Beware of con sales calls

I received a call from a stranger just now telling me that I am going to be the VVIP of an important event which will held in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) tomorrow and my attendance will earn me RM1,000 worth of petrol voucher. Without giving much time to the other party, I replied in very firm tone saying that I have to work tomorrow and thank you for such invitation.

The rational tells that if I were really the VVIP, shall I received the invitation at least 2 weeks ahead the event? This could be just another con sales approach that try all angles to cheat our hard earn money. No pain no gain, reward just won't be giving away to us effortless.

Times is bad now, many con men out there are thinking of how to take your money away, beware!

P/S: The call was made from this phone line +603 7710 3271

感人的故事

不要跟你所在乎的人嘔氣太久, 會讓你一輩子都後悔的!
疼惜您所擁有的珍藏，追尋您所期盼的夢想。
這是個真實的故事（蘆荻口述　連淑香整理)

一個個無情的誤解，打亂了幸福的腳步。
當命運的死結終於用代價打開，一切都為時已晚。

接婆婆來家安度晚年﹐結果卻背離我們的初衷﹐
結婚二年後﹐先生跟我商量把婆婆從鄉下接來安度晚年。

先生很小時父親就過世了﹐他是婆婆唯一的寄託﹐
婆婆一個人扶養他長大﹐供他讀完大學。

"含辛茹苦"這四個字用在婆婆的身上﹐絕對不為過！
我連連說好﹐馬上給婆婆收拾出一間南向帶陽台的房間﹐
可以曬太陽﹐養花草什麼的。

先生站在陽光充足的房間﹐一句話沒說﹐卻突然舉起我在房間裡轉圈﹐
在我張牙舞爪地求饒時﹐先生說﹕"接咱們媽去。"
先生身材高大﹐我喜歡貼著他的胸口﹐
感覺嬌小的身體隨時可被他抓起來塞進口袋。
當我和先生發生爭執而又不肯屈服時﹐先生就把我舉起來﹐
在腦袋上方搖搖晃晃﹐
一直到我嚇得求饒。

這種驚恐的快樂讓我迷戀。

婆婆在鄉下的習慣一時改不掉。
我習慣買束鮮花擺在客廳裡﹐婆婆後來實在忍不住﹕
"你們娃娃不知道過日子﹐買花幹什麼？又不能當飯吃！"
我笑著說﹕"媽﹐家裡有鮮花盛開﹐人的心情會好。"
婆婆低著頭嘟噥﹐先生就笑﹕
"媽﹐這是城裡人的習慣﹐慢慢的﹐你就習慣了。"
婆婆不再說什麼﹐但每次見我買了鮮花回來﹐依舊忍不住問花了多少錢﹐
我說了﹐他就"嘖嘖"咂嘴。

有時﹐見我買大包小包的東西回家﹐她就問這個多少錢那個多少錢﹐
我─如實回答﹐她的嘴就咂的更響了。
先生擰著我的鼻子說﹕"小傻瓜你別告訴她真實價錢不就行了嗎？"
快樂的生活漸漸有了不和諧的聲音。

婆婆最看不慣我先生起來做早餐。
在她看來﹐大男人給老婆燒飯﹐哪有這個道理？
早餐桌上﹐婆婆經常陰著一張臉﹐我裝做看不見。
婆婆便把筷子弄得叮噹亂響﹐這是她無聲的抗議。

我在少年宮做舞蹈老師﹐跳一整天舞已夠累的了﹐
早晨暖洋洋的被窩﹐我不想扔掉這惟一的享受﹐
於是﹐我對婆婆的抗議裝聾作啞。

婆婆偶爾願意幫我做一些家務﹐但她一做我就更忙了。
比如﹐她把用過的垃圾袋通通收集起來﹐說等攢夠了賣廢塑料﹐
搞得家裡到處都是廢塑料袋；

她捨不得用洗潔精洗碗﹐為了不傷她的自尊﹐我只好偷偷再洗一遍。
一次﹐我晚上偷偷洗碗被婆婆看見了﹐

她"啪"的一聲摔上門﹐趴在自己的房間裡放聲大哭。
先生左右為難﹐事後﹐先生一晚上沒跟我說話﹐

我撒嬌﹐耍賴﹐他也不理我。
我火了﹐ 問他﹕"我究竟哪裡做錯了？"
先生瞪著我說﹕"你就不能遷就一下﹐碗再不乾淨也吃不死人吧？"
後來﹐好長一段時間﹐婆婆不跟我說話﹐
家裡的氣氛開始逐漸尷尬。

那段日子﹐先生活得很累﹐不知道要先逗誰開心好。
婆婆為了不讓兒子做早餐﹐義無反顧地承擔起燒早飯的"重任"。
婆婆看著先生吃得快樂﹐再看看我﹐用眼神譴責我沒有盡到做妻子的責任。
為了逃避尷尬﹐我只好在上班的路上買包奶打發自己。

睡覺時﹐先生有點生氣地問我﹕
"蘆荻﹐是不是嫌棄我媽做飯不衛生才不在家吃？"
翻了一個身﹐他扔給我冷冷的脊背﹐任憑我委屈的流淚。

最後﹐先生嘆氣﹕
"蘆荻﹐就當是為了我﹐你在家吃早餐行不行？"
我只好回到尷尬的早餐桌上。

那天早晨﹐我喝著婆婆煮的稀飯﹐忽然一陣反胃﹐
肚子裡所有的東西都搶著向外奔跑﹐我拼命地壓抑著不讓它們往上翻湧﹐
但還是壓不住﹐我扔下碗﹐衝進廁所﹐吐得稀裡嘩啦。

當我喘息著平定下來時﹐聽見婆婆夾雜著家鄉話的抱怨和哭聲﹐
先生站在衛生間門口憤怒地望著我﹐
我乾張著嘴巴說不出話﹐我真的不是故意的。
我和先生開始了第一次激烈的爭吵﹐婆婆先是瞪著眼看我們﹐
然後起身﹐蹣跚著出門去了。
先生恨恨地瞪了我一眼﹐下樓追婆婆去了。

意外迎來新生命﹐卻突然葬送了婆婆的性命！
整整三天﹐先生沒有回家﹐連電話都沒有。
我正氣著﹐想想自從婆婆來後﹐我已經受夠委屈了﹐還要我怎麼樣？
莫明其妙的﹐我最近總想嘔吐﹐吃什麼都沒有胃口﹐
加上亂七八糟的家事﹐心情差到了極點。
後來﹐還是同事告訴我﹕"蘆荻﹐你臉色很差﹐還是去醫院看看吧。"
醫院檢查的結果是我懷孕了。

我明白了那天早晨我為什麼突然嘔吐﹐幸福中夾著一絲幽怨﹕
先生和曾經是過來人的婆婆﹐他們怎麼就絲毫沒有想到這點呢？
在醫院門口﹐我看見了先生。僅僅三天沒見﹐他憔悴了許多。
我本想轉身就走﹐但他的模樣讓我心疼﹐沒忍住﹐我喊了他。

先生循著聲音看見了我﹐卻好像不認識了﹐
眼神裡有一絲藏不住的厭惡﹐這冰冷地刺傷了我。
我跟自己說不要看他不要看他﹐伸手攔了一輛出租車。

那時﹐我多想向先生大喊一聲﹕
"親愛的我要給你生個寶貝了！"然後被他舉起來﹐幸福地旋轉。
我希望的並沒有發生。

在出租車裡﹐我的眼淚才遲遲地落下來。
為什麼一場爭吵就讓愛情糟糕到這樣的程度？
回家後﹐我躺在床上想先生﹐想他滿眼的厭惡。我握著被子的一角哭了。

夜裡﹐家裡有翻抽屜的聲音。
打開燈﹐我看見先生淚流滿面的臉。他正在拿錢。
我冷冷地看著他﹐一聲不響。他對我視若無睹﹐拿著存摺和鈔票匆匆離開。
或許先生是打算徹底離開我了。

真是個理智的男人﹐情與錢分得如此清楚。
我冷笑了幾下﹐眼淚"嘩啦嘩啦 "的流下來。
第二天﹐我沒去上班。想徹底清理一下自己的思緒﹐找先生好好談一談。

找到先生的公司﹐秘書有點奇怪地看著我說﹕
"陳總的母親出了車禍﹐這幾天都在醫院裡呢。"我瞠目結舌。
飛奔到醫院﹐找到先生時﹐婆婆已經去世了。
先生一直不看我﹐一臉僵硬。

我望著婆婆幹瘦蒼白的臉﹐眼淚止不住﹕天哪！怎麼會是這樣？
直到安葬了婆婆﹐先生也沒跟我說一句話﹐
甚至看我一眼都帶著深深的厭惡。

關於車禍﹐我還是從別人嘴裡了解到大概﹐婆婆出門後迷迷糊糊地向車站走﹐她想回老家﹐
先生越追她走得越快﹐
穿過馬路時﹐一輛公車迎面撞過來……
我終於明白了先生的厭惡﹐如果那天早晨我沒有嘔吐﹐
如果我們沒有爭吵﹐如果……在他的心裡﹐認定我是間接殺死他母親的罪人。

先生默不作聲搬進了婆婆的房間﹐每晚回來都滿身酒氣。
而我一直被愧疚和可憐的自尊折騰得喘不過氣來﹐
想跟他解釋﹐想跟他說我們快有孩子了﹐
但看著他冰冷的眼神﹐又把所有的話都咽了回去。

我寧願先生打我一頓或者罵我一頓﹐雖然這一切事故都不是我故意要它發生的。
日子一天一天地窒息著重覆下去﹐先生回家的時間越來越晚。
我們僵持著﹐比一般的陌生人還要尷尬。
我是繫在他心上的死結。

一次﹐我路過一家西餐廳﹐穿過透明的落地窗﹐
我看見先生和一個年輕女孩面對面坐著﹐
他輕輕地為女孩攏了攏頭髮﹐我就明白了這一切。
先是呆住﹐然後我進了西餐廳﹐站在先生面前﹐死死盯著他看﹐眼裡沒有一滴淚。
我什麼也不想說﹐也無話可說。

女孩看看我﹐看看我先生﹐站起來想走﹐但我先生伸手按住她﹐
然後﹐同樣死死地﹐一樣絕不示弱地看著我。
我只能聽見自己緩慢的心跳﹐一下一下跳動在瀕臨死亡般的蒼白邊緣。
輸了的是我﹐如果再站下去﹐我會和肚子裡的孩子一起倒下的。

那一夜﹐先生沒回家﹐他用這樣的方式讓我明白﹕
隨著婆婆的去世﹐我們的愛情也死了。
先生再也沒有回來過。
有時﹐我下班回來﹐看見衣櫥有被動過──是先生回來拿一點自己的東西。
我不想給他打電話﹐原先還有試圖向他解釋一番的念頭﹐但一切都已經徹底失去了。

我一個人過生活﹐一個人去醫院作產檢﹐
每每看見有男人小心地扶著妻子去做產檢﹐我的心便碎的不成樣子。
同事隱約勸我拿掉算了﹐我堅決說不﹐
我發瘋似的一定要生下這個孩子﹐也算是對婆婆的死的補償吧。

我下班回來﹐先生坐在客廳裡﹐滿屋子煙霧彌漫﹐茶几上擺著一張紙。
沒必要看﹐我知道那裡面寫了什麼內容。
先生不在家的二個多月﹐我逐漸學會了平靜。
我看著他﹐摘下帽子﹐說﹕"你等一下﹐我簽字。"
先生看著我﹐眼神複雜﹐和我一樣。
我一邊解大衣扣子一邊在心裡對自己說﹕"不哭不能哭……"眼睛很疼﹐
但我決不讓眼淚流出來。

掛好大衣﹐先生的眼睛死死的盯著我已然隆起的肚子。
我笑了笑﹐走過去﹐拖過那張紙﹐看也不看﹐簽上自己的名字﹐推還給他。

"蘆荻﹐你懷孕了？"
自從婆婆出事後﹐這是先生跟我說的第一句話。
我再也管不住眼睛﹐眼淚一瞬間嘩啦地流下來。
我說﹕"是啊﹐不過沒事﹐你可以走了。"


先生沒走﹐黑暗裡﹐我們對望著。
先生慢慢趴在我身上﹐眼淚滲透了被子。
而在我心裡﹐很多東西已經走遠了﹐遠到即使我奔跑都追不到了。

不記得先生跟我說過多少遍"對不起"了﹐
我也曾經以為自己會原諒﹐但卻不能﹐在西餐廳先生當著那個女孩的面﹐
他那冰冷的眼神﹐這輩子﹐我忘記不了了。

我們在彼此心上劃下了一道不可磨滅的傷痕。
我的﹐是無意的；他的﹐是刻意的。
期待著冰釋前嫌﹐但過去的已無法再重來！

除了想起肚子裡的孩子時心裡是暖暖的﹐而對先生﹐我心是冷如冰霜﹐
不吃他買的任何東西﹐不收他的任何禮物﹐不跟他多說一句話。
從在那張紙上簽了字後﹐婚姻以及愛情統統在我的心裡消失了。

有時先生試圖進臥室﹐他來﹐我就出去客廳﹐先生只好睡回婆婆的房間。
夜裡﹐從先生的房間有時會傳來輕微的呻吟﹐我都一聲不響。
這是他習慣玩的伎倆﹐以前只要我不理他了﹐他就裝病﹐
我就會乖乖投降﹐關心他怎麼了﹐他就一把抓住我哈哈大笑。
他似乎忘了﹐那時﹐我會心疼是因為有愛情﹐
而現在﹐我們還有什麼？

先生的呻吟斷斷續續的一直到孩子出生。
他幾乎每天都在給孩子買東西﹐嬰兒用品﹐兒童用品﹐
以及孩子喜歡的書﹐一包包的﹐快把他的房間堆滿了。
我知道他是想用這樣的方式感動我﹐而我完全不為所動。

他只好關在房間裡﹐用電腦"批哩啪啦"敲字﹐
或許他正網戀吧﹐但對我已經是無所謂的事了。
隔年春未的一個深夜﹐劇烈的腹痛讓我叫了出來﹐
先生一個箭步衝進來﹐好像他根本就沒脫衣服睡覺﹐
為的就是等這一刻的到來。

先生背起我就往樓下跑﹐攔車﹐一路上緊緊地握住我的手﹐
不停地幫我擦掉額頭上的汗。
到了醫院﹐背起我就往婦產科跑。
趴在他幹瘦而溫暖的背上﹐一個念頭忽然闖進我心裡﹕
這一生﹐還有人會像他這樣疼愛我嗎？

先生扶著產房的門把喘息著﹐看著我被推進去﹐
那眼神是暖融融的﹐我忍著陣痛對他笑了一下。
從產房出來後﹐先生望著我和兒子﹐
眼睛濕濕地笑啊笑啊的。

我摸了一下他的手﹐卻是意外的冰冷
先生望著我﹐微笑﹐然後﹐緩慢而疲憊地癱軟倒下。
我放聲叫喊著他名字……
先生依然笑著﹐但沒睜開那疲憊的眼睛……
我以為這一生我再也不會為先生流一滴淚﹐
而事實卻是﹐從沒有過的如此劇痛撕扯著我的身體。

醫生說﹐我先生的肝癌發現時已是晚期﹐他能堅持這麼久真的算是奇蹟。
我問醫生什麼 時候發現的？
醫生說在五個月前﹐然後安慰我﹕"好好的準備後事吧。"
我不顧護士的阻攔﹐回到家﹐衝進先生的房間打開電腦﹐
心跳一下子被疼痛窒息了。

先生的肝癌在五個月前就已發現﹐他在夜裡的呻吟是真的﹐
我居然還以為……
而電腦上滿滿的20多萬字﹐是先生寫給兒子的留言﹕
孩子﹐為了你﹐我一直在堅持﹐我要撐到看你一眼再倒下﹐
是我這一生最大的願望……
我知道﹐你的一生會有很多快樂或者遇到挫折﹐
如果我能夠陪你經歷這個成長歷程﹐那該有多麼美好﹐
但我想爸爸我沒有這個機會了。
爸爸在電腦上﹐把你一生可能遇到的問題一一地寫下來﹐
當你之後遇到這些問題時﹐或許你可以參考爸爸給你的意見…………
孩子﹐寫完這20多萬字﹐我感覺像陪你經歷了整個成長過程。
真的﹐爸爸現在很快樂。
好好愛你的媽媽﹐她很辛苦﹐
她是這世上最愛你的人﹐也是我這世上最愛的人……
從兒子去幼兒園到讀小學﹐讀中學﹐大學﹐
到工作以及愛情種種方面﹐巨細靡遺都寫到了。

先生也給我寫了留言﹕
親愛的﹐娶了你是我一輩子最大的幸福﹐
原諒我對你的傷害﹐原諒我隱瞞了病情﹐
因為我想讓你有個好的心情等待孩子的出生……
親愛的﹐如果你現在哭了﹐那代表你已經原諒我了﹐那我就會笑了﹐謝謝你一直愛著我…還為我生了個孩子…
這些禮物﹐我想我是沒有機會親自送給孩子了﹐
請你每年替我送他幾份禮物﹐包裝盒子上都寫好了送禮物的日期……親愛的……
回到醫院﹐先生依舊在昏迷中。
我把兒子抱過來﹐放在他身邊﹐我說﹕
"你睜開眼笑一下吧﹐我要讓兒子記住在他爸爸懷裡的溫暖……"
先生艱難地睜開眼﹐微微地笑了一下。

兒子偎依在他懷裡﹐舞動著粉紅色的小手。
我"喀嚓喀嚓"按下快門﹐淚水在臉上放肆地流……

親愛的朋友們 :
轉傳一篇感人的文章與你們分享，在你看完了故事，並哭紅你的雙眼時，請記得這個故事警惕我們，有話要講出來，不要憋在心裡，尤其是對於你所在乎的人。

「人生最大的懲罰就是後悔」，有智慧的您--能不好好把握嗎？

300+ posts of Marcoblogs are indexed by Google

As my previous post mentioned, my January 2009 Adsense performance was really a disappointment. With the less than 1000 page impressions, I realised that it is a need to do something to drive my blogs traffic.

Because with limited traffic, I would not be able to convey the key messages to the world. If you're the following my blogs either Health & Beauty Tips or Self Help, you will know that 'work life balance', 'family value', 'natural treatment to cure cancer/ diseases' as well as 'how lifestyle contribute to our general well-being' are most focused.

It has been almost a year since my last login to Google Webmaster Tools. I found that only the latest 26 URLs in the atom.xml sitemap are submitted for indexing. Meaning that no matter there are 100 or 999 URLs in the site, only the 26 latest URLs will be contained in the sitemap. After some research via the Internet, finally I managed to include all the URLs in my blogs in the sitemaps. Now, total of some 300+ posts under 3 of my blogs are indexed by Google as compared to merely 78 (26 X 3) urls in the pasts.

Hopefully with more URLs being indexed by Google will be able boost the traffic significantly.

Special Screening of Dragonball Evolution by 20th Century Fox Film

10th March 2009 was the date of the Premiere Screening of Dragonball Evolution. My daughter who posed the almost perfect 'Kame Hame Ha’ has won us a pair of tickets to view the special screening at Golden Screen Cinema, One Utama at 9:30pm.

I rushed back from my office at 7:00pm, reached home at around 7:45pm, had a shower followed with a simple dinner, get my daughter prepared while waiting for my wife to get ready.

We arrived at the Nuffnang counter at around 9:00pm. Yes, the timing was just nice. Three of us were so excited that this is the first time we brought our 4-year-old daughter for a movie. While we proceed to the cinema hall, we were stopped by a security guard that directed us to another counter where we were require to surrender our hand phones before entering to the cinema hall.

I've then look at the ticket where indicated as below:
"Strictly no cameras, handphones, PDAs, laptops or any other electronics devices are permitted into the cinema."

Alright, I knew that I've got to make a choice to either obey to the 'last minute' condition or just walk away. Based on the rational considering the value of our hand phones and all the valuable information stored inside, it is just not worthy to take the risk. Of course, before we left One Utama, we did walk around the new wing and my daughter was enjoying that moment.

I would like to highlight 2 points to the relevant organizers as below:

1. What is the main objective of not allowing cameras, hand phones, PDAs and laptops from entering the cinema hall? I guess it shall be one of the measure to prevent pirated copy of movie. But common sense tells us that hand phone's camera just could not make it. Why hand phone is in the prohibited list? Some rational please.

2. It is alright to implement such condition, as it is the right of the organizer. But can't it be conveyed with notice given?

January 2009 Adsense Performance

January 2009 was a short working month for Chinese communities due to the celebration of the Ox-picious Chinese New Year. The page impressions of January 2009 registered record low at 791. In accordance to the weak page impressions, my Adsense earning of January was closed at USD 11.43.

As compared to January 2008 performance in term of earning, January 2009 has showed the growth of approximately 50%.

January was the very first month of the year, the budget of most of the organizations has not firmed yet where it slowdown the purchasing activities that involve capital expenditures.

This may be the reason that caused low traffic to my Industrial Marking & Coding and Large Format Printing Technologies blog which is most visited by potential buyers of industrial inkjet printers and large format inkjet printers.

Month-to-month performance review:
Page Impressions (January 2009 vs. December 2008): ↓45.01%
Earnings (January 2009 vs. December 2008): ↓38.68%

HSBC Credit Card Rewards Redemption

Credit card is equally important as driving license and identity card to me. It helps me to minimise the cash in my wallet so that I do not need to carry a ‘fat’ wallet with me.

I used to have many active credit cards namely Citibank, HSBC, Alliance, OCBC and Ambank. In result, I have to write many cheques every month for the payment settlements. Sometimes, I got to pay a lot for late payment penalty as I ought to miss out some of them when come to payment.

At last, I have trimmed down to only one credit card which is HSBC Master Card. This measure has saved me for the unnecessary expenses like late payment penalty and annual fees. Besides, the accumulation of reward points has also become more significant.

There are some 25,000 HSBC reward points expiring on March 2009. After surfing through HSBC Rewards Redemption website, very likely I will redeem for Gin & Jacqie bag and cosmetic pouch at the total of 27,500 reward points.

What are the items you normally redeem with your reward points?

Health & Beauty Tips and Self Help

I started my first blog with http://simplelife4u.blogspot.com. The very initial objective of that blog was to archive all the tips and hints on how one can simplify our life like from all aspects like from family & friends, working environment, personal finance, time management, health information, work life balance, etc.

Most of the content of http://simplelife4u.blogspot.com was made up of health & beauty tips, self help related posts were just merely 5% of the total content. Hence, another blog called Self Help was created to focus more on personal growth, self improvement, self-help and personal finance.

I’m going to tidy up the content of Health & Beauty Tips. Posts that seem to be more appropriate to share in Self Help will relocated from one blog to another.

Below was the first article that I posted on http://simplelife4u.blogspot.com which will be deleted from its original location soon.

I am looking forward to simplify my life. It can be started from home, office, relationship, etc.

Get it started from the office is the initial objective; even some old Chinese says that "everything should have started from your family."

Working as a consulting engineer, there are tones of documents, name cards, faxed-in enquiries on my desks. Besides, there are also many spontaneous calls and emails that flooded to my workplace.

By referring to some basic principals like 5s, stay focus and etc, some improvement is expected.

Invitation to Premiere Screening of Dragonball Evolution by Nuffnang

Received the invitation to Premiere Screening of Dragonball Evolution from Nuffnang thru email.

Normally I won't be going for movie during working days, but this round is going to be a special occasion.

Thanks to my elder daughter for performed the best Kame Hame Ha pose!