Archive for April, 2007

Gold, the fancy of all women. That the most sought after common commodity is always AU, which is Gold. Be it in jewellery format or in any other format, gold is always sought after.

With the recession down the corner, and the disturbing news recently that plunged the stock market into an almost a depression, Gold in the form of Coins and Bullion Bars are always in demand. One way for you to buy gold is to go to the pawn shop or bank which the quality and certification is not certain. Forget E-Gold as it’s just another piece of hype for idiots trading on the web without the need of physical currency and it’s the most common piece of laundering method.

Get gold from reliable places like Credit Suisse, a famous Assay and Issuer from Switzerland. The MDC (Money Depository Company) is a giant retailer and wholesaler of such commodity, int he form of Canadian Maple 1 Oz Coins and 1 Oz Troy Bars. Save your money for gold, for you never know when you need to cash it thru.

And forget Shakespeare and his crappy “All that Glitters is not gold,” for he is too broke and “too prodigal of thought”!

If you haven’t heard the news,the Malaysian Twenty Ringgit Per Entry Toll aka CarTag is OFF!
So don’t worry that you have to pay RM20 for the Exit Toll coming out of Malaysia thru Tuas, Johor Baru or even the Thai Borders.

There is also NO THREE QUARTER TANK RULE for MALAYSIA. Meaning, if you enter Malaysia, feel free to be empty on the tank from Thailand but the 3/4 Tank Rule applies for ALL SINGAPORE REGISTERED CARS (S-Plates) Coming thru the Singapore Border. This is the SINGAPORE ICA Law! $500 Compound Fine awaits if you fail.

Some things to note:

G-Plate Vans,Pickups and Lorries are required to have a registration in MALAYSIA, with a local Johor Entity Company to register that vehicle. The Driver MUST HOLD A VALID GDL (Goods-Vehicle Driving Licence) which they have to sit and pass a THEORY TEST.

They must also hold a VALID MALAYSIA CDL (Competent Driving Licence) prior to applying for a GDL Theory Test. To apply for a GDL,they must hold a VALID MALAYSIAN ADDRESS and an EMPLOYMENT or LONG TERM VISIT PASS. The Malaysian Company have to apply for that. The Annual fee (LEVY) ranges from RM1200 to RM3500 for a Business / Management Pass (which is easier to get). A business / management staff pass (aka Pass Pengajian Taraf Tinggi ..similar to Highly Skilled Migration Program for degree holders) can bypass the RM3500 fee by paying the income tax to that rate or the Zakat Harta/Pendapatan for Muslims. In lieu of that, you can forget the Singapore IRAS Tax return as you have paid the Malaysian Tax. To apply for a CDL, you need to bring the relevant documents, such as a bank statement and if you married a Malaysian, your marriage certificate and your spouces’ ID.

The GDL must be applied only from Johor Baru JPJ Office in Taman Daya. If you hate the hassle, use an agent. Fees range from RM300 onwards. You need to pass a medical test etc etc. Standard stuff the LTA require for Vocational Drivers.

Singapore Registered Y and X Plates are NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER MALAYSIA.

RED PLATES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE IN MALAYSIA IF YOU HAVE INSUFFICIENT INSURANCE COVERAGE. Off Peak Vehicles are read as vehicle that are illegal on the road from 0700-1900hrs Monday - Friday except Public Holidays etc. As how you are in Singapore, your Insurance is NULL AND VOID if you drive in Malaysia or Singapore during these times WITHOUT A COUPON!! I have seen cases of Drivers held up to court up north for driving without registration of vehicle, tax and insurance for driving during daylight hours. Your Insurance is ONLY THIRD PARTY IN MALAYSIA even when you have sufficient Comprehensive cover in Singapore. It only covers up to 50KM within Johor Baru, and THIRD PARTY RISKS there after.

So don’t be a gung ho and think the Malaysian police don’t know about this. They just close an eyelid as they don’t think they can ‘makan’ you with a fine. If the JPJ stops you,especially the Federal JPJ Patrol who roam about the country, you will be detained immediately. It’s a RM500 on the spot fine, or you get to eat Nasi Ikan Kering in the lockup with only your underwear. They are just being tolerant of us so we can spend more dollars in Malaysia.

Also, do note that Singapore Cars are to use White or Black front plates and Yellow Rear Plates without any fanciful plates. If the JPJ stops you for it, it’s another RM150 on the spot, and they break your plates off, and force you to tow your car to the workshop and get a replacement there and then. Same thing with TINTED GLASS!! They will tear it off, bit here and there to ‘fine’ you instead, so you have to fork out about $500 to replace the tinting.

And …get a AAM Coverage or so, just in case if you break down, as it’s a real costly misadventure in Malaysia if that happens, at least RM500 for a quick tow! An AA Membership in Malaysia cost about RM150 or so. Save you alot of hassle.

I’ll put up more info should U guys need it!Happy travelling!

Yes People! I am far from winning. 40 Votes is what I need to win the free trip to Florida in June.

So please Login and Vote for me.

I really want a trip out there so they can really get their heads pop out of their socket, with me being bashed as WORST BLOGGER.

Effectively, this prize will cost PayPerPost at least $10,000!

OK, I did hit the $1000 Tuesday (aka $1K Tuesday) a fortnight ago thru PayPerPost and it seems that even Ted can’t seem to understand the nerdy me, and instead of doing so many editorials, I might as well rework it and re-word everything else. Yeah, like Kat said before, “Full of Grammar Errors” makes me uncoherent.

Partly, things HAVE CHANGED, due to the fact that PayPerPost has acquired Zookoda, a Blog to Email Push Service from Australia. A collaboration of the North and the South seems to me …like the end of the (cyber) civil war as it is, the Yankees winning against the Red Coats (British). Thus the local Singapore Slang for my title “CHOPE” means, Hold It! or I Reserve it already?!

About the sponsors, Zookoda is a mailing list generated from your readers, to subscribe a daily,weekly or whichever timeframe of a digest you or them prescribe it to be. Like me, I have a huge long list of feeds, reading my friends’ blogs and I love to BlogWalk. Love to roam the Communities of MyBlogLog and finding victims to Tag and enjoy the backlash from, is what my other hobby I grew fond of, especially the new Evil Travel Meme Part DEUX, with the need to Tag SEVEN PEOPLE! That’s alot, and if you don’t subscribe to the list, then they don’t know what they are missing, until they find the deeplink tag on their site.

The Digest (sounds like readers digest ain’t it?) is YOUR CONTENT. Your Readership and Your’s Truly. You can even get the whole database of mailing list back from them when you want to leave (don’t think you would). The term, email marketing have took to the next level on the Blogosphere Community, with us sending mailshots and tagging whatever content we want on it. I run it before and it’s fantastic, but due to the Data Protection Act which have haunted me recently (did I forgot to say I was AUDITED??), I don’t sell your data or details off to any third party.

Enough about mailing lists. This is about ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS TUESDAY, which is a few hours away.Last week, Denise got the whole Ten Large Smackaroos to herself. No requirements,other than you being yourself and talk about things. I managed to squeeze myself off the peanuts, for one of the 5 spots for $100 a fortnight ago (don’t ask, but I think I figured out the system already) and This is MY BLOG, My House, My Rules!

PayPerPost have been great to us actually, with $5000 in the kitty for the past 4 months of blogging with them, compared to other advertising networks.It funded my new Naza Scooter which I crashed and trashed a few times on the road, and I’m saving it up for the new car. Yeah, alot to go…but I have squandered it off on our previous trip to Singapore to have Tia Baby checked up and get her immunisations etc. That alone cost me about $8000! Almost US$5500 down the drain…but it is needed to.Now that I have been slamed “Bang Shut” on the face with the PayPerPost’s Bloggers’ Choice Awards for “Worst Blogger of All Time” , I thought it’s not that funny, coz cuz of me refusing to utilise AMERICAN ENGLISH but Her Majesty’s The Queens’ English Language instead.

They are very lucky I ain’t popping by with a Kentish Yob English or Scottish Gaelic or even Cymru *(Welsh) is I can’t even pronounce properly. Far from me using a Singaporean Accent English aka Singlish which I find it very unprofessional of me to do so.

Anyway, like I said, “It’s all about Money”….show me the money as the cheat code on Warcraft says. PayPerPost have been making me stay up all night, and making me becoming a night Owl for $100 of blogging a night. Yeah…I could have had more with my proper job, but I love dabbing on my keyboard, scribbling my life diaries away..for you to read.

Co-herent or not…so sue me.

Do visit the sponsors and if you want to have an extra on the side, do like what I do…Ooops! I have that already on my sidebar. Just read it will ya!Have to clean the house now, that the Mother-In-Law and in-laws buzzed me just now that they will come over for the Labour Day Celebrations ! Yikes!…Don’t they know I work nights?

Ouch. I just saw my PayPerPost earnings and yeah, i took an extended 2 week working holiday in Hometown Singapore and though it’s costy on my pocket for that holiday, and the fact that thanks to that holiday, Tia Baby is now down with Chicken Pox, what really hurt me more is that I did not earn enough due during that time to recover my travel losses. Like the $1000 tuesday! Yikes!

Though hitting that will be like getting a touch of lottery, I am hurting when I saw that only $800 is due to me to be paid for the next 30 days. Plus the fact I am not at my optimum effect, it’s hard on my finances, if not me having a full time income (30% of the time) from my affiliate programs and other media services.

For that, I have to work far harder, to overtake Cass Knits, of which, a fellow comrade Chan Li Lian who showed me the ropes to this income earner, is now at #3 of all time. If not for the luck, Colleen won’t be at the top, hitting the $1000 HP Scavenge Hunt.

Anyway, time to earn more…..Far More! Best of luck. And I will be holding the Seminar for How to Make Money by Blogging soon. RSVP.

Before I begin blabbing away…someone at the higher level have been nagging at me for me not being transparent enough. So here it is, The following words are paid advertising sponsored by Blogitive on behalf of Capella University in which the information was derived from. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

So much for sponsorship disclosure nowadays. They seems to ask me so many things for less than minimum wage. Huh? I thought as much as I don’t normally write for reviews at less than the minimum wage which is about US$12/hr. Being a good sport, I love to write only about those products which are bringing good value to myself and you as a reader. Like learning a new skill or trick once in a while.

Of which, I was entasked to talk about higher education recently, and nowadays, it’s either you have the paper or not. Relevancy is a core requirement in any job market plus alot of experience and your paper license.

One thing that you won’t be out of a job is being in the education industry. Being a teacher, especially in the English Language is always having a huge demand, far surpassing the supply that the community have to provide. That is of course if you keep in track, without having any criminal record etc.

But surprisingly, it’s not that hard to get into a university nowadays and getting that degree. Having the appropriate speciality is what the niche market is looking for, not just for general paper degree. Even with me, who have tons of titles behind my name, don’t feel the urge to perform to the current requirement as I don’t feel competent anymore, plus that the skill I gather many years ago are considered obsolete.Though the basics are the same, it’s a dog-eat-dog market now, and if and only if you have a value added skill you can offer to your students, the likelihood of you being looked down upon is high.

Anyway, enough of me blabbling about. Take a look at Capella University and I hope you learn something new there. Their fees are justifiable, and not that expensive. As I said, I only suggest QUALITY PRODUCTS.

Best Wishes

Hey..it’s time I mention one of my cybernetic friends online who is a great person offline too. So here is the toast for Doctor G. C. George who works in a medical institution and who is about to be institutionalised with the overwork and underpaid senario he is faced here on a daily basis. Unlike others, he took the time to go diving, and well, he is a great adventurer too, along with Bernard Chan.

Ok George, enough already… ready for my second stage Tag?