The expat meme

I was tagged by Lilian in Thailand sometime back. Finally got down to doing this 5,4,3,2,1 meme.

Name five things you love in your new country:

1. The excellent public transport facilities
2. The beautiful parks
3. Car boot sales
4. Courteous drivers
5. Fast internet access (at least as compared to Malaysia)

Name four things that you miss from your native country. (I’ll take Malaysia)

1. My family and friends(similar to Lilian)
2. Cheap food
3. Malls that open way late (sometimes past midnight)
4. Being able to go out at midnight to have a cup of teh tarik (pulled tea) and eat a late supper at a 24 hours open mamak stall.

Name three things that annoy you a bit (or much) in your new country:

1. The NHS doctors who are not very friendly (except for one lady doctor)
2. High tax on almost everything (including TV)
3. Racist yobs.

Name two things that surprise you (or surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:

1. The fact that most of the houses up for rental were owned by British of Pakistani origin (at least in Coventry and Birmingham).
2. Finding out that a lot of things are way better in Malaysia. This includes the level of service provided by some companies which leaves a lot to be desired.

Name one thing that you would miss terribly in your new country, if you had to leave it:

1. Nothing much actually. I guess I am still new here to miss anything.

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I pass this meme on to anyone who would like to do it.

All in one web messenger

Some people use only one type of web messenger but I have MSN (my oldest), Yahoo, Google Talk, ICQ as well as Skype. Opening up all of them on my old computer can cause a few problem, sometimes even hanging it. However, I found the perfect solution.

Koolim is a new Web Messenger that allows you to access MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Google Talk and ICQ. You don't need to install anything on your computer - no extra software or Java plug-ins into your computer. All you need is a a computer with a browser and internet access.

Also a great option to get in touch with family and friends through your favourite messenger when it is blocked on your organisation's firewall. However, make sure that your boss doesn't find out.

Kryptonite discovered in Siberia

Kryptonite is an fictional substance and is the remains of Krypton, Superman's native planet that blew up. It is glowing green in colour and is one of Superman's weakness - it robs him of his superhuman strength.

The chemical composition of Kyrptonite is supposed to be "sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine." (from the 2006 movie "Superman Returns").

Well they have discovered a new mineral with the exact chemical composition in Siberia. However, it is white in colour, not radioactive and does not contain fluorine. They have named it Jadarite and not Kyrptonite. I am not joking.

Read the article on the Discovery site here.

Why you need breakdown cover 2

Continuing from where I left off in my last post.

I rushed back and picked up Naz. Learned that the AA people had come and left. The mechanic had refused to wait and told Aznil that it was out of his hands. Really felt bad for Aznil. He had just arrived from Malaysia and jet lagged. And there he was, freezing by the motorway.

When we reached him, another tow truck had just arrived. The tow truck was to take the car to the nearest service area - being Tamworth. It was about 5 minutes drive and for that he took £115. He also informed us that the car had been left on the highway for way too long and a police fine might be coming in the mail soon. I hope not.

I was relieved that we were at least out of the motorway. Aznil called up the AA as soon as we reached the rest area. They informed that they would be sending someone 90 minutes later.

We went over and had drinks and some snacks. I suddenly realised that I haven't had lunch. Felt sightly better after that.

The AA guy finally arrived right on the dot. He put in a temporary hose and recharged the battery. Our spirits lifted when the engine started but went down again when it died. The mechanic's diagnosis was the the engine had been damaged and it wouldn't take them either to Nottingham or to Coventry.

At that moment in time, it was like a blur and I couldn't think of anything. Can just imagine how Aznil and Naz were feeling.

Finally there was some good news, the mechanic was able to get in touch with a mechanic who would be able to tow them back to Nottingham but they would have to pay around £50. Of course, they readily agreed.

I returned to our house in Coventry to fetch the kids (around 22 miles). It was around 10 pm when I reached the Tamworth service area. The tow truck was not there yet but was on the way. So with nothing more to do, I went back home. Had gone back and forth between my house and their car 8 times yesterday. Not sure how many miles I had driven. You go do the maths.

It was a tiring day but I learnt a lot of lessons with #1 being:

"Don't procrastinate! Go get a breakdown cover ASAP."

Ladies headgear

If you go to a formal event here in the UK, you would most certainly need to wear something appropriate. For ladies, a head gear is absolutely essential. There are 2 main types you need to choose from - a hat or a fascinator.

I was amazed at the range of hats on various sites. There are all kinds of hats for almost every occasion, from a day at the beach to weddings or to a day at the Royal Ascot (which is coming up) or any other special event. Some look really crazy and I wonder who would ever wear those but I guess someone eventually will. Other hair accessories includes tiaras, combs, clamps, and headbands among others. Just that extra personal touch to make you look special. I am sure you fashion conscious ladies know what I mean.

I am lucky I am a guy and do not have to worry about a headgear.

Google is #1 brand

Google has been named as the most powerful global brand of 2007 beating others such as Microsoft and Coca-Cola.

The ranking called 2007 brandz, Top 100 most powerful brands, was carried out by market researcher Millward Brown Optimor.

Is it that surprising?

Related link: Google beats Microsoft, Coke in brand stakes

Zipping files - the new generation

A lot of people worry about data security but don't do anything much about it because they assume that the cost of doing so will be high. There might be files in your computer that you don't want others to see or is meant for only a select group of people - for example, confidential company information, tax records, bank statements, medical records and other private information. In case you are looking for desktop data security, I recommend that you take a look at "SecureZIP - The next generation of ZIP".

SecureZIP (www.securezip.com) is an amazing solution for protecting email messages and attachments, as well as data stored on hard-drives, laptops and portable storage media. As is clear from the name, this application provides compression but at the same time also provides strong file level security.

It can be integrated with Microsoft Outlook® in order to secure email messages and attachments. Thus it will automatically protect email messages and attachments. You do this by automatically encrypting, digitally signing and zipping email messages and attachments.

Best of all, this great application can be deployed with minimal changes to current processes and existing security infrastructures.

You can now download the full version (not trial software) for a limited time only. All you need to do is get a full individual user license by providing your full e-mail address.