Travelling Heals Your Soul: January 2013

Malaysia Car Extreme Bodykits

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Some random photos of Malaysia cars modified with custom bodykits. Some to the extent of not possible to drive in Malaysia road.

(Click to enlarge)

Proton Waja with customised front bumper.

Surprisingly, Toyota Avanza also can be modified into a fierce-looking car.

Proton Satria, with customised wide bodykit, back bumper, and also a super-high spoiler.

Proton Wira with customised transformer-like front bumper.

Proton Iswara front bumper, with old-man-like eye lid.

Proton Wira with not-so-extreme front bumper and wide body kit.

This is probably a Proton Wira..

Proton Iswara with customised front bodykit, sprayed with nice apple green.

This should be a Perodua Myvi.

Another Perodua Myvi?

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Apple Hotel, Kuala Lumpur 2013

Apple Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, situated right at the middle of happening Jalan Alor, is one of the best budget hotels that I've stayed in.

With only 5 minutes walk from Bukit Bintang Monorail, it is quite a strategic hotel, which is very easy for me to shop in Sungei Wang Plaza, Pavillion, Farenheit etc. In addition, dinner is just nearby where I can just walk out of the hotel and have my meal along Jalan Alor.

Due to its popularity, it is always best to book early. Though I am travelling alone for 2 nights, I managed only to book a night for double and then for single. Price is RM128 and RM98 respectively. Hence, as for my first night, I stayed in room 410, room for 2.

A comfortable and small room.

Relatively clean bathroom.

Though a small room, they managed to squeeze in a table and a chair.

Cute sink in apple green and apple shape.

Then, on the second day, I moved to single room, room 201. Well, there wasn't any huge difference, except that they do not have the table and the chair, and they only provided me with one towel, as contrast to my previous night.

Not to mentioned the hotel, they provides free Wifi, and also free luggage storage service. In addition, for in and out of the hotel, you need to scan your room card to enter the hotel, and then to enter the rooms area, pretty impressive. :)

StockBase POS 2012 - No.1 Business Management Software

Running your own business and headache of how to handle your cash flow, stocks, etc? Problems with billing, or intend to use bar code for your products?

Worry no more, start now with StockBase POS 2012, a free business management software, which keeps your business competitive in today's marketplace.

Official Site:
EGA Futura

Why EGA Futura?

In the market, there are hundreds to thousands of business management related software. However, EGA Futura has made their software, StockBase POS 2012, to be one of the most reliable software available currently.

1. Long and established history since 1994- by EGA Futura, and currently used by 21 countries worldwide.

2. Freeware
- complete freeware with no limitation of functions and usage period

3. Windows Compatible- easily operated using Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, or even Windows 2008.

4. Bar code Processing Ready

- easy information retrieval system via their bar code processing features, which makes your stock check and inspection easier.

5. Complete & easy-to-use

- friendly user interface, in which i could not describe to you until you try it. No manual or training needed :)

"Time is money, start using it now before your competitors do!"

FREE DOWNLOAD

Official Site:

EGA Futura

AirAsia - Cheap things not good, good things not cheap.

I feel really frustrated with AirAsia, though now 'Everyone Can Fly', but 'Everyone Can Fly with Papaya Face'! I have many experiences, in fact too many experiences with AirAsia as I fly almost once to twice a month. Recently, there was a promotion with 10,000 free seats early 2013.

If you find this too long and windy, just read the part in bald.

As everybody else, I try to grab some free, or at least promotional price ticket to bring my family on a vacation. I managed to grab 3 tickets, from Kuching to KL round trip for only RM336, which was quite a good bargain. During debit card transaction, the page freeze a while and it said transaction successful, with transaction ID provided.

However, due to no itinerary received, I checked my booking immediately and it was ON HOLD due to no payment received, and AirAsia will cancel my flight in 2 hours if payment did not get through.

Of course, I started to call their helpline, first AirAsia helpline - 0321719222, but was told they changed their helpline to premium line which charges RM1.95 per minute, 60085999. So, regardless of the premium line, I called their premium extension, and wth? The number you have dialled is not in service. Then I try their web live chat, and expected, no one was there to entertain me. So I guess Airasia make it in such a way, once you have purchased their tickets, you have no way back to speak to any of their representatives should you have any issues.

As my ticket will expire in 2 hours, I rushed down to their office, which is about 45 minutes away. Reaching there, when I asked the AirAsia representatives, to my surprise, she said debit card charges will not be instant and I will have to wait until the ticket is cancelled or confirmed. Huh?? Debit card supposed to be instant deduction from your account, that sales representative clearly confused between a credit card and a debit card.

My expression when I heard what the sales girl said.

Thus I went to nearest Maybank branch, and confirmed my payment did not get through. I went back to AirAsia office to try to make my payment, and the sales girl just said "Tak dapat bayar sini, itu promo ticket, kena bayar online".

In summary I have to repurchase my ticket at higher cost.

The point is, I don't blame AirAsia for their website as it was very congested and causing payment problem. However, they should always provide a platform for the people to speak to their agents/representative should the customers have any doubts. When they hire ground staff, please make sure they hire the brighter one, who will not say "debit card transaction is not instant."

"Cheap things not good, good things not cheap."

One Adsense Earning beats my Total Nuffnang Earnings

I recently cashed out my Adsense earnings. As what I've expected, my Adsense earnings was more than my Nuffnang earnings, and the revenue generated through Adsense was in fact faster than I thought.

I started using Nuffnang probably about 3 years back, but only active in blogging for about a year. I have 4 cash out with Nuffnang, and my total Nuffnang earnings is about RM263 up to date. On the other hand, I've been using Adsense for about a year, and my earnings up to date is $115.23, which is roughly RM350.

(Click to Enalrge)

Cheque arrival at my doorstep to Kuching.

The cheque together with the letter attached.

Close up view of the cheque, with the earnings of USD 115.23.

My Total Nuffnang Earnings

Pretty fast process time as compared to Nuffnang, Cheque issued on 21 December 2012, and arrived at my doorstep early Januray. Nuffnang will need 30 days from the end of the month when you cash out, for gliterati member, and as long as 60 days for non-gliterati member.

I know this amount is not much, many of you are probably doing way better than I do. However, this is all about a bonus for me to keep me moving forward and continue to blog.

Remember, Adsense earnings takes time, I started with only a few clicks per month, to about 400-600 clicks per month currently, average of 10-20 clicks per day. It's a satisfaction to see how your hard work you put into your blog has turned into monetary form.

For those who are still confuse whether to use Adsense or Nuffnang, or to use both, you can read more details at Adsense vs Nuffnang, or if you would like to achieve more on using Nuffnang alone, please read How to Earn from Nuffnang.

Finally, I changed from DiGi to Celcom

After a decade, to be exact 11 years of using DiGi, finally I have made up my mind to switch to Celcom postpaid last week.

Well, I have given enough chance for DiGi to improve, however, still they provide relatively poor coverage as compared to other service provider. Especially at my place of work, which is about 30 minutes from Kuching town, DiGi has no 3G, and not even EDGE. I had a contract signed with them 2 years ago for an iPhone 4, thus I have no choice but to stick to it for about 2 years.

The circle next to DiGi icon means no 3G, or no EDGE

Without 3G and EDGE, I can barely surf a page, probably it takes about 2-3 minutes to load a page, and forget about Facebook, it won’t load. I can’t really remember the DiGi plan I subscribed 2 years back, but monthly payment is about RM60++, with 1Gb quota and some free talk time and SMS.

Though it took me 3 working days for complete port forwarding from DiGi to Celcom, but it's worth the wait.

Celcom 3G at same area

With the new plan I subscribed from Celcom, they offer RM68 per month, with 3Gb data quota, 60 minutes talk time and some amount of SMS and MMS. True enough, Celcom provides me with 3G, I mean really fast 3G at my work place, and I can enjoy Internet freely at anywhere. :)

How to Earn with ChurpChurp?

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After Nuffnang being introduced in to Malaysia few years ago, online advertising in Malaysia has reached a new level.

Now, with the new ChurpChurp, Malaysian blogger can generate even more revenue not only by blogging, but through popular social platform as well, such as Facebook, Twitter etc

How to Start?

First of all, in order to start earning with ChurpChurp, you must register an account with them.Registration is free, and after registration is complete, you can start generating income almost instantly.

Getting Started

Churp Churp

Invite your friends and get rewarded for sharing new promos and trends you love the most!

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1. Sharing Campaigns and get paid per click

In ChurpChurp, there are constant various campaigns running and you can share the links with your friends or readers through your blogs or website. For every links you shared, you get paid for RM0.20 per unique clicks, and RM0.40 on every Wednesday as a bonus.

To share the link, you can post it in your blogs, Facebook wall/links, or Twitter shoutout.

2. Sharing campaigns and make a deal

Apart from getting revenue from unique clicks, in certain campaigns, user can get a SHARE if public purchase the deal from the link. For example, user can get RM3.00 as incentives if public purchase a massage package through the link.

Share generated through this way is far higher than the first method, sometimes can be as high as RM100 per deal. However, getting a successful deal may not be that easy.

3. Sharing Campaigns through Grapevine

In 2011, ChurpChurp had introduced a new interface, which is called Grapevine. This new and creative ads not only allows Churper to earn extra revenue, but it also allows the readers of the blog to share the ads in social platform, such as Facebook and Twitter.

For instance, readers can paste the link generated from the ads into the Facebook Wall post, and every unique clicks generated through the link will gain RM0.20. However, Grapevine only allows earnings through social platform.

4. Successful referral

Lastly, for every people you refer to ChurpChurp, you gain RM1.00 per unique sign up. However, to get the money credited, the referrals must register and start sharing campaigns.

Payout

Payout for ChurpChurp is RM100, with multiple campaigns sharing through your social platform, Churper can achieve RM100 in 1-2 months duration.

Sister company of ChurpChurp - Nuffnang

Nuffnang is the first Asia Pacific blog advertising community, with more than 100,000 Nuffnang bloggers over these countries, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia. (Known as Nuffnang MY, Nuffnang SG etc) It is very much like Google Adsense,

How to Earn from Nuffnang

Nuffnang is the first Asia Pacific blog advertising community, with more than 100,000 Nuffnang bloggers over these countries, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippin...[READ MORE]

Join ChurpChurp Now!

ChurpChurp

FREE Registration, instant earnings now!

Is ChurpChurp a scam?

Click to read more!

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Trip to Korea, 2012

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Thanks to my wife(she sponsored), we had a wonderful trip to Korea in December 2012. It was an unplanned trip, and we just decided to join the tour a month ago prior to departure. Of course, it cost us quite a lot, but as opposed to what I always believe in, there are always other things which is more important than the money.

We joined a local travel agency, and paid RM4899 (Roughly USD 1600) per person for the trip. We were flying from Kuching, and due to the flight schedule, we were arranged to stay in Kuala Lumpur for a night before heading to Incheon, Korea. We spent a night at Nilai Spring Resort, which is about 30 minutes from LCCT/KLIA.

The flight to Korea took about 7 hours. We were advised to bring along all our jacket on board as it was winter in Korea, and temperature ranging from 2C to -6C. For those who like to experience extreme cold weather and snow, December is a good time to travel.

Upon arrival at Incheon Airport, we were 'attacked' by the freezing breeze that hit our face, and definitely not that comfortable for us from tropical country. Upon welcomed by our tour guide, Mr Yuan, a Korean who speaks better mandarin than me, we rushed to Gimbo Airport for our next flight to Jeju Island.

Before I proceed, probably I should explain roughly what was my intinery. The package included 7 days 6 night of stay in Korea, first 2 days at Jeju Island, third day to Nami Island, fourth day to Mount Sorak, fifth and sixth day at Seoul, Korea for the various attractions.

Flight to Jeju took about 50 minutes using Jeju Air, the air stewardess served us in long sleeve T-shirt with their cheerful smile and professional service. We were arranged to stay in Marina Hotel. As no programs at night, we walked around the hotel, and get ourselves some snack from 7-11 convenient store.

The next day, we went to a mandarin orange farm for some souvenirs, then head to a trekking mountain, sorry I couldn't recall the name. After that, we went and visit their Jeju 'Natives' village, in which they actively promoting their products, such as 'Horse's Bone Powder', 'Honey' etc. We had their famous 'black pork' as our lunch.

Well, that's not me, and not my wife too. Just not in time to get a clear shot of the name of the mountain.

Along the trekking path.

Shot from the top, took us about 30 minutes to reach the top.

'BBQ Black Pork'

Compliment side dishes

Then in the afternoon, we managed to visit few museums, namely Teddy Bear Museum, Trick Art Museum.

Trick Art Museum

Teddy Bear Museum

Making Kimchi lesson!

The next day, we flew back to Gimbo Airport via Jeju Air, and head straight to Nami Island. For Korean drama fans, Nami Island is famous for drama shooting - 'Winter Sonata'.

Famous Ginseng Chicken on the way to Nami Island

Entrance of the Nami Island (More photos coming up)

BBQ Chicken as dinner

After dinner, we headed to HanWha Resorts for a night. Excellent Hotel.

The very next day we went to Mount Sorak, which is one of my favourite. Breath taking snowing scenery.

Temple at the end of the path.

Photo taken inside the cabel car at Mount Sorak.

After a cold long walk at Mount Sorak, we had a mushroom steamboat.

At Nami Island, where the film Winter Sonata was shot:

Hot red bean cake, 1000won.

Evening was our skiing session. Well, this was y first time, and of course I fell down a few times. But, it was fun!!! For those who travels during the winter period, please take some time, stop by at the skiing centre and practise ~~falling down~~ some skiing.

We stayed a night at Oak Valley Hotel, and of course another awesome hotel!

The next day is Everland Theme Park! However, due to the heavy snow, many of the outdoor activities were suspended. We can only afford to enjoyed some indoor ride, which is more suitable for family and kids. :(

This is Zoo Safari in the Everland, where you can sit back and relax in their bus, and enjoy a 20 minutes brisk ride, watching different animals.

This is Nanta Show, highly recommended! A must-go attraction spot.

Tonight, we stayed at S Hotel. We were arranged to shop a few famous spot at Seoul, such as their Korean Ginseng Outlets, Purple Crystal factory, SeaWeed Factory and their 'Hu Gan Bao' - a manufactured-in-Korea-only medicine which is used to clean one's liver and improves the functions. Of course, a set of those simply cost around USD1000+ EXCEPT for the seaweed, whcih cost around USD 10 per package. We shopped at 'Dongdaemun' at night, and my wife had her spending spree there.