Run Forrest Run !!

Last week, I made a short trip for lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co at The Curve. Reason I went there was that I bought another fantastic deal from MyDeal.

The deal was : "Shrimp Feast at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. @ 50% OFF. ALL THE SHRIMP YOU CAN EAT at RM 43.35 nett instead of RM 86.70"

I have not dined at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co before this even though I have passed by this place many times. The restaurant is actually based on the movie "Forrest Gump" - one of my all time favourite movie starring Tom Hanks which the movie also won a few Oscar awards.

A quick search on the Net tells me that the company was founded in California back in 1996 and it has got more than 30 outlets internationally by now.

Side view of entrance to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

With its big signboard and eye-catching deco, one can hardly miss the restaurant situated on the 1st floor of The Curve.

Entrance to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co

Service was prompt as there is a waiter standing outside the restaurant ushering you to an empty table once you step into the restaurant. Seatings inside the restaurant are quite limited and I think I counted close to 15 tables available, mostly for 2-4 guests per table. However, there are plenty of seats for alfresco dining. Since, Bubba Gump is a corner unit, seatings are arranged neatly to the maximum capacity with more than enough walkway for diners and food servers.

As the tables inside the restaurant were fully taken, me and my wife opted for an alfresco seating. I passed on my MyDeal voucher to the waitress and our first course arrived in less than 10 minutes. Hmm.. I am beginning to like the service of this place.

First, came the Shrimper's Net Catch I .It's a bucket of shrimps. I opted for a mix of Bubba's Garlic Spice and Secret Recipe Cajun Spice. The looks of the shrimps being poured onto the tray already wetted my appetite for more. It also came along with a sparkling lemonade (which I find the taste rather bland). The shrimps are really as good as they looked. Squeezing the 2 slices of lemon onto the shrimps, both of us quickly got into the mode of peeling the shrimps from its shells and feeding them into our hungry mouths. It was really lips-smacking good!! The mixture of the spices really blend well with the prawns. However though, I find it a little bit salty for my liking but it's bearable. While we were half way eating, the waiter was very prompt with his service. He came and clean up our plates filled with the shrimps' shells. Once we placed the new clean plates to the table, we continued with our meal.

Shrimper's Net Catch

After filling half of our stomachs with the shrimps, we moved on to the dessert. It was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae. This really look appetising. It came in a pan with the chocolate chip cookies base, topped with 2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream and 2 scoops of whipped cream and garnished with a mint leave. You will find chocolate sauce and syrup on the plate as shown in the photo below.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae

The sundae was magical! The first mouthful itself spells wonder! It's really that great. Biting into the base with the chocolate chips inside is like heavenly. Oh ya, it also comes with peanuts (lots of them), making it a really awesome treat. You're advised to share it with a second or third person as it is quite filling.

A close up short of the heavenly Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae

I really had a great meal at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co at The Curve. Really a great deal thanks to Bubba Gump and MyDeal.

For those who wanted to check out this restaurant, below are the addresses of its outlets in Malaysia.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. @ the Curve, Lot 145, 1st Floor, Jalan PJU 7/3, the Curve, Mutiara Damansara, 47800 Petalling Jaya, Selangor, Tel: 603-7710 9862 / 63 Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. @ Sunway Pyramid, OB.K2, OB.K3, OB.K3C & OB.K3D, Oasis Boulevard, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, No, 3, Jalan PJS 11/15, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Tel: 603-5638 4559 / 5635 3559

Bona petite!!

Super Dan completes it !

Lin Dan is simply the best badminton player of the century! He's the world's most celebrated men's singles badminton player.

I have to admit that I am not a very big fan of Lin Dan. To me, he's kinda cocky and not the friendliest badminton around. However, I do have to admit that he's simply a class above the rest of the players.

Both Lin Dan and Chong Wei are consistent players and usually reached til the Finals in whichever tournament they took part in. Lin Dan has been Chong Wei's arch rival or nemesis on court for a number of years already but Chong Wei still have not find the right weapon to subdue Lin Dan. Not that Chong Wei is a bad player. In fact, Chong Wei is a badminton player of great stamina and reflexes. Even the people who filmed Chong Wei for a documentary were very impressed with his physical fitness. Once can certainly sees Chong Wei's quick reflexes on court, especially when he's so quick up again after landing with his hands on the rubber mat of the badminton court. Very often you will hear such comment of Chong Wei by the match commentator praising Chong Wei for his reflexes and how well he got along with the other players in the badminton circuit.

Lin Dan's match against Chong Wei in Asian Games' Badminton Men's Final is a great showcase of Lin Dan's strength and skills. It was a very exciting match. Though being Malaysian, I strongly hope that Chong Wei will win the game and bring home a Gold Medal to Malaysia, we all know it was a herculean effort to beat Lin Dan especially in his home land, China. Lin Dan won the game 21-13, 15-21 and 21-10. By winning the gold medal in the Asian Games, Lin Dan became the only player in the world to have all the badminton titles i.e. Olympics, Asian Games, World Championship, All England, BWF circuit super series event, Thomas Cup. In fact, this Fujian southpaw badminton player was already a world number 1 player at the early age of 20. I am sure at 20 years old, many of us have not even graduated from tertiary education yet but Lin Dan already helm the highest ranking and at 27 years old, Super Dan (as he's fondly called by his fans) is already at the top echelon of badminton.


Photo extracted from Wikipedia

Froyo Deli’s Frozen Yogurt

 

The website www.mydeal.com.my is simply marvellous!! I simply love this site. A BIG THANK YOU to fellow blogger, Nicole Tan (www.nicolekiss.blogspot.com) for featuring this website in her blog back in August’10.

What’s this site all about?? Well, every day this website features an item for sale at a heavily discounted price. On average, you will be offered a deal for 50% or more. The deal varies from dining, self-pampering ie. aromatherapy, spa to car wash and waxing. This website currently offers deal in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor.

The deal I am going to blog about is actually the second deal which I have purchased from this website. Almost everyday, I surf into this website to find out the latest goodies the website has to offer.

To share with you all out there, below is the deal which I wanna blog about:

50% Off Medium Frozen Yogurt Package with Choice of 4 toppings @ The Froyo Deli for only RM 7.25 instead of RM 14.50!

I have to be frank that when I purchase this deal with my credit card online, I have no idea what or where is Froyo Deli located. I have to google up the address to find out exactly where the deli is located. So, I printed out the Google Map and tuck it nicely in my wallet to be taken out as guide when I visit Froyo Deli.

So, 2 Sundays ago when I am heading back to KL from Seremban, I made a detour to Desa Sri Hartamas to feast myself on the frozen yogurt which I have bought from www.mydeal.com.my. Though I easily made my way to Desa Sri Hartamas, I have problem finding the exact location of the shop even though my GPS already indicated that I have reached the destination. The signboard of the shop is simply too small to be eye-catching. There’s no big signboard from on the shop to indicate the name of the shop. Instead, you will only find a round signboard with the face of a bunny (see below) to welcome you to the shop. They could have made the sign a little bit bigger.

Upon entering the shop, my Sis volunteered to be the photographer and took some photos of the shop’s interior. The decorations in Froyo Deli is very simple, towards the taste of a minimalist. The setting is very casual and relaxing.

Even the menu is very simple. The frozen yogurt, made fresh daily, comes in 2 flavours, plain or strawberry or you can order the twist which is plain yogurt mixed with strawberry flavoured frozen yogurt. The owner is kind enough to offer us a sampling of the flavours first before settling down to place out orders. My voucher allows me to choose 4 toppings from the many variants available. As usual, mango is my automatic choice of fruit. I chose longan, sunflower seed and colour sprinkles as my 4 toppings.

A wide variety of toppings for you yogurt lovers to choose from

While waiting for the Owner to prepare the frozen yogurt, my Sis put her spare time into good use again, snapping up another photo of the mock serving of the Froyo Deli’s frozen yogurt, tastefully placed on the aluminium table near the entrance of the shop.

Looks tempting huh? These are not real, hehe!

Finally, after waiting for less than 5 minutes, our orders are ready to be served to the mouth of these 3 first-timers. My wife settled for the plain yogurt, my Sis ordered the twist while I ordered the strawberry flavour. After a few rounds of flavour tasting among the 3 of us, I concluded that the plain yogurt flavour is the nicest. The strawberry topping is very fresh and the Owner is certainly very generous with the quantity of toppings served. The wide variety of toppings available certainly complement the frozen yogurt well and would satisfy the cravings of almost everyone who frequent Froyo Deli. The only grumble which I have is that Froyo Deli should have offered salted peanut or crushed peanut as toppings.

2 sets which I purchased using the voucher from www.mydeal.com.my and another ala-carte order

Simply yummy!!

After spending a good 15-20 minutes in the shop, we have 3 satisfied customers. Then again, I have another complain. The shop does not have any drinks on its menu. You only find frozen yogurt on the black board with the different pricing based on the number of toppings you ordered. What about drinks? No coffee, tea or fruit juice available? Not even plain water was served to complement the yogurt or available on the menu. That’s a little bit disappointing though I was not thirsty at that point in time. I do hope the Owner will offer some drinks to the customers. Having a wide variety of magazines is a good past-time for those who would like to do some light reading while enjoying a nice cup of yogurt, but do serve drinks please………

Great Deal at MyDeal.com.my

While reading the blog from a famous local blogger, Nicole Tan, I was being introduced to a site which sells F&B, Wellness, Car Wash etc at exceptional discounts. According to Nicole, she was a bit sceptical too at the beginning but just gave it a try since the amount involved is not very big. Great deals start from as cheap as RM10 or lesser. The website is called :www.Mydeal.com.my

Basically, how this site works? Read below. I copied it from MyDeal.com.my as I'm too lazy to explain it myself, hehe.
How does MyDeal.com.my work?

Every day you'll find a new hot deal on MyDeal.com.my at discounts between 50-90%. Once the minimum number of buyers for a certain deal is reached, the deal is "on". After the deal period has passed (usually 24 hours) you will receive an email from us with your electronic coupon or a confirmation email that your coupon has been sent out to your home address. Since we aggregate a large number of buyers for each retailer, we're able to pass on these kinds of discounts to our customers. Once you received the coupon via email or post you can simply go to the merchant and enjoy your deal!

Here's how it works:

1) Click on "Buy Now" to reserve the deal for you. When the minimum number of buyers is reached, the deal is definitely taking place!

2) Tell all your friends, colleagues, family members and your neighbors about the hot deal that's going on! That way the chances are higher that we reach the minimum number.

3) In case the minimum number of buyers is not reached, the deal won't take place. In this case you'll get a full refund of the fee you paid to your credit card or PayPal account. Check back the next day - for sure a deal will be going on!

Easy right? I started off by making a purchase for Lecka Lecka at 50% discount. I just have to pay RM16 for 2 vouchers! The deal comes with 2 scoops of any our your preferred Lecka Lecka flavours and a bottle of Esprit drink. I utilised my voucher last Sunday at e@Curve. I wasn't very sure of myself when I approached the service crew at first. What if my vouchers are fake? What if they don't recognise what I have? Am I going to embarass myself in front of everyone at a busy shopping mall? I was so relieved when the staff at Lecka Lecka counter accepted my voucher and gave me the same service as a regular customer.

Now, I am hooked to this website. Everyday, I visit this website for the Deal of the Day. The deals are available in Klang Valley, Penang and Johor. Maybe you guys and gals who have not visited this website should check it out. You can really enjoy some good stuff at great discounts!!

Where Have I Been ??

I have been missing from my Blog for a long, long time again. The last posting I put up was somewhere in July. So, I have been away for about 3 months I guess.

Life moved on. I have left my previous employment with a related company of a well-known blood testing Group, handling the financial affairs of a chain medical GP practise and distributor of health supplements.

I have been commented by some friends as well as fellow interviewers for not being staying long with a company that I have worked with. My longest period of employment with 1 company is 3.5 years. I have now worked for almost 13 years and I have worked for 6 companies! Of course, I would not like to be potrayed as a job-hopper too. It's just that opportunities came along the way and I would like to take the opportunity to move up the career ladder. Else, why I would I want to study until Univeristy level, equipped myself with a Degree but working just as a clerical staff in a Company. Aim high right??

Well, I have just joined a local media agency. So now, I am in an advertising line of business. I landed myself in the role of a Finance & Admin Manager - overseeing Finance, HR, Admin and IT department. It's a small company with headcount of not more than 10 but it's a pleasant office to work in. The company is not too far away from where I live at. This company has been established not too long. It has been around for about 5 years but the CEO/Owner is someone well-known in this industry. In fact, he has been in the advertising line for almost 20 years, helming top position in companies he worked for before moving forward to open his own company. He come across as someone very knowledgeable in many topics. I do see him as a mentor in certain way and I do hope this employment will keep me grounded for some time ;-)

Homestay in Taiping

Last week, I went back to Taiping, a town in nothern Perak, Peninsular Malaysia, to visit some relatives of my in-laws. I was surfing on the Net for suitable to stay as my parents also followed us back to Taiping for a leisure trip. A colleague of mine suggested that I look up for homestay instead of hotel as it’s cheaper for a big family and certainly more suitable for a family stay compared to hotel. It was a good idea and not long after I found a suitable unit. It was actually owned by one of my wife’s friend.
The place is actually a single storey house with 3 bedrooms located at Taman Tekah in Aulong area of Taiping. It’s a very suitable place as my in-law’s relatives stay at Aulong. So, this house which the owner named it a motel is within a short distance from the relative’s home and also there’s a Giant hypermarket nearby. Isn’t that very convenient ?

The single storey, 3 rooms motel

The house is at a quiet neighbourhood. There is a row of double-storey terrace houses and shoplots in front of this motel.
Moving into the house, you will be greeted by a single seater sofa and 2 sofa beds. Also, you will find a small tv that comes with a dvd player and some English and Hong Kong movies to keep you entertained if you’re really bored. The floor is tiled as well as the wall. You will really have a good feeling moving into the house.

 Presenting to you the living hall !

I forgot to snap a picture of the master bedroom! Doh! The dining area is very spacious too. A high airwell certainly make the place brighter and you don’t feel claustrophobic. There a standing fan next to the queen size sofa bed near the dining area. It also has a 6 seater dining table and another tv set nearby. Cool huh?! You get 2 tv sets.

  The dining area and another queen size sofa bed

So, my parents settled into the master bedroom. Me, my wife and my daughter Clarisse took the middle room which has a double decker which sleeps 2 at the lower half. Clarisse was so excited seeing a double decker bed and keep on pointing to the upper deck, wanting to go up. Her wish got granted and Daddy was a busy man putting her up the bed and taking her down over a few rounds.

The double-decker was Clarisse’s playground for 3 days 2 nights 

Every room comes with an air-con and a standing fan. My only complain is that the living hall should have an air-con and a wall clock. These 2 items are missing from the living hall. Does time really stand still in Taiping, the town of serenity and peacefulness?

The last room was taken up by my in-laws. It’s spacious enough for 2 single beds.

  2 single beds where my in-laws slept

The kitchen area is also very spacious as you can see from the photo below. It comes with a single door refrigerator, 1 electric kettle and a normal kettle, some cutleries and plates. There is no gas stove available. So you either dine out or use an electric hot plate if you want to do some cooking. Sorry, for this you have to bring your own. The unit comes with 2 toilets and each toilet has water heater. Shampoo and body shampoo are available free for use too. I understand from the house owner that usually the unit is rented by travelling salesman who rents the place regularly or families visiting Taiping on weekends (like us) or family members who go back to Taiping for festive celebrations.

I really enjoy my stay in this motel and so does every one of the family member. For RM180 per night (around USD 50) , I would say this is really a good deal, considering you can easily fit 7 adults into all the rooms as well as another 4 can sleep on the sofa beds available. I would highly recommend this place if anyone is looking for a nice play to stay in Taiping. Furthermore, it’s just a short 5 minutes drive from the town centre.

Mister Potato’s Rice Crisp

 

Mister Potato has recently launched a new line of Mister Potato’s Rice Crisp. Not to be left out, I quickly made it to the 99 Speed Mart near my house and grab myself a can of it. I am a big fan of sliced potato !

This new line being introduced is actually made from rice ( if you don’t already know it by now, doh ! ) According to its website, it’s made without MSG and 20% less fat than fried potato chips. So, for those of you who like to snack, like me  :-) , this is every excuse that you’re not putting in more calories to your body. Mister Potato’s Rice Crisp comes in 4 flavours, namely, ORIGINAL, HOT & SPICY, SOUR CREAM & ONION and FLAME GRILLED BBQ. I chose the HOT & SPICY one to try out. I am not a big fan of sour cream, so usually, I will “pass” that flavour on  any of the snacks in town.

The white background on the can makes the packaging very striking and with a colourful wrap around, I find it very attention-grabbing. The wordings are easy to read too. So, no complain on the packaging. The can in fact is the same as the Mr Potato’s Crisps. You have the same transparent capping and the freshness foil beneath it before you reach your favourite snack.

 

 By the time I had this photo taken, I have already reached halfway line of the can, hehe!

The crispiness of the rice is just right for me. The flavoring suits my taste bud too, not too salty. But I would think it’s not spicy enough considering that it’s said to be Hot & Spicy. Twisties’ Spicy range is even more spicy than this. One thing which I don’t really like is the texture of the rice crisp. To differentiate it from the potato crisp, I guess the R & D team has made it a rough surface. Or maybe to show the consumer, it’s made from rice. I prefer it to have a smooth surface rather. Biting into a rough surface makes it feel like eating corn flakes instead or nachos.

The rice crisps as how they look inside

Overall, that’s the comment that I have for this newbie of the snack market. Looking forward to trying out more new launches of snacks in the future.

Insufficient Memory Space

 

 

photo extracted from Wikipedia

Like an overloaded CPU, I am having the same problem of insufficient memory space :-(

Question : Would you be offended if someone did not remember your name ?

Are you someone whose presence in a gathering is always being neglected ? Or you simply do not put any effort in making your presence felt ? What if someone completely forgotten that they have even met you before ? Would you think “What a forgetful person ?”. Would you feel offended by such a person ?

Many times I have bumped into friends or business associates who I can’t recall the name. It’s not that I don’t take the effort to remember names ! It’s just that sometimes it just slipped my mind the name of the person. It takes quite a while for me to recall back the name of the person. It’s like being into a mental challenge the whole day for me to try to recall back the name of the person. I score even worse if I have to recall back a Chinese name compared to an English name. I do hope people don’t think that I am superficial, arrogant or someone not worth befriending. I do have my shortfalls.

When I attend events like a CPA seminar or a private function and someone steps up to me to say, “Do you remember me ?”, it freaks me out. Same goes to reunion of schoolmates. Imagine it’s someone you have not met at all since leaving your secondary school. Try somewhere around 10 years where you don’t meet and suddenly you’re being challenged to remember a name.

Sometimes, all we need is a few moments with someone before we are able to put a name to the face. These days, I really thank Facebook. At least, this social  networking site can help me to remember some names of long lost friends and able to help me to get in touch with them. Else, I don’t think I will be able to remember names of friends !

Ode to Single Mothers

 

I have not been doing much active blogging due to certain reason which I will be putting in another blog some time later when the time is appropriate.

But, today, I would like to blog about a topic which in the earlier days, in this part of the world, the subject is not much being discussed. Society does not view this as something positive and most see it in another view – Single Mothers.

I have the highest respect for single mothers. I have close relative, ex-colleagues and colleagues who are single mothers. Why do I say I have highest respect for them? First of all, unlike their male counterparts, single mother will end up facing higher social stigma. Society looks at single mother as someone who is not able to hold a proper relation, poor family management etc. The lady is the one who will have to bear the brunt of the person who is being blamed for the breakdown of the relationship. Though we have progressed leaps and bounds from the days of cavemen, in general, our society’s mentality somehow is still left behind in the evolution process.

Secondly, it takes great courage to move on from a failed relationship, child custodian issue, visitation rights and all those nitty gritty, legal issues that comes along after the divorce. All these matters will drain you well before you have your “life after the divorce”. If you don’t have close bonding siblings or family members who help you to leave the baggage behind and move on, the emotional burden is like lifting an elephant off your shoulder!

Next, is the juggling of work and looking after the kid. After working like 8-9 hours in the workplace, coming back home, the Single Mother would have to tend to the needs of the kids and also doing the housework. Keeping a house clean is already an energy-sapping activity for a couple, now it’s minus one. You have to clean/ maintain/ upkeep the house all by yourself ! If you have toddler to take care of, you can practically tear your hairs out ensuring the kid don’t mess up the place after you have tried your very best to keep it clean.

Does a Single Mother have much social life ? All the attention is already being divided amongst work life and tending after the needs of the kid. How much of personal time or “MY TIME” do you have left after you have managed those around you ? Do you put much attention and care about your personal life and image upkeeping. I believe after taking care of the necessary, whatever energy left is best being conserved or to recharge and get ready for another day ahead. Unless of course the person is a well-to-do Single Mother where you can still hire a maid or having people around you to help you to tend to the house and the kid.

Over and above all the points mentioned above, I do look in admiration on the capability and strengths shown by Single Mothers. Any lesser soul would have wilt under pressure whether emotionally or physically. It’s much more on the person than meets the eye.

“ A TOAST to all SINGLE MOTHERS out there ! I cheer and bow to your strengths and characters ! ”

Computer Table Makeover

 

This post is meant to be posted some time ago but due to my absent-mindedness, it has been left collecting cobwebs before it reaches into the World Wide Web

My computer table has been loyally served me every since year 2003. It is a perfect fit for the corner of my room. This table was purchased from IKEA. Over the years, it has been carrying more “weights” as you can see more things have been added to the table. As a result, the surface of the table towards the end where the LCD monitor is placed is slightly curving downwards. You can see the surface of the table is no longer even.

The old computer table, sitting nicely in the corner of the room facing the balcony.

I can still recall how hard was it to bring this table back from IKEA to my home. Luckily on the day of purchase, there were only 2 of us in the car. The majority part of the table can fit into my Wira’s car boot but not the curved top piece. That has to be placed at the back sit of my car.

 Another angle view of the table

Setting up the table by no means is an easy task. We took a couple of hours to set this heavy table up. There are so many different parts to screw on and hammer down before it can properly take shape. It was quite a daunting task for someone who’s not good in handiwork, hehe!

After quite some time, or should I say a few months back, we have decided to look for another table. Quite frankly, it was quite hot to sit on the old computer table as the curtains and windows are covered by the computer table. You don’t get much wind from it.

Where else to get much inspiration and ideas but from IKEA. It’s no secret that many people go to IKEA for ideas or purchase their furniture. Some even engaged their handyman or designer to copy the concepts in IKEA for their own homes.

After seeing the latest IKEA’s catalogue, we decided to make a trip to IKEA and check out this computer table which we saw. It came in 3 different colours to choose from. Black, red or wood colour against white. We settled for the Black one of course. It just simply stands out and look elegant. You can never go wrong with this classic combination. It’s like an age-defying combination of colour.

Taa dah, the new black and white table – compact yet able to fit in nicely

This time around the boxes that comes with this table are not so bulky and can easily fit into the same car. Again, we set ourselves around 2 hours to complete dismantle the one computer table and fix up the new computer table. We OVERESTIMATED ourselves. What is supposed to be done in like 2 hours starting around 5pm, ended up at almost 9pm. We missed our dinner altogether !

After all the hard work, it feels very satisfying. Now the window is not blocked by the table and you get better air circulation here. Yes, it’s half the size of the previous table and you can’t put all the things from the previous table back to this table, but hey, it’s more organized and looks nicely tucked in the corner of the room.

Hopefully this table can serve me at least another 5 years or so

Now, let’s put the table to full use….

Words of Inspiration

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win but think you can't,
It's almost certain you won't.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.



We cannot choose how many years we will live, but we can choose how much life those years will have.
We cannot control the beauty of our face, but we can control the expression on it.
We cannot control life's difficult moments, but we can choose to make life less difficult.
We cannot control the negative atmosphere of the world, but we can control the atmosphere of our minds.
Too often, we try to choose to control things we cannot.
Too seldom, we choose to control what we can - our attitude.

10 Tough Questions Interviewers Ask

This is another helpful article appeared in “The Star” newspaper. The article was actually contributed by Satra Bawany, Head of Transition Coaching Practice with DBM Asia Pacific. Got to give credit to the contributor of this article. It comes in handy for many people, especially those who are going to attend interviews.

1. Tell me about yourself?

Restrict your answer to a minute or two. Cover your education and work history, and emphasise your recent career experience.

2. What do you know about us?

You should be able to discuss products or services, revenues, reputation, image, goals, problems, management style, people, history and philosophy. Show that you have done some research, but do not act as if you know everything about the place.

3. Why do you want to work for us?

You can say your research has shown that the company is doing things you would like to be involved in, and that it is doing them in ways that greatly interest you.

4. What can you do for us that someone else can’t?

Talk about your record of getting things done, and mention specifics from your resume or list your career accomplishments. Say that your skills and interests, combined with a history of getting results, make you valuable. Mention your ability to set priorities, identify problems and use your experience and energy to solve them.

5. What do you expect to be doing in this role?

Think in terms of responsibilities and accountability. Make sure that you really do understand what the position involves. If you are not certain, ask the interviewer; he may answer the question for you.

6. How long would it take you to make a meaningful contribution?

Be realistic. Say that, while you would expect to pull your own weight from the first day, it might take 6 months to a year before you could expect to know the organization and its needs well enough to make a major contribution.

7. Do you think you are overqualified or too experienced?

Emphasise your interest in establishing a long-term association with the organization, and say that you assume that if you perform well in this job, new opportunities will open up for you. Mention that a strong company needs strong staff. Observe that experienced executives are always at a premium. Suggest that since you are so well-qualified, the employer will get a fast return on his investment.

8. What is your management style?

Possible styles include:

· Task-oriented : “I enjoy problem-solving, choosing a solution and implementing it”;

· Results-oriented: “Every management decision I make is determined by how it will affect the bottom line”;

· Paternalistic: “I’m committed to taking care of my subordinates and pointing them in the right direction.”

· Participative: “I prefer an open-door method of managing, and getting things done by motivating people and delegating responsibility.

9. Why are you leaving (did you leave) your present (last) job?

Be brief and as honest as you can without hurting yourself. If you were laid off in an across-the-board cutback, say so; otherwise, indicate that the move was your decision. Do not mention personality conflicts.

10. What do you think of your boss?

Be as positive as you can. A potential boss is likely to wonder if you might talk about him in similar terms at some point in the future.

I hope that by sharing the above, it will reach out to more readers and enable interviewee to improve his/her interviewing skills and be more confident in answering questions posed by the interviewer.

So, GOOD LUCK to you ! Fortune smiles on those who come prepared.

Qing Ming Etiquette

 

This article appeared in “The Star” newspaper today and I think it’s a great article relating to Qing Ming festival.

For those of you who’re not familiar with Qing Ming, it’s literally means “clear brightness”. The winter chill is over and the warmth of the sun and energy of Spring is felt. Over the centuries, the festival which celebrates the renewal of life, turned into a “festival if the dead” marked by grave site worship in remembrance of one’s ancestors. Food and hell money are offered to the dead to keep them happy in the hope of receiving abundant blessings of health, wealth and good harvest.

Below are some of the taboos, superstitions and beliefs surrounding Qingming. Those some are not being practised by the modern generations, I always find it interesting to understand the origins of taboos. Afterall, it’s up to oneself whether you belief them or not.

Wrong Side

The Chinese practise ancestor worship because they are driven by filial piety to care for the souls of their departed loved ones. Sons venerate their departed parents and paternal grandparents, while daughters venerate their father’s side before marriage and their husband’s after marriage. However, some Chinese families refuse to allow married daughters to worship their departed parents and ancestors for fear that they may  “take away” the sons’ fortune.

Family Unity

The Chinese believe that the entire family should go together to perform prayers at the grave site to foster closer ties. Some feel that if the family members go separately, there may be discord in the family. There is also a belief that the person who secretly goes and worships ahead of the others may be more blessed and enjoy prosperity. On the other hand, those who neglect to play homage may incur the displeasure of the ancestors and risk getting punished.

Law of Attraction

Visitors of the graveyards wear bright colours rather than dark colours like black which may attract evil spirits. Pregnant women, babies and toddlers are discouraged from visiting graveyards for fear that loitering spirits might take advantage of the physically weak, hoping to snatch their souls. Young children who accompany their parents are cautioned against making too much noise, thus disturbing other spirits.

To eat or not to eat ?

It is common to see families partaking of food served as offerings to the departed. However, some of the dead set against consuming such food for fear of incurring the anger of the dead. They feel that food offered to the departed should be left behind as a show of sincerity. But others disagree with this notion, and will happily tuck into the food later in the hope of getting blessings and protection from the dead. Some families place joss-sticks on nearby graves as a goodwill gesture to invite the “neighbours” to join in.

Gifts to the underworld

Worshippers are careful not to stir paper offerings which are being burnt, so that the deceased will not end up with a dented car or damaged house. Crates of gold notes and hell currency sent to the deceased must bear the names of the sender and recipient, or they may risk being taken by others.

Wake-up call

Visitors to the graves sites sometimes let off fire-crackers as a “wake-up” call for the spirits. After leaving the offerings at the tombs for some time, the worshippers flips coins twice to check on the progress. Two heads or two tails means that the spirits have not finished savouring the delicacies. A head and a tail means that they have finished their meal.

Kleptomaniacs not allowed

If you see an umbrella on the grave, leave it alone. Don’t even think of borrowing it to keep the sun or the rain out. The umbrella is a symbolic shield for the dead from the thunder and lightning. The visitor who takes the umbrella risks inviting the spirit to his home. Similarly, coins found on cemetary grounds should remain on the ground as it is believed that they belong to the spirits.

Call in the contractors

Cracked tombs must be repaired or misfortune may befall the next-of-kin or future generations. Similarly, water-logged graves are bad feng shui and must be renovated to avert bad luck and misfortune.

Curiosity kills

When scrutinising the tombstones of strangers, do not pass comments like: “Oh, what a pity he died young”. Or, “Isn’t she pretty?” Such remarks may be misinterpreted by the spirit which may follow you home.

Fire or water cleansing?

Before visiting the grave sites, some Chinese would place pomelo leaves and sprigs of pine in their pockets. These leaves are believed to serve as talismans. The leaves are thrown away before the worshippers reach home, to shake of bad luck.

Shoe code

Slippers and sandals are not worn to the grave sites. The Chinese wear shoes, and when they reach home, they would remove the socks and shoes and wash them to get rid of bad luck.

Watch your step

The living should avoid stepping on hell currencies at the grave site lest the spirits feel despised and trampled upon. It is also forbidden for one to walk over or tread on someone’s grave. Old Chinese cemeteries are rather crowded with narrow walkways between graves. If you need to cross over a grave, it is customary to say: “Excuse me. Pardon me for crossing over your abode.”

Forbidden fruits

A banana tree marks the grave of a pregnant woman who died in childbirth. As the banana tree is fast growing, it is planted to appease the spirit of the dead. The belief is that when the tree bears fruit, the spirit will be comforted as the banana is symbolic of a new child to take place of the woman’s unborn child. It is forbidden to pluck the banana as this may cause anguish to the spirit and incur her wrath.

The pineapple is regarded as an auspicious fruit to usher in luck ( ong lai in Hokkien means “luck comes” ). The fruit is offered at the grave site and then taken home. The fruit can be eaten but the crown of the pineapple is often planted in the garden. Some believe that by doing so, the family will prosper.

I find that this article is really informative in providing glimpses of some Chinese customs that have been handed down from generations to generations. Some of us as still practising the customs as our parents and their parents do it. But, not many of us know the reasons these are being practised. I hope by sharing the above article, others also get to learn something new :)

Bored and Restless

I am down with fever, flu and cough. AGAIN !!

The worst part of being sick and stuck at home is the feeling of boredom and restlessness. I am almost immuned to medication. For a person who hardly has sleeping problem, even medications that causes drowsiness do not help much in making me sleep.

So, what can I do at home if I can't sleep ? I can't be sitting in front of the TV the whole day, I can't be reading a novel the whole day. I can be in front of the computer and online the whole day ! Sometimes, I dreaded having to go to office and deal with tonnes of issues. But, when you're sick at home and you can't sleep, it's when you feel like it's better to be in office where time passes by so fast. When you're busy dealing with all sorts of things in office, you wish you have more time. When you're sick and in an atmosphere of nothingness, you wish that time just passes by as fast as possible.... :(

Technosaurus

I was having a chat with my GM this morning and she came out with a word which gave me a good laugh. TECHNOSAURUS !!

She was exploring how to use some of the features in MS Outlook 2007. Just got a new laptop with Office 2007 Pro installed. For someone who has been used to using Outlook Express and previous versions of MS Office, going into Office 2007 can be quite a daunting task and a total headache. Simple words and arrangements that we used to see in Office 2003 and before are now being replaced with icons and the positions of those commands have been totally revamped.

In this age of fast changing technology and all new IT gadgets and stuffs are quickly caught on by the Y-Generation, we, those born before Y-Generation, have to also catch up with the new technologies in order not to left too far behind. Everyday you here or read of a new technology or new gadget being introduced in the market. Just a phone has gone through so much changes over time. Those who have been around since the first time the mobile phone would have some idea how big and bulk it looked like. You are practically carrying a case something the size of a car battery. Fling it in fury and you can actually kill someone ! Then, it shrank in size to as big as your palm, to coloured screen to now with additional functions like GPS, camera-ready and even many great applications and social networking softwares.

No matter what, the future of technology is there to keep on going forward. Refuse to learn about new technology will only give you competitive disadvantage and you run the risk of falling behind others. You may not know all the new items in the market, you may not know how to use the functions of the new items you have recently bought, you will still end up encountering a new item/technology wherever you may be....

Selling on eBay

eBay and Smidec organised a 2 days workshop on selling on eBay. I attended the workshop along with my Bosses. It was conducted on 1st & 2nd March 2010. Yes, this blog is long overdue !! I know…

The workshop is really an eye-opener for me in learning more about selling on eBay. To be a seller on eBay is definitely not as easy as it seems. There’s like million and one thing to learn before you can finally be a seasoned seller. From doing research on what sells the most on eBay to what price to list your item to which eBay’s site is best to list your item. Mastering all these will definitely take you more than 1 day to learn. Luckily for us, this workshop was conducted by 2 very experienced eBay seller – Chris Chan and Carol Fung. These 2 ladies are really superb and wonderful people. They are very seasoned sellers and know everything you need to know about eBay. We’re really thankful for these 2 ladies for conducing the workshop sesson. To know more about them and their work, you can find them at www.Chiica.com. Both of them are eBay specialists and they conduct workshops to train people on eBay selling. This post was initially created on 8th March 2010. It so happened to be World’s Women’s Day. Unfortunately, yours truly here forgot to continue updating this blog and accidentally deleted it while using Blogger.com. Hence, I re-do this whole blog again using Windows Live Writer. At least, it doesn’t do Autosave here and accidentally ruin my work.

Back to the workshop. I missed out on the 1st day of the workshop due to some staff reshuffling within my department and I think that it’s only right that I am in the office to see that my staffs are settling in well. Little that I know that the first day of the eBay workshop actually pack lots of information from both Carol and Chris. Luckily, my wonderful GM attended the 1st day’s session and I managed to get some info from her. Carol and Chris are certainly very kind and generous in imparting their knowledge to all the participants of the workshop.

After attending the sessions, there will certainly be lots of research needed to learn and refine my eBay skills. Many of the things that I am selling on eBay are mostly my novels. I have so many novels that  I have no choice but to sell off some of them to give space for more new novels that I am going to buy in the future. I am also placing some my items for sale at www.mudah.com.my. On both sites, I go by the ID : dragon_lair ( same as the theme for this blog ). For me, the objective is not to make money on eBay but is to clear off some of my stuffs hogging up my shelves :-)