Day +1365 : No sound? No problem!

I am fine today.

I saw the children watching The Princess and the Frog when I was home this evening.

“Finally they can enjoy the movie,” I said to my wife, proudly.

The Princess and the Frog is one of the dumb movies that I encountered due to the reason that I explained in the last two posts. I felt a great sense of achievement seeing the children watching the movie as it is my contribution that makes the dumb movie speaks:-)

“Adriel is already enjoying the movie even before you fix the sound,” my wife said.

“She completed the soundless movie from the beginning to the end,” she continued.

What a determined girl! But unfortunately, only on watching movie, not in study :-(

See you next post :-)

Day +1364 : Crystal clear video but where is the sound? (2)

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday…

The new generation (Gen 2) of WD TV HD Media Player or WD TV Live is able to downmix the DTS audio stream to stereo and output it through the stereo audio interface but the problem is that the one that I have belonged to Gen 1. The two versions look exactly the same and the only way to distinguish them is through the model number. The Gen 2 has a model number of WDBABF0000NBK while Gen1 has a model number of WDAVN00 or something similar. If you would like to purchase one, please either go for Gen 2 or WD TV Live.

It can very disappointing to spend so much time to download a 8GB full HD movie just to find out that it is completely dumb – a silent crystal clear movie :-(

I search the WD TV HD Media Player support forum and found out that we can in fact convert the DTS audio stream in the MKV file to stereo stream through a free software called PorpCorn MKV AudioConverter which can be downloaded here.

Though it takes some time to do conversion, at least I can still enjoy those high quality MKV video without extra spending :-)

The converter - click the image to get a larger view
The video file with DTS audio stream (Stream 1) only
After conversion, an extra audio stream is added - A52 stereo (Stream 1)
See you next post :-)

Day +1363 : Crystal clear video but where is the sound? (1)

I am fine today.

Playing full HD 1080p MKV video file trough the WD TV HD Media Player on a LCD TV that support full HD is a new experience to me. The quality of the video is fantastic and the sound is not bad too even on simple stereo speakers.

But some MKV video file that I acquired gave me a headache recently – crystal clear video without any sound at all. I believe no one could tolerate this kind of situation - seeing someone talking but doesn’t know what he/she is talking about because we hear nothing. The video plays well with proper sound on a computer through VLC Media Player.

I investigated and found out that the problematic video file has audio stream in DTS format, and it is very unfortunate that the WD TV HD Media Player that I have doesn’t play DTS audio on the stereo speaker.

However, there is an alternative approach to hear the high quality sound, that is streaming it through the digital interface or HDMI output, not the stereo interface. This means that I got to have a sound system that support digital interface or HDMI input to listen to the sound. As I am not so particular about the sound, I am reluctant to spend money on an expensive sound system.

To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +1362 : Lunch at Nando’s

I am fine today.

We had lunch at Nando’s in IOI Mall after church service today. It is a restaurant that serves chicken dishes primarily. This is the first time ever we visited the restaurant. The reason that we chose Nando’s is due to the possession of Nando’s cash voucher worth RM40 which I redeemed using credit card reward points.

We ordered Peri Platter which came with a chicken, 2 large rice, I large fresco salad, 1 large coleslaw and 1 large chips. This set costs RM54.90 and is sufficient for 3-4 persons.

You certainly need to patient to dine here as the food only arrives 30 minutes later. My wife and I discussed the possible origin of this restaurant while waiting for the food but neither of us had any clue regarding this.

I searched the internet later and found out that this restaurant was originated from South Africa wit Portuguese/Mozambiequan theme as described on Wikipedia:

Nando's is a fast casual restaurant chain originating from South Africa with a Portuguese/Mozambiquan theme. Founded in 1987, Nando's operates in 26 countries and on five continents.[1] Nando's specializes in chicken dishes with either lemon and herb, medium, hot or extra hot peri-peri marinades (properly known as Galinha à Africana). In some countries, Nando's has other flavour options like mango and lime, lemon and herb, or Mediterranean.

There are 32 Nando’s outlets in Malaysia and they maintain a website at http://www.nandos.com.my/ where you can get a lot of information about the restaurant including their full menu.

The chicken was nice but it is expensive. Apart from the Peri Platter, I ordered a jug of Cola and two big rice. The total cost was RM85.

It is a good restaurant to visit if you have money to spare :-)

The restaurant
Their sauce - Peri-peri

This jug of Cola cost RM10 (original price is RM18)

Below is what you would get for Peri Platter set




See you next p0st :-)

DAy +1361 : TESCO - the more aggressive it is, the merrier we are

I am fine today.

I collected 3779 TESCO Clubcard Points over a period of three months, starting from December 2009 to February 2010. And of this mount of Clubcard Points, 3750 of them had been converted to TESCO cash vouchers worth RM37.50 which I received a few days ago.

TESCO is very aggressive in marketing. It advertises in the newspapers, even on the front page, and distributes their promotional news bulletins through conventional mail and email. Apart from this, they also make good use of their website for marketing.

The Clubcard Points system is another way to retain customers who can collect the points through many means: direct purchase of products, using recycled bags, giving bonus and extra points and also through the credit card.

From the customer perspective, the more aggressive it is, the merrier we are. We get to know through their marketing campaign what is the right time to purchase especially for products that can last very long. In addition to this, their generosity in giving out Cubcard Points also help us to save :-)

The vouchers

This statement indicates where I collected the points
See you next post :-)

Day +1360 : Gaining weight – a blessing :-)

I am fine today.

While gaining weight is a nightmare to most people, I feel blessed to put on weight.

My weight had been well maintained at 62kg throughout my Leukaemia treatment including the bone marrow transplant.

However, it dropped drastically a few months ago, most probably due to the loss of appetite because of infection. At one point, it went down to 53kg (I wonder if anything was wrong with the scale) only and after that recovered and maintained at 57kg for quite a long time.

I have been working (eating, in fact) very hard to gain weight and I am very glad to find out that I am almost 60kg now :-) My next milestone will be 62kg – my standard weight.

With this, I can continue to indulge myself with delicious food without feeling guilty :-) This is a another blessing!

See you next post :-)

Day +1359 : Restoran Kepala Ikan Jalan Lima (陈秀莲鱼头) – cheap and delicious

I am fine today.

The restaurant is located somewhere near Tesco Puchong. The fish head here is fresh, delicious with a very attractive price – RM18 per fish head :-)

I went there a couple of times with visitors from Hong Kong and church members. I will soon bring my family over there for a meal :-)

If you like fish head but don’t want to spend a lot, this is definitely a restaurant to visit.

The restaurant
The following dishes - 2 fish heads + 1 vegetable dish - cost RM56 inclusive rice and tea



See you next post :-)

Day +1358 : Tension in the morning

I am fine today.

Adriel and Aaron are reluctant to go to kindergarten every morning because they are very sleepy. I have to think of all sorts of tricks to wake them up and to make them go to school.

Though I am successful most of the time, the effort is very tiring, and sometimes, it also stretches my patience to the limit.

I believe the simplest and most straight forward approach is to resort to “Rotan” (canning) but they are so precious to me that I am reluctant to harm them. So the tension goes on…

The duo fall asleep just after changing their clothes. They are dreaming with their school uniform on and I will have another hard time to wake them up :-(


See you next post :-)

Day +1357 : AirAsia – “Live Help” is still the best!

I am fine today.

More story from Richard about AirAsia…

-------------------------------

Due to the "No Money No talk" issue as mentioned earlier, there are other alternatives where you can get support especially if you are reluctant to pay RM1.95 per minute; email to support-malaysia@airsia.com or using the Live Help/Live Chat. Both of them are free :-)

I tried to use support-malaysia@airasia.com but ended up with much frustration. The support executive will only response in 1 to 2 days time, and if you want to follow up the case, a different support executive will handle your case and worst still, there is no communication among them.

My brother-in-law purchased AirAsia ticket to Taiwan January this year but he was diagnosed with appendicitis three days before the traveling date. He had to undergo an appendicectomy and thus was unfit to travel. The ticket cost him RM1,159.00.

My brother-in-law thought that the money was burnt. However, I took initiative to help him to have his money refunded.

AirAsia would only credit refund into an AirAsia internet member's account but the problem was that my brother-in-law didn't have one.

In order to get the refund, I corresponded with AirAsia support executive through email, but impersonating myself as my brother-in-law, signing the email with the name - Richard Toh :-) For your information, my name is Richard Ting and my brother-in-law's surname is Toh. He doesn't have a Christian name. In order to make AirAsia's support executive believe that I am in fact Toh, I created and used the name Richard Toh. I chose Richard as Toh's Christian name because my email contains the word Richard.

And this worked very well. The refund was successfully credited into my AirAsia account, but only one month later.

If you would like to settle your case fast, the Live Help should be the one that you can trust. To use Live Help, just login to AirAsia account and click the "Live Help" on the left panel. You will get a response pretty fast :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1356 : AirAsia – No money no talk! Cheap or cheat?

I am fine today.

Richard continues his story on AirAsia…

------------------------------
If you call AirAsia’s call center number 03-21719222 today, you will be greeted with this computerized response - "Welcome to AirAsia self help menu, this service is available 24 hours a day... for further inquiry please press ‘0’ to speech to our customer services executive..."

This is a fraud! If you believe this, you are going to waste 1 hour 30 minutes waiting there helplessly and after being cut off, bearing the charges of either RM3.60(by house phone RM 0.04X90minutes) or RM18.00(hand-phone RM 0.20X90minutes).

I just found out that the call center number 03-21719222 is no longer in proper operation. This is just for a voice iteration purpose only.

Now if you want to talk to the agent, you shall call their premium support line 600-85-9999 with a charge of RM 1.95 per minute. No money no talk! That is AirAsia.

In order to verify that calls to number 03-21719222 is no longer entertained, I call their premium support line 600-85-9999, and I was told that no agent will attend to this line anymore.

I have recorded my conversation with the agent. I also note that this premium support is really efficient as the agent as answering my call within 20 second. If you don't believe, you can give yourself a try, but please don't play too much with this premium stuff; else your next phone bill will burn a deep hole in your pocket.

I share with you here the conversation that I have with their support agent.

The fraudulent response message that ask caller to press '0' to speak to a customer service executive. Press the play button to hear the message.

My conversation with the support executive through premium support service to confirm that no support agent will be entertaining the normal support line.

See you next post :-)

Day +1355 : Fifth sermon after bone marrow transplant

I am fine today.

By God’s abundant grace, I delivered my fifth sermon after bone marrow transplant in my church this morning :-) My last sermon was on 26 April 2009 - Day +1026 : Fourth sermon after bone marrow transplant.

The title of the sermon was “Thy loving kindness is better than life – toward the climax of experiencing God” and it was based on Psalm 63:1-8.

1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

If you would like to have a copy of the sermon, I can email the full script to you. It was written in Chinese.

As usual, I felt tremendous relief after the sermon :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1354 : AirAsia breaks another World Records – The longest call waiting time

I am fine today.

My brother, Richard, is a frequent traveler. The following post depicts a love-hate(又爱又恨) relationship that he has with AirAsia.

-----------------------------------------------

You may enjoy the World Record of "Zero" fare with AirAsia.

If you want to call them for some assistance, you can dial their call-center number 03-21719222 at local call rate; still very cheap!

I called their call center today and it broke the 1 hour waiting time. At the end I was still unable to talk to them as the line was cut off automatically after a waiting time of 1 hour 30 minutes.

Fascinating! They cut off the line automatically, perhaps for some safety factors such as preventing the phone from exploding due to over-heating. No doubt for a branded award winning airline company, "safety first" remains their top priority.

However, you will get an instant response - they promise within 20 second - if you call 600-85-9999 with a charge of RM 1.95/minute.

Waiting for 1 hour 7 minutes
Waiting for 1 hour 26 minutes
You need a hands-free phone to call AirAsia. I didn't have one, so the cello-tape came to my rescue. I believe this is the cheapest mean of turning your phone hands-free :-)
See you next post :-)

Day +1353 : Fraser’s Hill Leadership Retreat - Nature

I am fine today.

The schedule was quite tight this time. So I don't have much time to take many photos of the nature.

Anyway, I would like to share with you what I have.

This conclude the posting of this trip.

See you next post :-)