French Celebs

I’ve always been a big fan of celebrity news. When I was a student, my free time would see me in the magazine aisles of the bookshop with my nose stuck between the glossy pages of an entertainment magazine, catching up on the latest celeb gossip! Now, as a working woman, my long lunch on Fridays again sees me back at the bookshop browsing through magazines! I’ve been asked before why I enjoy reading about a life I’ll never know but I guess that’s precisely why we read those magazines – to get an insight into the glamorous, crazy and incredibly wealthy life we’ll never experience on our own!

Recently, I found a friend of similar interests in my expatriate French colleague! She was thrilled when I recommended her this celeb site all in French, ActuPeople.fr! She was so pleased to find a site actually catering to celebrity stalkers in French since most of the online sites are in English. I too was pleased because they sometimes have different types of gossip and pictures from the English magazines which she’ll interpret for me! Plus it gives me a fantastic opportunity to get to know European celebrities and learn some French along the way. So yes, we’re two very happy celebrity stalkers now!

*Sponsored*

Lasik for your Eyes

I did Lasik on my short sighted eyes 2 years ago. Honestly, I was very apprehensive about going through the procedure as it involved surgery on my eyes. However, the doctor I went to took his time to explain Lasik Complications to me and even recommended some good websites for me to refer to. The risks of complications are actually quite small and despite the risks, I was definitely glad I did the procedure.

*Sponsored*

High-Tech Wedding

Weddings today have gone high-tech! There’s the video montage, powerpoint slide show, funky laser lights at the entrance and for some techie couples, their very own wedding website! Several of my friends who have gotten married did up their own little site to capture the happy moments in planning their big day, from their songlist to their checklist! Some of their tips and tricks are very good and useful, indeed, for couples who are having their own wedding soon.

However for non-techie couples, you can have your own Personal Wedding Website too! And instead of hosting it on a free site such as blogspot or wordpress, you can have your own little dotcom site! Perfect for sharing with family and friends the lead-up to your wonderful day! Wedding Websites, a great free personal website, is your one stop centre for your website options. Choose through 30 over companies offering all kinds of designs and hosting options to suit your budget and taste. Read reviews by happy couples who are hugely satisfied with the results and ask any questions you might have in their interactive forum.

So if you’re looking for an everlasting memory of the most important day in your life, do consider a personal wedding website! Imagine how much your kids and grandkids would enjoy viewing snippets of your special day too!

Drug Rehab Works

Designer drugs seem to be the in thing at the moment. Everyone’s doing it from celebrities to young partying yuppies. What these people don’t realise is that this is the start of a long dark journey of which some never return.

Luckily there are lots of reliable and excellent drug rehab programmes out there today to help these people gain back their old life before drugs. Some like Stone Hawk are managed by past addicts themselves whom are probably the best people to work with the addicts as they perfectly understand what they’re going through. This will give a higher chance of success for these addicts and allow them to start on the healing path.

So if your loved ones are in that dark trap, set them on the right track again with drug rehab.

*Sponsored post*

Grey Suede Shoes

Okay, they weren't suede but it goes so well together, just like Elvis' Blue Suede Shoes!

I first caught side of these grey shoes when I was at the bank a couple of weeks ago. It's not everyday that you catch sight of light grey shoes on a guy, which goes with nothing he's wearing! And guess what, I saw them again today on the same guy in the same bank. Ugh...from what I can guess, he probably wears them everyday regardless of whatever colour shirt or pants he's wearing!

They were light grey and looked like faux leather. Actually, to me, it kind of resembled the material you can see on the seats of old Volkswagon or old cars. And just like that material it looked a little scuffed and peeled.

Can someone please tell him light grey's not the new black, despite what fashionistas might say?!

Out of Gift Ideas

I like to be creative and unique when it comes to gift giving. However, that also means having to crack my head each time to think of something more unique and different from my last gift! I’ve got a friend’s birthday coming up in July and have been at my wit’s end as to what gift to get her. She’s quirky, interesting and doesn’t like run of the mill stuff which are easily found in the department stores. So I was pleased as punch when my surfing turned up a funky T-shirt site!

Founded in Italy, they create really interesting T-shirts that make wonderfully gifts! From funky and loud to sensuous and quirky designs, they have something for everyone’s taste, whether it’s your sweet girlfriend, your beachbum boyfriend, devilish boss or your rocker teenage son! One of my favourites is a Devil and Japanese girl design which looks rather winsome. It’s perfect for my friend who loves quirky T-shirt designs with interesting statements! Plus their T-shirts are 100% cotton which is perfect for our warm, tropical weather. Best of all, I know she’ll never bump into a similar tee in any department store as their designs are original and exclusive!

They have more new exciting designs coming out very soon so do watch their site as they roll out a new revamped version!

This is a sponsored post

Shopping for Baby

My cousin recently called to tell us she was going to have a baby soon! We’re all terribly excited as this is the first baby in the family after a long time! I’ve always loved looking at baby clothes and accessories and now there’s finally a reason to do so! Trying to find a perfect gift for her, I found a gorgeous site specializing in bedding and diaper bags! I love their site! They have lots of beautiful and high quality bedding to help your baby fall asleep, ranging from popular characters such as Dora, Thomas & Friends and sweet, lovely pink sheets with pretty flowers for the princess in your life. What a wonderful way to brighten up the nursery room!

For stylish moms on the go, they have a wide range of beautiful diaper bags ranging from nice roomy ones for the Mommy and even backpack kinds for the Daddy. Their bags are from familiar and reliable brands such as Carter's and Eddie Bauer which ensures high quality and style! One particular bag that caught my eye was the Carter’s Easy Access Bag in rich brown water-resistant suede like fabric. I’m sure this is a bag she’ll absolutely love and I’ll be sure to personalize it with her baby’s initials for only $6 more when she has the name confirmed! Best of all, WithCharacter is offering a free Carter's Bag to be reviewed in my blog! What a wonderful gift it'll make for my cousin and I'm sure we'll definitely have an excellent review for it!

I’ll definitely recommend this site to my cousin and friends who are having babies soon. I’m sure they’ll love the pretty and high quality things up for offer! It makes me want to have my own baby soon!

*Sponsored Post*

Savvy Travelling

The travel world is changing. Travellers are becoming more travel-savvy and seeking different sorts of vacations from the guided, led by the nose type of tour groups. A friend who was recently planning a Dominican Republic all inclusive vacation choose asked for my help as most companies here don’t even know where it is! In fact, for me, Dominican Republic was always where some of the most beautiful Ms Universe came from! I recommended her Vacations.net that features all kinds of resorts in beautiful beach destinations at a great rate. She checked them out and was very happy indeed with the rates they offer, the resorts and the wonderful recommendations from previous travellers and is winging her way there soon! I hope she brings me back something nice!

Lemon Garden 2 Go

I haven't done a food post in a bit so here you go!

We were in Shangri-la Hotel recently for a function of which no refreshments were provided for from morning till about 4pm! Starving and crabby, we had no choice but to eat in the over-priced cafes in the hotel. Lemon Garden, as tempting as it was, was just too steep and for small eaters like us not quite worth it. The cafe next to it, Cinammon, was equally over-priced with RM22 for a cup of cappucino! That left us with no other option but Lemon Garden2Go, a funky bright cafe providing snacks, light meals and drinks.

They have trays of beautiful looking pastries and cakes and a whole chiller on another side of the room with pre-packed sandwiches and meals that can be heated up upon request. I think they have a hot sandwich counter as well where they will prepare sandwiches of your choice on delicious gourmet bread. We were served by this funny noisy guy. When he saw us contemplating the few sad-looking pre-packed meals in the chiller, he went into the kitchen and brought out the remaining last few boxes so we could have a wider choice and heated it up nicely for us.

We had beef rendang with white rice and aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes cooked in a non-spicy red sauce) for RM13++. Everyone thought the beef rendang was really good. Aromatic with no rancid oil smell, they were generous with their beef chunks and veges.

He also recommended their chicken charsiew which came with fried rice and stir-fried vegetables for RM13++ too. I was pleasantly surprised to find gingko nuts in the veges! I actually liked this dish though the rest didn't really. The fried rice was nice and there were lots of chicken slices that accompanied it.

We washed it down with their cappucino which was about half the price of the one at Cinammon.

And for a surprise, the friendly guy brought over a blueberry ginger muffin halfway through our food with a beaming, "Ini saya belanja!" (This is on me!) What a nice gesture! He must have seen us contemplating their display of interesting muffins! It's a big muffin generously filled with blueberries and topped with nicely caramelised ginger. Yummy!

The prices were actually quite reasonable for the portion sizes they offered and they do a fantastic array of pastries and gourmet bread. I saw quite a few people walking in to buy their morning baguette or danish pastry. I guess it does quite a brisk business catering to the morning and lunch crowd around that area and I think their pastries do go on 50% discount towards the end of the day! Discounts are good when on an austerity drive!

Paypal Still Under Fixing

I emailed Paypal again yesterday regarding their problem and asking when they expect it to be fixed and this was the response I got:

So, yes people the problem is still under FIXING and we'll need to PAY our patience on this issue. Gambateh!

You're My SugarDaddy

You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum
Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie Pie

My colleague's handphone sings to this tune and I can't get it out of my head! However, it seemed like the perfect theme song for this new radical dating site. Why radical? Because it's goal is to bring together affluent and successful Single men (why does that sound like an oxymoron?!) and girls who are seeking to be spoilt and pampered (read: the rest of the female population!). It sounds just like one of those reality Bachelor and Bachelorette shows!

Anyway out of interest, I surfed over to it and found that they actually have quite an extensive database of young ladies on the lookout for their Sugar Daddies. However, if you're not a nubile young girl, don't feel left out as they have Sugar Mommas, male Sugar Babies and for those in mood for the alternative, gay Sugar Daddies!

It's interesting where our world is coming to with globalisation! I never thought one would be able to find their Sugar Daddy online!

Why Did the Ducks Cross the Road?

The place where I live keeps some ducks as part of the landscape. They're big, fat and white little buggers which must have done good in their past life. All they do all day is frolic in the pond, snooze under the tree and get fed by all the thrilled little kids and guards! My dad counts them every now and then and it's funny how their numbers increase and decrease sporadically. We suspect the guards for fattening them up for a good ducky meal! :p

Anyway, yesterday morning, I left as usual and had to stop my car cos half of these white fat buggers were crowding around on the road! The other half were watching with their beady eyes over the hedge to see how far their relatives would get before they attempted it themselves! Sitting comfortably on the road, they cleaned themselves and pranced around, making no attempt to move even when I hooted softly.

Then suddenly, the idea that they were holding up traffic must have occurred to them 'cos they suddenly decided to take off back to the other side of the hedge where they came from, amidst much quacking and waddling (they're really too fat!)! So, why did those fat ducks cross the road?! Hehe...a question for you on a Wet Wet Wednesday!

Disney Magic

I was just saying last night that the person who thought of the Mickey Mouse symbol was a genius. All it involves is just 3 round circles in the correct places and voila, it's become a world-wide symbol every child and adult can relate to! Except for some kids my mom met recently. The poor little sods didn't have any idea who Mickey Mouse was! We were so horrified! Was this where education was taking them?!

Anyway, when I came across Discount Disney Tickets, I thought I'd better send that information on to those kids and their parents. How can anyone not know Mickey Mouse?! At least with the discounted tickets, hopefully the kids'll badger their parents to take them to Disneyland to see the legendary Mickey and they'll finally know what those 3 black circles mean!

Hitting Blanks

Blogging is ironical...there are times when my creative juices flow like anything and I churn out post after post without a doubt and there are other times when I just keep hitting blank walls when I try to write something.

Maybe it has something to do with how I'm feeling outside my fluffy dandelion life here. Things seem to be hitting a bit of a blank wall. Maybe because I still don't know what I want or maybe because I'm in one of those "blah" moments. I think back of the young, enthusiastic me while I was in University. At that age power suits, laptops, business trips and busy long days seemed to exciting! It was as if they were symbols of me arriving in the great big world out there. Now, all I feel is a little empty. Ironically, I haven't even reached that super-salary yet, meaning I can't retire! Outside work, I seem to be running into blank walls too. And you know something? Blank walls hurt when you run into them!

Anyway, I didn't mean for this to be a whinging post so I'll stop and count my blessings. I just wonder though, sometimes which is more important - the destination or the journey?

Pan Mee, Jalan Maharajalela

Sis had been telling me about this little stall in Jalan Maharajalela which serves it's speciality, pan mee, only on Friday lunch. It's a little zinc roof stall built around an old tree (you can see it's massive trunk through the stall!) which normally sells mixed rice during the week. But on Friday, it's pan mee day which sells out pretty fast!

I finally got the chance to try it last Friday. The pan mee came in a pretty plate which almost made me feel like I was eating in a restaurant! I think it was because they ran out of their usual plastic bowls! This was the thin version and it came with a healthy serving of meat, sliced mushrooms and my favourite fried anchovies. Taste-wise, it was very deliciously home cooked and a hefty portion for RM4! It comes with a little bowl of soup with 4 generous little meat balls! Thumbs up :)

They have the soup and dry versions and you have the option for spicy or non-spicy. Mine was a mix between the two. I think their spicy version uses meat cooked in a spicy sauce as opposed to the usual black sauce. Would love to have it again...up for lunch this Friday, ParisB?!

Up For Sale

Our home of the past 7 years was finally put up for sale 4 months ago when we decided to move to the city. The market has been a little slow and despite some interested calls, we haven't really gotten any definite buyer yet. Maybe the Real Estate Signs the agents have put up aren't eye-catching enough to make our property stand out from all the other vacant ones. So perhaps it's time we got ourselves a funky customized, magnetic sign to catch the eye of all the passerbys! Hopefully someone'll be drawn in by that colourful unique sign!

*This is a sponsored post*

Monday Morning Moanies

• Paypal's been out all weekend with that strange message requesting for a US bank account to be added on before any transaction can be made. It's been a terrible pain as it has thrown a spanner into my plans for greater things to come!
• I couldn't wake up this morning when my mobile phone alarm went off. It somehow had worked itself into my dreams and I couldn't understand what that buzzing sound in my dreams was!
• Traffic was, as usual, "excellent"! The government should really do something about the crazy motorbikes who have a death wish by weaving themselves in and out of traffic.
• I have indigestion from a weekend pig-out and am now nursing a sore tum *whimpers*
• Got a huge pile of work thrown at me first thing when I came in *ducks and runs*
• Having said all that, I've been browsing The Secret and if nothing else, it's teaching me to be positive and breathe to see myself through this week! Ommmm.....

Happy Monday everyone! And something just to keep you smiling till the end of the day:

These are real answers given by children.

1. Name the four seasons - Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.
2. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink - Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.
3. How is dew formed? - The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.
4. How can you delay milk turning sour? - Keep it in the cow.
5. What causes the tides in the oceans? - The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.
6. What are steroids? - Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.
7. What happens to your body as you age? - When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.
8. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes - Premature death.
9. How are the main parts of the body categorized? (e.g., abdomen) - The body is consisted into three parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels, A,E,I,O and U.
10. What is the fibula? - A small lie.
11. What does "varicose" mean? - Nearby.
12. Give the meaning of the term "Caesarean Section" - The Caesarean Section is a district in Rome.
13. What does the word "benign" mean? - Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

Don't we love them?!

Football Fever

I know the English League is coming to a close but this football is not to be confused with the English soccer! A friend of mine from the US is just as mad about American football as the soccer-mad English! Not only does he follow each and every game but he even participates in Fantasy Football, an elite site which allows its members to live out their football fantasies by forming teams. It even gives them the opportunity to win huge prizes like Waterford Crystal trophies! A site for all true American football fans!

*This is a sponsored post*

Happy Mother's Day

To that special woman who gave us life, tried to fulfil our needs and wants, who taught us how to eat properly and good manners, who shared our success, joy, laughter and tears:

Happy Mother's Day!

My Beach Paradise

I’m just back from my Phuket holiday and I’m already longing for another holiday because that holiday felt too long ago! I’m terrified of the sun but I do enjoy beach holidays, slathered in super-high SPF sunblock and under the shade of a giant umbrella. So when an email came in from another travel-crazy friend on a Hawaiian holiday, I was thrilled! He had previously booked accommodation at Wailea beachfront condo and due to last minute work commitments, was offering it to me at a great discount!

It’s interesting to see that travelers today seem to prefer renting villas for their stay instead of the big chain hotels. I guess it gives them a sense of home away from home with great privacy plus the excellent services of a hotel. And in Hawaii where the beaches are beautiful and the sea is superbly blue, demand for Maui condos and villas have skyrocketed in recent years from travelers looking for private, romantic getaways to reasonably priced accommodation.

Great sites such as Hawaiian Beach Rentals have a whole host of villas and condos up for rent at reasonable prices so I’ll definitely recommend them, as a starting point, for my friend who’s been looking for a romantic villa for her honeymoon.

Life in Plastic

"I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world...Life in plastic, it's fantastic!" Anyone remember this song by Aqua? It seems like the world is getting to be a strange place. Hollywood big names are owning up to having done plastic surgery, even men and in Korea, parents save for years to give their daughters a nose or an eye job for their 16th birthday! All that done just to give themselves or their children a better start in life!

Perhaps I’m biased but I always get the impression that California plastic surgery is the best in the world! Watch Baywatch and all you see are gorgeously, tanned, beautiful women and men running around in the skimpiest bikinis and swimming trunks! Everything they wear shows off their bodies sans stretch marks, fat or cellulite!

I bet they must all go to Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery where everything from tummy tucks to boob jobs and Botox are offered! It’s the only plastic surgery centre on the famed Rodeo Drive so it you’re there, you’ll probably see lots of famous faces hidden behind those huge and fashionable aviator sunglasses with their little Chihuahua in their bags to match.

I think that’s some place I’d really like to check out if I ever get the chance to see Beverly Hills. Not only will I be able to look a million dollars but I may even get a chance to see some famous faces!

*This is a sponsored post*

Our English Breakfast

Despite my efforts to eat healthier, I do miss slap-up English breakfasts I used to have when a student in Australia and at bed-and-breakfasts overseas. Nothing starts the day better than a hearty service of eggs and sossies and it keeps me going on and on and on and on like the Duracell bunny! Hehe...

It's been quite a while since I've had one so it was great fun to replicate a slap-up breakfast again at home! We had nice back bacon, BBQ sossies that split beautifully as they fried, eggs and mushrooms. And for the requisite carbo intake, we found some nice Oat and Honey bread, delicious topped with cheese! It was really good but somehow couldn't take me as far as it used to! I wonder what's changed!

Who Gets It?!

Are you lucky in contests? If you are, you would really love whogets.com. It’s an online contest site that offers prizes up to $600! It’s free to join and there’ll be hundreds of contests to choose from. It’s a little like the reality programmes all over telly now where members will get to vote for their favourite contestant. Plus they promise no spam and there are no catches to it!

So, if you’re really lucky in contests or even trying your luck, do check it out while it’s new! I’m sure your chance of winning at this time will be good, especially if your lucky star is shining!

*This is a sponsored post*

Freaky Friday

I came out of the lift during lunch and bumped into someone who looked freakily like:

Yes, he was a very creepy version of Xerxes from 300...if you can imagine a Xerxes in a shirt and a tie!

F-R-E-A-K-Y!

Shu, I love you!

This is NOT a sponsored post *hears sighs of relief* but it's a girlie one cos I can't help waxing lyrical about the wonderful Shu Uemera eyelash curler!

I used to be really lazy about making up in the mornings and would sometimes come into work looking like a little ghost. Sans makeup, everyone looks a little washed out and on pale, tanless me, the ghost effect was a bit too much! I guess my extra few minutes of sleep was more valuable to me than slapping on colours on my face!

However, when I cleared out my room last weekend, I found tonnes and tonnes of makeup and I only have one face to use it on! Consumed by overwhelming guilt, I resolved to start making up everyday. Plus I got influenced by an article I read about how the Head of Chanel Malaysia was never seen out without immaculate makeup on! So, it was time for Operation Makeup and to put my best foot...er, face...forward!

And guess what? I'm loving it! :) I love playing around with the colours in the mornings and seeing that ghost come to live with a brighter face. My only grouse was the el-cheapo eyelash curler I bought ages ago. It did a terrible job of curling my lashes. It couldn't really grab my lashes at a time so it'll curl half of them and when I tried to contour it to my eye, it'll clip my eyelid instead! *Ouch* I'd been lusting after Shu Uemera lash curler for some time after I tried it at their makeover and after a few days of "kinky" (?!) lashes, I got one.

It's a simply amazing curler! It's contoured very well so it curls my lashes smoothly without any pain, fuss or kinks! I was so impressed with it and my curly lashes *flutters eyes* It's easy to use and pretty affordable at RM55! Shu, how I love you! :)

Now I just need to find the perfect mascara. My Maybelline XXL keeps clumping on my lashes! Maybe I'm not applying it right? Any suggestions anyone?

Coupon Cheer

Ever since I started getting money through Paypal, I've started to try my hand now at online shopping. One great way I've tried shopping is through Coupon Chief which has online coupons for all major stores in the US, ranging from Amazon to Target and even Travelocity. Their online coupon codes not only make shopping easier but offer great discounts at my favourite store, Amazon. They offer such great Amazon deals that I've never had to buy my books and magazines at full price anymore. I get all the latest releases and even things that are banned here for some reason or another! I do love my coupon codes and new way of shopping. Getting things delivered sometimes when you have forgotten about buying it feels like Christmas all over again!

*sponsored by CouponChief*

Stone BBQ King

Borrowed from KampungBoyCityGal

One night I was feeling naughty and adventurous. So I skived my yoga session and invited bro and J along for a pig-out instead in Sri Kembangan, a totally alien place for us! We drove around a bit looking for somewhere to eat and got misled by Starlight Restaurant. Apparently it used to serve cheap and good Western and Asian meals previously but now it specialises in seafood. We were starving and the place was terribly crowded so decided to give it a try some other time.

Borrowed from KampungBoyCityGal

The bright lights and attap-type roof of Stone BBQ King by the main road caught our eye and since we were looking for something fast, decided to give it a try. It's actually a steamboat and hot plate all-you-can-eat restaurant for RM19.80 with a RM1 addition for what they term fruit juice.

Honestly, their spread was quite impressive for the price and I thought it was better than the one in Yuen Steamboat in Sunway. They even had sushi together with the usual fried noodles under their pre-cooked food. They had 2 raw food sections and a table of vegetables and noodles. Their meat selection was pretty good and ranged from all kinds of marinated meats including pork belly, chicken, beef and whole host of innards. They had flower crabs, prawns, several kinds of fish and the usual assortment of fish and meat balls (which are my favourite!). Downside is that their seafood freshness tends to be a bit suspect so avoid stuff like cockles, mussels or shellfish if you're not sure of their freshness.

You can have the option of clear soup, tomyam, herbal or chilli.

And it comes with a hot plate for you to cook your food on. It's quite nice having your own little BBQ and because it's open-air you don't come away smelling of the cooking food. They're very DIY and have baskets of bowls, plates, utensils and even ladles and tongs for you to help yourself to.

And once you're done with all that food, there's a whole dessert counter for you to choose from fruits, cakes, jellies and my favourite - preserved fruits (I like bad bad things!)

And of course your own DIY ice-kacang! The scary looking drinks are what they call fruit juices and they didn't taste of much at all but colouring! Luckily they have sugarcane and soya bean which tasted much better. They even have little teapots for you to fill up with hot water and chinese tea if you need something to wash away the oils from the food.

I think this place is pretty popular with students especially during weekends. We were next to a table of young boys who had at least 5-6 rounds each and were still going strong when we left! Ah, the metabolism of the young!

Payperpost Rocks

After a long nail-biting, agonizing wait, I finally got my blog approved at Payperpost, the best viral marketing site around! I’m still a relative newbie to PPP, having signed up for only less than a month but I can already see why some bloggers are earning thousands from PPP! Their huge range of opportunities and prices helps spread the wealth around a little so there’s something for everyone, from the small-time blogger like me to the huge professional bloggers. Since I’m new, I haven’t had much earnings from PPP. However, if I was earning as much as some of them out there, I’ll probably be on a wild spending spree! Maybe someday! So if you haven’t signed up, what are you waiting for?

*Sponsored by Payperpost*

Beware Of The Suited People

I've been recently aware of some girls clad in office suits hanging around the mall. I didn't notice them initially until I thought that the square backpacks they had on their back looked a little out of place with their suits.

I got accosted once by one of them and she started launching into some sales pitch. Thankfully I don't understand Cantonese and so I shook my head and hurried away. Now, whenever I go into the mall, I notice one or two of them strolling up and down, blending into the crowd as they try to catch someone's eye. I often keep a wide berth when I see them coming though they've tried talking to me again.

Honestly, I'm not sure what they're trying to sell or push. It could possibly well be a legit business but my intuition tells me it can't something good. Otherwise why must the sale be conducted in such a surreptitious manner and why do they only approach certain people? *suspicious mind*

Anyway, having said that, this is a community message from PinkElle - Beware the Suited People! Heh...this reminds me of Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere!

Say No To Drugs

I was listening to the pop gossip on the radio with great amusement this morning. Of course, top of the pops was Paris Hilton’s jail stint but Lindsay Lohan came a close second with her serious drug problem. It was quite sad to hear of how she too has succumbed to the Hollywood drug scene.

Her loved ones should insist on checking her into a good drug rehab programme. A strong programme will be able to help her find herself again and kick this dangerous and expensive habit. So, do call if you know of anyone who is battling a serious drug problem. It is probably the best gift anyone could give their loved ones.

*This is a sponsored post*

Updates

A twitter idea I stole from Paris. Heehee:

• Work is a pain, work is a pain, work is a pain...


• I'm fat *cry* Confirmed when my pants felt tight. No more tempting tiramisu or luscious lormaikai


• My massages in Phuket have all gone to waste. The lump on the shoulder is back


• Work is a pain, pain, pain...


• My car's filthy and almost out of petrol. Any takers to wash it?! You'll get lots of ♥


• Am suddenly Miss Popular and had to turn down a few friends who wanted to meet up cos work is a PAIN!


• And finally...

Something's brewing!

Politically Correct

In my previous job, we used to deal with a lot of foreign Government contacts, most of which came from the African continent where the ruling government is still quite unstable and can change any time. This posed a bit extra research for us to ensure that we addressed the correct leader and party in our correspondence! I was glad that I found Encyclocentral which had an extensive and updated Politics & Government section. I used to rely on it a lot and it saved my skin many, many times!

*This is a sponsored post*

What's Cute?

Watching a tiny little adorable Japanese girl sitting on her papa's lap in the departure lounge singing "Row, row, row your boat" in Japanese! She was such a great entertainment in the boarding lounge at the Phuket Airport and charmed everyone around her with her tiny piping voice and cute bowl haircut. Travellers of all nationalities and languages couldn't help but smile at her antics, especially when she finished with a loud burp at the end of one rendition!

What a nice way to pass time at a boring airport lounge! And this brings the end of my Phuket tips installment...unless my memory has failed me! I'll be doing sporadic Phuket food posts next so if you're headed there soon, tune up that antennna!

p/s What's not so cute is me cursing and trying to get through tonnes of work!

Inexpensive Payroll Software

I’m an accountant and a bean-counter. Recently when a friend started her own business she consulted me for some help on her payroll which sent me into a frenzy because while I’m an accounting graduate, I’ve left all my book-keeping and payroll knowledge back in university!

Luckily for her there are lots of great payroll for small business sites I managed to find online to help her. They’re easy to install, easy to use, inexpensive and very affordable for small businesses and will keep your payroll in tip-top shape from doing all the necessary deductions and posting them to the individual staff accounts. It’s a real help for the small business owner!

*This is a sponsored post*

Press and Squeeze, Baby

Why else do people go to Thailand? To be pressed and squeezed in good and naughty places, that's why! Go to Phuket and you'll be besieged by massage parlours at every corner and girls brandishing massage menus at you.

Meeter, you want massaaage? Cheep cheep!

Meeter, we hap oil massage and Thai massaaaaage...

I know Phuket has a bit of a reputation but despite what you read on the Net, there are some pretty good and decent massage places to be found. They're everywhere so I usually try to do some research before I go on which is good or sometimes just give it a random shot. Massage there is pretty cheap compared to KL but a tad more expensive than Bangkok:

• Thai Massage averages THB250-THB300 per hour
• Oil Massage averages THB300 - THB350 per hour
• Foot Reflexology is somewhere in between

One thing you can't help noticing when in Patong is the huge, lurid pink building that screams "Christin Massage". This is the "only" brothel in town although they proudly proclaim massage! Turn right and bad boys are in heaven! We made the mistake once and I was astounded to see a darkened room with a "fishbowl" of women at the end of the wall! They're all beautifully made-up with numbers attached to their clothes. Sit back, have a drink, pick your lady and you're off for a "massage"! Good boys, however, turn left to a nondescript door which has proper massages. They actually have quite good proper massages which come with a foot wash before your massage. The only thing I didn't like about them was that they were quite vocal about asking for tips.

When you can afford 2-3 massages a day, or as much as your body can take, you sometimes have to take your chance with the many massage places around. But sometimes you discover little gems like Pinnacle Massage! They're tucked away in a little soi (street) off Bangla road, nearer towards the Beach Road. They're very decent and have fantastic masseurs who did a really good job in working out those kinks in my muscles! And they didn't harrass you for tip either. My favourite massage place, I kept coming back to it!

If you prefer a spa, do check out Let's Relax on Rat-U-Thit road (the 2nd road parallel to the Beach Road). It's a beautiful little spa with a list of different treatments you can choose from. I went in to take a peep and it's very relaxing with the typical spa fragrance that hits you once you enter the dimly-lit reception. Their treatments looked really nice but with diving, cashflow and their popularity, I didn't manage to try any. Do make a booking if you'll like to check them out as they can be pretty popular especially during high season.

So let's relax, enjoy the massage and remember....bad boys = right door at Christin! ;)

Who's a Pretty Pooch?

I recently saw Biby, my “adopted” dog and was very happy to see that he’s looking a bit healthier with the food we’ve been saving and the bag of dog food I got him. While surfing last night, I chanced upon Greytinspirations, specializing in embroided and personalized stuff for pets and their owners and thought of Biby. But Biby’s a tough little mongrel, nothing like pretty Pea and Pumpkin!

Biby aside, this is a great site to recommend to all my pet-loving friends! A friend loves to dress her dogs up for any occasion. When I last saw her, her dachshunds were decked out in tight little tees and dresses! They really did look quite cute and she’ll be able to get matching hats for them, together with a pretty collar and blanket from here! Another friend is cat-mad and I’m sure she’ll find great delight in the delightful collars and warm fleecy blankets for her pretty Persians. My pet-mad friends can even get cute pet-inspired stuff like embroided clothing or interesting jewellery for themselves too!

What an excellent site for gift ideas! I’m so glad I stumbled upon it!

Going Back to School

I’ve been seriously considering pursuing post-graduate studies. However, the high costs of education scare me quite a bit. I used to on a scholarship for my graduate studies so I didn’t know much about student loans. While researching, I started to learn about the benefits of student loan consolidation which will help me save thousands on my interest rates!

That sounded very tempting indeed! It basically bundles your federal loans into one package at a great low rate especially for students and is applicable for college and graduate students. Parents can even start planning for this from as early as high school to enable their children to attend the best colleges and universities with savings on interest payments. Imagine how much parents in my time could have saved on their children’s education if student loan consolidation had been available at that time!

Hmm…maybe I should seriously consider beginning my application process and going back to being a student again, even if it’s on student loans!

Chips Ahoy!

Happiness is seeing someone again after 2 weeks...and receiving a huge box of crisps! :)

As Paris mentioned, we're all crisps lunatics! We don't like sweet stuff but give us a bag of smelly fish keropok (Fish only! No prawn!), pretzels, crisps or savoury cripsy stuff and we're happy little campers! Sis and bro studied in the UK so they're all huge fans of crisps while I studied in Oz so I'm a bigger fan of *cough* healthier things like Japanese rice crackers!

Needless to say, it was terribly exciting opening the box! It was like Christmas had come early! And the booty?

• Walkers 14 pack
• Walkers 26 pack (Woot! Have you ever seen a pack so big before?!)
• Hula Hoops 7 pack
• Seabrooks 6 pack
• Monster Munch 6 pack (This came recommended)

Woohoo! Even mom who doesn't normally eat unhealthy stuff like crisps took home some to snack on! We've converted her into a crisp fan!

All I can say is that luckily whatever imported crisps we get here are too expensive and no one travels to UK often enough. Otherwise, we'll just be sitting tubs of lard :p

Powerful CAD Tools

Sometimes it’s interesting how working life can change you. I started off work as a greenhorn graduate, fresh out of university and armed with straight accounting knowledge. Several years later, I find myself struggling to understand what the engineers and quantity surveyors are talking about as I start to learn bits of their skills too.

I was first introduced to CAD files when talking to a project man and was impressed at how powerful a tool it was. It could produce layout drawings for our projects in the blink of an eye, complete with positioning of the properties to obtain maximum usage of the land. The only drawback was that we couldn’t view it on our normal PCs without the requisite program. Things changed when a colleague got ABViewer, a nifty programme that allowed them to convert their CAD files in all kinds of formats such as PDF or JPG which allowed us to view them with ease. I heard from them that ABViewer provided lots of additional features which made their drafting and drawing much easier.

Hurrah for great programmes such as this! Now, let me put on my engineer’s hat to understand their drawings!

Customers Are Always Right

I never thought too much about customer relationship management until I moved jobs and started working in the sales and marketing division of a big company. It was there where I learnt the hard way that the customer is always right and how difficult it was to manage customer relationship when you have a database of thousands of customers!

We suffered for a while until my boss introduced AIMpromote. It was a fantastic solution to our customer woes. It did an excellent job in streamlining our customer profiles and doing the necessary follow-up for each customer so we had our hands freed up to actually meet new customers or surf and “research” on the internet! It’s a powerful tool indeed and a life-saver for sales-oriented businesses.

*This is a sponsored post*

Being Adult

This has nothing to do with Phuket but my present blip on the big landscape of life got me thinking a little about being all grown up and adult. When we want to pout and put on a silly face, people say, "Start being an adult!" When we have to smile at someone we dislike when we really want to ignore them, we're "being adult". When we have our own cash and shopping sprees, we're "being adult". Can't win 'em all, can we? In true Libran fashion, let me share my yays and nays of "being adult".

Yays of Being Adult :)

1. Tiramisu for breakfast, keropok lekor for lunch and cornflakes for dinner and no one can say nothing!
2. Shopping sprees with my own money!
3. No more studying (unless you really want to)
4. Unlimitle$$ fund$...till the bank account runs dry
5. Not having to deal with crabby PMS-y teachers and bad grades
6. Driving a nice car!
7. Going for fun holidays
8. Blogging :)
9. People believing your bullsh*t
10. Make-up, pretty clothes and shoes *preen*

Nays of Being Adult :(

1. Having to "be nice" even to people you'd rather not meet
2. Dealing with a breaking heart
3. Having so many decisions and paths laid out in front of you and having to decide when you don't really know what to do
4. Not being allowed to have a crying fit when sometimes that's what you really need
5. Learning how to make "wise investments"
6. Working like a slave for those fund$ and $hopping money
7. Financial commitments, mortgages, bills...need I say more?
8. Hypocrites and small-hearted imps. "I don't want to friend you anymore" used to be so much more effective.
9. Learning how to trust and having it broken
10. Finding real friends
11. Pretending that you do know all that bullsh*t
12. Learning that the world and its people weren't what you thought it was
13. Having to be happy outside when you're sad on the inside and vice versa

To quote the Toys 'R Us Kid - I don't want to grow up!

I missed out one more yay though. Being able to go out for drinks on a Friday night! :) Happy weekend, dearies!

It's Getting Hot In Here

I never used to think much about sunglasses when I was younger as I was a 4-eyed nerd who wore thick glasses. All I knew was that it looked quite cool and all the stars seemed to use it. All that changed when I became adult! Yep...earning my own money and being a whole lot more vain, I took on Lasik on my eyes just for the sheer vanity of being able to wear sunglasses! And wear them, I do! Unlike my fashionista sis, I don't have Guccis or those gorgeous aviators. Instead, I rely on my trusty Polarized Sunglasses.

I was first recommended polarized sunglasses by a friend who swore by them and I absolutely love them! They're wonderful as they cut out lots of glare which I find absolutely essential especially when I'm driving or on the beach. The thing about Lasik is that your eyes become a lot more sensitive to light and I find my polarized sunnies do a fantastic job in shielding the glare and light from them. I've tried wearing unpolarized sunglasses but I find that they don't do as good a job in cutting out the glare and my eyes ended up hurting.

Now I can't leave home without them!

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Phuket Playground

When the sun (or lack of sun) has set on Patong Beach and when the sun-burnt, red angmohs have hauled themselves up from the deckchairs on the beach, a certain road on Patong Beach starts to come alive!

Bangla Road (no, it has nothing to do with Banglas!) magically transforms from a busy and nondescript street into a hedonistic playground for naughty boys and girls, whichever your preference!

The lights slowly start to come on as the open bars start filling up quickly. Neon lights, bring them on! See that bell in the picture? A man feeling rich or some poor unfortunate drunk man can ring it to buy drinks for all the bar girls on the floor! And those poles? They're the perfect thing for the pole-dancers to snake their lithe bodies around!

The street truly comes alive with booming music and crowds of people around 10pm all the way to 3am. Single guys beware or rejoice! ;) Any guy walking past any bar will be set upon by girls trying to invite them in with their winsome smiles and seductive voices. Tempted, well beer's cheap at only THB100 a bottle and some do tequila shots for THB40 so stumble into every bar if you can and make the girls a very happy bunch!

There's lots to cater for everyone, whatever your preference!

Pretty girl or prettier lady-boy? You decide!

"You want photo? THB100 only!" Sweet or gruff voice?

Peacock Girl: Just at min, let me adjust that $%#? headgear they make us wear!

Turqoise Girl: Meeter, what you want? THB2,000 only, cheap cheap...

Smile and say cheese with some gorgeous ladies...or boys!

And finally, I'll leave you with some pictures of my favourite bar. This is one of the earlier bars you'll see if you come in from Rat-U-Thit Road. You won't miss it, they've got one of the sweetest girls right up front on the table. Yep, that girl in black. What I noticed was that while most of the girls danced with a glazed expression on their faces, she sang along to the songs animatedly as she bopped and gyrated. Truly a crowd-puller!

And just one more cos she was really quite sweet. By the way, I'm sure this was a SHE!


Ah, Phuket Playground Paradise! Enjoy a beer, the show, the entertainment and the experience of something different!

As they say, good boys go to Heaven....bad boys go to Phuket! ;)

Horsing Around

A friend works as an equine veterinarian in the Penang Turf Club. From what I hear, it’s not an easy job as she has to be on constant alert for changes in her charges, up to the point of getting woken up at midnight to attend to a sick horse! When I met her recently, she was complaining about how sluggish and poorly some of her favourite horses were. Luckily I’m a professional Internet surfer and found this great product called Immunall which is a fantastic herbal supplement produced in the United Kingdom. It helps your horse achieve its peak performance and health by purifying the horses’ system and boosting its immunity!

I researched further on this great product for her and found that Sheridan Creek Tack, a tack store promoting holistic and environmentally friendly treatments for horses, has used this product with fantastic results on all of their race and performance horses. I’ll be meeting her again this weekend and will definitely recommend these sites to her. Hopefully her horses are in peak performance soon again and go on to win many medals!

Phuket Paradise - Getting There

Phuket! What does this jewel in the Andaman Sea conjure up? Land of the sun, sand, smiles and some other "s" words that never fails to result in sniggers and raised eyebrows whenever I mention I'm going to Phuket. This, bearing in mind, that I'm a girl! Nevertheless, hairy old angmohs with young nubile Thai girls aside, let Pinkelle show you how to have good, clean and cheap fun in Phuket!

From KL:

Phuket is just a hop, skip and jump away! Only 1 hour 15 mins by flight, I should be headed there a whole lot more often than just once a year! We went by Malaysia Airlines this time, courtesy of someone's airmiles (thank you! ♥) and for once got served food instead of having to buy overpriced nasi lemak! Hurrah!

I thought I heard some options being offered but by the time it reached me, it was only vegetable fried rice with 2 fishballs and some chicken slices, served with a fruit compote and juice. Not having eaten airline food for a while and starving from having no breakfast, this went down very well indeed!

Note to self: Never take seat 15 on a 737 flight - you get served last while those behind you will get their food first!

Arriving in Phuket:

Phuket International Airport is not a very large airport. When you arrive and exit Customs, you'll find a few booths offering accommodation and transportation services. There are lots of taxis available into town for at least THB500-THB600 (RM50-60) a trip but if you're a bit of a skinflint like me, head for the Limousine Service desk on the right of the exit gates. They do minivan services into Patong, Phuket Town and the various other beaches for a flat fee.

Phuket has 3 main beaches - Patong, Karon and Kata. Patong is the main "happening" beach where most of the tourists head to. Lots of cheap accommodation, bars, entertainment (both good and not-so-good!), shopping...you name it, they have it all! Karon and Kata are quieter beaches with a smaller town area so you may not have as many choices as Patong. So it's really what you're looking for.

A trip to Patong is THB150 (RM15) per pax and you hop onto a minivan that'll set off once it's full. Lots of tourists and backpackers use this option so you shouldn't have too long a wait. The only downside of using the minivan is that they will stop a short distance away at a tour centre where they will try to sign you up for accommodation, if you don't already have one, and other tours. Wait till you reach the beach, there's a whole lot more competition and better prices there! If you already have your accommodation, just give your hotel name to the tour people and wait a little while.

Once they've sorted out the hotels, you'll be on your way again, trundling over the steep hills and terrifying roads of Phuket Island! The driver will drop you off at the doorstep of your hotel which if you're lucky, you could be the first or if unlucky, the last left on the van! It'll perhaps take you about an hour to transfer from the airport to your hotel this way so if time is essence and you're dying to hit the beach ASAP, opt for the taxis.

A teaser of what's to come....

Stay tuned!

Smorty

Who can resist a cute name like Smorty? Well, you shouldn't resist it! It's another new nifty tool for bloggers to advertise on blogs. Hurrah!

How does Smorty work? It's a pretty little green site that's easy to sign up on. Just sign up, wait for your blog to be approved and start to blog for money! Their posts average $6 a post and usually require one outgoing link and 150 words only. They pay quite fast too which is another big plus point for me! I've seen 4 opportunities offered to bloggers so far but I am sure they'll start to add on more as they increase their blog advertising. For bloggers who can’t get opportunities from Payperpost anymore, sites that pay to advertise on blogs like Smorty are definitely a great thing!

So why wait to get paid for blogging? Sign up now and jump onto the Smorty bandwagon!

Holiday Spree

My recent trip to Phuket was a wonderful break from work and daily chores. So it was oh-so-terribly tempting when a friend emailed me to tell me about wonderful deals on Rome hotels. Stop tempting me! You know how weak I am when tempted with one of the greatest interests in my life - holidays and travel! And I've never been to Italy! *sob* I could have gone to visit LB!

Well, dwindling bank account aside, it never hurts to look! And what I saw looked pretty promising even with the steep Euro exchange rate. Not only do they have hotels in Amsterdam, they have hotels in Barcelona and Rome too! And best of all, they're coming out with great deals for one of my favourite cities in Europe - London! Argh...now part of me is dying to call the travel agent to find out how much flights to Europe cost at this time of the year!

But I'm going to be a good girl and quietly sit home to beef up the bank account a little before attempting flighty hare-brained schemes. I'll just be a "good" friend and forward this site on to another travel-mad friend! ;)

The World is a Call Away

My work involves communication with people from all over the world, who are often in different time zones from us. That isn't very amusing at times though as I've been bugged by calls at 2am in the morning when we were once in the thick of some work. We usually rely on emails but sometimes when things need urgent attending to, I'm glad for our VOIP Small Business Phone Systems.

The first time I used it, I was surprised at how crystal-clear the line was! It was just like talking on a normal phone without any time lag or static. Not to mention the fact that it was a whole lot cheaper than using normal phones. Isn't it wonderful how technology has made the world a much smaller and friendlier place?

Technorati-ed!

Paris faved me on her Technorati list! Woohoo *muacks* And I found that EastCoastLife from Singapore faved me too! *waves hello* Now time to let my fluffy brain try to understand the instructions *puts on specs*. So, after many frantic sms-es to Paris, here it goes! To Good Karma!

***START COPYING HERE***

Here are the Rules:

1) Write a short introduction paragraph about what how you found the list and include a link to the blog that referred you to the list.

2) COPY the Rules and ENTIRE list below and post it to your blog. To avoid duplicate content and increase the amount of keywords your site can accessible for, go ahead and change the title of the blog. Just don’t change the links of the blog.

3) Take “My New Faves” and move them into the “The Original Faves” list.

4) Add 5 Blogs that you’ve just added to your Technorati Favorites to the “My New Faves” section. Remember to also add the “Fave Me” link next to your new blogs (i.e. http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://www.yourfavesdomain.com)

5) Add Everyone on this list to your Technorati Favorites List by clicking on “Fave the Site.” Those who want good kharma will fave you back. If not, you will for sure get the benefits of faves from the bloggers who continue this list after you.

My New Faves:
Lyrical Lemongrass - Fave the site

Ms Fair Face - Fave the site

Masak-masak - Fave the site

Blissful Delirium - Fave the site

The Original Faves:

Hochiak! - Fave the site

Giddy Tiger - Fave the site

Oh! For the love of me - Fave the site

Live Life, organics and your health - Fave the site

Pink Elle - Fave the site

Paris Beaverbanks - Fave the Site

Tigerfish - Fave the Site

Wennnn - Fave the Site

SiwwyPig - Fave the Siteangel - Fave the Site

LB - Fave the Site

Cool Insider - Fave the Site

Simple America - Fave the Site

Chen - Fave the Site

Captain Picard - Fave the Site

East Coast Life - Fave the Site

Culture Shiok! - Fave the Site

Pond Perspective - Fave the Site

Carlo Ocab - Fave the Site

Fruity Oaty - Fave the Site

Michael McKinlay - Fave the Site

Nice4Rice Free Backlinks - Fave the Site

Work at Home, Make Money Online - Fave the Site

Web 2.0, Tech Reviews - Fave the Site

Wireless LAN Security - Fave the Site

Bobs [ReformatThis] - Fave the Site

Everyday Weekender - Fave the Site

Armen’s Blog - Fave the Site

Gary Lee - Fave the Site

Dosh Dosh - Fave the Site

Nate Whitehill - Fave the Site

Ms. Danielle - Fave the Site

Jeff Kee - Fave the Site

Scribble on the Wall - Fave the Site

Jimi Morrisons Head - Fave the Site

Jon Lee - Fave the Site

Samanathon - Fave the Site

Eat Drink & Be Merry - Fave the Site

The Man of Silver - Fave the Site

Hannes Johnson - Fave the Site

My Dandelion Patch - Fave the Site

Nathan Drach - Fave the Site

SiteLogic - Fave the Site

Julies Journal - Fave the Site

Stephen Fung - Fave the Site

Ed Lau - Fave the Site

QMusings - Fave the Site

***END COPYING HERE***

I'm BACK!

Hello! I'm back! :)

• Well-rested - YES


• Massaged and limbered - YES


• Dived and saw an almost pelagic - YES


• Ate, ate, ate - YES


• Well-tanned - NO!

Well, just one word - RAIN! Yes, dearies! It poured, thundered, dripped and flooded for a good 4 out of 5 days I was there! Kiss the beach and sunshine goodbye! Hello umbrellas, foggy grey weather, huge black clouds and cold cold rain! Sigh...monsoon came early and it had to come right on my holiday! Not even my last hol there last Sept during the "real" monsoon season was this bad!

Nonetheless, I still had great fun! There's something about grey rainy weather that makes warm sheets, cold air-cond and cable TV so inviting and cold luscious ice-cream to sit out the rain or a steaming hot bowl of noodle soup to chase the chill away! So, please bear with me while I sort out the photos and put up my Phuket tips! I'll be also doing my Phuket food recommendations sporadically so stay tuned!

Internet Again!

Am so happy to have internet connection again! *hugs internet* Yes, if there's anything called internet obsession or blog withdrawal symptoms I think I have it! Luckily for me, I have many kindred spirits who all belong to Internet Anonymous too! A internet-holic friend who recently moved to the UK got his broadband internet set up in just a day upon his arrival and it was as if he had never left when we started chatting over the net again!

Sometimes I wish we had cheap broadband like the UK does. They get so much faster connection and better service for a fraction of what we pay for due to their tough competition while all we poor people here are 100% reliant on Streamyx! It goes down and so does my mood and internet surfing! They even have excellent sites to help users compare broadband services and prices. I wonder when we'll ever reach that stage!

But for now, I guess Streamyx will have to do for this internet-holic!