The words of John Dryden sounds true, either if one reads it literally, or metaphorically: “Beauty, like ice, our footing does betray; Who can tread sure on the smooth, slippery way: Pleased with the surface, we glide swiftly on, And see the dangers that we cannot shun.”

Yesterday I went to Disney on Ice with my sis and cousin. With a full stomach thanks to a very filling Satay Kajang courtesy of my uncle, We were fully entertained by the show. This was my first Disney on Ice show ever, and it was not a disappointment that I forked our close to RM 155.00 for the rink-side seat.

I love the dances, the performances, the skating movement. The story for this year’s Disney on Ice is that Mickey and friends had to call the help of the Incredibles to fight against evil. I think the Incredibles characters were superb and they were the best on ice, IMHO. Dash is now officially my favourite Disney character.

There were some mis-steps and falls on the stage as they skate around, but that was expected as the ice rink was slippery towards the first half of the show – can’t blame our hot weather! But the cast were nevertheless managed to continue the whole show as scheduled, and it was a professional job on their part in making the show a success.

“We went for a trip to Disney on Ice! It was fun and entertaining.”

From Disney on Ice, posted by Emirin M K on 3/14/2010 (13 items)

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher

Today I went to Sunway Pyramid with my sis, Mus, and Shima (Mus’ girlfriend). We went to ice skate at the only ice skating ring in Peninsular Malaysia – and it’s perfectly reasonable to say that it was due to the Disney on Ice show that we went the day before. LOL. I have invited Zul to come along, but he could not make it because he ‘need to rest’. Whatever.

It took me a few minutes to adjust my body to the great feeling of skating, as it has been ages since my last visit. But it was marvellous. Fantastic. I felt a bit tired after a few minutes on the ice, but a short rest helped me to get used to the skating stuff.

Things were not that great for Mus since he got ’sakit kaki’ after a few rounds of skating. My sis, Mus, and Shima fell a few times on the ice. Thank god this time I didn’t – but there were a few near-miss. I guess I need to shape up and get myself into skating more regularly. We concluded our skating trip at Laksa Shack.

Overall, it has been a splendid ice-theme week for me.

As the saying goes, “the telephone is a good way to talk to people without having to offer them a drink” [Fran Lebowitz], and only god knows how important mobile phone is if one plan to be socially visible to those who one regularly in contact with.

Sony Ericsson w710i

I love my Sony Ericsson (SE) w710i. She has served me well since February 2007 when I bought an O2 contract for the phone when I was still a student back in Nottingham. It took me several months to decide if she was worth the jump into the ‘mobile contract’ craze that has infected many Malaysian students back then (and I believed, many are still).

However that orange sweetheart of mine is no longer as pretty as what she used to be. Blame my rough male usage of any devices that got into the hands of mine, she took the beating like a faithful girlfriend that I never had. The look is not everything, I must emphasize for the sake of posterity, but it was obvious enough that people had to do a double take just to make sure that what I was holding is a mobile phone, and not some damaged unrecognised electronic device. It was a sign that I need to change my phone.

On top of that, she has also shown the signs of old age – the battery stamina is getting shorter by the days, and she sometimes shut herself down without warning. A typical girl-like symptoms that got me wondered if she is really just a normal mobile phone. But whatever. While my love for her is still deep, I have to find a new lover – of something that can serve me well with enough capability, similar operability, and suitable affordability for my shrinking monetary reserve.

Sony Erricsson t707 (front side)

My love hunt got me to Ampang Park, where I was accompanied by Keste in the hunt for the ‘perfect’ something. I had short-listed a few models with some precondition criteria: it must be of SE origin, capable of the 3G and HSDPA standard, be of flip / clam-shell / slide design, and beautiful in nature. Thus I was left with three potential models: Z770, T707, and W995.

It was a show-me-the-phone moments of my life, when I went to all the phone shops there to find the phones and to compare the prices. I never knew I was energetic enough for the hunt, even though it was after a tiring day at the office and gym. It took me more than an hour, until Keste had to leave me for his dinner ‘date’, that I had finally settled down on lucid blue T707. With the price of RM 560 (a bit above the recommended price as per from the internet), I took her home in my arms.

Sony Ericsson t707 (back)

The getting-to-know-you part was not that hard as she is kinda similar to my previous lover in terms of settings and preferences. It was a matter of finding the right button to press and the right stroke to play, and she purred into action as what I desired. She also worked well with the application MyPhoneExplorer, allowing me to transfer all my mobile contacts into her and made her ready for fun and exciting actions of my life.

As for my w710i, she now proudly sits on my table with an inactive sim as the medium of enabling her to be awake and functioning, albeit not as a phone. She is now my dedicated alarm clock and works as a backup phone, while my new lover t707 will be accompanying me on my life adventures.

It was a great paradigm shift for me and my lovers, and I am happy that things work out for the better. I had in my mind that this t707 is just a transition girl while I am waiting for the right time to get something much more of high standard and stature, like iPhone 3GS. It seems unjustified now, with her alluring looks and great services. We shall see how she works out and how things are going to be in the next few months.

What can you say on any offerings of the day, if it was made just for the sake of marketing, without really considering alternative benefits to the consumer?

This is the case of Subway’s Sub-of-the-Day (SOTD) offer. It is a good deal indeed; for RM 7.50 (before tax) you can get one 6 inch sub. Everyday they offer different flavours – Red-Hot Mondays (Italian B.M.T), Cheery Tuesdays (Tuna), Lively Wednesdays (Meatball Marinara), Fresh Thursdays (Turkey Breast & Turkey Ham), Cool Fridays (Smoked Turkey), Dreamy Saturdays (Seafood & Crab), and Magical Sundays (Chicken Teriyaki).

However, the caveat of this offer is that you can only take it as it is. That may sounded okay from the business perspective, because usually any offers that were made are made with restrictions to ensure that the offers were not abused. But in the case of this ‘Sub of the Day’ offer, they restrict it up to the point where it does not make sense to do so.

To simplify my experience, I tried asking if I can substitute the normal four selections of bread with the pita ‘wrap’ bread. It is a healthier alternative as I can cut down the carb intake from the bread). For any normal-priced subs, upgrade or change to ‘wrap’ is free of charge and it will be charged the same price as the one with the bread. However, this is not the case when you want to ‘upgrade’ your SOTD to pita ‘wrap’ bread.

My complain here is that it doesn’t cost them much to allow such option, where it’s technically the same concept as allowing the normal subs to be upgraded. It is understandable that Subway wants to maximize profit, but a bit of leeway should be given to the customers, and this is one of the areas where they should give the customers a bit of an option.

Well, it is already a bit expensive to eat healthy food in Malaysia. I wish there’s more options for healthy food in and around KLCC.