White frame glasses: Failed and stugly!

I don't know when it started and I'm not interested to know the history. Crazy fashion fanatics may regard white sunglasses as fashion. Unfortunately it doesn't work for me that way.

As far as I'm concern, fashion is one thing, yet style is another. To be stylish at the same time fashionable does not always end up with something pleasant, you know it.

Kanye West looks like a weirdo to me... This eyewear fashion FAILED !

The same goes to our eyewears. Each one of us has different face shape thus renders eyeglass frame selection a hard task. Wrong selection will make us look unattractive and perhaps older. The issue here is what colour is your frame?

Gold, camel, copper, peach, plum, coral, black and gray are perhaps the most common. Just please don't tell me that you are wearing WHITE !

I'm against those who wear solid white eyeglass frames especially for wearing in the office, wedding or any formal functions. You will end up looking like a moron. Believe me. But if you still wear it, it's your right. I'm not going to stop you, it's just that I'm against it.

I do realize some international celebrities walk on the street in white sunglasses. But they are super celebrities. Super celebrities can introduce a lot of trashy fashions, yet still idolized by their fans. If Lady Gaga, Elton John or Paris Hilton wears white eyeglass frame, who cares? I'm totally not surprised.

We Asians have to think twice. I have a few examples down here and you can make your own judgment (pictures are simply searchable on the net).

White frame Mr Kungfu just came out from the matrix...

Sorry girl, this white frame doesn't suit you at all

Wearing white frame needs a lot of courage and really needs a high degree of perasan (Malay word which means think too good about him/herself). Perhaps I should congratulate those who wear it... NOT!

White eyeglass frame has no difference with white eyeliners and white lips (look at the picture below). It is okay if we are not beautiful (always say alhamdulellah) but don't apply something that will make you look stupid and ugly. Always think before you do...

Japan fashion craze - white eyeliner, white lips and brown skin
This make up really freaks me out... FAILED !

Kulim-Taiping weekly travel: now I save 40 km

There are at least three common routes connecting Taiping and Kulim. Since I am a weekly traveler, such distance above 100 km will be considered long distance. Thus shorter traveling time is preferred, even though I have to pay more for tolls.

I use the most popular 'faster route' Taiping Utara-Juru PLUS Highway and Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE) for my weekly Taiping-Kulim routing. It is convenient, clean, non-snakey and almost clear from potholes.

I never thought of trying other routes until my friend Asri convinced me of the Kulim-Serdang-Bandar Baharu-Taiping Utara route as shorter and passable.

Road map clearly shows that Kulim-Serdang-Bandar Baharu-Taiping Utara is a shorter route compared to the popular highway route

I tried the route last two weeks. To be honest, it was fun. I love the countryside, it's beautiful. It was far from snakey and the traveling time was comparable with the so-called 'faster route', i.e. 1.5 hours. So, not bad at all. The most important, I save 43 km petrol consumption and RM7.30 of highway tolls.

Summary:
Distance from my rental house (Kulim) to my house (Taiping)
...via Taiping Utara-Juru PLUS Highway + BKE = 137 km
...via Kulim-Serdang-Bdr Baharu-Taiping = 94 km
(save 43 km)

Toll fares
...via Taiping Utara-Juru PLUS Highway + BKE = RM8.50 + RM3.20 = RM11.70
...via Kulim-Serdang-Bdr Baharu-Taiping Utara = RM4.40
(save RM7.30 (USD2.15))

Route selection is not a simple equation. Some prefer shorter distance, some prefer faster traveling time. The choice is yours... To me I accept any alternative routes as long as it is passable, shorter and non-boring drive..

"I'M JUST A WEEKLY TRAVELER"

I found another shorter route! You should read this too:
From My Desk: Kulim-Taiping Weekly Travel (Part 2)

Kukukukuku

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You could probably wondering what that is. It is neither a child nor a parrot babbling. That five repeating syllable of 'ku' has its meaning and is actually Malay compound words.

ku = shorter expression of aku = I / me / my
kuku = fingernail
kukuku = my fingernail
kukukuku = kuku-kuku = fingernails
kukukukuku = kuku-kukuku = my fingernails

That is the art of language. Isn't it interesting?

Kukukukuku has nothing to do with Cuckoo Clock or Coo Coo Duckling

Fingernail is called 'kuku' in Malay

Now try to figure this out:

"Kuku-kuku kakiku kaku"

You can use dictionary to look up for the meaning or if you find it hard, just check with your Malay speaking friends. Good luck...
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Too many ants? Get rid of them today!

Ants could probably the most organized non-human creatures on the planet. They are also the hardest working, excellent team workers and super strong creatures that can lift at least 20 times of their body weight. Yet, they are also one of the most annoying when they actively roam and march all over the place. I consider it alarming if they start crawling over your body while you're having sweet dreams.

What are the reasons for having too many ants in your house? From my observation, it has always been about food. Human dwelling place, which is normally food rich, is also habitable to those tiny creatures. Once it becomes its happy hunting ground, that's it! You are going to have a very hard time to phase them out.

I'm not an ant expert. I will never be. But living in a tropical country like Malaysia, in which ants are consistently coexistence, have given me a better understanding on their behaviour, how they work and the conditions that draw them to our dwelling places. Therefore, let me share some of my experience, i.e. how to get rid of them.

As a Muslim, what I learn, never kill insects with fire. Except, if they are harmful, they may be killed with insecticides (please refer to your religious scholars for better explanation).

Secondly, I don't believe feeding with sugar or any kind of food outside your courtyard, is a solution for ants removal. Instead, it will make them grow healthier and may end up in larger colony. Besides, what will happen when you stop feeding them?

Family ant bait (available in TESCO and popular store)

If you really want to get rid of them, try to use ant bait. It's clean and huffing free. I used Family Ant Bait (brand name). It works well for tropical ants, regardless the colour whether they are red or black, seriously by God will it works! But of course it is not a minute reaction. It takes days for you to see the result (at least five days).

Simple step: Uncap and place at least two ant baits near your food waste. For my case, I parked them near the rubbish bin. Add more ant baits as required.

Let them enjoy the baits. Black ants crowding the ant baits within two minutes of uncapping. Fast, eh?

Now at my home, ants are almost unnoticed. No more annoyance by ants. Try it!

Poco-Poco no more

Poco-Poco (pronounced as pocho-pocho) is a folk dance originated from the region of Sulawesi-Moluccas-Papua in Indonesia. Unlike aerobic exercise that the movement is normally choreographed to the music, Poco-Poco on the other hands according to their fans is more to a simple body exercise that consists of six simple steps but still fun and entertaining.

I was introduced to this dance when I attended a compulsory training course in 2008. At that time I wasn't aware that Poco-Poco has been quite popular amongst the wives of diplomats of the two countries, Indonesia-Malaysia. Now it is no longer exclusive to the VIPs, in fact it has become a routine exercise in many government's programs in Indonesia and Malaysia.

The question is do I like this dance? Well to be honest, I respect Poco-Poco for being a cultural dance but it is just not my preference of exercise. Not just because I'm not comfortable to dance in public, the most important because I'm a Muslim. Besides there are so many ways to exercise without singling out to Poco-Poco. It is such a shame to see Muslim women with hijab dancing Poco-Poco without realizing how clownish they look, sorry ladies.

I may have joined Poco-Poco for the second time last year. I may have seen all those clownish acts and moves. I will make sure that that will be the last. No more Poco-Poco for me, inshaAllah.

By the way, I found a video showing Mr Bean dances Poco-Poco. Although it is a fake video but it's enough to convince me not to dance Poco-Poco again.

This is what happens when Mr Bean tries to dance Poco-Poco

I almost lost my breath watching this video. Thanks Joey JY for uploading. It's really funny

HP customer participation program: Customize your installation

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When I googled for 'HP Customer Participation program (CPP)', I found many users want it to be removed. The main reasons were simply because it consumes a lot of HD space and slow down their computers. Depending on the printer model and version of CPP, some claimed to suffer 110 to 293 MB HD space utilization. Well to me it's definitely too much for the so-called 'Customer Participation Program'.

Some intended to remove/uninstall the program but afraid to do so due to the warning dialog "Removal of these programmes is NOT recommended if you are going to continue to use any of the following devices with this computer - HP Photosmart All-in-one".

Well users, no need to be panic. You still can remove the CPP totally without getting the warning dialog appears on your screen or without worrying that your HP Deskjet All-In-One will not work correctly. What you need to do is to customize your installation.

First thing first, uninstall all your HP Deskjet All-In-One software. Redo installation process. Choose Advanced Install. Just allow HP to check for updates, no harm. Then select Custom (for advanced users)*.

Under custom installation untick HP CPP (a must do action). For a guy of my standard I will only install HP Update, HP Solution Center and HP Imaging Device Functions. You can select whatever you like according to your preference. Press next to continue installation.

Then don't forget to restart your computer. In case of missing file(s), let your computer search the missing file(s) from your CD installer. I'm sure your HP Deskjet All-In-One will function as per intended use, inshaAllah. I hope this helps, good luck.

BWF Malaysia Open 2010 Final

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Wow, he done it again! To defend his Malaysia Open title is not an easy task, to win a back to back titles is much more an uphill task (he won Korea Open last week). What else can I say?

Congratulations Lee Chong Wei for winning his 6th Malaysia Open title yesterday. Also I would like to congratulate Koo Kean Keat and Tan Boon Heong for winning the men's double, after given a scare by Chen Xu and Guo Zhendong of China in a hard fought final.

Misbun's coaching style works well for Lee Chong Wei

Koo Kean Keat/Tan Boon Heong vs Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong

The crowd support is just amazing
Notice the Pakcik in Malaysian Flag dress..

This guy (in circle) really pisses me off. He's not a Malaysian. I've never seen anybody like him, he goes absolute nuts that day

It was a wonderful final. Sudirman and I almost lost our energy applauding the Malaysian and other non-Chinese players throughout the tournament. The most important is to break the Great China Wall and stop them from dominating the world badminton. Finally Malaysia bagged two titles and China three.

We're happy to bring home good memories of Malaysia Open. Sudirman and I bought Proton Malaysia Open 2010 t-shirt and cute Yonex bag. I also bought BWF China Open 2009 t-shirt (having Yonex Denmark label at the back).

Our exhaustion and hunger were finally offset by delicious Sate Kajang (Kajang Satay). The most important we arrived back home in Kulim at 12.30 midnight safe and sound, alhamdulellah.