, I guess it belongs in a bird park alright since its suppose to treat another type of “bird”. Lol!

Since its Friday, those of you who have kids and have not been there before can consider going there for the weekend. Its RM30 for adults and free for kids under 3. Can’t remember how much it is for kids above 3 but if you flash them your MyKad, you get a discount so your ticket costs only RM12 for an adult. Please forgive me if I get the ticket prices wrong. My memory isn’t quite what it used to be.

There! Done my bit for Malaysian tourism. Happy Weekend to everyone. 

I have been summoned to attend a wedding dinner. (in Chinese, this means being given a wedding invitation card with your name on it). I used to receive this summons a lot during my 20s when lots of friends were being wed. I still got them in my 30s but its dwindled a lot by now.

Receiving one of these things often puts me in a dilemma. Though Chinese, I don’t really know what is the “cultural” expectations. In other words, I don’t know what to do lah.

So what is the expectation, can someone please tell me? What is the standard? There is KL standard etc etc. The Chinese must protect their own “face” so they often give in to this “ransom” for money angpow and apparently there are certain standards to comply to (meaning a minimum amount to give) irrespective of whether you attend the wedding dinner or not. Comply to these standards or forever be known as a miser or stingy poker.

So what is the standard? I have my own theory. To me, if I get this summons from someone close to me, I would give them something irrespective of whether I attend or not. If I attend, I would make sure that I at least pay over and above the cost of my dinner so that my friend won’t have to pay for me to attend their dinner. If I can’t make it to the dinner, I would give my friend something too because I want to, not because I am obliged to.

This is probably the same reasoning why people are expected to pay more give a bigger angpow when attending a dinner in a hotel compared to a dinner at a Chinese Restaurant for example.

Once, I received this summons from a colleague on another floor which I hardly know. I did the unthinkable. I chose to ignore it. I did not pay up the summons lah. Some say that is very rude. Aiyah, so many rules one. If you receive it from a subordinate, you must pay more, if you receive it from your superior, less etc etc. To me, I hardly know you, so why should I be held ransom? But some say must at least give a token lah blah blah blah.

On the other hand, if you are the wedding couple, handing out this summons can also give you headache. You have to plan your seating arrangement and number of attendees so that you don’t explode your budget or run out of food or seating places but sometimes you invite just one person and that person brings a legion of relatives. Sometimes you’re not sure whether its “nice” to just invite someone without inviting their spouses etc etc. More rules again.

There are also rules in giving out the angpow. Apparently you can put it in the same envelope that you receive together with the summons so that the wedding party immediately knows who its from since your name is written on it. Is that right? I’m also not sure about this practise.

So many rules makes me pening kepala. So what is the standard? If you are not attending? Must give ah? How much to give huh? If its addressed to you and your spouse, must give double ah? How much to give if its your subordinate or superior leh?

 

Yesterday I had to go to Carrefour, Mid Valley to change some stupid clothes hanger/dryer that broke even before I started using it. It was of such bad quality, it came off at two parts and the colour at the sides comes off my hands whenever I happen to touch it. Hmmm…. another case of too much lead in paints? There has been many cases of toys being recalled recently for this reason, the latest being Thomas the train.

Anyway, since I was there I decided to check out The Gardens. I only managed to go to Robinsons because it was late in the evening when I got there. Will have to check out Isetan another time. This is my impression.

With two such excellent anchors ie Isetan and Robinsons, I think The Gardens will do rather well. The other key anchor is Marketplace by Cold Storage. I think The Gardens is supposed to be a bit more upmarket compared to the older phase of Mid Valley. However, I did not get that impression. I got the impression that it had been completed rather hurriedly just in time to catch the Raya shoppers. The floors were a bit dusty (I even saw a crack on a tile) not spick and span and shiny to give it the classy look it should have for a new phase especially an upmarket one. Its completed but has an uncompleted look. My children liked the stars in the ceiling at one end of the mall.

Robinsons was nice though. At least it was spick and span and shiny in there. The staff were very courteous and friendly. Everyone greeted you whenever you walked passed and asked if they could help. I hope they can keep this up. Some of them approached us to sign up for their card. Wah! So fast. Cannot afford so I gently declined.

In the gents department I saw several men shopping for attire. Hmm… I would have thought that it would be the ladies going there in droves since everyone always seems to equate shopping to ladies. I guess men like to check out new departmental stores too, not only ladies.

Too bad time did not permit me to check out Isetan. I will have to go back another day for that. I saw in the floor layout plan that Isetan takes up 4 floors on one side of The Gardens, whereas Robinsons takes up 3 floors on the other side. Nice.

Some tenants which I am looking out for but aren’t open yet are the Borders bookshop and Gurney Drive with hawker like stalls. I do miss the Gurney Drive in Penang so I hope this one won’t disappoint. There will also be a 2201 Fashion Avenue showcasing our local designers. Interesting. Not I can afford designer wear but I can ogle can’t I? Theres also a boutique cinema but I haven’t entered a cinema in years so I am not that interested in it.

I don’t know about Isetan but Robinsons is offering a 20% discount to shoppers for purchases worth RM200 and above.

I noticed that aromatherapy is getting very popular these days. There are more and more shops selling essential oil and burners. Instead of using burners for aromatherapy, another method would be the use of Vaporizers. Vaporizers heat without burning making it safer and healthier.

Some people use vaporizers as a healthier althernative to smoking. Some use it to ingest drugs and other herbs for medical or other purposes. You can also use it for aromatherapy.

You can go to this link to find out more about What is Vaporization and how it works? Apparently the key to vaporization is the temperature. The temperature has to be digitally precise and accurately maintained at all times. When the heat source is at the correct temperature, the substance will not burn. Instead vapor will be released. No smoke or odor, only vapor from the plant mixture of your choice. Thats basically how it works.