A Great Difference Compared To The Days Of the 56k Modem

I was 11 years old when I discovered the internet. I’m sure you remember how excited you were too when you discovered that you could talk to your classmates without picking up the telephone or having game cheats at your fingertips.

Back then, the ringing of the 56k modem was music to my ears. On happier days, I would mimic the sound of the modem and sometimes after a thunderstorm, I would hold my breath awaiting the continuation of the screeching phone line.

I cannot for the life of me imagine how I could possibly bear the speeds of the internet back then. I guess the saying, “You’ll never miss what you never had” rings true. Being the fanatic Moffatts fan that I was back then, I’d usually spend all my time online searching for Moffatts fan sites.

Waiting for each photo of my idols to load was a nightmare. What I usually did was to save the images on my computer so I can ogle them offline as well. If my dad wasn’t around to nag me, I’d even print out photos from my Moffatts folders and paste the little Moffatts faces all over my school books.

As my internet addiction took on whole new levels(sitting in front of the computer in my primary school uniform from 1pm – 7pm – but then again, what has changed.*still haven’t changed after coming home from uni*), for the first time in my life, I was in trouble with my dad. Every single month.

I remember bitterly those damn days when each minute costs RM0.005 and my father made me record my usage in a logbook. No doubt, I would cheat a little every now and then. Hehe. As a result, the internet bills at home would come up to about RM200 to RM300. Being the prepubescent and insecure girl that I was, I constantly called my older cousin Jacqueline to have ‘heart to heart talks’. It totally didn’t help that this cousin of mine lives all the way in Malacca. Those damn pre-handphone days. I’d get a shelling from my dad for racking up the phone bills to the mid-hundreds.

I’m not sure if it’s because of the Asian Financial Crisis that made my father nag at me for racking up the phone bills as he didn’t lecture me just as much when I used the internet however much I wanted in my mid-teens. I suspect he just came to terms that RM200 would be the standard fare for my household internet usage. Can’t beat em, just accept it. Hehe.

Circa 2002-2003, most of my friends started subscribing to Streamyx and were raving how many mp3s they’ve managed to download with those incredible new speeds. Envious, I patiently waited for my dad to hop onto the bandwagon.

On the last day of my SPM examinations, my dad finally installed Streamyx at home. To cut a long story short, I’ve been a loyal Streamyx subscriber ever since. I even have my own account here in Sg. Petani! I feel so grown up.

When I registered for my own account in 2005, I thought, “Wah, 1Mpbs… that’s cool. Okay, I’ll take it.” I remember it was about RM99 and I had to pay RM25 for my landline rental.

I’m not too happy about that extra RM25 as I don’t even use the phone all that much. Usually, my mum calls me. 😛

Then I recently found out that Streamyx has come up with a few new packages aptly named “Streamyx Combo”.

Loving the pretty colours..

See? No need to pay for the TM homeline monthly rental. Besides, if I plan to upgrade to a faster speed, damnn, check out the amount I can save.

Also, do check out to see which type of user you are before deciding on upgrading:

I’ve enquired, current Streamyx subscribers may upgrade to the combo package and STILL retain their old number.

Also, I WISH this would’ve come earlier. You know, as in pre-handphone days. Streamyx have also come up with an additional Voice Plan at RM28 for unlimited calls to ALL TM homelines nationwide. Perhaps my mother and I will just leave the phone on the floor and pick it up when we have something to say to each other. Lovers can literally fall asleep on the phone together.

=) I like! I know I sound like I’m sucking up but I think I’m kinda tempted to go upgrade to a combo package. Hohohoho..