TehTarikKaki on September 16th, 2010

Google – King of web search engines

It is an undeniable fact that Google is the de facto King of web search engines over the years. The latest results could be seen here. Another report by Nielsen also confirms that Google is the dominant market leader with about 70% market share among all the search engines.

However do you maximize your search using Google? I am really surprised that most people do not know there are many tricks that they may use to get more out of a simple Google search. I would like to share my top 5 hidden search tricks.

  1. Google as a calculator

    When you need to use a calculator in a computer, most probably you would open the built-in calculator program. Actually you may just type in your calculation such as this 1688 + 1388 (with or without the = sign)

    You may use the Google guide here for a list of mathematical operators and functions. In this way, it is much faster than activating your calculator program in your computer.

    Google as calculator

  2. Google as a currency converter

    Just type something like this 568 US dollars in RM. Be sure to specify the country or currency symbols.

    Google as currency converter

  3. Google as a dictionary

    Very often people will go to their favourite dictionary website such as dictionary.com  or similar sites to use the online dictionary. A simpler and faster way is to type define:keyword. For example, you want to find the meaning of “bigotry”.Google as dicationary

  4. Google as a world clock

    You can find the current time of any city in the world by typing time city name. This is really handy if you are doing business with other parts of the world or you have to call someone in other countries. You wouldn’t want to call him or her in the middle of the night, right? See screen shot below.Google as world clock

  5. Google as a weather forecast station

    It is really convenient to find out the current weather condition of any city in the world by just type in for example, weather Kota Kinabalu. Not only the current weather conditions are displayed, you would see the next three days forecast as well.Google as weather forecast

Another method is to type in the zip code or post code instead of the city name.Google as weather forecast 2

==================================

My two cents

There are a lot more Google search tips available to web users. The only problem is most people are spending more time than necessary to get a faster and more targeted search. Hope the above 5 hidden search tricks would help you in one way or another. They are really not that hidden anymore once you know them! Cheers.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TehTarikKaki on September 15th, 2010

The blog title should sound very familiar to Malaysians especially the Chinese. Yeah, it would be a near miracle if Chinese wedding dinners are starting on time as stipulated on the wedding invitation card.

Why Chinese wedding dinners always start late in Malaysia?

If you are invited to a Chinese wedding dinner in Malaysia and assuming the dinner time as stated in the wedding invitation card is 7.00 pm, chances are the dinner will actually start at least one to one half hours later, i.e. 8.00 pm or 8.30 pm. Once a dinner got started only about 9.00 pm which was a solid two hours behind scheduled time. My stomach was grinding and grinding and I could even hear the grrr grrr sounds.

Why? Why? Why?

Traditionally and according to customs those who come early or on time are those who are hard up for the food.

Another reason is “the later I come the more important I am” attitude. this boils down to the issue of “face”. “Face” here means your reputation and your VIPness. Those who are in “higher” position in society might think that they should be the ones to come late so that other people can wait for them.

The third reason is normally the invited in-laws (and their families) would enter the dining hall last. They would never be the first ones to come or earlier than the rest. This is another “face” issue.

Lastly it has been in practice by our forefathers for many many years. It has already “sinked in” as a culture and is very very difficult to change.

I was once very early, about 10 minutes before the stipulated time as stated in wedding card. To my embarrassment, there is not a single soul at the entrance! The bride and groom and their parents are not there. Even the restaurant manager is nowhere to be seen.

From my years of experience, I conclude that never come earlier than the stipulated time. If you are late by half an hour or one hour, it is still OK as the dinner will start late anyway.

How to spend the waiting time?

Actually there are a number of ways you could kill time while waiting for the dinner to start (remember you have about one to two hours depending on your arrival time):

  1. Treat this as your happy hours, perhaps chit chatting away with your friends and relatives. With a few glasses of beer, wine, liquor or Chinese tea etc. Drinks are free flow anyway and you have already given your “ang pau”.
  2. Take this opportunity to do your business and social networking to build your network; you would see this happening as ardent networkers would dish out their business cards here and there.
  3. Enjoy the karaoke singing presented by invited (paid) artistes or guests although sometimes some amateur singing might not suit your ears. Some hosts also take the extra mile by engaging live band for the night. So enjoy.
  4. Spend some time looking around to look for the latest fashion in town as this is the place where men and women would usually put up their best and latest costumes “on display”.
  5. Or you may just sit there quietly by yourself dreaming and keep cool! Haha!

Productivity loss

Do you know that how much time is wasted (in waiting time) in a typical Chinese wedding dinner? For example, there are 1000 guests (100 tables) and the dinner starts one and half hour later. Assuming on average the per hour rate of one person is RM20, here is the answer.

1,000 pax x 1.5 hours x RM20 = RM30,000!

OK, let’s say put in a safety factor of 0.5, it becomes RM30,000 x 0.5 = RM15,000.

The productivity loss in terms of money is tremendous when taking into account of the total number of weddings going on per year.

Not all people like to kill their time as per the above five methods but because they have to attend the wedding dinner, they are the ones who will suffer most.

Therefore, punctuality in Chinese wedding dinners in Malaysia is a big time waster as called by some and some even boycott of going to such dinners.

My two cents

Personally I enjoy going to Chinese wedding dinners  because of the food and sometimes I get to see some performances by invited artistes or karaoke singing. This would be better if you sit with your friends and people you know. The not so ideal scenario is when you are seated with total strangers! Unless you are natural networker, you would probably not enjoy the dinner. That’s when you start to “blame” why the dinner start so late.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Habit #5 Seek First To Understand Then To Be Understood – 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teh Tarik Kakis

This is the fifh blog of the seven-part series of “7 habits of highly effec­tive teh tarik kakis”.

[To have a bet­ter under­stand­ing of what is “teh tarik”, “teh tarik kaki” or “teh tarik ses­sion’, please go to the About page. You may also read the previous habits in the following links:

Habit #4 http://tehtarikkaki.com/all/habit-4-think-win-win-win-7-habits-of-highly-effective-teh-tarik-kakis/

Habit #3 http://tehtarikkaki.com/all/7-habits-all/habit-3-first-things-first-7-habits-of-highly-effective-teh-tarik-kakis/

Habit #2 http://tehtarikkaki.com/all/7-habits-all/habit-2-begin-with-the-end-in-mind-7-habits-of-highly-effective-teh-tarik-kakis/

Habit #1 http://tehtarikkaki.com/all/7-habits-all/habit-1-be-pro-active-7-habits-of-highly-effective-teh-tarik-kakis/

Introduction http://tehtarikkaki.com/all/7-habits-all/7-habits-of-hihghly-effective-teh-tarik-people-kakis/]

Com­ing back to the 5th habit of highly effec­tive Ah Bengs, it is “cho lang ai eh beng pek (you must be understanding)”. How­ever for Teh Tarik Kakis, it should be like this:

“Fully Understand The Other Party First”

In any teh tarik session or any kind of relationship, most of the times we take things for granted by NOT listening to the other party first. We hear BUT not listen, we listen BUT not with our heart, not with our ears, not with our eyes and not with our feelings.

Do you notice that in a yum cha session many a times you are the only one who is dominating the whole conversation and you want to be understood by the other party BUT not wanting to understand the other party! This is indeed a selfish move.

7-habits guru Stephen Covey has coined the word “emphatic listening” in which the purpose is to genuinely seek the welfare of the individual to whom you are listening. Easy right?

When your teh tarik kaki speaks, we are usually ‘listening’ at one of four levels:

  • ignoring
  • pretending
  • selective listening
  • attentive listening (paying attention to the words of the conversation)

which are in contrary to emphatic listening.

Therefore it is extremely important to invest the time, money and effort to really understand the other person’s position; and seek to listen with all your ears, eyes, heart, feeling and both sides of your brain. Then people become more open and more interested in what you have to say later.

One on one

In my humble opinion, the best setting for a teh tarik session is one on one rather than involving more than two partners because it is time saving and both parties could be more open in Seek First To Understand and Then To Be Understood. Unless you are doing a brainstorming session to come out with certain solutions to a common problem, a one on one is a better choice.

So teh tarik kakis, “cho lang ai eh beng pek (you must be understanding)” is in Ah Beng’s terms. In teh tarik kaki terms, Fully Understand The Other Party First!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TehTarikKaki on September 11th, 2010

Attending a job interview for new graduates could be a daunting experience simply because it is indeed a skill not taught in college or university. Throughout my many years of experience as an employee as well as an employer, I have seen many simple mistakes made by the interviewees. In my opinion, there are five of them:

Lack of preparation

Imagine a young graduate coming to an interview does not even know what job he is applying for! The proof is in the application form where the candidate could not fill in the job title just because he doesn’t even know what job he is applying.

I soon found out that because of the sheer ease to apply online at the portals of recruitment agencies, a graduate could simply click “Apply” to all alerts sent by the agencies, WITHOUT really looking at the job description.

Very often when a candidate is called for an interview, he just “drops by” the the office without doing any back ground research.

Coming Late or No show

It is frustrating for the interviewer to wait for the candidates to come when they are either late or come “just in time”. For example, the interview is scheduled at 10 am, some will turn up at 10 am sharp or even after that. The worst is sometimes the candidates promise to come but never turn up and even has no courtesy to inform earlier.

The rationale is simple. A candidate who is late for his interview is likely to be late for work when he starts work. The way you do anything is the way you would do everything!

Attire

A lot of times candidates dress inappropriately for the prospective job. For example, I have seen candidates come with slippers and shorts. Some wear sports shoes or shabby jeans when interviewing for an sales job.

In one incident, the candidate wore something as though she was going for a night party when interviewing for a office job.

Talk too much or complain too much

Have you ever met up with candidates who talk non-stop as though they are interviewing the interviewer? The best approach is do not talk unnecessarily on non-relevant subjects or contents.

I have seen candidates start complaining their parents, lecturers, friends or even the Government half way through the interview. OMG!

Ask stupid or silly questions

Before the start of the interview, I have seen candidates asking whether they can answer the interview questions in other languages other than English (knowing very well that the job requires the ability to speak English).

This is something very serious as it is quite certain the candidate will not get the job! How can an employer hire you if do not speak the language specified in the advertisement or job description?

After an interviewer finishes his questions, it is customary to ask the interviewee if he has any questions or concerns. The worst questions to ask your prospective employer are:

  • What is the salary I can get?
  • How many days of annual leave do your company give?
  • When can I get a salary increment?
  • How long can I take for lunch?
  • Can I come a bit late to work?
  • Do I have to work on Saturdays?

The first three questions should ONLY be asked when the interviewer has indicated you are about to be hired OR when he is starting to negotiate your salary package.

The last three questions are really stupid because all companies would have their own policies on working hours and lunch hours and are USUALLY non-negotiable except in flexi-hour environment. When you are hired all these information would be made known to you.

This is your last chance to impress the interviewer with your interesting and thoughtful questions. Some good example questions are:

  • What are the top three qualities an employee needs to be successful in this job?
  • What would I do during a typical work day?
  • Will I be trained in this job?
  • What is my career path for this job?
  • What are challenges your company is likely to face in the near future?
  • How is my job performance evaluated?
  • Whom shall I work with?

My two cents

For a fresh graduate to be successful in a job interview, it is really simple:

  1. Do your background research on your prospective employer. Prepare, prepare, prepare!
  2. Be punctual and be at least half an hour earlier to arrive. Allow time for traffic jam and remember usually you are required to fill up an application form again in hand writing even if you have sent in your resume.
  3. Dress appropriately for the kind of job you are interviewed for. Do not over-dress or simply too casual.
  4. A job interview is a session for the prospective employer to understand you better especially your communication skills and character. It is not a complaining session!
  5. Ask intelligent questions when you are given a chance.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

TehTarikKaki on September 10th, 2010

I went to Penang the other day and wanted to taste its famous Char Kueh Teow, Laksa, Kueh Teow Th’ng, etc. Instead I was feted with a sumptuous dinner of Bak Kut Teh in Butterworth at Jalan Raja Uda. Penang has never been famous for the Bak Kut Teh dish. After the dinner my perception about where you can find the best Bak Kut Teh might have been shaken a little bit.

What is Bak Kut Teh?

Bak Kut Teh (Chinese: 肉骨茶; bah-kut-tê) is a Chinese delicacy popularly served in Malaysia, Singapore, China, Taiwan and cities of neighbouring countries like Batam of Indonesia and Hat Yai of Thailand. The name literally translates as “meat bone tea”, and, at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices for hours.

In Malaysia, Bak Kut Teh is usually eaten with rice and often served with youtiao (strips of fried dough) for dipping into the soup. Soy sauce (usually light soy sauce, but dark soy sauce is also offered sometimes) is preferred as a condiment, with which chopped chilli padi and minced garlic is taken together.

Over the years, various kinds of cooking style have emerged in different geographical areas to suit the local culture and habit of their people.

Coming back to the title of this blog:

Where to find the best Bak Kut Teh in Malaysia?

Origins of Bak Kut Teh

Before we answer the question, let’s trace the origins of Bak Kut Teh. According to Wikipedia, there are two versions:

  1. the first secret recipe was invented by a gentleman from Fujian province in China and later commercialized a his friend in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
  2. Singaporeans believe that it was born around the Clarke Quay area in the 1800’s

There is a third version of the origins of Bak Kut Teh, of which I shall quote from the website here:

“Bak Kut Teh is truly a Malaysian dish, which is originated from Klang Selangor. Singapore is hijacking from Malaysia and claim theirs.

I gonna write its naming origin.

The inventor of Bak Kut Teh is named Lee Boon Teh (李文地), a medical sinsei from Klang at about 70 years ago. In the old time, Chinese traditional traders are called with his/her trade name in front of their second name.  For example, Tan Ah Yong, a pork seller is called Pork Yong.

Lee Boon Teh, a part-time pork rib soup trader was conveniently called Bak Kut (肉骨) Teh and also a pot of Chinese hot tea is served after the dish. Klang folks are mostly Hokkien descendants, Bak Kut Teh (肉骨地) is in same pronunciaton with Bak Kut Tea (肉骨茶).

Therefore Bak Kut Teh is mistaken as Bak Kut Tea even if tea is not an ingredient of the dish.

The third generation of Lee is still running a Bak Kut Teh shop in Klang.”

Klang and Bak Kut Teh

The royal town of Klang in the state of Selangor is best known for its Bak Kut Teh to the extent that you would find one or two coffee shops selling this delicacy at almost every road or street in Klang (where there are Chinese). I am not sure of the number of Bak Kut Teh sellers in Klang and but the number of stalls definitely is over hundreds!

Some Klang residents eat Bak Kut Teh for breakfast, lunch or dinner and some even eat it everyday! Thus you can see how popular the dish is in Klang.

Bak Kut Teh dinner in Butterworth

The Bak Kut Teh dinner I had in  Jalan Raja Uda, Butterworth is actually not too bad. I must say that the taste is very very similar to what you would normally get in Klang. Here are the pictures I took at the restaurant:

IMG_0834

The above photo is the actual dishes we ordered for four persons. Below are photos from their menu.

IMG_0832

IMG_0833

My two cents

The shop I went is actually a modern Bak Kut Teh specialty shop with nice interior decoration and there is a nicely Photoshop-ed full colour menu for you to order. (I think it is a kind of franchise shop.) You may notice the bowls containing the meat soup are special and come with supporting bowls as well. The kettle used to boil the water for tea making is stainless steel and the cooking stove is “smokeless” infra-red type.

If you ask me again where you can find the best Bak Kut Teh in Malaysia, my answer is you have to get it from Klang. There are many varieties and cooking styles sold in Klang. The taste is original and authentic, Klang style and Malaysian way!

Which stall, please? This I would blog it some other time. Stay tuned and follow my blog.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

TehTarikKaki on September 9th, 2010

Tesco give me money! Are you insane? Yes, Tesco gives me RM120.00 in total!

Here is the story. As a regular customer of Tesco hypermarket and club member of its loyalty programme called Clubcard,

image I regularly receive some cash vouchers and coupons ranging from a few cents to a few dollars (RM is Ringgit Malaysia which is the legal tender in Malaysia where USD1.00 = about RM3.20). You will get 1 point for every RM2 you spend in their stores. The cash vouchers look like this:

image

And the coupons look like this:

image

Clubcard Cash Voucher is like cash where its value can deducted from your bill to buy anything from the store. Clubcard Coupons are extra bonus discounts to help you save more on selected products only.

However, recently I received something bigger than usual. I received three  coupons of RM40 each, i.e. a total of RM120! I took a photo as below:

IMG_0825

What is it so special about this coupon?

  • There are 3 coupons of RM40 each with 3 different expiry dates (3 different weeks I think)
  • As long as the bill spent is RM200 and above you get a rebate of RM40, which is equivalent to 20% discount
  • No restriction on the type of goods you buy
  • But only valid in Tesco Setia Alam, Shah Alam

My two cents

Actually we missed the first coupon as the expiry date was already over when we realized the existence of the coupons. One coupon has been utilised and now waiting to use the last coupon.

The saving of RM40 is quite a fair bit and we also chose to buy items which were cheaper in Tesco (when compared with Giant, Carrefour, Parkson, etc.).

I was curious and went checking the website of Tesco Malaysia and there is no mention of such “special” coupons and I conclude it must be some kind of special promotion. Anyway why bother when you can save RM120!

So next time when your Tesco mailer comes, do look out for such coupons if there is any! Hahaha..

When someone gives you money, what will you say? Of course: thank you!

P/S Tomorrow is Hari Raya Aidifitri. Shall pen off by wishing all Muslims a very joyous Hari  Raya. Maaf Batin Zahir.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

TehTarikKaki on August 31st, 2010

I went shopping last Sunday and bought a cutting mat made of PVC where you may use it as a protective board for cutting papers etc. Here is the story.

The shop I bought it from is called Daiso. I was curious the meaning of the name of the shop. I posted an update in Facebook asking my friends what was the meaning of daiso. I got two good answers. [FB #1=Facebook friend number 1, FB #2=Facebook friend number 2]

I asked: Do u know what daiso means?

FB #1 answered: sister in law –eldest…

I answered: Initially I thought it is “big stupid” read in Cantonese

FB #2: u r not wrong. sister in law and big stupid both of them almost sound the same in cantonese.
daiso – eldest sister in law
daisoh – big stupid

The shop cannot mean “eldest sister in law” or “big stupid” I think. So I do some Google-ing and found out that actual meaning of daiso in Japanese is 粗 (だいそ)means course (the opposite of fine, used to describe the size of particles).

In Japan, 100 yen (“hyakkin” in Japanese) shops, or one-coin shops, similar to dollar stores in the United States and pound shops in the U.K., are commonly known as “hyakkin”. Daiso is a major player in the 100 yen shop industry – so much so that its name has become synonymous with “hyakkin”. There are a few Daiso shops in Malaysia with all items selling at RM5.00 (which is more expensive than 100 yen = RM3.67)

Coming to the story of mind your Engrish please!

The cutting mat is a PVC mat which protect your table top from cutting marks when you are cutting some papers or documents, as shown.

IMG_0817 IMG_0816

These are the writings of printed on the wrapping plastic paper:

“When cutting the paper by sword, as the mat which is used and material is P.V.C

Please do not place close heat of fire and direct sunlight hits.

Please do not bend it longtime and put in place heavy or hot things.

Do not use for any other purposes.

Dispose of according to the waste disposal classification by each municipality.”

IMG_0813

Do you see that only one sentence is grammatically correct while others will make you laugh! I was thinking do we cut paper using sword?

Who do you think is the translator or copywriter? It is either the Japanese or the Korean as the product is made in Korea?

IMG_0815

Ready for some good “Engrish” from other parts of the world? You may visit some of the websites below.

http://www.engrish.com/

http://engrishfunny.failblog.org/

http://www.kennysia.com/archives/2009/01/singapore-engri.php

Anyway the Daiso shop is located at Mutiara Damansara inside the Curve shopping complex as shown below. Daiso is NOT “big stupid” but the above example almost make me “vomit blood”!

IMG_0809 IMG_0811

So always mind your Engrish , pliss. Oops, did I say “Mind your English, please!” correctly?

P/S Today is the national day of Malaysia. Happy Merdeka!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

TehTarikKaki on August 28th, 2010

How many times in your driving life you have encountered a punctured or flat tyre? What would you do when this occurs while driving on a highway? There are few common scenarios:-

  1. Call your friends, family members, your favourite motor technician to come help change your tyre (only when they are nearby)
  2. Call your automobile association hotline (AAM in Malaysia), always have the numbers ready in your car or mobile phone
  3. Call a tow truck company to tow it to the nearest car workshop

Whichever method above you use is fine BUT sometimes you really need to change the tyre yourself. We all have gone through a driving class and driving test, and most of us had never been taught how to change a flat tyre!

This blog post is not to teach you how to change a flat tyre in details as you could easily Google it using key words like “how to change a flat tyre”. Nevertheless, I have listed below some websites and video clips for your reference and viewing:-

http://driving-school.com.my/car-maintenance/how-to-change-a-punctured-tyre-for-beginners/

http://www.ehow.com/how_2040478_change-flat-tire-women.html

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/11/06/how-to-change-a-flat-tire/

http://www.bookshelfboyfriend.com/articles.php?article_id=182

http://www.ehow.com/video_1863_change-flat-tire.html

My purpose is to give you some useful tips which can help you to change your flat tyre in 5-10 minutes (which normally takes more than 20-30 mins):

  • Get a better jack (not the ordinary car jack that comes with your car). This you have to buy it before hand and put it in your car boot. This will save you time and energy when trying to jack up your car.

imageThe above photo is an example of a 2-ton jack which you can buy it from hypermarket like Carrefour, Giant or Tesco.

I would not recommend to use the small car jack that comes with your car like this one. This is because it is difficult to operate the jack and you must use a lot energy or strength to turn the jack. It is a daunting task especially for ladies.image I have bought the 2-ton jack after so many occurrences of using the small jack and wasted a lot of time and energy. Look at the picture below. You can jack up the car by just using up-down movement on the lever and because it is hydraulic in nature, you need not use a lot of energy.

IMG_0777

  • Buy a hazard triangle sign like this one which is easily available in supermarkets or car accessories shops. Keep it in your car boot.

image

The sign is particularly important especially when you are parking the flat-tyred car on the road side when there is moving traffic. However, make sure the sign is a stable one with legs and use something to hold it down on the ground as wind and moving gush of air from incoming traffic often can blow it away! Once my triangle sign was blown away during a heavy downpour on a busy highway.

Important Safety Tips

  1. Never change a flat tyre in a heavy traffic road especially on highways or motorways. Many fatal accidents occurred in the past when this safety precaution is NOT observed.
  2. If you are in a highway, the best is to pull over on to the hard shoulder and get all passengers out of the car and safely away from the road. Using your mobile phone to call for the highway operator for assistance or walk to the nearest emergency telephone to call for help. The highway patrols of the highway operator has the responsibility to help you on the spot or help tow your car to the nearest rest area where you may change the tyre safely. This is especially true at night!
  3. Have a spare tyre which is fully inflated. Many a times, there is no spare tyre or the spare tyre has not enough air! A good practise is to inflate the right amount of air into your spare tyre. This is best done when you check your tyres regularly or at least once a week.
  4. Have the right tools: car jack, socket spanner, car manual, etc. Or else you can never change a flat tyre without the right tools.

My two-cents

Many people have never changed a flat tyre before. Some have seen the videos on the how-tos BUT still never experience it. Therefore my recommendation is to do a practice at home on how to operate the car jack, screw and unscrew the nuts, etc. on a simulated real life experience. You would never know when you need these skills. It may not be a life-changing skill, BUT it is definitely a skill that you can learn and use it when it matters most. Practice it you would be able to change a flat tyre in 5-10 minutes with the right tools!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

TehTarikKaki on August 25th, 2010

What You See Is What You Get or simply WYSIWYG, as defined in Wikipedia:

“WYSIWYG implies a user interface that allows the user to view something very similar to the end result while the document is being created. In general WYSIWYG implies the ability to directly manipulate the layout of a document without having to type or remember names of layout commands.”

Yes, it is a computer jargon which usually associated with some software or interface  in which “content displayed during editing appears very similar to the final output, which might be a printed document, web page, slide presentation or even the lighting for a theatrical event.” [quoted from Wikipedia again]

I was told by my friend that most of the times in fast food business, you usually DO NOT get what you see in the advertisement be it in TV or printed media. I have first hand experience today when I ordered the set menu from KFC for lunch. The advertisement looks like the picture below.

image

This is KFC new menu in Malaysia where the shrimps are now hot and spicy in the menu. I like prawns and so I gave it a try. True enough, when I got to see the prawns, I was totally disappointed as the prawns are way too small. It could be seen that the tails were all “wrapped” up by the “fried” crispy “skin”. You might ask, “Did you ask for a refund or return the dish?”

No no. I didn’t as I was too hungry and it was no big deal actually. I wanted to take a picture but I thought what the heck: don’t be so picky!

I did some research again just now and found the following sites, which may of interest to all consumers.

http://www.thewvsr.com/adsvsreality.htm

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/see.htm

http://www.weirdexistence.com/so-you-see-the-difference/

image

The above McDonald’s Big Mac photo is taken from the www.weirdexistence.com site. Of course the left photo is advertisement and the right is what the reality is. See the difference?

My two cents

Many a times we buy something because we see it in an advertisement and are influenced by the photo or its claim of certain things. However when we made the purchase and found out that WHAT YOU GET IS NOT WHAT YOU SEE, then what?

I guess there are a few options:

  • return the goods and get a refund (some fast food chains are advertising as such; Domino’s is one example)

image

Product Satisfaction Guarantee by Domino’s:

Domino’s guarantees satisfaction! Your pizza is guaranteed to be hot, fresh, and great tasting when it arrives at your doorstep, otherwise we’ll replace your order or refund your money.

  • just accept as it is and live with WYSInWYG (what you see is NOT what you get)
  • make a complaint to the relevant authorities or consumer NGOs
  • spread bad word-of-mouth to your friends and relatives
  • make official complaint to the company and demand for compensation

So teh tarik kakis, what will you do the next time What You Get Is NOT What You See?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TehTarikKaki on August 25th, 2010

Are you avid movie goer? How frequent do you watch movies in cinemas? In this age of internet era a lot of people are downloading movies from the internet and watch them in personal computer or transfer them to home TV for later watching. And most people will buy a DVD or two to watch it at home in their convenient time?

However sometimes you might want to go the cinema to watch a movie for the following reasons:-

1. It is a new release and is not available for download from internet or in DVD format.

2. You want to experience the special effects of the sound or 3D such as Avatar. and Toy Story 3.

3. You are dating someone and want to enjoy your company while watching a movie.

4. You are with friends or family members to watch a movie in environment of a cinema.

After you decide to watch a movie in a cinema, how do you know which movie is shown in which cinema and in what location? What about show times of different cinemas?

The solution: CineApps Malaysia

The application in question is called CineApps Malaysia which is available only for FREE download to iPhone or iPod Touch with iOS 4.0 or above. [Sorry it is NOT available for other brands of mobile phones.]

Screenshots from iPhone:

CineApps

CineApps2

You may notice from the screenshots that features are quite rich and useful for any movie goer. Other than information on show times of different cinemas in different locations (city/town including Sabah and Sarawak), you get to watch the trailers as well. If you are not sure of the location of the cinema, it is linked to the Google Maps for your location search.

My two cents

It is a tiny application for use ONLY with iPhone or iPod Touch. However, the application will be much more powerful if online booking could be done straight from the application. Once you have decided to watch a particular movie, either you purchase the tickets from the internet or make calls to the reservation hotline of the cinema in order to get your tickets. Hopefully the booking and purchasing of tickets could be integrated in future.

What if you do not have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Simple, go buy one now…

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,