When your bank asks for annual fees, here’s why you say goodbye (yeah, rite!)

That phrase got me attracted in the first place. Just didn't want the hassle of calling back the respective banks just to get my annual fees waived, so I applied for this bank's credit card. After a couple of years, everything was fine. Suddenly, end of 2005, I was shocked to see the annual fee charged in my bill. Eh? Kata FREE FOR LIFE? My call to the careline was answered by a rude Malay guy, saying that I needed to make a minimum of 12 transactions using the card annually to qualify for the free annual fee. Hah? This was not informed to me when I was applying for the card? Of course I got angry, and told him if he did not waive the the annual fee, I wanted to cancel the card. He said (kononnya doing me a great favor lah), "This time I can help you to waive, but after this you must you the card at least 12 times for next year ok?" Told him, "Lecehla kalau nak kira 12 kali buat transactions. Jadi obligation la pulak, padahal masa mula2 apply tu ingatkan nak buat spare in case of emergency jer. I nak cancel la this card." Mamat tu terus naik angin and said "Kan saya dah kata kali ni saya boleh tolong? Next time you buat je la 12 transactions. Kalau you nak cancel jugak, up to you lah!" Wah! Itu sudah mencabar namanya. So I paid the balance, tapi asyik terlupa je nak cancel kan card tu. Lagipun, I wanted to redeem my bonus points first before cancelling the card. Nak pilih barang pun punyala leceh, last-last terlupa terus.

Since it's coming to end 2006 already, I suddenly remembered that I need to act fast before they charge me again. So, I checked out their website, browsed the catalog for redemption, printed out the form, filled it up and faxed it to their office. Rewards dia pun bukannya best sangat, tapi bolehlah daripada tak dapat apa-apa langsung, kan? Chose something beneficial for Baby Daniel lah, apa lagi? (priorities have changed, kan?)

A few days after that, I received an SMS, asking me to call their careline to confirm my redemption request. Called them last Friday, and duh! They informed me that the catalog that I chose the reward from had expired! Cheh! It was from their official website, ok? It stated Redemption Catalog 2006- I couldn't be THAT stupid not to understand that, right? Anyway, malas nak cerita banyak, I asked the rep on where could I get the latest catalog? She said I could get it from any of the bank's branches. Since I was on the road that day, teruslah pergi Taipan punya branch, tapi tak ada parking pulak.

I went again this morning, and alhamdulillah ada pulak parking depan bank. Masuk je, pergi kat customer service punya desk. Ada 2 desks, tapi tak ada officer. Tunggu dekat 5 minit, tak ada siapa entertain. Nampak ada orang tinjau-tinjau from Counter 7, tapi nobody approached me. So, pergi tanya security. Dia kata pergi Kaunter 7. Cheh!

Ler... Kaunter 7 ada seorang lagi security lepak. Asked for the catalog. Dia tanya officer kat belakang dia. Without even looking up, the officer said she didn't have it. Encik Security ni pulak selak-selak a few leaflets, then he said, "Takdelah Cik. Kitorang punya catalog ni dah expired." Told him about my conversation with the phone rep, then he said, "Agaknya diorang belum hantar lagi lah" Saw the catalog expired in July 2006. Whaddaheck? Do they expect me to go to ALL branches to check which one has the latest catalog? BLARDYFUL!! Malas nak waste my anger energy, I asked the Encik Security how to cancel my card. Terus cancel there and then. Slashed the card, and I felt a great satisfaction washed over me.

Balik office, buka website bank bodoh ni, terus lodge online complaint (as if they maintain the website and care about your complaint pun? Nombor telefon careline dah tukar pun tak update kat website!) Tapi takpelah, janji puas hati dapat complaint.

Itulah tahap profesionalisme bank tempatan ni.. Kang tak support kata tak respect product/service negara sendiri...Dah lah tak transparent. Bagitahula customer kena buat 12 transactions to get the annual fees waived! Penipu!!!

"When your bank asks for annual fees, here’s why you say goodbye" Familiar tak dengan iklan ni? Jangan Tipah Tertipu macam saya ya?

A letter to Ms Picca

Dear Ms Picca,

It has been quite some time that we have not been together, roaming the roads of Klang Valley and brave the thunderstorms most of the afternoons. Was it 2 months already? I kinda miss you a lot, what with me having to be with Mr Hero, which drinks a lot more fuel than you do, thus create a hole in my purse.

I know you are hurt. You do not look as how you are supposed to look like. Well, you are less than 1 year old, but so much damage had been done to you. What with the broken torque converter that caused you to be paralyzed. Then, on the joyful day of Aidilfitri, some idiots cruelly hit you with their car. Sick, sick idiots!!

You might not realized what happened, that fateful day. I was already in Jasin to celebrate Eid, and the whole clan were supposed to meet up at JB the second day of Eid. I received a phone call from Abah, saying that somebody had hit you, causing quite a bad wreckage to the front side of your body. That stupid, blardy hell Indian guy who were driving a Waja had suddenly swerved to the left from the fast lane, apparently to avoid a lopak during the heavy rain, ignoring the fact that you were approaching the same spot on the middle lane at the same time. But, because you were travelling at about 80km/h, the impact was not as bad as it should have.

And the Indian family had the nerve to ask Abah to settle at their place, which is in Seremban. Gilo ko apo? Last resort, both parties made police reports at Subang Jaya, in order to claim damage to insurance companies.

So, there you were, with one 'eye' broken, 'face' disfigured, although your heart is still running like new. I had made the arrangements to get your condition restored, of course with the financing of that stupid idiot.

And 2 days ago, I received a devastating news, that you could not be restored on that blardy hell Indian's expense. Apparently, that bas*ard, s*n-o#-a-bi%*h had made the police report that YOU hit them first, and that caused him to skid to the middle lane. He wanted US to finance for his car's damage! You know lah, although the name is Waja, the body parts are not as Waja as the name. His backside was totally gone! That was why he wanted us to pay for his damage. Sucker!! His demn fault and he dared to ask us to pay? May he rot in hell for this!!

Don't worry. We will definitely fix you up. Although we have to finance it ourselves. Your bumper costs us RM2K, you know? What with your headlamp and all? I hope the workshop fix you up like new at no time at all. After all, you ARE new.

And you, Indian man with no heart, no brain and no manners, I have cursed you BAD. Even if you manage to restore your Waja back to its original condition, it will once (or twice) again meet with another accident(s), and that time, you would not be spared. You will then remember of your evil deed to us people who were kind enough not to demand compensation on the spot during the hit. DOA ORANG YANG TERANIAYA TU MAKBUL TAU!!! Moron!!!

And to you Ms Picca.. I hope we will meet again soonest. Get well soon, baby!

Love,
Your kind owner

Macam-macam Daniel

Here are some of the photos that we took at the studio during my sister's convo. Tengokla Encik Daniel kita..lentok sana, lentok sini....








At close to 9 months, Baby Daniel:

1) Have 2 rabbit's teeth
2) Weighs 9.25kg and 73cm in height
3) Constipation is a major problem. Had to resort to laxatives, but Mummy think we will try to change to new formulas (again) to see which brand wouldn't cause constipation for him
4) Have yet to move forward to crawl. All geared up to crawl tapi static je.. Gaya ada dah.. But given something to hold on to, he could stand up on his own now for a few seconds before 'tumbang'
5) Loves to 'type' on the keyboards. Cry when refused access to PCs. Got it from Ayah la tu...
6) Loves getting his photos taken. Macam-macam pose adaaa!!!
7) Loves real handphones. Toy phones tak layan laa...
8) Alhamdulillah, so far he loves to eat everything. Hope it will continue sampai besar ya?
9) Babbles non-stop. All kinds of sounds and grunts ada..
10) Very active especially on the floor. Everyone (especially his Ayah and Mummy) always wonder when is he going to get tired (which looked like NEVER!)

Weekend yang panjang

I started my weekend break on Friday...Takde mood nak kerja, so simply SMSed my colleague at office saying that I wouldn't come to office. Then, I switched off both my company and personal mobiles. Thank God I did that...So happened that more than 5 clients were trying to call/SMS me but to no avail. Ala...If I entertained them on that day, might as well I pergi masuk office kan? Mak and Abah came home at about 11am and went back to JB for cousin Shikin's wedding at about 4pm that day, so I was left with Baby Daniel to enjoy each other's company. Best! Tapi tak dapat gi jenjalan sebab tak ada kereta, and the weather was bad.

Got somethings planned for the weekend, tapi semua tak jadi. Spent most of the time at home.. I got to cook spaghetti bolognese for the family... And fried some special recipe chicken- semua habis licin..hehe..Cooked something special for Baby Daniel, too. Mana aci semua orang makan best dia tak makan best jugak..

On Sunday, we went to a hypermart. Ingatkan nak beli sotong besar and udang besar to do goreng tepung, tapi sotong yang ada cumalah sotong dwarf. Just bought a 1/2kg of prawns, then rushed to pick up Daniel's juices. There hypermart was extremely packed. What's so special yesterday huh? And, the udang goreng tepung juga telah dilahap with no mercy by everybody. Boleh lah buat lagi next time.

At about 4pm, the thunderstorm started. And I started feeling a little uncomfortable. Initially I thought it was due to the house chores that I did throughout the weekend (biasalah weekend kenalah buat kerja lebih sikit). My joints semua sengal-sengal and rasa ngilu semacam. It was not until about 7pm that I realized I was having a high fever...Cheh! Punyalah lama tak demam sampai lupa all the common symptoms..hehe... Monitored my condition throughout the night and at 1 point, my body temperature reached 38 deg C. Aiyoyo! Was shivering under the blanket. Popped in a paracetamol, then I was off to Lala land. Hubby had to take care of both myself and Baby Daniel throughout the night...Baru dia tahu!! hehe...

Anyway, Daniel woke up more times than usual last night, resulting in myself waking up together with him because of his wailing for milk. Luckily Hubby got it under control, but until at about 5am in the morning, he finally grumbled, "Eh, berapa kali budak ni bangun nak minum susu ni?" And I giggled silently inside my heart. Pandai anak Mummy pilih time nak dera Ayah ya?

Felt quite better in the morning when I woke up, so decided to come into office against my earlier decision to stay home and enjoy longer weekend break. Sampai office, cleared my mailbox sampai nak habis office hours dah..Aiyoh, had been quite some times since the last time I did my housekeeping lah...Punyalah banyak junk mails. My arms are aching from the task.. Note to self: Must do housekeeping more frequently OK?

Last night, before I went to sleep, we were humoured by Daniel's antics. We gave him the small, colourful, plastic balls yang saiznya macam bola tennis tu. There were a couple of them. When I gave him a ball, he grabbed it with 1 hand, then use the other hand to rotate the ball. He couldn't even cover the whole ball with his palm. With his small palms, he rotated and rotated the ball, and then he used his small but chubby index finger of his with another palm to roll the ball. And he continued using the back of his small hand with another hand's index finger. Amazingly, the ball looked like it had magnet, that it stuck to his hand and fingers while it was rolling. Macam tengok baby magician doing small tricks. We laughed in amazement, and I laughed until tears rolled out of my eyes. Daniel, on the other hand, looked selamba and doe-eyed sebab dah mengantuk sebenarnya, and upon seeing me laugh-cry at his trick, he looked at me, puzzled.. Tapi tangan terus roll the ball...hehe..

Oh ya...Baby has got 2 teeth now...Dua-dua belah atas...Dah macam rabbit dah...hehe..

Overdue Raya Photos

Here are some of the photos that we took during Aidilfitri break. It was Daniel's first, and we had so much fun bringing him along for visits to relatives' houses. Best sebab boleh dress him up as I pleased...hehe... And also, best sebab dapat collect duit raya...huhu....

Since it is still Syawal, siaplah aunties and uncles semua...Kami nak datang menyerang!!! hehe...

Acik's Convo 121106

Here are some photos that we took during Acik's Convo at UiTM Shah Alam last Sunday. Of course, Hubby wasn't around because he just hated Convos (well, according to Mum-In-Law, he nearly missed his own Convo because he just hated it so much...Boleh??)

Anyway, I hope I will live to see my own children's convos some day... Seeing parents hugging and kissing their children with the scrolls in their hands, enough to bring tears to my eyes (Yes, I am that sensitive) Always thinking what they are feeling and then made them my own....Sabo je lah... It was the feeling: Finally, my son/daughter is a university graduate...Thinking of the hardships that we went through for this piece of paper for my son/daughter... This feeling is indeed PRICELESS....chewwah...fehlong la plak...







We went for studio photoshoot afterwards (this time Hubby was around) and took photos of the whole family. Kelakar sangat sebab just because of Daniel, we had to go through so many takes!! Nasib baik la photographer tu baik, kalau tak sure dia boring...hehe...The photos are not ready yet, but I will post them here once they are ready...

To my sis, CONGRATS kid!!

Open Houses

Went to bro-in-law's open house at around 4pm yesterday and lingered there until about 7pm. Anak-anak buah punyalah havoc... Macam nak runtuh rumah...But then, bukannya selalu dapat jumpa the cousins pun, so bila jumpa memang la all-out...hehe...Baby Daniel pun tak nak miss out on the action...Dia pun join sekali lah... Seronok tengok they all played around...

After Isya' prayer, Mak, Baby Daniel and myself went to his Babysitter's open house pulak... Tak ramai orang sangat..Only the 3 of us, and the family's relatives (parents and 1 young daughter). My Babysitter's youngest son, aged about 3 or 4 years old, has always been Daniel's source of antics. Yang kitorang tak penah ajar, semua dia dapat dari Abang dia tu la...Kenyit-kenyit mata la, buat-buat batuk la, angguk-angguk-geleng-geleng la...Macam-macam!

While Mak and I ate, Kak Ani held Daniel in her arms... Both her youngest son and the relative's daughter (they are cousins kan?) were playing with a small car that can carry 1 person and you need to paddle it to make it move (tau tak kereta ni? We had one when we were small...hehe)

The little girl was paddling the small car, and the boy hung on to the car from behind. They were enjoying the ride so much and their laughter filled the house. Suddenly, the girl decided to stand up, causing the car to topple backward, resulting in the boy flailing to the floor, head first, with a thud so loud I was shocked myself! Apa lagi, terus melalak sakan la budak tu... The girl went all quiet, and slowly went to her father. Her mother scolded her, but the boy's mum said it wasn't her fault.

Still holding Daniel in her arms while sitting on the sofa, she called for her son to come to her. Still crying so loudly, he went to the free hand of his mother. His sister came out to put some ointment to his head, but he continued crying. I could imagine how painful it was, judging from the loud sound of his crash.

Daniel, on the Babysitter's other hand, looked intently at the boy, and suddenly, he giggled loudly at the boy! The picture was so funny: 1 boy was crying loudly, while the other laughed at him...We all laughed at them. Maybe Daniel thought the boy was making funny faces and noises kut...hehe...Siap babbled lagi tu kat abang tu...Agaknya tanya "Sakit sangat ke?"

Went back home, so full of food and laughter...

Amazing Race

Accidentally watched Amazing Race Asia while switching channels last night. Enjoyed it till the end. Kat Malaysia la pulak kan...It was fun and hilarious!!

A few things caught my eyes, though:

1) The Indian guy with the Mat Salleh team
Why, oh why did you cry like a sissy for the whole Asia (or the world) to see when you had to do abseiling kat shopping complex tu?(was that KLCC? I started watching it from this segment) Adui...Nama pun Amazing Race...Kalau takut takyah join the competition la... Buat kena gelak dengan orang jer..

2) The guy model duo
Woi! Korang nak masuk Amazing Race ke nak buat photoshoot? Tak tahan tengok the driving guy kept checking out his hair kat rearview mirror tu..Ngalahkan pompuan ok? Geli gell gohh!! (lamanya tak guna this phrase...hehe...)

3) The Chinese girls team
Amazing Race- sempat lagi tu powder up the face before go-carting! Apa-apa jelah korang...

4) The Indonesian Brothers
You GO guys!! Admire their spirit walaupun mereka sering dipandang rendah oleh teams lain... Cayalah!!! Congrats for winning this round!

Private numbers...

I just hate it when I receive a phone call from my mobile stating "Private Number." Usually I wouldn't answer it, because normally it would come from some insurance/travel agent/club membership etc yang sungguh amat membosankan! Some of them could be really annoying in the sense that they wouldn't take a no for an answer. Understood that they are just doing their telemarketing work, but sometimes (well, most of the time) they are very nerve-wrecking! Orang kata tak nak sudah lah! Nak kena maki dulu baru faham ke?

So, friends, if you happen to use a "PRIVATE NUMBER" phone and I do not pick up the call, kindly use another phone with an identity, ok? A missed call would do- at least I knew who tried to call me. I normally would return phone calls, sebab I have a 'free' line.... hehe...

And, please oh please, don't go distributing my number to any agents asking your favor for another phone number as a substitute if you rejected their offer- even if they sounded nice or sympathetic ya? I normally got calls from these peeps about 3 or 4 times per month, and believe me, it's VERY annoying! Script pun siap dah hafal ni!!

On another note, I had an interesting conversation with a client today. He made me realized that Allah is indeed fair. Not that I had ever questioned about this before, but I had never seen it from his point of view. For all the good things that we do, not necessarily that we are the ones whom would benefit from it. The rewards might be bestowed upon our loved ones and we would be happy just to see them happy with Allah's gifts for them! We will get our pahala InsyaAllah for all the good deeds, cuma results that could be seen might not be given to you but your hubby ke, children ke, parents ke... Your reward is the happiness you felt for them..So, ALLAH IS FAIR. Just continue doing good deeds and don't forget your DOA, InsyaAllah the rewards would come back to you. Same also for bad deeds, ok?

That got me thinking really hard, and from now on, I won't be selfish anymore- wanting the rewards for myself only. Just be a good wife, mother, daughter and Muslimah, InsyaAllah...I would definitely want my loved ones to benefit from my good deeds!!

Satu lagi, about the dealth penalty of Saddam Hussein. I think, if he could be sentenced to death, so should many more 'persons' throughout the world who unhesitantly conducted massacre of people all around the world (we all know where) and we all knew who else should be ganted the same sentence.. Takkan Saddam sorang je bersalah kut? Habis tu, nyawa orang2 lain and kanak2 yang tak berdosa kat Palestine, Lebanon, Southern Thailand, etc etc tu tak bernilai langsung ke?

Another month older

Today marked the 8th month of Daniel being pushed out of my womb. Macam baru semalam je rasa seksa nak bersalin tu, alih-alih dah 8 bulan. hmmm...

1) A tooth has made a solo debut during raya holiday week. Front one, top side. Agaknya demam hari tu sebab nak tumbuh gigi ni la kut? I heard 2 old folks' sayings already about babies cutting the first tooth on the top side rather than the bottom side:

a) Suka cakap besar
b) Semua orang kena dengar cakap dia je i.e cakap dia je yang betul

Well, that's kind of scary. But being me, I don't really believe in superstitions. Up to me and my Hubby to bring him up as a good human and a humble servant of Allah, right? Just hope that we would succeed.. Amin...

Anyway, that single tooth is SOOOO cute! But he really hated it when I tried to capture it on photo...hehe... Nangis bagai nak rak!!

2) He is beginning to push himself up ever so often. Think it's a matter of time that he will begin crawling

3) Has been 2 days in a row that he cried out loudly when my Mum wanted to pick him up from the babysitter's house...Oh My!!

4) Started to enjoy drinking fruit juices (of course yang diluted punya lah). Dulu tak suka! He loves to eat also

5) Couldn't stay put at one place for more than 5 minutes. Been 'swimming' on the floor to all corners of the house

6) Loves zikir and music and will "Angguk, angguk, geleng, geleng" to the rhytm

6) All in all, he's the apple of everyone's eyes. Love him to bits!!