The reverse culture shock has pretty much worn off. A far cry from the first morning home, where I woke up wondering if I was dreaming my life back here, or were my memories of the past year the dream. In the days that followed, it often felt like I was on the outside looking in through a window. At a life that was so very familiar, but somehow not quite “in-sync” with my reality. I would tell myself every now and then, “I am back home now” and occasionally followed it with a pinch just to make sure.

It does not take long for me to be swept right back into the beat that this city marches to. Life will, and must, go on. Come what may, I will always have the memories of my year in the mountains.

That was helpful (grammar aside). Same thing after multiple tries and using different browsers. 1610 obviously wasn’t a number I could use being outside of Singapore, so I went hunting for an alternative line and found it easy enough on the Singnet website (+65 6838 3899 is the Sales and General Enquiry number for Singnet for those in a similar predicament). Unfortunately it is only available from Mondays to Saturdays, 8am - 6pm and so I decided to get up earlier today so that I could call. I explained my situation to the gentleman that took my call and after verifying my particulars (name and IC number) and my choice of plan, he asked me to hold on. After a few minutes, the conversation went something like this (not verbatim obviously since I didn’t think there was a need to take notes for a simple thing like this).

Singnet: Thank you for holding, madam. Our department will notify you to confirm the re-contract.
Me: But I’m overseas. Can you call me on my overseas number?
Singnet: Can you hold on please? Let me check.
Me: Okay.
Singnet: Thank you for holding, madam. We are unable to call you internationally. We can only call you on a local line.
Me: But I’m an overseas, how can I give you a local line? Can you email me then?
Singnet: Yes we can, we will email you at your Singnet email.
Me: But I don’t use that account. (Wonders silently, why would anyone use that miserly 30mb account?)
Singnet: I’m sorry, madam, we can only email you on your Singnet email.
Me: But I have never used that account, and I don’t even know the password. (Starts getting really annoyed)

He asks me to hold again while he goes check again. We are stuck in this silly stalemate situation for a few more minutes. Then it struck me, why can’t I actually re-contract on the phone and be done with it.

Me: What is the problem actually? Why can’t I recontract now? (Exasperated)
Singnet: No Madam, you were eligible for recontract 3 months from the end of your contract, so you are eligible since April. Our department needs to contact you later to confirm the re-contract.
Me: Why can’t it be confirmed now?

I could not get an answer and we are getting absolutely nowhere. This was an international call and I had to leave for work. My frustration was now pretty obvious and to his credit, the Support Staff took down my non-Singnet email and mobile number, promising to try and get the relevant department to contact me. I didn’t think much of this and asked if it was better that I call back. He was obviously relieved, and said yes. I then asked how long it will take. “7 working days” was the answer, and at this point, I hang up so that I could get to work.

Throughout the entire conversation, the Support Staff was polite and I was not made to wait very long every time he asked that I hold the line while he goes “check”. But this was a situation where he clearly was not able or empowered to provide support to me as a customer.

Weigh these options:

1. Agree to notify me on my non-Singnet email account which contains both my first and last names in the email ID, and risk… Sorry, I can’t think of anything that would be a risk. No sensitive details would need to be in the email. I have already identified myself to the call centre staff with my full name and IC number. I would be willing to provide any other necessary details but none were requested.

   Email: $0. Satisfied Customer: Priceless.

2. Agree to call me on my overseas mobile number. Assuming that he/she says hi, chats about the weather and finally tells me, “Yes, madam, we have successfully processed your re-contract request. Thank you for subscribing to Singnet. Have a nice day.” it wouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.

   International Call: $20 (to be generous). Impressed Customer who swears eternal loyalty: Priceless.

3. Stonewall all my suggestions on how to contact me. Instead, expect customer to call back.

   Poor Customer Service: $0. Disgruntled Customer who blogs about her crappy experience: Priceless Worthless

Clearly, customer service is not just saying please, thank you, and good bye. It is about putting yourself in your customer’s shoes and anticipating what she/he really needs. Throughout the conversation, I was the one asking for and suggesting alternatives so that I can get what I need, with the least amount of hassle for everyone concerned. The easiest (and definitely cheapest) thing in this situation would be to just agree to send me an email for the confirmation, but apparently this was not possible.

I want to continue giving you my business Singnet, but you’re not making it easy. I don’t see how I can file and pay my taxes with ease despite not being in Singapore (kudos to IRAS), but I cannot do a simple thing like extend my broadband subscription without all the haggling on the phone.

We will see what happens when I call them again tomorrow.

Excerpt from the CNET report (emphasis mine):

The songs will be with Windows Media DRM and this isn’t a surprise to Claudio Checchia, research manger for Consumer Markets at IDC Asia Pacific.

Checchia told CNET Asia in an email interview: “Although music labels have started to warm up to the idea of testing the waters selling DRM-free music, at least on a limited basis in many US- or European-based online music stores, DRM is still deemed a necessary evil in APEJ.

“Bottom line, there was no way the record labels would have agreed to the launch of Nokia’s music store without DRM.”

Each track will cost S$2 and users can sync the songs via Windows Media Player 11 from their desktop to their mobile device for an unlimited number of times. Burning songs to CD, however, is restricted to 10 copies, depending on the agreement regarding fair use policies with the labels involved.

Thank you for assuming that your customers, who are willing to pay good music for their music, will act like thieves. So you sell your music crippled with these ridiculous restrictions.

Thank you, I’m flattered.

And despite the slap in the face, I tried to access the store only to be greeted with this friendly message.

The credit card went right back. Thanks Nokia, you just saved me from a hefty bill.

So here it is, a Flickr InfoWidget that lets you link a Flickr photo ID to your Zooomr photo. Once linked, you can synchronise Title, Description and Tags from Flickr into Zooomr. As always, Firefox and Greasemonkey are needed. Get the script here .

Check out the demo once you’ve got the script installed. You will only be to synchronise the metadata if you’re logged in as the owner of the photo in Zooomr.

If you’re interested in writing InfoWidgets as well, take a look at the sample Mood InfoWidget source or mine. Happy coding!

We did a very little research other than downloading a map of central Georgetown. But thanks to helpful Penangites, we had little trouble finding a place to stay or getting around in general. We took the RapidPenang bus service to KOMTAR, in central Georgetown from the bus depot at Sungai Nibong. Following the advice of a helpful member of the Starbucks crew at Prangin Mall (next to KOMTAR), we made our way on foot to Chulia Street (Lebuh Chulia) where we were told “you will find alot of cheap food and places to stay.”

Barely 10 minutes into our walk towards Chulia Street, we came upon a bustling dim sum place. Because we have our priorities right, we dropped our bags beside the first empty table we could find and sat down to our first breakfast in Penang. An assortment of dim sum was quickly ordered. The Steamed Pork Ribs and Chee Cheong Fun were really good, especially when eaten with the chilli paste that came with it. If anyone’s curious, I recommend checking this place out, Leong Kee, at the corner of Lebuh Kimberley and Lebuh Cintra (closed by noon).

It was an auspicious start to our Penang adventures. I didn’t take notes over the next few days, but we did do a bit of sight-seeing here and there. Mostly though, we ate, and ate, and ate, and we ate somemore. I had photos of less than half of what we stuffed ourselves with because as a wise sage once said, “The Mouth is Speedier than the Camera.”

Still, if there was one dish that I had to remember Penang by, it was this… Penang Curry Mee. Unbelievably, we found the best rendition of Curry Mee just across the street from where we stayed.

This was by far the best bowl of noodles I have ever had. We originally sat down for some wanton noodles but tipped off by the couple that shared our table, we decided to give Curry Mee a try.

I had only one response after a spoonful of the broth. Wow. The broth was light but chockful of flavours. Complex and indescribably addictive. I spooned mouthfuls of the noodles down, one after another, and before I knew it, I found myself staring down an empty bowl.

Just so I won’t forget, this Curry Mee stall is located on Chulia Street, near the intersection with Carnarvon Street. Look out for the huge Dunlopillo shop signage, the stall is just in front. Opens from 7pm, closed on Mondays.

Our whirlwind gastronomic journey ended far too quickly and we headed home lugging boxes of freshly baked Penang confectioneries. It was yet another overnight bus ride homewards, this time with visions of Curry Mee and Char Kway Teow dancing in our heads…

Check out the photoset here.

Small Update: We settled on Crystal Guesthouse after checking out a couple options. A little pricier then the rest at RM50 per night, but the room was clean and came with AC and an attached bathroom. The room was somewhat musty with a small mosquito problem, but the AC helped and a couple of swats took care of the mosquitoes.

• Zooomr Enhanced Thread Paging - adds another row of paging links at the start of a thread [script link]
• Zooomr Buddy Icon Reply - adds a reply link to each comment which will generate the buddy icon code or bold username code in the add post textarea [script link]
• Zooomr Fanmail Compose Fix - fix for a Zooomr bug where the “To” field doesn’t get auto-populated properly [script link]
• Zooomr Zipline Sidebar Plus - adds a couple of extra links in the Zipline sidebar [script link]

Okay, end of rant and back to the review.

I really like the NDS’s form factor. For those with smaller hands, the DS Lite holds very comfortably compared to the Sony PSP. The dual-screen display, of which one is touch-screen (and yes, it does look a wee bit jaundiced compared to the non-touch-screen one), and the integrated mic really cranks up the game play experience. The DS Lite has nice smooth lines and comes in a variety of colours. I like the white one best but the trigger buttons turned a tad yellow just after one week of intensive play by my friend and her sister. I won’t recommend getting the white one if you’re anal about keeping your stuff in pristine condition. If you are, and still insist on getting a white unit, go get a case that offers protection for the buttons (I think the silicone ones do but not the hard cases).

The NDS has pretty good battery life. If you’re a casual gamer, playing an hour or two a day on the bus ride to and from work/school, a full charge can last you a week if you lower the display brightness and volume.

A pristine long-lasting NDS is no good if there’s nothing to play on it. So on to the games, and there were a couple on the DS that were clear personal favourites. I’m not a professional reviewer by any measure so I won’t go into details (for that Gamespot is your friend).

• New Super Mario Bros.- Not much of a gamer growing up (I was mocked by said friend for not having much of a childhood), I have actually never played the original Mario games as a child. Understandably, I was embarrassingly bad at such an old classic. Still the game was fun, and even for Mario Brothers veterans (such as said friend), the game had enough to keep them playing.

  

• Yoshi’s Island - Again another classic with Mario-style game play, this was really entertaining. The levels feel larger than those in New Super Mario Bros and you can spend quite a chunk of time in each one . Most of the game sprites are really cutesy and not one looked truly villainous. Being the Mario-newb, I was fooled a couple of times before I was given this bit of advice: “Assume that they are all evil even if they look cute.” This is my friend’s favourite game currently and she’s quite hooked.
• Brain Age 2 - I haven’t had the chance to try out the original but I doubt I would get better brain age scores. I’m rather hopeless with the memory games and the best I could muster was to keep my “brain age” around the mid-30s. The game relies heavily on the touch-screen and mic but the speech recognition can be sketchy. For example, the Rock-Paper-Scissors game had consistent problems with the word “scissors” and it was incredibly frustrating when you know the answers and the game just won’t register. After a couple of tries, I switched to taking the non-verbal tests exclusively just to avoid getting really sad scores.
• Nintendogs: Labrador and Friends - This was a surprise winner because I thought it would be like Tamagotchi (of which I never got too fond of) for the NDS. The game really shines through the use of the touch-screen and the mic. You can “pet” and teach your puppy tricks using the stylus on the touch-screen. Better yet, like a real life pup, your on-screen pet responds to your calls and commands (after some intensive training). I really enjoy the game, but because of the reliance on voice commands, playing in public is out of the question.

  

Like so many others have said, the NDS (like the Wii) is probably not for those who want the best in graphics and technical specifications. The display is more than adequate for games like Mario Bros but for those who are used to hyper-realistic game environments, the NDS will probably disappoint. If you value sheer entertainment above eye candy, the Nintendo DS Lite is a great choice.

Images courtesy of Wikipedia.

A legacy of our colonial heritage, the railroad tracks have always been a familiar sight for me growing up. Both my primary school and junior college (before it moved) were located just beside the tracks along Holland Road.

While letting the pinhole camera do it’s thing (cloudy day = long exposure), I took a couple of shots with my digital camera (talk about contrast between the old and new). I could have walked a little further to the small Bukit Timah station but dinner was waiting at home. Typical of my luck, I heard a familiar rumble as I started walking home. The evening KTM train roared past just as I turned to look over my shoulder…

Maybe next time, Old Dame.

Small photo set here.

I photowalked a little in the area, stumbling upon the Church of Saints Peter and Paul (official site), a Roman Catholic church built in 1870 along Waterloo Street. The church, which serves the primarily the Chinese Catholic community, has been gazetted a national monument.

Small photo set can be found here.