Despite the sugar subsidy cut this mamak is holding fast to his old food prices, but for how long?

Waiting for the mechanic to complete the scheduled lubrication service to the MyVi the fragrant smell of curry spices and hunger pangs lured me to the mamak stall next door.

"Berapa?" I asked the stall operator after finishing my order of a piece of roti canai bread and teh o kosong. The mechanic had signaled me that he had finished the lub service job, so I had to collect my car from the workshop.

"Dua ringgit." I paid the same amount for the two items during my last lub service here about 3 months ago.

Since the government has cut sugar subsidy I wonder for how long this mamak is going to hold his price steady. Meanwhile today the Chinese vegetarian restaurant in town lost no time in charging me RM5 for a plate of mixed rice. I remember the last time I went there I paid about RM4 for similar fare.

Skinning garlic cloves

Sitting beside the dining table peeling the skin off the garlic cloves I notice that the flimsy midget kitchen knife that I am using is more suitable for cutting open envelopes rather than peeling garlic skin.

But then my family has been using this small knife with a plastic handle for peeling garlic cloves for a long time. The few rusty spots on the side of the blade are telling of a history behind this cheap knife that my family bought in a time long past.

Since I already have a knife for opening envelopes I shall continue to use this one for peeling garlic skin.

Stiff shoulder treatment

Patients waiting for their names to be called
at the registering counter

The Physiotherapy Department, Serdang Hospital.

Because I and my wife reached the hospital early at 8 am we were able to find parking inside the outdoor parking lot. On previous visits we had to park our car by the roadside and walk a distance to the entrance. Once inside the hospital we quickly made our way to the main entrance. As we are regular visitors we now know the ground floor layout of the hospital by heart.

A showcase of prosthetic limbs greet
the patient at the waiting area

The small entrance to the physiotherapy department opens up to a spacious waiting area. There are at least 6 rows of seats for patients to sit down while waiting for their names to be called. Once seated you can't help but view a glass showcase exhibiting a range of prosthetic limbs. After sitting down for about 15 minutes the nurse then called my wife to go to Room F6.

The small entrance opens up to a
spacious waiting area

There are separate rooms for different types of therapy and Room F6 is for patients with general pain ailments, considered as low frequency treatment. My wife who is suffering from pain due to a stiff shoulder probably belongs to this category of patients.


As I am not a patient I was not allowed to accompany my wife into the room. Looking in from the outside I saw some beds with curtains drawn and the inside appears to be clean and airy.

Room F6 where my wife underwent
therapy for pains in her left shoulder

After my wife was ushered into the room I took the break to walk along the aisle. I noticed many different types of rooms for different types of trauma treatment. Some rooms appear to be equipped with gymn type equipment. One room even has hydrotherapy facility.


While my wife was inside the room I chatted with a 60 year old man and later a middle aged woman.

The old man was there to seek treatment for his painful neck and shoulders. He told me that he had taken a lot of medication prescribed by doctors and consulted healers but all their treatments did not resolve his health problems except for physiotherapy which is giving him much relief. That is why he is repeating his regular visits to the clinic.

As for the middle aged woman she was here to look for relief for her painful spinal problem. However before I could find out more of her condition my wife was discharged from the room.

Asking about her treatment my wife told her a medical therapist demonstrated specific exercises to stretch and relax her shoulder and back muscles. The therapist asked her to do the specific exercises three times a day by her self and gave her a drawing illustrating the different types of exercises that she should do.

The next follow up appointment is in three weeks time.

The Gift of Time

The greatest gift that you can give someone is your TIME because when you give your time you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back.

Dear Mommy thank you for giving your TIME to the family.

On this special day the family honours you with happy birthday wishes and may you always stay happy and healthy.

Wet again

While last evening's one hour downpour caused flash floods and brought traffic to a standstill in many parts of the city the storm brought rainwater into the master bedroom.

After returning home from a shopping trip found a pool of water on the floor beside the table lamp and also signs of water mark on the ceiling of the master bedroom. Fortunately only a pool of water on the floor and not the whole room inundated with rain water. So it was quite easy to remove the water with a mop and a pail.

Apparently the gale force wind must have had forced rain water to penetrate some gaps in the roof covering or lifted the zinc flashing causing the rainwater to fall into the room. From past experience the roof only leaks if the rain is accompanied by strong winds. However, last evening's wind was exceptionally strong.

This morning at the first opportunity spoke to Pak Argus the friendly Indonesian contractor who is currently renovating my next door neighbour's house about the leaking roof. Although in his 50s and not feeling particularly well today he climbed up the roof with the aid of a ladder to inspect the roof covering. After the inspection he found the cause of the leaks ; 5 pieces of cracked tiles.

"Call me again if there are further leaks", Pak Argus said cheerfully after replacing the 5 damaged tiles and descending from the roof. I was lucky because he was using the same type of roofing tiles as my house in his renovation work and there are some spare ones lying around unused.

"How much should I pay you". I asked as I wanted to make a payment in gratitude to his service.

"Twenty Ringgit", Pak Argus flashed me his toothy smile before returning to his work.

Good customer service is a gem

Good customer service is a gem and hard to find nowadays.

The shop assistant called up to explain the delay in the delivery of the kitchen table cabinet, which was due last week. When we ordered the kitchen table cabinet the shop promised to make and deliver the item within two weeks. When the two weeks were up she called to ask us to collect the item from her shop, which had been delivered from the factory.

Then the next day after her call we received another call from Nur, her colleague apologising for not able to deliver the cabinet because the quality of the item delivered from the factory to the shop was unsatisfactory. Rejecting the item she asked the factory to make a replacement cabinet. She assured us that the replacement cabinet would arrive at her shop in a week's time and that she would notify us immediately upon its arrival at the shop.

One week passed with no calls from Nur. My agitated wife was already thinking of asking the shop for a refund of the RM50.00 deposit that was paid to the shop. Heading off a potential impending storm I was counseling her for a little bit of patience. Then when we were wondering whether to ask the shop for an explanation, the first shop assistant called. Apologising for the delay she told us the factory needed another week to complete manufacturing the new replacement cabinet.

Gratified that instead of keeping us waiting in the dark she called to explain the delay we then agreed to give the factory more time to complete making the replacement cabinet.

Good customer service means keeping the customer informed of any problem arising.

Buying frenzy

At 10.30am in the morning as I was approaching the Aeon shopping mall in Cheras Selatan I was surprised to see that the open car park of the shopping mall was full.

Today is Thursday, a working day and I would expect that most people should be working in their offices and factories. Where did so many customers come from? I could only conclude that many working people took their day off from work to come here for the Aeon members day sale.

As I drove past the toll gate into the compound, I saw a "car park full" sign and an attendance waved me in the direction of the 2nd floor indoor car park. With the open car park full I would expect that the indoor car park would also be full. In fact I remember mumbling to my wife that we were going to park our car on the open roof top car park.

However I was wrong. As I entered the building I noticed that the indoor car park was only 1/4 full. On a normal day motorists would only park their cars in the open yard when the indoor car park is full. This strange anomaly means that shoppers had already invaded the mall even before Aeon had opened its indoor car park to the public.

Once inside the Aeon store another surprise was in store for me and my wife. I saw big crowds of shoppers many with supermarket push carts snapping up merchandise at the various stations and also long lines of shoppers queuing at the cashier counters to make payment for their purchases.

I thought supermarket push carts are for customers to transport their purchases of groceries and not general merchandise. The fact that the supermarket and the trolleys are located at the opposite end of the mall did not deter shoppers from pushing the carts for the long walk from the supermarket to the department store.

Aeon members day sale is truly a phenomenal event even though it is usually held on a week day. So attractive are the discounts offered that many working people take one day off from their annual leave to attend the sale. Who could resist discounts of up to 70% of the regular price of the merchandise on this day. To entice shippers to spend Aeon even rewarded customers with cash vouchers worth RM10 for every RM100 of general merchandise purchase and RM5 vouchers for every RM100 worth of groceries purchase?

Eying the pile of ladies underwear my wife quickly snapped up 3 pieces priced less than RM12 each. Those were the last pieces of her size left in the pile of apparel. The normal retail price for these items are RM39.00. At RM12 the store is offering a hefty discount of 70% off its regular price. Few people would pass this chance to acquire quality apparel at such a discounted price.

Joining other shoppers we also grabbed a trolley from the supermarket and filled it to the brim with our purchases of clothing, bedsheets, groceries and other daily necessities. As I pushed the trolley along the crowded aisle towards the department store where my wife was shopping I passed by a few people pushing not one cart each but three carts piled end to end in a row like a train of carts.

A pleasant encounter with the bridegroom's father.

Kuan Yoow and Septa's Wedding Dinner

The Diamond Ballroom, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

6.30pm. By the time I stepped into the ballroom, there were already about 30 guests there sipping cocktails and engaging in small talks with each other within their circles of friends. As I don't know anyone in particular there, except for the bride I helped myself to a cola drink and some tit bits and then mingled anonymously in the crowd. Surveying the mixed crows of people I noted that most of the male guests there were formally dressed in suits while their female spouses were elegantly dressed in evening gowns.

Nobody seemed to be manning the long reception table and except for a plan of the table arrangement I didn't see any guest lists around. Looking at the table arrangement plan I counted 26 tables, with the VIP table in the centre and next to the stage.

Finally a distinguished looking gentlemen wearing a necktie and a black suit accompanied by a few ladies came over to the empty reception table.

"May I register my attendance?" I asked the gentleman. "Sorry I am still looking for the guest list", he replied sheepishly as if in embarrassment with a broad smile. "It's OK. I will register later", I assured him as I retreated from the table.

Then when the guest list arrived I approached the same gentleman there again because at that time he was the only person standing there at the head of the reception table. After scanning through the guest list he could not find my name. "Septa invited me to the dinner", I said trying to be helpful as he was fumbling awkwardly with the name list. Septa, the bride who invited me to the dinner was a former Aikido student when she was studying in INTi College about 10 years ago. Finally as both of us were going through the names someone handed him a sheet of paper with more names printed on it. My name was registered on that sheet of paper. "You table number is 14", he pronounced with an air of relief and triumph.

It was later when everybody was seated at their tables that I realised that the distinguished looking gentleman who registered me is none other than the bridegroom's father.