Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Honor Exclusive Movie Event – The X-Men Apocalypse

Received an invitation email to attend movie event - The X-Men Apocalypse from Honor Malaysia after some simple registration steps that required filling Honor IMEI numbers. It was the first time Honor Malaysia organized movie event in Kuching, Sarawak!

Invitation Email sent to me


The X-Men Apocalypse Movie Event

I need to show the invitation email along with my IC to redeem my 2 pax movie passes! 


photo taken with Honor representative after movie pass redemption 

Too bad the movie hall was only partially occupied by Honor Fans. Hope that the slow responses did not stopped Honor Malaysia to organize more exclusive events in Kuching in the future. Fingers crossed.



Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Decent Stay at Armenian Street Heritage Hotel

I'm back from a 4 days 3 nights trip from Penang. I was truly satisfied with the accommodation in Armenian Street Heritage Hotel @ Lebuh Carnarvon. It's good there are no breakfast spread included with the room booking as there are lots of good breakfast spot to start the day situated near the hotel.

white building of Armenian Street Heritage Hotel


# 1 Strategic location

If you are using public transport like Penang Hop On Hop Off, the bus station is just across the street.

Penang Hop On Hop Off Stop 9 UNESCO HERITAGE stop is located 140 m (2 mins walk) away along Kampung Kolam

There's a 24 hour convenience store located at the hotel lobby. Fame Kimberly Street Night Market is just few walks away!

Peach Yogurt (bought from convenience store) & Fame Kimberly Street Chicken Feet for my supper at hotel room!


Penang Street Art and Murals by Ernest Zacharevic is located at the street behind the hotel!


Few famous place and breakfast/eatery spot such as Tiger Char Kueh Tiao @ Ping Hooi Coffee Shop, Pitt Street Kng Thng, Ming Xiang Tai Pastry Shop, Tek Sen Restaurant, Aik Hoe Restaurant, De Tai Tong Dim Sum, Toh Soon Cafe, Upside Down Museum and Hon Kei Food Corner are just nearby and within walking distance.

#2 Value for money with good facilities and complete set of bathroom amenities
I booked the room on January, which is 4 months before the actual trip via the hotel website. They will direct you to Tune Hotel for further booking. I paid RM580 for 3 nights stay for family room (2 queen beds for 4 pax). Price breakdown: RM194/room per night, RM65/pax per night (due to we were only 3 pax staying in).

You can also refill your water supply from cold & hot water dispenser located at lobby apart from the complimentary bottled mineral water provided.

Shower gel, toothbrush, razor, shower cap, sewing kits and hair dryer are provided.

Cute sewing kits


Free wifi with password is also provided upon check in. The signal may not as strong as the one we used at home, considering amount of guests using the wifi facilities. Fridge is not available at all rooms, but you can contact hotel receptionist if you like to keep your things. We also extended our check out times for 11am to 12noon without incur any additional charges. There are also taxi booking counter located at the hotel lobby with RM45 per trip (small car 3-4 pax) to Penang International Airport.

one of the queen bed from family room

View of hotel common area from my room (telephone usage is on shared basis)

Highly recommended affordable hotel to stay in Penang! (try to book early to prevent price increment & unavailability)



Monday, May 16, 2016

Sakae Sushi, The Spring

Utilizing the Sakae Sushi May coupon from its calendar -- Free Teriyaki Chicken Ramen for spending RM30 & above =)


I was served Teriyaki Chicken Ramen not long after I presented the coupon... 

the broth was rich and aromatic with generous amount of fried garlic given!


Had Avocado California Temaki (RM4), Salmon Skin Temaki (RM4) & RM1 Chuka Idako Gunkan  (by presenting with sakae card)


Ordered Mini Curry Don RM8 too!
The curry was nice but the fried chicken given wasn't fresh!

Had also Aburi Salmon (RM5) & Salmon Mentai (RM5)


Total price paid RM31.85 inclusive 1 hot genmai tea (RM2), GST (6%) & service charge (10%)

Saturday, May 14, 2016

My first experience on Ujian Pengambilan Lantikan Baru (UPLB)

Jotting down my first experience on Ujian Pengambilan Lantikan Baru (UPLB). 

I tried my luck and applied for government job in e-recruitment Kerajaan Negeri Sarawak after 4 years of graduation! I knew the chances of getting in gov sector was so low and even if one managed to get in (passing both written & interview & luck), the biggest concern is the placement and the position they offer. They will put you in the location that away from your desire place and if you reject it, you will be blacklisted from gov sector for many many years! Nevertheless, I clicked and tried on my luck!

I received a sms stating I was chosen for the UPLB test on 11/5/16, and the test was scheduled on 14/5/16 (is a Saturday, so you will have to take a day off if you work on Saturday), which mean roughly you will have 3 days to get yourself ready. The written exam will take 1 hour 45 minutes. It is advisable to arrive at the exam center an hour earlier (from my experience to skip queue and wait). There were long queues spotted at the registration counter around 30 minutes before the exam started which may cause some unnecessary delays. Bring only IC, pens (for essay), pencils and erasers (for objectives questions). Calculators are not allowed to bring in.  




According to the facilitator that took care of our class, she congratulated us for being among the 7k to be chosen from 20k of application for the pegawai tadbir N41 position. (If I didn't heard wrongly as her sound was pretty small that I barely hear clearly). H was my first alphabet of my name. I was put in number 239. So you can imagine how many applicants were so eager to enter to government sectors?

There are a total of 60 multiple choices questions (objectives with A, B, C &D only) and two essays. 

  1. 30 objectives questions in Malay
  2. 30 objectives questions in English
  3. 1 essay written in Malay (choose 1 from 3 topics, write in less than 100 words)
  4. 1 essay written in English (choose 1 from 3 topics, write in less than 100 words)

For Part 1, there will be 10 questions in Malay. You will have to read a short reading comprehension passages and answer the first 10 questions according to the passages. The rest 20 questions will test you roughly on your logical thinking and some simple mathematics.

For Part 2, there will be 10 questions in English. You will have to read a short reading comprehension passages and answer the first 10 questions according to the passages. The rest 20 questions includes some bilingual understanding and vocabulary.

For Part 3 (Essay in Malay), I could only remember the question that I chose. The essay title roughly : Ramai graduan universiti Malaysia menghadapi kesusahan mencari pekerjaan yang sesuai. Beri dua faktor graduan menyebabkan graduan menghadapi masalah ini? 

For Part 4 (Essay in English). Having a good command of English is very important in workplace. Why English is very important?


I thought there will be some questions about our country dasar-dasar Malaysia. However, I didn't get such questions for that particular exam session! Frankly after the test, I find it unnecessary to study before the exam because the scope is too wide and for me the language proficiency (both Malay & English) are the main keys to pass the Ujian!

Updated 27.07.2016


Oops, sadly I didn't managed to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment. It took about two months plus for them to announce the written exam results. I received the exam failure notification both via sms and email. For those who managed to go to the next level, all the best and good luck!  Do share your experiences to us. Hope my post can give those successful selected candidates a primary overview of UPLB.

得不到的东西, 我们会一直认为他是美好的, 那是因为你对他了解太少, 没有时间与他相处在一起. 当有一天,你深入了解后,你会发现原不是你想象中的美好.