Afif

We are encouraged to fill up and apply for a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at work. It is a chance for a staff to gain knowledge and skills, meet industry standards and advance career prospects. Before this year, we also were accorded extra allowance for every certificate/course that we passed.

Previously, I’ve been taking the Apple Certified IT Professional certificate. It’s a good certificate to have since we are dealing with mostly Apple products at school, namely MacBooks, iMacs and iPads. But after a few consecutive years taking and acing the Apple certificate, I am curious to take a different course as a new challenge. A chance to prove my mettle. I finally got that chance this year.

At first, I wanted to take CompTIA Server+ certification since my Windows server and Active Directory knowledge is far from adequate. However, my boss suggested that I take the Azure Administrator Associate certification instead since it is listed in our official IT staff certifications list. I have my reservations at first for that since we don’t actually use Azure much at work save for a little bit of Microsoft Entra ID (no Azure virtual machines, apps or services). Nevertheless since my boss insists, I was up for the challenge.

I went for my AZ-104 - Azure Administrator Associate class in October last year at the Iverson training centre near Mid Valley mall. I was joined by a motley crew of disparate IT staff from a myriad of companies from water utilities to developers to Young Living. It was a fast-paced four days of learning with the usual PowerPoint slides and an hour of lab time. After the class, I completely slowed down on my studies and went on with work and life as usual. My plan was to start revising seriously after I’m finished with reading the CompTIA Server+ and Mastering Active Directory book. I thought I should complete my education on servers first before jumping to the cloud. It proved to be a really costly mistake.

I thought my Microsoft exam voucher will expire by the end of 2025 so I begin studying slowly at the end of the year. Turns out, the exam voucher is valid for another few months but I booked my exam sometime in early February, thinking I should have loads of time to study. I acquired a few ebooks and watched about a dozen videos on YouTube regarding the subject apart from studying the class materials that I got earlier. Watching the sample exam question videos, I honestly thought it was not going to be that hard, surely. If I can memorize most of the 600 plus questions showed, I should at least pass, right?

It wasn’t until 2 hours before the exam when I took the practice assessment on Microsoft Learn that I learned about the true nature of the exam. It was very-very different from the 600 plus questions that I watched on YouTube and definitely much more difficult than I thought they should be. And the four days AZ-104 class that I took earlier? It probably thought 5 percent of what I need to know for the exam. Come exam time, I struggled with most questions and after the short 90 minutes allocated to answer all 51 questions, I did not pass, unsurprisingly. Honestly, it would be a miracle had I passed. From the required 70% correct, I barely got 60%.

In hindsight, should I studied much earlier? Absolutely. To be really frank, you’ve got to either use Azure daily at work for a minimum of 5 years or you memorize every documentation at Microsoft Learn to pass the exam. I did neither so is it any surprise that I flunked the exam? Among the things I find useful are the official practice assessment, Microsoft Learn documentations, some of the paid practice questions online, any of the newer AZ-104 ebooks and perhaps, a few of the sample exam questions from the more recent YouTube videos. In addition to that, sign up for the free Azure Portal account which gives you $200 credits. You will need to enter your credit card details but you won’t be charged until you actually created something and leave it running for more than an hour (or if you forgot to delete it). Trust me, creating the resources, VMs and trying out the scenarios yourself will help you a lot during the exam.

Finally, unless your company is paying, it is not worth it paying for the offline class at any of the popular training centres. You’re better off studying on your own.

After all that been said and done, it is not impossible to pass the AZ-104 exam. Many people had done it including my overachiever boss and my programming colleague. I’m sure they had studied long hours (and earlier) before acing the exam. Will I be retaking the exam? Only if it’s free or really-really cheap. Otherwise, I will be trying out a different course first because this one still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

I own a Sony ZV-E10 camera. It is a fine APSC camera with interchangeable lens and excellent image qualities. That camera is small enough to fit in a sling bag and won’t be a burden to your back should you wish to carry it everywhere. Or is it?

As good and compact as the ZV-E10 is, I still feel the camera should be smaller. In other word, it should be small enough to be pocketable. Why is that you ask? Well like Bad Bunny say - debí tirar más fotos de cuando te tuve. I would like to have had taken more photos of my loved one, my surrounding, of everything. But to lug around the ZV-E10, would be a minor chore. It is certainly doable but not really desirable.

Hence why I took out a loan save up some money to get a small, much smaller compact camera. It doesn’t has to have an interchangeable lens and most importantly, it has to take good photos and videos while not being out of my budget. I looked high and low before finally deciding on the Sony ZV-1 point and shoot camera.

At fírst glance, the ZV-1 looks like a modified RX100 with its similar size and form factor. Under the hood sits a 20.1MP 1-inch Exmor RS CMOS sensor paired with a 24-70mm equivalent f/1.8-2.8 lens. This setup delivers a shallow depth-of-field and low-light performance that a smartphone simply cannot replicate. The body is made of textured plastic which feels smooth to the touch but still visible on the camera.

There is no viewfinders on this camera but you do get a 3.0 inch slide-flip touchscreen screen at the back of the camera. You can find the usual rotating menu dial, menu, function, playback and delete/C2 buttons on the left side. On the top, you will see the power, shutter, zoom, mode, C1 and a dedicated video recording button which is a favourite amongst vloggers. This camera comes with a built-in mic plus a “dead cat” furry windscreen which shields the camera from much wind noises. The multi-interface hot shoe can power a variety of camera accessories such as microphone or flash which is missing on the camera.

The C1 button also doubles as the background defocus button which gives you that creamy, blurred background photo without fiddling with aperture settings. Sony’s autofocus is legendary for a reason and this camera enables real-time tracking which make sure the focus stay on the subject. The special product showcase mode allows you to switch the autofocus from your eyes to the product held up to the lens and then back again the moment you move it.

That said, this compact camera comes with a few downsides. The 24mm lens can feel a bit narrow for handheld video recording, especially so when you turn on Active Stabilization which crops the image further. More often than not, I had to zoom out with my feet while recording scenes with the camera to be able to capture everything I wanted. The NP-BX1 battery is rather slim and small you will likely need 2 or 3 more spares to get through a full day of video recording. Finally, the Micro-USB port feels a bit dated in this day and age which forces you to carry an extra cable for charging/data transfer.

The main pulling factor for this Sony point and shoot camera for me is the size and photo/video quality. Size-wise, its only slightly wider and longer than an Apple Magic Mouse which makes it very pocketable and lightweight to carry around. It’s the perfect EDC camera. Price-wise, it is still cheaper than a similarly specced Canon G7X Mark III, Nikon P1000 and of course the premium Ricoh GRIII or Fujifim X100 VI. If you have more money to spend, the Sony RSX100 VII is the ultimate point and shoot but at easily double the price for the ZV-1.

Before you know it, it’s time for my youngest one to enrol into standard one. I’m not gonna lie, we are more nervous than the kid himself. We got him into the same school that his sisters went to in Bangi. Should we have enrolled Asif into the nearby Rinching Hilir school instead? To be honest, the school didn’t even cross our minds at the time. Anyway, we prepared for everything early on. Uniforms, bag, stationery, you know the lot. The orientation was one month before school actually started. Asif didn’t show it but we know he looked lost among his schoolmates. I mean, it is a huge leap from kindergarten into primary school.

We took the day off for Asif’s first day in school. We shepherded him to the canteen to assemble before the bell rings. Despite his nervousness, Asif put on a brave face while leaving us to march into his class. We left the school and came back just before recess. On the first day, Asif lost half of his pocket money. Fried vermicelli is not his first choice for lunch but he attempted to finish it anyway. On the second day, he lost another ringgit from his allowance. On the third day, he wore the wrong track pants to school so he was penniless during recess. Luckily, Linda was there to help him out. I don’t remember what happened during recess on the fourth day but he came home coughing and with a temperature. He didn’t go to school that Friday.

As for the religious school situation, Asif still goes to the same kindergarten that he went to last year. Our plan was to enrol him to the same religious school that his sisters went to but they were full. At least, going to the same place, cushioned the shock somewhat we thought. I showed Asif how to use the toilet during orientation. On the first day of school, I tried bringing him there again to practice but he said he didn’t want to pee yet. So how did it go for the rest of the week? Apparently the solution is to not go to the toilet at all during school. I suppose these kids have an exceptionally large bladder to hold themselves until they got home. I hope that he’ll learn to use the toilet sooner or later cause one of these days, he’s going to have to relief himself and I pray that it’s in the toilet.

When I picked him up in the evening, the kid is usually famished since he didn’t find anything he like at the canteen, except for biscuits and cold drinks. Asif is a picky eater so it’s no surprise that he’ll need some time to adjust to the realities of the world outside his kindergarten. We can only pray that he’ll adjust and settle down eventually. He will have to because there’s no other alternative then his current school. Amen.

Our daughter, Mia will be sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination this year. It’s an exam equivalent to GCSE O Levels. SPM is not everything but it does open a lot of doors if you excel. Doors to scholarship and good universities locally or abroad. While we would never pressure our children to get good results, we do encourage her to try her best. Her brother, Adam set a pretty high bar so consequently, Mia would aim to achieve the same good result as his brother because she too dream of studying at some exotic city some place far away.

That’s why we decided to give Mia a surprise visit two days before the big day. We booked a return flight to Kota Bharu months in advance. We were fortunate to secure the tickets for only 342 ringgit for the entire trip. The flight to Kuala Lumpur were literally free thanks to Trip.com . We woke up bright and early that Friday morning and left for the Salak Tinggi ERL station at 5:30AM. It was the start of the monsoon season and it poured all the way to the airport.

From Kota Bharu, we hired a rental car to visit my parent in law in Tanah Merah. Linda’s mother was unwell and had to visit the hospital a few days earlier so we thought we would pay a visit. In the evening, we made our way to Mia’s school to visit her. The rain did not let down the entire day and just enough when we arrived at her school. Needless to say, she was jumping with joy upon seeing us. Our visit could not have happened at a better time.

We took Mia out for lunch at a restaurant nearby and then bought some supplies for her. We stayed at a budget hotel nearby but without Mia though because it was not one of her scheduled off days. Zaman Sejahtera Inn was cheap but decent. My only complain was that it was right next to the main road and we could hear the loud traffic all day and night. Not to mention the brash motorcyclist visiting the Shell station next door. Apart from that, we had to inhale the toxic exhaust fumes from the idiots who parked outside our room. Don’t think we want to stay there ever again.

The next day we visited a mall to while away the time while waiting for 2 o’clock when we get to visit Mia again. The rain was relentless and I fully regret forgetting to bring an umbrella and a jacket. We met Mia again for some time and then said goodbye and good luck to her before leaving for the airport. Although our flight is not until 10.10pm, we decided not to risk being trapped in a flash flood en route the airport. Taman Bendahara where we shopped earlier was already submerged knee-deep in water.

After a four hours wait, we finally boarded the flight back to KL. The rain didn’t let down and we were lucky it wasn’t enough to delay our flight. We only reached home at 1am the next day after taking the last ERL train from KLIA. Was it tiring spending 48 hours travelling to visit our daughter for less than 3 hours? Yes but it was totally worth it. We know Mia needed this moral boost more than anything.

Last weekend, we joined my in laws for a little getaway in Malacca. We as in me, my wife and my youngest. My brother in law is attending his graduation at the Malacca Technical University (UTeM) and he booked us a homestay to stay near town to get together and to celebrate I guess.

Earlier in the day, we visited Hana in Rembau to drop off supplies and financial aid. I wish we could leave for Malacca earlier but Hana insisted we stay longer because she needed to use the laptop to study. In the end, we only got to Malacca, specifically Porta De Santiago after 6.30 pm thanks to some really bad traffic. As a budding photographer, it would be egregious of me if I don’t walk around and take some pictures. And took some pictures I did but as it was already sunset and my youngest is getting restless after the long drive, so I could only manage a few.

The homestay was a unit at The Wave Residences not far from town. The accommodation was okay I guess but we had to sleep on a bed in the living room because all the proper rooms are taken (since we arrived late). I don’t hate it but obviously I’d preferred if we had some privacy. My wife had a good time catching up with her siblings and parent. The next morning, I took Asif for a swim downstairs and saved a kid from drowning. His mother left him and his brother alone for two minutes and before you know it, he was gasping for air in the middle of the adult pool. Who even does that.

Afterwards, we stop by the famous Pak Man Asam Pedas for lunch. It was as good as ever. Linda’s sister took a ride with us so I don’t have the chance to see any more of Malacca or take more photos which is a shame really. But then, family comes first. That concludes our shot getaway to Malacca and not doing much. Next month, we will be joining Linda’s sister in a bungalow resort in Port Dickson. Can’t wait.

Before you know it, it’s been 4 months since I got my hands on the new Myvi. After using it for that long, I can give a more detailed review of the car. When the new face-lifted Myvi (or rebadged Daihatsu Siron) came out, I thought that is a pretty good-looking car. I mean I love the headlight’s shape and the overall design in general. It’s a sporty and zippy, city-worthy compact car. If I had to get a new car in the future, that would definitely be on my list. And so it was, a few years later.

Of course I had gone in great length about [why I bought this car]. Suffice to say, it has done remarkably well as a daily driver to work, run errands between short distances and also the long drive to Rembau where we regularly visit our kid. It has great fuel-efficiency, it’s big enough to accommodate four adults and a child plus you can ramp up the RPM to overtake on the highway if you need to. Let me give you a detailed overview for every major part of the car.

The Myvi that I bought is a 1.3 liter version without the Advanced Safety Assist features. For RM46k, it’s the cheapest Myvi model on the market for obvious economic reasons. To be honest, I think that I’m a fairly cautious and safe driver so I don’t think I’m going to need those extra safety features. But, if somebody else - my kid for example, is going to drive the car, I will have some concerns. Let’s hope I have taught them well enough not to drive recklessly on the road.

Wanna know the interesting story how I got my car’s number? It began when I told the runner to book the current running number for the Selangor state. That was how I got the number BSF nnnn. Interesting, right? Truth is, our favourite number - 1573 had passed for federal territories and also most other states plus, I don’t really want to waste 310 ringgit to book a custom number.

A 1.3 Myi will have the Myvi logo and nothing else at the back. The 1.5 version will have their variant displayed below the logo which are X, H or AV for Advanced. Only the Advanced model has leatherette seats and all the best features including built in Smart TAG unit. It is also the most expensive for 65K on the road. You can get a base Proton S70 for 3K more.

I double-checked with my buddy and he can confirm that there’s this strange hole on the front bumper of the car. I believe it is by design but it is indeed a strange glaring one.

We have a standard cigarette lighter socket plus one 5V/2A USB A port for charging. The utility/drink holder is pretty small here. Apart from that, there’s two more drink holder hole in the middle plus one on each door.

As the cheapest model in the series, it has unsurprisingly, fabric seats. Having raised three children previously, I am aware that these seats are susceptible to stains and am almost certain that some day, they will be covered with some. But for now, I laid out the rules and try my best to enforce them. Absolutely no eating or drinking in the car. I would tolerate plain water but strictly nothing else. So far, my kids and wife had been cooperative although not for lack of trying (I’m looking at you wifey).

Two adults can comfortably seat at the back. Three grownups would instantly make it a bit tight in there. Fully-loaded, I have to drive very slowly over road bumps or otherwise the undercarriage will scratch the road. One thing I noticed is the soundproofing or insulation for this car is pretty poor. I can hear the engine’s sound revving clearly every time I press the pedal. I can hear every pebble, water and debris hitting the rear wheel arch while driving.

As a fully grown, overweight, 174 centimeters man, I have to say the space between the driver’s seat and the steering wheel is not optimal. I usually drive with my legs close to the steering but doing so in this car leaves little room for my legs. It doesn’t affect my driving but when I try to get out of the car, it always brushes on the steering, making it rather uncomfortable. I had no such issues on my wife’s X50 or my old Alza so it’s definitely a size thing.

This car has the signal stalk on the right and the wiper stalk on the left like most standard Japanese car. Switching between this car and the X50 regularly make me confuse which is which.

There is no aircond vents at the back but the primary aircond up front is pretty cool and strong and I have not yet heard any complaints from my passengers. (They wouldn’t dare). This 1.3 Myvi only comes with a radio console and USB port for music playback but no Bluetooth. I suppose they would save a few ringgits without the Bluetooth module but even my 11 years old Alza has Bluetooth.

I thought I can live without playing music on Bluetooth in the car but I was wrong. Initially, I brought along my portable Sony Bluetooth speaker which had awesome song. After a while, I felt it was rather cumbersome to turn the speaker on and off before and after, not to mention needing to charge after a few weeks. In the end, I bought a secondhand stereo unit with Bluetooth from a mate. Yes he also bought a Myvi like me.

The Myvi provides a few built-in hooks. Two behind the front seat and one on the side of the passenger seat. I don’t trust those hook enough to withstand my heavy groceries so I bought more to be hung under the head rest. Apart from the usual big pocket behind the front seats, there’s two more smaller side pockets, conveniently located on each side of the seats. I bought two of those side pockets to fill in the gap between the seat and the central console. It’s handy to put my phone, wallet and keys.

The odometer panel is pretty basic but it does its job. The time there is not synced to the stereo system so you may have two different times in the car. Filling up 40 ringgit (pre-Budi Madani) moves the car 300 kilometers. After Budi Madani RON95, filling up 40 ringgit lasts up to 400 kilometers. The fuel efficiency for this 1.3L version is 22.2 km/l. Pretty sweet.

This is the side panel where I can adjust the side mirrors, turn off ABS and Eco Idle and adjust the headlamp angle. I thought Eco Idle aka start-stop feature was useful in the beginning. I mean it was supposed to save petrol by turning off the engine when the car is idle but after a while, it started to be rather annoying. It starts when the car is idle but only when my foot is on the brake. Once I remove my foot, the engine starts. I usually move the gear to neutral anyway when the car is idle for more than a few seconds so this Eco Idle thing does not benefit me much.

I must say the speaker quality is pretty average, especially while playing FM radio. It sounded slightly better on Bluetooth but the factory-installed audio system lacks depth and bass punch.

I can set the indoor lamps to door so it can turn on automatically when I open the door. These lamps plus the headlamp automatically turn off when I turn off the car so there’s no scenario where I drain the battery if I forgot to turn off any of them.

The 1.3 Myvi comes with 14 inch alloy wheels and standard steel rims. The more expensive 1.5 version offers two tone rims which sets them apart on a glance.

The 1.3 engine is decent. It is not as powerful as our turbo-charged 1.5 Proton X50 and it struggles to keep the pace uphill but on flat surfaces, it is not too shabby. I can easily get 140 KM/H top speed on the highway.

The rear boot offers 277 liters of space. I tried and fit one large luggage and one small one at the back but I had to move the middle cover first.

As my brand new car after a long time, I’m still getting used to driving the car in the first few months. I have knots in my stomach if I ever slightly go fast on the road and completely mortified if the vehicle behind me drives too close or did not seem to slow down fast enough at traffic lights. I’m still having PTSD after my kid rear-ended my wife’s car while I’m sitting on the passenger side.

That said, it took me only one week to have my first dent. I was coming out of parking where there’s a divider on the passenger’s side. Since the car is low and I didn’t notice the divider even by looking at the side mirror, I got a nice visible dent on the bottom panel jack, just below the doors. I can pretend not to notice me but it kills me inside to look at it every day. In the end, I spent 450 ringgit to knock the dent, cement and some spray works at a workshop. Getting knocks and dents on your car is expensive business I tell you.

Final thoughts, I’m really happy with my pick for a new car. There’s a reason why this Myvi is the top selling car in the country. It’s relatively affordable, very fuel-efficient and offers low maintenance and spare parts cost. It is definitely up there if you’re looking for your first car from your first job. It’s doppelgänger, the Daihatsu Sirion costs a pretty penny in Indonesia. The rebadged version for Malaysian market is so much cheaper while retaining most of the best features of the original car.

If you look at a photo of Asif nowadays, you will always see that he’s looking at an iPad. In fact, you can say that he’s chronically addicted to his device now at 6 years old. It is all our faults though I must say. As a dual income parent, we cannot afford to give our full and undivided attention to our youngest child. So, to help him fill up his spare time, we gave him an iPad to watch ever since he was little. So now it has become like an extra appendage to him.

Now since he’s starting standard one next year, we’re trying our best to wean him off the device. Starting with earlier screen time restrictions , no iPads while eating and encouraging him to watch the bigger TV screen instead. I must say, it is still a great challenge some time but it is a must unless we want him to wear glasses very soon. I know it’s easier said than done but if you can, keep your children as far away from a screen as possible. At least until he started school.

I have a few set of criteria for my second phone which is usually an Android phone. It has to has a big screen, it got to have wireless charging and ideally, near stock Android. The Samsung S24 FE fits the bill except for the stock Android experience. It has a big 6.7" 120Hz dynamic AMOLED screen and wireless charging but it’s not as expensive as the flagship S24. I’m not a big fan of the Samsung One UI but I can always customize it with the Good Lock app.

First impressions - it’s a big and chunky boi. The all glass finish coupled with the big screen add to the weight of the phone. You definitely don’t want to handle this phone for long with one hand. The AMOLED screen is great for media consumption, although certain websites like YouTube will show black bar on each side unless you zoom in. The 4700mAh battery can easily last until late at night, even with heavy use.

One pull factor of the S24 FE is the Galaxy AI. It offers the same exact AI features as its more expensive flagship siblings. You get circle to search, live translate and the magic photo editing like those on Pixel phones. As an added bonus, it supports Samsung DEX which turns the phone into a computer-like device once you connect it to a screen. The triple camera setup is comparable to those on the flagship Samsung phones so you get the same great-looking photos and videos on this smartphone.

That said, I find the biometric security system to be a bit lacking. Maybe because I have eczema on my skin but the under display optical reader had more misses that hits. The backup face recognition also works poorly especially under low light. It’s a far cry from the iPhones Face ID system.

At the time of writing, the S24 FE can be yours from as low as 2,100.00 MYR from online stores. For it’s features and specs, you can definitely say it’s a bargain. Samsung promised up to 7 years of software updates for this phone so it will not be outdated for a long time. It’s a premium device will great build quality and flagship features at midrange price.

Meet S. Once upon a time, a friend of my colleague was looking for a job. An IT job. I said to her, pass me his resume and I’ll see what I can do. So I got his resume and forwarded it to my then line manager Mrs J. A few weeks later he was hired as my colleague. He started as a Helpdesk Technician and then worked his way up to a Systems team member (like me) and finally as a manager-level title which is obviously above my pay grade. His full title is “Data Management Specialist” and he manages everything concerned the company’s MIS, mostly iSAMS.

You see, I use to teach S a thing or two about work and IT in general. Like everybody else who needed my help, I explained the subject thoroughly and patiently no matter how slow some of them were. The same goes to S. Very rarely I say no and not once I scold or berate the person for being ignorant on the subject.

Since S is charge of iSAMS, sometimes I refer to him regarding issues concerning iSAMS. Last week though, I don’t know what got into him but he chided me for not making enough effort to solve a problem. Now I know I don’t know everything under the sun and especially most things in iSAMS but there’s absolutely no need to be high and mighty about it. And it’s not the first time he berated me too. Sometimes he did it in our work group chat as well, for every body else to see.

Am I hurt? You bet. Although I call myself dead inside, some things do touch me such as an ungrateful person being a dick to me. I know he’s organizationally higher than me but If you can’t respect me as a colleague, at least respect me as a (chronologically) senior staff. You think I enjoy looking for you for solutions and being rebuked for the slightest reason? If it’s not because of work, I won’t even bother talking to you. Not after last week anyway. We’ll see how far you and your arrogance will go in life.

You know I had never once brought up the time I got him hired because I know he’s a hardworking, diligent man and if he was not working here, he’ll succeed anywhere regardless. But I am bringing that up here just for context and a backstory.

Is this a rant? Up to you to call it whatever. But one thing I’d like to say here to S, fuck you and your attitude.

While making the decision for my next smartwatch, I initially was torn between the Forerunner 165, the Coros Pace Pro and the Suunto Race S. Forerunner 265 is way out of my budget so I switched to the cheaper 165 into the list. Funny story: I actually won the 165 during a lucky draw recently. I never win anything at lucky draws so that was one a million thing. Too bad I already got my 255 Music at the moment, with a slightly bigger screen but no AMOLED though. Since I could do with the money, I sold it right away. I thought the 165’s 1.2" screen was too small, the inner bezel too big and I didn’t like the black colour.

Fast forward two months later. My Forerunner 255 Music suddenly died on me. It could be the battery or the motherboard but one thing for sure, it’s already out of warranty. In dire need of a smartwatch for my phone’s notification and also for exercises, I bought an Apple watch SE shortly after. A decision I come to regret now because I prefer the round watch faces of the Garmin and the square Apple watches just look ugly in comparison.

While choosing my next GPS smartwatch, I almost picked the Coros Pace Pro. It ticked all the boxes - big AMOLED screen, always on screen, long battery life and most importantly, cheaper than say the Suunto Race S. But while watching review and comparison videos between the too, I grow to like the Suunto more and more. It’s stainless steel bezel, it’s beautiful font and user interface. It’s pretty bright orange strap. Yes Coros Pace Pro has slightly better specs and a tad lower price tag but the big Coros text on the bezel is just an eyesore for me. Hence why I ultimately choose the Suunto Race S.

What strikes me the most about the Suunto Race S is the beautiful display and user interface. This 45mm watch has a small bezel and a crisp and bright high definition AMOLED screen. It’s the prettiest display I’ve ever seen in a sportswatch. The UI is also great, featuring this elegant custom font easy to navigate menu system. You scroll between the menu using the physical crown button and select using the 2 dedicated buttons.

Battery life is good too with my normal usage including training, always on display and the brightest setting lasting 4-5 days before needing charge. If there’s one thing I want to complain about this Suunto watch is its charging dock which is not magnetic and can easily disconnect from charging at the slightest touch. The Suunto Race S has most of the features available on a similarly priced Garmin including online and offline maps. The only major thing missing is Spotify sync which is exclusive to Garmin smartwatches at the moment.

The GPS is quick and it’ll take 2-3 seconds for it to connect when you’re completely outdoors. The workout features and screen are completely customizable. It shows my daily steps and calories, heart rate, altitude, blood oxygen and compass straight from my wrist. The default watchfaces are already pretty and you can find more watchfaces on the Suunto app.

Overall, I’m really pleased with my Suunto Race S. It’s by far the best GPS sportswatch that I’ve ever owned. And I’ve owned a few Garmins before including a Fenix. At around 1,700 ringgit, it’s a bit pricier than an entry-level sports watch but the beautiful design and user interface makes it really worth it.

For our annual team building event, my company decided to go to the Lost World of Tambun theme park near Ipoh. All 90 of us took three buses to go to the park and check-in to the nice resort hotel next door. My family and I have been to Sunway Lagoon once but I myself have not been inside Lost World of Tambun, its sister theme park.

After getting in, we quickly started our team building activity which is a little telematch games by the artificial beach and pool. To be honest, I don’t really enjoy these games so much because they always get super-competitive and a little bit rough at times. That said, I try my best to be as sporting as possible and participate in most of the games. As expected, my team lost all three games (because there were some passengers in the team) but it’s not a big deal to me. It’s just some games.

We had buffet lunch and dinner at the Malayana restaurant inside the park. After lunch, I strolled around the park, seeing what’s available. Without my family around, I don’t feel like bathing or playing in the pool. Compared to Sunway Lagoon, Tambun has much smaller pool and water park area. Instead they have this huge collection of zoo animals around the park. I saw tigers, hyenas, deers, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes and a variety of other reptiles and birds. There are. The amusement park features only 2 or 3 rides plus two different train rides. The haunted house is surprisingly a separate paid attraction in the park.

The real highlight of the park I must say is the hot springs. They have 5 different springs to choose from with varying temperatures. The steam cave is the hottest of them all and the sign board warns you not to spend more than 5 minutes in the cave. After much walking and playing throughout the day, its so refreshing to be able to dip in the warm bubbly hot spring. Apparently there’s also some special performances in the park in the evening but I missed it because it’s at 10pm?

The buffet meal is okay I guess. I mean they did serve some lamb for dinner. Like all theme parks, the food sold at the stalls are way overpriced. I get to stay at the Sunway Lost World Hotel just across the street. The listed price is 850 ringgit per night so it was naturally nice but not as nice as some 5 star hotels you find in KL. But the high price does include complimentary tickets for 4 persons into the night park so in a way, it’s quite worth it.

The Lost World of Tambun theme park is a great place to bring your children - for the pools, amusement park, wild animals and hot springs. If you’re tired of Sunway Lagoon or Gamuda Cove, this park in Ipoh is definitely worth a visit.

After our team building event, we also visited Ipoh town and Tasik Cermin nearby. Ipoh was same old, same old. I did not eat at Yong Suan (nasi ganja) because I was still too full from breakfast buffet. I took some pictures of the historical buildings in Ipoh then board the bus to Tasik Cermin (mirror lake). I paid 4 ringgit to walk past a little mining tunnel to the edge of the lake. There’s not much to see except the lake and to explore more of the lake, you’ll have to take a 25 ringgit boat that goes to other places. I thought it was not so worthwhile so I skipped.

Ever since my Forerunner 255 Music died on me last time, I am without a smartwatch. I thought I could go through daily life without one but eventually I thought wrong. I miss the notifications on my wrist because without a smartwatch, I need to pick up my phone to look at them which is really a chore, especially if the message is unimportant.

Hence why I decided to get the cheapest, decent smartwatch on the market - the Apple Watch SE second generation which cost just slightly over 1,000 ringgit. I have a love-hate relationship with Apple watches. I mean they’r a great companion for your iPhone but the square watch face design and short battery life are a real bummer. I always preferred a round watch face on my wrist. I think they look more beautiful and elegant.

That said, the Apple Watch SE was an easy choice because of the price and compatibility with my iPhone. An entry level Garmin would cost about the same price but with much bigger bezels and lower quality display. This is not my first Apple Watch. The last one I had was the Series 3 which had a standard silicone straps. This time around I decided to go with the blue Nike sports loop nylon straps which felt soft and comfortable on my skin.

This 44mm version has a 977 square milimetres display area and weigh just 32.9 grams. It claims to have an “all day battery life” but my real life usage last up until around 9 or 10pm in the evening which is just about right. As an entry-level Apple Watch, it doesn’t have all the fancy features of the latest flagship models. No always-on-display, blood sugar monitor and the bezel is huge on the small screen.

What else can I say about this Apple Watch. It is adequate as a smartwatch but just like every other Apple watches that I own, I feel like the build quality is not suitable to be used on prolonged days outdoors or for adventure sports. For one thing, you need to charge it daily and also the display is not as though as other sports GPS watches. Still, for an entry-level Apple watch that just works with your iPhone, it is a decent choice.

For this year’s holiday, we thought we’d give the islands of the east coast a try. Believe it or not, we’ve never been to any of the famous islands scattered along the east coast state of Terengganu or Pahang. After much research and comparison, we agreed on Redang island. Tioman was far too costly and Redang some people say is the prettiest of the Terengganu islands.

We picked Redang Holiday Beach Resort from the dozens of resorts on the island. It offers the most value with the fewest bad reviews. We paid around 4,000 ringgit for the snorkelling package for a family of four plus one toddler. The package include two bedrooms, 3 meals a day, snorkelling and boat ride for 3 days and 2 nights. That also include return boat transfer from the Merang jetty near Kuala Terengganu.

We left from KL right after work that Friday evening. It was a tiring six hours drive to Kuala Terengganu and we only reached the homestay after midnight. Early next morning we made our way to the jetty. We waited for the rest of the pax to arrive then cruised across the choppy waters of Terengganu to Redang island. On the island, we took a wagon pulled by a tractor to the hotel room. The hotel itself was okay. It was right next to the beach but our room was poolside. Maybe just our luck but room 116 that we stayed in had a faulty fan, mouldy walls and a clogged toilet. Sounds horrible right? A staff came to unclog the toilet and advised us not to turn on the fan to top speed to avoid the noise. The room also has some really basic amenities - air-conditioner, one electric kettle and one hair dryer but nothing else. No TV, telephones or wi-fi connection. My expectation was low but still, 4k is not cheap to deserve to get a shitty room. Would I recommend this hotel? Only if you’re short of budget and you can’t afford some of the other nicer resorts.

What I can compliment though is the food and the snorkelling sessions. The food was good overall. I mean my wife and family really liked them, especially the fresh sea food. That said I always stick to the chicken menu. The snorkelling session was the highlight of our stay. We visited 3 different diving sites throughout our visit including one paid marine national park where we snorkelled from the beach. Each diving site is beautiful on its own. The boat and snorkelling crew were also really friendly and they made sure we had the best experience and looked after our safety in the ocean. Sure we found some dead corals due to global warming or climate change but for our first ever snorkelling experience, they’re still breathtakingly beautiful. The water was crystal clear, we can see quite a number of fishes (although they were all small) and there’s the white sandy and clean beaches around the island. We were even treated with a fire show on our last night on the island.

We only managed to catch the sunrise once on our final day. It was rather cloudy so it wasn’t that great but it’s still beautiful nevertheless.

Would I recommend Redang island? Absolutely, especially for first time visitors. Your expectation must be directly related to your budget. The more you pay, the better your overall experience will be. I would really recommend snorkelling around the island because it will be an unforgettable experience.

Due to fault of no-one other than myself, I am an obese person. I might not look like it from a glance, but if I go topless in front of you, you will see for sure. It’s not for lack of trying. I’ve tried a couple of diet regiments and exercises but the former especially, seems to wither down and stop gradually over time. At the moment, I try to exercise whenever possible, usually a brisk walk at the park and sometimes if time and circumstance permit, I go on the threadmill at work. I wish I could exercise more after work but my youngest, Asif is still scared of being left alone at home even for just one hour. Also at barely six years old, some would call it irresponsible to leave a child unattended, even for a short time. So that’s that.

One thing I do regularly is health screenings or medical checkups. I have got my wife to thank for this because she will keep nagging reminding me to do one once every year at least. I argued, I know my body better than any doctors and I can already predict the results. I will have a lot of cholesterols, high blood pressure and I’m obese. I don’t need to pay a hospital 500 ringgit to hear all that every year. That said, I still do it, the health screening every year. At minimum, I get to accompany my wife for the purpose. At best, the tests could detect a potentially life-threatening disease that I’m not aware of.

For this year’s screening, we picked KPJ Kajang. Solely because the nearer hospital - Hospital An-nur was already fully booked. I think all the major hospitals are the same anyway so we usually pick the ones closest to home. As expected, I learned that I’m overweight, high fat and cholesterol and high blood pressure. Apart from that however, the tests also picked up a rather abnormal heart beat on the graphs. After doing a further echocardiogram, the doctor confirmed that and explained that is due to my thickening heart muscles due to you guessed it - high cholesterol and blood pressure. The high bp is obviously self-inflicted but the high cholesterol is actually genetic. I apparently have familial hyperlipidemia, an inherited disorder which causes my liver to produce an abnormally high amount of cholesterols. That’s why my cholesterol reading shows 7.2 even though I’ve been fasting during Ramadan and also intermittent-fasting in between.

But what do I do? Just ignore it and hope that I don’t die too soon? Fortunately, there’s some medications for that. There’s the usual high blood pressure pills and also pills to reduce my cholesterol production. The bad news is, I probably have to take them daily for life. Hey that’s better than meeting my maker sooner, right? The doctor quipped that I could stop taking the high blood pressure pills, provided I lost at least 10 kilos of my current weight. Like Barney Stinson used to say - challenge accepted!

Since my hyperlipidemia and thick heart muscles are hereditary, my siblings could possibly have them too. Remind me to remind them to get checked for this. So for once, I’m glad I listened to my wife’s nagging to do the annual health screening. As a man that’s constantly broke, I am glad that my company covers my health screening and my wife’s company covered the super-expensive consultation and outpatient treatment. I would be blissfully ignorant otherwise. Moral of the story here - get yourself checked folks! It’s well worth it.

We didn’t leave for our home town until the day before Eid this year. Linda had to work on Saturday since it’s the end of the month and we left early Sunday morning. We had suhoor at a mamak in Bandar Seri Putra and begin our long and sleepy drive to Tanah Merah. The road was jammed at the usual spot but thankfully not as bad as the day before where everybody’s rushing to enjoy the half price toll discount.

This is our first Eid without Adam. We had an emotional video call with Adam the day before Eid because he celebrated a day early in the States. We were particularly sad to see the food that he had on Eid morning - bagels with cream cheese, among other western food. None of the regular local Eid fare that we have here.

As always, we stayed at my parent in law’s place. There was only one other family present when we got there - Kak Cik from Bentong. The rest of them were celebrating Eid with their respective in laws this year. In the morning, we had our morning Eid prayers and went straight to Pasir Mas afterwards. My hometown was a bit more happening because a lot of people showed up this year. My siblings - Lina and Faiz, my Uncle Din, his wife and two of my cousins. Uncle Dib and family and of course Aunty Yati.

Mother was conspicuously absent this year since she was performing umrah for the last week of Ramadan and a week into Syawal. If I haven’t told you, it’s her sixth time going for an umrah. She asked me to visit her newly renovated kitchen/home. If you remember, she rent out 2/3 of our ancestral home to make money. And she wonders why we don’t visit her much anymore. Anyway, our old kitchen has two more beds, supposedly for us to stay in. Nobody took up on her offer except for my brother and his family. Sorry mother, but our house it’s not a proper home anymore. The house that I grown up in had gone.

After a brief stop at my father’s grave, we concluded day one of Eid this year.

On the second day, we visited Linda’s sister in laws in Besut. We didn’t waste this opportunity to visit the popular Bukit Keluang beach nearby and enjoy the sunset.

On the third day, we visited Linda’s office mate house near Kota Bharu. As expected, traffic was horrendous all over the place this festive season. And we took a long time trying to find her office mate’s house that I almost give up. Later we stopped by Aeon Mall Kota Bharu for a little bit of shopping before going home.

The rest of the week was uneventful until Friday where we went to Bachok to stay at a homestay near Melawi beach. For the peak season price of 480 ringgit, we get a small studio house with two queen beds on the 1st floor, kitchen, small swimming pool and beachfront access to the Melawi beach. The house itself was nice, I especially appreciate the washer/dry machine but it took me 9 and a half hours to finish our laundry. I learned to select synthetic or cotton dry mode next time.

Melawi beach itself, particularly the one right in front of the homestay was terribly dirty with rubbish strewn all along the beach. Sadly this is the norm for non-touristy beach from Thailand to Malaysia. But that didn’t stop us from enjoying the beautiful sunrise the next day. Will we come again to Amnis Tiny House? I doubt it.

The funniest thing happened when were about to drop off Yaya at her school in Kota Bharu. It was still closed for the holiday and it won’t open until the next day. So we had to send Yaya to her grandparent’s place first before continuing our journey home. We departed at 6.30pm and didn’t reach hour 12 hours and 30 minutes later. God only knows how tired and sleepy I was for the most part of the journey. To make matter worse, I could not find a single open coffee shop, even McDonald’s open after midnight. Remind me to get a portable water heater next time. French press I already have. That’s why I loath driving during the festive season. Traffic is almost always bad and driving on the road is literal torture. Can’t wait for the day I don’t have to do any of this anymore.

The Pixel line of phones has been one of my favourite Android phones to have. My last Pixel phone was the Pixel 4A 5G, and then I moved on to other Android phones like Samsung, Nothing, and then Sony. However, I was the owner of this Pixel 7A phone for less than a month. Find out why below.

The Pixel 7A features a small (by today’s standard) 6.1-inch screen and is powered by a Google Tensor chip. The default memory size is 128GB, and it features an under-the-display biometric scanner. The wireless charging feature is also another nice feature to have because the previous Pixel “a” series phone doesn’t have that. There is nothing much to review about this Pixel phone, though, because it’s basically the same as every other Pixel phone in the market. The newer ones will have slightly different hardware touch-ups and a few software upgrades here and there, but that’s about it. You buy a Pixel phone mostly because of the near-stock Android experience, quick software updates, and great camera.

I’m not a big fan of the Pixel camera bump design, but I get used to it over time. The dealbreaker for me, however, is the size. I should have known that 6.1" would be rather small for my second phone because I always prefer bigger ones for media consumption.

That’s why I sold the Pixel just shy of a month after buying it. Ironically, my current phone (before the Samsung A35) is another 6.1" phone, but at least it’s a Sony.

I don’t get much medical coverage from my current company. My current outpatient benefit is a measly 2,000 ringgit annually. I can easily finish that before the 7th or 8th month of the calendar with just regular panel clinic visits. If I go for medical checkups or specialist consultations, those will cost from 200 to 500 each per visit. If I want to get inpatient treatment, I need to be hospitalized first if I want to use the other medical insurance. So usually when I have some kind of unresolved injury or ailment, I’ll just grin and bear it.

My wife’s company, on the other hand, offers a generous medical benefit. Thanks to her union, she and my children are covered by her company’s insurance 100%. Meaning, if they were to visit any panel clinics or hospitals, we usually don’t have to pay anything. They get 100% coverage. Well, except that one time when my last child was born and some of the post-delivery treatment was not covered by insurance. Apart from that, we’re good.

But previously, that benefit does not cover the spouse, i.e me. So I don’t get to enjoy all those perks. Recently however, her collective agreement (CA) began to include the spouse, so from this year on, I get to enjoy the same benefits. I didn’t waste time and went to get a consultation appointment with the nearest panel hospital, which is in Bangi. I have this niggling pain on my feet and knee and also tennis elbow on both my elbows (duh). I got steroid injections for both my elbows, but unfortunately, the PRP injection is not covered by insurance because they claim it is for cosmetic purposes. Which is strange because there’s nothing cosmetic about relieving the pain on my feet.

Anyway, the other alternative for PRP is physiotherapy, which I’ve been getting at the same hospital every other week. They attach this device to my feet, which gives tiny electrical jolts to my muscles and bones (I suppose?). I was skeptical at first, but a few weeks later, the pain on my feet has practically gone away. So it does work this electrical jolt thing.

I always moan every time my wife comes home late for work (which is practically every day), but this kind of thing does help to ease the grief. So the moral of the story is, find a company with really good medical benefits if you can. You’ll be very thankful for that as you get older when your body starts to fail you.

There are no shortage of good and full-featured Android phones out there. Some of my favourites are the Google Pixel line, Samsung Ultra, Nothing phone, and the Samsung flip and fold phones. However, design-wise, few attracted my attention like the Sony Xperia line. Its minimalist and clean design just suits my taste perfectly. But those Sony phones don’t come cheap. The cheapest in the series, the Xperia 10 VI, cost around 2,100 ringgit on launch. That said, they do provide free gifts and discounts on a later date, so if you can wait, it is worth it.

Naturally, I can only afford the Xperia 10 VI. The tall and narrow design is not my favourite, but I loved the external aesthetics very much. The 6.1" inch OLED phone offers clean lines and a smooth matte exterior. My unit comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of UFS internal memory. As with other Xperia phones, this one also comes with a micro SD slot.

Weighing at just 164 grams, this lightweight phone gives you up to two days of usage with its 5,000 mAh battery. The power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor, and it works great even on my eczema-prone fingers.

Nevertheless, the Xperia 10 VI also comes with a few downsides. While sporting a standard USB-C port, this phone does not support wireless charging, which could be a dealbreaker for me if it weren’t a Sony. The photos and videos taken with this phone are also pretty poor despite being a Sony phone with Sony sensors. The software experience is mostly good, although you could encounter some minor lag after one year of usage.

To be honest, Sony Xperia phones don’t really sell as much as Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, or Realme. It is a very niche product for a very niche market or Sony hardcore fans. That said, I still love the design and aesthetics of this phone, and I won’t get tired of looking at it every day. But if you have a few more thousand to spare, I would suggest you get the Xperia 1 VI, which features a more normal 19:5:9 form factor and a much better camera.

The other thing about our homestay is that it’s some 45 minutes drive away from the famous Samila beach. This was totally my fault because when I was searching for a place to stay on Airbnb, I just moved the cursor further away from Samila beach until I found the cheapest one. I had no idea it was 20 kilometres away from there and we need to take a ferry across for 20 baht per car.

Thankfully, Samila beach is so much cleaner from Muang Ngam, maybe because it’s a popular tourist attraction so there’s more initiative to keep the place clean. We definitely should have stayed near there but the hotel price was prohibitive. First thing on the agenda was brunch. We had brunch at Bung Sem muslim food restaurant with a nice beach view. The sea food was okay, we had some fish, beef, fried chicken and calamari rings but we were totally ripped off for nearly 200 ringgit afterwards. 90 ringgit for some calamari rings? Definitely don’t go there.

After that the kids went on some horse ride along the beach. The standard price is 150 baht per head. We also had some coconut ice cream and took some pictures with the resident mermaid (statue). We didn’t stop by anywhere else after Samila. There’s still a four hours drive to the Rantau Panjang ICQ and we didn’t want to miss the 10pm crossing deadline. You can still cross after 10 but there will be extra charges.

For the 300 kilometres drive, we finally used up all our sweet subsidized Malaysian petrol and had to fill up with some expensive unsubsidized Thai petrol. I fill up just enough petrol at a PTT station to reach Kelantan. We tried some coffee at the Amazon coffee outlet there and much to our dismay, the latte was sweet. They literally put some sweetened milk in the coffee. Who does that? Remember that next time you buy coffee at Amazon cafe.

We drove along Pattani and Narathiwat to get to Kelantan. The drive was quiet and uneventful. We didn’t stop by any of those towns to save time. Along the way we encountered many unattended road blocks on the road. Not surprising since there is an ongoing political unrest in southern Thailand. It’s a long history and you need to go back to the The Anglo-Siam Treaty of 1909 to find out why.

We arrived at the Kelantan border around 8pm. There’s some queue at the immigration checkpoint and we need to pay 25 baht for the “car import” charge which need to be done by the car owner. Remember to hand over the papers that you received earlier during entry. The rest of the passengers need to queue inside the immigration office to have our passport checked. After that the crossing into Malaysia went on smoothly.

That concludes our first visit to Thailand over land. It’s a short but memorable visit. Things in that part of Thailand are not always cheap but the food are generally quite good (except at Bung Sem). It’s little wonder that Hat Yai and Songkhla transformed into a mini Malaysia during weekends and holiday season. It’s nearby and there’s a lot of shops to visit, good food to try and cheap hotels to stay at. It sounded intimidating to drive into Thailand for the first time but if you got all your papers ready, it should be a breeze.

The next day we had breakfast at Cha My Friend restaurant nearby. It was a decent halal restaurant that serve mixed rice, roti canais and noodle soup. The dim sum was also good. Our first agenda of the day was the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Natural History Museum (a mouthful, I know). It is situated inside the Prince of Songkhla University and parking was pretty hard to find. In the end we parked in front of the bank near the business centre and thankfully nothing untoward happened to our car. As the name suggests, it is a natural history museum with exhibits of animal and living things including human evolution. I suspect my family was oblivious of the significance but that’s probably for the best. The ticket price was quite cheap and we stumbled upon a bunch of school kids doing a visit. It’s a nice little museum full of informative exhibits if you wanna visit.

For lunch, we played it safe and decided to visit the other Kai Tod Decha branch at Chong Kai. Again we had fried chicken and briyani rice but this time with some authentic Thai chicken tom yum. I must say it was one of the best tom yums I’ve ever had. Even better than Yana Restaurant in Bangkok.

Our visit to Hat Yai would not be complete without getting some souvenirs. For that, we stopped at Kaysorn Souvenir, a well-known souvenir shop in Hat Yai. True enough, we found a variety of souvenirs from keychains, magnets, clothes, bags, food, you name it. I did bought some souvenirs and food for ourself and and for friends and family back home which also burned a hole in my wallet.

Next on our itinerary is Songkhla, some one hour drive away from Hat Yai. This coastal town is famous for its Samila beach, among others. We stayed at Ma Ni Ta in Muang Ngam district which was a nice little homestay with water lily pond near the beach. What we didn’t see from Google maps though is the rubbish-strewn beach. It was really disappointing to visit a beach just as dirty as the one back in Kelantan and Terengganu. Nevertheless, we hung around for a bit near the water while enjoying the sunset.

We looked around for halal restaurants near the homestay for dinner. The one we found didn’t look too appetizing and we end up having some 7-Eleven dinner which was not that bad.

On the second day, we had brunch at the popular Kai Tod Decha (Bangloh) restaurant which serve one of the best Thai-style fried chicken in Hat Yai. True to its reputation, the fried chicken was really good, couple with its delicious briyani rice. The price is quite reasonable too compared to other restaurants we visited earlier. Totally would recommend this place when you’re in Hat Yai.

After that hearty breakfast, we visited Hat Yai’s premier shopping mall - the Central Festival mall. About half the size of IOI City Mall or Mid Valley Megamall, Central Festival offers your typical mall experience with a variety of modern shops, services and restaurants. I didn’t miss the chance to visit their Muji branch which seems to offer some newer listings not available in Malaysia. We did a little bit of shopping at the mall. We found this great little essential oil stall which sells a variety of essential oil, massage oil, spray-on perfumes, poutpourries, you name it. We bought some sweet-smelling lime essential oil and massage oil. The interesting about Central Festival mall is that parking is free of charge but you need to show your passport for entry and exit.

Later in the afternoon, we checked in at our second hotel at Hat Yai Signature Hotel. It was a nice hotel on the outskirts of Hat Yai with a beautiful minimalist design. Most of the staff can speak malay and you can even use ringgit as deposit. There’s swimming pool and gym within the hotel compound. The only downside is it that we were unlucky to have bed bugs (we suspect) in our room (b209. It is enough to completely ruin our stay at the hotel. In the evening, we had dinner at Ayuthaya Halal noodle. As the name suggests, we had noodle sup and I found my favourite thai beef satay/skewer on sale there. That is another affordable and delicious restaurant in Hat Yai.

Afterwards, we visited Lee Garden night market. It’s another popular market in Hat Yai but I must say not as big as ASEAN Night Bazaar and the others. There’s a variety of goods and food on sale but we just bought some snacks. On the other side of Lee Garden, we saw some drag queens promoting their shows. It would be interesting to see one some day but not then, not without incurring my wife’s wrath.

Holidaying out of the country is usually a costly affair. You got ticket flights, accommodation and shopping to consider. So for this year’s holiday we were looking for a place that is nearby, has favourable exchange rate and cheap accommodation. Somewhere you can just drive across the border to. Since Singapore is none of those, that leaves us Thailand. The most popular and nearest Thai town that came in mind was Hat Yai.

Now I’ve never drive any vehicles outside the country before so I did some research and ask people around for a guidance. It sounded complicated and troublesome at first but once I got to it, it’s not that hard. First you have to have a physical driving license. The virtual one in the JPJ app would not do. Since I haven’t bothered to line up at a JPJ counter in years for that, I went to one specifically for the purpose. On my first visit, the officer told me to show proof of accommodation, hotel booking or something similar before they can issue a physical license. Looks like they don’t simply issue physical licenses to everyone without a concrete reason nowadays.

So after booking out hotels, I returned to the JPJ office and wait in queue for 45 minutes to get a copy of my physical license. I have printed and filled up the JPJ L1 form and brought a copy of my driving license although the officer in charge didn’t even collect them. She said, I need to renew my license for another year before I can get the physical copy and call it my foresight, I renewed them for an eye-watering 150 ringgit and 5 years. Who knows we might drive over to Thailand again some time in the future. The officer recommended that I apply for the International Driving Permit (IDP) instead which costs RM150 a year but since we don’t need an IDP for driving in Hat Yai, I skipped that. You might need an actual IDP if you travel further than that some say. This statement however say ASEAN drivers don’t need IDPs.

Apart from a physical driving license, you also need to show an original copy of your vehicle’s grant. If you are renting a car, you need a letter from the owner confirming that. Before entering Thailand, one final thing we did was buying a Thai vehicle insurance at the border town of Changlun. There were literally hundreds of shops available for this purpose and the insurance range from RM35 to RM150 for the more comprehensive coverage.

While doing my research, I heard conflicting reports and guides about entering Thailand by driving. Here’s how it actually went for me. There’s about half a dozen entry points into Thailand along the borders but the most convenient one is Bukit Kayu Hitam ICQ which is easily accessible from the north-south (PLUS) highway. The first checkpoint was the Malaysian immigration booth. I went out of the car and hand over all of our passports to the officer and she confirmed all of the passport holders in the car were present and waved us away. No we didn’t need to get out of the car and walk to any counters and nobody inspected our car or luggage.

The second checkpoint is the Thai immigration booth. This time everybody need to get out of the car and scan our eyes into the biometric scanner. Again, the officer did not bother to come out of his booth to check the car or our belongings. Remember to get your vehicle declaration form (filled up earlier at the insurance shop) stamped by the Thai immigration officer before you proceed to the customs counter. The third checkpoint is the Thai customs counter where the car owner need to line up with his/her passport and car grant. After filling up the form (just sign at 3 places) and showing the passport, grant and vehicle declaration form, you proceed to the fourth and final checkpoint which required you to show the forms you stamped earlier. All those while, we need to get out of the car only once and nobody inspected our car or luggages. I suppose this is to expedite the entire immigration process. We went on a week day so the queue was not that long but one could imagine the traffic and queue would be during peak hours or weekends when you have thousands of cars crossing the border at the checkpoint. Anyway this is a surprising change compared to the strict immigration process at the Singapore border.

Our first stop after clearing immigration was a restaurant at the Danok (Sadao) border town, we had lunch at one Kak Jah restaurant famed for its grilled beef. Just as the reviews said, the price, especially for grilled beef are a little bit pricey and we spent over 80 ringgit for a four adult meal. That said I had half expected touristy places, Danok included to charge slightly more for tourists (that’s us) to make a nice profit of our visit. There’s no price list on the menu so we’re totally at their mercy.

Anyway we left Danok with a full stomach and a short one hour drive to Hat Yai. Thai’s road were not as smooth as major Malaysian roads but at least they have less potholes than ours. We checked in at the Smart Hotel Hat Yai which is smack in the middle of town and a short walk away to Central Festival Mall, Makro and ASEAN Night Bazaar. After resting at the hotel for a while, we drove to our first tourist attraction - the Kho Hong mountain viewpoint. There’s a cable car station at the foot of the hill but it was not operational when we visited. Much to my surprise, we can just drive straight to the viewpoint which is next to the Phra Phutthamongkol Maharat temple. Over there, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset overlooking Hat Yai town.

In the evening, we visited the popular ASEAN Night Bazaar. It is a market not unlike Chatuchak in Bangkok but confined to one large building. We had dinner at the food court upstairs and even on weekdays, the place is packed with mostly Malaysian tourists. We couldn’t even secure a table to sit. We end up eating on some bench next to the stalls. The food was okay I guess but some of them can be rather pricey for my budget. After dinner, we did some shopping at the bazaar. I bought a t-shirt while the kids bought some toys and tote bags.

That concludes our first day in Hat Yai. The Smart Hotel Hat Yai was clean and affordable and I would definitely recommend it when staying in Hat Yai. Just be prepared to deposit 1,000 baht for the rooms, as required by all hotels in the country.

Ever since the Road Transport Department (JPJ) stopped automatically issuing physical licenses for drivers, we have had to rely fully on the JPJ app or website to renew our licenses. That is all great since it will save everyone a trip to the JPJ office, which, let’s face it, is not our cup of tea. The trouble is, when you drive cross-border or overseas, most outside agencies only recognize physical licenses, despite you having an International Driving Permit (IDP). So, like it or not, you will have to apply for the physical driving license at your local JPJ office.

The first time I visited, they demanded that I show proof of my hotel booking. Apparently, they will not issue the physical license to anybody without a solid reason. So I booked the hotels and printed the booking confirmation. From my research on the internet, I also needed to bring a copy of my identity card and fill up the JPJ L1 form.

I arrived at the JPJ office bright and early that Friday morning. The doors only opened at 7:45 AM, but the queue had already snaked to the next building, and I was at the back. Remember to download the JPJeQ beforehand because you need it to scan the QR code to register your queue number. They stopped issuing paper tickets a while ago. I was the 50th person in line when I got in. To their credit, the numbers progressed very quickly, and 40 minutes later, my number was up.

I submitted all my documents, and the officer only took a look at my hotel booking. She did not take the IC copy nor the JPJ L1 form. I forgot to ask whether they were even required, but I suggest you prepare them anyway just in case. Don’t bother calling the JPJ office nearby because nobody will pick up. She asked if I wanted to apply for an International Driving Permit (IDP). I replied, “Is it necessary if I’m only going as far as Hat Yai?” She said no, so I didn’t. The IDP costs another 150 ringgit to apply and is only valid for a year. Totally not worth it if we’re going to Hat Yai, a city just north of the border. Apart from that, to get a physical copy, I had to renew my driving license for at least another year. I paid for 5 years instead because I surely don’t wish to spend another hour at the office next time.

So that concludes the steps you need to take to get your physical driving license from the JPJ office.

I’ve been looking for a data plan for my beloved iPad mini. Yes, I already have a 4G mobile router with Maxis' unlimited data, but call it placebo or gut feeling, I feel like the close-proximity Wi-Fi transmission is giving me a headache. Hence the need for an internal data plan using the iPad’s SIM slot.

There are a few choices for cheap prepaid data plans in the market, but the most generous of all I can find is Yes. For 20 ringgit a month, it gives me 50GB of 5G + 4G data with uncapped speed, unlimited local calls, and 30 days validity. To sweeten the deal, there’s a promo for an extra 999GB for just 1 ringgit, which brings the total data to 1,049 GB.

I can choose to order a regular SIM card, but Yes also offers eSIMs, which I easily downloaded straight to my iPad. I got my Yes data plan running in less than 4 minutes. So how does the coverage fare compared to other major telcos? I used to remember that Yes' internet was crap back in the day. I couldn’t get any coverage outside my home and elsewhere, the 4G connection was spotty, to say the least. After a month of using Yes 5G regularly, I can say that Yes has improved tremendously in terms of coverage and speed. I can get 300Mbps download speed at my office in Seri Kembangan, constant 5G connection around Klang Valley, and even in my hometown in Tanah Merah. Except for a few remote locations in Gua Musang and Kuala Lipis, the internet connection has been pretty reliable.

When I first started using Yes prepaid, I set out to challenge myself to see if I could finish 1,049GB of data in a month. So I turned off the Wi-Fi at many locations except at home and used Yes 5G data exclusively everywhere, even at my office. After 30 days, I managed to use only 46.5GB of data. 50GB is more than enough for my daily data needs on the iPad.

Apart from Yes, I also tried out Celcomdigi and Unifi Mobile. Celcomdigi offered a generous 30+10GB data for 25 ringgit, while Unifi Mobile’s UNI5G WOW 25 plan only offers 30GB of data for the same price. Yes, Celcomdigi provides much superior coverage, but Yes prepaid still has the edge with its lavish 1,000 GB data pool. Unless they increase their price anytime in the future, I’m sticking with Yes 5G prepaid for now, which offers the best bang for your buck.