Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Teenage Angst Have Paid-off Well...

The Melamines on http://www.web-iac.nokia-asia.com/

Late last nite I just couldn't sleep. This is what technology does to you. In the early days, with the invention of the Radio, our fore fathers would stay up late, some even risking their lives to listen to the radio. Then came the idiot tube - the television. A cult, a must-have item in all households- now one can even watch tv programmes on the move, on buses, in cars, and even on their mobile phones.
And then came the INTERNET. This is what kept me up the whole night! No! Not just the social networking sites, but also the free sites and programmes where you are able to download almost EVERYTHING! For FREE! So what kept me up? Downloading of songs...not just any songs - but songs I grew up to....the ones that kononnya was a symbol of our teenage angst during our high school days....It was really a surprise that you can still find such songs on the net! What songs you're asking? Underground songs from the mostly now-defunct local underground bands of the 90's such as Spiral Kinetik Circus, The Pilgrims, Subculture, Dead Mushrooms and even the Carburetor Dung! Playing back all these songs brought back memories of us trying to fit into the cool gang....going for gigs...visiting one of the biggest supporters of our underground scene (she should get a Datuk-ship or something!) Auntie Campbell who selflessly sold all the latest underground both known and unknown bands' demos....the times where CDs were considered a luxury and walkmans and cassettes were the IN thing

This was a time when everyone wanted to form a band....and proudly I and my buddies did....gosh I really missed those days....
Geng - Jom jam, JOM!

Monday, 2 March 2009

Check your Bill before you leave the cashier!!

This happened to me just this weekend. It was one of those rare opportunities where I got to go on leave for the whole weekend. And being a modern Malaysian, with a bit of extra cash in hand (final distribution of last year end's bonus - Alhamdulillah...) we decided to spend one evening shopping for the monthly groceries. This time, we wanted to try some place new to us, which was a famous hypermarket on the way to Batu Caves....it's so hyper that it even had the word 'extra' added to it's famous name....hint...hint...

So there we were, jostling with the crowd, cris-crossing through a sea of just-got-their-pay families, walking down the endless aisles all full of the "buy me" signs, eyes wide open looking for a good bargain which is just actually a few ringgits cheaper than your normal neighbourhood kedai runcit....actually, we didn't buy much, as our main aim was just to get a fresh supply of baby diapers and baby formula. In the end, we ended up lining yup with just 8 items, among them a Barbie doll toy and an RM2.90 children swimming arm floats (Now that was a bargain!)

So when we finally got to the cashier, we were stalled for a while as the seemingly busy cashier was busy gossiping with her fellow cashier about some cute supervisor who she missed having lunch with. Only when I 'ehem-ed' did she automatically smiled at me and said "you have the (storename) member card?" I handed over the card and she began to 'beep' all my eight items. "RM172.00, please" she said. All was normal till I instinctly started to review the final receipt after she said the automatic "thank you and come again!" I found there was an item 'beeped' in that was not in my list of items but cost RM49.90! I questioned her and she tried to tally up all the items I bought with the receipt but still could not figure what was the item marked as "6ft bla-bla" on the receipt. Then she apologised and ushered me to customer service on the ground floor. So when I went down, the so-called expert took a look at my receipt, and the items that I bought. Guess what - the RM49.90 turned out to be the price of the RM2.90 swimming arm band! Apparently there were 2 bar codes on it, and the 'beeper' accidentally scanned the old bar code! Of course later they refunded me my RM47.00 and said a simple "sorry, ya?"

So guys and gals, the next time you go hypermarketing or any market - just DO double check your receipt.....you'd never know when such simple mistakes may occur! - It almost cost me RM47.00!! So beware!!!