Interactive tool to learn driving

When I first applied for my driving license, I was really confident. Maybe too over confident in hind sight because I failed my driving test and had to retake it.

After obtaining my driving license, I only drove short distances and that too near my house. It took me another 2 more years before I could pluck up enough courage to navigate through the crazy roads of Kuala Lumpur. I actually had to relearn how to drive all over again. I guess a lot of people go through this process.

Now it's so easy to learn to drive. This award winning 105 minute DVD from Vat19 is loaded with so many interactive features. It is hosted by teens that will relate to the driving student, and boasting high quality production values.

Some of the features include Interactive Quizzes, Multi-angle 3D explanations and Road Sign Tests among others. I really liked the fact that they put in a bonus section on basic maintenance of your vehicles. As noted on the site:

"A properly maintained car is safer and more reliable."

Also check out their AAA-certified emergency auto kit. They have thought of almost every emergency, including a bungee cord "for holding down a broken trunk or keeping a door closed".

Plugging Lisa

Lisa is a fellow postie at ppp and she has a very interesting blog called "My thoughts, ideas and ramblings". A work at home mum, she is involved in several side projects and is indeed a prolific writer. For example, she wrote 11 posts today (when I last checked). I would be hard pressed to come up with 3 a day.

Good luck with the baby Lisa.

Publish your book online

If you are an aspiring author, I am sure you want an easy way to get it out to the public as soon as possible. You may want to take a look at Amira Press, a relatively new comer in the book publishing industry. According to Yvette A. Lynn, CEO of the company and author herself:

"our mission is to provide an experience so far out of the ordinary, that our readers will look to stay lost forever in the worlds our writers have created for the reader's enjoyment."

They require new authors in most genres of fiction, including romance, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, futuristic, young adult, etc. However, writers of horror, children's stories and erotica should go somewhere else as Amira Press doesn't accept these genres.

If you do have written something and on the look out for a publisher, check out the submission guidelines here: http://www.amirapress.com/submissions.htm

It should also be noted that Amira Press is a royalty-paying publisher and no fees to authors at all.

I was going through some of the titles they have and most of them seem to be romance titles. The prices start from $2.50. Not much of a fan of romance novels and would love to see some science fiction titles on their list.

Spooky sound

As he made the strange spooky sound.
I seemed to hear a voice
And then a ghostly image passed by...

Buying rainbow sandals online

rainbow sandals are considered as the best sandals in the World and Active Sandals has the best selection of this brand of sandals anywhere on the web.

Men's Rainbow Sandals - Premier Leather - Sand XXL

Active Sandals is an online store, which specialises in sandals. It has one of the largest in-stock selection of sandals on the net. The brands they carry are Reef, Chaco, and Rainbow sandals. Rainbow sandals are known for their excellent quality. You might be surprised to learn that they are Hand-Made with parachute stitching and 2,000 lb test military spec strap. The sole is made up of of laminated, closed cell sponge rubber and feature a non-skid surface which molds to the foot.

So if you are looking for rainbow sandals, I recommend Active Sandals because of their great prices and reliable shipping.

Friends from Holland

We finally got to meet up in person with our close friends Zaza and Hardy, and their cute son, Aidan, after such a long time. Actually Hardy's here for work but it was the perfect opportunity for Zaza to visit us and her sister, Fifi and her husband Redza.

They informed us that they were planning a trip to Birmingham to stock up on food and we decided to tag along yesterday. It was our first visit to Wing Yip, which probably has the largest selection of Asian food in the UK. Was amazed to find some familiar Malaysian brand names there.

Finally tasted real Malaysian "roti chanai", again today. Not as good as the one in my favourite stall in Kedah but I am not complaining.

wing yip
friends

Creating wedding invitations online

A wedding is one of the most important and special occasions in our life. For most people, it is a once in a lifetime thing.

If you are among those who are getting married soon or plan to get married in the near future, there are a number of things you have to take care of. It is always advisable to keep a checklist.

One of the most important items on that checklist are the invitations. Whether you are planning to invite a few close friends and relatives or even a hundred, make sure you have a nice personalised wedding invitation. As I mentioned before, it is a "one in a lifetime" occasion. On our wedding, I was lucky I had a very creative and resourceful father-in-law who actually designed our wedding invitations and even arranged for their printing.

I realise that not everyone is that lucky and designing and printing out your own invitation cards is not everybody's cup of tea. In fact I strongly advise all those planning to get married to get a professional to do it for you. You may want to take a look at Noel's Gift Shop, an online retailer of personalized wedding invitations and bridal accessories for soon-to-be brides. They provide beautiful personalised wedding invitations at really affordable prices.

They have a number of invitation themes. According to the site, their most popular ones are the African wedding invitations, snowflake wedding invitations, fall invitations, seashell invitations and modern invitations. Had to search around a bit before I could find them. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a "popular designs" on a separate page. My wife also commented that the font were a bit too small for her liking.

Overall, the site has a simple design and is quite easy to navigate. They also have a free online catalog in the Acrobat (pdf) format that that you can view and immediately click on an invitation to begin the ordering process.

For your information, they are having a free napkin promotion for the month of March. Check out the site even if you are not getting married soon as they have invitations for other occasions too.