BYOB Green Concepts

I first heard about BYOB through Sasha' blog.
So what is this BYOB? Read here

In Summary:
1) Keep all your bottles at home, be it shampoo, soft drink bottles, mineral water, etc.
2) Bring to BYOB outlet in Cheras. Hope they will open in PJ soon. I took me 1 hour ++, a few tolls from USJ to reach BYOB
3) In BYOB, their min order is 1Liter per type of detergent. If you go to the FB page, they will list all their available detergents
4) Pay

This is what I bought. Guess how much?
1) 2L of Mop & Shine (for mopping tiles)- will have shiner effect
2) 1L Dettol (to kill bacteria / toilet cleaning)
3) 1L Fabric Detergent
4) 2L Clothes Detergend (Liquid form)
5) 1L Shower Gel

So why BYOB?
1) Because we can re-use the bottles
2) Because its so much cheaper. For the above, if I spent it in Cosway, I will be paying RM69.30. Now I only pay RM16.20
3) The ingredients used in the detergents are biodegradable and save to the earth. Natural ingredients will be slowly introduced.

CNY Ideas from Casahana

Every year, without fail, I will purchase goodies from Casahana because I find their packaging very attractive and easy to managed. All I have to do is pop 2 or 4 mandarin oranges and I am set to give it away for family and friends. I think I have done this for the past 4 yrs???

They have different designs and this year, I remembered to snap photos. I did it just before leaving..at the car..hahaha

This cute little paper hand-bag. Inside contains Oriental Softcake.

RM4 

You can just carry the paper handbag or put it in another paperbag which the vendor gave. 

Put in 2 or 4 or 6 oranges and you are good to go

NOW TELL ME...ITS PRESENTABLE RIGHT? YOU LIKE RECEIVING SUCH GIFTS? They are so attractive and pretty.

This is a RM15 box with cookies and tea.

Tada...
Next year, I look forward to their new designs.
Note: I wrote this out of my own experience and because its a good thing, I share :)

Playground at Citta Mall

Citta Mall at Ara Damansara is one of the newer malls in the Klang Valley. I go to this mall regularly because it still provides FREE Parking and usually ample parking too. This mall dont have many tenants yet. Some of the regular cafes I go are McD, PappaRich, Wondermilk and Subway. Besides I go to Jaya Grocer for some grocery marketing too. One day, I decided to walk the entire mall..to visit every shop. Then I came across Julia Gabriels - an enrichment centre and also a kindy and I found A Parent's Room for Children below 6yo. Naturally I went straight to the parent's room because it means it provided rest for me.

Very nicely renovated washroom. but not suitable for kids. See, the soap dispenser...

a child wont be able to reach. 

Very cosy room. No chair for adults to sit. But can sit on the floor. I can frequent this place until P is 6yo. LOL

Big thanks - to Nuffnang and Nippon Paint

I received an email from Nuffnang office saying that I won a prize from one of my blog entries sometime back. (more like May2011)

Of course, my confidence shot up again cos I thought this entry was made so long ago. Nevertheless, thank you. I never expected it and now, I just love surprises.

I was in KL for work the other day and I decided to pick the prize up.

This was what I got.


Isnt he cute?

Once again, thanks Nippon Paint and Nuffnang for the opportunity.

Budget Rent-A-Car

Whilst in the USA for my business trip, I took on a car rental. However I did not book directly with the company. I went through a 3rd party company as they offered a much lower price. Lower Price for the same product.

The purchase through the 3rd party company did not allowed me to purchase insurance. Hence, when I collected the car at the airport, I requested for insurance.

The person at the counter did not explain to me everything about the insurance. The conversation went very general and I signed the dotted lines.

On the day I returned the car, I was given the receipt and I was totally speechless. The amount charged to my credit card for 2 days of insurance was USD158!!! Again, I asked the counter person to explain to me, to provide me with the cost breakdown. The counter person could not explain. HUH????? All he said was, the amount is right, we just trust the computer!!!!! OH MAN!!! Even if the amount is right, I want to know how did USD158 came about because on the day I took car, the lady said, insurance is about USD30 a day. Given +-5%, it wont come up to USD158 right???

When I returned the car, it was already night time and the next day, I was flying out of USA. I had no time to contact Budget. I got very worried because if there is anything to rectify, it should NOT be delayed.

Anyhow, I came back home and I decided to email them. I got prompt reply from Budget and after a few emails, out of gratitude, they prorated the amount and I paid USD120.

Now, let me tell you.
When you take an insurance on retail price, say, at the airport while taking car, there is a base charge, airport tax, state tax and misc charges. The airport and state tax can be like 22% high!!!!! Their rate is based on time. Let say, your car rental is from 8 am (day 1) till 8 am (day 2). You came in earlier at 7am on day 1 to take the car..they start counting from 7am. and from 7am-8am..its considered as 1 day charged.

So remember, take your own insurance the next time or look for better offer.

All these wont happened if the 3rd party company did a good job!

Orbitz Travel

I was posted to the USA for 3 weeks last November. Besides working, I planned to travel to a few places, and one of them included visiting my brother in Lynchburg, Virginia. Prior leaving for the States, everyday I have been searching the net for good deals such a cheap hotels and car rental.

After surveying, I decided to use Orbitz. No doubt, their prices were the cheapest, but I didnt have a good experience.

This is not a paid post. I am sharing my purchase experience which left me very disappointed.

If you play around the Orbitz portal, you will realized that if you go for "package", the price is lower (example: Hotel + Car Rental). If you click "hotel" alone, the price difference is USD2-3. You should say, its only USD2-3? But I wanted to spend wisely. USD2-3 is our money RM10 and RM10, I can buy 2 meals!!! right???

So I decided to use the "package" function, however the function is not very smart. Because I wanted 3 nights of hotel stay, but car usage for 2 days. This was NOT allowed online. Hence, I decided, why not call them for this special customization? GUESS WHAT? The customer service cannot perform the task. Then why do you have customer service? Is Customer Service for those who dont have online access or who wants to make changes?? The customer service said, purchase under package for hotel and car rental for 2 nights and a separate hotel charge just for 1 night... and with that, I paid USD10 more!!!!

Secondly, under Car Rental Tab, If you purchase Car Rental only, the web will prompt you to buy insurance at a low price like USD9/day (all inclusive insurance coverage). Again, there was NO option for insurance when you buy under package. Hence, I told the customer service on phone to include the insurance, and she again, cannot perform the task. She asked me to buy over the counter when collecting the car. Now, do you know, at the end of the day, I paid USD120 (in total) for insurance for 2 days usage whereby car rental was USD30/day? I could have paid USD18 for the special insurance offered by Orbitz.

As such, for my future travels, I will be more diligent. Will I use Orbitz again? Probably no.

Happy Chinese New Year

Wishing all my friends here a Happy Chinese New Year.
Gong Xi Fatt Chai, Xin Nian Kuai Le