Credit Card Security Measures

A colleague of mine relayed this funny story of how he was at the mall buying a gift for his wife. The gift turned out to be a brand new Samsung Galaxy S II, which is also the first smart phone his wife has ever owned/used.

Now the funny thing is he used a credit card to buy the unit and upon purchase, the phone number registered to that credit card got an SMS containing the amount that was just swiped from the card. Guess who's phone number was registered to his credit card?

Yup you guessed it. Minutes later, he received a text from his wife,

"Wow. 1700 bucks. Can't wait to see it. Thanks honey!"

She loved the phone by the way.

Scariest Ride of My Life!

Caramel honey and I spent the weekend in Ipoh as we had a wedding dinner to attend there. The strange part is, we don't remember seeing taxis or cabs anywhere in town. Except for the odd minibus, we never saw taxis waiting by the road, seeing that this is Ipoh town with its glorious food stalls and tourists milling about. Such a vast difference from KL where you get a gazillion taxis at every corner. 

Thinking about taxis just reminds me of my time in India, few years ago. 

My family and I were in Agra, India. Having just visited the Taj Mahal, the tour van dropped us off at our hotel but we wanted to do some shopping (which happened to be around the Taj area) so we decided to take an auto to get there. If you've visited India, Cambodia or Vietnam, you'll notice the traffic is next to insane - how they manage to drive/ride without colliding into one another is an acquired skill.

So we hailed an auto from the hotel, the bellboy explained to the driver that we wanted to go to the Taj Mahal area as we wanted to do some shopping. Once we got in (in being a 3-seater on a 3-wheel ride with a mini engine) and he started driving, I thought I was gonna fall out! It's like being on a not-so-fast roller coaster on 3 wheels. If you had just eaten, trust me, you DO NOT want to get into an auto.

To our surprise, the driver asked us, as best as he could, where/what we'd like to do. So we explained we wanted to do some shopping (mind you, we were already near the Taj Mahal at this point). Then, he went on saying, he knows of a shop not far away that sells nicer things for a cheaper price, etc. Next thing we knew, he had made a U-turn and started speeding away to this so-called souvenir shop. 

My dad started shouting at him to turn back to the Taj Mahal and he kept arguing with my dad - obviously India locals know best! In the end, we insisted he take us back to the hotel (which he did, thank God) and my dad gave an him an earful (and complained to the bellboy). Good to say, we never took any autos after that!

Career vs Curry

*sigh* Yes, I've been so busy that I kinda forgot I actually own a blog. I'm sure by now flies have been hovering over here (sorry, that was disgusting). It's just been work, new found passion for baking, more work, rekindled hobby of drawing/art, family, and much more work. Sometimes, I'll be lucky to even update my Facebook status!

Just the other day, I was engrossed in my work, with headphones on and munching on this (delectable) curry puff. Moments later, my colleague turned to me and asked, "How's your career path?". For a minute there, I was dumbfounded. What's more we were days away from launching our brand new careers website for the company and it seemed quite unusual, yet somehow relatively normal for her to be asking something to do with my career path.

Then, I took out my headphones and apparently she was asking, "How's your curry puff?" *shakes head*

Join The Bark Side

Check out this teaser video if you enjoyed last year's Superbowl commercial, 'The Force' by Volkswagen.

Now I can't wait to see the actual commercial for this year's Big Game..or just maybe I should get a Volks!

Once upon a Google...

Stumbled upon this video while checking out some of Google's Search Stories and I could not resist posting it up. In fact, if you're an Android fan and love the idea of working at the top web search engine for their seemingly cool working culture or if you're just plain into Google, you can create your own search story very easily. No professional video editing needed :)

On New Year's Night...

After all the excitement, drinks and food on New Year's Eve, caramel honey and I got back quite late obviously. We were so tired that the minute we got home, we fell right into bed. Now, halfway through the night (or early morning), I heard caramel honey shout and I woke up. He was in bed, moaning to me, 

"Don't eat me..why do you wan't to eat me?".

I was like, "Why on earth would I wanna eat you???" LOL!

I think it was the excessive mutton, pork and drinks that contributed to twisted food nightmares. Anyway, I spent few minutes just convincing him that I'm not gonna eat him. Don't think I'm that much of a man-eater!

Chasing someone never got more interesting

Wouldn't it be fun if your company video was something visually engaging and interactive enough to get viewers hooked before they clicked off? My colleague found this while browsing marketing campaign videos from various companies.

I absolutely love the ending! :)

Moment of Terror

While I rarely have insomnia at home (I leave a lamp light on while I sleep), I seem to have it almost EVERY NIGHT at caramel honey's place. 

He has no pre-bed rituals - just make sure the air-cond is turned on, switch off the lights and get under the covers. As for me, I usually read in bed for some 15 minutes before dozing off. I can't do this at his place coz the only bedside lamp he has is at his side (he refuses to switch sides claiming he's not comfortable on my side) so the one thing that puts me to sleep is literally gone. 

Second, is that I am uncomfortable with the dark which is the reason for the lamp lit at my place BUT in all fairness, the light is dimmed so low that it's merely a faint glow illuminating my room. As long as I have just enough light to read, I'm fine. 

Caramel honey's room is pitch black when it's dark and to make matters worse, his bed faces the full-length mirror on the wall and his reflective-door closet. I absolutely CANNOT sleep looking at reflective objects coz horror movies scenes would suddenly fill my head - to the point where the slightest sound makes me jump.

Last night was no different. I was tossing and turning a good deal before finally settling into a somewhat comfortable position, with my back facing caramel honey. After some time, I felt a cramp in my leg so I turned and when I did, I saw caramel honey's head in the dark, slightly lifted from his pillow, wide unblinking eyes, staring at me.

For a few seconds, I just froze staring at him. Then I screamed.

LOL. I do admit that I might have overreacted but seriously if you turned and saw your boyfriend staring at you like that, wouldn't you freak?

The minute I screamed, he tried to calm me down but the only thoughts running through my head at the time involved demonic possession *I must STOP watching those ridiculous horror movies*. After a while, I calmed down when I was sure he was caramel honey and not some demon/ghoul trying to kill me.

I'm gonna have to think of a more creative way to sleep tonight :(

Age Knows No Boundaries

Typo Misdemeanor

Shortly after coming out of a meeting, I checked my email and found one - from a marketer, who's generally in charge of handling press releases to the media and for web publishing (which is where I come in). 

The subject of the email was "Yani's handbag..." and for that moment alone I was puzzled as to what my name (shortened at that) was doing in an email from this guy. As it turns out, yesterday my colleague and I were doing some tests with text on one of our press releases that had been published on our website, some time ago. We entered a bunch of 'dummy' text and part of it was "Yani's handbag" (yes, my colleague has a wry sense of humor).

The problem was I had forgotten to remove the 'dummy' text from the press release and it got published online by accident!

OMG. My puzzlement turned to horrific embarrassment!

To be honest, I quite felt like laughing too. I mean, this issue over "Yani's handbag" is just way to horrifyingly funny. I managed to remove the text immediately and re-published the press release but now I'm infamous for a 'Yani's hangbag'!

6 months here and I've already made an impression *roll eyes*

Later in the day, my colleague told me something about one of our web pages via Skype and instead of typing "got it", I entered "go tit". Arggghhhh!

So you can just imagine the bunch of mockery and laughter that followed me today. Moral of the story: ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK whatever you do, especially if it's visible to the online world!

It's Never Too Old to Roll!

There I was at a traffic light, on my way to work when I looked to my left and saw the most astonishing thing.

It's not the car that's astonishing or the construction worker behind (yellow helmet) that's trying very hard not to look at the car (caught him staring at it a few times). 

Take a good look at the driver in the car.

It's an OLD woman probably in her 70s or 80s! Not sure if you can see that from the pic above but that was the best I could do under the circumstances. I mean, I'm not against old people driving mega-expensive sports cars but this is the first I've seen an old lady driving (with the greatest pleasure, I can imagine) one. 

I guess it's never too old to do anything as long as you're physically able to do them!

Bundle of Fur & Cuteness = Maxi

The latest addition to caramel honey's family - a miniature toy poodle named Maxi! He's about 2 1/2 months old and is THE most adorable puppy I've ever laid eyes on!

The clearest pic I could snap of him

It was so hard to get a picture of him coz he cannot stop moving (really pumped with energy!) so I decided to go with videos instead. Here are 2 of the more watchable ones :)

The other dog you see hovering in the video is - gorgeous cocker spaniel named Sandy (who's all of a sudden, very mature when Maxi is around). Sandy used to be jumping and running around in circles whenever we saw her but this time, with a new puppy in the picture, Sandy seems a little bit subdued. Perhaps it takes a bit more time until chemistry sets in :)

Cracked Radiator, Faulty Hazard Lights, Rain-Drenched & Pineapples

Either of you received a pineapple from the person responsible for getting your car in an accident? Didn't think so.

Caramel honey and I were on our way back last Saturday. We were in my Kelisa driving into Tropicana, hoping to get back before the rain got worse. Cars were going slow and basically, it's not the kind of time you want to be out on the road. 

As we neared a junction on the left, there was a Mazda CX-9 waiting in front. Obviously, the right thing would be to wait until cars have gone by before coming out into the main road, right?

Mazda CX-9

This guy decided to come out halfway and stop just as we were nearing. The fact that we were drawing closer didn't even prompt him to reverse his giant of a car. Of course, caramel honey tried braking but the rain caused the car to skid and we braced ourselves as we hit the Mazda's - not the body - but the humongous tyres!

Luckily, the driver of the Mazda came down and apologized immediately. To be honest, this elderly man looked a bit *cracks head for the word* peculiar. He had his hands-free on so I'm guessing he got distracted talking to someone that he didn't realize we were near him when he came out. Right now, I'm much calmer but at that very moment, I was fuming.

The Mazda had barely a scratch but my car was a different story. The hood had a massive dent in the middle, the bumper damaged on various sides, number plate broken and to make matters worse, caramel honey realized my car radiator was leaking. Mind you, while all this was going on, it was still pouring.

So anyway, we exchanged numbers and we told him we'd get in touch with him once the car had been towed to the workshop. Seeing that we were minutes away from caramel honey's place, we thought the leaking radiator could last the short drive back. But in less than a minute, the temperature had already shot up and we had to keep stopping the car to prevent further damage. It was also then we realized, my hazard lights were not working - probably something came loose during the accident.

Long story cut short - we got the car back without the engine exploding and managed to get it towed the next morning. Yesterday, the mechanic called us and informed that it would cost a whopping RM1600 for everything including spray painting.

We called up the Mazda guy and he said he would pay us in cash, provided we could give him the receipt. Monday night, he came over to caramel honey's place to give the cash. So there we were, counting all these RM50 notes, when he opened the backseat and went,

"You all eat pineapple, ah?"

We were too taken aback to reply. He looked all apologetic and said,

"I'm really sorry for all this. I can pay for the damages and offer you this la *holds out pineapple*"

So that night, caramel honey and I ended up with RM1600 and a...pineapple, to which we have no intention of cutting and eating (not really pineapple fans). I am thankful though that the guy was honest and paid for all the damages upfront but the fact that he gave a us a whole fruit is just too funny!

Anyone wants a pineapple?

Creative Idea for Marriage Proposal

This is so funny and romantic that I simply had to blog about it. Sometimes, people tend to go really overboard in coming up with the GREATEST proposal ever. Sure, everyone wants to be unique but the true meaning has to be there - you want to MARRY her and not trump every other guy's proposal on the planet! 

I think this guy did exactly that, as in be unique. He managed to combine humor and shock elements, while keeping it romantic. Talk about the amount of effort the guy took in preparation for this proposal!

Congratulations Matt & Ginny!

It All Started With the Big Bang!

I've given up trying to catch my favourite TV shows because it involves me rushing home from work, braving the jam and/or rain and rushing to tapau dinner. By the time I get home, it's more like Glee-Why-Bother or Desperately-Confused Housewives or How-I-Met-Which-Mother. So these days, I've started buying DVD box sets from my neighbourhood-friendly DVD seller :)

If you're a sucker for comedy, you should try watching The Big Bang Theory. The series revolves around a group of socially-awkward physicists whose lives get turned upside down when a hot blonde moves in to their apartment building.

Most of the episodes make reference to comic books, limited-edition action figures, Playstation, XBox, Nintendo Wii, Rockband, Klingon, Spock, Vulcan hearing and the ever-famous Stan Lee (I'm not saying you'll only enjoy this if you're a geek, but you know..).

If you're not convinced, try watching the videos below. Might just change your mind :)

Snatch Theft Attempts

*cough*cough* Not blogging for more than a week tends to make my ancient blog collect dust. Thanks to work picking up its pace in the last few weeks and social events & activities during the weekends, blogging has taken a backseat :D

But enough about me. I've been hearing more cases of snatch theft in broad daylight, even with crowds of people around and recently, I heard about how my boss almost got mugged right in front of his home, in Mont Kiara. He's from Guatemala and the town he lived in, is apparently a 'ghetto' of some sort where you can get mugged or shot in the streets. You would think that with this experience, he would be prepared when he's mugged.

Well, he was walking outside his home, talking on his iPhone, when a biker stopped by and snatched his iPhone. My boss (with quick reflexes) had time to GRAB his phone back and demanded of the biker, 

"Why are you taking my phone?!"

The biker sped off and that was when realization hit him - the biker was trying to steal his iPhone! By then, he started shouting profanities at the disappearing biker. Oh god, I could not stop laughing when I first heard the story but all's good because he's safe (good thing he wasn't held at knife point) and his phone was not stolen in the end.

This also reminds me of another snatch theft attempt that was unfortunately successful. It was during my college days and I was at the bus stop. One of the people waiting, was this guy who was standing and texting on his phone - let's call him John. 

Suddenly, a car (with fully tinted windows) drove up and parked at the side. We didn't think anything unusual of course seeing that they were probably waiting for someone but after a while, the passenger side window rolled down and I could see that there were about 4-5 guys in the car. The guy in the passenger seat called out to John standing with his phone and asked (in perfect English, mind you) if he could borrow the phone to call his friend as his battery died (apparently his friends didn't have phones too??).  

John looked hesitant but then asked for the phone number of the friend. The guy (without flickering) gave him the number and I could see John dialing the number. I'm sure someone must have answered because he said "Hello" and gave the phone to the guy in the car. 

Let me tell you this. It was not even 2 seconds before the car sped off - leaving John and the rest of us in shock. Luckily, he managed to get the car number plate but I doubt those assholes got caught. Plus, with the recent snatch theft video that went viral, it's so scary to even go out alone these days. Snatch thieves are getting more and more brazen (probably from watching all those crime series) especially around Section 16 and 17 in PJ. 

Nowadays, I try not to take my HUGE shoulder bag out. Instead, I try to cram everything into a smaller clutch or if I have to, hide my bag under my legs while driving. Beats having your car windows broken in less than 2 seconds right?

Darth Vader captures Princess Leia - in NYC Subway!

I stumbled upon this really interesting site, which involves a bunch of people working together to cause scenes of chaos and joy  - by playing pranks or 'missions' on the public.

Some of their missions are really funny like going pants-less on the NYC subway (during winter!) or pretending to be the Ghostbusters in the NY Public Library (naturally as the location was an iconic moment in the movie) and there was even a time when they threw a surprise wedding reception on the streets of New York for a random couple that just got registered.

Among their recent missions, I found this one to be quite amusing (and yes, if you don't know it already - I AM a Star Wars fan!). Check out their whole list of missions  - I'm sure some are guaranteed to make you laugh!

Image & Video: Katie Sokoler & Improv Everywhere

Jennifer Aniston Sex Tape

Aptly titled above, the latest 'viral video' to hit the Net is Smart Water's ad which features Jennifer Aniston. It's nothing like the Numa Numa videos but she still manages to spoof several well-known viral videos from the past. In my opinion, she's having better luck doing these kind of videos than scoring in her not-too-great romantic comedies.

What do you think?

May The Force Be With You

Superbowl ads this year have really gone up a level with even more creative concepts compared to last year's. Can you imagine, to advertise on a 30-second slot costs $1 million? All I can say is, brands must really put in their best work out there. This ad in particular, is my favourite so far :D

Hang on! Check out the cut-scenes and bloopers (even more adorable!) from the video below.

- Das Auto -

Badminton After 10 Years

Just last weekend, caramel honey and I decided to play badminton since his apartment building has courts available. For added fun, we invited my sister, her boyfriend and another couple to join us. We all had one thing in common - none of us have played badminton in over 10 years.

Naturally, everyone dug up some ancient raquets that were probably lying around for the last 15 years. The raquets were so old that one of them broke (the handle came flying out from the grip) while playing! Good thing caramel honey bought some new raquets for us :D

But OMG. I didn't realize how physically unfit I was till we started playing. Surprisingly, the guys caught up to the game quite fast and were literally trying to 'smash' each other. However, us girls were just trying to keep the shuttlecock in the air! LOL

Of course there were funny moments especially when caramel honey tried to do his signature backhand (that he picked up from watching a bunch of badminton teen pros playing one day) or when we played doubles and didn't coordinate well (yes, we kept missing the shuttlecock, thinking the other person was gonna hit it back!)

Obviously, practice makes perfect in this case but I doubt we're gonna be playing badminton this weekend. The whole lot of us are still complaining of aching back, arms and legs!