[TV Series] - Flaming Butterfly 火蝴蝶

The promotional poster of this Hong Kong ATV's production, It was the first series to be filmed in High Definition by this brocaster, normally a second-fiddle to the more dominant TVB.

It's a nice show actually but always feel stressful after watching each episode.

Probably, because the ugliness of human nature is being exposed whenever money is the issue (that's the root of all evils after all).



Youtube clip of "Flaming Butterfly"

Synopsis: in Mandarin, in English

LOVE them HATE em... they are here to stay though...

Oh... how we love and hate these budget airlines at the same time.

• "Love" for the fact that they are the ones who make air travelling affordable (just take a look at the tempting offers by JetstarAsia and AirAsia advertisement depicted above)

• "Hate" for the fact that because being no-frills operators, one have to pay for stuff like meals and drinks (normally provided in full-fledged carriers) at an astronomical rate. Other than that cases like flight cancellation, rescheduling of flights are rather common when travel with these carriers.

So far, I kind of glad that I never encountered such pissed situations that might have derailed my travelling plans when travelled with them but I heard horror stories and experiences from some fellow travellers on various posting on some of those travel forums online.

STORY ONE (in Singlish)
"I kena that crap for my 1st solo independent trip last yr (wat luck!)... but it's a different budget airline (not available in Sg) & to a different destination lah...

Was only given a 24-hr notice via email & I didn't even realise that until I was at the airport... Haha! How did I react?

Quite dumb. I juz called my insurance agent to report abt it & then go home... (cos flight was rescheduled to depart on the following day), thinking that I can make compensation claims fr travel insurance for that cock-up.

But end up I cldn't cos the clause in the insurance says "flight cancellations" but the dumb email sent by the airline quoted "rescheduled" so in a way it's not "covered".

KNS. For my return flight by the same airline, guess wat? My flight's departure time was rescheduled fr morning 9.30am to night 9.30pm but I wasn't informed at all (not even via email this time, only found out when I happened to call to postpone my flight)...

KNS. Thank god I wasn't with any friends / missed with any planned itinerary / bounded by no. of leave for that trip, so all the crappy disruptions din really affect me that much (other than being p***ed off). But they sorta made my trip more memorable though. Ha!"

STORY TWO
"Its always frustrating whenever I have to deal with @@@[name of the budget airline]!

I received a $1000 credit refund from @@@ from an erronous debiting of my credit card caused by a technical glitch on their website which they refused to admit. It was only settled after spending much time and frustrating efforts bringing it up to CASE and the Small Claims Tribunal."

STORY THREE
"I booked 4 adults to phuket in dec, flight in Feb... in early Jan, they emailed to just say that the flight has been changed..from day to night departure... tat means 1 whole day gone aka hotel charges.... same thing, they offered refund, or change date.... since dad had to go for some op, we decided to refund the tixs in early Jan. The operator told me ard 3-4 weeks for the refund (After waiting ard 40min to get into the call centre)...

Its now March... till date ive not received my refund.... juz called them and yes...waited for 30mins+.... they just say its still being processed... ask me to wait for another few weeks... requested for them to get their refund dept to call me or wat but the operator said they dun do outbound calls... seriously WTF. 2 mths and still no refund? is it so hard to refund the funds?

Think this is the last time i'm flying with them... screw them"

But despite all these horror tales, these no-frills airlines are here to stay since they are deemed cheaper and appeal to those travellers who just want a plane to fly them from point A to B.

I guess at times, there are things need to be compromise like the comfortableness and complimentary gifts but not last minute flight delay and cancellation.

Thanks...

(P.S: those text in GREEN fonts are being sourced from other sources without any changes or editing done, except withheld the name of the airline, presented to all in original form)

[Travel Tips] - Essential Checklist before leaving for a trip

One of the purpose of this new blog, other than a platform for me to rant, also to give some travelling tips I sourced around OR experienced before to share with all.

And here's the first of many to come.


Got this something really useful, decided to share with all and at the same time got it archived for my future use.

A travel checklist here, that's something really essential before you leave your home to the airport, bus terminal, railway station etc.

Here's the link to download the checklist (in PDF format) -

http://www.simplify101.com/travel-checklist.pdf

My Favourite: "Kilkenny"

A glass of Kilkenny goes with a hotdog on my rare night-out last weekend.

It's probably the best beer in the world.

Doesn't matter if both Tiger Beer and Carlsberg claimed that tag long ago, it's the best in the world FULL STOP.

Managed to source some information of this Irish Beer on the net.

• It's originated from Kilkenny in Ireland
• It was first brewed in 1710
• There is this little "ball" thing inside each can of "Kilkenny" beer which helps to form the creamy top when pour into a "Kilkenny" glass.
  

Before and After

BEFORE

AFTER

Just playing around with some photo editing softwares, both online and downloaded, using this shot I took last night near "Lat-Pat-Sat".

Brunch at "Carl's Jr"

Initially, the idea was to ultilize my discount coupon at a restaurant but only to realize it's not valid on weekend, so I decided to go the "Carl Jr's" next door instead.

So this is the burger outlet that created a hoo-ha lately for its rather suggestive promotional slogan (as depicted above).

Having placed my order, I waited to be served (unlike Macdonald's "self-service" practice) and liked what I was told it was big and juicy. The fries were not soggy and must had just fried before served to me (unlike the 'M", where they just tossed aside and leave them under the strong ray of lights).

Don't you ever ask me to sit here....

Just a reminder and not meant to be offensive, sexist or whatsoever but whosoever who did this should exercise that weed bit of sensitivity when pasting these advertising stickers on the glass panel inside this commuter trains.

As some folks might have an opinion or two if they did not realized in the first place and sit at those seats...

Compromised due to bad timing?

When you have TWO stalls side-by-side, it's obvious this kind of "war-of-wars" is unavoidable.

This nasi lemak stall is reputed to be the best in town that it was royally patronized by both the sultans of Johor and Brunei.

Even if the stall number is NOT ONE.

With its stall front adored with screen-shots of the awards and the media coverage it gathered over the years, it's a common sight to see line formed to buy the nasi lemak they are selling.

The "ROYAL RUMBLE" set at $5.

Unfortunately, given the economic crunch everybody is facing, it's must the fact why the chicken wing it offered for its "Royal Rumble" set shrinked and not as crispy, juicy as before.

The other side dishes that accompanied with the rice, such as the "ikan bilis" (anchovies) and "ikan selar kuning" (a type of small fish that come with the dish) sparsely filled up the plate and made this popular set meal less appealing.

Must be the fact that the economic crunch might had compromised the serving we used to enjoy.

ADAM Food Centre - a regular haunt.

Sleeping in the airport....

Sights like these are common in the airports around the world, people would just simply cast their image and catch some sleep before boarding their flight.

(P.S: the motive of this entry is not to ridicule or sabotaging whosoever being portrayed, but a true reflection of those around you and me.)

A new begining...

Got this message from my previous blog provider (as depicted above).

As it's self-explanatory that the host behind the blog server had "accidentally" deleted whatever was stored in the server and the previous entries, pictures etc. are gone for good.

So rather than crying over a bottle of spill milk, let's move on and take that as a new beginning to start something fresh.