The Tun Sardon Foundation is founded by the late Penang Governor, YAB Tun Datuk Haji Sardon bin Haji Jubir in 13 June 1978. The objectives of the foundation is to give relief to the poor and needy, in particular the widows and orphans, victims of fire, floods, famine or other calamities and to those in need of moral or social rehabilitation or welfare. Present for the press conference were Mr. Andrew Koay, Honorary Secretary of Tun Sardon Foundation and Mr. Cheah Phee Guan, Honorary Treasurer of Penang Cheshire Home, together with the General Manager of Eastin Hotel Penang, Ms. Mary Ann Harris.

The event will begin with an entertaining drum performance, a string quartet by Digital Music, games session with Ah Beng and King Kong, lucky draw prizes such as a 4D3N cruise to Phuket and Krabi on board Superstar Libra, Venessa Diamonds pearls and Danai Spa treatment vouchers, followed by a grand performance by none other than the multi-faceted comedian, singer and actor, Mr Gurmit Singh aka Phua Chu Kang.

The set dinner menu for the night would include:

Appetizer:
Seafood Terrine, Grilled Mussel served with Pickle Carrot, Beet root Puree and Sun-Dried Tomato Essence

Soup:
Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Pine nut

Main Courses:
Baked Chicken Stuffed Horseradish Topped with Tomato Basil Jam, Shitake Lentil and Orange Emulsion with Asparagus

(For Vegetarians):
Vegetarian Saffron Ravioli with Asparagus and Portobello Mushroom

Dessert:
Classic Tiramisu with Clear Vanilla Sauce

Coffee & Tea

Thanks to the Eastin Hotel Penang team who had put in the extra effort to fly in Gurmit Singh for a great experience for Penangites and at the same time make the lives of the less fortunate more bearable through this charity event. A job well done!

Eastin Hotel, Penang is located just next to Queensbay Mall. If you are coming from Georgetown towards Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone via Bayan Lepas Expressway, do watch out for the Pulau Jerejak signboard (leading to Pulau Jerejak jetty). Ignore the turning and drive on to the next left junction. Turn left into Jalan Aziz Ibrahim and drive on until you a roundabout. Turn 3 o’ clock and drive on until you see a big Eastin Hotel signboard at the first right junction. Turn right and drive on. Park your car at the basement car park. Take a lift to the third floor and you would see the Grand Ballroom where the charity event would be held.

Name: EASTIN HOTEL PENANG
Address: 1 Solok Bayan Indah, Queens Bay, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia.
Ticket Purchase: 604-612 1111
Event Date: 23 April 2012 (Monday)
Event Hours: 6.30pm-9.30pm
GPS: 5.33643, 100.306345

Although it was found almost a decade ago that some brands of soy sauce, together with its related products such as the oyster sauce, mushroom sauce, hoisin sauce and chicken marinade, which are mainly used in some Asian dishes, contained high level of cancer causing chemicals. Two such chemicals from a chemical group known as chloropropanols were found in the products. They are 3-MCPD (3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol or 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol) and 1,3-DCP (1,3-Dichloropropene or also known as Telone). Through painstaking tests carried out by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) over the past few months, it was found that some of the brands imported from Thailand, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, contained a higher level of the chemicals compared to the minimum of 0.02 mg per kg as set by the European Union (EU).

The presence of both the chemicals in soy sauce is avoidable if they are based on the traditional methods of fermenting the soy beans in salt and water with some culturing help from added micro organisms and yeasts. These fermented beans would then be pressed to extract the juice within which would eventually become raw soy sauce. The raw soy sauce would then go through pasteurization to eliminate any active micro organisms and yeasts through a certain high temperature, filtered, before being bottled to be sold on the market. The whole process would take months to years as only would this process produce the unique saltiness and sweetness from the soy sauce.

Somehow, some manufacturers are looking at making fast bucks by producing the soy sauce through a hydrolysed vegetable protein formula to accelerate the productions. The whole process might take up to 3 days, saving at least 99% of the time frame if they were to use the traditional culturing method. This might be the fastest and cheapest way to produce soy sauce but it might result in the existence of carcinogens, cancer causing agents, such as 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP. Although it was stressed by FSA that occasional consumers were unlikely to be harmed, but it would be health hazardous for those high intake consumers.

Of the samples taken in a survey of 100 soy sauce products sold off the shelves, at least 25% were found be positive for 3-MCPD and two thirds of these had traces of 1,3-DCP. 3-MCPD is an organic chemical compound which is carcinogenic and highly suspected to be genotoxic in humans, thus having male anti-fertility effects. 1,3-DCP on the other hand, is a colorless liquid with a sweet smell, usually used as a compound in a pesticide. A long exposure through contact or inhalation might result in skin irritations, nauseousness, headaches, breathing difficulties and more.

Do not get me wrong on other soy products other than those chemically processed ones. They are in fact great for health such as substituting protein from meat. Soy beans are believed to contain certain anti-cancer properties against the most common types of cancer such as lung, rectal, colon, stomach, prostate and breast. To have a better health, do try to stay away from any processed products if possible. On top of soy sauce, by products such as instant noodles, salted eggs, salted vegetables, canned meats, canned desserts and more, would contain certain chemicals within its preservatives that would do more harm than good to your body. Try to apply more fresh or organic items in your marinate and cooking. After all, you are what you eat and you can’t run away from all the unwanted substances that you had put into your body.

Read more:
English: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-55023/Cancer-causing-chemicals-soy-sauce.html
Chinese: http://www.yzwb.net/news/ms/201108/t20110810_823711.html

Without the endless support from your customers, you won’t be making such a remarkable profit for your company right now. In short, those valued clientele of yours are the pillars of your company’s success. It’s time to show your appreciation towards them by awarding them with some personalized gift items. It could be just anything from eco-friendly products, office products, branded products, motivational and recognition products such frames or motivational tools.

With so many types of products available, you should think out of the box and decide on the most creative and personalized corporate gifts to reward your clients. A good suggestion would be the amsterdamprinting promotional pens with the option to imprint your company name and slogan on them. Who would not be impressed by such a personalized business gift?

Alternatively, you could also kill two birds with one stone by utilizing such corporate gifts as marketing items to promote your company further. One great choice would be the eco-friendly tumblers. Whenever the product is brought out in the open, it’s already a free publicity for you. This would definitely be a great marketing strategy for your company as well as a great gesture to win the continuous support from your customers.

During the launching, we were introduced to the special edition of the CSL Swarovski series, a series of mobile meant for the ladies which had Swarovski Zirconia studded crystals. The main attraction was the BMI Calculator and Menstrual Calendar functions. The models included the Blueberry PRINCESS 9200 (RRP RM299), Blueberry SHE 9300 (RRM RM399), SOPHIE G16 (RM399) and EMMA DS900 (RM299).

GENERAL FEATURES OF THE SWAROVSKI SERIES:
• Dual SIM
• CSL Fun Club
• Sound Cube
• BB Messenger
• S. Push Mail
• Opera Mini
• Facebook / Twitter / Tagged / Skype
• Google Apps / Yahoo Apps / MSN Apps
• BMI Calculator / Menstrual Calendar
• 2.0 Megapixels Camera
• MP3 / MP4 Player / FM Radio
• Video & Sound Recorder
• MicroSD Card Expansion

SPECIFICATIONS:
• GSM 900 / 1800Mhz
• GPRS / WAP / MMS / EDGE
• Color: White

Blueberry PRINCESS 9200:
• Display: 2.4” TFT QVGA
• Size: 115 x 59.5 x 11.5 mm
• Weight: 94g
• Standby: up to 188 hours
• Talk Time: up to 454 min

Blueberry SHE 9300:
• Display: 2.4” TFT QVGA
• Size: 70 x 70 x 16.3 mm
• Weight: 110g
• Standby: up to 264 hours
• Talk Time: up to 353 min

SOPHIE G16:
• Display: 2.8” TFT QVGA (capacitive screen)
• Size: 102 x 55.5 x 13 mm
• Weight: 97g
• Standby: up to 145 hours
• Talk Time: up to 421 min

EMMA DS900:
• Display: 2.2” TFT QVGA
• Size: 114 x 48 x 12 mm
• Weight: 82g
• Standby: up to 248 hours
• Talk Time: up to 496 min

The other model of Dual SIM card mobile which we were briefed was the CSL Dual SIM MI350 also known as the SWITCH Dual (RM699).

• Size
114.8 x 62.8 x 14.7mm
• CPU
Qualcomm MSM7227-1 with DSDS BSP
• Network
GSM Quad bands: 850/900/1800/1900
• Data
SMS, MMS, Email
• Display
3.5“ HVGA(480 x 320)
• Memory
512MB NAND Flash/512MB DDR
• Camera
CMOS 5MP
• Battery
Li-ion 1500 mAH
• Expansion Slot
Micro SD
• Features
GPS/AGPS
Bluetooth, FM

The MI350 might not be the best smart phone in the market, but it certainly has a great responsive touch screen with great preloaded apps. At RM699, it definitely cheap and would just fulfill the basic needs of a new Android smart phone user. Compared to the MI410 (RM799) with has a larger touch screen (4.1” HVGA TFT LCD Capacitive Touch Screen Display) and running on Qualcomm 1Ghz Snapdragon, I still prefer the MI350 as it has dual SIM slots and more fine in design. You can read more of the MI350 review at my earlier post. For more information and future developments, you can check out CSL Malaysia’s official website for more updates.

We also had some social hours to mingle with the rest of the bloggers, researched on the functions of the top 5 models, video interviews with some of bloggers on their feedback on the phones and at the same time savor some of dishes from one of the prominent café s in Megamall – Life 1 Café.

We had Boxing Chicken (2pcs cut to 4pcs – RM6.80), Fried Fish Fillet (RM15.80), Chicken Nuggets (6pcs – RM4.80), Chicken Spaghetti Bolognese (RM11.80), Chicken Piccatta (if with rice – RM18.80) and fruit juice (Apple, Orange & Dragon Fruit – RM4.30). Somehow, the food did not impress me at all as most of the dishes were deep fried. Moreover, I was still recovering from my illness. To me, it was kind of salty for most dishes.

Other than the specification given below, what else would expect from this promotional priced RM699 SWITCH Dual?

• Size
114.8 x 62.8 x 14.7mm
• CPU
Qualcomm MSM7227-1 with DSDS BSP
• Network
GSM Quad bands: 850/900/1800/1900
• Data
SMS, MMS, Email
• Display
3.5“ HVGA(480 x 320)
• Memory
512MB NAND Flash/512MB DDR
• Camera
CMOS 5MP
• Battery
Li-ion 1500 mAH
• Expansion Slot
Micro SD
• Features
GPS/AGPS
Bluetooth, FM

The Pros:

The built is rather solid with a metallic feel and the size is just right to be fitted into my palm. It has just the right weight compared to the heavier CSL MI 300. It came with a 4GB MicroSD and a 512MB RAM. Touch screen sensitivity is real good. You can barely feel any lags at all. In fact, you might need to slow down a bit on the over sensitivity. Streaming and searching of YouTube videos was quite smooth. The device is preloaded with a number of social apps such as Blueberry Messenger, Blueberry Store, Facebook, Google Talk, etc. You can easily download more free apps at the Android Market. Browsing the internet would not be a problem even without inserting any SIM card as the unit has a built in WiFi 802.11n. It worked well in my home based WiFi without any problem at all.

The Cons:

Although the built in camera is in 5MP with autofocus, the end result lacked the sharpness as would any other 5MP digital cameras and the colors differed a lot. This shot was taken within Dave’s Deli in Queensbay Mall with auto setting. The photo appeared in 36” x 27” in 72dpi. (Please click on the photo below for the actual size)

The battery life span is rather short even if put on hold without much internet browsing or Facebooking. A fully (100%) charged battery would last approximately 10 hours. Thus, it would be quite inconvenient to carry around the charger plus date cable. Moreover, a car charger was not provided in the package which made matters even worst if you are always traveling around in your vehicle. With a wider touch screen of 3.5” HVGA, visual is quite good but then the virtual keyboard is still a bit of problem for big fingers people like me. Keying in alpha numerical characters would surely need lots of patience. Tilting of the screen was limited to a few angles and apps but that was not much a major problem. I had JAVA installed as well as shockwave player installed from the market but it still won’t load any flash based website. I’m sure there should be a way as playing FLV files from YouTube was not a problem.

The Verdict:

The MI 350 might not be the best smart phone in the market, but it certainly has a great responsive touch screen with great preloaded apps. At RM699, it’s definitely cheap and would just fulfill the basic needs of a new Android smart phone user.

For more information and future developments, you can check out CSL Malaysia’s official website for more updates.

CSL SWITCH Dual would simply the best Android phone available in town – Innovative, Prestigious & Affordable. Now you can switch between networks and browse the internet with ease by just a finger touch.

Here is the information that you would want to know about the CSL MI 350:

• Size
114.8 x 62.8 x 14.7mm
• CPU
Qualcomm MSM7227-1 with DSDS BSP
• Network
GSM Quad bands: 850/900/1800/1900
• Data
SMS, MMS, Email
• Display
3.5“ HVGA(480 x 320)
• Memory
512MB NAND Flash/512MB DDR
• Camera
CMOS 5MP
• Battery
Li-ion 1500 mAH
• Expansion Slot
Micro SD
• Features
GPS/AGPS
Bluetooth, FM

Compared to the previous model of CSL MI 300, this new model would be almost the same size, except that it would be thicker by about 2mm. With a wider touch screen now at 3.5” HVGA, I’m sure it would have a less cramped virtual keyboard for big fingers people like me. Well, I can’t comment much such as which version of the Android OS they will be having until I have the physical phone in my hands. I’ll write more on the user-friendliness of the model when I get my hand on one soon. At the mean time, you can check out CSL Malaysia’s official website for more updates.

Each model can be dismantled into 3 parts. Either you want it to be a PDA or you can have it as a candy bar phone. The 3 daring colors of red (Optimus Prime), yellow (Bumblebee) and grey (Megatron) models would come in brushed aluminum casing with relevant Autobot or Decepticon logo imprinted behind. Powered by MediaTek’s MT6253 chipset, a highly integrated chip in the market for mobile communication, this 13mm thick mobile phone has the strong support for features such as camera, high speed USB and Class D audio AMP.

Let’s me just summarize the specifications and features to ease your reading as below. Click to view a larger picture.

We were then led to Austin Chase at Ground Floor, Queensbay Mall, for some coffee and light snacks while being allowed to have a more in depth study of each individual unit’s unique features and specifications. Five beverages were served, namely Hazelnut Latte (RM12.50), Signature Black Chocolate (RM13.00), Strawberry Cream Frappe (RM14.00), Mocha Frappe (RM12.50), Long Black (RM7.00) and Brew Coffee (RM7.00). The Smoked Salmon Sandwich (RM11.90 – it’s 1/3 of the original size in photo) on the other hand was slightly steamed and filled with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and some salmon slices. It was quite delicious.

Well, I was quite a naughty boy that day as I did not heed my mother’s advice as not to play with my food. LOL! How could I resist the temptation of not playing with my food when there were these cute little Optimus Prime and Bumblebee mobile phone holders to play with? A mobile phone holder would be given away with each purchase of any model of the CSL Transformers DS700, while stocks last. Don’t you think they looked real cute with food?

You can check out CSL Malaysia’s official website for more updates.

Here’s the video on the launch

After working for so long in the blue collar sectors, you tend to go through the many different processes of filing your documents. Some companies have very organized and systematic ways of filing the documents whereas some could be so chaotic that it would take hours just to retrieve a past document. Whether it is a physical filing or a paperless filing, each minute saved hunting for so called lost documents could save up hours of your valuable time.

No matter what mode of filing system you have, improving your set up would be a good investment as it would bring about great effectiveness and efficiencies in your organization. With the advancement in information technology and go green ideology, more and more companies are going into the trend of paperless systems. Not only would this help to save the trees, it indeed saved more storage space and messes you would have if you were still on paper based systems.

Majority of these companies are now on a document management software where an electronic document can be shared with clients, colleagues, friends and family with certain restricted access. All these accesses such as deleting, printing, emailing, and many more could easily be set up based on the personalized authorization accessible only to the admin, may it be client or web versions. Isn’t it great to have all your documents secured and as the same easily retrieve even when you have decided to work remotely?

Motorola has finally made a significant move by launching the Motorola Xoom, an android tablet that would be the first real competitor to the iPad and iPad 2 as it is the first and only android device that is running on the real android for tablet, the Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The Motorola Xoom made its first appearance in the CES 2011 was launched not long ago together with 3 other devices such as the Motorola Atrix, Motorola Droid Bionic and Motorola Cliq 2.

The key features of the tablet include support up to 1080p Video Playback, 2MP front-facing camera (video chat with gTalk) and 5MP camera that records 720p video, screen resolution of 1280×800 widescreen, 10.1 inch display, 1GHz dual core processor & 3D graphic acceleration with Nvidia Tegra 2, HDMI output and 1GB DDR2 SDRam. It came with 2 versions such as the GSM & CDMA 3G (4G LTE Upgradable) and Wifi only, just like the iPads.

As Motorola has already made that great leap by using Android 3.0, which of course would support any future software updates, I would definitely be on a look out for some unlocked cell phones soon. Who won’t want to own such cool gadgets right?

The world of themed café as those from overseas has finally hit Penang with the opening of yet another popular cafe namely Clinic Café. The concept behind this pork-free and alcohol-free themed café was inspired by the atmosphere within a hospital environment where “patients” would come in for their daily “doses” of treatments. Eventually, most “patients” would leave the clinic, contented with their fun-filled “treatments”.

Ever since its first branch opening in Seberang Jaya, Penang in early 2010, Clinic Café has gained many receptive feedback by the public, especially from the young and middle aged groups. With this confidence, Clinic Café has opened another door to those on the island with the opening of its second branch within the premises of Gurney Plaza, Penang. Based on the same concept and theme as its successor, the red and white walled café with tinted glasses of medical products provides a more spacious and comfortable environment for its “patients” to get the best of “treatments”.

Walking into the cafe would be like walking into another state-of-the-art hospital but with a panoramic view of Gurney Drive’s beach front. There would be rows of hospital beds converted into sofas and wheel chairs with operation theatre lamps shining above each table. The walls would be covered with many exhibits, namely posters of the human body functions and medical equipments. There’s even a small clip board at the side of each “bed” to record your “diagnosis”. You might even be surprised to find that the food and beverage area is being named as the Surgery Room. They would ensure that you would be treated with the right “remedies”. If you are unsure of anything, why don’t you check out with the easily available and professionally dressed doctors, nurses and surgical staff? Too bad, you won’t get them to be in sexy nurse lingerie as it’s against the law here to be sexually exposed.

Who said hospital food can be real bad and not appetizing at all? At Clinic Café, you would be ascertained to get your value for money worth of food. There would be items ranging from appetizers, local, oriental, Western, pastas, snacks to fresh juices, smoothies, yoghurts, milkshakes and more. Don’t get shocked on how the food would be presented to you as they may come in aluminum kidney trays, multi dishes trays and laboratory glassware.