Check Your Credit History Online

You can sign up and check your credit report at this link here >> https://www.mycreditinfo.com.my/ which is free for first 2 years for basic report which is where the banks will use to see if your bank loan and credit card approval is successful or not. For the more comprehensive report, it shows your credit card payment habits and it will automatically state whether it is strong or weak for loan approval and payments. For the comprehensive report, you have to pay RM 10 and RM 5 for the less detailed report. The payment merchant is iPay88 where you can choose to pay by online banking or via your credit card with OTP sent to your registered handphone for confirmation. You can do an online search on Google for RAMCI and i-Score to give you the link above which I found.

Merry Christmas 2016

Christmas is drawing near and now it is the month of December - the time where you get your bonus and school holidays are here and you get more time to spend with your kids. Everywhere I go, it seems to be crowded and packed with cars. I would like to wish all my readers here a Very Merry Christmas in 2016 that is drawing to a close. It is time for season's greetings and merry-making. It is also a time to give and to receive. Let us celebrate Jesus' birth on 25th December who came as a Saviour to mankind and defeated the evil one, once and for all. The resurrection power on the cross gave us eternity in heaven when we are called to be with our Maker.

The Best of Both Worlds: Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing

When I first got published, I was published independently. I was looking for a traditional publisher, but then I realized I couldn’t get published because I didn’t have an agent and that I couldn’t get an agent because I hadn’t published previously. It’s a catch-22. When I decided to go with an independent publisher, I shopped around and found the best fit for me, and once the book started selling well, the traditional publishers came to me. If you’re thinking about self publishing, by all means, go ahead and do it. It’s a rewarding process—just the satisfaction of seeing your words in print is almost worth it, and having other people connect with what you’ve written is an enormously wonderful feeling. So get your words out there, no matter how you have to do it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

When you’re trying to find the right publisher, make sure they’re a good fit for you, not just a good fit for them. Make sure they will give you the support you’re looking for. Make sure they have a marketing campaign for your book. Make sure they can actually get your book in the bookstores or online—whatever best suits your needs and will help you sell books.

And above all, don’t give up. It’s a very difficult business to get into, but it is amazingly rewarding to get your words out there and connect with your audience. It’s just a wonderful feeling. - Michael Crider

Live Life with Passion

We ought to live life with passion in whatever we do. Just try our human best and leave to God the rest. While we are healthy and able, we should work hard to save up for our retirement in years to come. Be like the ant; storing up food for winter and don't be like the lazy grasshopper singing all day long and go hungry during winter. I love my job and it is beyond my wildest dream to be able to work from home with above average salary compared to an executive in an MNC in Bayan Lepas, the Silicon Valley of Penang. Benefits like medical leave, medical expenses, EPF and SOCSO are also given by my boss. He works hard every day, living life to the fullest and wakes up at 6:00am to listen to Joseph Prince preach via the CD sermons, ordered from Singapore.

Swam at Quayside Yesterday

My aunt's condo at Quayside, beside Straits Quay is around 3,033 sq ft in size, large and unoccupied. This is because the owner, my aunt is living in Singapore and she is a property investor. She bought the place 3-4 years ago for about $2 million and now it is worth about $3.8 million - $4 million. Her new Mercedez E250 is left parked there and is only used when she comes to Penang. It is mostly computerised. The swimming pool is large with many trees and plants and well landscaped. There are several jacuzzis too for one to enjoy the water massage on the body.

Hardly any Opportunities

Now there are hardly any opportunities to make money online as easily as it was in the past. Just copy and paste a pre-written guest post and voila, you get your USD 10. Now I have to submit 5-7 photos with at least 300 words for approval just to earn USD 5 that takes 10 days to receive. There are so many writers hungry for work that they submit several posts per day. Well, as for me, I just cannot allocate the time and research for this menial amount with much work. But something is still better than nothing at all.

Join Adsense Alternative - Uber CPM

There is a new publishing company like Google Adsense and is a good alternative with many adverts on its banners placed at your sites. To join this network, click on http://ubercpm.com/index.php?rp=5377 where you can join immediately but never click on your own ads. It is good to leverage on your various blogs via this network should you be banned permanently from Adsense. I don't know how good the conversion rates are but you can withdraw via Paypal when you hit USD 10, unlike USD 100 for Adsense. Though it is lower income, but nevertheless, something is better than nothing at all, don't you agree? Don't be greedy and don't cheat. Honesty is the best policy!

Money is Important but not Everything

Money is important but not everything. It can buy you comfort but not health, even though you can buy supplements and vitamins to prolong your life. It is a tool to exchange for food, clothing, transport and the like. With more money, you can live more comfortably during your retirement years and hopefully stretch the money to a lifetime. Everyone works hard for a golden retirement and not a woeful one where one has to beg in the streets like a vagrant. You want to be surrounded by loved ones and money can buy their love and loyalty. Marriages break down and divorces happen all due to money problems and financial difficulties. But once the breadwinner starts to earn more money, then the wife may reconsider reconciling with her spouse. Hence, money speaks louder than relationships.

US Average Household Economy

Just read in a magazine that more than half of average American household could not raise US2,000 in a month from loans, credit cards, etc. And an average household has around USD35,000 in their retirement fund, leaving them with only USD100 to spend per month for as long as possible. I thought Malaysia was bad, but looks like the grass is also not greener on the other side. People are struggling with survival and everyday issues like putting food on the table. There is a lot of unemployment but one is lucky in the US as he or she gets to claim unemployment benefits unlike here in Asia. And if you are disabled and cannot work, you get disability benefits from the goverment of USD 2,200.00! In Malaysia, you get RM 350 if you are working and RM 300 if you are not working as an OKU or disabled. One can barely survive with this amount taking into account the high costs of living.

Lunch at Boston Restaurant, Penang

Above is a snap shot of Boston Restaurant menu. Boston Restaurant is located on the ground floor of Penang Times Square just opposite to Bread King and Roti Bakar. Yesterday, this place was closed for a special function catered to tourists that come in loads of busses where they dined here due to its many choices of local foods at affordable prices. Staying in this condominium has it advantages; there are many restaurants to choose from and one will be spoilt for choice.

On the left side was my order of cold dragon fruit juice without sugar and less ice, while on the right side was my partner's order of hot coffee with milk. The dragon fruit juice was thick and concentrated, to my delight. It is priced affordably too and not too pricey.

Above was my order of nasi lemak in a weaved basket or 'dulang' and layered with banana leaves. It comes with curry chicken of 2 pieces and a half potato. On the sides were stripes of cucumber, hidden fried anchovies and sambal with fragrant rice. I asked for another free helping of more sambal and the waiter politely obliged. That was my lunch for today.

My partner had fish fillet with cheese baked rice in mushroom sauce. There are 4 types of sauces to choose from; but I think mushroom sauce is the most delicious of them all. Since I forgot to snap a photo of the actual meal, this was taken straight from the menu which I asked for a second time.

Contact Me

I am Dianne, a part-time blogger with interests in photos and blogging. I work full time as an IT executive for a local Penang company since returning home from 12 years of studying and working in Singapore. For advertorial purposes, you may contact me at diana.tan(at)gmail.com

Please note that this blog accepts sponsored posts where the opinion of the blogger is neutral and unbiased. In order to continue blogging, remuneration is required to maintain this blog, and therefore the advertisements come in. In my free time, I love window-shopping or just reading a good magazine in bed. Daily newspapers are a must unless I am on holidays overseas which is now rare.

In the meantime, enjoy that posts that I have here.

Found Online Revenue

I found a blogging or rather writing opportunity online and had already written 9 articles for USD 5 per article of 250 words minimum and 3 photos. For charity, I will donate USD 1 per article to any establishment of my choice like Doctors without Borders, National Kidney Foundation, orphanages and other charities. My second sister in UK just ran 5km to raise funds for cancer research by getting herself muddy, having to climb ropes and slide down an inflated giant slide for the fun of it while doing some charitable work. She also used Facebook to raise the cancer research funds and managed to collect Great Britain Pounds of 300 together with her course mates.

Got paid yesterday and earlier

I have written 5 articles for Eastasy already and got paid by them. I have chosen 20% of the post of USD 5 to be donated to various charities like National Kidney Foundation, Doctors without Borders, and orphanages. It is doing a blogging social responsibility for a win-win basis for both writers and charities. You get paid while donating a portion of your earnings to the needy. You can write as and when you like and there must be a minimum of 150 words with 3 photos that do not infringe on the copy right. Sometimes, I submit 4 photos with at least 200 words for my article. It is based on food and drink, culture, travel, and more in Asian countries. Eastasy started in Singapore to serve the readers looking for traveling tips and the needy.