Journey into Parenthood Again

Part 1 
Yes again. The first journey was 8 years ago. And here I am, back to diaper duty. Finding some time to blog while watching Mandalorian.

Now our New Born (NB) is 4 months 2 weeks old. Obviously, many questions come about if you are an attentive reader:

1. 8 years is a decently long gap.

2. Why wait? Why 8 years.?

Many reasons, but in hindsight, having an elder brother who was just turning 8 when Baby K was born has its benefits. He is at an age where he can understand and appreciate having a baby sibling (though he initially was hoping for a baby brother who would be interested in superheroes). He has been and is super caring for his little sister after getting over that. And I think probably the lil sister will follow suit in his interest in superheroes.

8 years has also given us a time gap to re-look at things, be more open and an opportunity to be more informed on ‘babying’. Even hospitals have changed for the better, they are more pro mummy and baby, take more effort to encourage breast-feeding and rooming in. Yes, as short as 8 years ago, these things were rather un-common in many a private hospital, for example the policy to encourage rooming in with mummy was un-heard of (at least for me).

This time around we wanted to ensure that we were be better informed and and better understood birthing. See before this, the books we read were on how to care for the NB, not much on how to prepare for the birthing. Yes, most books cover what to do once the baby is discharged from the hospital, yet lack the much-needed info on preparing ourselves for birthing, what to do in the birthing ward, how to prepare for the delivery and what to do immediately after the delivery.

Antenatal classes do cover some aspects but are generally more to preparing for the post-natal, for example on breast feeding, which don’t get me wrong is equally important. But have you ever wondered how best to prepare yourself for one of the most eventful and memorable (and probably challenging) occasions in your life – yes, your child’s birth itself. To many of us, it has been regimented into us that basically child birth is:

1. Confirming the pregnancy via a home test kit
2. Going to the hospital where the doctor will either provide another test kit or directly do an ultrasound
3. Some additional steps that are useful and important in their own manner
   1. Register with your nearest Klinik Kesihatan to get a very comprehensive pre-natal care
   1. Get the little one in mummy’s tummy and mum insured for any pregnancy complications, congenital diseases or post-delivery complications. Click here for any queries
4. Getting to the hospital in time by recognizing the signs - membrane release [rupture of the amniotic sac (the water breaks)] or having surges
5. Differentiating Braxton hicks and real surges
6. Having your Birthing bag ready
7. Rushing to the hospital.
8. Handing over the process to the hospital, doctor and nurses.
9. If you are the adventurous hubby then you’ll be in the Birthing ward, and likely stay there and not pass out.
10. Likely decide or be encouraged to consider epidural or some sort of pain killer and then as can’t feel the surges (contraction), maybe consider to take oxytocin. Though less likely if you’re giving birth in a Government Hospital.
11. Be encouraged to consider Caesarean maybe.
12. Hopefully InsyaAllah all goes well. Baby is born, cord is clamped immediately (maybe doc takes stem cell if you opt for Stem Cell Storage)
13. Let you briefly look and hold the baby, perform any religious prayer (e.g. Azan)
14. They then quickly take baby away, then mummy and daddy wait anxiously.
15. After what seems for an eternity, bring baby back, nicely wrapped and cleaned.
16. Mummy breast feeds baby.
17. Take baby out and put in nursery.
18. Repeat 14-17 and maybe transfer to normal ward.

So is there a different way or approach to this? Yes, I have learnt and experienced a better way for our journey into parenthood, a gentler way if I may, which is Part 2.

Journey into Parenthood Part 2

Continued from Part 1

Part 1 talks about the 18 steps we typically have regimented into us for birthing. So, is that all that there is to child birthing?

You might say mostly, and some might say don’t forget breathing. Actually, there is much more to know, understand and experience in child birthing. This is where the term Gentle Birthing comes in. Some refer to it as Hypno Birthing (I’ll explain later why). The bottom line is our right and responsibility in educating ourselves on the child-birthing process, all the terminologies, understanding our options and making well informed decisions.

I’m an engineer by study and spent many years of my life as an engineer, so science works best for me. Follow the medicine book and go back to step 1-18 of my previous post. Leave it to the sciences, doctors and hospitals. They know best and do this on a daily basis.

My journey into understanding birthing started from a 1-day seminar (Boot Camp) organized by Baby with Bee. I went - obviously because my wife had signed us up. My wife came to know of this Boot Camp from my son’s parkour buddy’s mum, Ruz; who happens to be a Hypnobirthing instructor. You can reach Ruz at 017-8806061 or What'sApp her to get more info. She invited us to join the upcoming Boot Camp as we were looking for Antenatal classes that met our requirements. And the event was free. One more thing – for our first kid we didn’t get an opportunity to sign up for an ante-natal class, as work required traveling and we couldn’t find a suitable timing of classes to work around it. We did read a lot though. So, I wanted to do it better this time around. And why not start of with a free Boot Camp.

The term gentle birthing or Hypnobirthing was rather confusing for me. After the boot camp, one thing came to mind for me to consider – it made sense that child birth is generally not a medical emergency or complication. It is just natural. It is not easy nor a breeze, but in most cases, it is not necessary something you’d deem as a medical emergency.  Among others HypnoBirthing is about mummy getting herself into a deep relaxed, relaxed, limp state. Read the CNN article here.

What hit me hardest in the boot camp is that there are many successful birthings (deliveries) in hospitals that were very pro natural, mummy and baby friendly, with minimal intervention. It was really an eye opener, as seldom does gentle birthing get much attention. Gentle birthing is one of those things that you have to read about or hear about from a friend, and not something you'd come across in your hospital's delivery options. Birthing doesn’t necessarily have to be like in TV series or movies – yes you know what I mean.

Two things also resonated with me so much:

1. Mummies managed to give birth with minimum or no screaming (and without any pain killer or anaesthetic). They were calmer, had a better birthing environment, a birth partner and had good breathing techniques among others.

2. Babies have a natural instinct to crawl up from mummies tummies to mummies breast and look and suckle for milk.

So, what was our next step? We signed up for the HypnoBirthing classes, the package was for 10 sessions. To be clear – this were really birthing classes, i.e. how to prepare for the immediate pre-birth, birth and immediate post birth, yeah not your normal antenatal class how to feed and bath baby.

Part 3 will cover how we found the classes, and some key takeaways from the classes.

HypnoBirthing - The Gentler Way Part 3

Part 3 

Part 1 starts of with what many of us are familiar with in Birthing and we we normally do in preparing for our latest addition to the family. 

Part 2 covers our journey again, understanding that there are better options and alternatives to birthing, and ways to being better prepared. Part 3 (this post) covers our actual learning and the tremendous knowledge we gained in the understanding of HypnoBirthing through the classes. Firstly, no, it's not a class about hypnosis. Read on.

Signing up for the Hypnobirthing session with BabywithBee was pretty simple and straight forward. The classes you’ll join mostly depend on your location, where different instructors cover different areas. Lucky for us, closest to us was Ampang, which was Ruz’s class. She was also one of the speakers during the Boot Camp.

Is this the blog post where I share in details the 5 sessions that we went through? Well if I do that; basically I would be conducting the gentle birthing classes wouldn’t I? Firstly for some of us out there (myself included) - for the sum of money you’re putting in, some will ask "Is it worth it"? To me, IF you want to be more informed when you go see your O&G , if you want to have a clear plan on the birthing, and if you want to know what are your rights and what is scientifically a fact or otherwise, if you want to have a more memorable and smoother, calmer birth, yes it is a well worth investment. In analogy, if you would be investing and spending an amount in taking a certification course for your career, wouldn’t investing in this very eventful occasion (your child’s birth) be a good investment? I’ll not go through each session here, but here’s some of the key learnings for me and how it worked out on D-day: 

1. Helped us stay calmer overall 
2. It helped us understand and practice better breathing techniques - Different techniques are applied at different stages of birthing
3. It has helped the partner / husband provide the much-needed support to be the core backbone to the mummy in delivery - 
• Yes, like it or not, many husbands are really unsure what is expected of them in the delivery room. If you go by what you see on TV, mostly it is to tell your wife PUSH, and hold her hand until u cannot tahan (can’t stand it) anymore.
4. Understand that most pregnancies don’t need much intervention.
5. Understand things like episiotomy and other birthing terminology – and yes you want to understand this and discuss with your doctor if things like this are really necessary. Tears lead to tears. Intentionally or not.
6. Come up with a birth plan, one that we actually understood and believed in. 
• Equipped with our own self-customized birth plan, we discussed with our O&G doctor, and were more well planned going into delivery. 
• We also shared the birth plan with the nurses in the delivery ward, and they acknowledged it.
7. It helped us talk to the doctor better during our visits, knowing what to ask, what to expect and how to manage expectations. 
• When you are more well informed, your doctor will also respond better to you as they appreciate and acknowledge that you have done your homework.
8. Helped us understand what to look for in a doctor, and to be upfront with doctors on your expectations. 
• We were recommended to quite a few doctors, but all doctors are different - what we’ve come to understand is that all doctors have different perspective and approach to gentle birthing. You’ll need to sync up your birth plan with your doctor and see what items the doctor is agreeable to and otherwise. Nothing fancy, but things like delayed cord clamping. Different docs will respond differently. 
• It is best to iron out these things early on, so as to avoid frustration during the actual birthing. This also gives you enough time to find your most preferred doctor. We actually met around 4 O&Gs before settling for the one we were most comfortable with. 
• On a side note, though all the O&Gs were from private hospitals, their consultation rates and final bill per visit differed amazingly a lot.

It is also important to evaluate the hospital. One way is to visit the delivery ward and talk to the nurses. Ask them about things like room-ing in, and based on their response you’ll know whether the hospital and their staff are pro-natural or not. See what messages and pictures are posted on the walls to get a feel of the birthing and post-natal culture there.

And if you’re like me; being a rather calculative person, you might ask, why not just google and read up about Hypnobirthing or Gentle Birthing. Some things are better left to be ‘learnt’ from a person. The sessions included guided practice, discussions, brain storming and also sharing of experience and ideas. Ruz herself gave birth using Hypnobirthing, so she can also relate very well based on her own experience. And I guess every parent (to-be) joining the session already has done some amount of reading, so all of us will have our unique questions to be answered.

In summary, when it mattered most – i.e. during the Birthing, we were more well-structured, calm and knew what to expect during every stage of Birthing. Yes, even when you are already in the delivery ward, there are stages in the birthing, and with knowledge and newly gained confidence, you will know how to adapt to and manage each stage better. We knew how to talk to and respond to medical suggestions and options. And kudos to the hospital staff as they went all out and were very supportive towards gentle birthing. They went along the birth plan and worked together with us to keep us on the path of a more gentle and calm birthing experience for mummy, daddy, and baby.

We were very happy with Ruz’s sessions, she is well informed and good in parting knowledge and explaining. Part 4 talks about what happens immediately after the birth. You can reach Ruz at 017-880 6061 or What'sApp her.

What happens after the birth Part 4

We covered birthing in Part 3. Now the next phase - Immediately after birthing.

After the Birthing

The phase immediately after Birthing is an important stage for bonding, not only between mummy and baby, but for daddy as well. Yes, this is a crucial time for mummy and daddy to bond with baby. Science has shown New Borns (NBs) have a strong sense of smell and they will recognize and remember the first smells. So, whose smell and what smells would you like your precious NB to first smell, remember and bond to?

For our case, the doctor and staff gave our precious healthy baby to mummy immediately once she came out of the birth canal (yes that’s what they call it). Other procedures like wiping off baby and weighing were done later. And what happened when mummy needed some rest, did they quickly cart baby to the nursery? No, they offered and we asked, that baby be left with daddy to allow for more skin to skin. Yes, even daddy and baby should have some skin to skin.

Going to the maternity ward

Once mum has rested, as per norm, mummy and baby are moved to the maternity ward. How do you plan out the few days in the maternity ward? Where do you leave your baby? How about when your baby has to go for his or her immunization, what do you do? How about Vitamin K?

Yes, there’s lots to learn and lots to cover. Starting from pre-birth, how to prepare yourself, your spouse, your children. How to talk to your doctor, what to consider in choosing a doctor and hospital. And when the moment occurs, what are the dos and don’t. What are the signs. Yes, there is even a sign and time when most mummies will insist on an epidural, yet you will know and be able to comfort mummy that it’s no longer required (or even allowed) as baby is nearly here. And what to do immediately after birthing?

Was it all worth it for me? Yes, even as a parent with 1 kid, the journey into parenthood (Rev2) was definitely well worth it, and more fulfilling as we were more prepared and informed.

What's Next?

So what's next after this (or actually before). For me, many things, among others

1. Protecting mummy and baby
2. Planning out post delivery - confinement, pantang food, post-natal massage (urut pantang)
3. Follow up check-ups
4. Jaundice (kuning)

I'll continue writing and cover more of the above in coming posts. Follow this website or check-in again soon.

Getting mummy and baby protected during pre-birth Part 5

In Part 4 I talked about the Immediately upon Delivery Stage, i.e. likely your last stage before heading back home with +1 (or more). One of the checklists in your pregnancy should be to consider taking up an insurance or takaful policy for your coming new born and mummy. Yes, at first thought, why would anyone want to take up an insurance policy very early on?

Just a couple of weeks ago, I got a query from a parent whose child was born with a cleft lip (sumbing), and asked if she can take a policy to cover for that. I had to be frank with her, that generally in Malaysia, insurance policies will not cover existing illness or situations. So, in a nutshell considering what a pre-born policy covers to what you’d pay in premiums, generally the benefits do outweigh the costs. One of the main reason to take a a pre-birth policy is to cover the coming New Born for congenital conditions and mummy for pregnancy care benefits.

What are these so-called congenital conditions? Basically, a condition present at birth regardless of its cause or simply called a birth defect. An example that many of us might have heard of is a cleft lip. However, there are quite a few conditions that you would want to get your coming baby to be covered for:

• Ventricular Septal Defect (Jantung Berlubang, hole in the heart at the Ventricle)
• Atrial Septal Defect (Jantung Berlubang, hole in the heart at the Atria)
• Tetralogy of Fallot (a combination of four congenital abnormalities in the heart. The four defects include a ventricular septal defect (VSD), pulmonary valve stenosis, a misplaced aorta and a thickened right ventricular wall (right ventricular hypertrophy))
• Transposition of Great Vessels (abnormal spatial arrangement of any of the great vessels) – basically the great vessels in the heart got transposed / swapped in position
• Coarctation of the Aorta (the aorta in the heart is narrow)
• Infantile Hydrocephalus (Water in the brain - Frequency. 1.5 per 1,000 babies). Hydrocephalus is a condition in which an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) occurs within the brain.
  • Children often have a full life span if hydrocephalus is caught early and treated. Infants who undergo surgical treatment to reduce the excess fluid in the brain and survive to age 1 will not have a shortened life expectancy due to hydrocephalus.
• Cerebral Palsy (a group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood)
• Spina Bifida (a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don't form properly) – remember doctor giving Folic Acid?
• Cleft Lip with/without Cleft Palate
• Congenital Cataract (clouding of the lens of the eye that is present at birth)
• Congenital Deafness
• Anal atresia (congenital defect in which the opening of the anus is absent or misplaced)
• Oesophageal Atresia (a baby's oesophagus (the tube through which food passes from the mouth to the stomach). The upper part of the oesophagus doesn't connect with the lower oesophagus and stomach.)
• Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
• Tracheo-oesophageal Fistula (is an abnormal connection (fistula) between the oesophagus and the trachea)
• Down's Syndrome
• Retinopathy of Prematurity (eye disease that can happen in premature babies. It causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina, and can lead to blindness)

Remember again that once there are any signs of the above or once baby is diagnosed, you cannot get coverage anymore. So, to me, that is the MAIN reason to get pre-birth cover.

Every year, 7.9 million infants (approximately 6 percent of babies worldwide) are born with serious abnormalities. These can be related to the anatomy (such as clubfoot or cleft lip), chromosomal abnormalities (such as Down syndrome – Trisomy 21) or biochemical/genetic mutations (such as sickle-cell disease) – Source https://www.ntperi.com/conditions/birth-defects

Currently Prudential offers coverage for your baby in tummy starting from 14 gestational weeks onwards, and covers mummy for pregnancy care (coverage for possible pregnancy complications). Note that there is a cut off, i.e. you can apply for this policy up to around 35weeks of pregnancy. After that, you'll have to wait till baby is born and not be able to get certain coverage like congenital illness and pregnancy complications. So best give it some deep thought and decide a little early, as all pre-born policies will need a simple report from your O&G which could take a few more weeks or even a month to get from your doctor. Drop a comment or just What’s App at 011-1895 3997 or click here to What’s App if you would like to get more information.

Learn Hindi

Learning Hindi Language in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Selangor and Klang Valley Malaysia.

Ever wanted to learn a new language? Understand the language of your favorite movies, especially Bollywood?

I myself, besides being a vivid English movie fan, do enjoy watching Hindi movies to a certain extent. My latest favourites would be 'Jab We Met' and 'You, Me or Hum'. To many Hindi movie lovers, we've seen the movie relying on the subtitles, but then, wouldn't it be nice to understand the dialogs itself?

So if you're one of those like me who have a liking for the Hindi Language, be it because of the beauty of the language, be it because you like Hindi movies, or Hindi Stars, like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, or maybe Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor and Aish. Or you are planning a trip to India, be it Kashmir or to see Taj Mahal. Or maybe have a business and work relationship there. Even maybe you're eager to learn a new language.

Here is our opportunity to learn this language.

Read on...

Based on the picture I got below, Hindi is a widely spoken language in India. It is also one of the National Languages. The light blue shows areas in India where Hindi is widely spoken.

The tutor offers Hindi Language classes to a wide audience, ranging from children to teenagers, and all the way to working adults.

You can contact 012-4117086 or WhatsApp..

This entry answers the below question:

1. Where do I learn Hindi Language in Penang?

2. How do I understand Hindi movies?

3. How can I learn a new language?

4. How can I translate Hindi songs.

5. How do I get learn about Bollywood.
So yes, it's true. Malaysia, Truly Asia, a Melting pot of many cultures.

ps- Some people locally here, refer to Hindi Language as Hindustan or Hindustani.

2019 Malaysia Tax Relief

With the recent budget announcement, one of the key changes to the regime of tax relief was the splitting of EPF / KWSP and Life Insurance into 2 different line items.

Previously the limitation was that if you earn up to a certain amount, the RM6,000 relief is already fully used up for EPF. This is a downside and discourages people to pursue life insurance (and critical illness to a certain extent).

So for 2019 onwards, the Government will put in place a separation into RM4,000 for EPF and RM3,000 for Life Insurance / Takaful. Remember, as far as we are aware, the RM3,000 relief for medical and / or education insurance / takaful still stands at RM3,000. So in a summary, for year 2019 onwards, even though you have maxed out on your EPF, you can still on average save RM1,440 on your taxes by maximing your insurance / takaful protection. Don't believe ah?

Well below are the numbers, thanks to a Man Takaful

So yes, it goes back to which bracket of income you are in. So you can use the same approach but change the percentage value to see in essence how much do you save. In reality your total coverage / protection shouldn't solely be dictated by maximizing your income tax relief, but more so understand you and your family's current needs, medical, life, what ifs; e.g. can't work for 1 year, and also future anticipated needs, e.g. coverage at older age.

If you need further advice or a quotation, you can try to contact Man Takaful at 011-1895 3997 or what's app him.

Malaysia 2018 - Post Elections

Were you effected? Were you impacted by the recent elections. Like it or not, actually many of us were impacted, be it directly or indirectly. One thing I realized, which I knew well about but didn't practice myself is fund switching.

As many of us either have unit trust investments via our hard earned cash, via EPF or as part of our Investment Linked Insurance Product (ILP) The question is how many of us thought that the results were going to be in favour of PH, and if yes, did we anticipate that in the near short term the markets could fall. Thankfully I managed to sell of some of my funds, which was decent timing as the market was high right before the elections. But I had still had a decent amount especially in my ILP Insurance funds.

Here's an example of a comparison between the performance of equity heavy funds vs bond or money market fund performance during a market downturn which we are currently (as of Jun 2018) going through.

As you can see, give it a guess. The red and green line are Malaysia equity heavy funds. Where as the Black Line has been going up steadily during this 'tough' time of market drop. The black line is AMB Income Trust fund is a fixed income fund. Generally over long periods of time, equity funds do outperform fixed income funds, BUT if you time it decently enough, and use the free switching facility provided by your unit trust company, you should be able to maximize your returns, OR at least, minimize your risk when you could anticipate market volatility. This concept should work for other fund managers as well. Please double check. 

Why is this important, especially in your investment link insurance? The reason is, it is from this investment account $$ that will be used to pay for your premiums at a later stage when we age as our premiums get more expensive. If you are looking for someone who can guide you further and give you perspective on how best to make your insurance selection including fund selection, try WhatsAp'ing here.

White Rann Kutch

White Rann

This seems to be a natural phenomenon where the salt in winter hardens and turns into salt dessert. From Wikipedia :The Great Rann of Kutch is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India and the Sindhprovince of Pakistan. It is about 7,505.22square kilometres (2,897.78 sq mi) in size and is reputed to be the largest salt desert in the world. This area has been inhabited by theKutchi people.

The name "Rann" comes from the Hindi word ran (रण) meaning "desert".


Malsi Rann Homestay
First night was at Malsi Rann homestay. You will observe and they will probably share that all the huts are circular shaped. It seemed during the devastating kutch earthquake in 2001. These huts are called Bhunga (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Gujarat_earthquake) and http://www.world-housing.net/WHEReports/wh100080.pdf the circular structures stayed more intact then all the other structures e.g. sharp edges.


This seems both observations post-earthquake and advice given by visiting Japanese researchers. You can google a decent amount of literature about this among others http://conf.idec.org/2012/earthquake-resistant-housing-a-study-of-bhung/  does validate this. Traveling is always a good eye opener. The elders thought process might have either been a coincidence or will thought observations and past experience.

Another interesting thing to note is that the huts walls are mostly made from mud, which works as an excellent climate control in both chilling winter and scorching summer. We stayed there in cold winter and yes the huts were not freezing. Outside the huts was really cold, and the bonfire was a nice warm touch.

Also they shared that the roofs were made with dry grass and a layer of plastic below with wood support. Dried grass is a premium here. And guess what the best wood they say is called Malaysia wood. They didn't know specifically which type, we've got a number of famous trees namely Jati, Cengal and even the very eco-friendly Rubber Wood (from rubber trees) http://www.mtib.gov.my/malaysianwood/
Hihi this seems to have turned into some civil engineering geography write up.

Now to the stay and experience. This was one of the best homestays. They were very hospitable, friendly, sat and chat with us, and prepared some of the best food.

At night they make a bonfire and seat around it with you, chit chat and share their stories. They have very strict cultural practices but seem open to outsiders / visitors.
Meals are included in the package. So inform before hand if you require less spicy, as Kutch food does seem to on the spicier side. Malsi bhai knows basic English to get around.

One thing that took me time to understand is that it seems there is a rule of thumb that if your driver comes along for the night, they provide basic accommodation and maybe meals (same for Rajasthan).

What we did is got a driver for the day, visited a few places and asked to be dropped off at Malsi Rann. But make sure to make prior arrangements with Malsi bhai if he can take you to the white desert for sunrise and then kaloo dungar (Black Hill). Especially true if you took the one night package with Rannutsav which means sunrise and kaloo dungar is not included. Otherwise maybe take a driver for two days. We initially opted for one night at Rannutsav due to it being way to expensive. And things turned out for the better as we experienced Malsi Rann. Even our driver initially thought we were making things complicated but it was all worth it.

One question that comes up is it necessary to do both Sunrise and Sunset. If you have some spare time and cash yes well worth it.

Do note there seems to be two main areas for viewing / experiencing the white dessert and Malsi Rann took us to another one compared to Rannutsav organizers. The one Malsi took us had a better overall open and vast uncivilized view, but you couldn't walk way to far as the salt started getting soft, like quick sand. 

But the pictures and view are better - you judge. But this spot might not be suitable for larger crowds.




Rannutsav took us to a slightly different spot which was beautiful but there were too many structures like tents, fences that spoils the view. I'm not sure if this obstructions are a norm or was there to an event they were hosting at that time (Gujarat chief minister visit).



Getting a vast open view with the sun on one side and the moon on the other is something.

Rannutsav does offer good cultural shows and a fare of locally crafted goods. But staying only one night would limit your time. WIFI coverage was limited only to the main area and intermittent. No wifi at lodging camps.





Though the event was overall well organised, I found it difficult to get email responses. Calling probably would have yielded better results if you are already in India. One of the things they are not clear about is around what time will you be dropped off at either the Railway Station or the Airport. So what I've figured so far is of you skip the complimentary sight seeing during drop off you could reach the train station at 1pm. Not sure how far is airport. If you are returning via bus then you'll have to take the auto rickshaw to the bus stand. If you go for the 3 complimentary sites namely Aina Mahaal, Sri Swami Narayanan temple and the art craft Bhujodi, maybe by 3.30pm.

All in all kudos to the Gujrat Tourism, organisers and all.

Kashmir

Day 2-6
Kashmir Day2-6
Mostly entry into kashmir is via Srinagar and Jammu mostly. I think people who want to visit Hindu temples mostly enter through Jammu. If you're more info just the view and snow enter through srinagar airport.
Note as far as I know all foreign sim cards will not work in kashmir (yes even if you have enabled roaming). Even prepaid cards bought outside this area in India will not work. So plan accordingly your meet up with your host / guide. We were lucky that our guide made it convenient for us to contact him.

There is a foreigner registration counter after you pick up your luggage. Registration here doesn't seem strongly enforced especially if you are 'indian looking'.. I'm not sure the reason for registration, likely just for precautionary safety.

Heading back to airport
When you arrived and being driven out likely got world notice a long que coming to the airport. The entry to the airport area has security check points, so plan ample time. Some suggest 4 hours. Here it is something like land border crossing where you have to alight from your car and put your luggage into the x-ray machine and security check. Again this is prior to entry to the airport compound.

All airports in India will require to see your booking and photo ID prior to entry

We checked out two hotels at Srinagar, namely Centre Point and Hotel Royal Batoo. Didn't notice much on tripadvisor for Centre Point but it is definitely value for money. They have central heating which they turn on at nights and in mornings. Noticed even Royal Batoo does not on the central heating in mornings.
If you go for Centre Point suggest get with the breakfast option (and maybe dinner if you don't want to walk out). The breakfast is really good. Try the masala omelette.
Both hotels also have shower heaters (commonly called geezers here).

Choose to visit pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonmarg or all. The most commercialised one with the cable car is xxxx.

Seasons for visiting. The least visited is didn't winter. I guess it's too cold and got can't enjoy the beautiful gardens and blooming flowers. The good thing about visiting in winter is it is less crowded, so you can negotiate better guide and hotel rates. But if you are not local probably do all your negotiations with a good reference on pricing first or pre negotiate with hotels before arrival. Remember got won't have data to check rates online once you arrive.

We got a pretty good driver overall. He owner himself took us around the first few days and did a splendid job. He shared a number of tips to navigate the tourist taps and rates Somehow mid way he deployed his worker to take us around, whose service was just average. So besides getting a good company it is equally important to get a good designated driver.

Interesting either it is hard to get money changers in kashmir or it is not common info. Our foreign credit card and atm card did work at one of the HDFC ATM. Initial try at J&K bank to no avail.

One of the main itinerary for tourist is the boat ride on dal lake. I think it's really worth it if you want to re-live Hindi film scenes. Personally I'd give it a skip of you've have boat ride before.

Delhi day 1

Here begins 2015 Trip to India.

Arrived at Indira Ghandhi International Airport, New York, I mean New Delhi. Nowadays it is a little easier to get a prepaid phone sim again. There were 3 booths at Terminal 3 where international flights arrive. Airtel, vodafone and aircel. If you are travelling in cities then coverage should be good for all. But if you are travelling to more remote places e.g. like Kutch, Vodafone works better.

I bought a prepaid sim. It takes around 4 hours to activate I think (I slept and next morning it was working). You need to then call an automated interactive number (ivr), key in your last for digits of passport number to activate it. Remember you need to do this from the state that you purchased your sim card I believe.

For taxi i took the prepaid taxi. Immediately after arrival gate (still inside airport doors next to the Vodafone and aircel counter is the prepaid taxi. There have been mixed reviews on these taxis and don't know if there are better options. I took this, booking was easy seemed honest. Now when u come out had towards the black and yellow cabs and minivans. You'll also see another prepaid booth of the same operator. Easier and less people inside the gates to buy your prepaid taxi coupon. I suggest you get the taxi driver to confirm he knows where to go or at least have the hotel phone number handy.

My driver didn't give me a positive experience, he asked (very insistingly) to let him wait and pick up other passengers after he drived few hundred meters in front. I had to be firm and said no. They will then act frustrated but will usually take you to the destination. Keyword act. I think they tend to try their luck.

Arrived at Chanakya Inn hotel. The front desk manager seemed to have this don't care attitude. Interestingly for hotel reviews in India on Tripadvisor there are a lot of one time reviews that speak either way to positively or negatively of hotels. So it is pretty hard to get real reviews. Anyway after a lot of searching and cross checking reviews on agoda and booking.com (i found booking.com reviews quite unreliable too though they say it is all reviews by actual guest). Maybe the hotel gets someone to book, then refunds their booking and puts on a fake review.

Anyway that's why I guess blogs are still useful, as it is supported by the credibility of the writers previous posts. So based on my searching I found 2 hotels near the airport that were decently rated. First hotel Delhi Aerocity and secondly hotel Chanakya inn. Aerocity was full so i went with Chanakya Inn, whose rates were better.

Overall hotel was ok, quite close to airport (both terminal 1 & terminal 3). Bathroom was decent. Bed was ok BUT had stains on sheets.

 I THINK this is still overall better then some of the other hotels nearby the vicinity if you want to stay near the hotel. Room is basic, and if you don't look too much in detail, it's a nice stay. Interesting I didn't feel very cold in December, though don't think there was heating.



The toilet was surprisingly new and rather clean.

Would be nicer if they provided a floor mat or bathroom slippers as your wet feet just stains the room's floor once you come out of the shower.




They were nice enough to offer me replacement of the morning breakfast as I was checking out before breakfast time. Got nice tea, and butter bread toast. Make sure you negotiate when you check in, and remember the staff's name as the next morning he might not be around. Overall I would say value for money if you need a place to bunk for the night for your next flight. My next flight was around 6am, so I wouldn't risk staying in the city. For longer stays, if you can figure out the metro you might want to consider staying in the city depending on your luggage again. All in all, I think one of the reviews I read sums it up - this is a hotel you'd stay for proximity to airport and for a quick in and out.

Fare from airport using prepaid taxi was inr200+. The hotel charged inr400 for back to airport early morning . Their car was AC car. I tried checking uber the night before but their surcharge was wayy too high. Didn't check in the morning.

Headed back to Delhi airport safely. Some notes:

• Terminal 1: dedicated mostly for domestic and budget airline. Not sure if there is a booth selling prepaid sim cards.
• T1D- for departures
• T1C - for arrivals
• Terminal 3: for all international flights. Non budget domestic flights use this terminal. There are 3 prepaid sim card booths.

Pindah Rumah Moving Houses

Moving your stuff

Yes Pindah Rumah. I think most of us here in Malaysia, sooner or later will experience the need to move houses. Not sure if you enjoy it, but to me it's stressful and back-breaking.

And the options for moving houses generally are broken into a few approaches:

1. DIY - use your own vehicle (or borrow someone's) and do your own moving likely a few trips, and get your friends to help as well.
2. Hire a basic lorry but you (and your friends or family) do most o the moving, loading, unloading, unwrapping and so on. 
3. Hire a professional moving company to help do it all. Yes, they wrap, package, box it up, load into the lorry, off-load at destination, then unwrap and unbox. 

We've moved a couple of times, and this time around we decided to go for option 3 - getting full fledged movers as to minimize stress and back-ache. Yes, moving yourself is tough, and bad for your back especially if you don't practice good posture.

And this is when I realized there isn't really much info, review or sharings on choosing movers. To sum it up, mostly we are looking for - firstly movers that are professional, will not pull a sour face when doing their job and do it completely, do not damage your possessions and price is right.

I scouted around mostly reading reviews / comments on Lowyat and also asking friends. Below are the movers I requested for an RFQ (Request for Proposal). I was clear on my needs especially that I want door to door and was very specific on the movers doing ALL the works and providing all the wrapping stuff and boxes.

My case was also a little unique as I wanted a 'return trip' move, i.e swap things between 2 states.

Here's the assessment based on my first correspondence (via email or phone). When I sent my email query - I attached as much details (in a word file) of the items I wanted to move - item names, pictures and dimensions if possible. Yes best is to ask them to come to your house to see, however since I wanted to do a pre-qualification and didn't want ALL the moving companies to come one by one, I sent the details via email.

• R7movers - no reply from my email.
• Pindah.com.my - no reply to my email 
•  CMM (Pro) Movers -  prompt and fast reply. Overall pricing was good also. I can't recall now why they didn't move to my stage 2 of qualification / vendor selection...hmmm.
• Myrelo - quick and prompt reply but was little costly for me. I think their price shot up for the 'return' trip.
• Kam Transport - this company was not google-able, and was introduced to it by another mover (that does more of commercial) moving. His rate was mid range not the cheapest, but close to the cheapest.
• Kajara Movers http://kajaramovers.com.my/ - This was one of the companies with the best rates. 
• Subalipack http://subalipack.net/about/subalipack_int.html - Seemed very professional but were little expensive for this move.

Lori sudah sampai - this is how large a 3 tonne lorry is

So based on the pricing I got, there were 2 main contenders - Kajara Movers and Kam Transport. First reason was pricing. I finally decided on Kam Transport mainly because I was introduced to the owner and dealt directly with him. He sounded professional and I was a little more comfortable since if later I have issues with his worker - I can call the boss directly. Also he was very flexible on my needs as I wanted a return trip, so they come pick up few days earlier, deliver to destination one and return trip deliver on different dayswith no storage chargers. This really made it easy for my, so I didn't need to hurry and scurry, reducing the stress level significantly.

 Overall the stuff was wrapped very nicely, they were not stingy (kedekut) on the wrapping material and bubble wrap.

One of the 3 workers, seemed rather knowledge-able and was able to install and uninstall our washing maching and gas stove quite well, and was responsive when we highlighted some concerns.  

Some pointers / notes.

• If you are not moving too many stuff, maybe a 1 tonne lorry might suffice - let the mover assess. 
• Some movers only have maybe say a 3 tonne lorry so won't quote / suggest a 1 tonne lorry and vis-versa. 
• Most apartments might not allow anything larger then 3 tonne lorry. 
• Be very specific that you want the movers to do ALL the works. Remember to tell them to allocate extra boxes / wraps for things you might notice last minute. 
• Don't pay full.  I paid 50% first during pick up, and remaining 50% during final delivery. 
• Suggest to tip the movers IF they are responsive and meet your needs. 

 Here are some of the contacts for movers. I'm not putting email as bots might fish them. If you want emails, please leave a message and your email address, will email you directly.
Contacts by order of recommendation:

1. Din from Kam Transport 012-2987810
2. Kajara Movers: 03:41085626
3. CMM Movers (google) and Subalipack : Farid 019-3815017

Good luck. Hopefully my review of moving houses in Malaysia, pindah rumah comes in useful.

Proton Iriz and Spec Comparison

No, let me start with I'm not planning to emulate PaulTan's website to review cars. I blog for the passion (when I'm free) and share useful information (at least what I deem useful) that I've spent time coming up with due to personal interest and needs. This entry gives you an analysis comparing the difference between the Proton Iriz models. Prior to making a purchase decision, I tried to look for a good summary of the difference between the models, the Proton website does give a good interface to compare specs between selected models at Proton Iriz but it is REALLY a long list of specs, many of which are the same.

What I'm looking for is a snapshot of the DIFFERENCE to make a purchase decision. Now this is not a complain to Proton but a f/back as I think most car sites have the same limitation. So what I've done is created a simple table outlining the difference between the models. One wise saying that I read few days back is "what makes a millionaire is someone who recognizes a problem and solves it for everyone". I'm still on the journey to being both an RM millionaire and getting a million hits on this blog.... :P

So anyway, below is a snap shot of the difference between the Iriz Models. Click to enlarge.

Firstly this is correct on day of publishing (assuming I didn't make any errors). Price and specs will likely change.

Previously when I've made purchase decisions, I mostly go for the full specs of a car, due to a few reasons:

• Safety : Only the full specs had airbags and safety features. 
• Price : Yes though the full specs car is more expensive delta was not huge, and buying a full spec Proton or Perodua is cheaper then buying a low spec foreign car - and (at least specs / feature wise) your full spec Malaysian car will be 'higher' spec'ed than the foreign car (same segment and so on)

This time the purchase decision becomes complex, as all IRIZ claim 5 Star Asean CAP which is higher than Axia and quite a number of foreign cars. Enjoy the crash test on Youtube too.  Aah, back to my point, so though all the models have airbag and meet 5 Star Asean CAP, the difference in safety if I'm not mistaken is only the 1.6CVT Premium has the side and curtain airbags. Note all the models have front air bags.

Secondly the price delta between the basic or even mid range 1.3CVT model to the high spec 1.6CVT model is RM7k-10k.

I think if you have the cash and place high value on leather seats and of course the additional airbags, go for the full premium. The folding side mirror and better infotainment is also an added benefit. Note leather seats cost around RM1.5k (semi leather) and RM1.8k (full leather) if you were to get them yourselves.

My request would be for Proton to offer a 1.3CVT model option with full airbags and leather seats and the infotainment. But in all honestly unless their volume picks up and based on my minimal manufacturing knowledge, it is very costly to offer multiple models, as each SKU is costly to design, manufacture and support (after sales).

Anyway kudos to Proton for a good offering and a good Raya package. Only complain is at low speeds the CVT engine does jerk a little last I drove. Btw, sorry no summary on the Manual model which people says drives even better due to my lack of interest in manual cars....

Calculating CIMB Cash Rebate Platinum Mastercard and Maybank 2 Cards

Per my previous review, of when to best use the Maybank 2 Cards and pair it with the CIMB Cash Back Platinum Card, here are some further details if you want to get down to nitty-gritty. 

In essence you want to calculate how much an RM / a ringgit spent on your credit card gives you in return, so you can figure out the point or cash back system of the card. 

Firstly let's start with the Maybank 2 Cards. Note I am not considering the 5% cash back on weekends as I want to see what is the value to use your AMEX (not the Visa or Mastercard that comes along) on weekdays. You can redeem e.g. an AEON Big voucher of RM100 for 43,680 points. Since you get 5x points per RM, this normalizes to a spend of RM8,736. Basically from my maths, this equals to returns of RM0.0114 for every RM1 you spend. In percentage that translate for a return of 1.15%. Which in reality is not too bad. Remember this is for weekday spent, as weekend you get 5% cash back, so in reality weekend spend equals to 6.15% which is REALLY good as you get this for ALL things you spend with your AMEX.

 

So what's your take away from the above, to complement your Maybank AMEX for weekday spend, get a card that gives you best returns with a minimum or higher then 1.15% value per RM spent.

So what did I get? I got myself the CIMB Cash Rebate Platinum Mastercard. I never really considered this a strong contender for the 'complemantary' spot, but it has turned out to be a good card. I got the Cash Rebate card when I (long ago) cancelled my Direct Access Credit Card (yes if you recognize this card,  you are probably 33years old and above - hahah) which no longer had much benefits. The CIMB Cash Back Card has turned out to be quite handy, has good promotions from time to time (e.g. Agoda, Lazada and so on. 

Here is a summary of how the CIMB Cash Rebate Card comes in. 

As you can see, for Online spend, it is constantly good. Except for online airline tickets, as I THINK the insurance coverage is limited or non-existent. It delivers pretty well for Groceries and Petrol as well. What I like about the CIMB card (and Maybank Amex 2 Cards) is that there are no tricky terms and conditions to meet, like any minimum spend, any minimum transaction and so on, which is the case for many other cards that claim to offer equal or better cash backs but require you to jump through hoops to be eligible.

From the time to time promotion, CIMB hasn't failed to keep me happy, like the current Enjoy 25% off at www.zalora.com.my with an additional 5%* cash rebate and so on. Also decent deals with hotels. Another thing I noticed (if I'm correct) is CIMB offers up to a max of RM50 cash back for each card, so if I have one primary and one supplementary, we can max up to RM100 cash back.

Have fun, just don't overspend and make sure you settle your bills in full end of the month.
This is part of my Value Tips entry, for more value tips that will save you lots of RM $ click here.

Malaysia Best Credit Card Review 2015

After the change in Maybank Treat Points System, where previously it would cost you around 10,000 points to redeem RM50 worth of voucher escalated to ~23,000 points needed to redeem RM50 worth of vouchers, I started to have questions on what would be the best credit card combination and use strategy. I did search high and low, but couldn't find any good summary updated based on the changes by Maybank. (maybe no one has written or maybe my lack of googling abilities).

Previously I did do some research and summarized it at pairing-your-maybank-amex-with-ocbc but with the changes in Maybank Treat Points value and reduction of OCBC cash back, I have now changed my credit card combo to Maybank 2 Card (Amex + Visa) and CIMB Cash Back.  And so I decided to do some research (and maths) on my own and have come up with my summary. What next? Obviously I would like to share what I've calculated. Note this is based on my own understanding, if anything doesn't add up, do comment.

UPDATED: Come 1st Aug, Maybank 2 Cards AMEX will only give 5% cash back on weekend dining and not all weekend spend. What a shame.... Details below
5% Weekend cash back² when spend on Maybankard 2 American Express Card.
²A cap of RM50 per customer (Principal Cardmember) per month.
Click here for Weekend cashback Terms and Conditions.
Note: Starting from 1 August 2015, the 5% Weekend Cashback Card Benefit will no longer applicable for Maybank2 American Express. The 5% Weekend Cashback will be replace with 5% Weekend Dining Cashback. Click here for the 5% Weekend Dining Cashback Terms and Conditions.

Just did that above table, now need to update...Anyway for first line - ALL Weekend : Change to Weekend Dining ONLY.  Now the CIMB Cash back is getting sexier wouldn't you say...

I think overall, if you do decent amount of online shopping e.g. lazada, groupon etc it is really worth getting the CIMB Cash Back. As usual most of this cards have a cap / limit (RM50). I also think eventhough if you do autobilling or pay at counter for your phone bills, you do not get the 5% cash back, what I do is buy my prepaid re-load online using my CIMB Cash Back and I think with this I am eligible to get the 5% :)

I'm also tempted to consider the Maybank Visa Signature due to the 5% cash back (everyday) for Petrol and Groceries, but might make my CIMB Cash Back not that needed - but in that case, I can leave my CIMB cash back at home just for online transactions.

I just created a new entry on calculating exactly how much each Ringgit spent translate into your rebate / cash back - read it here Calculating Your Credit Card Points Value

Note: I did not compare in detail to other cards like WISE for couple of reasons, some of them have a minimum spend / transaction frequency to be eligible. Also cause when I applied WISE years ago they rejected me, so no card no comment.

All my value tips entries are captured at Value Tips.

Air Asia Premium Flex Not so Flex

Generally I buy the normal low fare ticket, but as my purchase for this time I felt my schedule was not that firm due to commitments, I opted to buy the Air Asia Premium Flex, mainly for the flexi-flight option.
Among the main benefit as per AA Premium Flex website :

And also at AA Premium Flex FAQ states 2 Flight Changes - up to 2 hours before scheduled time of departure time of the original flight with no Flight Change Fee, fare                     differences may apply.

So, I found this a good benefit of AA. Yes, no refund if new fare is cheaper, but at least I avoid the exorbitant (to me) change flight fees (can't recall how much I kena the other day). So to my understanding (which proved poor) was "Hei, if I have to re-schedule, as long as I go to AA website and find fares that are LOWER or the SAME as my current fare, I am good". So yes, it would be worthwhile paying the premium now for this flexibility. 

But guess what, let the pictures do the talking - note pictures taken at same time of day doing enquiry on AA website. 

Change Flight using Premium Flex

So to change my ticket, which is supposed to be no change fees applied, I would be paying RM288 per ticket. BUT If I go directly to AA website and purchase new tickets (as below) for same day and time, only RM209. So relatively the same seat on AA via change ticket costs me RM79 more per person!

Purchase New Flight

 I did send a query via AA online form. Kudos (I was happily surprised with the timely response ~3 days). Below is their response

Thank you for writing to AirAsia.

In response to your email, we do apologise for the inconvenience caused, however please be informed that promotional fare is only applicable to new flight booking and not when guest attempt to perform flight change on date/time.

We may advise guest flight change date/time as below;

5.3 Flight Change: Once a booking number has been issued, flight changes are subject to the following terms: Inside of forty-eight (48) hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time, no changes are allowed. The charges for flight change outside of forty-eight (48) hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time are provided for in the Fee Schedule at this link http://www.airasia.com/ot/en/our-fares/fees-and-charges.page?, subject to the following conditions:

1. If a lower fare is available, the difference in fares will not be refunded to the passenger;
2. If the new flight booked is in a higher fare class than that of the cancelled booked flight, the difference in fares shall be paid by the passenger before the cancellation or change can be made;
3. The change is not confirmed until we issue you a new Itinerary and/or booking number.
4. Changes on route(s) are not allowed.

Flight change can be done via “Manage My Booking” or at our nearest sales counter/office.

While performing flight change on date/time, at the right side of the screen, a booking summary will be shown for guest reference if changes if confirm. Guest may also check by the difference between the New Fare – Old Fare (air fare only).

Should you need any further assistance, please submit online form (http://www.airasia.com/my/en/e-form.page). For simple inquiry, please feel free to check our AskAirAsia portal at (http://www.airasia.com/ask/), follow us at our Twitter account, or approach our Live Chat service at (http://www.airasia.com/my/en/live-chat.page).

Thank you for choosing AirAsia.                        

 Key thing here is " however please be informed that promotional fare is only applicable to new flight booking and not when guest attempt to perform flight change on date/time. "

So to me, it is not really that worthwhile, (agak rugi) coz once you buy premium flex, yes you can change BUT you no longer can enjoy any promotional fare. So let's do some maths, say if you didn't need the other premium flex benefits like luggage, meal and selecting your seats, based on the above picture (I can't recall my original price difference between premium flex and low fare).

If I bought low fare at RM109, and just couldn't fly on that day, I loose RM109. Then I again purchase another ticket few months later at RM109, I would have ended up paying RM218 in total. (yes ticket prices change, but I could wait for a sale to buy a new ticket - so it could be higher then RM109 or WAY lower then RM109). BUT, in my case I would have paid RM209 for first time premium flex fare, then another RM79 = RM288!

So that's an additional of RM70 effectively in my total cost of buying a premium flex and making changes, versus saving RM70 if I just buy two tickets! Which in reality if I never change my tickets upon buying premium fare, would already be ~RM100 more expensive. NOTE :  I didn't do that math to calculate how much meal + baggage + seat selection + any additional taxes is buy new ticket vs change ticket is. But bottom line, my own understanding based on my knowledge today is that if you are buying premium flex mainly just for the flexibility of changing dates in the future, probably not really worth it. Just buy the cheap fare, if you can fly. Save already. If have to forfeit and book new ticket, as long as your are flexible to wait for promo fair, just buy a new ticket. Lagi PUAS.


PS - another thing I don't get - haven't follow up is , their website says below

2 Flight Changes - up to 2 hours before scheduled time of departure time of the original flight with no Flight Change Fee, fare                     differences may apply.
·         Flight Change has to be done at least 3 hours before the scheduled time of departure of the new flight for AirAsia (AK, QZ, FD,                      PQ, Z2, I5) and at least 4 hours before the scheduled time of departure of the new flights for  AirAsia X (D7, XJ).
 
Q14. If I have already checked in my Premium Flex flight, can I still change my flight?
Yes, you may. If you change your flight more than 48 hours before departure, you may change your flight through ‘Manage My Booking’, sales office, call centre or airport sales counter. If you change your flight less than 48 hours before departure, you may only change your flight through ‘Manage my booking’ and airport sales counter.


but the email reply I posted in the beginning says :
 Once a booking number has been issued, flight changes are subject to the following terms: Inside of forty-eight (48) hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time, no changes are allowed.

Am I missing something or?

How about you? Do share your experience. I've got another experience 'in motion', will update once I get a reply from AA.

Oh, I and just realized, I can't reply to Air Asia's initial email reply to seek clarification on the 2 hrs vs 48 hrs to cancel or book a new flight, since the email is a 'DoNotReply' email. If I want to follow up on their reply means I either have to in their own words do the below. Let's see la, If I larat, for now will just publish this blog, and tag them / post it on their FB. Hope this helps people make informed decision as of date, I couldn't find any info on their website saying changing flights via Premium Flex makes you in-eligible for promo fare (based on my googling, I could be wrong)...

"Should you need any further assistance, please submit online form (http://www.airasia.com/my/en/e-form.page). For simple inquiry, please feel free to check our AskAirAsia portal at (http://www.airasia.com/ask/), follow us at our Twitter account, or approach our Live Chat service at (http://www.airasia.com/my/en/live-chat.page)."