Kukup trip

Last weekend I went to Kukup with my Malacca friends. They planned this trip a few weeks ago. I actually didn’t know the existence of such a place until they told me.

Kukup is a small fishing village located about 40 kilometres southwest of Johor Bahru, in the district of Pontian, Johor, on the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia. We drove to Pontian Kecil town through Muar and Batu Pahat and proceeded to south direction for about 20 km before reaching Kukup town. (We also stopped at Muar to buy Otak-Otak). From there we boarded a ferry to the pre-booked resort 东海饭店。



Our trip there was actually organized by东海饭店 which liaises with a restaurant to provide us two lunch sets. The restaurant served their famous delicacies like crab, fish and prawn. But when I personally asked the boss-in-charged, he mentioned that nowadays most of the seafood is imported from Indonesia. I guessed it’s because the Kukup area has already been polluted! To know the main source of pollution, continue reading the article.





Almost all the houses and seafood restaurants are built on stilts over the water. Some of the restaurants are geared for tour groups such as Singapore tourists. I saw many young Singaporeans during my stay at Kukup.

Another extraordinary thing is that the main transportation at the village is either bicycle or motorcycle. As you can imagine, the narrow road is made from concrete that are piled on swamp thus cannot sustain the weight of a car.

The villages here give the visitors a warm welcome. Here we enjoyed a feeling of relaxation and tranquillity. Of course since the village is built on the water, the sole thing we could do was to enjoy the sea breeze and the wave.

The resort was air-conditioned rooms were clean and comfortable. We were also provided with Mahjong sets and Karaoke for our entertainment. We spent the soothing night by playing cards, Mahjong, chitchatting and singing.




On our second day there, we were brought to the largest mangrove swamp island in the world, the " Pulau Kukup Johor National Park ". Here we climbed up to the observatory tower and walked the hanging bridge.






Then, we took a trip to the nearby kelong to see many types of fish and other seafood that are bred in captivity, including the king crab. Kelongs are actually farms built on raft-like structures floating in the middle of the ocean.




Let the cat out of the bag. The main source of pollution is human waste. There are no pipes, sewers and sewage treatment plants. The toilets and bathrooms are well built but the waste is actually disposed directly into the sea. From the hole of the toilet bowl you can actually see the sea below. Frankly speaking, I felt guilty when my shampoo water dripped into the sea during bath and when I had to throw tissue paper into the sea :(

The second source of pollution --- the rubbish thrown away to sea by the villagers and visitors. I saw an auntie effortlessly threw a plastic bag to sea!

I can’t declare myself as an environmentalist but I actually feel the urge to tell everybody to take care of the environment! Also, there is a need for efficient and hygienic disposal system and sewage plant at the village. Hope that the local authority could notice the problem and solve it before the village turns into a contaminated area.

Nevertheless, this is a fruitful trip as I could meet my old friends from Malacca again after ten years of separation.

Green Curry

My mom cooked us a pot of green curry last week. The name "green" curry derives from the color of the dish which is in green color.

The main ingredients for the curry consist of coconut milk, green curry paste, eggplant, sugar, lemon grass, curry leaves and a variety of vegetables. Our homemade green curry paste was made by blending green chillies, shallots, garlic, fresh tumeric, and cooking oil.

The paste was heated in oil then coconut milk was added. Vegetables were added along with a pinch of brown sugar. Finally, lemon grass and curry leaves were added just at the end of cooking for fragrance.

The curry can be made with fish, seafood and meat. My family is a vegetables lover,so we prefer pure vegetable green curry.

Long beans

Cabbage

Carrot and eggplant

Potatoes

Green chilies

Green curry paste was heated together with vegetables and coconut milk.

This was my serving! Yummy~

Direct selling

When people are looking for an alternative income source, direct selling is always a good choice. I believe many of us have come across a direct selling before.

When I was in my university 1st year I joined Amway hoping to gain more income and experience. Then I realized that I lacked promoting and marketing skills. Finally I quited.

The next few years I have been introduced a few “direct-selling” schemes by my friends. Among them are:

1. A Malay friend said just need to invest RM2000 to get a return rate of 30%. The member shall get more people to participate in the scheme.
2. Another friend from UM said that by buying a medical product worth RM1900 I could gain the membership and I just need to introduce the program to other friends and earn commission. The company actually owns many hotels and produces dermatologically tested medical products.
3. Recently, I heard of two investment schemes launched by Island Red Café (IRC). Members could either a) recommend their friends to spend at IRC and earn the so-called publicity fees or b) invest an amount at IRC and register as a shareholder. However Wei Zhu found out that IRC is registered under two companies. If an investor is registered under ONE of the company and if THAT company goes bankrupt the money will be burnt.
4. An agent said that Government is releasing a fund to Bumiputras who want to venture into small business and entrepreneurship. Every Bumiputra who apply this fund could gain RM5000 loan and start the business. If the Bumiputra fails the business he just need to declare his status and does not need to repay the loan. The member in this scheme just need to recommend this fund to any Bumiputra friends and gain a commision of RM165 through each loan.

Though I'm keen to earn an alternative income, I did not join these programs.

Yesterday I read this article “When the going gets tough, many go direct selling” by Presenna Nambiar in NST. The article posted a few tips on spotting a pyramid scheme. Here it is:



So when you are interested and eager to earn extra income, you should be aware of the pyramid scheme and check the company background and philosophy before becoming a member. All the best!

Advice for you, me, and people who are "jobless"

I feel tense and concerned about getting my first job in face of this economy downturn and difficult job market. I applied a few companies but after knowing my bond with Petronas they rejected me. On the other hand, Petronas has not contacted me since my report at KLCC on 13 January 2009 (sigh).

Today I came across this article “Advice for Fresh Graduates during Tough Times” by Ben Stein (he has a degree in Law from Yale, a degree in Economics' from Columbia). I couldn’t help but think that those advices are great though realistically not all of them could be applied in my life.

I will highlight a few of his suggestions here:

1. Learn a genuinely useful skill

He suggested us to learn a genuinely useful skill or what people need nowadays e.g. medical care (nurses), accounting, engineering in defense, and any kind of work connected to the criminal justice system.

I'm in engineering field but not really related to defense! Any idea what are considered as useful skills nowadays?

2. Learn who is hiring

Learn that the main employers are in health care, education in urban and extremely rural schools, and government. Therefore, we should tailor our education and skills to those fields.

My main employers are in oil and gas industry (second are in construction industry)...Anyone please hire me!!!

3. Be the best at what you do

He mentioned that there is always a shortage of top flight people in almost every field. If you are at the top of your class, you will have a vastly greater job chance than people in the middle or at the bottom. So my friend, try to have the best record you can have.

Trying~~~

4. Learn great work skills

There are skills that we must have:

* show up on time

* look neat and well-groomed

* do whatever is asked of you with a willing attitude

* Be up to date on all relevant computer skills

* have a super positive attitude.

* produce some value for the employers

I'm improving my skills so please hire me!!! Huh...what skills am I improving? haha

5. Be thrifty

Spend less than what you earn so you can build up savings.

Yeah I'm TRYING trying Trying so HARD to spend less.

6. Make every good connection you can.

Just admit that good connection could help you in the time of need. A recommendation from a friend (especially in Petronas) is super important. So befriend with the people surrounding you.

For the full article, click here.

My humble opinion, try to think thoroughly of what is important in your life and make a plan to get/ reach it!!!! I'm still thinking hard, haha. Also, it's important to gain some financial knowledge to improve financial status. Let us pray that we can get our first job as soon as possible.

Carrefour rules

I am working as an OLAY promoter at Carrefour. I noticed that Carrefour actually imposes stricter rules on the customers than other hypermarkets. Below is a notice board at the entrance:




Customers always feel awkward when they are asked to pack their hand bags into plastic bags. They complain that it is troublesome and inconvenient especially when their bags contain valuables like wallet and hand phone. Besides, food is not allowed too. Therefore I often notice the customers standing at the entrance, gulping down their waffles, Sundae and kaya balls.

A rather "ridiculous" incident happened today.

There was a lady pushing a baby cart into Carrefour. The security guard on duty and I watched the lady passing by and both of us thought that she was bringing her baby (as in the picture below). Isn't it a comman scene for a mother carrying her child to do shopping？



A few minutes later, two promoters questioned the reason the security guard allowed the lady to enter Carrefour with her dog. I was startled --- I thought that was a little baby playing with his fluffy toy (the dog really looked like a toy) in the baby cart, instead it was housing a DOG!

The security guard impatiently asked the lady to leave the hypermarket. The lady answered, "Kamu ni tak da otak kah....saya dah buat macam ni.....kenapa tak boleh masuk..." she then requested to see the Carrefour manager. Finally the manager was compelled to compromise --- allowed her to enter Carrefour with her "baby".

I personally think that Carrefour rules are too strict and lack "human touch". On the other hand, I also think that the manager should demand the lady to follow the rules. Since the manager "permited" this situation, I doubt his staffs will have faith in him.

Dear all, please remember, NO FOOD, NO PETS, NO CAMERA, NO SMOKING in Carrefour!

Pandemic? Antonine Plague?

I was so blurred and shocked when my Form 4 brother asked me to answer this EST (English for Science and Technology) question:


In last 1800 years, seven diseases have caused pandemics around the world: SARS, Cholera, Antonine plague, Asian flu, Hong Kong flu, Spanish flu, Bubonic plague

Arrange the disease in the correct order starting from the one that caused the earliest pandemic in 165AD and ending with the one that caused the last pandemic in 2003.

Fill in the information such as type of pathogen, year of pathogen and number of deaths.


I was like….hah? What is pandemic? Haha, I would just admit that I’m ignorant, I have never heard of Antonine plague and Bubonic plague before. Luckily nowadays with internet we can solve this problem easily.


Below are a few extracts from Wikipedia,


Pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that spreads through populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even world wide.

Okay, I don’t understand what is epidemic.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met:

* Emergence of a disease new to a population.
* Agents infect humans, causing serious illness.
* Agents spread easily and sustainably among humans.


An infection that is epidemic appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period.

Ohhhh….a new disease that kills a lot of people across a large area at a specific period is called pandemic...i see.

I continued reading on those pandemics to gain basic understanding. While I am astonished that the students nowadays can gain more general science and technology knowledge I also feel fortunate that I didn’t need to take the subject. EST was introduced a year after my SPM thus I have no idea at all its contents. Anyway, I'm thinking if I should ask my brother to drop this subject in SPM.

Moo Active....MoooOOOOOooo

Can I proudly say that I have gained additional working experience?

This weekend I worked as a promoter doing sampling and selling Wall's Moo Active at a shopping mall. This ice cream is actually a yogurt-based ice cream with bacteria known as BB-12 which helps digestion. A stick of ice cream equals to a glass of milk which contains high calcium and vitamin. So it is an ideal treat for children who like eating ice cream! Blah....blahhhh...this was how I promoted the ice cream.

Just some thoughts here....

I'm becoming more grateful everytime after I worked as a promoter because I've the ability to work and earn some living. I'm also grateful that I have obtained a degree thus I have more choices to decide what and how to work. Being a promoter is not an easy task, you have to stand the whole day, smiling and promoting products to customer. Situation could be boring when the product is less popular.

All in all, I'm thankful for everything I have and I could do.

What shall I choose?

Last Sunday I just completed a job as contact lens promoter.





Now I'm resting (an appropriate word, rotting) at home. Yesterday I attended an interview at my primary alma mater. The Headmistress has been looking for a temporary teacher to teach Std 4 and 5 Bahasa Malaysia. The pay is RM1200 per month with working hours from 7am to 1pm every day, except for Tuesday, which is 7am to 3pm.

Today I went to my secondary alma mater to ask for temporary teacher position. I was informed that all temporary teachers must register at Jabatan Pendidikan before becoming one at secondary school thus i cancelled the plan.

Just now I rejected the offer of primary school temporary teacher. I'm quite regretful now because that indicates that I will not have a stable job in the future two months wuwu.

Nevertheless, after a great conversation with Bee Yin, my UTP senior, I realize that I really have to think thoroughly of what i want to achieve in my life.

Good day!

Valentine's Gift

On 14 Feb, I received a Pos Laju package from my dear boyfriend. Here is the gift:


Hehe, the moo moo is very cute. Inside there are thousands of beads. It's quite huge so hard to hug it while sleeping lor.

Thank you.

Promoter

Since the "real loser" issue I didn't apply for admin or data entry job anymore so I just worked as a promoter while waiting for a permanent job. In the past three days (Fri-Sun) I worked as a promoter for Room 8 Couture at Parkson KLCC. Hereby attached a few pictures of the children dress.




Aren't all the dresses lovely and gorgeous? Guess what are those prices? Huh, those dresses actually ranges from rm49 to rm300++. Since most are hand made from high quality textile you can expect that the price is quite "marvelous". By the way, I was also amazed at the consumer ability to spend so much for their children during the economy downturn.