Hellooo, everyone!

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!

In a very sad development, our sponsor, Uncle Burger, reported that his stove, table and parasol was stolen from his residence yesterday morning at around 10:30am.

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.

Harroo! I’m back from the trip to Singapore!

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 …

We are going to Singapore!

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!

That’s right, folks – CN is now fully powered by WordPress.com, the greatest blogging system in the universe. Well, ok … not the universe, but it’s darn good and as idiot-proof as a blogging interface can get. Sign up for one yourself!

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

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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!

It looks like we are almost on “all-systems-go” for WordPress.com to host and manage Consumer Nation (or CN for short since our inception.)

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!

Hi everyone that has happened to stumble upon this site!

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!

Alrighty – this is not gonna be a nice, long review. In fact, it’s gonna be short and rather bitter cos I really did not expect what I had coming when I plonked down in this Schlotzsky’s outlet which I had held in high regard – in the US, that is. Here? Sorry lah. Here’s what happened …

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.

I’ve always had a nagging feeling that quality control – especially for an international food franchise – in Malaysian KFC outlets is, well … non-existent. But I was never able to prove it in material – until now.

Recently I decided to try their new item: Cheesy BBQ Meltz. I was in Parit Buntar (Perak) one day, so here’s what I ordered up at this town’s only KFC outlet:

Great stuff; loved it. Later, I got back to Ipoh and decided to again have the same thing at their Kinta City outlet:

I would like to categorically state beforehand that both the above photos were taken immediately after I opened their serving boxes; I did not touch them nor shook them around in transit from counter to table. The Kinta City outlet’s preparation was half the thickness of their Parit Buntar outlet’s, and was comparitively junk … it’s just a limpid mess.

What is your experience with KFC?

Note: This post has been read 5 times in the past.

There is a name for these row of stalls wrapped around the exterior (well, it’s on the east side) of Perak Stadium … but I honestly never noticed. I just call it the stadium foodcourt. Maybe I’ll notice it the next time I get around there; and update the title of this topic.

I like this place. Besides ample parking in front of the stalls on the service road, this place has quite a bit of variety for the breakfast and lunch going crowd. Most of the stalls are non-halal, but there’s a strip closer to the swimming pools that caters specificly to Muslim patrons with Malay-owned stalls. Don’t assume that all the other stalls in the foodcourt are non-halal though … There’s a rather popular char koay teow stall (just 2 stalls away from the stadium’s east-side entrance) that is not only pork-free, but certified as halal by the authorities – check out that green halal seal on the signboard:

I dunno about it being from Taiping or not … but I can attest to the fact that this stall serves up some pretty good-tasting char koay teow, halal or otherwise. But I still prefer my favorite dish in this foodcourt – the Hong Kong chee cheong fun:

A bit pricey at RM2.80 for a large plate (well for us Ipohites la) but it’s the best I can find without going downtown. You can have it with either char siew or fresh prawn fillings, or both.

There are many other good stuff here … try the jawa mee, wan tan mee, and the other char koay teow stalls (except the ones open at night – yuks). I also heard that the banana leaf curry stall next to the halal char koay teow is very popular for its cook-on-order fish head curry. And judging by the crowd during lunchtime and the heavenly smells coming outta the stall … it’s good

Note: This post has been read 4 times in the past.