Wednesday 28 February 2007

Ghost Rider

Well, well, well. Finally, I got the chance to update my movie list since the last before CNY and the latest is Ghost Rider. I think I'm a bit late to watch this movie compared to my normal practice. Not a big deal! Actually, I'm attracted to this movie after saw the preview last time. Luckily, I managed to get the ticket last night for a nice show time.

Ghost Rider is an action movie by Columbia Pictures that adapted from a famous Marvel Comics. It is about Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage), a motorcycle stunt rider who later turned be a superstar. During his teenage years, he made a deal with a devil named Mephistopheles to save his beloved and only alive family member; his own father who suffered from a chronic and acute cancer. In return, he gave his immortal soul to Mephistopheles. The deal was done in a split second and in my point of view, he unconditionally made the deal unwillingness.

The devil then saved his father who turned to be so healthy the next morning but passed away after a tragic accident during his show that night sweetheart, Roxanne (Eva Mendes) waited for him to run away from her father and live together with Johnny. Unfortunately, Johnny was so heartbroken and few plots took place during the time.

Because of the deal, Johnny Blaze is forever destined to be the Ghost Rider, the powerful supernatural entity that ride night after night as a slave of Mephistopheles to achieve his mission. He is now the host of a "spirit of vengeance". At night, Johnny will be transformed into a fiery demon with superpowers to chase bad guys. There are a few main characters that giving colours to this movie apart from the three characters mentioned above like Blackheart, Mack, Caretaker and The Hidden.

Honestly, I'd say that this movie is not bad in terms of the screenplay with nice plots, characters, effects and graphics. To be frank, I'm not into horror movies but I think this movie should be in your list to be considered.

What I can learn from this movie is, for every single thing we do, there is a price for it! The choice is yours; you ask for it, you got it!

Tuesday 27 February 2007

Hometown with love

It is my intention at the first place for not putting any pictures here. I reserved to do so as my intention is just to share my ideas here and it never come across my mind to give a full reporting on any news or events that have taken place; else I will be an unpaid journalist with low credibility. But I will consider giving comments on current issues. Definitely, my major interest!

So, I have to take opportunity here to ask for apology from all my viewers for not satisfies them by posting pictures here. I just wish to remain as an undisclosed writer. There is a quotient in Arabic means "words are sharper than swords". Please enjoy my writing and feel free to give your comments but don't ask for pictures anymore.

Just to share on my activities during CNY. I drove back home on Friday nite after giving a lecture in BSN Training Centre in Bangi; it is just opposite PERMATA (Petronas Training Centre) and adjacent to other training centers. Actually, I knew that the traffic won't be as smooth as before but I never thought it was that bad. Damn it! The traffic was so bad and the cars were not moving at all or at least moving with not more than 40 km/h. PLUS highway was crammed and congested with cars flowing to the northern region especially to Perak and Penang. I admitted that I wasn't that fit to drive on that nite with my sleepy eyes. Felt to sleep for few times while driving and considering about my safety, I decided to take a nap at Tapah R & R at about 3 am in the morning; ended up until 6 am. After had my prayer, I continued the journey and reached home around 10 am. Finally!

Couldn't rest much as I need to attend my friend's wedding at noon on the same day. Both of the bride and groom are friends of mine so I have no excuse for not attending the wedding. At least show my face, so that they see me and will turn up during my time (When will it be, huh??) :p To make it better, I took some photos with the couple as strong evidence for my presence. I wish the loving couple, MHH and RH to live happily ever after with their own family. May the tie of knots will be as strong as the moment of ijab and qabul forever. Amen.

The next day was the ceremony for the groom but I'm so sorry for not attending it. I spent time with my family and we went to Padang Besar for sightseeing or maybe 'shopping'. Yeah, shopping is a better word to describe activities in such places. Nothing much to shop cos I'm not a fan of imitate stuffs. Just had a good time with all my family members. Oh yea, we had a barbecue party on that nite; celebrating birthdays for those who born in February, including me for sure. Thanks to everyone who organized such a nice family gathering!

Monday 26 February 2007

My Monday Thought

It has been quite sometimes I didn't update my blog. There are many reasons behind that such as long holidays in my hometown and attended a workshop in PD. Really feel so lazy to start working today, after a long break. Whatever it is, work is still work and have to carry out the obligations and duties no matter what. Sigh.

When I woke up this morning and after I had a phone conversation with a friend, I really felt of taking emergency leave today, something I rarely do and I'm against it actually. Emergency means a sudden event that needs immediate action and in my point of view, it is something crucial and can't be avoided. But people always tend to misuse the term by making their own interpretation on EL; for their own benefits obviously. Well, I'm at work and in front of my PC now. No issue of EL anymore.

After a long break, I had to attend a regular meeting this morning. A slightly different than the previous meetings cos we have a new agenda in the list; public speaking. Starting from today's meeting, each and every one of us has to give a public speaking for about 5 to 10 minutes each; free topics. It's a good idea to have such thing as this will build and boost the level of confidence among the staffs. My colleague talked about some useful tips for interview but maybe due to her nervousness, she couldn't finish it well. Anyway, it was a good start and can be improved.

Actually, my mind was thinking about something else when the chairperson called my name and asked my comments on the speech. At first, I was stunned and surprised but just act cool as if nothing happen and started to give my comments. Honestly, it was my genuine and sincere comments in general about public speaking. To me, the most important that need to take into account when we are asked to deliver a speech is to choose the right topic; topics that we are comfortable to talk about. It has to be something familiar to us and we don't have to follow the script; line by line. Yeah, it's a good point here! Giving a speech is totally different than reading a full script. We can memorize the script but once it lost, we have no idea where to start and continue. Nevertheless, public speaking is a speech that shares our ideas, views, thoughts or opinions without any restrictions. It's a very good platform to share our ideas with others. I have more tips on public speaking but I don't think of listing out everything in this posting; maybe in the next.

Now, I can absolutely agree with my friend who said Monday is always the most hatred day among all days in a week. However, on the other hand I'd say that today is a special and meaningful day as someone is back in town after a long holiday. J

Thursday 15 February 2007

An Annoying Call

While enjoying reading my new book on the shelf; "The Everything Personal Finance Book" (a gift), I received a phone call from a lady who claimed that she made the call from Celebrity something (Celebrity Card I guess). I tried to reconfirm with her about her company cos I was thinking that she called from Celebrity Fitness (who knows!). From the moment I answered the call, I smelled something fishy especially the way she spoke and introduced herself. It sounded very unprofessional and unethical from someone who claimed to make the call from a private company. If you always or ever receive any calls from corporate sectors, you know how polite they are while communicating to you as you can feel warm and nice to talk to. I'd personally encourage this lady to join my communication class cos I do cover the topic of 'Using the telephone/Telephone Etiquette'. Please ask my students (a private uni in KJ) or much better if she got time to join my class on Business Communication (I cover almost everything!)

This uneducated lady with non standard Bahasa Melayu command started the conversation by asking me whether I'm currently using any credit cards. I answered yes for that question. Then, she asked me from which banks my cards are issued? Excited with the question, I answered confidently that I have cards from all banks that operating in Malaysia; local and international bank. She didn't satisfy with me and asked me again the same question. Again, I gave the same answer but added that I have cards from all banks in Malaysia except Al-Rajhi Bank, the biggest Islamic banking from Saudi Arabia. Honestly, I don't think the lady ever heard about Al-Rajhi Bank. So pity for her! Read more please before making any calls!!

Then, she asked me whether I ever received any such calls before and promptly I answered; "Yes and all the calls really annoyed me!" So satisfied! Shame on her and all irresponsible operators who try to cheat innocent people like me. She got so angry with my answer and replied to me that I should terminate my phone line if I don't feel of answering her call. Well, I'm a consumer and I have my rights!! Who are you to ask me doing so?? Seriously, I feel so annoyed and her call was the second I received this week. I really can't understand how they manage to get our numbers and I do hope that all the mobile operators in Malaysia (only three) take immediate and prompt action against those who misuse the technology.

After few minutes nagging, she put a stop and hung off the phone. Seriously, I felt pissed off but too pity cos she is a Malay lady who supposed to be more polite and well-mannered. Maybe this is the new way to communicate in the 21st Century…maybe. Let us ponder.

Wednesday 14 February 2007

Micromanagement

Chinese New Year is coming soon; just in four days from now, all the Chinese worldwide will celebrate their New Year. So, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Tionghua friends "Happy New Year", "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and "Xin Nien Kuai Le". Not to forget, I also would like to wish my friend (ex-housemate during my uni years), MTG "Happy Birthday" as today is his birthday. Just coincidentally happen that his birthday falls on Valentine's Day.

Forget about the Valentine's. I just recalled back the discussion between me and few of my friends regarding the micromanagement during our coffee break. One of my friends told us during the meeting that his CEO in his speech to the staffs mentioned clearly about micromanagement. He mentioned that he and his management team will not micromanage the organization as this will lead to disaster. He mentioned clearly that everyone should play their roles and the managers shouldn't in their position to micromanage their subordinates. Micromanage here means go into details and sort of intervene in every move that needs to be made every day.

He added that all the managers should give some space to their subordinates as everyone needs breathing room. He ended the speech by saying that, "Nothing kills the spirit of your subordinates quicker than a boss standing over every move that needs to be made".

In order for us to understand better about this micromanagement, let me gives some quickie and simple explanation. The word micro by definition means too close for comfort. In a business term, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of their employees. Normally, macro-managers will give general instructions on smaller tasks while supervising larger concerns but micro-managers in contrast monitors, assess and intervene in every steps involved. This can be related to the term commonly used by Malays as "Gila Kuasa" (in can be right or wrong depends on the context).

Another friend of mine shared her views on this micromanagement. She told us that her boss is practicing this micromanagement concept in their organization. The boss (a guy) is controlling everything until the extent that everyone feels hard to breath and gets fed-up with their routine works. Everyone feels de-motivate, no mood to work and this definitely leads to poor performance of the organization. They feel threatened, unwanted and less appreciated when every move they take has to go through the manager. It seems like the manager has no trust in them and they have no rights to say though the manager claimed that he is open to opinions/views. My friend added that the office environment is no longer as merrier as before. No more happy faces, no more proactive moves, no more enthusiastic working styles and many other no more thingy to be listed. They just work for the sake of working and earning monthly salary.

In one case scenario to prove about her annoying micromanage manager, my friend said that during the preparation for a farewell party (her VP was promoted as a Senior VP and relocated to the Asia Pacific HQ in Australia), her boss monitored and controlled every single items such as type of foods, decoration styles, seating arrangement and even the font of the invitation cards. We couldn't imagine how suffer she is and other colleagues of her. While enjoying our hot coffee, we agreed and made our conclusion that micromanagement can lead to disaster and a manager should be a person who is well respected for their leadership qualities and one who gets consensus among his/her subordinates.

Monday 12 February 2007

A week without rice

Had some discussions with a Fitness Pro yesterday during my workout time. I know this guy quite well cos I always asked him many things related to fitness and workout routines. From him I learnt on some new techniques and equipments. The good thing is, I don't have to pay him anything cos he gave me free consultation every time I asked him so. This is the good part of him; share his knowledge. Out of all Fitness Pro and Personal Trainers there, he's the only one who has a degree in Sports Science. No wonder he sounds so good in this.


But good things never last for long. Yesterday, during my workout time he told me that he just got an offer from the government as a sports officer in Ministry of Higher Education. His new role is to oversee and monitor the performance of Malaysian athletes under the government scholarship program. I wish him good luck in his new career!


When we met yesterday, he gave me some tips to control my diet. The first one is, he asked me not to consume rice for a week. Wah, so extreme! What a good suggestion; a week without rice. He told me that if I really do that and discipline myself, I can see the difference. Obviously! Well, I can give myself a try but a week without rice sounds a bit difficult to me as I'm a typical Malay who consumes rice in most of my heavy meals. This will be a great challenge to me but I told him that I can't start next week cos got a few wedding invitations to attend and furthermore I'll go back to my hometown. He laughed at me and said that I'll gain some weights after the holidays.


His advice is simple. Avoid rice consumption for the whole week and try to practice fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. Apart from practicing a healthy lifestyle, fasting on these two days also is a part of sunnah and strongly recommended by Prophet Muhammad. To cover the rice portion, he advised me to take some meats and vegetables and at the same time avoid those oily foods.


He also asked me to drink 100 plus before I sleep at night and in the morning when I wake up as his second tip. I argued with him that 100 plus contains excessive amount of sugar and this can lead us to the diabetic problem. At least, this is what I heard before but he argued back and said that I'm wrong in my argument. I have nothing much to say as I'm not expert in this. Maybe I should ask a dietician to clarify this.


So, a week with no rice huh? Dare to take this challenge?? Let us see the result together!

Sunday Workout

I went to my gym yesterday after for so long never been there on Sundays. Well, actually I enjoy going there on Sundays as not so many people are there. Giving me more spaces to move around and try all the equipments there. During weekdays, the gym is always packed especially during the peak hours; 6.00 pm onwards; after office hour.

As usual, I started my workout with running on the treadmill as my cardio exercise. Not bad as this will let myself sweating. I was thinking of joining cycling class (in the cycling studio) later as not so many people there. To me, this will make me more comfortable as I consider myself as a beginner in cycling. Too bad cos the class started a bit late. So, without wasting time, I went up to the resistance area to do other routines. Honestly, I never join any classes there although they offer many classes like cycling, yoga, pilates, body pump, body combat, dancing and many more to be listed. The good part is they have separate session for different levels; beginner, intermediate and expert. Actually, I'm too shy to join alone unless there is a friend or someone whom I know joining together. :-P

After 2 hours in the gym, I went back home and had a nice balanced healthy meal while listening to soothing music. Planned to go to MPH Mid Valley for reading but too tired until I felt into sleep. What a nice if everyday in my life is Sunday…..

Sunday 11 February 2007

Stranger Than Fiction

I think I should update my movie list after concentrating on other topics. Honestly, I have no time to watch movie these days and furthermore no nice movies on show so far but I think those nice movies are coming to the cinema next month; Ghost Rider, Norbit, Music and Lyrics etc. At least got a few in my checklist! :)

So, for those with kids you might consider to watch Norbit; another comedy movie starred by Eddie Murphy. I guess it's funny from the preview but certain values and elements shown are not so good or suitable for kids. Anyway, it's just for fun!

Well, got the chance to watch another movie last nite; Stranger Than Fiction. When I bought the ticket, I had no idea in mind about this movie. Just the title caught my attention.

This movie is about a guy, Harold Crick (starred by Will Ferrell) who is working as a tax agent with IRS (better known as IRB/LHDN is Malaysia). In one morning, he starts to hear a female voice that is narrating in detail his every action, thought and feeling. He feels so strange cos he's the only one who hears the voice. This female voice is actually comes from a lady author who are at the same time writing about him; without her knowing that the character is alive and totally affected by her writing.

The life of Harold Crick turns upside down after he gets to know that he's facing death sooner from the female voice. From that point, he starts his searching for the author in his mission to ask the author to change the ending part. Yeah, he is taking the right move as not only him but also everyone will do the same when knowing about own death. During the time, there are many events happened and you have to watch on your own (the director warned me not to do so!) :-P

A for me, this movie is quite bored as I was almost felt into sleep for few times during the screening. Nothing so special though the subject is quite nice and interesting. The subject alone can't make this movie special unless supported by nice scenes and characters. Not to say I'm disappointed but actually my expectation is a bit higher for this type of movie.

Friday 9 February 2007

Santai Kitchen

According to Maslow's Hierarchical of Needs, one of the basic needs for every human being is food. No matter what, we still have to eat and consume something for our body. Simple analogy to relate with this is a car and energy (petrol etc.). A car cannot move without energy and commonly we use petrol as the source of energy. So, food acts similar as petrol; to give energy to our body so that we can still survive to carry out our duties on this earth.

Actually, I have no intention of giving lecture on the human basic needs or whatsoever related but just to share about nice place to eat. As I always mentioned about the concept of sharing, so here is another info sharing or better I regard this as my recommendation on nice places to eat in Klang Valley.

I was supposed to go to my gym and doing my regular workout routines last nite but since the meeting was only adjourned at 7.00 pm, I had no choice but to cancel my initial plan.

Instead of sweating myself, I turned 360 degrees and totally changed the plan. My friend and I went for our dinner at 'Santai Kitchen' in Tesco Mutiara Damansara. Well, this posting is the first in my new label, place to eat. I'll try my best to give some quick reviews and recommendations based on a few criteria such as the price, type of food, ambience, cleanliness etc.

Santai Kitchen is located at the lower ground of Tesco Mutiara Damansara. It's opposite Madam Lim Restaurant and just next to D'Kayu Restaurant. It's just a simple shop with a mini playground next to it (the playground isn't belong to them). Perfect for those who come with small kids. When you are enjoying your meals, your children can play at the playground within your visibility and monitoring. For those who are looking for affordable food but particular in the cleanliness and hygiene, you won't be disappointed with this Santai Kitchen. It's clean, neat, organized with friendly service. They just received the award from Bernas as 'The Chosen Restaurant of Bernas'.

This restaurant offers local cuisines and Thai Food. Just the taste of Malaysians though most of the workers are Indonesians. I think even the cooks are also from that neighbouring country but they can cook Malaysian and Thai styles foods nicely. You can have variety of foods like rice with different dishes; just mention any and they will not disappoint you (as long as you order the local cuisines). Besides the Tesco Mutiara Damansara branch, they have another two branches; Santai Restaurant in TTDI and Warung Santai in Tesco Ampang.

So, finally my reviews are:

Taste : Excellent (just my type)

Ambience : Good (a very simple concept)

Price : Reasonable and affordable (value for money) ; definitely a bit higher in comparison to the hawkers/street foods

*Please noted here that my recommendation on the price is based on my income and it differs from one person to another (based on your income and budget).


If you wish to try this restaurant, please check this address out!

Address : Santai Kitchen

Lot 210, Ground floor

Tesco Mutiara Damansara

Gong Zou Yu Kuai

Now, I can put a smile whenever I feel of blogging from my office. Last time, I couldn't do much except saving all my postings as drafts in my hard disk. This was happened due to the network policy and certain restrictions implemented in my office environment.

I just discovered a new way of publishing my posting; using Microsoft Office 2007. It's cool, man!!! I never think of publishing my posting straight away from Word as my normal practice is saving everything in Word and transfer it in blog editor. Now, I can cut short the steps and make my life easier. What to do, no turning back for me anymore once I started my ramblings here. Since then, I get attached already. J

Well, I should take this opportunity to openly thank my colleague (senior is the best word) for sharing and giving me this idea. Her idea is to publish through OneNote; another product of Microsoft. She's a hardcore fan of Bill Gates' team. No jokes, it's true! Anyway, thanks again for opening the door for me.

Before I forget, just to share with you that Bill Gates is no longer the CEO for Microsoft and he's now a full time philanthropist; managing his own foundation. What a nice for the richest man on earth now.

Hmm, let me think where to start. Okay, just to share my diary yesterday. I was attending a meeting until 7.00 pm and considered late to me (my definition of late changes after getting a new boss). Last time, I don't mind to work late and I really mean it! 8.00 pm or even 10.00 pm never considered as late to me but the definition is no longer exist and was taken out from my dictionary of life. Now, late for me is when I have to leave the office after 6.00 pm. I'm still giving myself half an hour to settle down any backlogs or anything that I should complete on that day and that's it. Thirty minutes is more than enough and I'm too generous for that. I have to be stingy and calculative. Yeah, I'm very calculative now!

In many books I have read before (i.e Rule of Work and many others), all suggested and agreed that the leadership is the de-facto that motivate or de-motivate all the members in any organization. Oh, before I get more forgetful, let me share with you excerpt of an article sent by one of my colleagues entitled "Why Employees Leave Organizations? By Mr. Azim Premji, CEO of Wipro". In that article, he mentioned clearly on this:

"If you are losing good people, look to their boss. Boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he/she is the reason why people leave. When people leave, they take knowledge, experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition."

One ever said, "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him/her into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job".

So, what say you? I have nothing much to comment but for sure I'll say "Yes, definitely and I'm totally agree with that!"

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone "Gong Zou Yu Kuai!"

Thursday 8 February 2007

The Boomerang Philosophy

In my previous posting, I did mention about the rule of karma. I stated clearly that whatever you did to others will go back to you. Besides the karma, I mentioned another principle called the wheel philosophy. The concepts of both are almost the same and the morale is, don't be cruel to others.

What I want to share in this posting is something related to the above mentioned philosophies. It is in my term, I called it as The Boomerang Philosophy. Before we get to understand about this rule, let us have a snapshot and overview on what boomerang is. With a brief understanding on what a boomerang is, it will be much easier for me to discuss on the philosophy behind this traditional 'device'.

Okay, let us start now. I don't want to waste time here cos I got lots more to discuss in this posting. A boomerang is a simple wooden implement used for various purposes like hunting, religious and recreational activities. It is synonym to Australia, the world famous "country of the boomerang". However, the origin is still not clear cos almost the similar but in other forms are also found amongst peoples of Africa, Europe and Egypt. The Australian Aborigines have used boomerangs for many thousands of years. The name of the boomerang itself comes from the Indigenous Australian Turuwal tribe of aborigines who lived south of Sydney, Australia.

How the boomerang works? A boomerang is an aerofoil (shape of a wing or blade or sail as seen in cross section); air travels faster over one surface of an aerofoil than the other, as the air is accelerated. Traditionally, boomerang is in a flat shape. When the boomerang is thrown with high spin, the wings produce lift. Because of its rapid spinning, a boomerang flies in a curve rather than a straight line. When thrown correctly, a boomerang returns to its starting point or called 'return gracefully to the thrower'. What a nice if you can capture the meaning behind all these!! Or you have the same idea as what is in my mind… J

Never mind if you don't. I will try my best to give a thorough understanding on this Philosophy of Boomerang. Please bear in mind that the paragraph above is the most important cos I will give my explanation based on that. The whole idea of this philosophy is summarized as below:

A boomerang is an aerofoil; air travels faster over one surface of an aerofoil than the other, as the air is accelerated.

He/she can talk a lot, dominate, say whatever feels so, do whatever wish to because he/she is in power. Nobody can object and all the subordinates have to listen and do whatever been directed. The helm is theirs. Because they are in power and have the authority to do whatever they wish to, they feel arrogant and blaming their subordinates if anything bad happen but when the thing is doing well, they will claim that it is their work; giving credits, appraisals to themselves with no shame. All the blames go to others and all the credits go to them. This is what they believe. Please be reminded that The Almighty God is just and fair to everyone!

Traditionally, it is in a flat shape

This means that he/she is closed minded, narrow and very much self-centric person. The flat shape means he/she cannot accept others' opinions/views/comments/arguments/justifications and always think that others are wrong and only he/she is correct in everything! He/she is obsolete; uncle or auntie type with old school of thought that is no longer acceptable in today's community. In easy way, he/she has nothing; flat. Talk with no substance or better regards as "talk cock!"

When the boomerang is thrown with high spin, the wings produce lift

When he/she keeps on crediting and praising oneself in front of others, this makes them become arrogant and extremely over confident. In Malay culture it is called as "angkat bakul sendiri" (lift your own basket). When he/she feels great and over confident, he/she will simply look down at others and at the same time downgrade them or even worse, insulting and embarrass them. They will try their best to show off and portray themselves as 'Mister or Madam Knows Everything'. Stupid!

Because of its rapid spinning, a boomerang flies in a curve rather than a straight line

Because of the non-stop talking nonsense and praising themselves, he/she is seen as someone who cannot be trusted. His/her talk is regarded as rubbish; no substance and no credibility. People make fun of them and laugh at the same time instead of giving their respect. A straight line is always been regarded as a trustworthy and straight-forward person whereby a curve in contrast is someone who cannot be trusted and always make things complicated. This kind of people always go beyond their territory and assume that they are the one who should lead and do others' job but ironically at the same time, they always mention to others not to do something across the border or beyond the territory. So ironic!

When thrown correctly, a boomerang returns to its starting point

So, as the result of their own behavior, whatever they do, their talks, actions that really annoy others will by God's will return back to them. They pay back whatever they ought to. The boomerang will return perfectly and gracefully to its own thrower. And during that time, everyone will laugh at them or at least put cynical smiles to their stupidity. This kind of person deserves such behavior, so that they know that people feel so disgusting and their presence is very unwelcomed and annoyed. Another thing, they are the most hypocrite people who are still alive on this earth. With their hypocrisy and pretentious attitude made them look so ugly and they themselves are too confident until cannot sense that everybody around them is actually realized their unwelcomed behaviors.

Well, I think now you are very clear with my idea and the whole concept of Boomerang Philosophy based on my descriptions and thorough explanation above. Or at least you know how the boomerang works and relates it in our life. I am not saying that boomerang is bad but please be careful if you are practicing this boomerang philosophy. It can easily and silently kills you with no mercy. Don't ever play with fire!

Finally, before I wrap up this posting, please bear in mind that boomerang once been thrown will return gracefully to its thrower and remember of the Boomerang Quotes below:

"Remember, you are the target!" a traditional warning to beginning hurlers.

Tuesday 6 February 2007

Consumer Rights

Yesterday, I went to my gym for another workout session. Reached there around 6.00 pm but couldn’t get any space to park my car; ended up driving around for three times until I get the desired parking space. I felt like doing ‘tawaf’ ; one of the Haj and Umrah pillar but in a modern context. Yeah, I was driving but for tawaf, you have to walk around the Kaabah for seven times. Last time, I never encountered any parking problem as I was on bike.

While walking towards the entrance, I saw Rizal, the sales guy of Cali and asked him about my membership upgrade. Just to share the overview about the membership. Currently I hold a gold membership, which is one club membership. Since I chose SC Tower club, I am not entitle for other clubs like Mid Valley. Since my one-year term is going to end this month, I was thinking of upgrading it to the Platinum membership, which giving me access to all clubs and branches of Cali. The benefit is much better but my idea is, I want to have a better monthly fee as other friends of mine are enjoying now. Can you imagine, I have to pay almost RM 150 per month for one club whereby other friends of mine enjoying Platinum membership with monthly fee of only +-RM130. Wow, what a surprise!! As a consumer, I felt cheated and demanded them to give me the same price as my friends.

Last time, I had an argument session with former GM of SC Branch, Julian and he introduced me with another tricky plan called Infiniti. Rizal, the sales guy strongly didn’t encourage me to join that plan. Now Julian is in Mid Valley branch and the new GM for SC is Helen; a nice lady. I had another minor argument session with her last week after been approached by another sales guy with another tricky plan. :p Why I said tricky…let me explain. When the guy approached me, he told that I can upgrade my membership to platinum and my monthly fee is just RM 95. Wow, so impressive!! But, I have to sign up in advance for 3 years. Means, I have to pay for three years; RM 95 x 36 = +-RM 3420 Nonsense!! I complaint to Helen, the new GM and surprisingly she told me that the plan is her idea. Creative marketing as she claimed. Sigh.

So, when I was with Rizal yesterday, Helen saw us and she came and joined us. Out of my expectation, she could still remember my name and called me with the name. I was stunned cos we just met for once. I think maybe because of my strong characteristic and the way I argued with her and others there made her to remember my name. Maybe I made their work harder. Hehe Well, I just practice my right as a consumer.

At least I was happy yesterday after signing for my membership termination. Both Rizal and Helen asked me to do so as this is the best option for me at the moment. Once my membership is terminated, I can apply as a new bird and enjoy a better deal. Thanks for their creative thinking!! :p

I was about to put a full stop for this article but a call from another sales person stopped me from doing so. This had nothing to do with my gym membership. This young lady I supposed called me and said I was chosen as a lucky person to enjoy some privileges under the Visit Malaysia Year campaign. The modus operandi is very simple. She asked me few questions on my credit cards to confirm that I am using it. Luckily, I read about this and mentioned to her that I am not interested. She then hung up the phone with no words. So rude!!

As for the conclusion, I strongly encourage each and every one of us to practice our rights as consumers. The choice is with us and as consumers, we have the buying power. We can always say no to them.

Monday 5 February 2007

Babel

I tried to publish this posting last week but due to the network problem, I didn't manage to do so. Just to share about the latest movie in my list; Babel. Classified as 18PL with the running duration time of 2 hours 24 minutes, Babel is another movie to be considered in your movie checklist.

This movie has been nominated in 7 different categories for Academy Awards and won several other awards in different categories. Although we shouldn't consider about the number of awards received to consider any movie, but this movie has its own values that differ from others.

Starred by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, this movie used the background of mainly 3 different countries; Morocco, Mexico and Japan. Babel is all about a married American couple with a pair of cute kids who is on holiday to Morocco with the mission of saving their marriage. The two kids are left home with their Mexican nanny.

While the couple and their tourist group are on a bus tour across a remote Moroccan desert, the wife was shot by two Moroccan boys with a rifle bought by their father for own hunting purposes. These two boys with no intention had involved in an accidental crime that created chaotic and led to a strained diplomatic relationship between The United States and Moroccan Government. Throughout the movie, there is a chain of events on the struggling of the couple to survive. This movie shows how a loving and responsible husband tries his best to save the life of his wife with the help from local Moroccan people.

The western media made the incident as their hot news and broadcasted all over the globe with the mala fide accusation that the incident was another crime committed by Muslim terrorists. Since the incident happened in a Muslim country, the westerners start to put the blame on the Muslim separatist groups; their old propaganda.

Far away from Morocco, the nanny who is in charge of taking care of the two kids (the American couple's kids) illegally crossing into Mexico from The States with the two kids with her. She made a stupid decision to attend her only son's wedding in Mexico. Initially, Brad Pitt in his phone call asked her not to go anywhere and take care of his two kids while he is struggling to save his wife. Her stupid decision had threatened the safety of the two kids.

Another nice character in this movie is about a rebellion deaf and mute Japanese girl whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo. The link between all these three backgrounds/plots comes from the rifle been used to shoot Cate Blanchett. The rifle is owned and registered under the name of this Japanese man. He then gave the rifle to his Moroccan driver after his hunting trip in Morocco. That driver was then sold the riffle to another Moroccan man, whose son used to shoot Blanchett.

It might be complicated with three different backgrounds but the genius director; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was able to make it harmony by his own directing skills.

Anyway, if you are not someone who has the passion in heavy humanity subject, this movie will not be your choice and I’m pretty sure that you will suffer while watching it.

The choice is yours! Happy viewing….!