Today's Breakfast

Today I had a special treat for breakfast; Pulut Durian! It's not so often I can have this meal as the durian fruit is seasonal and I have never come across food vendor selling this in Kuala Lumpur. In the northern states like Kedah and Perlis; yes, it is commonly available at pasar malam (night market). The closest I could find is, Pulut Mangga which is a Thai delicacy however its yumminess is a far cry from its original.

Anyhow, pulut durian consists of:
1. Pulut (steamed glutenous rice )
2. Durian fruit
3. Santan (coconut milk cooked with a pinch of salt)

Best eaten with the hands, the taste is creamy and sweet; best thing in the world. However beware; according to some the smell of the durian is not very pleasing. Yesterday, as I was making payment at a counter; the gurlfriend and the lady cashier thought they'd smelt propane gas!! Obviously it was not the case as it was only my durian. To me it smell sweet and yummy.

Oh well.. people has different opinion on that subject, but most of us love this fruit. Just take it like cheese, some frown and don't eat due to the smell or taste. I know most of you eat durian; why not try it in this combination, I assure it that you'd want more :D

Break The Vault and Win Cash Prizes

Break The Vault is an online contests site that offers cash prizes to its winner. The contest or game is based on a trivia like game play whereby a player has to guess the answer based on a given set of clues. Contestants can try as many times as they wish as answering tries are unlimited. This will definitely increase your odds whether you’re a beginner or a pro at this kind of games.

One will be declared as the winner once the correct answer has been provided and will receive the pot cash prize. The value of the cash prize will vary according to the difficulty level of the game. Another best thing apart from the multiple tries and winning cash prizes; your money will be deposited into PayPal!! To me, it doesn’t come any better than this.

Why not give it a try? It’s free and the cash prizes are quite lucrative. Head over to Break The Vault to start cracking and earn some cash!

This entry is written for http://www.breakthevault.com

Singapore Bites

Whenever travelling, I always love to sample local food and Singapore is no exception. In this post I would like to share one of my all time favourite snacks over there which is Old Chang Kee. I love it so much that I look forward to have a bite every time I’m there and even put it in my to do list in my last trip :P

At Old Chang Kee, they sell various concoctions of fried seafood (mostly shrimp & squids), fishballs, nuggets, chicken, heck almost anything that could be pierced by the bamboo sticks. They also specializes in curry puffs, this is not your average 3 by 1 half inch that we’re used to; it is more like the size a slice of cheesecake. There are also many fillings to choose from the traditional potato chicken curry, beef and sardines.

My personal favourites are the squid head on stick and the sardine puff (pictured). These two are exceptionally delicious; I’m producing access saliva while writing this. You might say that we also have Old Chang Kee in Malaysia (Sungei Wang & One Utama), but we don’t have that extra enhancer which is the sambal (fried chilli paste), and we also don’t have the sardine puff.

If you don’t believe how delicious it is, just look at the number of people queuing up. If you’re ever heading over there, be sure to have a taste or feast! It won’t empty your wallet but filled your stomach instead. Old Chang Kee could be easily found on the Orchard Road stretch and throughout the island.

Find a Store Like a Local at @List.org

You’re new in town, looking for a hardware store and a garage to service your car. You can ask the neighbours, but they seem to be out on a vacation. Rather than wondering aimlessly around town and going to a premise without knowing its credibility, why don’t you head over to @List.org to find the service you are looking for?

@List is the most comprehensive, online business directory for both businesses & consumers. You can find business operators within your area as @List groups the listings by category and location. In this case, you can browse under Home & Garden category for that hardware store and Automotive for the servicing garage.

Furthermore, @List is not merely a directory of companies; when you find that specific store in the listing, you can also check on the rating of that company. The ratings are given by normal people like us, whom had used their service before. It is as good as getting a recommendation from a seasoned resident in that area.

Now you can arrange a good transport for Aunt Mary that is coming to visit by searching under the Travel & Transportation category. While you're there, you might also want to book a Hotel perhaps ;D Head over to @List.org to start exploring a business premise near you.

Business operators are also welcomed, find out more on how you can list your business in the directory and maximize your company exposure at @List.org

This entry is written for http://www.atlist.org

Bad Luck or Statistics

Malaysian general election just went by and I am damn glad that I didn't vote. Don't give me that: "you're not practicing your rights speech". %#%$@!! For all I care they are all a bunch of clowns.

Why am I so furious? Well I've just recently serviced my car; it's a normal major service for 60,000 KM. They done everything to the book inclusive of alignment & balancing, the bill totaled to RM5XX. It's okay for me since it a major service.

However, yesterday as I was on my way back home; I hit a big pot hole in the middle of the MRR2. What the ^%$#@!! It was unavoidable; people couldn't see it as it was raining and the damn thing is filled with water. People pay road tax, income tax, service tax.. the lot to a lousy administrator $#@%$#!!

Today I discovered that when I corner, my right front tyre would hit the bodywork. %$@$#!! First ripping me off with taxes and now I have to pay more for the repairs and take time off to send the car. To me, this is not bad luck; just plain statistics. That hole for all I know has been there for weeks, and I'm one of the people so happen to dunk a tyre in it.


If you're the D*** F*** that maintains the road, please do your F****** job or go rot in hell for all I care. Do you want to pay for the damages incurred? Don't wait till a motorcyclist tumble and die to take action.

Drivers & motorcyclist; please be careful if you are using the MRR2 and heading towards Gombak. The pot hole is just before the Kampung Pasir flyover on the right most lane.

Note to other readers: I don't usually post these kind of entries, but I'm really pissed.

Recover Your Data

Ever experienced that "clicking" sound coming from your hard disk? Immediately followed by an error message on you computer screen or your system hanged. When you hit the reset button, Windows simply won't load. Guess what dude? Your hard disk just crashed.

I certainly had my fair share of crashes, just look at the photo of my hard disks. Inside it contains gigabytes of data on my music collections, research papers, e-mails and most cherished of all, my vacation photos.


All are unrecoverable till I found out about Flashback Data, a company that specializes in Computer Data Recovery & Restoration. These guys are the experts in their field, they can recover from almost any media such HDD, Optical Discs, Memory Keys and Floppy Disks just to name a few.

Flashback Data also practices a No Risks Data Recovery. Whereby if there are no data recovered from your damaged hard disk, you don't have to pay! To learn more on this, head over to their website for details.

This entry is written for http://www.flashbackdata.com

Singapore Flyer : Worlds Tallest Ferris Wheel

Ok some update from the Singapore trip. So what's new in Lion City you might ask.. well.. if you're at the Esplanade or Suntec City vicinity, its hard to miss a towering ferris wheel in between the building. They call it the Singapore Flyer.

Actually, I've seen it during my previous trips to Singapore however it is still in construction. This time round though; me, Aiza, Tini & Fariz got the chance to get on board this new landmark. We were amongst the earliest to get on as it only commence its service a week earlier on 1st March 2008. Even the taxi driver had to guess where exactly the Singapore Flyer is located on the road.

We bought our tickets online via Singapore Flyer website. Normal tickects without express boarding costs SG$29.50 each or approximately RM 68.00. Express boarding is where you can skip waiting inline and board direct into the capsule. However, I think the extra SG$20 for that isn't necessary if you are going during off-peaks; morning, office hours etc. We went on Saturday morning, there weren't many people and no queue.

As you get closer to the ferris wheel, you begin to awe over the scale and its engineering feats. Man!! this thing is really huge when you're up close to its base. The Flyer stand tall at 541 ft, currently the highest in the world till completion of Beijing Great Wheel in 2009. To assist you in imagining the height, just look at the KLCC skybridge; its only a few feet shy from that. Its very tall isn't it?

Note : Comparison image is adapted from PopularMechanics

On board, the capsule is spacious and comfortable (for those whom are not afraid of heights a presume). The view is magnificent when you higher on the altitude. On the South East bearing, you can see the wide open space of the ocean with lots of ships. 180 degrees back to North West, you can see Singapore's concrete jungle of skyscrapers. The ride will take on for 30 minutes, whereby you will have ample time to enjoy the scenery and take as much photos as you wish.

I'm not promoting for them, but I do recommend you to have a go on Singapore Flyer at least once. Its something to remember upon your trip. Here are some pics that I took, will have more in my Picasa as soon :)

Pay Per Post

WohooOO!! My blog has been approved for payperpost. What a way to jumpstart my blog. First was on the new domain name and now Pay Per Post. This gives me more than a reason to update my blog frequently and keep it alive.

I first learned about payperpost from the *Gurlfriend* and I find it as an Interesting concept. She managed to convince me to join payperpost over the benefits not long after. Nothing is more pleasing than getting paid for doing something that you are already doing, which is blogging.

In payperpost you can select the categories relevant to your interest, and write in your entry. You just have to incorporate the advertising elements within your posts. It’s as simple as that.

I have also learned that a few of my friends has also joined payperpost and I am happy that I’m in the community as well. Now we have another conversation piece to talk about during parties and outings.

Another plus about payperpost is that; you will get paid via PayPal!! Duuh.. That’s like the gateway to the shopping paradise - eBay. With sufficient credit earned, perhaps it can supplement my purchase on a camera that I’ve been eyeing for quite some time. Come and join me in payperpost as well :)

Singapore Rocks!!

Just came back today from Singapore, and all I can say is that; "Singapore Rocks!!" Me, Aiza, Tini & Fariz had a blast.. 85% of my shopping list cleared and so does my wallet! :P

To utilise our time, we've split into two; the girls went out for craft related items, while the boys went out to drool on gadgets :D Well more than drool actually. When we met again in the evening, we are equally matched with shopping bags like we're buying a week's worth of groceries and that unmistakable million dollar grin on everyone faces. Thats only day one!!

Well.. I'm actually pooped, so if you don't mind; I will update on the trip later-on with more details. Till then, consider this a preview (*_^) Goodnite and thank you Singapore.

LHDN II : Save My Hard Earned Money

With the recent additional tax I had to pay, it prompted me to find ways to reduce or better still pay no income tax at all. Currently I only submit rebates for books, computers and life insurance and evidently it is not sufficient for me to be tax free.

I know there are lots of tips online on tax savings, but eureka!! I've found a local monthly publication "Personal Money" by the Edge that highlights on "26 Ways to Slash Taxes". Just what I've been looking for :)


I can't share all the 26 tips in respect of the publication. However to highlight a few from the article, I've just recently learned that tax rebate for books are now at RM 1000 instead of RM500. I also found out that we are entitled for RM300 rebate for sports equipment and the high 1 to 1 ratio of Zakat rebate. Others are on medical, life insurance, company car, EPF contribution and education to name a few more.

I find the article useful and its up to me now to keep track of all my receipts. For now, with the this first purchase of magazine for the year; I have another RM 991 to spend on books for full rebate :D

Note: For full details, check out "Personal Money" March edition.

My First Star on eBay

An ebay member since December 2004, only recently I was quite active on buying & selling on ebay. This week I am happy to announce that I've received my first feedback star as I've accumulated 10 positive feedbacks :)

What ebay feedback stars mean :

On another note, I've also managed to sell my first item on ebay. YEAY!! However the guy didn't left a feedback on the purchase. Bummer. Nonetheless with these good news, I am now more motivated and looking forward for more transactions in ebay.

See the link under "Items for Sale" on the right hand side of this page for my recent listings on ebay. You can do it too, its easy; sell your unwanted item lying around the house for a start :)

Breakfast anyone?

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day". In my opinion it provides you with energy throughout the day, keeps you sharp and with the right food it promotes fat loss. Nowadays it difficult to get a good breakfast at the office; its either too oily or too fatty. There is simply no balance between protein and carbs, not to mention the cholesterol levels.

Few years back (when I'm in shape :P), I used to bring breakfast and sometimes lunch to office. That was when 7.30 is still ok to start the journey to office. Now its no later than 7.05 or my punch card will be red. To compensate for the time; sometimes I would prepare cut fruits the night before but mostly I would customise my breakfast at the cafeteria.

Fed up of having unhealthy breakfast at the cafeteria, recently I've decided to stock some food at my workstation. Nestum, Digestive biscuits, Milo, Toastlimo bread, peanut butter and etc. Here's my current favorite breakfast: Milo 3 in 1 + a hefty portion of Nestum!

However on weekends, when I'm at home; my all time favorite, my comfort food is poach egg on lightly buttered fresh toast + salt and coarse fresh ground peppers.. nyum!!!


Whats your favorite breakfast?

Singapore IT Show 2008

Singapore IT Show 2008 is just around the corner, from 6th to 9th March 2008 to be more specific. The best thing is that; I am going for this event! WoohooOO!! I've missed this event a couple of times being a week too early or late in Singapore trips. This year I've managed to arrange the trip down south to coincide with the event.

Being a tech geek, I am hoping that this IT Show will showcase some of the latest gadgets & electronics instead of just selling stuffs. The official event website did highlight that they will showcase the Latest & Most Comprehensive electronic gadgets.

Who knows, maybe I could find some other inspiration for new product development (thats what I do at work - develop new communication products). Will update on how it goes once I'm back. Oh ya, its not too late to plan your trip. Give me a buzz if you are in the vicinity of the event :)

Munching on my expense..

Help!!! Pesky white ants is chewing on my Lego Chess Set! I quote back from my previous posting on LHDN:

In the process of retrieving my income tax file, I've discovered that my wardrobe has been attacked by termites!! #$@%^%^%!!! got to clean that mess also.

Well that is not the whole story.. a month prior to that incident, I have to clean my storage boxes on top of my wardrobe which the critters is happily munching (sorry no photos on that). I had 2 laden black garbage bags filled from that occasion alone.

Then a week after the LHDN discovery, I found out that they are also eating my wardrobe cabinet. I accidentally discovered it while cleaning the white ant trail whereby when I stepped on the flooring it just gave in. See the photos below, of what I had to cope with..

The whole flooring crumbled like cream crackers.. Being an Ikea product, I can just buy a new flooring to replace it. However, as I am typing this entry; I can hear them now munching on the side panels. Nothing can be done but be ready to clean the mess they leave behind.

Normal mosquito spray and the solution used by professional exterminators doesn't seem to have any effect. Still looking for an alternative solution for the whole house.

From my numerous encounters I can share that the white ants:

1. Prefer to munch on brown boxes (non-bleached type), so better buy the pretty white boxes with laminated surface which is slightly expensive

2. Same goes for books, they prefer the brown paperback books than the heavy bleached magazine papers

3. For now they are are chewing on cheap board, my pine wood shelving still untouched (fingers crossed)

4. Don't keep magazine, books or boxes on the floor.. they will start to eat it if item not moved for sometime.

Hopefully this list could help you guys to curb unpleasant infestation.. my advice is for you to check as much as you can if you know your neighborhood has a white ant colony.

If you want to know the truth..

You think your partner is cheating on you... you know the one who is stealing the office supplies... you know who broke the car windows.. but you just can't prove or it won't work by merely direct confrontation...

Well my friends... there is another way to find out the truth from someone without beating the crap out of them... no more lies.. no more worries.. no more sleepless nights.. behold.. the GOOD drink of them all..

Honest Tea!!! The drink that brings out the honesty in you. Now everyone can be a saint :)


Note : Politicians should steer away from this drink.

LHDN : "Money Back within a Month"

Remember a couple of weeks back, when there were lots of adverts in the newspaper on improving the public service by the government? Amongst them are by the Immigration Department on passport renewal within 1 hour, new passport in 1 day and Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri on money back within one month for excess tax payment.

One fine day when I came back from work, I saw an envelope from LHDN. I was happy to see it as imagined it was the cheque for the sum that they owed me, just like in the papers. Suprise.. surprise.. its not a cheque as I expected but JA statement requesting me to pay more taxes for the year 2004, 2005 & 2007 (RM 4 figures). What the #@%$&%$#!!!

Lucky I have all my documentations & receipts straight, as my record goes; I had paid all my taxes and there were excess for the year 2006 which I haven't received a refund. In the process of retrieving my income tax file, I've discovered that my wardrobe has been attacked by termites!! #$@%^%^%!!! got to clean that mess also.

Anyways.. I had to take leave to rectify this with LHDN before I got penalty for late payment. It was a half day affair, having it checked at a branch near my home; I discovered that the tax amount requested was on my bonuses for the years mentioned. However the officer did recalculate and gave me a new sum with deductions of my excess amounts which lowers it down to only RM 3 figures.

The office then informed that; I have the option to deduct the sum from my salary for x number of months. However I choose to pay the sum in full. Can I pay at this branch? No, this branch doesn't accept payment, however can pay at the bank behind this LHDN brach. Payment direct to LHDN can only be made at Jalan Duta Main Office.

I chose to pay at LHDN Jalan Duta on the same day as; I was on leave and since they took a few years to calculate my tax, I couldn't imagine how many months it would take to update my payment from the bank. Remembering back now on what the LHDN officer told me at the counter;

"payment through banks will take 2-3 days to update, however keep your payment-slip for reference"

Not so assuring and one might think that it will not be updated at all from this statement :P Apart from from this, I do would like to note that our LHDN officers are very helpful, friendly and seems sincere in wanting to help during my dealings. To that I thank them :)

Dasyatnye.com Has Its Own Domain

Since domain names nowadays are getting cheaper, I've decided to get one for my blog. It is also to commemorate this blog's comeback after being inactive for nearly a year. At the current moment I'm still using hosting services from bloggers, however I'm happy to announce as from this post onwards, the new url to my blog will be :

To benefit other readers from various parts of the world (if any), dasyatnye is a Malay word. The correct spelling is "dasyatnya" however I choose the former which is sort of a street slang. The definition could be found here in the Online Webster Dictionary, however to me dasyatnye can bring two meanings as explained in these scenarios.

"When you encountered, heard from someone or experienced on something exciting - dasyatnye!! (upbeat) awesome!!, cool!!, wow!!"

"When you heard bad news from someone - dasyatnye.. (toned down) thats horrible.."

In this blog, I intent to write on; some personal journals, practical ideas, misc reviews, knowledge sharing, jokes, sale of misc items and etc. What I've mentioned is just a rough guide, based on my current interest. Nevertheless, I hope you will enjoy reading my blog as I did writing it.

My First Monopoly Set

After waiting for almost three weeks!! My "first" Monopoly set has finally arrived from the States. By "first" here refers to; literally my my first set and the first of THREE Monopoly sets which had arrived :D It's a bitter sweet moment though, as our customs slightly ripped the box while inspecting the package. Oh well.. nothing like a clear scotch tape couldn't fix.

By now you probably must be wondering as why did I buy a Monopoly set form the States when we can get it over here in Malaysia. Well my friends, just feast yourself on the photos below and you will understand why :)

Item is shipped in this plain white box, on the contrary with it's content. Which is...

Tadaaa.. not so your average Monopoly huh? This edition features a wooden gameboard which include games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess, Checkers, Dominos & Poker Dice. Take that for a combo or space saving. All the game pieces are also made of wood except for the dices & dominos which are made of plastic and the Monopoly tokens which are diecast metal.

The Chess and Scrabble game pieces are kept in the wooden drawer at the bottom of the main gameboard and others as in the picture below in moulded velvet lined plastic. The Monopoly board when flipped over is the Scrabble board and vice-versa. Overall I'm satisfied with the build quality and the materials used.

There's nothing much to explain about the gameplay as these are classic boardgames as many had played, easy to learn, strengthen family ties, make new friends and most of all FUN to play. I can't wait to have a go with this new game!! Anyone interested to join in is welcomed. It may sound funny coming from a adult but, the game did say 8+ on the box :D

Featured Item : Handbag Hook

Well... there is a practical solution to this common problem of where to put your purse or handbag. Just use a Handbag Hook! You will never have to put your purse or handbag on the floor or backs of chairs again!

Simply slide this device over the table or counter’s edge, hang your purse, handbag or umbrella from the hook! Your purse is safe, protected, close at hand and in your sight!

Currently there are 3 beautiful colours to choose from; Lavender Pink, Turquoise Blue and Sage Green with a silver tone floral design accented in the centre with a Rhinestone. Each piece comes with a black velvet pouch so it will not get scratched or scratch other things in your handbag when you’re not using it.

The Handbag Hook is priced at an affordable RM 20 each. Buy one or all three colours for yourself or present them as a gift for your loved ones. Interested? Simply follow the link under 'Items for Sale' on the right hand side of this page.

Monopoly Here & Now : The World Edition - Vote for Our Country

It's been a while since I've last updated, but this Monopoly voting has made me itching for a post :)

I'm sure somewhere along the line when we are all growing up, we either had played or heard about the Monopoly board game. It's a fun family game for young and the old. I've never heard anyone who didn't have fun while playing the Monopoly.

In fact, this is a game that you can recall to this day when you're playing with your brothers, sisters, parents or friends which makes you smile by just remembering the moment.

To me, I had never owned a Monopoly set (yet?) but I had the chance to play it at my granduncle's house. It is an old Monopoly set which I can still recall where he placed it, where we played and who we played with. It's just memories like these which are priceless and brings misty to your eyes, at least to me :)

Thats in the 1980's, since then Monopoly had produced numerous editions of this classic board game such as Monopoly Deluxe Edition, Anniversary Edition, Star Wars Edition and etc (extensive list could be found at BoardGameGeek).

Today, Monopoly will be adding another edition to its list which is "Here & Now : The World Edition". This version will feature Cities across the Globe including Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia, if selected. Uncle Pennybags (the top hat character above) has pre-selected 68 cities including ours, and its up to us to vote for our country. The top 20 will make it into this World Edition, currently Malaysia ranks at 50.

So, if you would like for our county to be in this Monopoly Here & Now : The World Edition, click on the banner above to be redirected to the voting website. As I am writing this post, we have approximately 16 days left to cast our votes. Cheers to all and Good Luck for Malaysia :)

Image Source : Voting banner - Toys R Us Malaysia & Voting Results - Hasbro