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.