Asian Tiger

Or else, you may end up like me during my recent trip to Kota Kinabalu, last week.  I ended up with almost no place to sleep or wash up.

I had an extremely busy schedule last week which included an overnighter business trip to Kota Kinabalu.  My secretary had tried booking all my favourite hotels but it seems like the hotels had a vengeance on me.  Radius International was fully booked; which I can relate to because its a boutique hotel tagging a normal hotel rate. I would recommend you this hotel if you ever make a trip there.  Promenade Hotel on the other hand, did not offer me the normal rate I pay but handed my secretary a RM208++ price tag; I, of course, rejected and got her to look for other hotels.

The resourceful lady called my counterparts in Kota Kinabalu and they suggested a number of hotels but they all carried price tags to which I would consider unreasonable.  In the end, my secretary booked me into Tang Dynasty Hotel located within Plaza Wawasan for a price of RM150++.  The hotel requested for my credit card number to confirm the booking but since I was engaged in meetings right up to the night, my secretary could not catch hold of me.  In the end, she wrote me a note with all relevant information including the credit card payment.

It was late at night and I was about to catch my flight to Kota Kinabalu, so, I thought, what the heck, I’ll just forget about paying and do that when I check into the hotel.  I arrived in Kota Kinabalu just past midnight and proceeded to the hotel in an airport taxi.

After an uneventful 15 minutes, I was at the hotel reception and provided the front desk officer with my booking number.  The booking was there alright but to my horror, she said the booking was canceled at 4pm because there was not payment made.  I said it was alright and just check me into their hotel room just like a walk-in guest.  She said “I’m sorry, Sir.  All rooms are fully occupied.  I only have the Business Suite with King Size bed.”.

I protested, I lamented, I showed her my colours, I was on the verge of screaming my heads off, I didn’t believe if what she said was true or was it a business tactic to sell these exorbitant rooms.  Here I was, at 1am, tired, unclean and look like wounded prey.  An easy meal for them to sell me their expensive room.

No way am I going to be slaughtered in the middle of the night.  I told the front desk to recheck her computer and give me a cheaper room or else I will walk out of the hotel and head over to Promenade Hotel which is a stone’s throw away.  She checked her computer, then acted up a surprised look and said that there was a family deluxe room which is significantly cheaper.  Feeling really tired, I accepted.

If only I had confirmed my room early, this kind of hassle would not happen but what I hated was the questionable upselling of hotel room to me.  So, if you are going on a trip, confirm your hotel early or else….

I think I need a couple of vaporizers to calm me down right now.  This week, though it is only Wednesday, has been a horrible week for me.  3 unfortunate events have taken place and this is causing my blood pressure to rise.

Firstly, my Belkin wireless router is acting up on me.  Constantly freezing my browser off the Internet and especially during times when you are working online.  This little piece of crap is putting me off the Internet when I’m at home.  I’ll rather hop into my car, take a drive down to Starbucks and enjoy a cup of coffee as well as their free WiFi service.

Secondly, I totally forgotten about NameCheap raising their domain prices and I’ve got a bunch of domains to renew.  Dang it!  This is going to cost me more money when its time to renew.  Note to self: Outlook Calendar’s alert does not work if you do not keep the darn application open.

And today, my car’s air conditioning broke down.  It’s like having sauna in a leather seat instead of pine wood.  Seems like the cooling coil is leaking and there is no way that can be repaired.  I would have to change the entire cooling coil and that’s going to cost me a lot since it’s a continental car.  I’m getting a second opinion since the air-cond repairman didn’t look too trustworthy.

Now I understand why people exclaim “Thank God It’s Friday!“.  I cannot wait for weekend to arrive.

I am starting to really regret my decision to purchase the Belkin ADSL2+ Wireless Router. While it cost me RM240 (US$70), it has cost me countless hours in frustration. The worst this wretched router has inflicted on me is the constant freezing of connections. While you are happily surfing away on the Internet, it suddenly decided to freeze the traffic juice and your page hangs there for no reason whatsoever.

Rebooting the router works only for while before that horrible router start acting up again. I thought that the firmware could be an issue since the one listed on my router said 6.01.06 (Jun 7 2006 20:25:29); well over a year ago. Guess what, when I searched on Belkin’s site, the darn router model does not even turn up. There is no such listing in Belkin support.

My last resort (I thought), I turned to Google in search for answers and gosh!, I’m surprised by the sheer number of customers experiencing the horrors of Belkin F5D7632-4. All of them had their own little stories to tell. Fortunately for them, they have money back guarantee, unlike Bolehland. Some blame it on the firmware and others blame it on Bit Torrents. I really have no idea but I’m starting to hate Belkin products. I chose Belkin because of the strong branding and I assumed that would translate to superior products and services. How wrong I was.

Since today is a public holiday in Malaysia, I’ll have to wait till tomorrow before I can call Belkin’s technical support. Tomorrow, the poor soul over the other line is going to get my hours and hours of frustration unloaded directed into his/her earlobe.