The Grass Cutter!

I was upset that I have to spend RM 100 every time I call up Amin to come and fix my garden. He does a good job, but unfortunately my wife and I decided that it is not reasonable to spend that much to cut the grass and do up the garden every month or two. So I wanted to be a multitasking hero!

I bought this Black & Decker grass cutter (UP) and tried it twice. The price is very reasonable, RM 169.00 and I could use it for 2 years without any problem. It's covered under warranty. So guess what, I also wanted to talke credit for the good look of the exterior.

Great, Its not as easy at it seems. I could not even cut about 50 sq/f and I gave up. Seriously gave up. In the hot sun, I was exhausted! The best part is, I think I damaged my cute little grass more. I complained to my wife and guess what, Amin will be back at 3 PM today :)

Buy Smart! - Cars

One must think that buying and selling a car in Malaysia is so easy. While you can assume its an easy job and will be taken care by your agents, you will have to be very careful with your transaction. Obviously buying a second hand vehicle posses a higher risk than buying a new one. For a brand new car, you just have to shop around for the best deals given by the car dealers in town. Pick the right one. Get a few test drive to make yourself real comfortable. Then decide to pay your deposit. Of cause, try to secure a loan before that!

Below are the right steps from my point of view;

1) Find out a lot of information about the car that you have in mind; from the cc, fuel efficiency, spare parts, service and so on

2) Shop around for few good deals from the dealers in town; Some dealers might have different discounts, additional accessories, free maintenance vouchers. So check and do your calculations

3) Get the test drive. Feel the car, ask the SA to take you through the normal road and highways so that you can see & feel the difference. If an agent says that our company does not allow that; then you should probably look for a different dealer (Hey, even for  a shoe, you will try in on and off so that you are comfortable with it right? :))

4) Ask a lot of questions and packages from the SA; At times can give you BETTER discounts but will not reveal unless you persistently ask them

5) After you have chosen your car model and confirm that's the one, discuss with your family and get a 2 cents from your friends; Trust me it helps; You don't want to buy the wrong car and have a huge commitment ahead

6) Pay your deposit; and the SA will make arrangement with the banks for your loan. Ask to try at least 3 different banks for better interest rate

7) Alternatively you can try your own contacts or a bank that you have been serving loan before; if your credit history is good they may offer you better rate than the standard one; sometimes go the extra mile and ask for better rate to the loan officer; if you are lucky you will get it!

8) You will sign up all the necessary documents once your loan is approved; next wait for your new toy to arrive!

Happy Driving!

Home Insurance Anyone?

Home Insurance - This is something that I guess out of a hundred people, 90% do not know or never bother to understand the importance. The basics is when you buy a house, flats, apartments or anything that has a roof, it should come with a home or people used to call fire insurance.

When you buy your house on a loan from a bank, the bank automatically includes a fire insurance policy as long as you are still serving the loan from that bank. This is to avoid any unexpected incident to your home and later you are unable to pay the bank and/or when the bank posses back the house from you, it is still protected. Generally these are the basic policy where fire, thunderstorm, and so on covered. When you have fully settled the loan amount, or buy the house on cash, you have to go and get a fire insurance quickly and make sure it covers all that necessary for your home sweet home.

Basically the fire insurance covers from damages to any wall fittings including your air-condition, wall paint, roof, ceiling and everything else in case if it is damaged during any fire, thunderstorm or any other act of god. You have to call the insurance company, let them know on the issue and they will appoint an adjuster to come in and evaluate your losses. Here is the catch; an adjuster will normally come in and evaluate and will try to persuade you to take his known contractor to fix the damages. Never or be very cautious not to accept the offer and find on your own 2 contractors to evaluate and give you a quote. This is because at times the contractors will have direct dealings with an adjuster and this means they charge higher to the insurance company but will try to simplify the job at your home. Make more profits with necessary cuts here and there.

The whole process of claiming might take about a month or two depending on the speed of the adjusters and the insurance company. Now, you have to play your part to frequently insist to speed up the process as it does help. Make sure you point out everything that you doubt destroyed by the incident. The insurance company has a normal RM 200.00 initial payment that must come from your own pocket. So on whatever the amount that they are offering you, RM 200.00 will be deducted.

Remember, you can always write back to the insurance company and disagree with the amount and ask them to revise subject to approval. Further to that, you can also get assistance from Jabatan Pengawalan Insurance or Financial Mediation Bureau and take your case further.

Get wise! Always have adequate insurance coverage; It will come in handy at unexpected time. From my experience MSIG has been a great Insurance provider. Check out for your options.

RM 52.78 Cabbage

The most expensive cabbage in the world! This cabbage cost RM 52.78 and I found this amazing cabbage in the Jusco Equine Park. First, I really thought that it could cost that much, and I was wondering who would buy a vegetable for that price?! Obviously it's a printing mistake. At least I hope so!

Some Good Pics

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Beyond China

China. I was amazed and excited to be in a country where I realize that nobody (at least nobody during my visit) seen loitering, doing nothing or simply sitting in a tea shop. I wonder what makes this huge nation to revive itself so fast and become a mega-power which even countries like America and Britain is keeping a close watch. From my point of view, China is well developed, fast and the system is very effective. For a Chinese, I am not exactly sure, how would they feel. But for me, I solute the progress.

I was walking around the Palace in the centre of Beijing City. Something that I must admit is that, it was so clean and well taken care. Beautiful. Then I got to know the secret, there are special cleaners placed on each street to take care of the cleanliness. They will be moving up and down on their bicycle and pick up every single paper, plastic and whatever they see as debris, and collect them in a small dustbin. With such a huge population, it takes great effort to keep the nation clean and tidy. China somehow excels.

I must say about the Chinese trains. I enjoyed my ride from Shanghai to Beijing by a super fast train. It was neat, clean, systematic and a very comfortable ride. Sometimes you still see some people who don't really cares about how the others feel. But, hey it's everywhere. So I can't judge China just on that one thing. The train staffs were very help full. Stayed in Jinjiang Star - Beijing. Excellent hotel with excellent service. There are also some crooks here and there who would try their level best to persuade you to buy, stay at their hotel or do something like that. My advice, just ignore and enjoy your stay. But one thing that I must say is, China need improvement (lots of it) building their people with english. Anyway, you will still survive if you have a Lonely Planet, China Edition.

Build Your Own Pergola

Very easy, I would say. First you need to get used to wood works and the smell of fresh woods. If possible please get a Electric Jig Saw, will cost from RM 250 to RM 350. Depends on the brand and the size of it. I got mine at RM 250 - Makita with adjustable speed.


The type of wood used for pergola(s) are - Cengal (The best), Balau (Good), Resak (Good/OK) - other types could not be used for outdoors. Plan out the size of the Pergola, and draw a simple plan to make sure the amount of wood you will need. I did buy the Balau, as cengal was too expensive, and they sugested that balau is better then Resak or the same grade.


Buying wood products - Please survey for good price around your place at Hardwares! But better still if you are nearby a sawmill or a timber wholesale mart. I went to the Sungai Buloh area, found Balau at a cheaper price. They will charge you per ft. Means if you like to get a 4 x 4 Balau of 8/ft, in hardwares (most Hardwares) it will cost you RM 13.50 per ft. I got mine at RM 10 ft at SB. So do your homework. Build it today!