Friday, December 21, 2012

The list of most searched keywords in Google in 2012 unveiled

Google Zeitgeist 2012 published that in 2012, there were 1.2 trillion Google searches made in 146 languages across the world.

And the world's top 10 Google trending keywords in 2012 are:

  • Whitney Houston
  • Gangnam Style
  • Hurricane Sandy
  • iPad 3
  • Diablo 3
  • Kate Middleton
  • Olympics 2012
  • Amanda Todd
  • Michael Clarke Duncan
  • BBB12
Click here to download all the top 10 lists unveiled by Google Zeitgeist 2012 for the whole world and also separate lists for fifty over countries.

From the Malaysia lists, we can see that in 2012 Malaysian are most interested in the following brands:

Smartphones:
  • Samsung Galaxy S3
  • iPad 3
  • iPad Mini
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 2
  • iPhone 4S
  • HTC One X
  • Samsung Galaxy Y
  • Samsung Galaxy Ace
  • Samsung Galaxy S2
  • Samsung Galaxy W
Car models:
  • Nissan Almera
  • Toyota 86
  • Proton Prevé
  • Hyundai Elantra
  • Mitsubishi Mirage
  • Toyota Prius C
  • Mazda Cx5
  • Toyota Avanza
  • Honda Civic
  • Proton Exora Bold
Travel destinations:
  • Legoland Malaysia
  • Sunway Lagoon
  • Langkawi
  • Cameron Highland
  • Universal Studios Singapore
  • Kuala Lumpur
  • Genting Highland
  • Singapore
  • Penang
  • Melaka
Fashion labels:
  • Coach
  • Louis Vuitton
  • Gucci
  • Burberry
  • Longchamp
  • Prada
  • Chanel
  • Zara
  • Adidas
  • Victoria'S Secret

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Top 20 IT companies to work with in 2013

The Glassdoor Annual Employees' Choice Awards has listed out the winners in the 50 Best Places to Work With In 2013.

There are 20 IT companies in the list, forming the top 20 IT companies to work with in 2013.

They are...
  • Facebook
  • Riverbed Technology
  • Google
  • National Instruments
  • Linkedin
  • Rackspace
  • Akamai
  • Workday Inc.
  • Salesforce.com
  • Citrix Systems
  • Orbitz Worldwide
  • MITRE
  • Agilent Technologies
  • Intel
  • Red Hat
  • Apple
  • MathWorks
  • QUALCOMM
  • SAP
  • Eaton
Do you agree with this list, particularly their HQ? Are you working in one of them?

A family vacation trip to Phuket, Thailand (Part 2/2)

... continue from Part 1

Tour to Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island

The northern end of Phuket is connected to the mainland by Sarasin Bridge.

Our tour began with pick-up by minivan from hotel, leaving Patong and travelled all the way north, crossing the bridge and finally reached the 1st visiting point - Suwan Kuha Temple (a.k.a. Wat Tam) in mainland Phang Nga.

This temple is located beside a limestone mountain cave with Buddha. The cave is a bit alike Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur. Similar to Batu Caves, there are steps to climb inside the cave, and there are "light cave" and "dark cave" inside its multi-cave structure.

This reclining Buddha is in the main cave.


The top most cave leads out into a rainforest.

There are monkeys outside the cave, and they are just staying outside, won't go inside the cave.



We continued the tour to a pier, and boarded into a longtail boat. The boat brought us for sight-seeing in Phang Nga Bay, where there are lots of mangrove trees along the Phang Nga Bay National Park estuary. After that, there are lots of beautiful rocky small islands around us in the sea.

The boat settled down in a floating village on the seaside in Koh Panyee. We took our lunch in a Muslim restaurant there. This lunch was inclusive as part of the tour package. There are some souvenir stalls behind the restaurant. In front of the restaurant near the jetty we saw a netted area where the seafoods (crabs, lobsters, etc.) are kept in the sea.


I'm not quite sure what is this. Is it pearl breeding?

After lunch, we boarded onto the same boat and departed to James Bond Island. It is a small island with 2 sandy beaches, once an undiscovered paradise, and after some shot taken in a James Bond 007 movie in 1974 (The Man With The Golden Gun), now it is crowded with tourists.

We landed on the longer beach. There is a row of souvenir stalls facing the beach. Although now is not a peak session, there were still a lot of tourists there.

There are 2 legendary scenes in James Bond Island. The straight wall cliffs...


and Koh Tapu (Nail Island), viewable from another beach.


The last stop is sea canoeing near Talu Island. We landed onto a "platform" formed by 2 cruise ships joined together, and got onto a canoe. A boatman kayaked the canoe and brought us around.


Along the kayak journey, we went through several sea caves. The above is a bigger cave, some required us to lay down in order to pass through.

After that, we returned to the platform, boarded onto our boat, went back to the pier, and sent back to Patong Beach by the same minivan.

Tour to Phi Phi Island

On another day, we went for another tour to Phi Phi Island.

A minivan came and picked us up from hotel. We passed through the Phuket Town and reached a pier. We bought a loaf of bread there to feed monkeys and fishes later on. We were advised to rent a pair of fins for snorkeling, but later we found that it was not necessary. So, if you were told to rent the fins, consider it carefully before paying the money.

Before getting onto the boat, we were briefed about the itinerary with this map (and I found the map later in Internet).



We took off with a speedboat. Our 1st stop was Maya Bay Phi Phi National Park. We landed on a beach lined up with a lot of speedboats. Many tourists were walking around the beach, and some were swimming in the sea.

We followed the path to the toilet, which located some distance away from the beach. We passed through a small forest, and at the end of the walking path is a viewpoint at another side of the island. It is also a diving location near Pi Leh Cove.

Departing from Maya Bay, we went sightseeing at Loh Samah Bay and then to several viewpoints as in the itinerary shown above. We were told that Viking Cave cannot be boardedWe fed the monkeys at Monkey Beach. We took lunch in a restaurant at Loh Dalum Bay and then continued our tour. The boat stopped in the middle of the sea at Hin Klang for snorkeling. There are beautiful corals and fishes under the sea. We finished up our loaf by bread by feeding the fishes there.

Then, there was a long travel to Khai Island with a long beach. The beach was occupied by a row of boats. Many tourists were walking around the shore. There are beach chairs with umbrella for rent, and it was compulsory for use to rent it as our tour guide informed us to bring along our belongings off the boat. Pineapple, watermelon and drinks were served as refreshment as part of the package.



Here is also the swimming and snorkeling spot in our itinerary. Fishes were found swimming around the coast.

The tour ended by returning to Phuket Island and we were sent back to hotel with the same minivan.

Elephant Trekking Tour

On another day, we went for elephant trekking near the foot of the mountain where Big Buddha is located.


This package includes monkey show, elephant show and snake show at the same place.


Siam Niramit Show

Siam Niramit Phuket is located beside an ex-mining lake.

We reached there around 7pm. International buffet dinner was served in a big restaurant at 3rd floor.

Outdoor, there is a small demo village showcasing traditional Thai-style living and a floating market. We rided on a canoe for free, going around the village.

Beside the demo village is a carnival funfair area for some games and prizes.

There was an open air pre-show performance at the outdoor stage, which included elephant show, and then the performance of a troop of ancient elephant army going to war.


Visitors were encouraged to take photo with this elephant army.

The Siam Niramit Show started at 8.30pm in a theatre located some distance away from the outdoor stage.

No photo can be taken for the show, and all guests were instructed to deposit their camera at the counter before entering the theatre hall.

The Siam Niramit Show is about Thai culture, history and believe. There were hundreds of performers including some animals. The show is full of amazing visual and sound sensation, and great thunder and raining effect.

We purchased the Platinum seats which have good location for watching the show.

There is another famous show in Phuket called Phuket Fantasea. We didn't went for that due to budget constraint.

Phuket City Tour

During our last day in Phuket, we visited to some attractions around the island for a 5-hours city tour in a 7-seater 4WD before being sent to the airport.

Departed from Patong, the car went south for sightseeing along Karon Beach and the beautiful Kata Beach. There is a nice viewpoint on top of a hill near Kata Beach.


There is another nice viewpoint at Prompthep Cape with a square and a lighthouse. We visited the lighthouse too.

Then, we visited the Big Buddha located on top of a mountain. The Big Buddha is undergoing some construction work to paste marbles onto its surface. There is a donation campaign for visitors to donate for the marbles to be used.


We dropped by Phuthai Phuket Souvenir and Handicrafts Market. This place is obviously operated to earn tourists money. We didn't buy anything there, as we found the price there is somehow even more expensive than the small souvenir shops in Patong main street. We have already bought our souvenir when we walked around in Patong.

We also visited Wat Chalong, the biggest Buddhist temple in Phuket.


There is a tower in Wat Chalong worshipping precious relics located at its top level.
 
Phuket Cashew Nut Factory is a place for tourist to buy snacks. We didn't visited the actual factory, but went into the outlet for food testing and shopping.


The Premium Outlet Shopping Center has shops of many branded names. The shops have big display area with lots of goods. However, the price in those retail outlets does not seems to give good bargain. It is just neither cheap nor expensive.


Our city tour in Phuket ended here, and the driver took us to airport for departure.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

A family vacation trip to Phuket, Thailand (Part 1/2)

This year end, my family has spent our vacation to Phuket, Thailand. This Pearl of the Andaman Sea  is the largest and most popular island in The Land Of Smiles, located to the west of Krabi.

The Flight

We went there by AirAsia night flight. It is not only convenient to book the air tickets online, but also to check-in the flight using their web check-in service 14 days to few hours before the flight and print out the boarding pass for boarding.

However, if you want to travel with AirAsia, be prepared for the possibility of flight delay, and we did face the situation of flight delay on both our departure and returning flights.

When we arrived at Phuket International Airport, it was already close to 11pm.

Getting A Local Mobile Number

There is a counter in the airport arrival hall offering free mobile SIM card to arriving tourists, but the counter was already closed due to the late hour.

We ended up buying AIS One-2-Call SIM card at 7-Eleven and top up 50 bahts to it. After activation, I received several SMS telling me that I was given additional 35 bahts worth of talking time and also 20 free SMS. Not bad. The phone can get 3G network connection too, and I can always get HSDPA speed. Superb!

However, I turned off the phone's mobile network most of the time and manually turned it on when needed, as I think the bundled 3G connectivity could be as low as 50MB only. Anyhow, that is good enough for me to use Google Map and do some news syncing and WhatsApp texting on the road during the few days vacation.

In fact, we bought the SIM card mainly for the purpose of getting contacted with our travel agency. On our last day of stay in Phuket, we used up the remaining prepaid airtime by calling home to my parents.

Buying Tour Packages

The tourism industry in Phuket has a well systematic network to offer various tour packages to the visitors. You can easily find a tour agent counter at hotel lobby, and there are also many tour agent booths along the street.

You will notice that the packages sold by different agent are almost the same. Most of the packages include van shutter service for departing and returning to hotel. The van will go around several hotels to pick-up tourists who bought the same package, forming a tour group of around 10 people. Some packages include lunch at their designated location.

Our main itinerary was pre-arranged with Mayday Travel Phuket.


They offer slightly more competitive price for the packages than you can get at hotel lobby counter or booth on the street. They also have city tour and airport shutter service. We were shuttered from airport during arrival and few days later to airport for departure by their 7-seater 4WD.

The Hotel

We stayed at the 3-star Aspery Hotel in Patong Beach. Patong Beach is the most happening place for tourists in Phuket. Booking was done online with booking.com website. A Deluxe room with a king size bed and another single bed cost us RM2xx per night.

Located at the top floor of the hotel building, our room is spacious, modern looking, clean and tidy. It has a balcony with city and mountain view on the left, and limited sea view on the right. In front is swimming pool view of another higher class hotel. The sea view is limited as the beach is quite some distance away (about 200 meters), and the Nap Patong Hotel beside it also blocked some of the view.

The hotel has a relatively small swimming pool at top floor, good enough for some relaxation water play. I think the swmming pool used to have very nice sea view, but again now is blocked by the taller Nap Patong Hotel.

Anyhow, there is a higher platform built beside the pool enabling us to view the nice scenery around, including the Andaman Sea.

The room has an electronic safe box for us to keep our passports and some other belongings. There is a 32" LCD TV in the room with satellite TV channels, but all the channels speak in Thai and most don't have English subtitle.

There are plenty of electric socket points available in the room, but there is no plug converter for borrowing, and we have to buy one for 100 baht at the reception counter. With this, we can recharge our handphones, digital cameras and tablet.

WiFi is available to hotel guest free of charge, and password is given during check-in. I found the WiFi signal is stronger near the door, and slightly weak on the bed (middle of the room). There are also several PC with Internet near the hotel lobby provided to hotel guest free of charge.

The hotel breakfast is good. If you were to stay at Aspery Hotel, it is advisible to book the room with breakfast inclusive, as food around Patong area is pretty expensive and very likely to be more expensive than the hotel breakfast bundle. However, the breakfast prepared by Aspery Hotel is almost the same everyday. Not good if you are staying for more than 2 days as you will get bored with the same breakfast every morning.

Walking Around

I was told that Aspery Hotel has 2 buildings. The main building where we stayed at is located in strategic location in Patong Beach, while the new building is located some distance away in a less favourable location.



The beach is within walking distance from Aspery Hotel. There are many stalls along the beach, opened from evening till night, making it a lively bazaar. Closer to the shore are many beach chairs for rent. Phuket was badly hit by tsunami before, and now you can see signboard showing the direction to tsunami evacuation place along the beach.

Food in Patong is quite expensive. We found some good places for nice food with reasonable price.

The Joy's Cafe (green building) located very near to Aspery Hotel offers delicious Western and Thai food.


Samero's Icecream Paradise has nice icecream and gorgeous waitresses.


Number 6 Restaurant at the main street offers delicious dishes with cheap price, and is always full of people.


Emotion Massage is famous for its SPA and massage service at reasonable price.


The nightlife happening Bangla Road is full of bars, hot chicks, and tourists. Near to its junction is a big shopping center called Jungceylon. Near to Jungceylon Shopping Complex across the road is DJ Plaza Walking Street.

Simon Cabaret famous for ladyboys show is located further down the street.

The Songthaew waiting for passenger near Jungceylon wanted 200 bahts to send us back to Aspery Hotel. We ended up walking back.

Continue to Part 2...

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Auspicious dates for housewarming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2013

Here is the list of auspicious dates in 2013 for organizing and hosting meet-up with friends and/or relatives (会友), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

The dates are applicable for housewarming, open house, home party, gathering, potluck, and any other similar functions to meet up with friends and/or relatives. (Click the image to enlarge)



Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates in 2013 for getting a baby

Here is the list of auspicious dates in 2013 for getting a baby (求嗣), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

The dates have good element(s) to embro/faetus. Traditionally, the dates are referred for conception planning (making love and expecting a baby to the family). Nowadays, people also make reference to them for Caesarian delivery of new born.


Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Calculation for PCB 2013 income tax deduction

The Potongan Cukai Bulanan (PCB, a.k.a. Scheduled Monthly Tax Deduction) for year 2013 need to take into consideration of the following:

  • The individual income tax rate be reduced by 1 percentage point for each grouped annual income tax exceeding RM2,500 to RM50,000 with effective year assessment 2013.
  • The existing deduction on the children’s higher education amounting to RM4,000 per person be increased to RM6,000, commencing from year of assessment 2013.
  • Current relief of RM3,000 for savings in the National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN) is increased to RM6,000. The deduction is effective from year of assessment 2012 until year of assessment 2017.
  • With effective from year 2013, the subscription fee of Internet broadband is no longer a deduction.
While a new Jadual PCB 2013 schedule table is expected, it is not found in the official website of the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (a.k.a. Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri, LHDN) yet.

However, there is a document called Specification For Monthly Tax Deduction (MTD) Calculations Using Computerised Calculation Method For MTD 2013 or  Spesifikasi Pengiraan PCB Menggunakan Kaedah Pengiraan Berkomputer Untuk PCB 2013 is available for download from the website. The document provides detail explanation on the amendment to calculate PCB 2013.

Click here to download Specification For Monthly Tax Deduction (MTD) Calculations Using Computerised Calculation Method For MTD 2013.

Besides, there is also an online PCB calculator available in LHDN website for calculation of PCB 2011, 2012 and 2013.

PCB 2012 income tax deduction rate, calculation and table

If you are looking for the Potongan Cukai Bulanan (PCB, a.k.a. Scheduled Monthly Tax Deduction) 2012 table (Jadual PCB 2012) from the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (a.k.a. Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri, LHDN), it is available in a document published as Income Tax (Deduction from Remuneration)(Amendment) Rules 2012 or Kaedah-kaedah Cukai Pendapatan (Potongan Daripada Saraan) (Pindaan) 2012.

The Jadual PCB 2012 schedule table starts from Page 61 until Page 86 of the document. You will notice that actually it is the same table as Jadual PCB 2010 published before.

The document also has detail explanation on how the PCB 2012 is calculated.

Click here to download the Income Tax (Deduction from Remuneration)(Amendment) Rules 2012 document.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2013

In many culture, religion and/or tradition, the first haircut of a baby is considered an important milestone for his/her life. The day is known as Mundan, Chadakarana, Halaqah, Upsherin, etc.

Here is the list of auspicious dates for baby first haircut in year 2013, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates for opening business in 2013

Here is the list of auspicious dates for opening business in year 2013, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. It can be applied to new business opening, or reopening of business after a break/holiday. (Click the image to enlarge)


Note that 18/2 and 21/2 are the auspicious dates for opening business right after Chinese New Year 2013.

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2013

For employees, especially those in leading/managing position, here is a list of auspicious dates  in 2013 for starting new job/post/assignment, including joining new company, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

There are only 2 auspicious dates for this in 2013.



It can be applied to first day reporting to new company/department/office/position, go for the post to lead/manage a new business unit/team/project/programme. It can also be applied to assuming new job position after promotion/restructuring/relocation exercise.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2013

Here is the list of auspicious dates in year 2013 for signing contract, signing offer letter, register for marriage, receiving religious baptism, and other similar agreement-related activities. It is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.



Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Auspicious dates for renovation in 2013

Here is the list of auspicious dates for renovation in year 2013, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)



Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

If you are going to renovate your house, don't forget to visit the "home idea" section of my blog to find out some of my sharing there.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2013

Before becoming the life partner, marriage is proposed by lover and engagement is made.

Here is the list of auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in year 2013 (year of Snake), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)


Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Good luck in getting your right life partner.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2013

Here is the list of auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in year 2013, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)


Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

If you are going to move to a new home, don't forget to visit the "home idea" section of my blog to find out my sharing on mortgage, renovation, furnitures, electrical appliances, pest control, etc.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

I decided not to upgrade to Windows 8 at this moment

Microsoft has just launched Windows 8 operating system recently, and is now given an offer for existing Windows users to upgrade to Windows 8 Professional at the price of US$39.99 (download from Internet) or US$69.99 (purchase the DVD media). This offer period is until end of January 2013.

My Dell Studio XPS computer with Dell SX2210T multi-touch LCD monitor is running on Windows 7 Home Premium.

I have just gone to this website of Microsoft to download the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant tool to check if it's worth for my computer to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro by accceting this US$33.99 offer.


On that website, just click on the "Download Pro for $39.99 ERP" button to download the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant for free. Don't worry, there will be a few steps to go through before you actually need to pay the money and get the Windows 8 Pro. You can just run the assessment with the tool first without need to pay anything.

The assessment result for my PC seems to be quite discouraging.


I am informed that:
  • There will be no DVD player software in Windows 8 Pro. You will need to either install a 3rd party DVD player application or to buy Windows Media Center at a separate price.
  • Sidebar gadgets are not supported in Windows 8. This seems to be a bad news for AddGadgets.com who produced nice gadgets such as All CPU Meter, Network Meter, Drives Meter, GPU Meter, etc.
  • Windows Media Center that is included in Windows 7 Home Premium and above, need to be purchased separately for Windows 8 at US$9.99. I heard that Microsoft is offering this for free download to Windows 8 Pro now until end of January 2013.
  • My Dell SX2210T multi-touch LCD monitor seems not fully supported by Windows 8
  • There are quite some applications unable to run in Windows 8, including any component of Microsoft Office 2003 or earlier (including MS Project 2003, MS Visio 2003, etc.), Oracle VM Virtualbox, etc.
As such, I don't feel having the desire to upgrade to Windows 8 now.



Hint: Click on the "Older Posts" link to continue reading, or click here for a listing of all my past 3 months articles.