June 28th, 2007 — Ramblings
But Paris Beaverbanks is still incommunicado.
Where’s Simple American? He promised me once he’d help shovel when I was snowed under. And I need that Peach energy booster, L B - pronto!
Sorry Cheesey you’ll have to wait for your updates!
I’ll be baaaack! ala Governor of California.
June 24th, 2007 — Fun
I’m supposed to be hard at work. Remember my 200 page document? Its coming along nicely but I slacked off this weekend. Must work harder! Must boost energy with peach jam!
Anyway, taking a break so here’s an overdue tag from L & B Associates. Ok I don’t quite get it but apparently, I have to name 5 blogs and what I associate them with. Hm… ok…
Sunflowers. That’s what I associate her blog with. She doesn’t write about sunflowers nor can I see any sunflowers on her site. Maybe there was at the beginning. Or maybe its her favicon picture of a sunflower that stays in my mind. But there you have it. Sunflowers for Tine. I love reading her site (even if I don’t always leave comments) and I love people who love shopping as much as I do. LOL…
This lady needs no introduction… I think. She makes no secret that she writes for money and her site is one of the first I turned to to check out how I could make money online. And that is also how parisbeaverbanks.com came about. But money isn’t all. There are entertaining excerpts of life and food in Penang. And she has her share of controversies. An entertaining read all around.
Pablopabla’s Whatever - um… pablopabla
I associate him with lawyer’s wigs and robes because he’s a lawyer lah… Not everyone is happy to admit to that fact. Read a lawyer joke lately? See… lawyers always get the short end of the stick. Which is why its admirable that he comes out and says he’s a lawyer. Its a noble profession but one that’s pretty over-rated. Anyway, Whatever was his first blog and one which I still enjoy reading despite the presence of sponsored posts. Aiyah… how many blogs don’t have sponsored posts these days right? What I like is that he writes well, in proper English and all, which makes for a good read. I trawled back through the archives and saw pics of his 2 little girls. Absolutely darling! Nearly met up twice - first for Indian food, and second for his kerabu meehoon. I say nearly because both times fell through. Aiyah… Oh and he cooks! The lawyer cooks!!
The Ah Pek of the blogosphere! Funny site. Gives away free links every Saturday, if you ask him nicely. Free… no strings attached! Has a featured post in which he has offered to feature your blog if you want. Again, free! Very generous and giving, this Ah Pek. I associate him with his laughing buddha. Its so cute and happy! In fact, Ah Pek, if you are reading this, I liked your site theme the most when you used the Laughing Buddha with the turquoise font. I thought it was bright and cheery.
Hobbes! When I think “Giddy Tiger” I think Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes. Giddy Tiger is a SHE lah, so how to be a Hobbes right? But you asked what I associated the blog with. Her site has nothing to do with tigers but something tells me I know where the tiger association comes from 
Very entertaining writing style, avid Liverpool fan (my friend Cheesey will sokong her like mad I’m sure) and has a darling DH who tells her about sales (can you believe that?!) and an equally darling little Ethan who drools but won’t wear bibs so she’s offered his to me.
There. 5 blogs I read and what I associate them with. All of you are hereby TAGGED! If you have done it you get the “Get out of jail free” card. If you haven’t done it but have been tagged before, consider yourself double tagged. If you haven’t been tagged and haven’t done it, what are you waiting for? Just tell us 5 blogs you read and what you associate them with. Can be pictures, can be words, can be anything. The sky’s the limit.
Ok, I go back to work, and you get to work ok?
June 23rd, 2007 — Lasik
Ok, those who are feeling a sense of Deja-vu can stop wondering. I did port over my experiences with Epi-Lasik when I moved sites, only because I wanted some form of continuity with my future Epi-Lasik updates. If you’d like to read my experiences, hop on over to Part I and Part II. They were written just a few days after I’d done it so its pretty much how I felt then.
Anyway, I’m writing this chronicle because Pelf kindly asked if I would. Of course I said yes 
She’s a representative of the Eye Digest, which is a site that provides free articles and information on everything to do with the health of your eyes. Very noble cause this.
Anyway, coming back to me. The decision to undergo Lasik was not one that I really thought very hard over. To be honest, my sis underwent the procedure first, and any time anyone asked if I too might do it, my answer was always “No, I’m too scared of going blind”. That’s the honest truth.
So, the day I told my sis “Eh, can help me make an appointment with Optimax ah?” her jaw practically hit the floor. Till today, I can’t quite tell you why I decided to undergo the procedure. It was a period of change in my life at the time, and with things moving in a flux, I decided to take the plunge. It was one of those on-the-go decisions that you make. A leap of faith you might say.
Hearing the consultant tell me that my cornea was too thin for conventional Lasik was a dash of cold water to my system. I was then introduced to Epi-Lasik (you can read all the gory details in my previous posts) and told I could think about it. I did. I agonised over it but there was no one I could talk to because everyone I knew had had conventional Lasik done. Epi-Lasik is not a common procedure. Add to that the high power of my sight and my large pupils and you would think I’d scuttle for cover and refuse to do it.
Again, I cannot quite understand what made me do it. I found myself saying “Yes I’ll do the procedure” and undergoing the scary operation. I knew deep down that it would turn out alright, and to my relief, it did.
Its been nearly 7 months to the day since I had the procedure done. I still suffer these shortcomings:
Ultimately however, I’d say it was a good thing I did the procedure. For the first time in 20 years, I’m able to wear trendy sunglasses (yes, vain me loves this!), not have indents on my nose where spectacles sit, not suffer pain behind my ears and headaches from wearing glasses, wake up in the morning and see clearly, read in bed without getting my glasses bent out of shape and wear eye makeup and mascara without hiding them behind my glasses.
Oh and there’s another side benefit to having Lasik done. When I had it done, I was warned not to rub my eyes during the healing period. This was so the epithelium was not crumpled or moved out of place, which would be detrimental. I religiously refrained from doing so. Till now, I don’t rub my eyes because of this fear that the surface of my cornea will warp. So what’s the side benefit? I don’t end up with wrinkles around my eyes! 
I haven’t been fully discharged by the centre yet. I still go for monthly check ups so they can track my progress. My sight is not yet stable, according to them as I have found that it fluctuates from visit to visit. I might even have to undergo another correction to bring the sight up to an ideal level. I’ll wait and see how it goes. I’m quite happy with my current sight. I was practically blind before - I could not see clearly beyond a few centimeters so the fact I can see road signs and read fine print all without glasses on, is as close to a miracle as you can get.
Lasik is not something that everyone can undergo, for you must be prepared to accept that complications can occur. If you plan to undergo it, make sure you go to a proper centre with a proven track record. The Eye Digest has some good articles on this:
At one time I would never have messed with my eyes. Now, I’m happy I did. Would I recommend it? Yes, but only if you are mentally prepared for it and appreciate that there may be complications and side-effects. Otherwise, don’t do it just because everyone is. Its not a fashion trend, its your eyes and its the only pair you have.
June 23rd, 2007 — Blogging
Is any one out there?
Sorry, that’s LB’s tag line no? But I’m crawling out of my self-imposed exile to reveal a new theme to this site of mine. Minor changes only - purely cosmetic. Just a puff of powder here, a dash of colour there… nothing major.
Anyhoo, here are the 3 main changes I have implemented and my reasons (even though no one needs to give reasons for changing the look of their sites!) :
So, breath of fresh air *takes deep breath* Do we like it? Do we hate it? Tell me!
June 19th, 2007 — Rants
I know I’m not supposed to be here, but I could not help writing about my experience with Maybank, which I will refer to as May-Blank from now on. You’ll see why.
I logged into my Maybank2u account to pay an overdue bill, and I saw this on the login page.
It was a link to a product known as a S$ iSavvy Savings Account. Clicking on it takes you to a tiny little pop up window that gives you about 3 lines of information and gives you another link to a .pdf file containing the application form.
In a nutshell, based on the information on the site, a S$ iSavvy Savings account is a bank savings account that allows you to save in Singapore Dollars. It is essentially an account held in the Singapore Maybank branch, but since Maybank is a MALAYAN Bank after all, they were giving you the opportunity to open the account here in Malaysia, without having to make a trip across the border! Now, all of us with PPP will perk up at this news. A Singapore Bank account that you can open in Malaysia? Cool! All you need, according to the form, is your IC, S$500 in a demand draft, and a completed application form. There was a list of May-Blank branches you could drop your form off at.
So, I called up to find out more about this account. Based on the link given, of the list of Maybank branches in Malaysia one could go to to open this bank account, I picked the KL Main branch - of course!
So, thinking to myself “Who else would know better than the Main Branch?” I called the number given. I immediately knew something was wrong when the following conversation ensued:
Me: Hello, I’d like to find out more about your iSavvy Savings account.
MBB: Savings Account?
Me: Yes, your iSavvy savings account for Sing Dollar.
MBB: Sing Dollar? Hold on ah…
(listen to irritating muzak)
MBB2: Hello?
Me: Hi, I’d like to find out about your iSavvy Savings Account please.
MBB2: I don’t know what you are talking about. No iSavvy account.
Me: Um… it was on your website.
MBB2: I don’t know. We are not told about this service.
Me: But it said on the site I can apply at your branch.
MBB2: You know ah… sometimes they write on the website but they don’t tell us. So I don’t know what is that.
Me: Are you saying the website is telling a lie?
MBB2: I don’t know. They didn’t tell us. We are main branch but I never heard of this account.
Me: But it says I can submit my application to you!!
MBB2: Yahlah… Maybe its a mistake. I never heard of it ok? I give you another number you try.
Me: o_O
Hello? You tell me if they are May-Blank or not?
Ok, so I try the number given. Turns out it was ATM department and the girl was equally if not more bewildered when I started talking about Sing Dollar accounts. She then put me through to 2 more numbers which she said was “Product Development” who might be able to help. 20747467 did not exist because Telekom told me so, and at 20747959, I was told this iSavvy account does not exist. The lady told me to “Wait ah…” as she transfered my call, but the line went dead.
I couldn’t be bothered to pursue this matter any further. As far as I’m concerned, just forget it! There’s no way I’m going to touch May-Blank with a barge pole for anything other than simple withdrawals now. Even then also they must confuse me by limiting my withdrawals to RM1000 per day only. Siao I tell you, this May-Blank.
So, if there’s someone out there from May-Blank who wants to clarify:
(a) why their Maybank2u website is telling me something they did not tell their branches nor their HQ,
(b) whether their website is telling a lie,
(c) WTF is an iSavvy Savings Account and why is the information popping up in a tiny little javascript window without a proper link?
you can drop your comment off here. Might as well let us all see whether you deserve your May-Blank title or not. In the meantime, I May-NOT-bank with May-Blank for my S$ banking needs. Too risky.
