My Very First Blog

Yesterday, I received a gift from a friend. It was a small "thank you" gift for teaching her a few techniques in playing the piano. I didn't expect it at all, but when I saw what the gift was, I was like, OK, this is so not my kind of gift!

I know it is the thought that counts, so I do not blame my friend at all. It's just that the gift happened to be a KFC Voucher for 1 snack plate. And I do not fancy KFC. Or any fast food for that matter. Well, among all the fast foods out there, I really think KFC is one of the worst!



But you know, I am sure there are people out there who would love to receive this voucher. I am sure there are lots of people who love KFC. Although I must really advise them not to eat too much of it as it is very unhealthy.

Since I won't be using this voucher, it would be a waste if I just throw it away, right? So what better way than to pass this to my readers?

Now to make this fun, let's play a guessing game. I have recorded my piano performance of a song which you can listen to here.


Guess This Song.wav -

All you need to do is to guess the name of the song and the original artiste who played or sang this song. That's it!

The first person to answer correctly will get the KFC Voucher! This contest is open to all Malaysians. Non Malaysians can join in too, but obviously if you win, you will need to come to Malaysia to use this voucher as it is only valid in KFC outlets in West Malaysia only. You can guess as many times as you wish, but only your last answer will be accepted.

Happy Guessing and have a nice weekend, everyone!! : )

*HINT #1 : I have blogged about this song before in one of my posts.

**HINT #2 : Search for the right post under "Hit Songs" category/label.

***HINT #3 : The title of the song contains the word "Secret"

Have you heard of this card game called In-Between? If you gamble, most probably you would have played this game before. If you don't, then let me introduce you to this simple and fun game!

I think I have mentioned somewhere in my earlier posts that I am not much of a gambler. I don't usually play card games and I find learning them a little confusing. But In-Between is different! It is easy to learn, fun to play and can be very thrilling! If you are like me who don't really gamble and who don't quite like to play cards, then In-Between is for you!



Here's how you play the game.

1. Each player receives 1 card face-up.

2. Each player is then dealt a second card, also face-up, starting from the player to the left of the dealer in clockwise direction.

3. Each player at his turn, is offered to bet on whether or not the next card on top of the deck will numerically fall between the two cards he was dealt with.

4. The amount of the bet must be equal to or lower than the size of the pot. (Before the start of the game, every player contributes an equal amount agreed by all to kick start the pot)

5. Players can also decline to bet.

6. If the player bets and wins, he collects amount equal to his bet from the pot. If he loses, he places his bet into the pot.

7. Now here's the killer. If however the third card matches one of the two cards dealt to the player, he not only loses his bet, but is required to pay double the amount of his bet.

8. The game continues until someone wins the entire pot.

That's it! Simple?



Well, just to understand it better, let's take a look at this example.

A player is dealt 2 cards, one is a 3 and the other an 8. If he bets RM5 that the next card on the deck will fall between 3 and 8, and the card is 6, then he wins the RM5 taken from the pot. If the next card is a 10, then he loses his RM5 which will be added to the pot.

However, if the next card is a 3 or an 8, he loses and pays double ie. RM10!

What happens if a player receives 2 matching cards? In this case, there is no possibility of any card that can fall between the 2 matching numbers!

The same goes for a player who receives 2 cards which are very close to each other numerically like 3 and 4, or 7 and 8. There's no way the third card will fall in between those 2 numbers!

In such cases, the players can decline to bet.

The best hand in the game is when the 2 cards are very far apart numerically like an Ace and a King. The probability of the third card falling in between Ace and King is huge!

So players who receive these cards usually bet the whole amount of the pot! And if they win, they win big and the game ends. But if the third card happens to match one of their cards (and this can happen although chances are lower) then they really lose big as they then have to pay double the amount in the pot!




This game can be very thrilling and nerve wrecking! I remember during the Chinese New Year last month, I played this game with my friends, we started out with a meagre RM5 in the pot. Everyone initially bet very small amounts like 50sen and some even 10sen! But halfway through the game, people became greedy and the pot shot up to RM300!

I still remember how thrilling it was at that time. One friend was so confident he would win when he had cards with number 2 and King. So he bet the whole amount in the pot! Guess what? The third card was opened up to reveal a King! So he ended up paying double that is, RM600! In this way, the pot was suddenly increased to RM900!!

At one point in the game, I was sweating like mad. The pot had breached the RM1,000 mark and I just received cards with number 2 and Queen. Should I? Should I bet the whole pot? I could be RM1,000 richer or I could be RM2,000 poorer!!

Guess what I did? Well, I'm sorry to say I'm no gambler and I do not have the guts to gamble big. So I just bet RM200. Yes, that's the highest amount I have ever bet in my entire life! I was thinking the most I would lose is RM400. The cost of a Mamma Mia ticket! Or 4 buffet dinners at Jogoya. Or a month's supply of petrol. Or .....Oh, just do it, for God's sake!

The result? The third card was a 5. Yay! I won! But not RM1,000! Just RM200. If I had been more daring, I would have been RM1,000 richer that day!

Even though I won that RM200, I lost quite a bit in some rounds, so on the whole I still lost some money on that day. See? I told you I'm not much of a gambler. But you know, it's fun. This game is fun and thrilling. You should try it one of these days. Just make sure you don't turn into a compulsive gambler!

Now if the title of today's post reminded you of that famous Britney Spears' song, I can't blame you. She is most famous for that song right?

But I am not talking about Britney Spears today. If want to talk about celebrities, might as well talk about my favourite Mariah Carey. But no, today I am going to tell you what was it that I did again.

Well, do you still remember one of my previous posts about the restaurant in The Gardens that does not accept credit cards? You may want to refresh your memory here.

Last week, I went shopping with my friend at Mid Valley Megamall. After shopping, we were hungry and decided to go for early dinner. We could not decide where to go, when my friend suggested why not go to Fong Lye at The Gardens. When I heard that name, I was like, no way am I going there again! Not after what happened last time. I still remember I did not have enough cash in my wallet and they do not accept credit cards!

But my friend wanted to go very much. He insisted that he had enough money in his wallet to pay for the meals and there was no need for credit cards. Well, I was really hungry at that time, and seeing that I could not decide where else to go for dinner, I reluctantly agreed.

So off we went. I had this spare ribs with sweet and sour sauce. Absolutely yummy!!



My friend had this 3 Variety Supreme Diced Chicken.



He told me it was a little too salty. I tried one piece of the chicken and I did not think it was a little too salty. I thought it was way too salty! So I told him not to dip the chicken in the sauce which was the cause of the saltiness. It tasted better without the sauce.

Both our dishes came with a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup (not in picture) and three mini side dishes.



Luckily when it came to paying the bill, I did not have the same experience as last time. My friend did have the money to pay for our meals. Sorry if the title of my post seemed to suggest otherwise. Just a ploy to make you read my post. Haha!

But while at the counter, I decided to ask the counter staff again why they do not accept credit cards. She gave the same reply the previous staff gave me.

"Our boss does not accept credit cards."

Now please tell me, did she answer my question? She merely repeated my question and turned it into a statement!

So I proceeded to ask her where her boss came from? She said he's from Taiwan. So there you have it! A Taiwanese boss opening a Taiwanese restaurant in a prestigious shopping mall in Malaysia and not accepting credit cards as payment. Someone, anyone, please tell him this is not acceptable!

Yet, people still go there in droves. What the heck, I was there again, wasn't I?

Moral of the story? When you open a restaurant, as long as your food is delicious and the price is reasonable, you will get lots of customers no matter how you treat them!

This week is the MPH Sales week. If you are thinking of getting some good books, this is the time to get them! The books are going at 10% discount for non members and 15% discount for members from 18th to 22nd February 2009. However, members are entitled to an additional 5% discount on three days from 18th to 20th February 2009, which is of course too late now.

I bought a whole load of books last Wednesday to take advantage of the 20% discount for members. One of the books I bought is a book by a local author by the name of Lydia Teh. I am sure you have heard of her, right?

I have enjoyed her previous book, Honk! If You're Malaysian. It was one of the most entertaining books I have ever read! There were lots and lots of jokes on the Malaysian habits and way of life and I found them totally hilarious!

As such, I did not hesitate to get her latest book called Do You Wear Suspenders - The Wordy Tales of Eh Poh Nim. Well, the title already caught me there! How could I not get the book?

Here's the trailer for you to enjoy.



In conjunction with the release of the book, Lydia came out with a contest. Anyone can join and all you need to do is to put up this trailer on your blog and leave a comment at Lydia's blog with a link to your post. The contest ends on 20th March 2009 so hurry if you are interested! Visit Lydia's blog, Life's Like That for more details on the contest and the prizes on offer.

Today's post is rather short, isn't it? Well, that's because I can't wait to log off and immerse myself in the world of Eh Poh Nim!

Last Sunday, my friend invited me and a few other friends to a steamboat potluck party at her house in Sri Petaling. I initially wanted to turn it down as I was still having my flu and sore throat.

But after resting the whole day in bed during Valentine's Day, and taking loads of fruits and vegetables coupled with lots of immune strengtening bee pollen and spirulina, I felt much better on Sunday. Besides, I have been looking forward to this potluck party and I was determined not to let my flu stop me!

I could not decide what to bring for the potluck party but in the end, I settled for the infamous curry puffs from IKEA. Well, not a very good idea as I found out too late at my friend's house that she had a whole bucket of curry puffs laid out on the table! Well, too bad!

One of my friends picked me up from my house. Sitting in his car, this caught my attention.



It was Huan Huan, the 2008 Beijing Olympic mascot doll! Isn't he cute?

I was not surprised to see this doll hanging in my friend's car. It just caught my attention because my brother has the same doll in his car. What a coincidence! haha!

By the way, I prefer Jing Jing, the other cute mascot of the Beijing Olympics. If you notice, I've made him as my avatar for my blog.


When we reached our friend's house in Sri Petaling, it was already 7pm. My stomach was growling. Especially when I saw this!



We waited for a few more friends to arrive and then we went straight for the steamboat prepared by the host.



The ingredients were fresh and tasty. And the soup was delicious!

As this was a potluck party, there were many other food brought by my friends. There were cakes, Ayamas chickens, fruit salads, sandwiches, meehoon, ice cream and red wine. And not forgetting the IKEA curry puffs I bought and the host's bucket of curry puffs! I did not bother to take photos of those. I will just let you imagine them. Haha!

We even had ice cream bread. A new way of eating ice cream I must say! It's just ice cream taken from the ice cream tub and applied onto bread and eat like a sandwich! The thicker the ice cream, the better!



Mmmm, so yummy!! I didn't know ice cream sandwich tastes so good! Seriously, I must do this myself at home!

Apart from the food, what I really enjoyed that night were the laughters and banters we threw at each other. It was really fun!

Here's the Kickapoo joke that I would like to share with you all, though it's funnier if you understand Cantonese. I was laughing over this joke even after I reached home! You know the soft drink brand called Kickapoo? Well, here's how the conversation turned out between me, and my two friends which I shall call Friend A and Friend B. Just for your information, Friend A is not good in Cantonese but good in Mandarin. Friend B is good in Hokkien but not good in Cantonese.

Friend A : Foong, you know what Kickapoo means in Cantonese, right?

Me : Kickapoo? No. What does it mean in Cantonese?

Friend A : You really don't know?

Me : (thinking...) No, I really don't. Please tell.

Friend B : Yes, please tell us.

Friend A : Kickapoo pronounced in Cantonese sounds like kei ka poh.

Me : What is kei ka poh?

Friend B : Yeah, what's that?

Friend A : Huh? You always watch Hong Kong TVB series how come your Cantonese so cha (lousy) one?

Me : Err... I don't know. But really, what does kei ka poh means?

Friend A : It means qing fu. (lover)

Me : Oh, you mean kai ka poh! Alamak! Your pronunciation sucks!

Friend A : Oh, it's kai, not kei! I always make that mistake!

Friend B : Sorry, I didn't hear properly. What is kei ka poh?

Me : Qing fu

Friend B : What? Chui fu? (take off trousers)

Me : No! Qing fu!

(At this moment we were already laughing like mad!)

Friend B : What does qing fu mean?

Me : Lover

Friend A : It means something like mistress.

Friend B : What has liver got to do with mistress?

Me : Liver? What you talking about?

Friend B : You told me it's liver.

Me : No lah!!! It's lover!!!

Friend B : Oh!

The others who were sitting beside us all burst into non stop laughter! I laughed till I could feel pain in my stomach! It was the most hilarious conversation I've ever heard!

But if you think that's the end of it, let me tell you what happened when I returned home that night. Or was it early morning? Cos we had such a good time we only left my friend's house at around 2am! By the time I reached back home, it was close to 3am.

My mother was woken by me fumbling with the locks. Maybe too much red wine so was a little drunk. Anyway, my mom asked me in Cantonese "Zou mat yeh gong chi sin fan lei?" (Why come back so late?)

Without even thinking, I said, "Oh, ngo tong pang yao kheng kai" (Oh, I chit chat with friends)

She didn't hear properly and exclaimed, "Meh a? Kiu kai?" (What? Call prostitutes?)

Ha ha ha! I just could not stop laughing! It was really a night of laughter. And I felt so good the flu was no longer a problem! No wonder they say, laughter is the best medicine!

I have said this once and I will say it again. I am not a big fan of tags and memes. In fact, I am NOT a fan at all, not even a bit.

But don't get me wrong. I don't HATE tags and memes. I just don't like them. There's a big gap between "hate" and "don't like", so just you know.

So what do I do when I get tagged by other bloggers? I thank them, that's what I do. No, I am not being sarcastic. As much as I don't like tags, I thank them from the bottom of my heart, because they remember me enough to want to tag me. So to all you bloggers out there, please don't tag me, but if you must, thank you!

Now I was tagged by two bloggers last year and I delayed until this year to do the tags! One reason I delayed doing this is because I was lazy. The other reason is because I was reluctant to select my "victims" if you know what I mean. But what to do, you receive the tags, you gotta pay them forward, right? Haha!

So here they are....

The ABC Tag
I was tagged by Monica for this meme and here are my answers! Please don't take my answers seriously. They are meant to be entertaining!

A. Attached or single? Attached, but available : )

B. Best Friend? I have so many best friends if I list them here, it'll take you an hour to read them all!

C. Cake or Pie? For eating, it's a cake. For throwing at someone's face, it's a cake too.

D. Day of choice? Holi-day!

E. Essential Item? My handphone - cannot survive without it! It's No.1 on my essential item list. My No.2 is the air I breathe.

F. Favorite color? Blue, like the background colour of my blog.

G. Gummy bears or worms? Neither, but if forced to choose, it's gummy bears of course!

H. Hometown? PJ which stands for Petaling Jaya, not Putra Jaya.

I. Favorite Indulgence? Massage, masturbation and sleep, though not necessarily in that order.

J. January or July? Both, but prefer December most during the Christmas season.

K. Kids? None legally or illegally.

L. Life isn't complete without? My blog and you guys who are reading this! : )

M. Marriage date? You mean I have to get a date on my wedding day? Cool!

N. Number of magazine subscriptions. Used to be 10, now reduced to 3 when I realised I could actually open a magazine shop selling second hand magazines!

O. Oranges or Apples? Do you mean my girlfriends or the fruits? The answer is both for both.

P. Phobias? I used to be afraid of heights, then I discovered I hate deep waters, now I realise I can't stand small enclosed areas! I think I also have a phobia of discovering what's my other phobias.

Q. Quotes? There's a first time for everything, and BLOGGING is no different! (quoted and copyrighted by Foongpc)

R. Reasons to smile? No reason not to. I smile everyday, so please smile with me! : )

S. Season Of Choice? Christmas season and any holiday season!

T. Tag five people. Rad Sujanto, Jim Long, Babette, Molly, TZ

U. Unknown fact about me? I don't like American football!

V. Vegetable? All vegetables!

W. Worst Habit? Like to follow Malaysian rubber time (meaning flexible and usually fashionably late ie. plus 2hours, minus 10 minutes)

X. X Ray or Ultrasound? Neither!

Y. Your favorite foods? Too many to list here! But I like Chinese, Japanese, Western, Malay and Indian food!

Z. Zodiac sign? Sagittarius


Now that you know my ABC's, let's go to the next tag which is .....


The Have You Ever Tag
Special thanks to Mariuca for this fun and easy tag! : )

1. Have you ever been on TV?
I don't know - I don't watch enough TV to catch myself on it!

2. Have you ever sung in public?
Yes - it was for a small concert and I was nervous as hell mostly because I was afraid I would forget my lyrics!

3. Have you ever dyed your hair blond?
Slightly blond yes

4. Have you ever eaten frogs' legs?
Yes but why stop at the legs?

5. Have you ever received a present that you really hated?
Hate is too strong a word, dislike yes - plenty! Prefer to receive cash, angpows or vouchers!

6. Have you ever walked into a lamp post?
Of course not! It was the lamp post that walked into me!

7. Have you ever cooked a meal by yourself for more than 15 people?
Yes, I remember it well because after that, everyone left without eating the food.

8. Have you ever fallen or stumbled in front of others?
Yes, and I'll do it again if you pay me RM100.

9. Have you ever done volunteer work?
Yes, I did this tag voluntarily : )

I am tagging the following 5 people. Josephine, Shionge, Medie007, Neo, Eiling

Guess where did I spend my Valentine's Day?

Well, let me tell you. I spent it in bed.

No, not with my date if that's what you think!

I was down with flu and sore throat and a slight fever. So I spent my Valentine's Day in bed all alone and sick! Boo hoo!

I just read this post by Relax the other day about what to do when sick and I even added my own comments to his post. Haha! So clever of me - talk only, but don't even follow my own advice! I hate the flu and I have always hated it since childhood. When will medical science find a cure for this annoying sickness? I hope one day, we can destroy viruses at the click of a button!

Anyway, here's some good news, at least for me. I was nominated for the Malaysian Blog Awards 2009 Contest. Yippee! First time in my life get nominated for awards! Looks like my all my effort working on this blog finally get recognised.

Briefly, this contest is created by a Penang blogger to award blogs or websites which have at least 80% Malaysian content. The contest will end on 31st December 2009 and the results announced in January 2010. Votes will be accumulated until the closing date and the blog with the highest amount of votes win the award. Voters are allowed to vote once only. For more information, please click here.

So will you vote for me? I hope you do 'cos whether I win or not depends on you, my readers! Please vote for me by clicking on the Malaysian Blog Award badge on the right tab of my blog, or clicking here. You only need to take 1 minute to fill up a form. That's it!

Please let me know once you have voted for me by leaving a comment. Thank you all!

NOTE: If you find the voting site confusing, don't worry. Just scroll all the way down to the form, fill it up with your details and enter my blog's name and URL in the last box.

Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I thought I would like to share with you all some of the corniest pick-up lines and love quotes I found on the Internet. You would have probably came across some of them. In any case, just sit back and enjoy....

"Is your dad a terrorist? Because baby, you're the bomb."

"Do you have a map? I seem to be lost in your eyes."

"You're like a Snickers bar - you satisfy me."

"Are you tired? Because you've been running through my mind all day long."

"If I could rearrange the letters of the alphabet, I would put U and I closer together."

"Your clothes would look really nice wrinkled up on my bedroom floor."

"I seem to have lost my number, can I have yours?"

"I heard you like raisins, what about a date?"

You say: "I'm sorry, but you owe me a drink."
She says: "Why?"
You say: "Because I dropped mine when I looked at you."

"Baby did you fart, coz you blow me away."

"When I saw your face I thought I died and went to heaven."

"Your lips look so lonely, would they like to meet mine?"

"Hey! Can you empty your pockets out...because i believe you stole my heart..."

"My name is [insert name here], but you can call me tonight."

"The word is legs. Can you spread the word?"

"Is there a ninja in your pants? Cos YOUR ASS IS KICKIN!"

"I've heard sex is a killer. Wanna die happy?"

"Now f*** me if I'm wrong, but is your name Chuck?"

"The body is made up of 90% water and I'm thirsty."

"Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk past you again?"

"I know somebody who likes you, but if I weren’t so shy, I’d tell you who."

"I’ve been wondering.... Do your lips taste as good as they look?"


But be careful if you intend to use any of those corny pick-up lines. You don't want to get these responses!

Boy: "I would go to the end of the world for you..."
Girl: "Oh..Nice....then would you stay there for me as well?"

"My life was completely grey without colours till you appear.... it is totally dark now."

Boy : "If tomorrow is the end of the world, I would want to be with you."
Girl : "Why?"
Boy : "Because being with you for one day, it feels like a long, long time. So boring!"


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYONE!!! : )

The Chinese New Year celebrations are finally over. How time flies! I will miss my favourite yee sang. I will also miss those Chinese lanterns and decorations that adorned most shopping malls in the country.

Today, I would like to post some photos of the CNY decorations in shopping malls in the Klang Valley. I have taken most of the photos from other blogs as their photos are of better quality compared to the ones I took using my SE C902. Do visit their blogs for more great looking photos!

Look at this decoration put up by 1Utama.


Photo courtesy of yenjai.net

I didn't quite like it. Looks a little empty to me. The idea may be good, but I felt something is missing. What do you think?

The decorations at Berjaya Times Square look slightly better.


Photo courtesy of cowbrainstudio.com


Photo courtesy of DenC


Photo courtesy of Soo HK

This bull outside Pavilion must have attracted a lot of attention!


Photo courtesy of cowbrainstudio.com

I really think that the CNY decoration at The Curve this year was quite ridiculous!


Photo courtesy of The Star Online


Photo courtesy of Merryn's blog

Maybe they were trying to showcase the lotus flower, but to me, the whole thing just look horrible!

This is the decoration put up at KLCC. Those people at KLCC seem to like everything either tall or large. I still remember they have one of the tallest Christmas tree during Christmas last year. For this Chinese New Year, I think they have one of the largest lantern in KL.


Photo taken with my SE C902


Photo courtesy of Angie Tan

But I like those huge gigantic lanterns! Really nice! Thumbs up for KLCC! : )

I can't quite make out what this decoration in Sunway Pyramid is all about. Can you?


Photo courtesy of yenjai.net

I always feel that The Gardens have quite 'classy' decoration. I particularly liked their Christmas decorations last year. And for this Chinese New Year, they did not disappoint.


Photo courtesy of Soo HK

After looking at all those decorations put up by various shopping malls, I think the best must be at Mid Valley Megamall! Their numerous lanterns of all shapes and sizes really put me in the CNY mood. Don't you agree?


Photo courtesy of sumimasen


Photo courtesy of Angie Tan

I like these angpow lanterns hanging from the ceilings of Subang Parade. Yes, they were made from angpows!


Photo courtesy of The Star Online

I didn't know you can buy those lanterns! According to The Star Online, you can actually buy them for RM100 a pair as a form of donation to charity organisations. I would have donated RM100 just to get those beautiful lanterns if I had read about this before CNY!

Look at these lanterns made entirely from angpows! Aren't they beautiful? I wonder who is that person who came out with these lanterns? He or she must be a creative genius!


Photo courtesy of yesterday.sg

Does anyone know where I can buy these angpow lanterns? Or at least teach me how to make them? I hope I will be able to display them for next year's Chinese New Year!

Today is the 15th day of Chinese New Year. It is also known as Chap Goh Meh, the day where we Chinese celebrate by eating tang yuan, one of my favourite desserts.

Here in Malaysia, today is also Chinese Valentine's Day where young unmarried women gather to throw mandarin oranges into the sea or lake in the hope that their future spouse will pick it up. If you stay in Petaling Jaya or Kuala Lumpur, you might want to head over to Taman Jaya near Amcorp Mall tonight to either throw your oranges (if you are a girl) or collect the oranges (if you are a boy). For gays, you can throw as well as collect. LOL!

Remember to insert your name and contact number in your oranges before you throw into the Taman Jaya lake, or else you'll just be wasting your time. Then you might as well hand me your oranges so I can eat them. Ha ha!

But just to be on the safe side, I think better not include your contact number, maybe just your email address or blog URL if you are a blogger.

Today is also the last day for me to eat my favourite yee sang, so I will definitely not want to miss it!

Here's the yee sang which I "ta pau" (take away) from Magic Wok Restaurant in Damansara Jaya on Yan Yat day (1st Feb 2009). I absolutely love it! The restaurant offered a RM10 discount on that day.



Guess what? The restaurant is offering the RM10 discount again today in conjunction with Chap Goh Meh so I'm going there later today to buy my favourite yee sang!

I am such a big fan of yee sang I even tried the pre-packed one sold in Jusco! It costs only RM10 per box which is enough for 4 people, although on the box, it was stated for 7-8 people!



This is strictly for those with very low budget but still want to try eating this yee sang. Don't expect the ingredients to be as fresh as those found in restaurants. Still, I tried it and surprisingly, it did not taste too bad!

Of course you can also buy pre-packed yee sang from the sushi section in Jusco. Those are fresher but is more expensive, selling at around RM44 per packet.

Every Chinese New Year, I must have the following food or else I would feel as if I am not celebrating the new year! Not in any particular order, my must-have foods are ....

1. yee sang
2. tang yuan
3. pineapple tarts
4. nga ku or arrowheads
5. mandarin oranges
6. lap ngap or waxed ducks
7. kueh kapit or love letters
8. nian gao or sticky rice cakes
9. kuih bangkit or tapioca cookies
10. fah sang peng or peanut cookies

Gosh, just thinking about these foods makes me drool. Haha!

So what are your must-have Chinese New Year foods?

Today I receive an unexpected letter all the way from Melaka. Now who do I know in Melaka? I couldn't think of anyone unless it's this long time friend who never ever send me letters before.

So I quickly opened the envelope. And guess what I found?



A very cute rabbit key chain from blogger QuaChee! It is a souvenir he bought from Shanghai during his recent trip to China. He actually offered this key chain to anyone who can give him a good feedback regarding his China trip posts on his blog. And I happened to be the one! Haha!

Thanks QuaChee for giving me this souvenir. Didn't expect to win this! I was hoping to get these art paintings, but I guess they are not for giving away, yes? : )



By the way, do drop by his blog and read about his very interesting China trip! Makes me want to go there too!

This is not the first time I receive something free from QuaChee. Last year, I received his book '50 + 1 Malaysia' free too.



He sent it to me free so I could write a review of his book on my blog. You can read my review here. A lot of bloggers also got this book free just for putting up a review of the book on their blogs. This book is currently sold in bookstores.

Talking about free stuffs, do you like to receive free gifts and free vouchers and stuffs like that? Actually, I must be really dumb to ask this question. Who wouldn't want free stuffs, right?

What things would you love to receive for free?

After one whole week eating non stop during the Chinese New Year holidays, I believe I have gained some substantial weight.

So this week, I made it a point to go to the Fitness First gym to lose all those unwanted pounds! My brother who have never joined any gym before asked if he could sign up as member. I said why not, but when I told him it costs RM175 a month, he thought it was way too expensive!




Seeing that the economy is not that good, I think most gyms are not doing that well either. Perhaps they don't mind slashing the normal price to something more affordable? So when I went to Fitness First at The Curve yesterday, I decided to stop by the front counter to enquire about their latest fee structure.

I was hoping that I could reduce my own monthly fee and even negotiate a good price for my brother.

Well, fat hopes! Not only did I not get a reduced fee, the front counter staff told me that the price is now increased to RM185 for passport members, and RM175 for non passport members. Previously, it was RM175 and RM145 for passport and non passport members respectively. By the way, passport members are allowed to use any Fitness First gyms, whereas non passport members are limited to use only their Fitness First home gym and one other Fitness First gym of their choice.

I was surprised and asked why were they increasing the fees. Guess what the counter staff told me? He said times are bad so they need to increase the price.

Now what kind of logic is that? Don't they know anything about marketing? When times are bad, people do not sign up for gym memberships. They have other more important priorities to take care of financially. So what do you do to entice people to sign up? You lower the fee, right? You don't raise the fee further!

Don't they understand that when they lower the fee, more people will sign up and that will more than make up for the revenues lost from lowering the fees?

Well, will I still stick with Fitness First? Yes, because they have not increased my fee so far. And they better not try! The last time I heard, True Fitness was offering new members a fee as low as RM97 per month! I don't know how true is that, so any True Fitness members out there care to confirm?


True Fitness at Jaya 33 photo courtesy of MunFitnessBlog

I brought my brother to a gym called EITP in Damansara Jaya (near Atria) to see if this cheaper looking gym would be able to offer cheaper monthly fees. As it turned out, their fees were indeed cheaper. You can choose to pay RM470 for 3 months, RM720 for 6 months or RM1,350 for 12 months. Paying for 12 months in one shot will save you as much as RM530 compared to paying by 3 monthly intervals. And if you break that down to one month, you are paying only RM112.50 per month compared to RM175 at Fitness First, but still more expensive than RM97 at True Fitness!

The advantage with EITP as claimed by the person in charge, is the fee includes the services of a personal trainer as well. In Fitness First, you would need to fork out an additional RM120 (if not mistaken) an hour for a personal trainer!

It may look really worth your money signing up with EITP, but I kept wondering if the personal trainer will always be there for you as he also have other clients to take care of. You see, they only have a limited number of personal trainers. In fact, the more people sign up, the less time he will have for you! Furthermore, looking at the facilities at EITP, I still prefer the facilities provided by Fitness First anytime! Well, I guess you pay more for quality!

I do not know if my brother will join EITP or not, perhaps he would end up joining True Fitness.

Now I wonder how much do other gyms charge? Famous gyms like Clark Hatch, Celebrity Fitness and California Fitness? If you are a member of any of these gyms, please share with us the monthly fees that you are paying.


California Fitness at Sunway Pyramid photo courtesy of MunFitnessBlog

Here's a comprehensive review of four famous gyms in Malaysia by blogger Mun. If you are interested, check out his reviews of California Fitness, Celebrity Fitness, Clark Hatch and True Fitness. I wonder why he did not review Fitness First.

Oh, by the way, if you don't plan to lift weight, or do yoga, don't bother to join a gym. If you are just thinking of doing aerobic exercises, no point in wasting money joining a gym. You can easily go jogging at the public parks for free! Unless of course, you like to join those group classes provided by the gyms.

So if you do go to the gym, which gym do you go to and how often?

Are you a blogging newbie or an experienced blogger?

Do you like to have loads of people commenting on your blog?

When I first started blogging about 9 months ago, I was wondering why no one read or leave comments on my blog. On a good day, the number of comments would max at 12. On a bad day, there would be zero comments!

Lately, a few bloggers wrote to me asking how I managed to attract so many comments on my blog. Wow! I was really flattered when they asked me this question. It’s not like I have hundreds and hundreds of comments in every one of my posts, so I think I am not really qualified to answer them.

Besides, there are many bloggers out there who receive more comments than me, so they should be the ones answering this question.

However, I do know how frustrating it is when no one reads your blog and every time you post something, there is virtually no one responding. Didn’t you wish someone, anyone would just care to leave an opinion even if it’s a scathing criticism of your post? At least that would be better than zero response!

So today, for the sake of all bloggers out there who are looking for more responses to their beautifully written posts, who have toiled long hours just to come up with a post worth reading, here’s my guide on how to increase comments on your blog.

Now, notice I say how to increase comments. Not readership or traffic. Increasing comments and increasing traffic to your blog are two different things.

You can have lots of traffic to your blog everyday, but no one leaving any comments!

Or you can have over 50 comments a day, but that does not mean there’s a lot of traffic going to your blog, or that your blog is ranked high on Google’s search engine, although the chances are there!

So, let’s be clear about this first.

If you want to make money from your blog, you need lots of traffic. You will need to know about SEO and make full use of them. I have to admit I am still learning about this so please don’t ask me how to increase traffic to your blog. There are many experts on this, and it would be better for you to learn from them.

But if making money is not your priority, and you have the passion to blog, and want the satisfaction to see more people leaving comments, then perhaps this post might be of help. Of course, if you are aiming to make money and also have lots of people commenting at your blog at the same time, this can help too.

OK, so here are the 10 things I do to increase comments on my blog.

1. Write good quality posts.
I think this is a no brainer, however this alone does not guarantee that people will leave comments on your blog. There are a lot of blogs out there with excellent posts, but no one comments on them!

2. Ask a question.
Try to end your post by posing a question to your readers. Or have a question as the title for your post. Readers will be more inclined to leave comments when you ask them a question. You can see an example of this on my post here.

3. Don't tell everything.
Try and make your post open ended. In other words, don't say everything you know. Leave some things unsaid even if you know them just to allow your readers to contribute their knowledge. Give your readers a chance to be experts too. If you say everything there is to say, your readers will be left with nothing to add. They may love your post and even bookmark it or submit it to DIGG but they would not be leaving any comments!

4. Write controversial posts.
When the topic of your post is controversial, it would invite lots of debates and comments from readers. Readers may even end up debating with each other without the need for you to put in any replies. But be careful here - don't overdo it! Controversial topics sometimes put people off!

5. Interact with your commentators.
Always reply to each and every comments on your blog. This will encourage those who left the comments earlier to return and post even more comments. People do like to be acknowledged for their opinions. I personally do not like to leave comments on blogs that do not reply or respond to my comments. In fact, one very effective way of discouraging comments is to ignore all comments left on your blog. The only exception to this is, if you are very popular and have more than 100 comments on each of your posts. In such a case, it's acceptable not to reply to every comment as it takes up too much time.

6. Encourage comments using Top 10 Commentators widget.
Some readers who leave comments like to have their links displayed on this Top 10 Commentators widget. It is also another way to promote themselves. If you do not have this widget on your blog, get it here.

7. Show appreciation for your regular commentators.
You can do this by highlighting your commentators' blogs on your posts. Do mention about them if it is relevant to your post. Or use one of their comments as a topic for your next post. They will surely thank you for it! This post is my way to show appreciation for my regular commentators.

8. Make it easy for readers to leave comments.
Make sure your blog does not require your readers to register first before allowed to make comments. Personally, if I have to register and fill up my details before commenting, I rather not comment. It's just too much of a hassle! Also, do allow anonymous readers to leave comments. In fact, make it easy for anyone and everyone to leave comments on your blog.

9. Do not moderate comments.
Some bloggers may not agree with me on this. Although moderating comments will prevent spam from appearing on your blog, however, if you seriously want to increase comments, you will have to do away with this. People simply do not like to be censored. Furthermore, it feels nicer to see your comment appearing right after you've posted it. Also, do not delete any comments if possible. How do you like it when you leave a comment on someone's blog only to see it gone the next hour?

Now, if you follow all my 9 tips above, there is still a huge possibility that the number of comments on your blog will remain small. You see, you can do all the above and yet see no result. Simply because you did not do the ONE thing that can change it all. The One thing that you must absolutely do to increase the number of comments on your blog.

Which leads me to my last tip .....



10. Leave comments on other people's blogs.
Yes, that's right! Visit other people's blogs (or go blog hopping, as they say) and leave your comments there. Now when you comment on other people's blogs, granted, not everyone will return the favour and comment on your blog, but most do. Logically, the more blogs you visit and leave comments on, the more comments you will get on your own blog. So how did I get over 40 comments on my blog? I simply visited over 60 blogs and left my comments there! So you want 100 comments? Now you know what you must do!

Of course, many of you will think it is too much hard work and time consuming to visit over 60 blogs. Just imagine, if I take 5 minutes to read and leave a comment on one blog, it would take no less than 5 hours to go through 60 blogs! Now you know how much time I spent online!

Well, who says getting what you want is easy? Nothing worth achieving is easy! You want people to leave comments on your blog? You will need to work for it! There's no such thing as writing a post and sit there and wait for the comments to come in. Unless of course, you are a celebrity blogger like Kenny Sia. Now, that's a different story! Even Kenny Sia himself did not start out as a celebrity blogger. He worked himself up. So, if there is a short-cut way, please tell me!

Of course, there will come a time when you would have developed a group of loyal followers of your blog. These followers would visit your blog and leave comments whether or not you visit them in return.

However, to reach that level, you will need to have one important ingredient. That ingredient is PASSION. Yes, you need to have passion to write blogs and to read blogs. Without passion, you would rather do something else like watching TV or reading a book instead of blogging. That is why I can go through more than 60 blogs a day. It's because I simply have the passion for reading other blogs, besides writing my own blog. I don't find it hard work at all - in fact, I enjoy every minute of it!

Now if reading 60 blogs is too much for you, then aim for 30. If 30 is still a lot for you, then go for 15. It all depends on you. Not everyone wants to have 50 or 100 comments on his or her blog everyday. Some are happy with just 10, and that's fine. But this post is about increasing comments on your blog, so I guess if you are reading this, you won't be too satisfied with just 10, right?

In actual fact, I don't read 60 blogs a day. I sometimes read more and sometimes less, but I break them up into 2-3 days. Which means, I only read about an average of 30 blogs a day. Now that's not too difficult, is it?

Well, there you have it! 10 ways to increase comments on your blog! I do hope you benefit from this post. Despite this, I am still far from being an expert on this subject. If you know more ways to increase comments and would like to share with me and all my readers, you are most welcomed to do so.

By the way, if you would like me to drop by your blog and leave my comment, why don't you make the first move and leave a comment here? And if you are a blogger with Blogspot and would like to be a Follower of my blog, you are most welcome to click on "Follow This Blog" under Followers on the tab to the right of this post. Thank you! Let us help each other make our blogs soar to greater heights!

Did you receive a lot of Chinese New Year cards this year?

I did not and I noticed not many people send Chinese New Year cards nowadays as most either sms or send e-cards. What the heck, even I don't mail out cards anymore!

I did receive a few though, like these three cards below. If you notice, one of the cards were from Pakatan Rakyat politicians, thanking me as a voter, though whether I voted for them or not in the last election shall remain a secret : )



The days leading up to Chinese New Year were terrible for me as far as the traffic on the roads were concerned. There were traffic jams everywhere! I was cursing and cursing like mad.

Did you know I was trapped on this road near the Sin Chew Roundabout (formerly Rothmans Roundabout) for almost one hour? Somehow, I don't think roundabouts are effective anymore in dispersing traffic.



And then, thinking I could escape the jam after passing that roundabout, I got caught again in another huge jam in SS2. This is the road in front of Poh Kong SS2 leading towards the LDP.



It took me about 2 hours to reach my destination when normally it would have just taken a mere 20 minutes! Next year, I am going to stay off the road the week before Chinese New Year!

However, it was totally different during the Chinese New Year holidays. Driving then was a breeze. There were hardly any traffic jams as most people had already 'balik kampung'. Since my 'kampung' or hometown is in Petaling Jaya, I had an enjoyable time driving around town!

With the low number of cars on the road, I took the opportunity to drive to KL just to discover new places. I drove around with my Street Directory map book and learnt some new roads in the process! While some people like to depend on their GPS, I prefer to rely on my useful Street Directory!





My friend from Penang came to visit me and asked me to bring him to KL Tower as he had not been there before. Actually, I have not been to KL Tower before either, but as I was too embarrassed to tell him that, I decided to play along and told him it would be my pleasure to bring him. I hope he will never get to read my blog. Haha!

We went to KL Tower on the first day of Chinese New Year. It was after dinner and I drove down to KL with him beside me. Luckily, I've passed by the place before so I knew how to get there and had absolutely no worries of him knowing I've never been up that tower before!

I was just a little surprised to find that the entrance fee was RM38 per person. Don't you think that's a little too expensive? I mean, what can you find up there except maybe a good view of Kuala Lumpur? Besides, the Tower would be closed to visitors at 9.30pm, and it was already 9pm! Half an hour tour for RM38? In my mind, I was thinking, I might as well spend that money on a delicious dish of yee sang!

But as my friend was very eager to visit this place, and since this was my first time going up the Tower, I guess I would just be fine with it. Furthermore, I found out that the RM38 also covers the entrance to the Winter Park, F1 Simulator and Animal Zone. So not too bad after all!

I managed to take a picture of the KL Tower against the night sky.



Each of us was given a bottle of mineral water that looked like the Tower itself. Not too bad as a souvenir item!



We took the lift and was met by a guide in the lift who told us that KL Tower is the 5th tallest communication tower in the world. He also mentioned that it would take about 50 seconds to reach the Observation Deck, which is about 276 metres from the ground floor. Me and my friend timed it and the guide was right - we reached the Observation Deck in 53 seconds!

From the Observation Deck, we were able to see how KL looked like from high up. Not a big deal really, as I could easily get such views at Look Out Point in Ampang, KL or at Genting Highlands, albeit much smaller views. The only good thing was, we were each given a portable MP4player that guided us as we walked around the tower. We also made use of the telescopes which were provided free to view close-up scenes of KL city.

After spending half an hour at the Observation Deck, we took the lift down and visited the Winter Park. It was really nothing much to shout about as you can see from these shots I took.







We did not go for the F1 Simulator as it was already closed by the time we went there. However, we went for a quick tour of the Animal Zone which was like a mini zoo complete with snakes, rabbits, turtles, birds, and racoons.

So was my RM38 worth it? My friend thought it was worth it, but I still prefer to spend the money on yee sang! Luckily for me, I managed to act as if I have been to KL Tower many times before, so my friend did not even have the tiniest suspicion that this is my first time there! Ha ha!