Ying and Niq’s Niche

We celebrated Dad’s birthday on 29-Oct-08 at Sea Palace Restaurant, Pekaka Square. Sea Palace is our favorite gathering place as it is located in between Bukit Jambul and Island Glades, a good compromise. The food’s good, not crowded, good service and lots of room for the kids to run about when they feel bored. We bought Dad a shirt and had him wear a t-shirt to the restaurant to add some suspense. I guess the photo tells it all - he liked it!

 
 
Happy Birthday, Dad/Grandpa,

Dad cutting the birthday cake with a few helping hands

Lots of love from,
Ying, Niq and Gabriel.

No, this post isn’t about Rambo: First Blood. It’s about me donating blood for the first time on 21-Oct-08. Penang General Hospital Blood Bank organized a Blood Donation Campaign at my workplace. I was first tested for blood group and hemoglobin. Then I went through an interview on to make sure I was in the safe group. I later lay on a bed, filling a bag with my blood. All went well. The nurse advised to use the arm which was most used as the blood vessels are more pronounced and thus easier to prick and also gives a faster flow. It was practically painless. In fact the most painful part was the prick on the finger for the blood screening. The phrase “First Blood” is used to mean the winning situation in a duel. Well, of course I didn’t lose the fight to Count Dracula. It was more of victory of my conscience over the ill-effects other people say about donating blood. So I shall conclude my post with a sentence made with the phrase “First Blood”: I have contemplated donating blood for a long time out of fear, but today my conscience drew first blood.

NZD is at all time low against USD and hence MYR. Today’s rate is RM2.145 to NZD1.00. Check out Google Finance.

Definitely an opportune time to do Foreign Currency Fixed Deposit (FCFD) in Malaysia. Minimum deposit RM10000. Monthly interest rate 7.3%pa.

I’ve done some computation for RM10000 based on today’s selling rate RM2.145 to NZD1.00. If you withdraw back to RM, it will be based on the buying rate at time of withdrawal. On the pessimistic side, you break even at RM2.07 to NZD1.00 after 12months. Being optimistic, you can make up to 25%pa if selling rate after 12months is RM2.50 to NZD1.00.

Assumption: FCFD Interest Rate remain the same.

Terms and conditions apply…

Foreign Currency Fixed Deposit Computation: Based on RM10,000 principal at RM2.145 to NZD1.00

Petronas Twin Towers viewed from base near the Dewan Filharmonic Petronas entrance

We went to KLCC on 2-Oct-08 by Komuter and LRT. It was really crowded in the trains. It was the Hari Raya holidays. KL folks have made their yearly exodus. Traffic on normally busy roads were light and flowing. It was the opposite on public transport - buses and trains were full of foreigners.  Foreign workers had only 2 days holiday for the whole year. They took the opportunity to unite with family members or meet up with friends. One of the rendezvous points was KLCC. I felt like I was in a foreign land. We brought Gabriel to see the musical fountain, and the “arching” fountains where Gabriel had fun running underneath the water arches. Disappointed that the skybridge was closed. Gabriel saw the Petronas Twin Towers (or better known as the twin corn cobs) up close for the first time.

Gabriel crouching under the arching fountains

Fountain the Victor; Gabriel the Vanquished

Gabriel had his very first journey by air on 1-Oct-08. It was also our first time on Firefly. It was Hari Raya and we planned a holiday in Kuala Lumpur. We stayed at FohChin’s condominium at Subang Jaya. Hence flying Firefly to Subang was only practical - the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport was just about 20min drive to FohChin’s place. Gabriel enjoyed the flight, what more with muffin and orange juice! Firefly introduced the refreshments on 1-Oct-08 and we were in the right place at the right time! We flew a Fokker-50 to Subang and for the return flight on 4-Oct we sat in the ATR 72-500 of which I bought a model for Gabriel. Just over 1-month-old, the ATR 72-500 had more leg room and bigger leather seats. Bringing in the French-made ATR is Firefly’s effort to improve efficiency and cost by using 40% less fuel and seating 22 more passengers than Fokker-50.

Model of Firefly ATR 72-500