Pros & Cons of Owning Credit Cards

Is it true that credit cards are evil? They can be the devil when it is used wrongly and recklessly. I do agree that extended credit should not be granted to all people. It's something like not giving an alcoholic another drink when they are drunk. When more alcohol is given, more damage and harm will be done.That is the same with people with reckless spending habits.

However, when credit cards are used in the right way, it can be a big help and also brings some other benefits. Before I share with you how I use my credit cards, I'll give a short summary on the pros & cons of owning creadit cards.

Pros:

• Helps to build your credit rating and credit history

It is easier for you to apply for a loan when you have a good credit history. The key word here is "good". The bad or good of your credit history is how you meet your bills, whether its on time, full payment or late payments or not even bothering to pay them at all. Banks & financial institutions would check this criteria whenever you try to apply for a loan.

• Convenience During Emergencies (Buying the latest Jimmy Choo's doesn't count as an emergency)
  

Lets just say your car is low on petrol but you only have a couple of Ringgits, some lint, a few business cards and your credit card in your wallet. And added bonus to this combo is that there is no ATM machine in site. This is where the credit card is handy. Its also handy in terms of not needing to lug around a whole twad of cash and making you a target for potential thieves.

• Online Purchasing

The internet has changed the whole way of shopping and payments. Take me for an example. I am usually lame with payments for my ACCA exam entry fees. If I pay through telegraphic transfer or bank draft, it may take a couple of days. So, I pay online using my trusty credit card. Some sellers also offer rebates, discounts or other money saving offers when you purchase online.

Flight tickets and utlity bills are some other items that credit cards are frequently used for.

• Even can help you get some extra cash 

Yup. It can make you earn back some money. This one I will tell you more in  a later posting that I will do "How I Use My Credit Cards".

•  Rewards and Cash Rebates

Some credit cards attach themselves to certain companies and their products. For example, I have a credit card that I took up just to take advantage of instant cash rebates given on petrol and it also has rebates for grocery shopping at the 3 big hyper-markets in Malaysia. That makes me happy.

Cons:

• Wreck Your Credit History & Credit Ratings

In the top part, I mentioned that it can help you in terms of obtaining a loan etc. But if it used wrongly, it can ruin your whole credit ratings. It can come to a point that the mention of your name automatically denies you a loan. That would really stink.

• Being Burdened by A Financial Obligation

It is fine when you get paid (through salary) and then you would be able to pay your credit card bills. But what if you get laid off from your job and with no other means of income. This would put you in deep shit. You would be blacklisted by the banks and financial institutions.

• Ruins Your Life and Effects Others
  

When credit cards are misused, people will feel pressured with the debt that is not hanging around their necks. The mounting credit card debts might make some people to turn to illegal financial helps such as loan sharks or Ah Long. Loan sharks can provide you with the money needed but the interest that they set for the "assistance" that they're providing is way more than interest charged by banks.

These loan sharks would not stop at nothing to get their money back. They will start to terrorise your family, friends and even those people that just know you by name.

There you go. Before you decide to fill in and send in that credit card application form, make sure what it is for and determine whether you are reasonable enough to own one.

Let me know your views on this. Is having a credit card evil?

Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Aidiladha

Wishing all Muslims followers and all around the world;

Top 10 Best 80's Cartoons

Those that were born in the 80's and spent your Saturday morning's would agree that the cartoons were the best. I still remember dragging myself out of bed just to watch "The Thunderbirds" or "The Wacky Races". In my pyjamas, a bowl of cereal or sometimes nasi lemak and Milo and just watch the cartoons as time passes by. Those were the days. Beautiful.

Here I have compiled a Top 10 list of the best 80's cartoons. The list is not SATURDAY cartoons, but cartoons that appeared during the 80's. Maybe some are not on your list and some might. Here they are:

No. 10: Captain Caveman & son

No. 9: Spiral Zone

No. 8: The Wacky Races

No.7: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

No. 6: Silverhawks

No. 5 : Smurfs

No. 4: M.A.S.K.

 

No.3: Thundercats

 

No. 2: Voltron

  

No.1: Transformers

It was a hard choice between Thundercats & Voltron for the No 2 spot. Both were damn good.

So, here is mine. Let me know what is your's. Whatever it is, 80's cartoons rock!

Empire State of Mind..........Jigga Man's best video yet....

I have been a fan of Jay Z's work for a long time. His work always shows style and class. This also reflects in his personal life.

The latest two hits that Shawn Corey Carter aka Jay Z aka Hova has produced Run This Town (feat. Rihanna) & Empire State of Mind featuring the ever alluring Alicia Keys have proven that his decision to come back was the best thing that has happened to the music world. Welcome back Jay.

The video for "Empire State of Mind" is simply work of class and style. Enjoy.

15 minutes That Shooked the World

Seeing how Liverpool FC (my fav club arch rivals) were dumped out of the UEFA Champions League at the group stages last night, I wondered how ever did Rafa Benitez pulled off that stunning win in the same competition final in Istanbul four years ago.

Liverpool were playing against the mighty Italian side AC Milan and trailing 3 - 0 at halftime. They went on to level the game and won the Champions League in Istanbul after a penalty shoot out.

Now, I just found what went on in the dressing room during half time. It was dubbed as ......

"15 minutes that Shooked The World"

Tune Talk Futsal: The Rematch

Tune Talk Old Farts 16

Young Tuners 10

 

The rematch was on right after last week's loss. The talk for the whole week among the old farts was how we would shut out the young Tuners and the sweet taste of victory that we will have after this rematch.

This time we had a secret weapon that was not available during our 1st match, that was Jason Lo aka J Lo, who is our boss at Tune Talk. He was itching to get even with the young Tuners. He went a bit bonkers when we told him we lost the first game and initially wanted the game to be played on Friday the same week.

J Lo loosening up before kick off

The kids were giving me stick the whole week. Ribbings like, "How does it feel to lose?" ,"How old do you feel?" and the best one "Abang, are you ready to lose again on Monday?" from the kids just G'd me up more for the match.

Matchday came on Monday. I got in the morning but I still went to work just to get to play in the match. That was how bersemangat I was.When I got to the office, the guys were already noticing that I was sick and told me to go back and rest. Jason saw me & said to me, "see the doc,sleep it off and then come back for the game". Boy, was I glad to hear that cos' I couldn't even keep my eyes open. So, I went back and got some shut eye.

The match came around. The smack talk and stare downs mean nothing now. It was a now to do the talking on the pitch. I got a bit well but not totally. Just enough to get to the pitch.

Me doing the sumo-stretch during the warm up.....

Early on, the old farts started to stamp their authority on the match. The young Tuners were just being bounced all over the place. It was not a surprise to see the old farts taking a sizeable lead at 7 - 3 after half an hour of play. Jason, Edmond, Ari and Dennis were the top performers for the team.

"That guy at the other court looks cute huh Veron", says Annie.

Then a few changes among the Old Farts team gave the young Tuners the chance to get back into the game and it was 10-9 at one point.

The heat of the game got a bit too much for the young Tuners Captain Marvel, Darren as he got a bit annoyed with some of his team mates. This was just where we wanted them. Under pressure and bikering among themselves. Easy meat.

"Get your bums moving, you old timers you", says Jason".

Ari & Edmond were terrorising the young Tuner's defence and Dennis was keeping tight at the back by marking Darrent closely. Alfie and Jason Ramesh were stopping everything that were thrown to them.

Nasron, Kharil, SK, Adie and I took turns with the 1st five whenever they needed to get some air.

Then, the old farts got a second wind (some of it came out the other end, if you know what I mean) and we scored a few more goals and made the final score 16 - 10. Game over.

At the end, the victory was ours. It was sweet. The young Tuners played well but they knew they had come up against a solid and eager TT Old Farts team.

A 3rd deciding game is surely on the cards (set for another 2 weeks time as this is being written) to finally decide who is the best team in Tune Talk. Bring em' on!

The TT Old Farts Team: Jason Ramesh, Alfie, Edmond, Jason Lo, SK, Nasron, Adie, Bo, Ari and Dennis.

 

 

Visit our website www.tunetalk.com

Most Annoying Malaysian Road Habits

The Malaysian Insider today published the results of a poll created by the Malaysians Unite for Road Safety (MUFORS) {http://www.090909.org.my/}which sees tailgating and drivers not using their indicator/signal lights as the top two most annoying habits that Malaysian drivers do on our roads with a percentage of 11.2% each.

Other habits that were mentioned by people that took part in the poll were Mat Rempits (didnt know this was a habit) with 9%, road hogging with 8.8%. More habits that were mentioned illegal U-turns, driving on emergency lanes, speeding, beating the traffic light and talking on the handphone while driving.

But they left out one more habit that is really annoying. Yup. You guessed it. Its queue jumping.

This is a common site when you approach a junction, toll booths and during traffic jams. Usually, these "jumpers" would just speed by you, slow down and in a blink of an eye jump in front of you. Some with less skill would just slow down, drive slowly beside and when you look at them, they'll just buat dunno or buat bodoh aje like we dont exist.

I usually get this at the junction approaching Bangsar coming from Section 16 (using the Sprint Highway). Like the others, I would patiently (using this term loosely) queue up then all of a sudden a car or two cars passes by and jump in front.

Those unlucky jumpers (again using it loosely) that would not be able to get into the queue and will create a massive build up on the next lane. Two lanes would then be reduced to one. Sometimes accidents would happen and this will create a MAJOR...i mean MAJOR traffic jam.

Its not a race, gender or generation problem but rather a national problem. Our nation would not be able to truly call itself a developed country when it continues to practice 3rd world country behaviour  (even 3rd world country dont do this) on the roads. Think about it. Are you one of these annoying people?

List of 10 Annoying Malaysian Road Habits

1. Tailgating
2. Not using signal lights or indicators when changing lanes.
   
3. Using handphone while driving (texting & calling).
4. Illegal U-Turns.
5. Queue jumping.
6. Speeding.
7. Driving on emergency lanes.
8. Mat Rempits.
9. Running the red lights.
10. Slowing down to look at accident/crashes (even thought its on the other side of the road)

If you think that I left out some from the list, please add on.

10 Reasons Why Its Good To Be A Guy

Being nude in public? The Thinker was a genuine guy.

1. Your butt is never an issue during job interviews.
2. All orgasms are real.
3. ESPN and Star Sports (does this count as one?)
4. You can get your underwear for RM 15 for a pack of 5 undies..sometimes 6.
5. You get to think about sex 90% of your waking hours.
6. One mood all the time...hehehe.
7. You always dont get a wedgy from wearing underwear (unless you are wearing your girl's G-string). If that happens, you dog you..hahaha.
   
8. You dont have to care whether its shaven down there or not.
9. 3 pairs of shoes already waaayy tooo much.
10. People never glance at your chest when you are talking to them.
    
    

Preview : Man Utd vs Everton @ Old Trafford

ESPN (ASTRO CH 812 @ 1.25 am, Sunday Morning)
After 2 boring weeks of no-BPL action and not willing to wake up 3 or 4 oclock in the morning to watch a game only decided by a handball (i always knew Henry was a no good fella, he was a Gooner anyways), the BPL is back.

After suffering a harsh defeat to Chelsea before the international break, United will get a chance to bounce back against the blue side of Merseyside, Everton. United will head into this game knowing that Everton have only won once in 28 premier league games which was in the 2005/2006 season when Duncan Ferguson (this guy is now fat and a beer drinker, that's how long its been).

United Team News

SAF's touchline ban will only start on 28 Nov and will be on the patrolling the touchline as usual. United seek to reduce Chelsea's 5 point lead after this game.

Johnny Evans will partner Vidic in the absence of Ferdinand who is out until the New Year. Owen Hargreaves will might be on the bench as he seek to recover from his injury nightmare.

Possible Starting 11: Van der Sar, Evra, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Nani, Carrick, Anderson, Valencia, Rooney & Berbatov

Player to watch: Wayne Rooney

After starting the season in a blaze, Wazza have only hit the net once in 9 games for club and country. He will be hoping to get back on the goal trail against his boyhood team. United can score his 1st hat trick of the season in this game.

Rooney says, "Utd are No 1, you scousers"

Everton Team News

Russian international Diniyar Bilyatedinov will be out as he is serving the 2nd match of his 3 match ban. Tim Cahill is a slight doubt who is currently suffering a groin strain. The match also comes to early for midfield trio Osman, Phil Neville and Pienaar who will miss the match.

Possible Starting 11: Howard, Baines, Yobo, Distin, Neil, Chill, Feillani, Rodwell, Heitinga, Gosling & Saha.

Player to watch: Louis Saha

Former United hitman has score 7 in 8 starts for the Toffees and will be wanting to put one over his ex employers. But I personally think he wont as he is made of glass and will get injured when tying up his boots in the locker room before the game. No worries for United.

Bo's Prediction: United Win. 3 - 1.      

Glory Glory Man Utd!!!

Bo Is Getting Fluffier By The Day

I stood in front of the mirror this morning with all my crowning glory self and realised something that I really did not want to admit. I am getting fluffier by the day! Damn man! Its getting so ridiculous to see me turning into a blimp.

I hope my "fluffy"ness doesnt get to a point where I resemble this guy;

Gabriel Iglesias is very proud of his "fluffy"ness. All the power to him, man. He is a damn hillarious fluffy latino.

But for me with my futsal and tennis, the extra weight would not help. My pregnant wife also maybe is contributing to my added weight as she is "wanting" to eat stuff but usually cannot finish it off. So, I will be the "cleaning crew" or Majlis Bandaraya to finish off the food as she does not want it to go to waste. Yeah, lame excuse but thats the reality of things.

If anyone out there can give some suggestions on how to curb my new found "fluffy" ness, I am all ears.

Bo is in the Papers

Yup. Thats me!

Sitting on the right beside my boss CFO En. Jalluddin & CEO Jason Lo with the other Tune Talk family members.

This appeared in The Edge, Monday 16th November 2009 edition.

Yeah! Tune Talk. Now We're Talking

www.tunetalk.com

Shyet-Li's Kopitiam @ Jaya 33 Section 13 Petaling Jaya

 

Shyet-Li's Kopitiam that I went is situated at Ground Floor, Jaya 33, Section 13 Petaling Jaya (opposite the demolished Jaya Supermarket @ Sect 14 PJ). I knew later that they have the main branch in Great Eastern Mall, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

It's a chinese styled kopitiam and its menu consist mostly of Asian delicacies. The food is halal, so no worries for Muslim patrons. You can have breakfast, lunch, hi tea and dinner or even just drop by for a casual drink. It is suitable anytime.

There is ample parking space at Jaya 33, so finding parking space would be a breeze. Then, you can take a lift to Shyet-Li's Kopitiam (ground floor).

The kopitiam's decor is styled according to the old coffee shops, which to me the best ones were in Ipoh.There would be an old bicycle at the door and framed pictures hanging on the walls. But you dont eat decorations, paintings or even bicycles when you go to these places. Service, prices and most important of all, the food is what you look out for. But the cosy decore and ambience sets your mood.

Once you're seated, a staff will immediately attend to and will take down your order and they are most helpful in explaining the available options on the menu to you. The prices are reasonable and the menu describes each dish from the starters to desserts in detail. So you would know what you would be ordering and can also make requests.

I had the Nasi Goreng Kampung with Satay. The satay wasn't put on sticks but presented as satay bits. The rice and satay were rightly proportioned with some fish chips (keropok ikan) on the side. To wash it down, I had some Cham Ice. The cham was just nice, not too sweet and yet tasty. The Nasi Goreng was priced at RM 12.50 and the iced cham at RM 3.80, which I  think is reasonable when you are left satisified at the end of your meal.

Nasi Goreng Kampung with Satay

Nasron (my collegue at Tune Talk) had Uncle Dory's Catch. It was fragrant rice with garlic fish which I think looked really nice and it tasted even better. Nas also had the Cham Ice. The price for the Uncle Dory's Catch was RM16.90.

 

Uncle Dory's Catch

Other tasty dishes that are available are

Roasted Chicken with Mixed Veggies

Gado-Gado

Nasi Ayam Special with Roasted Chicken

Hot Kopi 'O'

(The pictures were taken with my E71. Please excuse the quality of the pictures)

Adrianna Tan....of popagandhi.com

I had an interesting lunch meeting today with a fellow blogger  who also travels and is an avid ice cream lover. She is Adrianna Tan, the owner/author for popagandhi.com, a 24 year old lass from Singapore who has been travelling independently since she was 18 years old. She holds a bachelors degree from Management University of Singapore in Political Science.

Adrianna (left) having a chat with Nasron

I initially did not want to go as I thought it was just another boring talk where the talker would be telling about her experience and giving advices on blogging and whatsoever. I still went there tor the sake of accompanying a collegue to the luncheon that was set up Tune Hotels at  Shyet Li's Kopitiam in Jaya 33 PJ. Boy, was I grateful I went as the stories on her travels and experiences along the way was an eye opener and re-ignited my dream to travel at least within Asia. On top of that, I had a free lunch. Thanks to Margaret and Tune  Hotels for picking up the bill.

She is currently in Malaysia with a few projects of her own. Her latest and personal favourite project is introducing a new brand of local gourmet ice-cream in Malaysia where she is currently testing the market and creating new flavours that are more connected to the local tastebuds. I would really like to see whether she can squeeze in Lychee Sourbet into her list of flavours. That would be really cool. Pun intended.

I would like to wish her all the success on her future travels and projects. Also would really love to sit down some day and exchange some ideas and stories. If that can't happen, then maybe being offered a place on the ice-cream tasting panel would be a great consolation prize ;)

Tune Talk Futsal Team

It was called the Match of The Titans. The Golden Oldies Versus The Young Upstarts.

The match came about after the Upstarts team asked for a futsal match with the Golden Oldies. Never backing out of a challenge, the Golden Oldies accepted the challenge and set Monday, 5:30 pm as the date and time of the match of gigantic propotions. The venue was Sportcity Section 13 PJ.

The day of reckoning arrived. The buzz througout the Tune Talk office was only on the match and also whether the area where Annie and Nas sat was Perv-ville, where all the pervs of the office stay. It was decided, yes, it is indeed Perv-ville and Edmond is the Mayor of Perv-ville.

Back to the match. Everyone got ready and were raring to go. The first 5 of the Golden Oldies were Alfie, Dennis, Edmond, Lee and Bo. The match was back and forth. Each team cancelling out each other. Becoming an interesting match. Along the way, a few of the Golden Oldies fell off to the side, badly. Their wind knocked out of them. The Young Upstarts meanwhile were fresh like daisies.

The final 5 from the Golden Oldies that were left were Bo, Edmond, SK, Alfie and Lee. Gallantly putting everything into winning the match but with only 5 minutes remaining with the score tied at 7-7, the Young Upstarts scored the decisive goal to win the match and make it 8-7.

A rematch is almost on the cards as the Golden Oldies will be there. and ready to do some ass kicking (literally). The question is, are the Young Upstarts ready?

P/s: Special note to all the players that poured their hearts and guts in ensuring we did not get trashed:

Adie, Alfie, Arie, Khairil, Edmond, SK, Lee, Nas, Jason Ramesh, Bo & Dennis.