Attending the World Internet Mega Summit in Singapore

it's been such a tiring, yet rewarding week in Singapore. Despite the fact that I spent lots of * money* for this trip, still I enjoyed the fact that I learned and got a lot out of it. It's been an insightful days and hopefully really made and pushed me to do more to make my dreams come true.

Loved the fact that I was among the lucky one who could attend the mega summit.:)

More than those....I think I love my wife and daughter soooo much.
I called her everyday ...and I bought them some gifts that I hope would really make them happy.

I cannot wait to meet and be with them agaain.

Changi Airport, Singapore
while waiting for the departure to Jakarta.

Ya Alloh terima kasih atas segala nikmat yang selalu Engkau berikan padaku dan keluarga kami.

I do enjoy these days.

15 ways stores trick you into spending

Ever notice how you can go to a store to pick up just one thing and then, by the time you get to the check stand, you have five or six things in your cart and a bigger bill than you had anticipated?

This happens over and over because department stores use an array of techniques (grocery stores use many of the same tactics) to get you to pick up these items. By itself, each technique isn't very strong -- it's the use of them in combination that is powerful.

Here's a list of 15 of the best tricks. After the list, watch for 10 ways to combat these techniques so you can get in and out of stores with your finances intact.

1. Shopping carts. Most department-store customers enter the store intending to buy only an item or two, but the shopping carts are right there by the entrance and, oh, wouldn't it be convenient to have it so I can lean on it a bit while walking around and to put my stuff in it?
The cart has a huge bin compared with the size of most items for sale in the store, making it psychologically easy to toss in an item you don't need -- after all, there's room for plenty more, right?

2. Desirable departments are far away from the entrance. Most of the items I go to a department store to buy, such as light bulbs and laundry detergent, are located many, many aisles from the entrance. This means I spend my time walking by a lot of consumer goods on my way to find the item I want.
Because these consumer goods are effectively marketed to me, there's a good likelihood that I'll spy something that I don't necessarily need and toss it in the cart.

3. The toy section is far, far, far away from the entrance. Naturally, if I take my son to the store, he wants to visit the toy section. He gets excited and starts shouting "Ball! Ball!" to me when we go in because he remembers the enormous plastic balls in the toy section.
I tell him that if he's good, we'll go look at the balls, and at the end of the trip, we usually make our way over there. What do we see? Lots of children in that area, which means that there are parents that follow their children.

4. Impulse-oriented items are near the checkouts. Stores stock the latest DVD releases and "froth" magazines there, along with overpriced beverages and candy.
Why? Because people leaving the store are thirsty, and they're going to be standing in line for a bit, which is the perfect place to hook them with some entertainment options.

5. The most expensive versions of a product are the ones at eye level. Take a look sometime at the arrangement of different choices for a particular product, such as laundry detergent. Almost every time, the most expensive options per unit are placed at eye level, so you see them first when you enter an aisle. The bulk options and better deals are usually on the bottom shelves.

6. Items that aren't on sale are sometimes placed as though they are on sale, without using the word "sale." I noticed this over and over with diapers; the department store would display a rack of them with a huge sign above them displaying the price, but it would be the same price I paid for them a week ago. Unsurprisingly, the diapers displayed like that were always the most expensive kind.

7. Commodity items, such as socks, are surrounded by noncommodity items, such as shirts and jeans. If I'm looking to buy some socks, I have to traverse through a number of racks full of different types of clothing in the clothing section just to reach them.
Why? If my mind is already open to the idea of buying clothes, I would be more likely to look at other clothing items.

8. Slickly packaged items alternate with less slickly packaged items. Look carefully at an aisle of, say, potato chips. The ones with the bright and slick packaging are generally more expensive, which isn't surprising.

But notice that there usually isn't a section of just inexpensive chips -- in most stores, they're sandwiched between more-expensive items. If there is a section of just inexpensive items, they're down by your feet (think about the inexpensive bagged cereals at your local supermarket).

9. Stop, stop, stop. You add items to your cart only if you stop, right? So stores are designed to maximize the number of stops you have to make: aisles in which only two carts can fit, colorful and attractive layouts, escalators and, my favorite of all, sample vendors. Even if it's not conscious to you, every time you stop moving in a store, you increase your chances of putting something into your cart.

10. Staple items are placed in the middle of aisles, nonessential and overpriced items near the end. Why? If you enter an aisle to get a "staple" item (i.e., a high-traffic item), you have to go by the other items twice -- once on the way in and once on the way out. That gives these items two chances to make their pitch at you.

11. Prices are chosen to make comparison math difficult. Instead of selling the 100-ounce detergent for $6 and the 200-ounce detergent for $11 (making it easier to figure out the better deal), they sell the 100-ounce for $5.99 and the 200-ounce for $10.89.
Hey, look, they're basically the same, right, because five is half of 10? Uh, no.

12. Stuff in bins isn't always a bargain. Higher-end stores will sometimes put items in "bins" to emulate the bargains found at cheaper stores, but the prices are still quite high. They just use the visual cue of a "bargain store" to make you think it is a bargain.

13. High-markup items are made to look prestigious. If you see something in a glass case that has lots of space around it, your gut reaction is to believe that it is valuable and prestigious to own, and for many people it can be as attractive as a light to a moth. The truth is that these items typically have tremendous markup -- you're literally just buying an idea, not a product.

14. The most profitable department is usually the first one you run into. Ever noticed that at Younkers, JC Penney, Kohl's and such stores, the cosmetic department is front and center? That's because it's very profitable, and by putting it in a place where people walk by time and time again, customers are more prone to making a purchase on an item with a very big markup.

15. Restrooms and customer services are usually right by the exit or as far from the exit as possible. Why? If you need to use either one in the middle of a shopping journey, you have to walk by a lot of merchandise to reach the needed service, thus increasing your chances for an impulse buy.

This article was written by the founder of The Simple Dollar, a blog offering a peek at his recovery from near bankruptcy

Spidey's in Town

I think Spiderman 3 is somewhat like a roller coaster in a slow motion. Wait!...it's in its positive sense. What I mean by a roller coaster was that...I was drawn into the confusion one after another and then...Hopla....I was glued to accept the fact that those confusions were nonetheless no other than coincidental.
they were meant and bound to be so.

...I loved it. Yet, I loved the Spiderman 2 better. This third installment feels like nothing more than stuffing too much on Spidey who could've been more human...should he not be concocted with so many subplots in his life:)...

Well, I wonder whether the comics do have these subplots.

Fortunately, I love the wits, the jokes, and the sneak-in scenes where funny conversations did still occur in midst of perils..:)

The Daily Bugle's boss....hmm....my o my....he still got his cartoon-like attitude at his best.
oh...Peter...the way you changed your look when you're consumed with that thing called symbiote (?) hmmm...really did get into me. I had to bite my tounge to see you act like that.

hmm...well, funny enough...but a little bit loathing. or...maybe this is what it's all about.

Peter Parker..a.k.a. Spiderman (hmm or should it be the other way around?) still captured my heart.

I love this movie. For sure, no matter what...

Spidey's in town!

............................Gosh..oh gosh....Spidey's in town.

Guess, I get to pack my stuffs and meet 'im.

Never thought that I would have a chance to see him in the first two days of its screening.

Way to go....cineplex21. Indeed, you spoil us all...or at least, me?

I think...I got to finish all of my must-do work as of today so that I could skip and see him in person:) hahaha

Most anticipated movies this May

goosssshhhh oh goooooooooooosssshhh.

Guess, I have to prepare my time and credit card to go and see these coming mostest hottest flicks. All comes this May.

Can you imagine that?

I cant' believe it myself. The films are all worth-anticipating. Just waiting for the friendly neighbor--Spidey, the charming Captain Jack Sparrow, the ex-cute now-turned-gorgeous Harry Potter, and the green Ogre---Shrek.....was enough to spice up my day...:)

Just can't wait to embrace them all:)

Fun with Dick and Jane

Just recently watched this movie. Turned out to be quite amusing. Not-that-bad movie to watch and enjoy. Two scenes really got my attention:

the first one

was the one with Jim Carrey being apprehended by the US-Mexico border police. Alas, he just dropped his wallet just when the police raid a group of supposedly immigrants where --once again alas--Jim carrey was there. He couldn't prove his Identity as an American. To top if off, he just had a bump on his lips that he barely speak American accent English...which surely led the police to assume that he must be one of the supposedly illegal Mexicans.

Trying hard to convince the police that he was indeed an American, he had a chance to hand in his handphone to the police asking him to call home...just in time when Jim's son answered the phone by saying, "HOLA?"

the second one

was the closing minutes when Jim or Dick and his wife, Jane, were driving their newly purchased car after being able to get their money back........

on the road..they met one of their colleagues who shouted that the had been hired at a new energy company named: ENRON.

what?

I was flabbergasted and churned my tummy to see the movie ends just like that.!!!

what a nice ending:)

love it.

Revised Curriculum for Korean Dept.

Today, I had to rush to campus just to finish the final touch to our newly designed curriculum for the next semester. It has been such an exhausting week since we had to finish the curriculum by today.

Indeed...it was a grandiously tedious work. 'Tis was.

Never had it occurred to my mind that designing things as important as curriculum would be such a time-consuming job.

I felt so relieved to have it done and finished.Hopefully, we won't find any more things to do.:) chuckles..and dream on, Suray.

"Hadiah"

My students in EAP Encompass program gave my daughter a present. They wrapped a cute bear doll in a pink wrapping paper.

Eyra turned out to love this gift as soon as she saw it. She cuddled it and tugged it into bed. Even, she named it 'Hadiah" simply because I told her that it was a hadiah 'gift'. Well, the point is....that she loves it very much.

EAP Encompass Fiesta

Fiesta? hmm not quite..since we just call it a 'meeting over lunch' in a not-so-ordinary place i.e. Hartz chicken.
It came to my mind...or well....it popped out of my mind that it would be the final class for Encompassers. I never thought that it would end this soon. So, it just occurred to me that I had to do something for these colleagues in the class. I wanted to have a so-called 'not-that-farewell class but rather-a-lunch class with my students.

so we ended up in Hartz Chicken...talked over stuffs we did for the last seven weeks.
I learnt and did enjoy being in their company. Indeed...most of them were lively and enthusiastic students who really wanted to pursue things and grab chances in their future.
that's where I started to notice that they have armed themselves with lots of things on their mind.
so...to keep things going and so as not to keep them from trying...I always try to make them believe that they can do IT.

I got a nice doll specially wrapped in a colored paper....just for my daughter Eyra.
They prepared this...and that made me to conclude that they must've been such thoughtful students...
otherwise..they wouldn't have done so.

I did enjoy teaching and spending my time with them.

ANRIers, UIers, Makassareans, UGMers and more...:)

Revising the proposals of EAP ENCOMPASS students

Revising again, Suray?
hmmm....what a job. But, I like it, though. The fact that I volunteered myself or should I say..offering myself to help them rewrite the proposal was initially and simply out of my passion in writing and sharing ideas.

Then, today..I just found out that the duedate for submitting the proposal is tomorrow. that means...I only have one day to revise 6 or 7 proposals)))):) great!

I thought it wasn't due until next week or so. hmmm...oh well...they're really pulling my legs this time. but..hey..let see what I can do with these.

I thought I lost my bike's key

Last night, I was somewhat fooled by my own mistake and the security guard in campus:)
It was raining so hard that I had to put on my raincoa--as usual. I came to campus at around 7.30 p.m.--an ample time for me to prepare for my class.

Since it was raining hard, I didn't want to take much time in taking off my raincoat and rushing myself to the building. Alas, I didn't notice that I just left my bike's key dangling on its slot.
so, I grabbed the books and tapes and rushed myself inside the clas...only to realize that I left my key on its slot.

TO my surprise, It was not there. Having realized that it wasn't there...I thought to myself that I couldn't have left it there. It was not even 2 or 3 minutes after I left my bike. So, I must've taken it out and put it somewhere. Be it in my pocket, jacket, folder, locker or.....:(

Since I had no time to think about it. I just convinced myself that I must've taken it out...and started teaching.

then...it was 9.10 p.m. I began searching for the lost key....again. I dared myself to go to the Musholla, classrooms, doorways....just to find none or even any traces of the key. None was inside the building.

I ran down the stairs and got back to the motorbike....took the 'trash' out of the bike's storing bin. None. Opened my already-folded-up raincoat....none. I was desperate.

Feeling tired and exhausted...or worse.....scared of being alone at campus...I finally decided to tell the security guard that I may have to leave my bike there since I lost the key....
even...when I didn't yet finish telling what happened....he took out a chain of keys from his pocket ...with the sneer on his face...telling me how clumsy I was.....telling me how toughtful he had been....how I could end up loosing my bike should he hadn't done his patroling and 'heroic' act. bla bla bla....

well...I really really had this urge of punching him on the face...But I just couldn't for it was my fault in the first place. I shouldn've have left it....and that I should be more careful.
but the thought of him leaving me desserted and busy looking for something that I should not have......was really frustating.
gosh...what a nerve....

anyway..I felt so relieved that I found the key..and that I was being able to ride my bike home:) hmmm
yep....it did get me.

today's achievement

Just finished assesing the GE Class performance.
Done.
Screening...the movies.

sneaked out of the class

I got to do these errands yesterday. First, I got to pay my credit card bill since I just used a sum of it. I guess I don't need to pay for extra charge should I pay it in advance. So, I had only 30 minutes to do that. I ran into the bank and got myself stuck in an elevator for 3 minutes just to get to the 4th floor:) well, it made this creaking sound that creeped me out. luckily I did get out of it just to find an empty office where someone in the customer service should be.

I met some guy in his 30's. such a snobbish officer in such a bank. I hated him.
But...eventually...I made him do what I asked him to. I paid for it and also peppered with lots of questions.

I also got a brochure on a free offer of having a portable DVD player with Batman picture on it. isn't that great?

then, I got to go to the telephone company to pay my home phone bill.
did it.