Outraged over bank charges

High street banks in the UK believed that they are providing their customers a service and can charge them whether or not they are directly related to your account.

They say it is a "fair, reasonable, and transparent" charge. I say they are a bunch of opportunists! It is clearly an excellent example of The Poor Making the Rich Richer! Or best of of all and I think, "The Rich Making the Poor Poorer" fits this entire article.

I do not oppose to charges on overdrawn accounts. The charges in place, per se, is a fair consequence. However the amount that is being charged upon customers is unreasonable and unfair, albeit warned. It is more than the legal maximum amount. It can have a deleterious consequence on a person's financial health.

If you have insufficient funds to pay your bills directly from you account, say for that month, the charges have only made your situation worst. At £35 (average) for each transaction, it could mean more than a penalty charge, albeit this is something that the banks will never admit to. It can be seen as their way of taking advantage of the situation to make even more money out of a poor man's pocket. Many thinks a charge between £5 and 12£ is a fair and reasonable charge--although we all wished there will be no charges at all. Heaven forbids, they could have easily levy a charge of £120 (more or less) each transaction for such a situation! Evidently, that would be tantamount to robbing -- the intention to deprive a person of his belonging indefinitely! Note that the amount could be an arbitrary amount!

I read in newspaper about the unfortunate incident of an English girl who depended on public funds (welfare benefits) as her source of income. She has bills to pay monthly so she has several Direct Debit (DD) and/or Standing Order (SO) instructions with her bank so that her bank will pay out the specified amount on the specified day every month. She did not get paid (her benefits) on time in one of the months and that month alone, her bank has charged her over £750!! This is a CLEAN PROFIT for them! That figure must have included interest rates on late payments as well as fees for unpaid items. Notice that interest rates on late payments (a variable amount) are different from a fees levied for late payment (a fixed charge).

In a forum, I read from a participant's posting saying that she got charged 38£ for an overdrawn amount of 0.29£ on her account. Reasonable? I think many will be furious! If that does not spell out the letters R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S, you should just stop reading and go back and continue sipping your champagne beside your private pool. In some ways, I have occasionally seen these high street banks as robbers hiding behind the veil of a legal business and excluded morality!

The charges are often labeled as "Administrative charges" [for unpaid items].
What [TF] are they?
They say that it is the service that they provide us that gave us the convenience of payments, i.e. DD and SO. That because insufficient funds, administrative works took place. But I thought all these were computerized!? HF once shouted over the phone with a HSBC's customer service, "What administrative work have you done that I have to pay you £38??!!" She was right, they have not done any work! It was just another means for them to make more money. The customer service on the other end of the line kept saying that there was no money. He couldn't answer HF's question. Ironically, if there was no money, they have practically made you worst--a bankrupt!
If you know of a gold mine, wouldn't you want to mine all of it out?! A £38 charge over a 3.08£ overdrawned on HF's account! After the unpleasant commotion over the phone, HF was promised she will get her money back. Indeed, she got her money back!

The banks know they are not doing all of this right. They will take your money and keep quite about it. If you complaint, they will say that it is already in the terms and conditions and YOU have AGREED to them when you bank with them. Many will be deterred by this. But if you don't do anything, you're only letting them keep your money that is rightfully yours! It's like them saying "If you want your money back, you gotta ask for it! Until then, it is ours to keep!" Their terms and conditions of their services allows them to legally do the latter part by levying the said charges. It could be, for all you know, a 100£, per transaction! You gotta fight for it!

See http://tinyurl.com/zl4tg for a list of people who have managed to claim back their money from these 'illegal bank charges'. You'll be quite amazed!

IF they are doing everything legally, then they will have every reasons to refute a claim and NOT to refund. Strange enough, they DID refund many people their money and disguised it as "a gesture of goodwill and without admission of liability or error". Further, banks indirectly threatened (and 'black-list') you if you try to claim your money again by saying "we may need to consider if we are prepared to continue to provide you with your existing banking facilities".

One person got back over 8,000£ in the reclaim of over 5 years of these charges! I got back my full amount of the claim I asked for. If the money is not yours, then it will never be yours regardless the number of times you complaint and threatens to take them to court for settlement. Suffice to say that it certainly does not take a financial analyst or a great imagination to realize the blatant truth of this situation.

Hilarious gag: Chinese Takeaway

Lunar eclipse

I was completely unaware that a full lunar eclipse was going to take place on Saturday March 3.

For the past weeks, I have been trying to photograph the moon. I can't wait till the 3rd of March to get my first shot of a full moon. Below are pictures I've taken in February.

A 3/4 moon; Shot at 15:32 GMT Feb 26 2007.

When I stepped out on my balcony on the night of March 3, I was rather surprised. The moon did not look full as it was supposed to be.

A 95% moon; Shot at 19:15 GMT Mar 3 2007.

I was in luck as I checked and it turned out that a full lunar eclipse fell on that night. Thank God for clear skies. I heard there were some other cloudy areas where the eclipse could not be observed at all. Apparently, it seems.

It was a totally different experience for me. All I had was a Canon EF 75-300mm IS USM lens used with a Canon 350D. I think the pictures turned out quite okay, although I think it could have been way better with better lens (L series) and better body (Canon 1D). Here are the rest of the pictures.

Full (umbral) lunar eclipse at 22:44 GMT. One of my favorite shots among the hundreds as stars can be visible around the moon.

Full (umbral) lunar eclipse at 22:53 GMT. Photo cropped to emphasize only on the moon, which appears to be red-orange to the camera.

A collection of all 118 photos shot showing the transitions of the full lunar eclipse on March 3 2007.

Chinese New Year

The year so far has been packed with joys of festivities. Didn't we exchanged gifts over Christmas? Watched grand pyrolympics show ushering the New Year of 2007? Bought/receive more gifts for/from a special person/friend on his/her birthday? Up to this point, it may seem to be all for most people.

Wait a minute, did I miss Valentine's Day?? As for V-day, I doubt many could come up with Jasin Boland's feat. It's like the Valentine of Valentine's day! Little thoughtful gestures and keep the romantic factor alive would suffice for most, and that was exactly what I did although I wish I could have done more. HF got me a year's subscription for a stock photography website so I can showcase my creativity (if I have any left). I prepared a special candle-light home-cooked meal just for her with Eeyore the donkey waiting for her by the dish decorated with helium balloons and red tulips. Some got married on this day, thus, calls for a double celebration -- turning the over commercialized day into a more meaningful personal celebration. I've even seen flyers that reads "I hate Valentines" or "Valentine's my arse" as a form of advertising for a nightclub. I hope it went well.

They have been the best so far.

Chinese New Year is up next and it's happening this weekend! And this festival celebrated by Chinese communities all over the world lasts for 15 calendar days. Had I been a very traditional Chinese Chinese (one that closely abides in all Chinese customs and traditions), I would not have just been driven up the walls, but up to the ceiling. (LoL!) Being a Chinese Malaysian, only the first few days are of importance. And the Chinese Valentine's Day is on the 15th day, that would mean I have TWO Valentine's Day. My lady would be very, very pleased. :)

We have planned to make special dishes that are customary to have only during CNY. Unfortunately, these special dishes are not just one or two. I was just thinking because the Chinese eats any living thing with a back (dorsal) facing the skies/sun, they certainly will not have a problem to come up with another. I'm not saying that we will have reptiles, or canines as a dish, but simply suggesting there are innumerous of those special dishes.

Don't you just love all of these? There's always something to look forward to do. I'm not exhausted, but I am broke. In a way, I'm quite thankful that there will be no more festivals where we will be directly involved... at least not until I have a positive flow of income.

New Bliss Wallpaper

 

A new and improved version of the classic Windows Bliss wallpaper

斐斐祝你生日快乐

Click here for the surprise
我希望我们的将来会比现在更开心
我希望我们不断地相爱
过生日不一定代表本人老了
可不是一个自卑原因
但其实就是您的思想心理而零以承受了
必要用你的光眼和平常一样
难道我说的有错吗？

身体健康
工作成功
开开心心
永远相爱

永远爱你的人--大猪头

Thousands of miles away 千里之外

My favorite Chinese RnB! His name is Jay Chou or in Chinese 周杰伦 (Zhou Jielun)

Lyrics:
屋檐如悬崖 风铃如沧海 我等燕归来
时间被安排 演一场意外 你悄然走开

故事在城外 浓雾散不开 看不清对白
你听不出来 风声不存在 是我在感慨

梦醒来 是谁在窗台 把结局打开
那薄如蝉翼的未来 经不起谁来拆

我送你离开 千里之外 你无声黑白
沉默年代 或许不该 太遥远的相爱

我送你离开 天涯之外 你是否还在
琴声何来 生死难猜 用一生 去等待

闻泪声入林 寻梨花白 只得一行 青苔
天在山之外 雨落花台 我两鬓斑白
闻泪声入林 寻梨花白 只得一行 青苔
天在山之外 雨落花台 我等你来

一身琉璃白 透明着尘埃 你无瑕的爱
你从雨中来 诗化了悲哀 我淋湿现在

芙蓉水面采 船行影犹在 你却不回来
被岁月覆盖 你说的花开 过去成空白

梦醒来 是谁在窗台 把结局打开
那薄如蝉翼的未来 经不起谁来拆

我送你离开 千里之外 你无声黑白
沉默年代 或许不该 太遥远的相爱

我送你离开 天涯之外 你是否还在
琴声何来 生死难猜 用一生 去等待

It's a truck!

Imagine teaching kids words like clock but you keep hearing the word clock without its "L". Try bring your kid to a furniture store and your kid get all excited and shows you that s/he knows how to say clock in her own way. LoL!

24 is on!

Been waiting for the actions and adrenaline rush of TV hit series 24 featuring Keifer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, who was an agent for CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit), a government agency. It is season six now. The past seasons has been awesome! This is a must watch!

15 Principles to creating what you want

1. Never compromise your integrity for anyone or anything.
2. Don't try to be all things to all people. Learn to say no politely and pleasantly , but immediately and firmly.
3. Never wait for something to happen; make it happen! Do it now!
4. Do not be overwhelmed by the tasks before you. Don't try to do everything; just do something.
5. To accomplish your objective, first begin. Secondly, concentrate exclusively on the project at hand. Third, don't stop.
6. Let circumstances dictate your priorities; let priorities determine your actions.
7. Focus your efforts on the root of the problem. Don't expend energy on peripheral issues that are not crucial to producing results.
8. For maximum effectiveness, do only what you do best and let others do the rest.
9. Concentrate on long-term, permanent solutions rather than stop gap measures.
10. Don't waste time telling people what you are doing or what you are going to do. Results have a way of informing the world.
11. Don't make promises you can't keep; once made, keep them.
12. Don't be tempted to take the easy way out. Have the self-discipline to do the right thing rather than the instinctive thing.
13. Don't become lax; play every point as though it were matching point.
14. You are not through until you have dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's.
15. Avoid premature celebrations. You are not through till the check has cleared the bank.

Italian Police Patrol Cars

Italian Police Lamborghini - video powered by Metacafe

New Samsung cellphone

SGH D900

SGH D900

SGH D900

SGH D900

SGH D900

Got it on the last day of last year. Switching from my previous phone, an O2 XDA IIi, which was rather wide, to this short rather narrow and slim (world's slimmest) has been a huge adjustment for me. I now only need my thumb to send text messages -- no need for stylus pen no more. The one thing I love about this phone is the high resolution of the screen. It's crisp and sharply detailed. The theme wallpaper is awesome, featuring a morphing Big Ben theme with time where the skies will be bright blue and sunny during day time with birds flying across the screen and shooting stars in the night. The one thing that caught my attention was when I was in a no reception area. It shows me a country-side picture as though I'm totally lost!

3.0MPx Camera! Awesome phone!

Bomb scare at LMU

Hundreds of prep-ed students sat down in the examination hall and wrote their respective papers today. I sat for "Family Law & The law of Divorce" along with 149 classmates. Engineering students and commerce students were all facing their most dreaded day as well. Twenty minutes past and there were an announcement instructing us to put our pens down and stop writing, and so we did. Waited outside for 70 minutes. It was a bomb scare! Some students laughed out loudly about it. Other students were busy exchanging knowledge, basically, cheating! We were thinking it's not going to last more than 10 minutes standing outside and so took advantage of the situation. I am probably among the hundreds who felt relief from the situation as I have seen the examination questions and I was like "no way!!"
Since the examination process has been inevitably compromised, it was duly canceled and shall be rescheduled... which will screw up a lot of people's plans and schedules. But at least we all know what to expect when we sit for the paper again!

What a day! Dang! That means I gotta stay up whole night again!! :-(

Madness award

MAD FOR SEX:

A husband who lost his sexual inhibitions after sustaining a severe head injury at work has won over £3 million [in compensation]. London's High Court awarded Stephen Tame the money, saying that his sexual and behavioral problems had ended his marriage and left him needing 24-hour professional care. Since the accident Tame has said embarrassing things in the company of others, misbehaved in the presence of females and been ringing sex-lines. The judge said that the award was of a significant amount considering Tame had "lost his marriage and probably lost the prospect of a family."

December 20, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/6193693.stm

It's like saying Tame comes back from death, shags many many people (women), and receives £3 million for it! He lost his wife btw due to his intolerable behavior. What do yo think?

Forgotten year

We will be ushering in a new year in less than two days from now. My girlfriend asked me earlier what has been the best moments from the start of this year to today. I didn't have much time to reflect so as to give a satisfying answer. We have had a lot of trips together this year and that was my answer to her, adding that I was happier to have traveled to many places together.

There are ups and downs and even the pits in every relationship, I have not been spared of the latter either. However, the roller-coaster rides in our relationship have only brought us together ever more closer and this was also something I would consider as one of the best moments in this year.

Then I had a further thought, that working at Bagel Nash and having met people and made friends from there are perhaps truly the best moments. I hope for long lasting friendships.

For some unknown or rather bizarre reasons I still think I am 26 years old. Years went by quickly, in fact, too quickly that I didn't realize I am actually a year older than I thought! Jeepers!

Christmas Eve trip

We are all going to Prague today and will be back on Dec 27th.

A great leap

It has been a difficult 6 months since HF commenced work in Manchester as she's been commuting back and forth to Leeds. It was quite okay initially but as time passes her job became something more of a frustration and upsetting. The successful work permit application was expensive and was funded personally. However, she's been on the lookout for new opportunities yet at the same time risking yet another hefty payment to the Home Office for another application if she accepts another job offer. Being happy at the job is more important and is the only thing that will keep a person doing what s/he is doing efficiently.

A company offered her a position and we were all happy to hear. However, there were a couple of documents not forwarded to HF that were required for another permit application. She was in her pits. But news came in later saying that they (the new company) will foot all relevant bills and will take all matters pertaining to her successful employment at the company in hand. That made not only her day, but all of us including my mother who has just been in town. It is indeed a cause for celebration, and if at all, would be HF's best Christmas gift!

I am deeply moved because I know she did all these for me. If I were not her reason, she would have given up on the job. Indebted...

Special guest

My mother's in town. Just arrived Leeds at about 14:30 by train from Manchester Airport and she'll be staying with us for about a month of so.

AlexChiu.com Eternal life??

I don't quite remember how I ran into this Asian (hereforth as 'azn') guy's website claiming to know the secrets to eternal life using conventional methods -- magnets! You should really take a look at his site at http://www.alexchiu.com/, a website that even Google blocks because of what Alex is claiming.

Considering the fact that he "...is afraid of death" (quoted), his method or way to eternal life is quite bizarre because it looks like it is his quest to stop human from reproducing. Of course, if you think on extreme sides, when everyone else dies and you're the only living one (maybe along with others who have used his methods), wouldn't that feeling of being in eternity naturally falls in place?

Reproduction and/or sexual reproduction is the very basic instinct of all organic creatures and living things. It is natural. And to stop that process is blatantly an act of defying mother nature, thus unnatural.

On the other hand, maybe he is a genius!? A way to making him rich? I mean, how long can one person put up with magnets on one's both fingers and feet? Definitely not for the rest of one's remaining life! So, eternal life here on earth? Gimme a break!

Day 1: Milan & Verona

Milan
At the Central FS station waiting for our subway train to our next attraction in Milan.

Milan
Piazza del Duomo or otherwise known as Milan's cathedral. It is Italy's largest gothic style cathedral. Unfortunately, it was chilly and foggy that day.

Milan
HF, in front of the piazza's grand arcade entrance with lots of cafeterias, designer's outlets, and more designer's outlets.

Milan
Pigeons everywhere and there's an indian man who'd be willing to take a picture of you with the birds for a small fee. He feeds them. The pigeons calls him Mommy!

Milan
Inside the arcade. Here, posing with a mosaic floor tile of the official seal of Rome. S.P.Q.R means Senatus PopulusQue Romanus, which means The Senate and The People of Rome. I have no idea why the seal illustrates humans being fed from the cow's udder.

Milan
Onwards to Milan's last standing castle, Castello Sforzesco, which is a very popular historical building that was built in the second half of 14th century during the time of Galeazzo II Visconti. I can't even begin to pronounce its name at first sight. The castle was named after Francesco Sforza.

Milan
At the castle of Sforza (Google Earth it, 45°28'11.94"N, 9°10'46.50"E). There's a deep stretch of trench, about 5-8m high, around the entire castle that I believe that one would need a let-down bridge to access into the castle. It's like we're living in the legends of knights and dragons!

Milan
Up and against the walls of the Sforza castle. When HF and 'the wall' are one, something special happens.

Milan
My own macho mug shot just outside of the castle. There's a nice huge fountain on the causeway to the entrance but it annoyed us so that is why there's no picture with the fountain here.

Milan
Ice cream! They all say that the best ice cream on earth is in Italy. We've been on the look-out for ice cream parlor since we landed and this La Voglio Ice Cream shop was where we had our first Italian ice cream!
It wasn't that bad. However, HF said that she still preferred Ben & Jerry's simply because, I think, we did not know what we're eating. The flavors were all in Italian!

Milan
Making our way back to the train station for Verona when we discovered we still have time to probably queue up to see the Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper. We did go and were at the residence of The Last Supper, which is in a church, but we have no ticket reservation(s) and tickets were sold out.
We had to book tickets 14 days in advance in order to get a glimpse of the world famous painting. We didn't know; but consoled ourselves that we've seen it in The Da Vinci Code (Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou)

Verona
The Walls of Verona! On the scribe: "There is no world without Verona walls. But purgatory, torture, hell itself. Hence banished is banish from the world, and the world's exile is death...", an excerpt of Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet Act 3, Scene 3.

Verona
The performer bends down when we deposited a coin for him as if saying to HF, "Would you please let me give you a kiss?" And he looks straight back at me each time and bends down again for 3 times. Hilarious!

Verona
Arrived at the home of Juliet -- Casa di Giulietta. I initially doubted and was expecting to arrive at a great mansion with golden gates but to my surprise I arrived to a shabby tunnel, which leads to the famous balcony scene in Romeo & Juliet. Ah! I was enlightned!

Verona
The walls of the tunnel was scribbled with graffities of those who have been here declaring their love and heart to the person s/he loves.
You can see it everywhere from the most bottom of the wall to the ceiling! There was nothing to climb on, though!

Verona
"Danniee, I want to write one up there!", she told me as she pointed to the ceiling! "Can you write on for me there?" I was like... "Umm, uhh..... omg! Great! *Speechless!*"

Verona
A true believer of romance. Tears began to trinkle down her cheeks when she saw millions of people left a note on the wall of the tunnel expressing their eternal love for each other.

Verona
It was said that whosoever touch (but I grabbed) the right side of Juliet's breast will have a blessing in the person's romance. I hope I have grabbed an eternal blessing in my romantic relationship, 'cos I need more than a touch of blessing!

Verona
On Juliet's balcony. HF was here before, it was my turn to go up there. I pretended to be Juliet when a group of Japanese tourists arrived at the bottom and started giggling and laughing. It was a short-lived romantic moment turned into embarrassment.

Verona
Inside the home of Juliet, posing nearby her balcony.

Verona
Juliet still lives in the hearts of many, and there's only one way to get to her -- email her! I wonder if Juliet has get to reading the email I sent to her yet.

Verona
We always send postcards back to ourselves as a little souvenir packed with memories.