New RM 20 Note

I lifted this from The Star...

Thursday May 26, 2011

RM20 banknote making a comeback

By JOSHUA FOONG


PETALING JAYA: After a 16-year hiatus, the RM20 banknote will be re-introduced by Bank Negara.

It is part of a new design of Malaysian banknotes and coins which will be issued for circulation early next year in an exercise that is undertaken periodically every 12 years.

“The re-introduction of the RM20 banknote in the new currency series is primarily to function as an intermediary denomination to bridge the value gap between RM10 and RM50 for greater convenience in making payments,” Bank Negara told The Star in a statement yesterday.

With the new RM20 banknote, the central bank expects a reduction in overall demand for RM10 and RM50 banknotes.

The old RM20 banknote was introduced during the second series in 1982 and was discontinued in 1995.

It featured Malaysian traditional ornamental designs and the Bank Negara headquarters on its reverse side.

Read paragraph 3 again....Priceless Drivel!

I Think I'll Buy Two!

If you think that BB Plaza is a less than busy Shopping Mall tagged onto the more popular Sungei Wang ,you'd be right.
Most people just use it as the main entrance to Sungei Wang (but that's actually on the side facing Jalan Sultan Ismail)...and the shops in BB Plaza such as Metrojaya or MPH never seem to be busy but I came across this little jewelery store the other day and was amazed that they were advertising an item in their shop window for...wait for it....put little finger in mouth like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers....

One and a Half Million Ringgit!

That's right..RM 1,500,000.

Now to me,it looks like a Jade Cabbage.
I know that lots of people in this part of the world like Jade and the special powers such as Good luck,Peace and Wisdom that Jade is said to bring but I think that if you can already afford RM 1,500,000 for a cabbage that you've already had enough  good-luck but you may indeed be lacking in wisdom!

Little Penang Cafe Mid Valley Megamall Kuala Lumpur

If you're stuck in one of the god-awful cathedral-like malls in Kuala Lumpur and need something to eat without splashing-out in a restaurant your choice is usually a dilemma between bland and tasteless food-court fare or dreadful international fast food chains.
There are a few mid-price cafes if you look hard enough and Little Penang have 3 outlets (KLCC,The Curve and Mid Valley) that may be worth trying.
As the name suggests,the style of food is supposed to reflect that of Penang.
It's a bit hit'n'miss....which is a shame as when it's good,it's very,very good and when it's bad...well it's just a bit too bland or poorly prepared.

Mee Jawa

The Mee Jawa is very good.
This is an Indonesian-style noodle soup with bean-sprouts,tomatoes,shallots,hard-boiled egg,potatoes,tofu and squid that is served in a really thick and tasty gravy.
The Lor Bak is excellent-Lor Bak should be pork sausage wrapped in crunchy bean curd but as Little Penang is halal they serve chicken sausage but it's still very tasty (and you won't know the difference)
The Fried Kway Teow is disappointing. (there is only one place to go for Fried Kway Teow-and that's here! in Brickfileds)
Other dishes of noodles,rice,nasi lemak etc are available.
Lunch for two will set you back around RM 30-RM 40 so it's not cheap by any standards but it is worth a try.


Lor Bak

 Once-in-a-while.
Service? Well, just try and make sure that you're in a good mood when you enter as the service is pretty-poor.....

Cin Cin Bar Changkat Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur

A bottle of Tiger Beer for RM 9!
I'll repeat that, A Bottle of Tiger Beer for RM 9!

When Cin Cin first opened it's doors a couple of months ago after taking ages and ages with their refurbishment many people were perplexed to discover it was a "Champagne Bar" aimed at the movers and shakers of the KL social-scene-which certainly didn't include the likes of me.
So I never went there.
and it would seem...
neither did anyone else.
I have never seen a new bar stay so empty for so long,and that's despite having a couple of classy looking girls in nice dresses trying to entice you inside.

All this changed a few days ago when new management moved in.

Rule #1 when opening a bar on Changkat Bukit Bintang seems to be that you *must* place some tables and chairs outside on the pavement (Whisky bar discovered this a few months ago)
Cin Cin have done this and not surprisingly there were people sitting there and drinking on the pavement.
Rule #2 seems to be...Offer the public value for money,hence the RM 9 for a bottle of Tiger or RM 50 for 3 pints of tiger draft.....I'm sure there are other offers but I can't remember.
I really hope that it's just not in order to clear old stock.
Rule #3-and probably the most important: Hire Good People.
The staff/customer service was nice and friendly.
As far as the atmosphere is concerned...well, at this early stage you will probably have to take your own but I'm sure that will change when more people come to discover it.
The decor is definitely up-market and a bit swanky.

The upstairs area has a good balcony but the rest of it gets very smokey and a bit smelly from the cooking smoke and fumes from the Indian Restaurant next door....
Downstairs is a bit stark-sorry,"modern and trendy" but not too bad and it seems that as with most bars on the street, people would prefer to sit outside.

Hopefully the value-for-money promotions will continue and Cin Cin will become another venue on the street worth going to....only time will tell.

Missing the Point.....

I lifted this article from the Star 26/4/11:

GEORGE TOWN: A honeymooning couple from Saudi Arabia was among some 2,000 tourists and locals who boarded the Penang Hill funicular train, which resumed operations after a lapse of 14 months.

Alaa Abduallae, 30, and Wafaa Ali, 23, were thrilled to take the 10-minute ride up the hill.
“However, the train was going too fast for us to snap any good photographs,” Alaa said.
The train will run for charity till April 30. The return fare for the charity ride is RM10 for adults. It is free for children aged 12 and below.

The proceeds will go to the Penang Welfare Department to help underprivileged people identified by the state government.
The service started at 6.30am yesterday.
Among those who tried it was a group of 37 Year Five students and three teachers of SK Pulai in Baling.
Their counselling teacher Khaizuran Isa said they made the trip to give students an opportunity to ride on the train.
“We want to expose them to new things and let them learn about tourist spots,” she said.
Penangites Les Leong and Jane Ooi, both in their 30s, also brought their six-year-old twin sons to enjoy the train ride to a friend's birthday party on Penang Hill.
This is their second time on the train. They were very excited and said that the ride was faster than the previous tram,” Ooi said.

From May 1, the return fare for Malaysians will be RM8 for adults (below 55 years) and RM4 for children (aged three to 12).
Senior citizens (aged 55 and above) and Malaysian students will enjoy a reduced rate of RM4.
For foreigners, the return fare is RM30 (for adults) and RM15 (for children aged three to 12).
The revamped train service runs from 6.30am to 9.30pm daily.
The service was suspended since Feb 22 last year for the RM73mil upgrading project by the Tourism Ministry.
Penang Hill Corporation marketing and promotion division senior assistant manager Anne Goh said 1,500 people rode on the train from 6.30am till 4pm"

Now then, I've just got to highlight a couple of points that to me are a bit symptomatic of why the tourism industry in Malaysia is not as good as it could be...

1. Foreigners pay more than locals.-in this case,nearly 4 times as much!
This also happens at the KL Tower and all the National Parks...
Can you imagine a tourist attraction in the UK or USA charging tourists 4 times more than the locals...they'd never get away with it!
and....
2.They don't really get it do they...read the quote "the train was going too fast to take pictures"
A lot of fuss was made last year when the old,charming,creaky and dilapidated hill railway was replaced with a shiny and new train that would get people to the top of the hill faster than before.
The whole point of the slow train ride was that you enjoyed the view on the way...now it just whizzes by.

UPDATE 10/6/11...and the "new and improved" service has broken-down 3 times in the last 5 weeks.....

Are They Sure.....

Malaysian advertising companies can be a bit too creative at times,whilst at other times they completely miss the mark.

As for this example,I'll let you decide...
But I never thought that I would see the words 'naughty" and "Volvo" in the same sentence....

OK-It now seems that I was wrong.
This is a global campaign,not just in Malaysia
so whatever advertising company came-up with the slogan needs to do a bit more "creative brainstorming"

TwinTowers @Live 2011

I didn't really get this.....
A free concert held at the front of the Twin Towers in conjunction with the F1 weekend.
A real mish-mash of bands.

No Beer.
Nothing to do with the actual F1.
A lack of atmosphere-for me at least.
and...No Beer (yes,it's worth repeating)
But then again,I'm definitely not the ideal demographic/target audience.
So, I'm sure that some people really got into it.
The crowd seemed to be either young/teenagers or mums and dads with their kids plus the occasional "lost" tourist.
I don't think that many in the crowd would be attending the actual race,it was more designed to give young people something to see and to keep them out of the bars and clubs.
It started at 6pm....but the first band didn't come on until 9pm.
So there was 3 hours of inane chatter by host DJ's....I honestly can't abide it when told 'Make Some Noise" by some idiot DJ...I mean,it's so much of a cliche isn't it?
Perhaps it was that that put me in a bad mood...
First band was a girl wearing a Tudong singing "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse....Oh! the Irony!
Then there were then a few local metal/rock bands that I think I've seen before and are actually rather good and quite refreshing.
But by then I'd had enough.
Headlining on the night I was there were either Wonder Girls or Hoobastank.
The last band would have come on at around midnight....far too long a wait as far as I was concerned.
Main act on the second night will be a version of Earth Wind and Fire but you will have to put-up with Colby Adonis (whoever they are) and a host of local bands (who will all probably be OK) before you hear Boogie Wonderland....