IT Fair 2011@ Midvalley Megamall and the Bull Run

I would be the last person who would be interested in the mega sale but something caught my eye that I could not resist! 

The IT fair @ Midvalley were offering 500GB Seagate Expansion Portable hard disks at RM99 per piece. At this time, (3rd Quarter of 2011) market price was around RM165. So I thought to myself why not?

 

There's a catch: the IT fair lasts from 2-4th September and there were only 100 units per day to be offered, 50 units at 11am (opening) and another 50 at 4pm.

Fine, here's the plan, reach at 10am , get some breakfast and wait for the opening...sounds bullet proof no? Next day...

 Ah shit! (Did I say shit?) Yes! Look at the crowd! All wanting to get their hands on the Hard Disk... This was at the opening minute! I could see hundreds of people running like mad cows, dogs and cats .....and mice... running as if the world was going to end! So what to do? Join in of course! Well, I took a slow jog but I'm sure I was in at least 50 videos, courtesy of the on looking sales people! Googled just to make sure... not up yet! phew...

 By the time we got to the Seagate shop, the crowd was massive! My dreams of RM99 500GB HDD were dashed, somewhat...

 Yes, there were so many people wanting to get their hands on it... counted a thousand people! Anyhow...I walked to the front, by the side of the line... where the sales staff began announcing that the promotion was for coupon holders only... meaning that you needed to get some coupons online... double dashed...I was at the counter but not in the line as everyone was paying close attention to the announcements.

Suddenly, another staff opened a line and I suddenly found myself in front of a thousand other people! Dumb luck! Although the line was for 1TB Seagate at RM200... Still a steal! (it rhymes!). It was a no brainer for me! As fast as it went it! I came out with these...

 Bb, couldn't resist but to buy a Hello Kitty netbook sleeve...

 So here is the loot. 2.5" of raw data storage for 40% below market price and an astounding 1TB that will last me well over 10 years (For Cheok Hao it will last only 1).

Only problem was it was a USB 2.0 which meant a maximum transfer speed of 420Mbit/s or around 8MB per second on 64bit. Good for storage, but still not that good for playing back HD movies. For those who don't speak geek, here is a comparison of USB 1, 2 and 3.

 USB 1.0

 USB 2.0 (420Mbits/s)

USB 3.0 (5Gbits/s)

Until next time!

(Embarassed) First Time on Penang Ferry!

Embarassingly, this is the first time I have taken the ferry to the other side of Penang. Usually its the mainland people who come to the island (excuses).

Anyway, one of the reasons why me and Bb went over to the mainland was to visit her nephews. Won't elaborate on them but here's a cute picture!

The Penang ferry operates between the town area and Butterworth. A journey  by car out of the island is free, hence a long queue. A car journey into the island will cost you RM7.70, where as, you can go on foot for free to get out of the island and for around RM3 to get in.

I would recommend visitors to Penang to just take a journey by foot on the ferry if you have an hour and a half to kill in the evening. Don't recommend going in the day time if it is too hot...

There will be a slight wait as the ferries arrive every 30 minutes. You enter the Jetty area and get on board this 3 storey boat that swallows up a few tonnes of cars.

At sea, the city lights look amazing as well as lights from the mainland shore. The journey takes about 15-20 minutes one way.

While most people prefer to drive and park in the ferries, they are kinda useless sitting there...

You know what would be a good business idea? Turn the ferries into a floating club or restaurant! Worse, a casino...

Anyway, it was a short ride but one that was kinda makes me feel closer to home!

I'm cleaning out my closet

The holidays was no holiday... Housework is never done. Some friends keep asking me what are you gonna do? When I reply housework, they laugh...Well, when you don't have a maid and have been moving between a few places, you will need to start cleaning your room(s).

Will my friends have transformer toys, trophies, animals or poster in their rooms... I have books...

"Some" of the books that were left in my old house...Note three more boxes on the floor. Read them all before some age and now I have to put them away.

United we stand, divided we fall... or, divided books are light, together, it is a pain for my back!!

Secret To LDR

Honestly, I don't know actually what is the secret..

...but, I just had a picture that I have been wanting to put up for so long...

 Bb is gonna kill me...

For the sake of clean teeth, we were competing who would be able to brush the longest... 

After about 5 mins, bb burst out in laughter... leaving me to brush alone...

HAhahaHAHAHA....

Yes this is really random...

Mid Autumn Festival @ One Utama

It's the mid autumn festival and so we decided to go check out One Utama for the festive season...

First thing we noticed was  the decor there which wore a theme that looked like a cross breed of lantern festival and halloween.

Because, not only did the place feature some traditional lantern like stores, it also had this:

What I don't understand is why the bunnies with the big smiling teeth... anyone care to explain?

And why the rocket? Is it time to go to the full moon? Well, besides mooncakes and lanterns sold there, on display were a large array of goodies and hampers!

As for food, we went to try out the new food court on the top floor next to the suspension bridge.

A lil crowded, and really limited seats, eating there on a normal day would be much less hectic.

Either way, many choices of food there... check out the chicken rice and western food stores! You will rub shoulders and rub butts with the many patrons there, as designed by the architects.

Today, we ordered the Hainan Chicken rice set which comes with the following minus the drink:

This will easily set you back RM12 but once in a while... Bon apetite! and Happy Mid Autumn Festival!

Old folks home @ Genting Highlands and 10 Mistakes during Raya

One August day, Bb and I found ourselves with a pair of RM100 Holiday Cards, compliments of Genting Resorts World which is valid up to the end of August. The holiday cards themselves can be purchased at Genting at a discount and comes with face values of RM100 and RM300, which you can buy for around RM85 and RM255 respectively online. You can use it like cash in most restaurants and many more places in Genting.

We left Sunway at 10am and here is where our string of unfortunate events unfolded.


For the love of the environment and the dread of driving, we decided to use the buses to Genting.

Mistake No. 1 - Took KTM


I'm usually disinclined to show more feelings than necessary but here is what I feel about Kereta Api Tanah Melayu Berhad: Fuck them. FULL STOP.


Avoid the KTM Komuter at all costs during the balik kampung seasons  at all times because it will be filled to the brim with illegal immigrants, all 2 million of them... What about the ladies coach?? I was shoved in the coach with the rest of human tuna fish.


After the sweaty ride to KL Sentral, we made our way to the bus stop..


Mistake No. 2 - Wanting to take the Bus up Genting.


It seems that Genting Resorts did not provide backup buses during the Hari Raya/Merdeka holidays... What about the people who wanna go gamble?? Arrgghh! When we arrived there at 11am, we were told that the buses were full till 3pm!!

Mistake No.3 - Left my car next to the KTM station!


Crap! So in that case, it was time to get back to plan B, take the LRT back to Kelana Jaya and get my bro to drive back to Subang Jaya to get my car :(


By the time we got the car back, we were back at home just to start our journey at 1pm! Thats 3 frigging hours because we made the mistake of trusting public transport!

So, it was back to driving...
Mistake No. 4 - Heading towards kampungs during Raya.

Note the massive amount of cars (75% percent of them heading back to kampungs towards Kuantan).

It was utterly difficult to avoid tolls yet traffic towards Kuantan was at a crawl! When we reached Genting, traffic eased a little until we reached another stumbling block.

Mistake No. 5 - Making mistakes 1 to 4 to arrive at almost 3pm!

That means parking is a total nightmare.

Time to drive to Genting: 1 hour 30 mins.
Time to find parking: 30 mins.

Yes, the whole resort was a total parking lot with cars parked at every nook and cranny. We almost gave up and Bb and I were on the brink of arguement because we made mistake No. 6...

Mistake No. 6 - No food in the car.

Oh yes, after missing our bus and not having anything to eat 6 hours after breakfast, we were hungry, impatient and disgruntled and the endless labyrinth of P5 carpark was killing our patience.

We drove to a dead end and Bb frowned at me with a pissed voice, "So, what do we do now?!" At that point, I snapped and said, I'll drive and got out of the passenger seat (Bb was driving). What was I to do? So I got out and saw a hint of a parking lot just behind us. Was it a mirage caused by those pesky Kancils that make you think that you found a spot? It was not! I was almost in tears as I jumped for joy! Finally!

...and after some free appetizers at the Bakery, I was content! Two donuts: RM 9 @ the Bakery

By now, the inside of the resort was stuffy and so we decided to get some fresh air outside!

Mistake No. 7 - What fresh air?

Unlike an ordinary day, the whole hill was filled with cars and their exhaust gases. The surrounding temperature was not as cold and even with our outfits,

I feel we were over dressed as it was frigging warm up there! So keep your jackets for the night!

Okay, time to find some lunch.

The resort itself was like a maze, we had to look at signs and find our way to someplace I was searching for...

Past all the people...insanely a lot of them...

and the buildings... which were either too dull or too colourful...

we managed to reach the entrace of the Casino. We were looking for the New Orleans Barbecue, which was located INSIDE the casino. No cameras allowed from here and we only had our mobile phones with us. Keep your belongings with security.

Mistake No. 8 - Not bringing gas masks into the  Casino Old Folks Home.

The place was a smoke house! Any longer in there and I would have the texture of smoked bacon or salmon. The other thing I noticed was the average age of the people in the casino, way past retirement! What a good senior home Genting makes, free drinks, toilets, accomodation, and entertainment. Also sharpens the mind mathematically!

A group of grandmother of gamblers next to our table. Who knows, they might have Ferraris and a taste for young guys. Anyway, we were ushered to our table and ordered the Sirloin steak...

and I had the Fish and Chips!

For its location and the view of the highlands, I would say that the price is really affordable plus freeflow salad bar and drinks (Plain water and drinks from the casino), though the portions might be a lil small.

Despite the small portions, we were happy. Now with our tummies filled, it was about RM70 for the meal, and we still got a lil more to spend! So off we went to just get some shots... Time to get out of the casino old folks home.

Smile people!

Yeap, the arcade has many nice things to get your picture taken with!

Optimus Prime!

Genting Man!

Okay, next stop was the Snowworld, a giant freezer where the temperature drops to -7 degrees celcius. For those who are wondering, it is frigging cold!

No camera's allowed either, so keep them in your pockets! As for your stuff, they provide lockers at RM1. Here, they will also provide you with Shoes, Jackets, and Gloves. Only thing you shud worry about is your ears! Get a balaclava or ear muffs cause your ears WILL go numb!

Once you are done dressing up, you enter the freezer doors and into a snowy place! It has a wooden cabin, ice scluptures, huge chillers and an indoor slide with those plastic donuts! Along with some fake snow and children slides, you can chill out there for around 45 minutes (if you have the balls).

Hahaha, so I jumped ship and had enough of the ice after around 20 minutes. Time to get out.

At the exit, the will reward you with a tub of vanilla ice-cream each!

 

Weeee! We just spent RM20 each (More expensive for non MyKad holders).

Next up, it was to the arcade! Always wanted to go play there and get those gifts!

Mistake No. 8 - Playing at the Arcade During Holidays!

Yes, don't do it! Firstly, you will have to queue up to buy a touch card... something like a credit card which you used instead of tokens. WAIT...

So many people and so crowded! Fine, after paying RM15 (RM10 credit and RM5 deposit) for the eZ card, we went to play some games there. OMFG! One game, RM4! RM3!... Thats like 3 games max.

Boo.. still, that was not the worst part! Like noobs, we swiped the card on the scanner... Nothing happend.. Swiped again... nothing happened... Balance remaining RM4!!!! FUCK!!! We just got conned of our credit...

So off we went to the service counter where a fat technician will help you out... WAIT...So fine, he got the machine to start... but only ONE game! Fine, keep our cool, and went to reload another RM10.. WAIT....

Okay, at least we still managed to play some games along the way. In total we got around 83 tickets, nothing compared to the thousands the regulars bring in... So I took it to the counter and the attendent at the counter said I needed to go to the machine to count 83 tickets... I can understand counting a thousand... but 83?

Fine fine, go to the ticket counter machine... the people in front had bags of tickets!! This guy had over 2000 tickets! so... WAIT....

I was not alone... if you wanna count your tickets... WAIT!!!!

Bb went to claim the deposit for the eZ card which was the same counter (manned by one woman) for reloading (Where are the machines!!??). WAIT WAIT WAIT... that is what you can expect!
Anyway, we spent RM20 and almost 2 hours to get 83 points to change it for this! A plastic keychain! IMHO, those people with thousands of tickets must be frigging loaded!

 Anyway, me no likey! It was already way past sunset and we still had a little credit left in our pockets and batteries in our cameras. So out went for some air!

We decided to take away some sandwiches from the Bakery @ Genting. Was like a subway and will set you back RM17.50 per sandwich.

A bottle of Esprit raspberry soda, RM9.90..

and a chocolate mousse cake that looks more like a piece of art, RM4.80! for my bro back home...

One last mistake.

Mistake No. 10 - Bring more money to Genting!

KK out!