I’ve decided to move this blog back to Blogger – go to http://myconsumernation.blogspot.com – and don’t forget to update your bookmarks; thanks!

Not by 10 sen or twenty, mind you …. that being the very common rate of increase in virtually all food these days … but a whole 50 sen! Yes: half a Ringgit …

That’s what happened recently, when I had the best Char Koay Teow this part of Ipoh: from RM3.00 (which is already a 30-sen increase from pre-Hari Raya prices) in October … to RM3.50, for a plate of with egg and cockles (no shrimp.) From what I see on the rest of the stalls’ price lists – price hikes are across the board for every dish in the shop. The only thing that did not get a price rise are the drinks.

Sorry to say – this will be the last time I’m gonna step foot into this shop until the prices revert back to sanity (if ever) come 2011 …

Yep: this is Uncle Burger – the fella that had his stuff stolen waaaaay back … and sponsor of Consumer Nation.

First of all, I’d just like to give a big shout-out to y’all that had bumped into CN while blog-surfing … yeah, I know it has been accidental all these while But nevertheless, y’all contributed towards the comments of really old postings – that’s cool. Thanks!

As you can see by now, I’m renovating the looks of the blog. Put in a new exterior with some crisp lines, simple colors, and a layout to highlight the magazine-styled postings that we’ve been doing all this while.

At this moment, CN is a one-man show … me :-p That shouldn’t be a problem, and I hope to stick in more posts as soon as I can. I’m also working on some really cool ways to help you – the reader – to locate the stuff that is written here in CN … Think satellites

Alright, better keep this short … Y’all got any questions about Consumer Nation – please feel free to drop me a comment or two. Thanks again!

He has reason to suspect that the thieves are a bunch of neighborhood misfits on bicycles staking out houses in Ipoh Garden East (Ipoh) for metal goods to be sold as scrap. (Iron is fetching high prices at scrap these days.) I did a bit of investigation in Uncle Burger’s neighborhood this morning, with queries to his neighbors, surrounding street residents, and the commercial shopowners fronting the area.

Apparently, a bunch of 18-to-25-year olds on foot and bicycles have been spotted wandering around the area frequently between 10am~4pm. Uncle Burger’s neighbors at Taman Kemuncak reported that a bunch of young men had been loitering at a small park just beside their row of houses just 15 minutes prior to Uncle Burger’s return and discovery of the loss. Two of his regular customers and friends staying in the same development and the adjacent Taman Perak reported that they had car alloy wheels and metal tables removed from the porches of their homes within the past month. Both houses’ gates were securely locked, with one having a 6-foot high security sliding gate.

Kedai Makanan & Minuman Taman Timur, which is situated at this very area, related that they had lost almost half a dozen iron drain covers and its replacements in front of the shop within a week. An adjacent shop undergoing renovations at the same block had its electrical cables and wiring ripped off within an hour of it being put up, yesterday.

The houses of quad-area Ipoh Garden East, Taman Kaya, Taman Perak, and Taman Kemuncak is rapidly sought-after these days due to their very strategic location, which features 4 of Ipoh’s largest shopping malls and retailers within its 5-kilometre radius. Obviously, they are not only the preference of homeowners, but of thieves and robbers too as the main road connecting these shopping destinations go through the quad-area.

Homeowners there should now be more vigilant of suspicious activity, especially groups of 2 and more riding around in bicycles and motorbikes during work hours. Uncle Burger has told me that he is considering talks with the local police and residents in forming and bringing back Rukun Tetangga or a neighborhood association to serve the security and other homeowner needs.

Please join me in wishing Uncle Burger success in his noble cause, and help him get back on his feet by patronizing his stand whenever you happen to be around Jusco, Tesco, Makro, or Giant. He is open from 8pm~11pm, Tuesdays thru Sunday and can be found just off the main road of Jalan Perajurit, beside the bus stop and directly opposite the ABC Trading pet store.

Plenty of stuff to write about, but we are pooped Give me some time, ya … would likely have something up by the end of this week; which is like, 24 hours away …

Choice of transport? Luxury coach from Ipoh: A 20-seating, LCD-screening, DVD-playing fully-reclining chair, First-Class-lounge-on-wheels transport Not much of a choice anyway, given the spat between the Perak state government and AirAsia on the suspension of the budget airline’s Ipoh-Senai route …

But, hey: we are going on a roadtrip!

I’ll be documenting the ride, and all else products and services (mostly food!) that one should come in contact with as a consumer traveling two-thirds the length of Peninsular Malaysia. I’ll also be reviewing the products and services while in Singapore, thus making the following articles a first for CN as product/service reviews exiting Malaysian borders.

So wish me luck in getting some decent Internet connections on the way there, including Singapore – see you there!

Please read on for important information for existing CN Premier and Standard members!

You can bookmark us on or http://www.consumer-nation.com http://consumernation.wordpress.com. Both will get you here on the main page, where the top 10 latest news and reviews of the consumer world in Malaysia is presented to you. Earlier postings can be accessed by a link at the bottom of the main page, or you can choose to view all at any particular month using our Archives links on the sidebars.

Current CN Premier members: You do not need to do anything for now other than read your consumer news and reviews here Your premier member status remains, and your CN Premier member cards remain as functional as before.

For both CN Premier & CN Standard members: The one difference would be in the comments posting: You do not need to “login” anymore in order to post, but you will be required to enter your existing membername and email address – the same ones you used when signing up in the old forum format. If you do not do so, your comments will not be shown, and deleted. Remember!

New CN Standard members: Welcome! Just create your new username & enter a valid and contactable email address when posting your comments. It is used solely to contact you in times regarding member status and/or CN emergency announcements (site down, maintenance, etc.)

New CN Premier members: CN Premier membership is by invitation only; you need to be a CN Standard member first. A nominal annual membership fee is required to help maintain the costs of Premier membership administration, benefits, and privileges. For more information on CN Premier membership, look out for the CN Premier FAQ (work in process.)

We do not divulge nor sell our members’ email addresses, period. We hate spam as much as you do, and will protect them to our fullest capabilities and control. Enough said.

My name is arbee, and I am your Host and main news/reviews man We welcome voluntary contributions of news/reviews from our members; thank you for visiting us. Do come over more, and hope to have you as our member soon!

We have tested out the interfaces for members/consumers/readers to interact with CN via a blog format versus the old discussion forum format, and admit that CN is better served using a blog format – something that has long been my personal stand. Somehow, the stuff we write about … does not seem to get through as clearly on convoluted, multiple-line, multiple-forum interfaces. And blogging about the stuff we consume everyday is – now, with WordPress.com – much faster and simpler than using a forum post entry system.

We will continue to test out the commenting system before we start to port the existing posts from the forum to this site. This should start in reverse chronological order – the earliest 10 entries of the forum will appear first to preserve the chronological order of a blogging format. We hope that once the porting starts, that you will help us put the commenting system to test.

Thanks for catching up with us!

I’m just testing out the WordPress.com functionality to see if we can work here the way a lazy fella like me would love to. That means NO more script security fixes, updates, upgrades, and stuff like that … I’m currently hosting my stable of blogsites using WordPress, see.

Everything seems to be dumbed-down nicely from a long-time WP user’s point of view … but I dunno. There’s still a whole bunch of “functionality” I believe I seriously do not need, nor do I wanna see as I’m of the type that loves to click at whatever crap I see (“Ooo … what’s this do ..?”) and end up screwing myself

Let’s give this a couple of weeks and see what happens. Meanwhile, you can check with our sponsors Ipoh Blog & Podcast and KL Blog & Podcast.

Thanks for visiting!

I was like, thirsty and slightly nibblish after window-shopping around Ipoh Parade with friends lah, right … So we decided to sit down at this “Funny Name, Serious Sandwich” shop smack midways up/down the ground floor of the mall lah, right … Order lah: 3 drinks, 2 plates of nibbles (something hot dog one, I forgot lah). Service cantik. Waiting time wasn’t so cantik … makan ok … until I saw the bill.

Bloody hell, RM30!!

3 fruit/Milo-like drinks – not some fancy drinks, ya – plus 2 itsy-bitsy tiny plates of some hacked-up, battered hot dog from God-knows-where (the blackish blobs) and 2~3 pieces of fish bites … RM30?? Wah-lauuu, I tell you … hot man, myself I seriously dunno what they are gonna charge for their sandwiches and other elaborate dishes.

Better make sure you got at least RM100 in cash before you step in there, man.

Note: This post was read 4 times in the past.