Staying Safe in my Cocoon

I feel safe from the world, especially in-laws, out-laws, and what not. Just get preoccupied with blogging and work by the computer writing articles and doing student assignments to keep me mentally active. So far, I had written student assignments for a medical student on Cryotherapy, a hospitality and hotel student in creating a menu and explaining my choices and opening a restaurant, for a Computer Science student on a written article about the effects of technology on Children, Business articles, etc. WriterBay is a good platform but tries not to be penalised for plagiarism, delays, etc. The fines can be quite hefty!

Saga, Persona drive Proton sales up 13% in October to 5,083 car

Proton recorded stronger sales in October 2017, up 13% from September with the Saga and Persona being the most popular choices.

The national car maker said on Sunday the sales in October rose to 5,083 units from 4,498 units in September 2017.

During the January-October period, sales rose 6% to 61,380 units compared with 57,734 units in the previous corresponding period.

“The Saga and Persona continue to dominate the trend, both contributing 70% to the overall Proton car sales, with 26,343 units of Saga and 16,833 units of Persona sold,” it said.

“Known as the Value for Money Car, the Saga continues to remain as Proton’s most popular choice among Proton owners,” it said.

From as low as RM35,590.29 (excluding insurance and road tax) for a 1.3 litre standard to RM44,342.25 for a 1.3L Premium CVT, the new Saga offers great drivability, performs much more smoothly and has modern and practical convenient features like three USB ports for mobile charging and excellent audio play.

Proton said in terms of safety, the Saga has also been upgraded to four-star Asean NCAP with the Premium variant having advanced features like the ESC, ABS, EBD, traction control, brake assist, hill hold assist, airbags, ISOFIX and top-tether, with all-around sensors.

The Persona, which received an award for Best Compact Car after it was launched, saw a 57.5% increase year-to-date with 16,833 units sold compared to 10,687 units a year ago.

The new generation Persona has not only received an entirely new look but also has 510 litres of boot space, making the car a popular choice among a wider range of customers.

The Persona is suited for college students, soccer moms, young executives, small family or even active souls.

Its starting price is RM44,831.09 (excluding insurance and road tax). The five-star NCAP car is equipped with all-around sensors, ESC, ABS with EBD, brake assist, traction control system and hill-hold assist as standard features across all variants.

Proton vice president of sales & marketing Abdul Rashid Musa encouraged customers to take advantage of “our Amazing 5 Value promotion that is currently running, with RM0 maintenance fee for up to five years and savings of up to RM8,000 for a Proton car”.

“The RM0 maintenance includes parts, engine oil and labour charges for a hassle-free maintenance and peace of mind to our customers. From just RM398 a month, you can bring home a champion,” Rashid added.

Many Articles to Write

There are many trip articles to write like Trip101, TripZilla, TripCanvas, TripHobo, etc. Trip101 is from Singapore while the rest could be from Malaysia, India and Indonesia. They pay quote all right, not too much and neither too little. You are paid just enough to motivate you to continue but you won't get rich this way. It is hard work with hours of research and curated articles. But it certainly keeps me on my toes all the time. Also, need to save up some cold hard cash for my coming overseas trip later in December, just before Christmas, where I shall return to Penang.

I love reading

My writing has improved by leaps and bounds. I read a lot of daily newspapers, financial magazines and the like. It has helped me in my writing work and blogging for some revenue. I am always hustling and hate to idle; because an idle mind is the devil's workshop. When you are free and idle, you start thinking of ways to get back at people and hurt them to feel better - some obnoxious people are born this way. Anyway, I shall dwell on the positive and hope to improve myself even further by doing a successful e-commerce so that I am not at the mercy of my boss cum friend with a very hot-temper and unpredictable. Then, I can have time and money freedom to do the things that I love like writing, blogging, selling and fulfilling orders.

Just Flew Back from KL

We set the alarm clock at 5:00am this morning to board the early flight at 6:20am by Firefly from Penang International Airport to Subang Airport in Subang Jaya, KL. We had a meeting at around 9:30. By politeness of kings, punctuality is key. There were 4-5 people inside the room and just the 2 of us. Personally, I don't feel too comfortable attending this particular interview where there are so many other competitors attendning at the same time. After returning to Subang Airport by Grab car for $39 one way, we had lunch at Secret Recipe where I ordered vegetarian lasagne and pure orange juice. We touched down Penang at 3:30pm, also by Firefly and went to collect company t-shirts for our workers, currently working in a factory where wearing uniforms is a must.

Happy Deepavali

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my readers a very Happy Deepavali. The kolam above was snapped below my condo unit of Phase 2 Penang Times Square on the ground floor of M Mall, started by the head honcho of Mr Teddy Teoh himself. Because of him, Ivory and Penang Times Square has revived and been rejunenated to a happening place. It used to attract Star Walk organisers before the controversial news came out. Well, everything is quiet now and back to normalcy.

The kolam, or hand-spread designs of coloured rice beads made into works of art, is very attractive and ushers in the Deepavali celebration for the Indians. The kolam above was taken at Empire Subang Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, near Subang Jaya. The design is indeed intricate and breathtaking. I love the contrast of colours and art.

This purple themed kolam of an elephant head was taken at Straits Quay ground floor, where Matta fair was held on the 6th floor of the convention hall. Don't you find this design amazing? Well, happy holidays and Happy Deepavali again!

My boss is coughing

My boss is coughing and a little sick now. Well, he is also my spouse and we stay together just for doing the business in a team. Otherwise, we have our respective families to turn to in case of help. We merely work as a team for a win-win basis to put food on the table for all our foreign workers and local ones, including our families, etc. Most of his cohorts at his age and classmates of Baby Boomers are already retired and down with sickness. But he is still healthy, able to drive 400km with stops in between and have been doing this for the last 13 years since we met. I pray for his speedy recovery, so that he can continue to helm the company

Pay Day

Today is supposed to be pay day, but my boss was too busy and tired, he postponed to tommorrow. There's just so many things to do each day and I enjoy the freedom to work at home, taking power naps when mentally tired. Just saw the news on Astro CNN that 50 people were dead and 400 injured in Las Vegas massacre. My prayers go to the victims and their families. Indeed this is a fallen world and we certainly need God's protection wherever we go and have the Holy Spirit inside us as beacon of light to guide us through this treacherous path of life. May perpetual light shine upon the just departed souls and be in a better place.

3 Piles of Books

Yesterday, treated my family to M Galleria at Times Square and then my second sister handed me 3 big piles of books, some on Art while others are on different topics. Well, I plan to read them through myself and sell via Mudah cheaply for some revenue. There are treasures from childhood that my parents, especially mum bought for my sisters and myself. She invested a lot of money in our reading materials together with dad who used to work as an English teacher in a remove class in a Chinese secondary school. Well, he is now retired and enjoying his retirement with monthly pension to spend.

10 Articles to Write

Even though this month I have 10 articles of at least 1,000 words each to write, I may not accept all of them, depending on time and availability to write. I have just started with the first article and was halfway through writing it when my supervisor gave me more work. So, I had to stop writing and complete the office work first before resuming my article. I am also in the midst of finetuning my OpenCart ecommerce site to accept sales online, especially for Christmas season. I don't plan to go with Shopify even though it is easier to set up and all automatic like Wordpress, but the USD 29 / month puts me off!

10 Articles to Write this Month

I have 10 articles to complete this month, but will take my time to do them and may not even complete all of them - depending on my mood. I could be in a writing marathon, but with constant revisions, this puts me off. And it requires lots of hard work, typing at the keyboard while copy and paste the URL links into the travel site system which has an automatic word count. If only I am famous blogger or powerful media influencer, I could earn much more in the region of thousands just by blogging for products and cash. Some of the bloggers are happily traveling around USA and some lesser known ones have quit their stressful jobs to work at home as a lifestyle blogger. Now how fortunate is that?

10 Thematic Museums in Penang You Mustn't Miss

1. Wax Fun-Filled Museum

The wax fun-filled museum in Penang Times Square has a wide repertoire of famous personalities including the head honcho of M-Mall, Mr Tedy Teoh himself at the entrance. There are also Mr and Mrs Smith, Madonna, Queen Elizabeth, Barrack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Michelle Yeoh, amongst the exhibits. For the disabled, it is free entrance as long as you can product your disability card as proof.

The address is as below:

Opening Hours Mon - Sun, 10am - 10pm
Website https://www.facebook.com/penangwaxmuseum/
Entrance Fee Adult: RM35
Children: RM15
Special Needs: Free
Student: RM15
MyKad Holders:
Adult: RM25
Children: RM10
Address: M Mall 020, Jalan Dato Keramat, George Town, 10150, Penang, Malaysia.

2. Upside Down Museum

As the name suggests, Upside Down Museum has everything inside it upside down. When you take photos, it gives an illusion that you are upside down instead. Tables, chairs, etc were strategically placed and stuck firmly to the ceiling so that they will not fall down. If you happen to be in Penang, don't give this a miss. The address is as below:

Address: 45, Lebuh Kimberley, George Town, 10100 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Phone:04-264 2660
Hours: Mondays to Sundays : 9:00AM – 6:30PM

3. 3D Glow in the Dark Museum

3D Glow in the Dark Museum or simply known as Dark Mansion has a kaleidoscope of attractions in the dark. Colourful lights and mirrors play a magical illusion of imagination for your photo taking. There's infinity room, stars and moonlight, mysterious tropical gardens of Pandora, masterpiece of Edgar Müller and more. It is worth paying this place a visit, even though it is not so well known compare to Upside Down Museum which always has a long queue of tourists and buses of school going children. They are just doors aways from each other. The address is as below:

Address: 145, Lebuh Kimberley, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Phone: 04-251 9694
Hours: Mondays to Sundays : 10:00AM – 6:30PM

4. Wonderfood Museum

In Wonderfood Museum Penang you can get to see many local foods display such as big bowl size of laksa, nasi lemak, chendol, satay and so on. The exhibits look very real, but they are not edible. They showcase the local delights of Penang hawker fare of street foods, except in gigantic size. It is worth paying this place a visit should you be in Penang. The address is below:

Address: 57, Lebuh Melayu, 10300 Georgetown, Penang.
Phone: +6012-435 0968
Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 10am-7pm
Weekends & Public Holidays 10am-9pm
Ticket Price: Malaysian: Adult RM18, Child RM8
Non-Malaysian: Adult RM36, Child RM16

5. Toys Museum

Touted as the world’s largest toy museum, tt is home to over 100,000 dolls, trains and other collectibles. Moreover, it has earned a spot in the Malaysian Book of Records as Malaysia's first toy museum. For the record, the most expensive toy at the complex is a RM9000 Gundam robot from Japan. The owner claimed to have spent millions of dollars collecting the toys for the museum. The address is as below:

Opening Hours: Daily, 09:00 – 21:00 (last admission 20:30)
Location: Beside SJK (C) Eok Hua School
Address: 1370, MK2, Teluk Bahang, 11050 Penang.
Tel: +6012 460 2096

6. Owl Museum

Despite the name, there are no real or stuffed owls inside Owl Museum. What you have here are many figurines, glasses, frames of pictures, carved wooden owls and the like. Souvenirs like owl necklaces, t-shirts, soft toys and more are sold here in this compact museum that is located at Penang Hill. The address is as below:

Address: Level B3, Astaka Bukit Bendera, Jalan Tunku Yahaya Petra, Bukit Bendera, 10000 Penang Hill, Penang
Phone:04-826 5704
Hours: Mondays to Sundays : 9:00AM – 6:00PM

7. Glass Museum

The entrance fees are as below:
Malaysians: RM15 (Adult), RM7 (Kid 3-12yrs)
Non-Malaysians: RM20 (Adult), RM10 (Kid 3-12yrs)

The address is below:
Address: 6, Jalan Burma, 10050 Penang, 10050 Penang, Malaysia
Business Hours:
Mon-Fri: 9:30 am – 6:00 pm
Sat: 9:30 am – 5:00 pm

8. TeddyVille Museum

Experience the cute teddy bears @ Teddyville Museum Penang. It showcases a huge collection of adorable bears from yesteryears till now. It also has miniature teddies and even human-sized ones; there’s a teddy here to suit every taste. The address is below:

Address: 54, Jalan Low Yat, Puncak Ria, 11100 Batu Feringghi, Pulau Pinang
Phone:016-550 5949
Hours: Opens only on Saturdays and Sundays : 9:00AM – 6:00PM
Mondays to Fridays: closed.

9. Penang State Museum

From Wikipedia, The Penang State Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It is maintained by the government of Penang to showcase the culture and art in Penang. The address is below:

Address: Lebuh Farquhar, George Town, 10200 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Hours: Saturdays to Thursdays : 9:00AM – 5:00PM
Fridays: Closed
Phone: 604-226 1462

10. Batik Painting Museum

There are about 70 Batik Paintings being showcased in this Museum. Over 25 artist are represented including the famous Khalil Ibrahim, Tay Mo-Leong (Dato'), Fatimah Chik and more. The address is below:

Address: 19, Lebuh Armenian, George Town, Penang.
Tel: 04 262 4800
Opening times: Daily, 10am-5pm

Kizuna - The Japanese Restaurant in Penang Times Square

Kizuna Japanese Restaurant had reinvented itself from a lack of customers for being too pricey to being affordable with high class ambience. Above is a photo of the surroundings with Japanese paintings of ladies adorning the otherwise bare walls.

This is taken outside the restaurant in Phase 1 of Penang Times Square on the ground floor. Colourful umbrellas serve as part of the decorations that is reminiscent of Japanese culture.

A life-size mannequin in Japanese costume with the trademark umbrella stands beside the logo near the entrance. She looks awesome in kimono, the national costume of Japan.

Here is another picture for your eye candy. She is standing between 2 lamp posts while holding the signature umbrella below the sign board and logo. This certainly reminds me of Japan and I feel that I am already in this unique country where politeness and bowing of heads to greet one another as part of the culture rules. One can never go wrong by being polite and honest.

My friend ordered fried rice as he loves his carbohydrates and some prawns. It serves authentic and unique Japanese cuisine.

I had cod fish with sliced black Shitake mushrooms and topped with Japanese black sauce. It cost RM 60 or around USD 13 per dish. The cod fish was fresh and sumptuous to taste with the black sauce and paired with black Shitake mushrooms. It was embellished with faux red flowers on the side.

The pink lighted trees and wooden bridge is for photo taking and forms part of the ambience of Kizuna near the entrance cum exit. The trees certainly brightens up the dim-lighted place which gives an aura of romance in the dark.

This is a small top-view aquarium with tiny fishes and located in the middle section of Kizuna Restaurant. Decorations are placed strategically for a good view and observation. For more details, check out the contact below:

Penang Times Square, George Town, Penang
Tel: 604-370 0268
Opens 12:00PM - 10:30PM

Chap Goh Meh Celebration at Quayside

On the 11th of February 2017 was 'Chap Goh Meh' celebration at Quayside condo. For those who do not know what this phrase means, 'Chap Goh Mei' itself is the 15th night of Chinese New Year in Hokkien which also marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. Above was God of Prosperity giving out ang pows consisting of 2 chocolate coins wrapped in golden paper to signify money. Quayside is an upscale condo near Straits Quay Mall in Tanjung Tokong.

There was a lion dance with accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Children were feted to ang pows, notwithstanding a few adults too collected them as well.

In this photo taken by me, many hands stretched out to collect their ang pows or red packets traditionally given out to unmarried singles by the married couples or in this case, by the God of Prosperity. The shed was erected by a beach since Quayside is a seaside condo with many facilities like swimming pools, Jacuzzis, gym and an air-con reading room.

We were treated to a buffet dinner, compliments of the fund collected by the condo management. Each person costs $40 and you have to turn up after signing up, or else your money will be forfeited and you have to pay instead. There is a wide repertoire of food like char kuay teow, fried prawns, vegetables, fish fillets, fried rice and noodles, drinks, desserts and more. For those who were early, they were treated to a plate of 'yee sang' where they can toss for good luck.

We were entertained with live band and music while dining outside with the buffet dinner. Security guards were stood at strategic places to ensure safety and that everything is in order. After dinner, many residents went back to their units while some stayed on to dance to the music and wait for the announcement of lucky draw prizes.

It took about 45 minutes for all the prizes to be given away, with some being contributed by fellow residents. Many numbers were called and had to be cancelled due to absence of the lucky draw holder. Finally when the first prize was announced, no one collected and it was gone. The master of ceremony then picked another number and this time, it was my number being called at 0845 and I got a free night stay for 2 at Lone Pine Hotel with breakfast included. The prize is easily worth at least $600 as Lone Pine Hotel is also a favourite seaside hotel with premium price that is affiliated to E & O, the developer of Quayside Condo.



Above is a short video that I took of the lion dance at Quayside prior to buffet dinner.

Still Drowsy

I woke up at 5:30am this morning, fire up the laptop to learn new stuffs online but I am still feeling drowsy. I know I had to do something about it and pick up new skills online via video trainings of Get Response with many features like autoresponder, newsletters, webinars, etc. Milking the internet cash cow is possible but you also must not be lazy and work smart. 20% of the results is due to 80% of the work from the 80/20 rule. Sometimes I beg to differ, as I could also be meeting the right people who could mentor you and fast track your income exponentially with success stories like Patrick Chan, his student Gerald Soh, etc. With internet marketing platforms like Facebook, Google Adwords, LinkedIn, etc, reaching the masses in a short number of time is now possible.

Creating Paypal Subscription

My regular client just cancelled my paypal subscription and wants me to create a new one with lower price as he will advertise on my PR 2 site with only 2 links instead of 3. The old Paypal was more user friendly with more features on one's account. Now with the new Paypal, I have to search around with no results. I did a search on internet how to create a paypal subscription for monthly pay but it was the old system that was shown on Youtube. So, I had no choice but to send an email to request for the steps to Paypal via their helpdesk. This client has been with me for the last 2+ years and every month, I get passive income, albeit 2 hundred ringgit just for the advertisement links on my niche site of website designing.

Staying at Mandarin Oriental on Saturday for 1 Night

I have to wake up at 5:15am tomorrow in order to leave the place by 6:00am to catch a flight with boarding time at 7:35am to Kuala Lumpur. My partner has an interview with an architect and on Saturday, we will head off to Mandarin Oriental Hotel to stay using the last 50% Elite Club Voucher that expires in February 2017. My spouse has already renewed the Elite Club membership for $888 for another year. After checking out, we will head to my small condo in Rhythm Avenue to rest before catching a plane back to Penang in the evening. I just pray for journey mercies and that the interview would be successful.

Orchids Odyssey at Gurney Plaza Penang

Orchids decorations have been splendidly displayed in an aisle along the new block of Gurney Plaza Penang building. Above is a shot of pretty orange orchids odyssey in a pot to spruce up the place with pizzazz and pomp. Chinese New Year is just around the corner, less than a month away, falling on the 28th and 29th January 2017 on a weekend. Since M Mall was set up early this year, I guess there has been silent competition amongst premier malls to decorate their place with nothing but the best attractions to pull in customers and tourists dollars.

The purple orchids above are more commonly seen in various places, especially Singapore where the orchid is their national flower. These flowers and plants need lots of sunshine and tender loving care with watering every day as the roots are exposed and normally placed in a pot of charcoal to hold the plants. One can never go wrong with orchids as these flowers are unique and takes more effort to plant and tend to.

Above is a full blossom of yellow orchids as part of the decoration which seems to compete for attention this year in Penang amongst the different malls. Tourist dollars are very lucrative and they are big spenders. Having changed to the country's currency, they will spend all of it and splurge on expensive souvenirs to bring back as momentos.

Here is a myriad of colours of the various orchid species placed together in this odyssey along the aisle. They look refreshing and gorgeous with a bursting display of colours. The green leaves are long and hard, succulent with water and photosynthesizes with the sun light and oxygen to make food needed for the orchid plants to grow healthily. If you love to see orchid flowers, then take a trip down to Penang’s Gurney Plaza Mall to digest in the beautiful sights specially arranged prior to Chinese New Year 2017.

1 Night Cruise on SuperStar Libra

On Christmas Eve, 24th December 2016, I spend a night cruise to the high seas on Genting's SuperStar Libra which departed from Swettenhem Pier, Penang. You can park your car nearby the private carpark and the counters were opened at 5:30pm in the evening for checking in to the ship. You have to surrender your NRIC and they will give you a card for all payment transactions on board the ship.

This was taken from deck 5 where the Christmas decorations were with Santa in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer in the center of the ship on deck 4 where you enter after scanning your bags for security reasons. Bright sparkling ornaments were used to decorate the atrium.

This was the entrance to the Chinese Restaurant which was heavily carpeted for a luxe feel and ambiance. Again, you had to scan your card given in exchange for your NRIC and a table number will be assigned based on the number of people. You could also request for window seat or center table where all the food were placed.

Since it was Christmas Eve, a nice gingerbread house with white icing and colourful candies was offered. A turkey with a plethora of vegetables on the side was also part of the food for the evening. It was semi-buffet with unlimited helping of Christmas chocolate log cake, salad, drinks, etc.

As it was Chinese set meal, we had vegetables with mushrooms and small abalones, fried prawns, steamed chicken, braised beancurd, soup and rice. You could also request for extra helping of the vegetables at no extra charge. The idea is to make you happy to come back and gamble; but for us, it was pure holiday on Christmas Eve and gambling was a no-no, so that we don't lose money unnecessarily and spoil the cruise which cost RM 868 for 2 persons. The price was hiked up on a peak season like during Christmas eve; otherwise, it would normally be around RM 500++ including port tax of RM 100.

This christmas tree was placed in the atrium where the counter are. It stands majestically and bedecked with sparkling baubles, tinsels and other groovy ornaments with the star of Bethlehem right at the top.

This was the duty free shop selling branded women's handbags, perfume, cosmetics, etc.

Above was my partner and myself in a casual chic blouse and pants.



Above was the video I took for the late night Christmas Eve performance by the crew. The ship captain gave a short speech followed by cake cutting for the crew. Thereafter, this was followed by caroling choir by a local church with a pastor and finally the lively performance by young foreigners. The spectators were given Christmas toys to blow and Santa hats of various designs much earlier, especially for the children.

We enjoyed our cruise to the high seas on Christmas eve till Christmas where we departed at around 11:00am after a buffet breakfast at the same Chinese restaurant. There were several other restaurants with one on the top deck with open air and swimming pool to cater to the larger than expected crowd. It was pure fun and joy and a Christmas that I will remember.