About the feeling that I'm always right

I'm almost 30 years old next year, so I'm almost set in most of my way
I believe certain things have to be done in a certain manner because I am convinced that, that is he best way to do it.

But people might not agree. Or they might not even understand what you are saying. They have their own way of doing things too

However I have realized recently that I've been stopping myself quite often from saying,  "but you're missing the point!"
Maybe the reason a person doesn't get your point,  is because you don't understand him in the first place.
So I thought to myself, it's not knowing what is important, rather it's accepting and understanding others is what is crucial.

I think I've earned my almost-30 years of age. Haha.

************************

On another note,  I bought a DIY shoe rack for my office. It required assembly so some of my colleague helped in assembling it, along with commenting on the design of the cheap rack.
It was a commotion.
After around 15 minutes the rack was assembled. Then came along another colleague who was sitting silently all this while and said, "Aku rasa kan, rak ni elok kalau pasang macam ni."
To which I promptly replied,  "Ahhh takdak takdak. Bila dah siap pasang banyak la hang punya aku-rasa."

Candorlight dinner

There was this cheesy drama on TV staring Ngasrin Ngah(did I get her name right?) where the actress was telling her friend about her date. It comprised of a candlelight dinner.

My wife promptly wondered out loud, of the origin of candlelight dinner.

"Satu masa dulu," I said, "ada mamat ni bawak perempuan pi dinner. A dinner in a fancy restaurant, where he asked if they could please dim out the light. He was a dating beautiful woman.
But he was ugly so he didn't want it to be too bright. Instead they put (a) candles at the desk.

Afterwards people and restaurants keep following since ugly people are mostly rich."
(Or is it the other way around?)

Anyway my wife nodded sagely, saying that my preposterous made up history could even have some possible truth in it.

Marketing Maggenie

My sister in law came to our house for a few days recently. Trying to be a good host, I was appalled when I discovered her eating Maggi instant noodle.

Me: Aik. Awat makan Maggi. Banyak-banyak makanan kat dalam rumah ni.
She: Saja, lama tak makan. Tak beli lama dah. Asam laksa yang jenis lain tak sedap.
Me: Awat lama tak beli?
She: Kami boikot. Tapi ni dah ada kat rumah, Kak Sarah makan ja la.

It then just occurred to me that Maggi is a brand of Nestlé, a brand that I have been actively avoiding. But somehow Maggi slipped past my radar.

To me, Maggi was... Maggi. Something that has been there since the moment I can remember.

Just shows how strong branding/marketing is.


Pic: my attempt of making Maggi more 'healthy'

How to Run a Bus Express Company

from a customer point of view.

Bus express companies in Malaysia are so crappy. I wish I could Manage one but unfortunately I can't afford one. The idea for this post began a few Weeks ago when I took Maraliner back to Kedah. Normally it was okay but that trip was very bad due to the condition of the bus. I tried searching on their website to complain but found no emails or channels. So I am writing this post so feel free to share, because unless we do something about it, i.e. complain as the first step, nothing is going to change.

1. Be punctual.
because  being late is so unfashionable. Plus it inconveniences the passenger.

2. Clean the bus. Inside.
Because it is not that hard to do. Just hire a cleaner at every main stations and give them a vacuum. Maybe every 2-3 trips. Once a month, mop/scrub the interior.

3. Put a non - stupid, fancyless curtain.
We need the curtains. Just put basic stuff. Tak perlu letak tirai macam kat pelamin. Hassle to clean, collects dust, and superrr hard to use.

4. Employ good driver. PAY them appropriately.
Maraliner succeeds most of the time in this aspect.

5. No music. Especially dangdut at full volume.
If slow, soothing music to be played, let it be at minimum.

6. Improve the bag compartment.
One perk of bus is there is no weight limit for bags. Too bad bag comportment is dirty and the bags are hard to reach. Maybe create a pull -out cabinet - like box.

7. Pickup from KLIA and such.
Here's to maximize your profits, tycoons. Pick up passengers from Airports which goes directly to destinations such as Kuala Terengganu or Alor setar. This way it's easier for tourists. Of course they can transit by flight but who wants to fly after hours of flying. Plus they want to see the landscape. If you play The cards correctly, you can profit and avoid the trend of stopping to pick up passengers along the way.

That's my suggestion for now. Feel free to add. I'll edit and put your opinions in the post.
Thanks for reading.

Chit chatter, I am not of those creature; If you're a talker, will mywords matter?

I was chatting with my friend the other day about starting conversations with stranger, especially during travels. My friend told how there was a time when my friend struck a conversation with an older woman(makcik) that they chatted the whole way. After the makcik stepped out the train, my friend's friend asked,"Sape tu tadi?"
To which my friend somberly answered,"Ntah."
Lol. "Aku ingatkan kawan mak ko ke sape. Cakap mcm kenal rapat."

Some people like this, perplexs me. There is a reason why people use the phrase,'strike a conversation', the same word used in 'lightning strikes', because conversations happen in an instance. When asked how the conversations start, or how to chat people up, my friend gave an ambigous 'dunno'.

Just now as the bus I rode from KL to Kedah stopped at a highway-
stop(RnR), I stepped off the bus and went to the toilet. A man(pakcik) came to the sinks and washed his hands. Suddenly he said,"Ada sabun dak," his eyes directed to a soap dispenser in front/between us.
Since I hadn't use it,I said,"tak tahu lah pulak saya," and laughed, because I laughed when I don't have anything to say and trying to avoid the awkward silence.
The pakcik then pushes his palm against the dispenser.
I thought, if you wanted to try it anyway, why'd you ask?
The dispenser was quite empty, yet the pakcik was still pressing it.
"Dah takdak dah ha," he said, more to himself.
Yes, I can see that, I thought; but why are you still pushing the poor thing?
As he kept on, I finally said,"Kat sana tu ada lagi," pointing to another dispenser which was three sinks away.
Pakcik lifted his head to the pointed direction, said nothing, and kept pressing the dispenser. I wanted to repeat what I said but decided against it.
In the end, the dispenser managed to splutter some soap, which fell on the sink. Pakcik wipe the soap up(good action) and said, "tumpah sampai ke sinki plak dah." I didn't hear it thr first time so he repeated,"tumpah."
I just laughed and he left.

There are several things I wanted to say, like why do you ask when you're going to try the thing anyway. It's like people asking the weather or something they've already known. Yes I know, it's called being ramah.
But deep in my heart of mine, I felt it unnecessary because to me, I only ask to what I want to know, and earnestly listen(yeah, cause the answers are important). I've noticed that in certain cases this is the practical thing to do.

But most times, especially during travels, this is not the case. Chit-chats are the basis of good travel-info research. It's the way to know those best stalls that the locals frequent, the spots where tourist miss and the scams that they normally fell to.
Don't you think so?

Agatha Christie who wrote detectives novel, always uses conversations as solving method. If people are chat up, they'll loosen up and more likely to tell the truth, or spill the beans. So in my mind I believe that we have to be ramah and all, but the problem is how. It seems that I need to rewire my mind.

Again.


Thanks for reading.

.

Hot food shouldn't be pack in plastic bag. 

They can cause cancer

Me-ow

I've been sleeping this few past days on the floor, instead of on the bed. I know it's not good for my body, but the carpet feels so much more comfortable than a bed. Seems like I'm turning into a cat, which likes to laze on the carpet.

Maybe I'm turning into one. I keep lazing around all day, looking at people passing by. What's missing now is just whiskers on my face.

Suddenly I'm reminded by a story wrote by Roals Dahl(I think) where a beekeeper slowly morphed into those he loves the most and spent most of his time, the bees. Thing is tho, I don't have any cats at home right now. Need to get one in the near future, I guess. Until then, I'm much human and none feline. No worries that I turn into a cat, any time in the near futu… hey, butterfly!

*goes away and plays*

Today at Rapidkl

Hello there. I'm writing this now from Malaysia. I've been back for two weeks now and still working my mind to adjust to the idea that I've left germany for good. Oh well.

Anyway I went out today and met a friend of mine, Ixa. I'm not one who shares what he ate and did but I'd like to write this up since I just used the public transport in KL after almost two years time.

Was quite surprised when I bought a monorel ticket from Raja Chulan to Medan Tuanku(RM 1.20) and was given a blue token. I knew it was a token but I had no idea what it was for. I asked the cashier and her face was like,"whatt? u never seen a token?"
Honestly I thought i had to cash the token with a machine nearby to get a ticket. watanub, aite?
but come on guys, in my defence, there was no country that I've been to that uses a token for the metro. funfair ada la pakai token.

well anyway, later I went for another trip and had to buy a ticket from machines. i was in a hurry and the silly machine didn't accept my ten ringgit when suddenly an african man came and said, "one ringgit twenty cent. one ringgit twenty cent?"

I said,"dude I can't even buy my ticket," and went to the counter for ten ringgit change. I directly went back to the machine to buy my ticket with the ten one-ringgit notes, while avoiding the african man. I quickly went to platform 4 (to Sri Petaling).

As I waited for the train, I saw the african man coming down towards the opposite platform and as he saw me, he looked at me with a hard stare.

I then felt guilty that I had not helped the man. Who knows if he was in a hurry? Who knows if he had an accident and lost his money and urgently needed to get back. And on retrospect it seems very stingy of me to even not help a person for only a few ringgit.

What's more, it hurts my conscience that I was once an auslander, a foreigner, someone who often needed help but just as soon as I had felt homely in Malaysia, I forgot the feeling of helplessness and begins to become so suspicious that I distance myself from helping people. I used to silently condemn people who are unfriendly and sometimes plain hostile to us Asians while in Europe, but it seems that it's harder to be just when you 'have' the upper hand.

So what do u think? Should I stop feeling guilty, or should I not?

thank you for reading.