The Wars of 4Square Points

Courtesy Picture from Google.

I have been using FourSquare for quite a while and up till now, I had accomplished 318 check-ins, 10 badges, 7 mayorships and with 27 friends (as in June 18, 5:55p.m.) Besides all those things mentioned above, there is still one more thing, the leaderboard.

The leaderboard is the place where it will display your stats and also points that you had earned from every check-ins. The more points you earned, the higher ranking you will get. When you explore places that you never 'check-in' before, you might stand a change to get more and more points.

I had turned FourSquare notifications on and will get every latest check-ins of my friends. Of course, I am also not bad in 'check-ins' too. My ranking always within the top 10 (obviously also within top 5 and top 3). 

Whenever I was on the top of the leaderboard, somehow, they are people raging their wars to "topple" from being on the number one spot. I had been "topple" for a few times by the same person, who was also a blogger, a tweeter and also a FourSquare user. She often check-ins to places in a moment after I had climbed back to the spot.

Please don't mistaken that I am not talking bad about other people or to her, I just wanted to voice out my opinions because now even FourSquare has become a "war zone" for its users. This is call competitive. 

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Kad Rabbit RapidKL

Kad Rabbit adalah tiket bas elektronik dengan menggunakan kad Touch 'n Go. Sistem ini adalah untuk mengurangkan penggunaan tiket kertas yang sedia ada supaya dapat mengambil langkah untuk memelihara alam sekitar.

Diperkenalkan pada bulan Mac, sistem ini diguna pakai oleh kesemua bas RapidKL. Bas-bas yang dibeli terdahulu atau dibaikpulih dari bas-bas Intrakota dan Park May seperti Mercedes, King Long dan lain-lain. Bas-bas ini masih mempunyai sistem tiket kertas, kecuali bas-bas jenama MAN yang hanya menggunakan Kad Rabbit.

Kad Rabbit memulakan promosi mereka di perhentian-perhentian bas dan stesen-stesen LRT (STAR dan PUTRA) pada pertengahan bulan Mac. Kad-kad Rabbit fasa pertama adalah berwarna merah jambu, manakala fasa kedua adalah berwarna merah. Kad-Kad Rabbit untuk pelajar dan warga emas juga boleh didaftar di stesen-stesen LRT sekiranya anda mempunyai kad pelajar (untuk pelajar) dan berusia 60 tahun ke atas membawa salinan kad pengenalan sebagai bukti. Warna Kad Rabbit mereka masing-masing berwarna biru dah coklat. 

Pengguna-pengguna kad Tag 'n Go yang sedia ada dan pemegang RapidPass boleh menggunakan kad mereka untuk menaiki bas. Sebelum bulan Jun, pengguna-pengguna RapidKad boleh menikmati diskaun tambang sebanyak 20 peratus. Kadar tambang normal sedang diguna pakai sekarang. 

Sekiranya baki Kad Rabbit atau Touch 'n Go anda kurang daripada jumlah tambang keseluruhan perjalanan, contoh: Dari Destinasi #1 (Zon 1) hingga Destinasi terakhir (Zon 3) adalah RM2.50, maka kad anda perlu mempunyai RM2.50 agar anda dibenarkan masuk ke dalam bas.

Anda tidak perlu risau sekiranya anda tidak mempunyai Kad Rabbit ataupun mahu menambah nilai kerana di dalam bas-bas terdapat mesin untuk membeli dan juga untuk menambah nilai. Untuk membeli kad, tekan butang "BELI KAD" dan masukkan RM5 atau RM10 ke dalam mesin itu. Kemudian, ambil kad yang dibeli di bawah mesin. Mereka yang mahu menambah nilai, tekan butang "TAMBAH NILAI" dan masukkan wang anda (RM1, RM5 dan RM10).

Ramai pengguna masih tidak peka walaupun pengiklanan dibuat melalui skrin Asia Media di dalam bas, laman rasmi RapidKL dan brosur. Seperti mana yang dapat dilihat, pengguna-pengguna Kad Rabbit Warga Emas lebih peka kepada perubahan ini daripada mereka yang masih muda-mudi. Apabila sesetengah orang dihalau keluar daripada bas (diandaikan pemandu bas tersebut menyatakan "KAD SAHAJA"), mereka yang dihalau itu yang membuat pelbagai aduan.

Perubahan ini telah menjimatkan masa untuk menaiki bas dan tidak perlu berebut masuk ke dalam bas untuk membeli tiket. Cuma perlu sentuhkan kad anda semasa memasuki bas dan sentuh sebelum turun daripada bas. Tambahan pula, anda boleh mendapat tempat duduk kerana kebanyakan orang masih tidak peka dan masih berdegil untuk membeli tiket kertas.

Saya telah membeli 2 Kad Rabbit (merah dan merah jambu) di mana saya boleh menggunakannya untuk menaiki LRT dan menaiki bas. Artikel ini ditulis berdasarkan pengalaman saya menaiki bas RapidKL jenama MAN. 

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Happy hours and other ways to get cheap(er) drinks in Kuala Lumpur

How to have your very own credit crunch.

One of the biggest complaints about Kuala Lumpur, from both visitors and residents alike, is the shocking price of alcohol. It is often more expensive to get a drink in KL than in notoriously expensive cities like London and New York (and er, islands like Bali). Hefty government taxes are partly to blame, but many bars and restaurants contribute to the problem by having extremely high mark-ups. The routine charging of "plus plus" (10% service, and 6% sales tax), helps to inflate excessive prices even further. Clearly, the best way to avoid being ripped off is to abstain, but several other options exist to significantly cut the budget-busting cost of drinking in KL.

As with good comedy, timing is crucial to being a cheapskate drinker. The majority of bars, and quite a few restaurants too, have happy hours. The first thing to remember about happy hours is that they are almost never limited to just 60 minutes. Most commonly, they kick off about 17:00, and wrap up by 20:00, but some start before midday, and others run into the early hours of the morning. It is also important to recognise that many happy hours are not that generous. But in the end, every little bit helps.

Drink early, Drink often! For everyone!

With hundreds of happy hours around the city, and the strange reluctance of many establishments to publicise their own promotions, the choice can be a bit bewildering. Here's a few of the better ones, to get you started.

The Social on Changkat Bukit Bintang has a long happy hour, from 11:00 to 21:00, with decent, if not spectacular, reductions on its draught beer and house wines. A few doors away, Twenty One Kitchen and Bar packs its offers into a much smaller period (17:00 to 20:00), but they are more generous, including two for the price of one on all loose drinks.

With hundreds of happy hours around the city, and the strange reluctance of many establishments to publicise their own promotions, the choice can be a bit bewildering. Here's a few of the better ones, to get you started.

The Social on Changkat Bukit Bintang has a long happy hour, from 11:00 to 21:00, with decent, if not spectacular, reductions on its draught beer and house wines. A few doors away, Twenty One Kitchen and Bar packs its offers into a much smaller period (17:00 to 20:00), but they are more generous, including two for the price of one on all loose drinks.

Cheap beer, shame about the plastic furniture.

Away from Changkat, several of the outside (level 3) bars and restaurants at The Pavilion do good offers on buckets of beer (4-5 bottles), such as Island Bistro. Many of the places in and around KLCC have decent happy hours, including Malones, which reduces its prices on a range of draught beers between 14:00 and 21:00 on weekdays. Pints are especially good value. The Library at Avenue K (opposite KLCC)  does two-for-one (pints only) on several draught beers from 12:00 to 18:00, while you get a free half pint for every pint from 18:00 to 22:00. In Bangsar, another branch of the Social has a reasonable happy hour from 12:00 to 21:00.

Happy hours are not the only way to cut down the price of drinking though. Being a woman helps a great deal, as many establishments are desperate to attract female clientele. The city has umpteen "ladies nights", mostly midweek, with cheap or even free drinks, such as Girls Night Out, at Sky Bar, which has free flow on selected cocktails between 20:00 and 22:00 on Wednesdays.

A small number of bars try the novel approach of offering reasonable prices at all times, such as Ceylon Bar in Changkat. If only more places followed suit.

Never mind the quality, feel the volume.

Another good tactic is to head to a Chinese coffee shop. Almost all of them serve beer at relatively cheap prices (14-15 ringgit for a big bottle of Tiger or Carlsberg). A great choice is Wong Ah Wah, located in the car park at the Jalan Tong Shin end of Jalan Alor. It's not the most sophisticated of settings, but it has a great atmosphere, it's open until gone 03:00, and should you get peckish, the food is excellent.

In terms of retail booze, Chinese-run convenience stores are normally the cheapest place to buy beer, while for wine, supermarkets are your best bet, although try to avoid the full-price bottles. The cheapest alcohol of all has to be locally produced spirits, with great names like Balalaika Vodka and Watson's Gin. It's really not that bad with mixers. How potentially harmful it is to your health is anyone's guess.

The Social

(Changkat) 22 Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

T: (03) 2142 8260

(Bangsar) 57-59 Telawi Street 3, Bangsar Village, Kuala Lumpur

T: (03) 2282 2260

http://www.thesocial.com.my/

Twenty One Kitchen and Bar

20-1 Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

T: (03) 2142 0021

http://www.drbar.asia/

Island Bistro

C10, level 3, The Pavilion, 158 Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

T: (03) 2145 1886 (ext 355)

www.tangs.com.my/lifestyle-concepts/islandbistro.php

The Ceylon Bar

20-2 Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

T: (03) 2145 7689

Malones

Lot 48 Ground Floor, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

http://www.malones.my/

The Library

Ground Floor, Avenue K, 156 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur

T: (03) 2161 3869

http://www.thelibrary.my/

Sky Bar

Level 33, Traders Hotel, KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

T: (03) 2332 9888

http://skybar.com.my/

Wong Ah Wah

9 Jalan Alor, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Source from: http://malaysia.travel.yahoo.com/inspirations/310-happy-hours-and-other-ways-to-get-cheaper-drinks-in-kuala-lumpur

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5th BookFest at Kuala Lumpur Convention Center

Today, as I wanted to go to the 5th BookFest, I woke up automatically (although were because my lips were dry and painful - ulcer on the outer middle of my bottom lip). Again, I wasted an hour time during the time I woke up and preparing myself to go out.

The hand sticker is the entrance ticket and they will give you a catalog.

I took SJ Bus to go to Maluri because there was no RapidKL buses came into the end of Damai Perdana. Furthermore when still the month of Ramadhan, I’m sure that RapidKL bus drivers will be ‘lazy’ to come in (because the time also was during the afternoon.) While the bus was on the way, there was a RapidKL bus in front of the bus while I was in it.

I was a bit scared with my clothing because for the first time I wore T-shirt with a collar (and the collar need to remain stand). Of course I reached Maluri LRT station safely before I crossed over to the Maluri Bus Terminal. Then, I took RapidKL’s B114 to KLCC. I walked a long way to the Convention Center soon after I arrived in front of Suria KLCC.

In the blur mood, I went into the Convention Center without knowing where I am going to go. But there were few people came down from the escalator carried the BookFest’s plastic bag. I even asked the security guard and as where am I supposed to go? Even when I found the place, I am still confuse and looking for Steven. I was stupid enough to send SMS to him, to tell that I had reached.

When I reached Hall 1, I found that there were people wearing the red-thingy thing on their wrists. I walked around and went back to Hall 5 which only found out that I need to pay for the entrance fee. (Well! The sign at the Hall 1 was in Chinese while the one at Hall 5 was in English). I also didn’t bring so much of money with me. I checked my wallet and I only have RM10 (all in RM1 notes). The sign of the queuing lane says that “RM2 per entrance, RM10 for season pass”. I was like. “Huh? Every time I came out and in again need to cost me RM2 per entry?” When I checked the instructions in Chinese and it says that “RM2 per day and RM10 for 9-days period.”

After I get my ticket, I went back to Hall 1 for the entrance. I started to look around while looking for Steven too. Whoa! All books are in Chinese language. No English books at all. As I went down further, I saw cashiers with many people. I didn’t realize that at the side of the cashiers, there are 2 ways (at the left and right sides). When I do, I went through and saw many electronic items (with stationeries too). I have the catalog to refer but I didn’t use it. As I went to the end of it, there you are! *English books. Yet, I still can’t find Steven.

I went and round and round… At the English department’s cashier lane’s security check, I saw Steven’s brother (finally). He said that his brother is at the English department. Again, I went and check it out. Still unable to find him, I just continue to look things around.

Around 2:10p.m. I went out of the exhibition halls and try to see if I have the luck to find him or not? What I found was Steven’s brother once more and he was about to go for his lunch. He invited me to follow along and I followed him to Suria KLCC via a shortcut. We went for McDonalds’ since I don’t have much money because I forgotten to get my money.

After the lunch, we went back inside and Steven’s brother needs to get back to work. I went to English department once more to try my luck again. Thank God! Finally, I got him. He was at the children’s department. While he was working, I keep running around (not the running to be exact). When I saw him free, I will go to him and chat with him like a spy.

Oops! A picture of Steven doing his work at the BookFeast.

As time goes on, it’s nearly time to go home. I told Steven that I need to go home and hoping that I can have another day to come again. On the way home, I checked the catalog while on RapidKL’s B103 to Bukit Bintang. Only then, I saw the MOL PayPal Digital Card. I wanted it so badly when I was taking bus of U47 before changing U46 at Maluri.

I reached home and discussed it with my mother (although my mother wanted to get water bottles and she does not agree for me to get the MOL PayPal Digital Card). But, I will get it when I can have the chance to get it soon.

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The Pines along with other restaurants demolished

THE row of 10 restaurants including The Pines in Brickfields was demolished yesterday to make way for the building of a modern bazaar, which is part of the RM35mil Little India project.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) contractors used two tractors to bring down the 47-year-old structure in less than an hour.

Pines Traders Action Committee chairman Aaron Wan Hay Luen said the committee had met Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk M. Saravanan two weeks ago to discuss their relocation.

All gone: The site after it is demolished.

“We have submitted our particulars to the ministry and have agreed to move to a field in Lorong Chan Ah Tong until the new site is ready,’’ said Aaron.

He said the operators decided to forgo any compensation as the ministry had agreed to provide them a bigger and conducive environment in the new building.

“It’s a sincere gesture from Saravanan and we appreciate his efforts in solving the matter,’’ he added. The restaurant operators had earlier asked for compensation of RM90,000 each to move out.

The restaurants were supposed to have been demolished on Aug 15, but they were given a reprieve until Aug 31 by Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

Source from: The Star Online

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