Weekend getaway to ........

Just let the pictures do the talking :)



Juicy oranges and watermelon. yumyum..



naughty monkeys abundant




claypot tiger prawn in special sauce




fish spa RM10 for 20 minutes. Didn't feel much difference on my feet after that though haha..



cosy dining





tasteful deco at restaurant

Think of an island. Getaway from the hecticness of daily life. Need the break from Hell :P

Soft sand on my feet, with the sea waves caressing..

Cheap liquors everywhere...i love these bottles' design!

Cosy dining at Putumayo, outstanding restaurant of year 2010/2011 ..

Another fine dining place named "seafood and steakhouse". A must-visit place for the food and romantic atmosphere when ur here!

The best Mojito in the island! Or so the waiter claims...lol. Opted for alcoholic beverage since liquor is cheaper than mineral water over here ;)

Comfy ambient. Attentive service. Yummilicious food. Whats not to like? I could sit for hours here.

Poor me was totally burnt, notice the obvious V neck line. LOL.

On the left is Tuna sandwich set from the only Mexican cafe around the beach. Big set for just RM6+. truly value for money, compare to cafes elsewhere along the road.

Should be obvious now where is this place, isn't it? haha..

Fatty monkey who snatch food from island's unsuspecting visitors. 

What ur looking at? Don't be jealous of my big balls! :P

To 愛 or not 愛

B=Brain
H=Heart

H: I want 愛 phone. The white colour looks so pure. Just like me!

B: 愛 for what? Your phone is still functioning properly. Why waste money and pollute the mother earth?

H: The old phone is not use friendly. Not sensitive at all to my touch. And it always hang. I hate it!

B: 愛 phone is damn expensive. One year of ownership cost RM 3k+!

H: Its expensive for a reason. There are so many useful apps. Like whatsapp lets u sms others for free. Can even call up people middle of the night to pee, for free! And Viber let u call for free! Facetime...medical apps...photo apps...g apps...its amazing! Android doesnt even come close!

B: U stil gotta pay RM 100 a month for the line. How much u spend on phone a month normally? RM 30? RM 40? Why u wanna pay extra so much for something u not going to use?

H: Its THE gadget to get nowadays! Besides, there must be a solid reason why everyone around u is pestering to get 愛phone right?

B: 愛 phone 5 is just around the corner. No point buying the 4 now. It will be obsolete very soon. Forget it.

H: Rumor says september but this is Bolehland! Bolehland is never given priority in Apple roadmap! It may take a whole year to reach this part of the world! Better just buy it now.

B: Cheh! Ur always at home wut...home and office already have WIFI for u to online 24 hours. I don't see the urgent need to get connected whenever u are out. Cos ur seldom out there. And give me a break! U don't even call people!! 愛 for what?

H: ......

The story of Threadfin 馬友魚的故事

While having dinner at a chinese restaurant last night with family, mum ordered threadfin a.k.a 馬友魚 as one of the dishes. The place was jam packed with families since it was weekend night. Even more scarier was that most of the tables was sit by at least 10 persons, kids included. Such big family feast....something I never get used to. I describe it as simply "messy affair". You know... the family members talking out their lungs about family politics, national issues debate, work related problems, while the children running around playing hide and seek and merry go-around.


I have to admit that I had never given second thought about what i put in my mouth most of the time, except for the calories intake, i guess. Example, try asking me to different this fish and that fish, this vegetable and that vegetable....i would most probably tell you they look almost the same, save for the more obvious ones :P

Threadfins are silvery grey perciform marine fish of the family Polynemidae in order Perciformes. Found in tropical to subtropical waters throughout the world, the threadfin family contains nine genera and 33 species. Threadfin has been used as a co-ingredient in creating Crab sticks. Treadfin are prized in restaurants because they are perfect for steaming, poaching and frying and are delicious when prepared Hawaiian, Oriental or European styles. 


Apparently they are quite expensive too. The dish alone cost rm20 with the fish portion probably enough for 3 persons with average appetite. Really remind me of the chinese saying "吃米不知米貴“, literally means you don't know the price of the food you are ingesting. Well, to me it still tastes almost the same, hahaha....

Which bring to the question of ... Do u contribute part of your income for your family expenses? Things been getting more pricey year after year, hence family expenses would consequently be higher as well, just that your parents may choose to keep mum about it. Things will only get worse after GST implementation.


And by the way, have you paid your income tax? Just to remind that deadline is on 30 April for salaried workers. I just submitted mine. Too bad even after deducting everything I could, I still gotta pay to the gomen, bearing in mind that income tax in this country is much higher than even Singapore or Hong Kong. We are talking about difference of 23% vs 8%. So please dont overpay your taxes, and at the same time keep away from tax evasion, since the repercussion can be serious. One of my new goals would be : Zero tax post deduction for next year's assessment! :P

Hauled to court

Just got a call from the jungle's court magistrate where i used to work last time to attend a court proceeding, so called "subpoena" . Was told that it is regarding an assault case which happened while i was working there. I guess probably to testify in the court or something. I had never ever step inside a court all my life so far. The jungle is in faraway land somemore...feel so lazy to go. I fear the attorneys might try to grill my balls or something lor..haiz. Or am I thinking too much? You know, seeing how the MACC lawyer performed in the famous Teoh Beng Hock case....What if the lawyer accuse me of lying and postulate the possibility of "the victim strangulated himself"?

May I choose to not attend? -..-

Ah Soh's story-finale

Another sickly day. While I was coughing and balut-ing wantan in the room, suddenly someone open the door. Pung! There she is, appearing out of nowhere ali-baba style. It was just her and me, face to face. I immediately call in the next client, in case she try anything funny.

A middle-aged uncle came in. But she is still not budging. Damn..this technique doesnt seem to work anymore.

GET OUT!!!! I yelled. Poor uncle was shocked by my sudden scream. My bad. Didn't mean to induce heart attack on him..

”用不用這麼兇啊？” I heard her mumbling on her way out.

After 解決the uncle, its time to 解決 her once and for all! I gave a tinkle to the corporal officer. Efficient enough, the kancil police car came within few minutes. I greeted the corporal.

"Is that her?"

"Yup. The one in flowery dress sitting on the front row."

A policewoman approach her.

"Saya lapar..boleh belanja saya makan ah?" the psycho lady asked.

"Ya tentu boleh. Mari ikut saya, kita pergi makan!" the uniformed lady replied.

And so she was escorted out the lobby under the watchful eyes of a full audience. Even I felt paiseh cos the crowd was looking at me when I was talking to the corporal. I swear i even saw a few ladies laughed while trying to cover their mouth, though it was a pathetic effort since their mouth were just too big.

Apparently she tried to flee after stepped out of the entrance. But luckily the uniform team was able to capture her. Such drama. Such cunning psycho lady.

At noon i got a call from hospital bahagia. YES! She is finally safe and sound at her new playground...Adieu! May our path never crosses again in the future!

THE END

Psycho and Fearless

Been sickly all day, but nothing beats the end of this historic day. There "she" is, sneaking into my room when the frontliner staffs were away. Sat across me, she point to her earthy-coloured feet impregnated with skin lesion. I kindly asked her to wait outside for her turn. Luckily the counter people was competent enough to refer her to the other room.

She came out of the consultation room. Still seated at the lobby. By this time everyone also know what she is up to. 4pm....5pm.....Her inertia was too great. Even if Hurricane Katrina were to blow away the whole workplace, her feets would still be firmly planted on the lobby floor. Like a snake preying on an earth rat, her eyes were staring intently for any signs of ME.

As my colleagues came to my room and left the door jar opened, talking about her, I heard something.

"Ah Soh, sudah pukul 5, office mau tutup. T sudah balik. U balik lah!"

"Ooi....Lu panggil saya Ah Soh? Saya masih sangat muda lagi leh! T masih di dalam lagi. Saya nampak dia di dalam!"

Colleagues were gathered around in my room, discussing whether to call the police. I hesitated for a while. But there really doesn't seem to have other viable alternative. She just wouldn't listen, even after just being warned not to stalk barely an hour ago.

Then she walked out of the lobby. Too bad its not only towards the entrance, but all the way towards my car under the shady tree! There she is again. Merry go around my car like fly lingering around a caramel custard!

Our patience were wearing thin. We have no choice but make the call. Shortly after, a kancil police car came in through the gate. As if sensing danger, she slowly retreat to the exit. As my colleague and I went out to explain the dire situation we were in, she spotted me! She came back!! Even while we were talking to the policeman! She is just getting out of control, or just FEARLESS!

Somehow the policemen were hesitant to send her way on the spot, instead ask us to call them again tomorrow if she continue to act the same, and that they will send her away to the rightful place she belongs. Well fine...who are we to argue with the mighty Kancil? the police car then escort her to the exit and out...i think all of us were breaking cold sweat at that moment.

To be continued...

After posting the stories in my fb, it seems i had found some ardent followers as well. Perhaps I could be a freelance writer if I ever change my career path one day. Well, who knows... :)

No signing on my ass-crack though :P

Bad romance 爛桃花

The highlight of this year's CNY for me is none other than being harassed by a psycho lady at workplace on almost daily basis. In fact from my post on FB about she and her antics, I think i can almost write a script already!

(below are excerpts from FB post)

Jan 24


middle-aged psy lady who is sexily clad ask me to treat her lunch...of which i reply im fasting. Then shortly after ram into my room again asking for dinner treat...in and out my room multiple times...OMG!!! I wonder what is going thru her mind and I definitely dun need this type of 爛桃花 for CNY!!!




Jan 25


psy woman comes back again with a vengeance! Throw me a bag of chinese herbs for bou leong char??? Despite i refusing by saying i dun drink herbal drinks and even if i do, my wife will prepare for me, she still insist to pass the package to me!

Today wearing a thin cooling shirt with white lace and BRA-less!! Still waiting outside at lunch hour!! CIS!!!


(The wife part is a lie to drive her off...obviously it didnt work from what happened after that)




Jan 26


she's here again...62yo psy lady..."accidentally" threw away one of her document, asking to get another copy...dressed like a secretary today. Just when i thought she would behave herself abit, suddenly she says:

"I just bought your car plate number!"

"Thats not my car"

"It doesn't matter" (smiling sheepishly)

*pengsan!!*




Feb 1

"can u treat me ice-cream today?"

"sorry mam...im working" *sweat*

psy auntie gone out a while but the relief was short lived. She came back shortly, asking the same question again. Of which i try to dodge by immediately calling the next client in. Pheww!

*double sweat*

Cant help but notice her cyan green blouse and flowery pink skirt. I believe the 'putik putik papaya' which are so obvious on her cyan shirt would be eye candies for the uncles outside. But pluueasee don't pollute my eyes right before CNY lar...i need to cuci mata with daun limau oledi!!

*triple sweat*

Feb 16

Really gotta be impressed by the psy auntie tactics. Today barged into my room asking me to read a letter. Apparently her house tax or something. "ngo kuai chi meh..ask your neighbour lah!" Luckily not love letter! Then hand in a 100 USD note asking for change! "halo auntie ngo hou kong geh..mou chin geh..! Please go to the bank to exchange your money"

Too bad she seem unable to understand plain cantonese and keep asking to change for her! And the best part is she do all these while leaving the shirt buttons on her breast valley open! Damn gerli!! Sei bin tai poh!! Hooi sei Lah!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She is really becoming a nuisance nowadays, and always seems to target me! Cis!! But the bad thing is she is still considered harmless for us to have solid reason to send her off to Hospital Bahagia! Really dunno what to do with her already...haih!

Prosperity 2011

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Gong Xi Fatt Cai! How has your CNY celebration been? The impulsive gobbling of fatty food? The incessant grilling on topic of relationship by your lovely relatives? Abundance of cash-rich ang-pao? Reunion and gathering among friends and relatives?

I started the new year with bouts of persistent cough, flu and sorethroat, still not fully recovered even now. Yet here i am, munching on bak-kua 3am in the morning, jostled up from sleep by feeling of hunger! Hopeless, i know. As if the starting of the year with sickness isn't bad enough, i was harassed at workplace the week right before my CNY leave, just call it Bad-Romance 爛桃花! The story of Bad Romance is already onto its chapter 4 in my facebook! I hope there would not be any more continuation of this mess!

This year's CNY been a little different from the lasts, for me. First of all, my household usher in the new year with the arrival of new pets! They are a few fishes, tortoises and a nasty little puppy who always like to pee on the floor of my room. Ish! Ironically no rabbits. Then, this year so far there has not been any dreaded relative visits, so far! Ahh...no more answering the same questions year after year after year! Such a relief! 

Today I actually attended a ex-classmates reunion. The special thing about it is that, its a Standard 6 ex-classmate gatherings and I being so low profile, havent been to any such gathering for the longest time i could remember. Some of the familiar faces I actually havent seen them in like .... 16 years? Yet everybody seem to have stay pretty much the same, except one or two who gained some weight :P

Prior to the event i was quite hesitant to go since already lost touch with them for aeons but in the end i guess it was not as bad as i thought. 

Hopefully I could get a sound sleep now after the fatty midnight meal. Its the 4th day of CNY today, but how come I feel like its coming to an end already? The mere thought of going back to work is killing me!

Have a prosperous and bountiful Chinese New Year :)

Memoirs of 2010

I realized the blog has been deserted for quite some time. Combination of being busy with work and weekend getaways and plain laziness...what to do? And not to mention the lack of inspiration from recent bouts of mood swing. But im getting better now, no worry.

Hmm... so fast it has came to the end of year 2010! I remembered I actually had written a memoir of 2009, 1 year prior to today. So I guess its good idea to do a review for this year in similar fashion. Sometimes only when you glance back at your past, do u realize how far you have come, and from here chart the next goal in life, right?

The major milestone this year is non other than having found my very own place. I like the contemporary house design, the location which is near to city center, the excellent accessibility and of course, the affordable price. Granted its not located in the Greater KL at all, where house prices skyrocketing like no tomorrow, well at least I have a roof above my head now :)

In terms of work, I actually migrated twice this year! From the far away land to stud-land to hometown now. I miss the tantalizing fried rice and wanton mee in far away land, miss the springy lou-shu-fan and claypot chicken rice in stud-land! So far I havent found better alternatives here lor...Otherwise job scope has been pretty much redundant and its like sucking my life force little by little everyday. On the other hand I have been in this line for too long that it would take massive willpower and a fat bank account to even consider switching to another career...not to mention wasting all the time, effort and money sacrificed. The more I think about it the more depressed I get, hence the mood swings...

Some people say im money-minded. I don't mind to be labelled as such LOL. Its just that people crave for what they do not have, right? :P  But of course im not the type who would do anything for money either. This year's finance didn't grow much but its ok. Started researching and investing in shares. What about gold rush? Gold prices been steadily climbing up these few years. People are afraid of potential financial apocalypse brought about by fiat money, seeing how the western governments printing money out of thin air, the massive bailouts, the things happening in Greece and Ireland etc. Hence, they park their money in gold. Erm..still learning so didn't participate in it yet. I think gold is not as foolproof as it was claimed to be. Avoided mutual funds like plaque since got burnt in it previously. Also, bought personal insurance lately. In order to keep the premiums low and more coverage, insurance companies are promoting packages where the amount insured is getting abit ridiculous, i think. Imagine you pay thousands every year but when you died, your life is only worth the measly RM 80K? To think that your life is worth less than the midget Toyota Vios...sad isn't it?

How do your friends perceive you? I had someone commented that I am not versatile enough. Before you mind drifts further, I like to reiterate that what he meant was that I am not flexible enough in thinking. Open up your mind and you might see things in different perspective. I am tying myself up in various ways according to him. Well, I guess he has his reason for saying so and I should take it as a constructive criticism. I always teased him in return as in "I know you are definitely 'versatile' enough..." Bad me...LOL. Some say im sarcastic. But I think im not in real life lor. Haha..

Lazy to write more...so how has your 2010 been? I would like to hear your stories too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011! :) 

On giving Face "面子是別人給的"

Today I met the ex-schoolmate cum insurance salesman again. Prior to this, he already sent me a few quotations and given me his probably well-intentioned recommendations. Too bad I have already make up my mind of what I wanted, precisely.

Never mind that he kept sending quotations of additional insurance benefits and riders which I did not request at all, bear in mind that I have informed him clearly of the kind of coverage I want in the first place. But there is something he said that irked me.

I guess he was expecting me to sign on the dotted line today after he presented the product write-up. But I didnt because I needed to check on certain detail on the term and conditions. Appeared flustered, he said I have been delaying for quite some time and the policy is not really that expensive.

I can understand if he is desperate to fulfill his monthly quota or for closing purposes. But certainly this cannot be the kind of customer service expected in the 21st century? Since this concerns cash that you have to fork out on a repetitive basis, surely you cannot be too careful with all those wickedly written terms and conditions? Is it not the right of the client to fully understand the policy before signing up? Are you prepared to be sued by your client later on because you did not explain clearly the policy or you did not bother to clear up whatever doubts your clients have in their mind?

That was what I answered him, but of course in a less sarcastic manner... Like the chinese saying "面子是别人给的，脸是自己丢的" meaning respect or honour towards you is granted by others (sorry I do not know better way of translating this). Something similar happened while I was applying for housing loan whereby the salesgirl was busy hardselling and urging me to sign up without bothering to explain her product details. Im not obligated to even listen to their persuasions, let alone to sign up their offer, do I?

Customers are not always right. On the other hand, it is wrong to enforce your personal biased perspective on your clients. Let them do their own informed decision. At least they won't blame you if things do not go their way.

Ohh..and the expensive or cheap part? Thats my call to decide, im afraid :)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Sunshine where art thou?

Have you ever wake up on a weekend morning but just don't feel like doing anything at all? Not the type that you actually enjoying the morning by lying lazily on your cosy bed, but the type that you painted the world so bleak eventhough the birds are chirping gayly as usual?

The breakfast doesn't taste nice. The family companion seem unexciting. You don't know what to expect. There is nothing encouraging in your mailbox either. The internet seems slower than usual. Everything just don't feel right. And somehow...you have no idea why...

I don't like this feeling...how to get rid of this?

Insurance. Have you done your homework?

Most people my age would have owned at least one or two insurance policies, whether sold by walk-in agents or their relatives/friends working as agents. Not me. Why? Simply because I never knew the value of insurance prior to this. Too young, too early. And I don't have kids, or never will..LOL

Not that I had never encounter near-death situations in my life before. In fact, there were quite a few. Considering this, I gave insurance a deeper thought recently when my ex-classmate tried to persuade me to buy policy from him...oh well..

As with any other big item purchases or redundant payments eg mortgage/insurance, I think its always good to do some homework before jump into the bandwagon. At least you don't get coaxed into unnecessary expenses or simply get conned by unscrupulous people.

So here im just going to share some information I found off the net regarding insurance. As usual, do your own homework and research. Isn't it ironic that we deal with money matters everyday and yet our education system never teach us about money? :D

Life insurance. The general overview.


Types of insurance benefits


Traditional insurance VS Investment-linked


Term or Whole-life?


More on TERM


After checking out the sites, I guess I roughly know what plan is more suitable for me now. Im sure you would too. There is no such thing as the best policy, only the one that suits you most :)

Btw, women can insure their boobs and legs...

What about men then? LOL..

Happy holiday and Selamat Hari Raya Haji to those not working tomorrow! Cheers!

Mid life crisis/Herd mentality

Perhaps no one would even noticed, I have been absent from the blogsphere for almost 3 weeks now. As someone pointed out, I might be experiencing whats called the "mid-life crisis". Passing the quarter-a-century mark, anyone would be thinking im talking crap, too early for all those symptoms of hair loss, poor sleep, increasing life liabilities, declining libidos...


Rest assured I have yet to experience those stages of life. But I guess I am in fact, undergoing the process in a mental perspective. Questions like where to go from here...what am I doing...am I walking on a correct path...Get what I mean? And to tell you the truth, its certainly not easy to ignore the "herd" mentality and go against what most of your peers are doing or directions they are heading. You will feel inferior when they brag about their newly purchased luxurious gated and guarded castles, or that sparking new car, their marriage, newborn etc...its only natural to feel that way, i guess. Unless of course, you know EXACTLY what you are doing is indeed SUITABLE for you and you only, not betting an eyelid to other people's perceived IDEALS.


In the article entitled "Consensus decision making in human crowds" published in the current issue of Animal Behavior Journal, it sheds light on a behavior that is consistent among many species – that is, making decisions based upon the actions of others. 


Scientists at the University of Leeds believe they may have found why humans flock like sheep and birds, subconsciously following a minority of individuals. Researchers discovered that it takes a minority of just five per cent to influence a crowd’s direction – and that the other 95 per cent follow without realizing it.

Professor Krause, with PhD student John Dyer, conducted a series of experiments where groups of people were asked to walk randomly around a large hall. Within the group, a select few received more detailed information about where to walk. Participants were not allowed to communicate with one another but had to stay within arms length of another person.

The findings show that in all cases, the ‘informed individuals’ were followed by others in the crowd, forming a self-organizing, snake-like structure. 

“We’ve all been in situations where we get swept along by the crowd,” says Professor Krause. “But what’s interesting about this research is that our participants ended up making a consensus decision despite the fact that they weren’t allowed to talk or gesture to one another. In most cases the participants didn’t realize they were being led by others.”

Other experiments in the study used groups of different sizes, with different ratios of ‘informed individuals’. The research findings show that as the number of people in a crowd increases, the number of informed individuals decreases. In large crowds of 200 or more, five per cent of the group is enough to influence the direction in which it travels.

In the stock market, many inexperienced investors lose millions or even bankrupt because they buy shares based on hearsay and what other people are buying, without making their own informed judgement. They followed their generous neighbour/colleague/friends recommendations on some supposed "hot stocks" of the moment, not realizing that the "hot" period is in fact already passed. Hence they bought at peak price and have no choice but to brace ahead for the impending avalanche. 


People say, sometimes free advice are in fact the most costly! And so, some practice the contrarian approach in shares, of course with much research done on their intended investment prior. SO how does this apply onto our own life? 


Are we the 5% who influences the crowd's direction? OR are we the remaining 95% who follow the trend without even realizing it? The decisions we make everyday...from the kind of food we are consuming (think fast food)...to our spending behaviour (buying on credit card for that extra "classy touch")...to our future career path (to follow blindly what others are pursuing?)...to the latest fad (the luxurious iPhone anyone?)....


Which are you? :)

Sundae sunday

And here I am, siting in a cubical room surrounded by yellow-colored walls, on a beautiful sunday morning. I heard raindrops outside my window panes while sleeping last night. Supposed to be able to sleep soundly, but apparently I didn't.

Gonna lock my ass on the chair for half day today. My first time doing overtime since started working. Well why would anyone wanna sacrifice their beautiful sunday for working, if not for the pennies? I don't really actually. Not that I don't have use for the extra dollars, just that I am far from a hardworking employee. :)

Since I don't have any pending dates or plans at all, might as well earn some extra money for the rainy days. Not that I actually enjoy spending sundays in such manner. So how are you spending your weekend away?

Rather than lying seductively like this guy above, I think I will look more like this later after work!

The mind boggling maths of mortgages

To learn mathematics is one of the core priority at school, and rightly so. You are bound to use your head to calculate whenever you make any purchases. The all-important gift to your love ones, the nasi bungkus for your lunch, the spanking new car parked at the porch, down to mortgages. The more expensive the item is, the more difference of 1% makes out to be!

Recognizing the fact that yours truly is not equipped with any advanced math or financial know-hows, I pore over the net for 2 nights trying to absorb as much as I can regarding mortgage. From MRTA vs MLTA, fixed rate VS floating rate, flexi VS non flexi, prepayment, early settlement penalty and other mortgage jargons to crucial questions to ask when meeting the loan officers. So as to appear less ignorant and dimwitted :P

If you are looking for the ideal housing loan, these are some of the points you might want to consider. Low interest rate is just one end of the whole spectrum. There are numerous articles online but this is sort of a summary I drawn from them.

Interest to be calculated based on daily rest
Most banks nowadays should offer daily rest instead of monthly rest. Daily rest means your total loan amount is deducted everyday, each time you made fresh installment or extra payment. As such you get to save on interest payment.

Allow to pay as much as you like (above minimal installment)
Its good to be able to pay more than the minimal required each month if you have extra cash and dont know where to put. You get to save on total interest paid or shorten your overall tenure. Alternately, you can just deposit into my account too! :P

Some banks offer housing loan paired with a current account. So you get to redraw your extra money anytime you like for your other commitments or emergencies. Also, it helps to offset part of your interest incurred. But some banks will charge RM 10 every month for  the current account. Always ask for the fine details!

Allow to pay as often as you like
Goes without saying the more often you put in money, the faster you settle your loan and save on interest.

No hidden charges or fees
Ask whether any additional charges apply. Need to pay bank loan processing fee or not. Several banks I asked offer redrawal facilities that will charge you RM50 per transaction.

Low interest rate
Obviously.. see latest BLR of Malaysian banks here

Minimal lock-in period
Lock in period means the number of years your loan is being 'lock' to the bank. Most banks offer lock-in period of 3 years currently, but Maybank is 5 years. If you choose to fully settle your loan within the 3 or 5 years, you will be faced with early settlement penalty, ranging from 2-4% of your total loan. Most banks current penalty rate is 3%. Of course the shorter the lock-in period the better.

Also, demand the lock in period commencement on the first draw down date (the first time the bank disburses the payment to the developer for property under-construction.
So beware.

Easy accessibility and online payment
Must be easy to find the bank outlets, preferably with option of online payment. Surely you dont enjoy the hassle of spending time looking for parking, paying your parking ticket, risk getting summons just to pay the bank!

Competent and reliable customer service
First impression counts, at least for me. There is this petite lady from C**B bank who rattles abit on her housing loan interest rate, maximum loan amount/tenure then straight to documents required to apply loan. Either she is too desperate to go for lunch rather than explaining her product to me or she just can't be bothered. Well, i can't be bothered to ask more too, in view of unattractive rates and atrocious customer service :)

Well, thats about all I could gather on the ideal housing loan. Do share more if you have ideas or your experience!

Also, thanks to Koala for pointing out about fixed housing loan vs floating rate. BLR is currently at all time low and thus floating rate offers lower interest compare to fixed for now. Last I checked, its roughly 4.1% floating VS 4.85% Fixed. There is some discussion about the rising BLR which makes fixed loan much more attractive than before and the benefit is you know exactly how much you got to pay each month, rather than relying on BLR-X.

Historical BLR rates 1980 to 2005

So as you can see, there is a risk of you paying mortgage rate in excess of 10% when the BLR hits 12%. Over the last 20 years, there were 2 periods when the BLR peaks. Once during the 80s economic depression where lots of people "jump aeroplane" (going abroad to work due to unemployment) and the 1998 financial crisis. They dont happen very often but im not god so I cant predict how the trend will go from now. Personally I think the BLR will rise but probably not exponentially in the very near future given the uncertainty in our present economic climate. 

So the question is Fixed or Floating? Frankly I don't know. It really depends on what you are planning to do with the house. Also, if you feel the interest rates are going up for most the time of your entire loan tenure, the fixed would be more suitable. My uneducated opinion is that:

If the house is for own stay and plan to settle the loan long term, saying 20-30 years. Go for fixed now to lock the lower interest offered currently.

If the house is for investment, go for floating. Take advantage of the 0% interest 1st year perks etc. Then sell it off shortly for a profit.

If the house is for own stay but you plan to settle loan within 10 years, then it doesn't make much difference between floating or fixed. But i would prefer floating for the sheer flexibility.

Just my humble opinion. What you think? Happy weekend from Bluey!! 

Farming

Freshly plucked jackfruit (nangka) from my garden. Well actually not MY garden essentially since im not the one taking care of it :P 

See the whitish goo spewing out from the 'batang'? Yummy! LOL...

Im not a big fan of jackfruit myself. Do you know that despite the hardy shell it has, it actually becomes soft when its ripe? As in when you press the shell, the shell actually indents inside a little bit. 

You want somemore? Here you go.

See how 'fertile' the jackfruit tree is! Yat dai cao dangling there! (A whole bunch dangling). Its kinda fun. I don't mean fun in things dangling, but its fun to pluck fruits with your bare hands on a fresh weekend morning :)

By the way, see the new header pic with sunlight-backlit leave? Its taken from the a ciku tree, right beside the jackfruit tree. That is how ciku leaves looks like. Sorry for the poor quality picture because I just snap with my phone. A little description on ciku:

The ciku fruits

The ciku tree is evergreen, has a conical crown and can grow up to 30 m in height. Its bark is light-grey and becomes fissured with age. The plant with all its parts has a white latex. Young twigs of the plant are covered in a woolly layer. Its leaves are spirally arranged, dark green and pointed. It has a stalk measuring between one to three cm. Ciku flowers are white, fragrant, solitary and bisexual. They have six free sepals in two whorls on the outside. The petals are joined in a corolla tube with six lobes and six stamens and six staminodes. The ovary is superior and it has a single style. The flowers remain open even at night. The major flowering period for sapodilla in Singapore is in the month of May. Ciku fruits are brown, round or oblong, with a thin skin. The flesh is sweet, soft and reddish-brown. The fruits have very few seeds in them that are hard, black, elongated, flattened and shiny.


Interesting right? :P

Sis Mary has been lamenting about her work again. She is tired of working and living in the big city apparently. Tired of demanding job, tired of horrendous traffic jams, tired of being lonely, tired of losing herself in the midst of it all, I supposed. Her plan is to resign some time next year and get some time off. Does that even constitute a plan? I would advise her to at least find another more suitable job before handling out the letter. Or she could startup some low cost business or something. 

Im kinda fed up with my work too. Perhaps I should join her rank after another year of being cheap labour to the Malaysian gomen. Any low cost business idea, anyone? Gardening??? What would you do? Come shoot me with ideas!