Fish Hotel

My colleague who would be traveling to overseas decided to leave 5 of his beloved goldfish with me when he would be away. Knowing that the poor fish might suffer in the absence of their owner, the way I lost some of my fishes when I was in overseas, I agreed to house his goldfish in my empty tank that I called the "fish hotel". Perhaps, it's a good idea for me to start a fish hotel business one day :)

I had to ask for my colleague to bring along his filter because I didn't have any spare filter and my air pump was already damaged. I also asked him to bring along the favourite fish food because I wanted the goldfish to be comfortable with the food they're used to. I had also tried my best to set up the same water parameter as my colleague's tank to reduce the stress of the goldfish in a new environment.

Although I am not a fan of goldfish, I hope my experience with my father's goldfish and my in-law's goldfish will come in handy. Let's hope all the 5 goldfish will remain alive under my care till the owner is back at the end of February 2009.

I left the bags of goldfish floating in the tank when I enjoyed my shower:



The goldfish were released into the tank after I finished my shower:

Old Cemetery Visit In Penang

My friends and I were talking about visiting an old cemetery in Stafford, England (near Stafford Castle) one crazy winter night but we decided against the idea due to potential danger. However, the idea was stuck to my brain till today. When I told my sister about it, we decided to visit an old cemetery of the early British settlers in Penang during Chinese New Year. I had always been curious about the tomb of Francis Light - the British founder of Penang. I didn't even know his tomb was in Penang till our visit to the cemetery.

The look of the Protestant Cemetery which was located near the Jetty looked eerie from the outside. Upon entering the cemetery, we were surprised to see a sleeping caretaker. We were the only visitors and eventually we were joined by a tourist. Three of us walked almost blindly around the cemetery. With a map near the entrance, I kept looking out for the tomb of Francis Light which was located almost in the centre of the cemetery. It was not that difficult for me to find it because I found it by chance when I happened to stand right in front of it. Maybe something invisible was guiding me, knowing that I was keen to pay the late Francis Light a visit.

Honestly, the condition of the cemetery is very poor for a historical site. Perhaps Malaysians are generally not interested in any cemetery. I personally feel ashamed that the government did not do enough to maintain the historical site. It could definitely be a very educational site to learn about the early settlers in Penang. From the various tombs, we can learn about the hardship of the early settlers. Majority of the people in the 19th century did not live beyond 50 years old. Many perish due to disease such as Malaria. Francis Light passed away due to Malaria and he was only in his 40s. There's even a tomb with children ages just a few days old from the same family. Life was very fragile those days.

My advice to those adventurous enough to visit cemetery is:

1. Wear proper shoes. No sandals.
2. Long Pants is encouraged.
3. Beware of snakes
4. Beware of insect bites

I didn't see anything paranormal on that day. Neither my camera nor my eyes captured anything suspicious unless you can help me to spot from the photos....do let me know...

Pre-Chinese New Year Tanks Cleaned Up

I got frustrated with moss finally after going crazy about various types of moss in the last few years. I have tried Java Moss, Christmas Moss, Taiwan Moss, Spiky Moss and Weeping Moss. The problem with moss is not keeping it alive but keeping it well maintained. Meaning keeping it clean (debris free) and algae free. Trust me, moss is a algae magnet. You can keep it nice and clean for months but the moment you're away from home, the moss will be screwed up. Hair algae is likely to grow along with the moss and by the time you return home, you can say farewell to the moss because getting rid of the hair algae is almost impossible without killing the moss. If you use Seachem Excel, you're likely to kill the moss along with it. The same applies for bleach. Yeah, I'm not kidding that I have dipped my moss into some bleach mixed with water. Even bleaching the moss does not get rid of the hair algae. The annoying algae will return in a matter of time.

I threw away a tank full of moss. I had also dumped another tank full of moss into a breeding tank that I didn't care if they live or die. The tanks were in a big mess and had to be rescaped and a cleaned up after getting rid of the moss.

Here are some photos taken after getting of the moss in two of my tanks:





This is the 50 gallon tank that I didn't mess around but it has some "accidental" unknown moss growing inside. I guarantee that I will get rid of the moss if I happened to see any hair algae.

Credit Card Problem At Petrol Station - What's Going On?

This morning I tried to use my wife's credit card to pump petrol because she wanted to collect some points. I tried slotting in the credit card to the card reader a few times but it kept displaying a message indicating the chip could not be read or timeout error message. I proceeded to another card reader thinking that the initial one was faulty. Again I got the same error message. I thought the credit card was faulty. Upon reaching the office, I called my wife complaining that she gave me a faulty credit card. She told me she was facing the same problem yesterday using another of her credit card to pump petrol in outstation.

Anybody knows what's going on? The whole nation's petrol stations' credit card system is down? Petrol stations do not accept credit cards again? I could not find any news on the news media or even google.

Perhaps, I am the first one to complain online. Am I??

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As of 21 Jan 2009 morning, I managed to pump petrol at the same BHP petrol station using the same credit card without any issue. It's not a faulty credit card and it's not a faulty machine but I guess the system was down yesterday morning.

Air Asia's GoInsure Issue

I booked Air Asia's flight for my in-law's maid last month and for myself this month. I felt cheated being forced to check the GoInsure check box after entering all the credit card information. Without checking the GoInsure check box, there's no way to book the ticket. It also stated that customers can choose to unselect the GoInsure later but I could not find any way to unselect GoInsure after booking. Fuck!! My booking had been confirmed by then!!! So, both of the times, I ended up purchasing the insurance that I didn't need. I wrote to Air Asia to complain but I received no response from them. I wrote to the CEO and he denied that the company was trying to cheat.

Since it's not the intention for the company to cheat, I would like to think that the website is designed very unprofessionally causing confusion to the customers. I dare to bet that a lot of customers would end up purchasing the insurance unnecessarily. For an IT literate person like myself being fooled to purchase GoInsure, I have no doubt that countless number of their customers will be victimised.

Yes, I have toned down what I wrote initially after thinking of myself being in the shoes of the CEO. I pity him that he has to deal with customer care matter when his employees did not do the job. It's kind of him to respond to my complaint. At least he has shown me that he is a responsible CEO. He should be a good example of his employees that did not do the job well. Let's wait and see whether he would do something about it just to be fair. I hope it's not another NATO (no action talk only).

Readers, if you know the way to avoid purchasing GoInsure, please post it here. If you can capture some screens and send to me, it would be even better. I would like to share it with everyone.

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Thanks to a fellow blogger, Jacky, for sharing some tips on how to overcome the GoInsure issue. Check out the steps as follows:

"You have to read carefully on how to "unselect" it. On the page where you enter your credit card information, the right side of the page shows booking summary. Click "CANCEL" which is beside the word GoInsure, and when the reminder box comes out, remember to click "CANCEL" again instead of "OK". Anyway, the best thing is to check the total fees added up in the sum paid before completing your payment."

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If I happened to book another ticket in the future, I will make sure I capture every single screen and post it here.

New Year Gift From Syabas? No, Thanks!

It is reported in the media that water tariff for condominiums and apartments in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will be increased by 30% again in March, 2009. What a great New Year gift from Syabas!

I think the government's decision to privatise water and electricity is completely a wrong decision. The burden goes to the people especially the poor ones. If you see the sentence above carefully that I have highighted in bold, you'll know what I mean. I think both the minister who approves the increase of water tariff and Syabas should be thoroughly investigated. I suspect something fishy. Syabas may not be the right organisation that could manage their expenses if they claim about losing money - this is just a lame excuse by all privatised companies backed by the government to pass the burden to the general public. I am sure if the minister cares about the people he/she would not burden the people further when the economy is in a bad shape. I personally think that the minister that approves such a move is very inconsiderate to the general public and he/she does not qualify to be a minister. Instead of protecting the people, he/she is protecting a private organisation. I sense corruption and irresponsibility!

It's absolutely unfair to target at apartments and condominiums only for water tariff increase. The poor families will be hit badly. In the cities, only the poor and middle class live in apartments. Why does Syabas has to increase the burden to these working class people but the rich ones living in bungalows are spared?? Currently, the water tariff of apartments and condominiums is already higher than houses. Is that what you call fairness?? Please use your brain and justify it, Syabas!!

To the federal government, please study the roots of Communism carefully. Communism often arises in a country due to corruption, greed of a leader and unfair treatment to the poor and working class. If the country is not well managed, the threat of Communism may return. Do you want this country to return to the days when Chin Peng threatened the country? Please do not let the common people suffer because of your poor management on country's resources.

LET'S SAY NO TO WATER TARIFF INCREASE!!