DianaTan.net

I am working for a small but dynamic company. We operate like Air Asia where everything is very affordable but selling in bulk. Likewise, we make our prices affordable but working hard every day. Most of our workers are working daily even on Sundays and taking daily wages. Everyone does their part to contribute to the growth of the company. And today, I have 3-4 quotations to type out and to calculate before emailing them out. Sometimes I am amazed at so many enquiries we get each day via the internet. Therefore I badly need a vacation like riviera maya honeymoon and travel with someone special for a good break from all the work stress and demands. And I can sleep long hours under a thick comforter with the air-con turned on for many days to recuperate. I don’t need any of the holiday activities but just to lie in bed and re-energise and to relax after long hours of work all this while. My idea of a good vacation is to forget about work, lie in bed and dream about the good life and retirement with money to last a life time. Now, I cannot afford to retire as I need to save up more for that retirement one day. Then I can sit back and look back at all the years of working life to achieve this moment.

I have started using a digital camera way back in 1998. At that time, to transfer images from my first digital camera, I had to use the USB cable connected to my computer. And the card reader can store hundreds of photos in a slim compact card. Even if I don’t download photos, I still have photos from a few months ago still on my camera. People always ask me “Where are the photos from your vacation?” My dad constantly ask me to upload photos for him from his church digital camera.

To upload my photos from my camera, I need to use a USB cable that comes with my digital camera. However, with an Eye-Fi card, this could change the way I upload and store my photos. Just watch the video above to see what I mean.

Eye-Fi can help:
• The easiest way to get what’s in your camera out of your camera. Saves time and hassles.
• Automatic backup of your memories and automatic organization (by date) of them on your computer.
• Effortless sharing while your memories are fresh, not after they’ve sat in your camera for months.

Eye-Fi is a wireless SD memory card with up to 4GB of memory PLUS built-in Wi-Fi. Just turn your camera on to effortlessly transfer photos and videos from your camera to your computer and favorite web sharing site (like Flickr & Facebook). Eye-Fi automatically backs up and organizes your photos and videos on your computer in date-based folders. You can also share your photos and videos on your favorite sharing site without even having your computer on. All you need is a SDHC capable camera and a wireless router.

I love using my digital camera and always take the opportunity to snap food photos or travel photos to add to my collection for posterity. And I inherited this hobby from my dad who is an avid photographer – who also makes some money by taking group church photos and people will come and order them.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Eye-Fi. All opinions are 100% mine.

The movie opens with the evening star shining above New Orleans. Young Tiana (voiced by Elizabeth Dampier) and young Charlotte La Bouff (voiced by Breanna Brooks) are listening to the story of “The Frog Prince” as told by Tiana’s mother Eudora (voiced by Oprah Winfrey). Charlotte is thrilled with the idea of finding a prince, while Tiana vows she will never need to. Instead she shares a dream with her father James (voiced by Terrence Howard): to open a restaurant of their own. Years pass and Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) is now working as a waitress, skimping and saving, and seems to have let go of having fun in favor of her dream, as her father has now passed on. She finally makes the money and shows her plans of turning an old riverside warehouse into a classy restaurant to her mother, who insists that she needs to look at other parts of life and that even though her father never got what he wanted, he had what he needed: love. Meanwhile, Prince Naveen (voiced by Bruno Campos) arrives in the city with his butler Lawrence (voiced by Peter Bartlett). The prince has been cut off by his parents for his play-boy lifestyle and either has to marry or get a job to support himself. He plans to wed Charlotte (voiced by Jennifer Cody) to gain her fortune. The two soon meet up with Doctor Facilier (voiced by Keith David), a voodoo magician jealous of the La Bouff fortune, who turns Naveen into a frog and gets Lawrence to join him in his plot to rule New Orleans.

At the La Bouff grand ball, Tiana learns that another client put down a higher offer on the building she wanted for her restaurant, and is now left with nothing unless she can top him by Wednesday. Having given up hope, she desperately wishes on a star, when frog Naveen appears. Thinking her a princess, he convinces her to kiss him in order to break the curse, but the spell backfires and she becomes a frog as well. The two are chased out as Lawrence uses a voodoo charm to impersonate the prince and win the heart of Charlotte. It requires Naveen’s blood however, so Facilier sends out his voodoo spirits to retrieve the prince, who has escaped to the bayou with Tiana. He plots on using Lawrence to marry Charlotte thus gaining their fortune, then kill her father Big Daddy La Bouff and take over New Orleans, feeding the souls of the citizens to his voodoo “friends”.

In the bayou, Tiana and Naveen encounter Louis (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley), an alligator who wants to be a jazz musician, and Ray (voiced by Jim Cummings), a Cajun firefly who is in love with a star he has named Evangeline. They take them to see Mama Odie, the good voodoo priestess of the swamp. Along the way, Naveen falls in love with Tiana. They eventually reach Mama Odie (voiced by Jenifer Lewis), who insists they need to dig deeper to get what they want. Naveen realizes this means being with Tiana. Mama Odie reveals that for the two to become human, Naveen must kiss Charlotte, who is the Mardi Gras Princess. They proceed to return to New Orleans in time by hitching a ride on one of the riverboats. Along the way, Louis is recruited into a jazz band, who think that Louis is just wearing a alligator costume. Through a misunderstanding, Naveen tells Ray about his feelings for Tiana, and Ray is not suprised. Meanwhile, Naveen plans on proposing to Tiana, but as they pass by the warehouse that she plans to turn into a restaurant, she shows more interest in her dream than in him and he thinks she does not reciprocate his feelings and knowing that he will never be able to get the money for Tiana’s restaurant unless he marries Charlotte. He decides to marry Charlotte and give Tiana her money so Tiana can open her restaurant. However, he is kidnapped by the voodoo spirits. Meanwhile, Ray reveals to Tiana that Naveen truly loves her, and that he was meaning to propose. Tiana rushes to the Mardi Gras parade to find Lawrence marrying Charlotte in the Naveen disguise, having re-fueled the voodoo charm. Brokenhearted, she runs to the graveyard and tells Ray that Evangeline is just a star and he will never actually meet her. Ray does not seem to believe her in the least, and apologizes to Evangeline on Tiana’s behalf. He rushes off and manages to free the real Prince Naveen and steal the charm, causing Lawrence to resume his true form and become arrested. He gives it to Tiana telling her to run just before Facilier crushes him. Facilier offers Tiana everything she could ever desire, including her restaurant as well as her human form, but Tiana refuses upon realizing that love and following her heart is more important than taking the easy way, like her father had said. She then shatters Facilier’s charm, releasing the voodoo spirits from within who proceed to drag a screaming Facilier into their world for failing them, leaving behind a gravestone with his name and horrified face etched.

Back at the Mardi Gras parade, Naveen offers Charlotte marriage, but Tiana confesses she’d rather have him as a frog than have her restaurant because she is in love with him. Charlotte offers to kiss him so he can marry Tiana, but it is too late. Mardi Gras is over and Charlotte is no longer a princess. Louis finds a mortally wounded Ray and rushes him to the pair. He gets to see them together and happy before he dies. At Ray’s funeral, they look up and see that another star has appeared next to Evangeline. Naveen and Tiana are married in the bayou by Mama Odie. Their kiss turns them back into humans because through their marriage, Tiana is now a princess married to royalty. The two go back home and get back the building by having Louis frighten the real estate agents. They work together and open Tiana’s restaurant which is named “Tiana’s Palace”, where Louis plays trumpet in his band. The movie ends with them kissing as the evening stars, Ray and Evangeline, twinkle from above.

A mean-spirited, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his counting-house on a frigid Christmas Eve. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers in the anteroom because Scrooge refuses to spend money on heating coals for a fire. Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, pays his uncle a visit and invites him to his annual Christmas party. Two portly gentlemen also drop by and ask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge reacts to the holiday visitors with bitterness and venom, spitting out an angry “Bah! Humbug!” in response to his nephew’s “Merry Christmas!”

Later that evening, after returning to his dark, cold apartment, Scrooge receives a chilling visitation from the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. Marley, looking haggard and pallid, relates his unfortunate story. As punishment for his greedy and self-serving life his spirit has been condemned to wander the Earth weighted down with heavy chains. Marley hopes to save Scrooge from sharing the same fate. Marley informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him during each of the next three nights. After the wraith disappears, Scrooge collapses into a deep sleep.

He wakes moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a strange childlike phantom with a brightly glowing head. The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the past to previous Christmases. Invisible to those he watches, Scrooge revisits his childhood school days, his apprenticeship with a jolly merchant named Fezziwig, and his engagement to Belle, a woman who leaves Scrooge because his lust for money eclipses his ability to love another. Scrooge, deeply moved, sheds tears of regret before the phantom returns him to his bed.

The Ghost of Christmas Present, a majestic giant clad in a green fur robe, takes Scrooge through London to unveil Christmas as it will happen that year. Scrooge watches the large, bustling Cratchit family prepare a miniature feast in its meager home. He discovers Bob Cratchit’s crippled son, Tiny Tim, a courageous boy whose kindness and humility warms Scrooge’s heart. The specter then zips Scrooge to his nephew’s to witness the Christmas party. Scrooge finds the jovial gathering delightful and pleads with the spirit to stay until the very end of the festivities. As the day passes, the spirit ages, becoming noticeably older. Toward the end of the day, he shows Scrooge two starved children, Ignorance and Want, living under his coat.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come leads Scrooge through a sequence of mysterious scenes relating to an unnamed man’s recent death. Scrooge sees businessmen discussing the dead man’s riches, some vagabonds trading his personal effects for cash, and a poor couple expressing relief at the death of their unforgiving creditor. Scrooge, anxious to learn the lesson of his latest visitor, begs to know the name of the dead man. After pleading with the ghost, Scrooge finds himself in a churchyard, the spirit pointing to a grave. Scrooge looks at the headstone and is shocked to read his own name. He desperately implores the spirit to alter his fate, promising to renounce his insensitive, avaricious ways and to honor Christmas with all his heart. Whoosh! He suddenly finds himself safely tucked in his bed.

Overwhelmed with joy by the chance to redeem himself and grateful that he has been returned to Christmas Day, Scrooge rushes out onto the street hoping to share his newfound Christmas spirit. He sends a giant Christmas turkey to the Cratchit house and attends Fred’s party, to the stifled surprise of the other guests. As the years go by, he holds true to his promise and honors Christmas with all his heart: he treats Tiny Tim as if he were his own child, provides lavish gifts for the poor, and treats his fellow human beings with kindness, generosity, and warmth.

I don’t calculate how much I can earn per hour, but it is very precious. As we have only 24 hours a day, we need to maximise the time doing productive work. He who is slothful and refuse to work, will become poor and hungry as stated in the book of Proverbs in the Bible. Every day, I can only do so much with a limited amount of time. And I don’t intend to stress myself out over unnecessary details or take online jobs that pay too little. I can get work done anytime plus moon lighting writing articles. I am already earning a comfortable income from home and do not need to slog so hard unlike some full time bloggers out to whack other people to create controversies for more traffic. This is very silly. What goes around comes around like a boomerang. Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do to you.

This is It YouTube Video

You can go to the link above to watch Michael Jackson’s This is It movie. I could not embed the video in this blog as it was not allowed as requested. The movie was worth watching as you get a glimpse of what was supposed to take place in Jackson’s 50 sold out concert, when he prematurely passed away unexpectedly 8 days before his concert. In the movie, you can see Michael personally supervise his music team and tell them which note to hit and when to hit it. I personally think Michael is a gentle soul with desperate people out there trying to get money from him through law suits of made up child molestation case.

It is too co-incidental that he passed away due to over dosage of drugs prescribe or injected into him by his personal doctor just 8 days before he was to perform his come back concert. The organisers have pocketed all the money paid by Michael’s fans worldwide and the conspiracy theory is that Michael was murdered as claimed by his family. Had he been alive today, Michael would have been very rich again as he has the voice to sing and the talent to dance at the same time. He is undisputed the king of pop. May your soul Rest in peace, Michael and may God’s grace be upon you.

I have upgraded this blog to the latest Wordpress files of 2.8.4 just 2 days ago. I am also testing out certain functions for SEO friendly features. However, when I upgraded to Wordpress 2.8.4, I also encountered login problems as my old password was not recognised anymore. And uploading the files took so long with hundreds of them or even thousands of them being loaded to the server one at a time. I hope to find a way to make my posts SEO friendly so that people can find me easily. There is also a new look for each Wordpress upgrade at the dashboard section. So much for improvement.

Later on, I have to print out more than 30 full A4 pages of company profile with photos in colour for a potential client. Apparently clients love my company profile that I designed that they always request to take it home without fail. And poor me, have to spend at least 2 hours just to print out one complete file. My colleague is too generous – he will give out everything to people who called us just to meet up. And so much for my brainwave to create a profile for the company I am working for. Perhaps I should print it out in black and white so that people won’t keep asking for it and then put it aside at home like a treasured property.

The price of gold has increased by leaps and bounds over a 10 year period. I have recently invested in a gold bracelet and gold necklace, both bought from Tomei Jewellers in Penang – one from Gurney Plaza and the other from Tesco. In the 1970s, a gram of gold used to cost $20 and now 30 years later, the price is $127 a gram. Imagine how much profit you will make if you were to invest in gold at that time. I also collect silver coins and gold coins which were my Chinese New Year gift from my uncle staying in Singapore. He is a doctor and the family is quite well off. Since coming back to Penang, I no longer receive such expensive gifts from them anymore as we are about 800km apart. Coins can also be a valuable investment in the near future – especially for those that are no longer in productiuon

Every month, I check my Employees Provident Fund (EPF) online through KWSP (Kewangan Simpanan Pekerja) web site at www.kwsp.gov.my. EPF serves as my retirement fund which can be withdrawn at the age of 55 – either through lump sum withdrawal or staggered payments monthly. From 11%, I am now contributing 50% of my basic income to EPF which was paid by cheques. You can sign up for the web site above to check your savings for the year as it accummulates month by month. Also you can check if the money has been deposited into your account already.

Sometimes, the web site may be down at the beginning of the month as they are updating the millions of accounts and this is just temporary. After that, you can then login without any problems to see your money grows. Last year, EPF gave out 4.5% interests rates which is above the banks’ interests rates of 2.5%. The good thing about EPF is that it promises to give out at least 2.5% returns of the members’ contribution. So you can choose to contribute more like in my case to earn more from EPF and get better returns by signing up a form at the EPF counter.

I normally go for safe money instruments and invest in safe assets as there is too much at stake to invest in the stocks. Since I don’t have the time to continually check the stock market, it is better to have a peace of mind to put most of my money in government bonds and in fixed deposits despite the less returns. There are some people making hundreds of thousand of dollars through the stock market, but these individuals constantly read company reports and know the formula to tabulate the intrinsic value of the company so that they know when to sell and when to hold on for higher gains. I have read the a book and know some knowledge about it – but prefer to stay away from the stock market which is very volatile.

Hence, by putting more money into my EPF account, this is a better bet and a safer one – giving me peace of mind that I will not lose the money overnight, unlike stocks and shares, but grow it gradually.
In my opinion, EPF is your old age retirement fund which should not be used to buy unit trusts which is very volatile and high financial costs at 5.5% payment just to buy the units. In fact, EPF should be untouched for maximum returns at retirement.