LED rope lighting

I've been asked to review this LED rope light from Birddog Distributing.

I've never heard of this LED rope light, so I did some research. I am pretty much surprised with its beauty and its benefits.

Basically, LED (Light-Emitting-Diode) is the kind of light bulp used in most of the cars' tail lights. My old Satria's 3rd break light used LED. And lately I've bought some torch lights with LED bulps as well. They are usually brighter than the traditional light bulps. Because it doesn't involve burning of filaments like traditional bulps, LED uses less energy and producing more lights/brightness.

And these LED rope lights are slowly replacing conventional rope lights due to its energy saving, low heat and long lasting attributes.

Though I could see there are various types of rope lights (2-wire, 3-wire, 5 wire), but I could only see 2-wire LED rope lights in Birddog Distributing, maybe that's the only one available. Currently they are running promotions and prices are slashed for a limited time. Some are bout 37% discounted.

This LED rope lights comes in 7 different colours, i.e. red, blue, yellow, warm white, cool white, green and RGB (changing colours). This allows outdoor light decorations to be done more creatively.

I actually find the rope lightings quite fascinating. Never knew we can do so much with LED rope lightings. It would be good if the site can share more examples of the usage of rope lights.

Here is an example picked from the site to show how beautiful they are. Mostly for commercial usage though.



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Traveling to Europe

DH is now in Germany and Denmark for a product training. I have so many expiring Enrich reward points that I really wished to go with him to save some accommodation, but then he is traveling with another male colleage and they share room. :(

Many people would join their hubby like this, and take the opportunity to extend the stay and go to other European countries like Italy's Rome (one of my dream place), Prague, Barcelona and other nearby places.

I hope DH is going again next year. Have heard of how beautiful Germany is, really wish to see it myself...

Holiday on Cruise

Apart from a few dream holiday places of mine, I also long to be on a cruise for a holiday.

Since young, I have been wishing to go on a real cruise, but know that it is very expensive. Those cheaper ones in Malaysia are the Star Cruises, which my mom and sister have been. It stopped by at Phuket Island and came back to port Klang.

Based on that experience, my sister told me it is not fun, as most of the activities are targetted at young kids. The main activity for the adults is gambling. :( This is so different from what I imaginated.

However, my friend won a prize to Carribean Cruise. Based on her experience, my impression on cruises is revived. They have many entertainment outlets for adults like Moulin Rouge showroom, cinema, game room, Karaoke, disco, etc. So, not just gambling!

Of course, going on big and nice cruises like the Hawaii Cruises, Alaska Cruises, European Cruises etc, would need us to fly to big cities like Venice, Barcelona, Rome, Seattle, Vancouver, Hawaii, etc.

One day. Yes, one day, I will do that - one of the things in my 'to-do-list-before-I-die'. :)

Paris

Lately, a few of my blogging buddies wrote about Paris. One of them said that, most people think of Paris they think of Paris Hilton.

Guess what? You must be laughing out loud that I am so outdated that I've never heard of Paris Hilton. I searched in Paris Accomodation for Hilton Hotels. Didn't find it.

Then, searched in wiki, only found out that that Paris Hilton is a woman. Paris Hilton doesn't mean Hilton Hotel in Paria! :P

Seriously, Paris to me, only means: Romance, Tourist, Cafes, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe... and recently added Robert Langdon from Da Vinci Code (by Dan Brown)! :P

I haven't been to Paris before. It is a city that I do not want to go on business trip. I'd certainly want to go with hubby. Knowing our styles, we will definitely look for cheap Accomodation in Paris, as we would most likely go backpack. Been talking about this with a friend few years ago. Maybe give it a couple of years more, we will do that!

[Brought to you by CheaperthanHotels.co.uk]

Italy Experience

2 of my best friends went to Italy for their holiday, and returned with sour experience.

I met one of them last week, and got to know some of the detail. I'm waiting for her to give me the details in writing - I have bad memory which city and which hotel those things happened. After getting the details from her, I will share in this blog.

On the other hand, in this travel blog, it lists quite some Italy Highlights, includes things like basic Italy travel guide, things to do, maps, photos, restaurants, attractions, deals, etc.

But one thing I guess missing from this site is what to be caution/lookout for in Italy.

It is either their bad luck, or Italians are generally not friendly to Asians, their bad experience is in almost in every cities, throughout their whole trip!

Well, I guess their disappointment is also amplified with their high expectations before going. They've got too much of movies' influence, thinking that all Italians are warm and friendly. So, when they got cold treatments and being treated with disrespect, they were so disappointed.

[Brought to you by Real Travel]

Perth, Australia

Before I got this job, I rarely traveled out of the country. The only few places that I've ever traveled to were: Singapore and Thailand. A year after our marriage, DH & I signed up for a tour to Perth, Western Australia.

Before we went, I got a lot of 'cold water' from people I know. The spontaneous reaction was like "Ergh! Why of all the places, you choose this boring place?" Some said, there is not much of entertainment, not much of night life, etc in Perth, and they said better to go to Sydney.

Now I think back, perhaps these negative comments helped to lower my expectation, I ended up enjoyed the trip very much. After so many years, and after visiting so many places (holiday or business), nothing could beat that Perth trip. It is the best trip I had in memory. Perhaps that time DH & my relationship was at the peak - it felt so romantic with your lover, wherever you go! People thought we were on our honey moon trip, hahahah!

We ended up with a lot of nice photos, and I made a very nice album of it -- those days without kids I had plenty of time. I even printed narrative in two languages (English and Chinese) for our album. People who've seen our album all wanted to go to Perth. :D :D

It was a 5D4N trip. Very eventful... It started very silly - our luggages flew to HK instead of Perth, and waited till the next day to return to Perth! A good lesson for me for all the future trips: to check the luggage tag before leaving the airport counter. :)

We stayed at Pier Street on the first day. I was told the best Perth accommodation is around the Pier Street (may be wrong). We didn't stay in very good 5 star hotel. Instead, the tour originally booked us in Miss Maud Hotel, but changed to Sebel Hotel. Not very great hotel, but considered decent amongst discount hotels.

Here is brief of things that we did/saw in Perth. As we arrived late just enough for dinner, the tour actually starts on the second day.

We first visited the Raeburn Orchard, which grows pear, persimmons, etc. As we visited Perth during winter, we couldn't see fruits on the tree - only bald trees! We bought some persimmons, very nice but expensive (RM48 for just 16 pieces!).

After the orchard, we went to the Caversham Wildlife Park, to feed kangaroos (with food on my palm and the kangaroos licked the food --> yulk, a lot of salivar!), saw koala bear, hug the fat and heavy wombat, etc. For a small fee, we could ride a camel too, but I didn't. Emu is also another attraction for me, and I had a chance to hold its egg for a pic - the egg is in green colour!! We also saw genetically modified white kangaroos!

In the afternoon, we went to the Pinelli Winery to taste and purchase wine, then headed to Matilda Lake Farm Chalets. First we had a Devonshire tea, plucked oranges fresh from the trees and ate at the spot, then we witnessed sheep sheering demonstrations.

Before dinner, we visited the farm behind a tractor. Over 20 people stuffed in a small 'cage'! I thought we were like inside the zoo for the farm animals to laugh at. :P When we reached the cow barn, all cows ran to us waiting to be fed. It was so fun letting them ate the fodder off from our hands. Their hair is very long, unlike the cows in my country. ;)

On the third day, we had an easy and lazy morning stroding in the farm before leaving back to the city. On the way, we stopped by at Lake Monger to see and feed black swans. Nothing great, just a lazy and easy day - I guess this is why people dislike Perth tour, but I enjoyed that pace.

Next we climed to the top of Mount Eliza for a stop at the King's Park. Here we could view the Perth city across the Swan River. Very nice view. We then moved to Fremantle for their 'must-have' --> fish & chips lunch. It is a harbour south of Perth, fish & chips is very common here. The Fremantle Markets sells all sorts of fruits, nougats (must-buy in Australia), toys, souvenirs and handicrafts. A bit like the Silk Street in Beijing, but more pleasant.

Before moving back to our hotel in Perth, we were brought to the casino. Nothing special, I think our Genting is even better.

On the 4th day, it was what I was waiting for -- the trip to the Pinnacles, in a 4WD. On the way, we stopped at Yanchep National Park, seeing all the wild animals and plants all that. Actually, now I think back, if I went without that nice tour guide, it would have been a different story. A lot of the fun parts are because we understood and we learnt, all from that guide. He did a very good explanation -- love him!

The highlight for the day was the Nambung National Park, home of amazing Pinnacles Desert. Thousands of limestone pillars rising out of the golden sand make the pinnacles desert a unique attraction of Western Australia. Unfortunately it was raining. :(

We also went to the sand dunes, did sand boarding. I was the second person to be pushed down the sand slope. The moment I was pushed down, I was so scared that I screamed out loudly for my mom! In my mind, I blamed myself for risking my life and I still wanted to live for many years. Very shamefull. :P It was very exciting, and I actually played a second round. :)

On the last day (5th), it was free and easy. DH & I took the whole morning walking in the town, seeing the Swan Bell Towel, which housed the 14th century Bells of St Martins from Trafalgar Square, London. Not sure what it means, not something that I can emphatize with. :P

That's the end of our tour. There is only one thing that I regret about the trip - not able to see the wild flowers during winter. I bought some postcards - they are marvelous!

Sydney, Australia

Sigh! How many times I've been telling that I've never been to Sydney? Not sure why I kept getting requests to write reviews on hotels in Sydney. I have rejected quite many of such requests, quite sad seeing money flies away like that. :P

I'm not very good at search engines, to be frank I only use Google. I know of wikipedia, but never thought of using it to search for locations like Sydney. This morning, my supplier sent me a link to wikitravel for Hanoi, as we are planning for a trip soon. This is when I tried looking for Sydney in wikitravel. The result is encouraging.

It is like a travel guide book, has an overview, geographical detail, history/people/climate/etc, how to get in, where to stay, how to get around, what to see, what to do, etc.

In the list of places to stay, it lists down cheap hotels, mid class hotels as well as what they call 'Splurge' hotels. Very useful site.

With that site, I learnt something new about Sydney, and really hope I get a chance to be there. But then... it is not my dream place after all. If I have the time and budget, I'd go other more exortic places, unless it is on business. Hahaha!

Interesting Travel Blog

I've stumbled across an interesting travel blog. Unlike other blogs, it covers travel stories in Asia.

One recent entry was about How To Overcome Con Artists in Asia. In this entry, the blogger reveals that a lot of 'trainee' tourguides actually spend very little time bringing tourists to the interesting spots. Instead, they were brought to factories to buy things, which the 'trainee' tourguides earn fat commissions.

Well, I don't think they always pose themselves as 'trainee'. The same scam is included in big and major ground tour agencies. Most of the ground tours end up in some kind of factories. This happens the most in China, even under the so called 'government owned outlets'.

There are other con stories in the same post, which I'm not going to repeat here. One is about Bangkok's disguised 'international police'. Worth checking this site for the detail.

Another interesting entry is about a story in Bangkok as well. We all know Thailand has a lot of Ah Gua ('lady boys'). This is an article about Top 5 Ways to Spot Lady Boys in Thailand. Don't be surprised that a lady that you're interested in, turn out to be a man! So, check this out to be for sure. ;)

Stories on Accommodations

As I travel alone most of the time, I'd really appreciate if my friends don't mention any horror stories to me. :)

I try to avoid any horror stories, instead try to get some cheerfull and funny stories.

The most terrible horror stories for single travelers like me is related horror accommodation stories. Just before my trip to Delhi, my aunt told her horror stories in a local hotel, which gave me the chill. Well, not that I believe in her stories, but if the image is in the brain, one can easily be manipulated by our brain and start imagining things.

That's why, I always reject any accommodation stories, be it in a hotel, service apartment, rented bungalows, etc.

Our company has two bungalows in the Fraser's Hill and Cameron. My colleague hinted some scary accommodation stories that I dare not to listen in full. However, I've caught a few words before knowing where he was going to, and it was too late to stop planting some images in my brain (even though I didn't listen the rest of the stories)!!

The Queen Elizabeth 2 Conference Centre

The Queen Elizabeth 2 Conference Centre (QEICC) is located in Westminster, London. In terms of location, I think it is the best for any business conference, as it is just situated shadow of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the British Airways London Eye.

It has wide variety of rooms available on 6 floors, with syndicate rooms available for group breakout discussions (very useful for workshops!). It also offers wide variety of food for conference organizers. The menu is extensive, from a la carte to buffets, to cocktail party, etc.

They also offer event management service that would help event organizers. I've worked with these event managements people before, they help a lot in coordination and making things are in perfect order - less hassle for organizers like us.

In terms of accommodations, people can choose to book last minute or book in advance at nearby hotels in London. Hotel in London is always perceived as very expensive, especially after conversion to RM. I am surprised to find good deals for last minute London hotels booking. I always thought last minute (inside 21 days) bookings are always more expensive, not necessary. There are deals start from GBP10!

Brought to you by cheaperthanhotels.co.uk

Are You Moving?

When do we move? Bought or lease a new house, or got a new job offering in other city or country?

It is not easy planning for a move or relocation. There is a saying in Chinese: moving from upstair to downstair, lost a barrel of wheat (which means things get missing when we move, even for a shortest distance!).

Moving can actually be easy, if you leave this to the professionals. My best friends were reloated to other countries, one in China and one in Thailand. Both used professional movers. These international movers are experts and able to advise and provide guidence, so that you won't leave anything out.

These relocation professionals usually provide a one stop solution, able to help in all aspect from real estate, mortgage, auto shipping, moving, insurance, home improvement, careers, etc.

One may ask: Why do you need 'careers' service from these agencies? Take my friend's case for example. She moved to China because of her husband's job. She had to quit her highly pay job to follow the husband. She may want to get a job there once settles down, so this service would be handy then!

Beijing

I am going to Beijing again very soon. This time, I will have a little more time for sightseeing.

When I went there on business, I always made sure I visit a site on my last day -- flight usually leaves at 4pm, so I could use the morning - limited to closeby areas. After a few business trips, even without extending on my own expenses, I've managed to covered quite a lot of places. Now, almost got nothing to do, except to shop.

For this trip, I discovered this travel blog that listed down the Top Ten in Beijing, which gives me very good ideas.

From this travel blog, I've found a few places that I've never known nor visited. On the top pick is: Red Lantern House. This is a hostel in Beijing's historic hutong neighbours. A good way to experience the traditional Chinese style of 'homestay'.

Another pick from the list is Wansheng Theatre for their Chinese Acrobat Show at No. 95 Tianqiao Market XuanWu District. I've never been there, but have seen similar acrobat show at Laoshe Teahouse. I went there after a whole day's meeting - a treat by the locals! Very fun thing to do, but not to be repeated too often!

Lastly, the third place that I haven't been, in the top 10 list in that blog is: Lama Temple. In the blog, it didn't write down the address, but I believe I can ask around for that.

These are another 3 places to fill up my next 3 trips to Beijing! :P

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Parking At Airport

Usually when I travel on business, I go to the airport by taxi as I could claim the expenses, so I've never have to face with parking issues.

Two years ago, we brought our son to KK, and we parked our car at the airport for 2 nights. When we returned, wow! the parking fee was nearly a hundred ringgits. There is no cap to the parking fee, as we were told, so if you park for a couple of weeks, the cost can come up to a thousand! In addition, finding a space in the small car park can also be a stress especially when you have a flight to catch.

In Gatwick Parking, we can online evaluate parking rates from more than 100 different car parks around the airport (see, unlike them, we only have 1 - monoplized!). They have a crawler collecting information from all car parks, help us to find the lowest car park fees from a single website.

After evaluating and finding a car park/rate that you are satisfied with, you can book the space online before your flight departure! Upon arrival, just present the pre-paid voucher at the car park, and there is free transport to the terminal from the car parks.

The whole process is actually very simple:
1) enter the flight information (depart and return dates/times)
2) choose a car park
3) guarantee a space
4) pay
5) receive voucher
6) give to attendant
Indeed, this is a very use friendly website.

I really wish we can have this kind of service in Malaysia. This can take away one hassle, especially people traveling with family!

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Online Dating

This is a sponsored post. I am supposed to write about my online dating experience, but seriously I don't have any. But... I am going to share with you a story of my best friend.

She is my childhood friend since we were just 4 or 5 years old. We went to the same school until standard 5, and she moved on to international school as she comes from a rich family.

She is always a shy and introvert type. Never appear to me as able to initiate conversations, not even to guys.

Many years later, when I had a steady relationship, she was still single - as in never had a boyfriend. Few years later, I got married, and she is still without a soul mate.

When my first child was born... suddenly she told me she is getting married! And guess what? She 'met' her soul mate online! She is now happily married, with a beautiful daughter, and her husband loves her very much -- kind of like a happy ending to her.

I'm very glad for her, and this really changes my view about online dating. Guess as long as practice cautious, it is still okay? Just be careful don't fall into those not serious in long term relationship, or 1 night stand type.

This site, FriendFinder, offers easy way to meet new people. It is very easy, just select man or woman you are looking for, age range, location, and it will return list of 'candidates' to choose.

In terms of the quality of members, it is really up to individual judgement. :P
The best thing I like about this site is, you can have a look at the list of members falling into your criteria, before you take the membership. Membership allows you to chat with other members, as well as post your own ad for free.

Travel to Melbourne

Are you planning to travel to Australia? Which part of Australia would you like to visit?

I've been to Perth only. Maybe will consider Melbourne in the future. Ever since joining this firm, though I am in the Asia Pacific role, and Australia is in my portfolio, I haven't got the chance to go on business.

My boss went to Melbourne once for a training, and she purposely scheduled it around the F1 period, so she got a chance to be there as well. Well, she is the boss, she could do that, but I can't!

Anyway, going to Melbourne during the F1 period is not easy, as most hotels would be fully booked. It would be hard to look for cheap hotels in Melbourne during that period. So, that is a disadvantage though. :)

Discovery Cruise

I've always wanted to go on a cruise since I was very young, still schooling. But I've never on board a cruise ship, never. And my wish to have cruise has gone far behind my mind now.

As I grow/age, I find myself worried about -- pirates. :P
Am I silly? :P

Anyway, I have recently learnt that the Discovery Cruise is giving out some kind of complementary 1-day cruise to the Military.

The cruise is from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Grand Bahama Island, including all meals and the taxes, no cost at all.

The offer is for US military personnel only, and is for those who have served or are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Not sure whether this is any part of their marketing program, or is this company playing its social resp. thingy?

Cancelling Holiday

I have to cancel my holiday. I've paid for the air fare, luckily not too much coz via Air Asia, but still a few hundred for the two of us. Have to cancel because both my children are sick.

Leaving sick children behind when traveling for work, is different from leaving them behind for holiday. I can't pass my own guilt, so decided not to go tomorrow morning, though it is only nearby -- KK only.

Luckily we haven't booked our accommodations. We originaly wanted to stay in those cheap ones like the backpacker type, somewhat couldn't decide on the exact place. In a way, lucky for that, otherwise we will have to pay for additional cancellation fee!

Actually, if I can afford the destination, I'd pretty much want to go to Europe. I am still hoping that the company will send me there for any meeting or training. Our headquarter is in the Amsterdam, though lots of meeting is in London. I know some people went to Hague for training... still dream on that... :P

Win Prizes with Bid4Prizes

Many months ago, when I first heard of 'The lowest bid wins' from ASTRO, I didn't understand it at all. I kept thinking, if I want to bid, of course I bid the 'lowest' as in 'zero'!

Now, I stumbled uppon this unique site, bid4prizes, with the same bidding concept of 'Lowest bid wins'.

Alright, if you are as clueless as I was, here is the explanation how it works:

To win a prize, you must have the lowest unique bid at the end of the game. The lowest unique bid for any prize starts at one penny, but if more than one person bids a penny, then that penny is no longer the lowest unique bid, and 2 cents is. If more than one person bids 2 cents then 3 cents is the next lowest unique bid. And so on and so on.

Currently at the site, the prizes available for bidding are very interesting, and have very good variety. For example, Wii, $500 CASH!!!, Sony VAIO, Apple iPhone, Philips DH Plasma TV, BMW 3 seris car, any many more!

Unfortunately I don't have a UK cell phone, coz the bids are placed by cell phone sms only, and they accept only UK cell phone numbers. As much as I wanted to participate/play, I couldn't do that! :(

If I can play, I would like to bid for the car, or the cash. :P

Europe

I have never been to any European countries. I am a frequent traveler myself, but mostly in this part of the region. The only country I've been to, outside this Asia Pacific region, is USA.

I have a few cousins studied in UK, and two of them are still there now. I mostly travel for business purpose. The company used to have a lot of meetings in UK, but since I joined they have moved everything to Houston. No doubt, I have the opportunities to travel there, but on the other hand, I also lose the opportunity to go to Europe (for free!). :P

Sydney, Australia

Few years ago, I went to Perth with hubby and we had a lot of fun there. Before going, friends warned about lacking activities etc. In fact, they were wrong. I came back with a very good photo album that attracted whoever reads it.

Well, most of my friends prefer Sydney more than Perth as it has more to offer apart from its great natural beauty. They like its seductive outdoor lifestyls, exciting events and its nature.

You can hire a car or join the local tours. There are events range from the local town craft fair right up to festivals that attract tens of thousands of people. There are hundreds of sports, arts and community events as well as exhibitions and festivals.

You can experience its nature with mountains clad in sub-tropical rainforest and islands rich in marine life. Lots of mountain hikes that rise through wildflower meadows to glacier-carved lakes.

In terms of accommodations, Hotels in Sydney are fabulous in terms of choices. From cheap budget motels, to international hotel chains, and also exclusive luxury boutique hotels!

Food and wine are also famous there, and it fits all budgets. You can also check on the aboriginal culture that is full of histories. For more detail, check on the Sydney tourism website.