Here's My Story

I rarely fly. Once a year, for sure I'll make a trip to Australia to spend time with my sister and her family, something that I enjoyed tremendously and of course subjected to their agreement on timing etc. I typically will fly Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to Australia and fly Singapore Airlines (SIA) back home. Other than that, I might at most fly to Singapore once a year via Firefly. In recent years, right after I purchased MAS ticket, I received an email from them within the same day or the next day, offering discount on the next flight. This seems to be a useless promotion to me: how likely that I would want to purchase another flight ticket right after having purchased one already? I would think that even for the those who fly often, they wouldn't have planned that much ahead, right?  Imagine for a typical working person: "I just purchased flight ticket to Australia for my planned vacation in 6 months time and ooooh, they just offered me discount on the next flight. Fantas...

Recently, we went to the Decathlon outlet at Starling Mall to get a pair of swimming trunk for Ban. At first, the cheapest we saw was RM 59 but then I spotted RM 39, further down. He chose a few pairs to try.  While waiting for him, I saw and overheard a dispute over price: a customer was using the self-check-out kiosk when he mentioned that price that he saw to the staff. Staff was surprised ("It's never that price", something like that) and went with him to presumably to check the price tag on the shelf, where I couldn't see. What I saw next was the staff emerging and threw away a small thing, which I surmised to be the incorrect price tag. Once Ban chose a pair, we also used the kiosk to pair. FYI I'm a member of Decathlon i.e. I used their app. To our surprise, the scanned price was RM 59. Ban declined to sort it out with the staff and just paid for it. Back home, I received an email from them, requesting feedback from me, in the style of a short survey. Where...

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After a particular long-ish day at Bagan Specialist Centre (mum had appointment there): Ban: We go home? Me: Yes (few minutes later) Me: Hmmm why didn't Waze take this left turn? I would have done that. (more minutes later) Me: Wait! Your Waze is showing our destination is more than 3 hours away! Ban: Alamak! I chose "Home" (instead of my sister's place in Butterworth) on my Waze. Fortunately, I spotted this just before a suitable exit. Phew! 

  “Traditions are just peer pressure from dead people.” - Eliot Schrefer, Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality

  Me: You'll be imprisoned for eating this. Sister: You pay RM3.90 for free accommodation of not more than 2 years. Ok right? 🤣 Me: Everyday get served nutritious wholemeal buns.     Hubby and I guessed that the poster of the food was pasted on an existing poster, likely the one that said smoking is forbidden.

I have ZUS app. I got it because sometime ago I discovered that I could redeem voucher to top up the app's wallet, using Air Asia points. I gained those points every quarter via CIMB Air Asia Saver account. If there's money in that wallet, I'll purchase ZUS drinks as long as it's sufficient and then I'll stop. Although I loved their ZUS Gula Melaka drink, I refused to top up the wallet. If they had allowed me to pay using card, bank transfer or Grab, I would probably have purchased every now and then. Back in July, I received email from ZUS, saying something like they hadn't seen me (read: I hadn't purchased anything via the app :D) for quite a while and so they gave me 30% discount voucher in the app. Coincidentally, it was the month that I received more Air Asia points. There was still the 10% discount in redeeming RM 30 ZUS top up voucher i.e. used 10% fewer points. Nice! At the same time, I noticed that ZUS gave 10% discount voucher quite regularly and s...

 

The redemption for earbuds turned into a complicated affair. As expected, it took more than a week (might have been around 2 weeks) for them to arrive. Accordingly, Ban charged them before using. It didn't work: no connection to his phone or my phone or his laptop. Also, I noticed that the charging pod's lights didn't work either. Ban look at the small insert and sent a message to the given WhatsApp number. To his horror, someone responded saying that that was the number for Singapore Civil Defence Force! Well, joke or not, this doesn't reflect well on the company, Vinnfier. We looked up their website and through that, Ban filled up a form to request support. FYI the earbuds have 1-year warranty. Shortly later, he received an email from them asking him to send the earbuds back to them. That cost RM 7+ via Pos Laju. We were pleasantly surprised that the replacement arrived in a day (or two). Problem was that the same issue occurred omg. So Ban communicated that to them ...

 

Few months back, Citibank emailed me, informing me of the incoming request by their app to change password. Ok, sure, I waited, it happened and I changed. Problem was that I realised I wanted the password to be something else. So, I looked through the app to change the password. I expected it to be in Account/Profile/Security but noooooo, it wasn't there. Wow. One day, I decided to chat with the in-app chatbot (not verbatim):  Chatbot: Please select the relevant topic. Me: *Took a look at the listed topics. None fits*. Change password. Chatbot: Do you mean <topic> or <topic>? Me: No. Chatbot: Please elaborate in detail. Me: I want to change password of my Citibank Mobile App. Chatbot: Sorry, I don't understand. Please select the relevant topic. Me: *WTH* (repeated the whole process until...) Chatbot: I'm just a chatbot. I'm not sufficiently trained to help you 😭 A live agent will assist you.   I'm joking only about the crying bit fyi. App told me that a...

Recently, we went to make the final payment for the hearing aids. Weeks earlier, I was informed that it has arrived. Ashley took back the trial pair and then hand the purchased ones to mum. As usual, she asked mum questions to determine whether adjustment was needed or not. Made minor recalibration of the volume, which mum acknowledged was an improvement. She also paired them with mum's phone. Included in the purchase were two containers: one each for each aid. There is a brush to clean the ear moulds and a small plastic handle for easy dislodgement of battery from inside the cover of the aid once it's opened. We were also given many spare batteries for free. What came as a pleasant surprise was the gift of dehumidifier device (worth RM 400) that is a replacement for the container of silica gel i.e. it's used to actively dry the hearing aids, especially the battery compartments. It's powered by a power bank within and so needs to be regularly recharged. It's easy to...

For the longest time, Mixue didn't serve pure jasmine tea. It was always mixed with at least one other thing (lemon jasmine tea). Yet, one of the videos they kept repeating on their monitors showcased how thorough their process in procuring and infusing their tea leaves with jasmine flowers. I always wondered: if they hyped up the quality of their jasmine tea, why didn't they sell pure jasmine tea? They finally did it recently. If I remember correctly, the first outlet I tried their pure jasmine tea was at Lotus Bagan Ajam, Butterworth (the first outlet in that town and it's popular). It was a letdown: it was so diluted. I gave it another try but at a different outlet: Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya. Yes, this hit the spot! It was aromatic and bitter. Nice :) 

Me: Hi Ashley, What's the brand name of my mum's chosen hearing aids and the model? It's considered mid-range, correct?    Ashley: Good morning, the brand is Unitron.  Model: Stride V1 UP Its consider as entry level yea. Me: Oh, ok. I remember you said that for the ITE version, its range of listening environments is at entry level. This Stride V1 UP's range of listening environments is at mid level? Ashley: ITE version also had entry level and mid level. The difference is how fast and precise the hearing aid process the noise and speech yea. Me: So are you saying that the range of listening environments for Stride V1 UP is at the minimum? Ashley: The hearing aid able to process all range of listening environment e.g in noisy environment, in car and in quiet environment. For entry level, they have noise reduction technology also but of course mid range technology level is more precise. Me: So there is no difference in terms of range of listening en...

Saw this at either Lotus @Paradigm Mall or Village Grocer @Megah Rise Mall:   Haven't seen it again.

I was infected with Covid-19 a second time during a trip to Butterworth. My throat felt a little scratchy and a little phlegmy late Thursday. By Friday, that became sorethroat and the backdrip worsened too. It got progressively worsened until I started coughing while trying to sleep. Tried taking lozenges, antihistamine and phelgm thinner but to no avail. At just past 2am, I gave up and drove to Klinik Putra (Bagan), a 24-hour clinic. It's the first GP clinic I came across that required patients to walk in barefoot i.e. leave foot apparels outside. Despite stating a couple of times that my throat was red, I wasn't prescribed antibiotic. I was prescribed cough syrup (Prospan), the suppressant type so that I could sleep; antihistamine (ceterizine), lozenges and thymol. RM 96 @@ Well, I treat the premium as payment for the 24-hour service. I am impressed that they called a few days to check on me. The next day, it was confirmed that I had fever and so I consulted my usual GP in Bu...

Although the trial pair could be ready in 2-3 weeks, we would get them in nearly a month time to coincide with my next visit to Butterworth.  Getting my mum to use the trial pair went well. Ashley was patient, methodical and informative. She got my mum to practise about 5 times putting on the hearing aids. Key words: hook and push in. When not in use, it's important open battery cover, which has a holder within to contain the battery, and place the device in a container of silica gel (provided as part of the package) to dry out possible moisture. In case of the battery dislodges from the cover or when trying to inset new battery, it should be placed from directly above the holder i.e. not from the side, not from the bottom. Volume can be adjusted manually by clicking the top of the device. It can also be adjusted via an app but that will be introduced only later as the main aim was for mum to get used to using hearing aids, including the significant change in quality and nature of...

  I order noodle dishes in PJ only if they are special. Otherwise, I think it's not worth paying close to RM 10 for a dish that's consist almost entirely only of noodle i.e. little of other ingredients, including meat and vegetable. Sometimes I order one due to circumstances e.g. no other choices, due to convenience of location after running an errand nearby. The above noodle dish came from a stall at Double One Kopitiam. Can't remember the name of the stall. It's located around the middle of the shop, next to the chicken rice stall. I quite like this dish, after adding more sauce (likely dark soy sauce). I asked for a little more vegetable and was impressed with the amount they gave.   This dessert was served by Reban, a new-ish restaurant at Aman Suria.  It fell short of my expectation and not worth the price. Not only that, as I told a staff there, there was a contradiction between the name of the dessert and its description i.e. longan vs lychee.     As stat...

(Emphasis is mine, to show the mistakes) 1. Free Malaysia Today article: " Trump set to ‘apply pressure’ on Xi over Iran ". Sentence: " he United States and China are also set to discuss extending a year-long trade truce, which the two leaders agreed last October in South Korea. But tensions remain high over Trump’s sweeping tariffs. 2. Financial Standard article: " ATO sounds alarm as Payday Super deadline nears ". Sentence: " ATO deputy commissioner Emmer Rosenzweig said more than half of employees are still playing superannuation quarterly rather than alongside wages, despite the incoming reforms requiring contributions to be paid on payday. " Should be "paying" lol. 3. Free Malaysia Today article: " Gauff’s French Open title defence ends, Sabalenka, Osaka set up last-16 clash ". Sentence: " The Belarusian world number set up a meeting with her fellow quadruple major winner, Osaka. "  World number what?  

  I wasn't aware there is such service and on a commercial scale too.