I’m finally back after 1 week of absence (or more?). Hope you guys have enjoyed your Chinese New Year celebration as much as I did. I’ve had a great time except for …erm…losing money in the famous CNY “sports”.

Anyway, I’ve some good n bad news for you all.

The good news first.

• I’m back! Okay, I’ve said that already.
• I’ll resume blogging from Monday onwards.
• The number of RSS subscribers of this blog have achieved 20 mark for the first time! Yeah yeah, I know it’s a small number but it’s quite a record for this blog. If you haven’t subscribe to this blog’s RSS, you can do so HERE.

and the bad news….

• I will not be blogging actively during the next 2 weeks as I’ll still be rushing my project. I was rushing the project during CNY as well. I’ll still try my best to blog as much as possible, but work comes first and the project does need my help (which is actually a good news since I’m not a liability).
• I lost quite most of my “ang pow” money to those “sports” during CNY. LOL. Well, not all of the money anyway…not the big ones. Lesson of the day – Alvin should not be greedy in this “cow” year. =_=

Besides the good and bad news about my life, there are some observations I’ve made during CNY period which I want to share with you all. See, this blog is not all about me.

• The economy is really bad, even in Malaysia. A lot of factories are closing down, and many more are retrenching workers.
  

  More people are getting married this year...even though it's recession period

• In fact, I do believe Malaysia will be very badly hit by recession and the signs will become obvious in May or June 2009.
• Crime rate is going up because those foreigners are the first to be retrenched. And when they’re desperate, where can they turn to?
• Dengue cases are on the rise in Malaysia. So kill all the mosquitoes you see and check if your house have any stagnant water. Do it weekly or 3 times a week, if possible.
• A lot of people are getting married this year! Be prepared for lots of red bombs.
• I expect to see a lot of sales and promotions as businesses try to improve consumer spending. So if you are looking to buy some stuff, try to be patient and choose only the best deals. Sales will not be something rare this year.
• Besides sales & promotions, I also expect to see more options for consumers since businesses will be competing with each others to get the bigger piece of the market – price war…technology war…etc.
• The food & beverages business is affected by the recession as well. More people are eating @ home, and they are switching to vege n chicken diet…less seafood. My father’s friend who sells fresh seafood complained to us the other day that business is really becoming from bad to worse.
• Cosmetics business is going to get more popular…since I noticed that more young girls in my hometown (which is quite a small place) are using make-ups nowadays, as compared to few years ago.

Hmm can’t think of anything now. I think I better sleep. Seriously lacking sleep. =_=

Last but not least, thanks for all those who visited and commented on this blog while I was away.