The Eternal Ramblings Of The Netless Mind

New posts on the Sticker Monster!

Princess Jewelry – Gem Stickers At Their Finest

Psychadelic Shimmer and Puffy Stickers

Bling Strips – Pretty Blings At A Lower Price

——————————————————————————–
In the entire 15 days that Streamyx has been down, I have racked up a high phone bill (due to 15 minutes phone calls to Streamyx/TM and surfing with my hotlink prepaid as well), made a Tmnet customer service lady close to tears, cried on the phone embarrassingly to freaked out boyfriend in Singapore regarding Internet problems and became a Celcom and Digi customer. For the sake of the internet.

Long long story.

As you all know (not sure if you care, clearly you haven’t been including my streamyx in your bed time prayers!), the DSL light has been blinking since the 9th of March and I’ve been calling them every single day. On the dates (see, plural.) that my reports (plural again) were supposed to be solved, I would call them a minimum of twice a day. You can imagine my frustration.

A classmate mentioned that Celcom Broadband works pretty well in Bandar Laguna Merbok, the township which is populated by half of AIMST University, where I live. So I thought to myself, “hm. We’ll see if Streamyx is working today or not. It’s supposed to be fixed today.” This was after the streamyx people diagnosed my second problem as “Frequent Disconnections”

So I excitedly went home after receiving a call from the Streamyx technician that some wirings have been fixed. Went home, to my horror, the landline was DEAD. Zero dial tone. It was the most deafening silence ever. To say that my world came crashing down around me is obviously an exaggeration.

My anger and depression levels build up to a critical lever and in a fit of rage I drove straight to the nearest Celcom branch and after a few enquiries, I plopped RM500 on the table and got myself a USB modem plus the D98 Celcom Broadband package.

Shut up, I am still reeling from the RM500 damage. It was one of the topics discussed in that tearful phone call with Chee Kiang.

If it was a package deal with Celcom, I would not have departed with my RM500 but it was a RM399 ZTE USB Modem and the RM98 was for that so called 3.4Mbps broadband package. The download speed was pretty  good but what good is a broadband connection when you cannot SEND EMAILS, GO INTO MSN OR UPLOAD ANYTHING?

I was like an observer  of the internet. Youtube was loading faster than I was watching it. But I couldn’t even send a simple email or upload ANY photo for that matter. I was dying.

At one point I really regretted buying the modem plus the broadband package. When I enquired about capping, the stupid lady who sold me the package said “No, no capping”. I felt totally ripped off when I came home to read in the forums that once you download up to 5GB of data, they would throttle your speed.

I was really really upset.But I consoled myself that this modem is mine and it is without a contract. I can use it with any SIM card, just like that! I could use it for years! Pass down to my kids who probably need it and maybe even amaze my grandchildren with this gadget from the noughties.

It will last for a looong loong time. *self denial*

After going crazy with totally zero upload speed, I found myself standing at the Digi concept store and the moment I saw the dealer log on to MSN and sending emails with a Digi Edge enabled simcard, I passed RM66 to him without skipping a beat. You cannot imagine my happiness when I saw a Youtube video load with this SIM card. The package I’m using is solely for Data and it’s Rm66 per month. It’s quite cost efficient as I surf online with my hotlink when I’m bored at uni. I don’t even dare think how many times I top up in a month.

I’ve always thought of the EDGE network as something inferior like who the hell uses gprs and edge these days. But apparently desperate measures call for different circumstances and surprise surprise.. EDGE is actually faster than your average dial-up modem.

It’s the best that I can do. Can’t be spending all my time at Starbucks can I?

We spent Friday night at Starbucks satiating our net hunger pangs. This is Lie Yuen’s new hairstyle btw!

I actually rambled quite a bit last Sunday night and I’m too lazy to put it in a new post as it doesn’t really belong anywhere so here goes:

****

15th March 2009:

As I breeze pass my last remaining years at university, I barely have more than a couple of lectures per week. When we do have classes, we have it in a classroom that we share with the second years next to this air conditioning control room. Or at least I think that’s what it is.

It’s a cement flooring kind of room, something dingy with a staircase that leads down to the second floor where the toilets we use are situated at. In other words, it is a shortcut we use to get to the loo.  There are a couple of steps that lead up to a tiny alcove where the complex looking controls are and I said to Poh Yee the other day, “You know, if this was high school, this would be a great make out spot.”

Make out spots have become obscure once you’re at university, far away from home with your own room. (minus religious-minded security guards) It’s just silly to have a make out spot when you have honest to goodness privacy! Unless fresh couples at uni are into these kind of things, then maybe I’m wrong. I mean, what do I know, I’ve been one halve of an old married couple since my college days.

I know my high school had a block of classes which were pretty isolated from the rest of the school. Couples who made out there (and a pair even when all the way!) became legends. Well, among those who graduated in 2002-2005 at least. There were two couples who made out together (not with each other, we’re not THAT open). Both boys were the two most tormented and disturbed boys in our year. One was a tortured artist, a rebel since birth, genius type and the other one was the school’s crazy. To top it off, it was in form2. Chee Kiang and I were still obsessing about boybands (he 911, me Moffatts. HAHA DEAR DON’T KILL ME) and were only friends back then, so we didn’t do any of those stuff back in school. Most I did was sit on his lap and got into trouble with the biology teacher in form4. We skipped bio class that week out of fear.

As you all know, the lack of an internet connection has been going on for too long. I really thought I was matured enough to let myself have some zen time without the net, catch up on some sleep but I find myself calling Streamyx every single day. My tactic is to basically be a bitch saying things like, “Two days ago you said it would be done on the 13th. And yesterday you told me that it’ll be done on the 17th. So what’s the next date you’re going to give me? 21st? I don’t believe you anymore!” or  “You SAID your men would give me a call on Friday. There was NO phone call. WHY did they NOT call me?”

I think my next tactic would be to cry. Streamyx technicians are guys right? Guys can’t stand it when women cry. That should get the job done. Might be fun to cry hysterically over the phone, “I WANT MY INTERNET. I NEED MY INTERNET. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?? I WANNNT MY INTERNETT!!!!”

That would totally be used in their “this conversation will be recorded for training purposes”. Streamyx Customer Service Training School Chapter 5: How To Deal With Crying Customers.

I reluctantly went clubbing a few nights ago. So reluctant that the only photos I snapped was of myself and Brenda in the car, on the way to Penang. I seriously think I’m done with clubbing. At least done with clubbing in Penang. Apologies to my classmate and juniors (and that’s all three of you boys, one to represent each year below me) for being such a bore. Some uni mates were brought in to the mix and introduced amidst the DOOSH DOOSH DOOSH stupid beats of Mois. I asked Chee Wen if that’s the best club in Penang and he nodded sadly. The crowd was bad, the music was bad.. there are better people than these in Penang. Why can’t they come up with a nicer place, with nicer music?  I don’t like meeting new people in clubs because I feel it’s stupid bending down to scream your name and no one ever gets your name the first time. But most people are old pros at this and just pretend they got it. So they never really get to know you.

Which is why I preferred to sit outside playing with my handphone instead of grinding up to people I barely know. I already have issues grinding with people I know.  It’s not that they are unworthy to be friends with or anything, nice boys actually whom I had fun talking to over drinks and lok-lok post-clubbing. You get more details that way..course, hometown.. all the better to stalk with, my dear. 😉 I kid.

Either I’m getting old or the reason why I’m always a cranky bitch midway through a clubbing session is because of painful shoes. I can never be comfortable in whatever shoes I wear to club. Yer, I make it sound as if I club a lot. Okay, all four times in a year that I do hit the dance floor, I swear I drew blood from my feet.

Gaya told me that wedges might solve the trick. Does it? My last clubbing outfit (oh there I go again) was a tube top, a pair of satin shorts with pink tights underneath… and gold wedges from Vincci. Sounds garish but it was quite okay, really. OH! I had a long pearl necklace to boot. Some of you who actually bother to read my every post would remember this long RM17 fake pearl necklace I got from Forever21? Yeahhh I wore that. It totally made the look! So yeah, about the outfit, the tights was a relatively new idea. Something very fresh from me. After much encouragement from Lie Yuen and influence from Blair’s Army (too much Gossip Girl now that there’s no internet to keep me sane.. and also if you detect a certain familiar dramatic flair to my writing, now you know why), I thought that the tights were a good idea.

I love tights, I really do. But long legs are not a blessing when it comes to tights sold in Malaysia, presumably made in China, Taiwan, wherever. My legs are LONG, I get crucified for it. My waist is thick, I can’t buy pre-order clothes. My boobs and side boobs (don’t ask) don’t allow me to pull shirts from local boutiques past my neck .. UGH.

Before I end this post, I’d like to write about my spontaneous trip to Batu Feringghi today with the girls. (As Chee Kiang calls it, the Dental Dahlings.. haha wtf) It was a trip to the touristy area of that part of Penang to get some floats for the upcoming Redang trip!  Major class trip in April after much drama about hotels, cheaper hotels, agreeing on the same freaking hotel, AND THEN cheaper or more expensive hotel rooms. Gahhh. But at least we’re all going together as one happy class.

Batu Feringghi is like a mini Petaling Street with their knick-knacks and fake stuff. I’m not one to gush about designer bags but I was *this* close to buying a RM90 Louis Vuitton hand carry. The guy said it was real leather and out of nowhere and for no good reason whatsoever, took out a lighter and tried to burn the bag. I was shocked and amused because why on earth would that be a good demonstration for a lady who wants to buy a bag? I’m not going to be setting my bag on flames on a daily basis! As beautiful as the material was, I was turned off because it had the word Louis Vuitton there.

I’m not above fake stuff but I just don’t like to buy things that scream, “FAKE”. “Inspired by” is okay. But not outright copying some super well known name. Vaguely fake is okay to me. Like I own an Agnes B. (I’m sure she’s some designer from somewhere) wallet that is of a poorer quality then my toiletry bag which was a free gift from Watsons, and that’s okay! As long as the designers are not well known and I adore the design, I’d pick it up right away!

I know Jimmy Choo is famous and all but I saw some of his bags (okay, knock-offs) at the stalls and they were SO gorgeous! They were of superb quality too! I never knew he made bags and I’m pretty sure I represent a pretty huge majority of girls who are not part of the super fashion savvy girls who make up 5% of the population. So if a lot of girls don’t know that he makes bags and what I’m carrying is just another gorgeous bag, a good bargain, I’m all for it. Which means… I can’t wait to go back to Batu Feringghi to go bag shopping! You should too! At the same time you could pick up RM4 dvds, RM10 Paris Hilton-esque sunglasses, hugging salt and pepper figurines for RM5 (I got conned. Paid RM12 for my first pair, then thought it was a bargain at the next stall for RM7…then saw a whole box of it further on for RM5 EACH.) and of course, parrios! Great place to stock up on beach stuff before you head to the real beach on the east coast. 

Ooh.. my period just arrived as I typed the last paragraph. Shall finish up the rest of the Gossip Girl episode and pop a Panadol before going to bed.