Below Average Service Encounter

Just came across something that I think I ought to write it up here.



About 2 months ago I've registered for this SoftBank phone contract, and according to the contract a gift voucher worth 5000 yen (~RM 185) will be delivered to us after 2 months.

My friends who registered the same date as me received their gift vouchers. Almost everyone got it except me. Baffled by this situation, I ought to give Softbank a call to check things out.

Too bad the Chinese-speaking agent Ms Pan is having issue with her phone so she's not easily being reached. I've decided to call Softbank's English customer support line.

The operator attended me was Ms Satou (if I'm not mistaken). When I started to speak with her I noticed the way she responded to my requests are kinda.... how should I say, a little rude?

The conversation goes something like this:

-------------------------------

(skipped the introduction part)
CLF: " OK, so my name is XXXXX-XXXX-XXX."
SB: "uhuh...."
CLF: ".....? "
SB: "Please wait a moment while I check for you." *Plays Tchaikovsky's music*

SB: "Sorry to keep you waiting sir. I've just checked, and according to the information you will be receiving the voucher by 2X of July."
CLF: "Wow that's quite some time to go! A question, how come my voucher would be delivered later than the others? Because my friends who registered the same together, same phone and same package had already received their vouchers."
SB: "Oh? Let me double check again, hold on a sec please." *Tchaikovsky's music again*

SB: "bla bla bla.... (something about database assortment thingy)."
CLF: "I see. I would like to know how come there's such a big gap in between me and my friend's? As the reason mentioned above we all applied on the same time so it should be delivered roughly around the same tine isn't it?"
SB: " (sounded annoyed) The voucher will be delivered to you, so please wait for it."
CLF: "Oh OK.... Well then, that's all. Thank you."
SB: "Thank you. Once again, my name is Satou. Bye." * line cuts off *

-------------------------------

Things aren't that bad initially when I asked her to check the status for me. It's only when I started to question her regarding the why I would be getting the voucher late, she started to sounded unease.

I don't think whether I've asked too much, but as the customer I had the right to inquire the delay in the service. A simple reply would be sufficient but the way she sounded, as if she had lost her patience.
Her English is OK, we can understand what we're talking about so it is not really a problem of miscommunication.

The whole conversation lasted within 10 mins, it isn't long winded, just straight to the point. I expect at least satisfying service from Softbank, but turns out that this time I've met a bumper. Although I roughly got the answer, I'm not entirely satisfied with it especially the service of the operator.

Previously I've called the English customer service for another matter earlier this month. The attendant Ms Moma (again, if I'm not mistaken) was good, so I expected similar service this time and unfortunately it was a disappointment.

Japan is famed for it's superb service quality, no doubt. I've seen it and experienced it for myself. Luckily I bump into such trouble through a phone instead of real-person encounter, which would be more troublesome then.

My Japanese level is still far from fluent speaking so I would stick to English to prevent any possible miscommunication or faux pas. Too bad, it's hard to find a Japanese that can speak English fluently. Seems like they're kinda afraid speaking it. Some more details I would talk about it in a later post in this week, if I had the time to write it.

Education Fair at Ikebukuro

This morning reluctantly woke up at 0815 to get myself prepared attending the education fair at Ikebukuro (池袋).

Left the hostel at 8:48am, and reached Ikebukuro's JR station at 9:15am, earlier than I expected.

Walked to the Sunshine City via the station's east gate. Sunshine City consists of few building complexes to make up the concept "city within city". There's some other similar concept complexes such as the Tokyo Midtown located at the Roppongi area, which I've yet to explore it.

I joined in my schoolmates which came a little earlier than me. Walking towards the education fair hall is quite challenging as we've to pass through different levels before reaching the hall.

There're quite some people lining up there around 9:40am. Spotted many familiar faces there. The organiser did a good job in the crowd control, to ensure smooth flow of the participants.

Preparing for the education fair to starts.




The fair starts sharp at 10am. I'm lucky that I'm with the first few batches of students that gets into the hall before it gets too crowded.

Quickly went to the booth of Shobi University where I'm likely to head to. Was the first to consult the reps so I took my own sweet time for Q&A sessions with the rep. It was a fruitful session as I've managed to get answers to my doubts.
Am likely to settle down for "Sound Acoustics" course instead of the earlier "Music Media" as I noticed I prefer to learn technical things bout those PA systems. Music Media is more to those of compositions etc.

Many thanks to Ms. Tashiro for explaning to me all the details thingy. The freebie pen + mechanical pencil is cool!

Shobi University's booth, with Ms Tashiro attending other students.


Anyway, am going to visit the campus on next Sunday. Oh boy, busy week to come!

Spend some time walking around looking at the other booths. Noticed the crowd had significantly built up when I'm done with my Q&A session.



Recognise this university? One can judge the popularity of this university based on how many people lining up in front of this booth.


Met my teacher Endou sensei there. She's kind enough to help us out to find out the universities and collecting the university info for us. Great teacher she is! :)

Around noon I left the hall with hostelmate and classmate, Cong Jie heading back to our hostel. First we settled our lunch at Yoshinoya.

My unagi don, 550 yen. Affordable and delicious! :)


Somehow I would prefer Yoshinoya than their competitor Matsuya but too bad the nearest Yoshinoya is located some distance away from hostel.

After the lunch we decided to walk to the nearest train station to do some sightseeing in Tokyo. It's a good time to explore the yet-unfamiliar cities of Tokyo.

Somehow we came across Gokokuji (護国寺), seems to be a famous temple by judging the structure and area.










We stop by the Ootsuka Park (大塚公園) to rest for awhile. It is such a relaxing park with all the tree shades.



Interesting fountain in the park.


Patio with tree shades, relaxing~


Found this man relaxing while reading a novel. Seems like he's off-duty, heh.


Narrow buildings in Tokyo....


By the time I reached home it was around 2:30pm. Felt a little dizzy so took a shower and had a nap. It was raining, so nice to sleep until I kinda refused to wake up eventhough I've still have things to do, heh.

Due to self-constraining budget, I didn't went anywhere to do sightseeing much as I don't want to spend too much money. Given that I had something to do outside, I wouldn't miss the chance to feel the real deal of Tokyo and explore new places~ :)


P/S: Took this pic when I reached home.

Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009

Michael Jackson via last.fm

This morning I woke up unusually earlier at 7:15am. As usual I would briefly do a round of online checking mails, blogs and social network sites for any updates or so from previous night.

My attention was caught by a Japanese blog feed which I subscribed few days ago, revealing the shocking news. It was in Japanese so I would have to read slowly and carefully.
Roughly getting some ideas what it's talking about, I went to check BBC news (I'm more used reading it than CNN).

Around 7:45am, BBC says that MJ has fallen ill and taken to the hospital, no confirmation of the demise yet. Unofficial reports had spread on Google News, some US medias already reporting the dead of the star.

By 8am, BBC's site is updated with the official news to put all the doubts aside. He's dead. It's real.

It's said that Michael's dead is caused by cardiac arrest. In layman's term, it's heart attack. His health condition might be a myth, but anyhow he's killed by one of the most common causes of death.



I was born at the time Michael Jackson is reaching the peak of his fame during the late 80s. I knew some of his songs, but didn't really amazed me that would leave a deep impression on me.
MJ is not really an idol whom I followed fervently, but I do like some of his songs nevertheless.

MJ musical style of pop hits, doesn't really attracted me as I'm not into such genre of music. Anyhow, I do enjoy some of his softer songs like "You Are Not Alone" and "Heal The World". Those would probably be the few songs that I can remember of him.

Surely, many of us had at least read or heard of his weird actions through the last few years of his life, which I could remember correctly when he shows his 3rd child from the balcony of the hotel suite in a dangerous manner, which provoked many people at that time.
Later there comes the court lawsuit against him for molesting child, being forced out from his Neverland ranch, and later bankruptcy.
Life is tough for him, regardless of his stardom he achieved decades ago.

Many thought he' a freak, doing some unusual things without logical thinking. I guess that's some serious affect he had from his younger days. There must be some sad and untold stories about Michael Jackson. Although he does not talk about it in detail, but he has given hints on numerous times as reported.

Let me share with you some of MJ's most memorable works which I like.

"Earth Song"


A masterpiece-class music. I first saw the MV many years ago on the TV, and am amazed by both the sound and the visual effects of the MV.
Up until today I'm still amazed that this song talks about environmental issues when it is still not really something important on everyone's agenda at that time (mid 90s I think). A very good song indeed, but too bad not everyone gets the message that the song tried to express.

"You Are Not Alone"


I would credit Sun Hua for reminding me of this song. Back in secondary school from time to time I would heard him humming to this tune. Years later I would remember this song well. Very meaningful, a soft and yet nicely done piece, kinda different than MJ's usual style.

"Heal The World"


Besides "You Are Not Alone" above, another soft and yet powerful song would be this, "Heal The World". I would say this is probably my favourite song of MJ's.
With the message of peace, MJ hopes that his song could somewhat help to stop the war happening around the world, which if not mistaken the war of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 90's.
Unfortunately, the message of the song wasn't able to stop all the wars by that time, and it's still continue even until today.

From some of the styles of his music, I can see the pacifist in him. I guess he had witnessed a lot from his life and those happening around the world. He dislike conflicts and violences, thus he tried to use his musical influence to persuade people to stop fighting against each others. Too bad it doesn't' work out well as expected. :(

Michael Jackson lives a controversial and extraordinary life. Now that he can forget all of the troubles, and finally rest peacefully, a good sleep.



Rest in Peace Michael Jackson, the legendary pop musician of our era.

Apple products perhaps?

Recently I've been following the news of Apple products, from their MacBook to the iPod line. For some reasons I'm keen on following those news, subscribed to a few blogs' RSS feeds so that I can stay updated for the latest happenings in the Apple world.

Nice looking Apple setup.


It's not a secret that Apple's Macintosh computers are somewhat superior than the conventional Windows PC. Performance-wise, reliability and security, Mac wins.
The few things that Windows would beat Mac would be the price and the abundance of programs available. Anyway, there're always good Mac alternatives to handle the job of what PC can do. It's not surprising that those programs can outperform their Windows counterparts.

I am attracted to those features as mentioned above. It's not just a commercial gimmick, but the pros are running on Mac, rarely on a PC. Those graphic designers, audio engineers, studio mixers, business representatives etc, are running on Mac.

Thus, I might be getting a MacBook, but definitely not in near future.

MacBook is not cheap, from the Apple Malaysia's online shop, after some tweaking, a satisfying machine would cost me RM 6,150.



The add-on programs cost quite a sum, but I guess if I am to make full use of the machine, those programs will come in handy, especially if I'm traveling here and there frequently.

There are another 2 models in the MacBook family, the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Those would cost more than MacBook and until I can afford another one, a MacBook would be good enough for now.

Besides a Mac, I would also like to have a unit of iPod, preferably iPod Touch.
It's well-known that I'm a music lover, I took the Sony Walkman wherever I move on. I almost getting an iPod Nano at that time but I opt for a Sony Walkman instead.



Although it's said that iPod's sound quality is inferior to Sony Walkman's, but I've yet to judge it both side by side. I had played around with an iPod Nano and I'm impressed with it.



Besides the well-known music playability, the iPod syncs well with MacBook, both can flawlessly integrate the data from each others. Besides music and photos, calendars, contacts and reminders can be synced together on both machines.
Oh and not to mention, those fun and useful apps on the iPod too!



MacBook + iPod would be my current target of next computing gadgets. Aprroximately I would need around RM 9,000 to fulfill this target. Would try to earn the money by myself and get it someday later.



I hope this current Dell Studio 15 can last til I get a Mac eh. :)

Oh and by the way, although the Apple stuffs look cool and stylish, those aren't the main concerns why I would like to get a Mac product. Usability and functionality, is what I ask for.

In Search of University

My main purpose of coming here to study for a year is to get into a university that offers course that I wanted to study, which is sound engineering, or related field.

So far the best choice I can get is Shobi University (尚美学園大学）. It offers 2 courses which I'm interested in.

The first is Music Media course, and the second is Sound Acoustic course.
There are difference between both courses, and both had things that I wanted to study.

Upon checking the course guidelines, I was wondering which to choose between the 2 courses.

- Music Media offers the subjects related to general music industry, which includes compositions, modern music trends, musical analytics etc.

- Sound Acoustic is a technical course which plays around with recordings, consoles, studios etc.

Initially I thought the sound engineering I want to study consist of both subjects listed above, but now I realised it has been branched out into 2 different courses.

I've consulted my teacher about this matter. She's been kind enough to guide in as much as she cans but ultimately I would have to consult the university representatives for more info.

Next Sunday am going to Ikebukuro for an education fair, which the university also participates. Gonna consult them which course is more suitable for me etc etc.

Then, maybe on the first Sunday of July am going to the university there to look around? The campus is located at Saitama prefecture (埼玉県). I think it would take like 1 hour+ to travel there via train from where I am right now.
For your information, it's located to the north-west of Tokyo, while I'm currently located at the north-eastern of Tokyo.

Ah well, still have some time to think about it, as the application starts on late Oct.

My teacher told me by the progress of the lesson I'm having now I should be able to make it up to the standard for university application. She told me not to worry, and confident that I can get the course I want. :D

Actually I've learn that in KL there are a few places where I can study sound engineering as well. One is pretty close to the place while some are around PJ area.
So the question is, why I'm spending so much to study overseas whereas I can study it locally?

I think given the chance, to study abroad is quite good as well, a total different experience than study locally. You are exposed to more things outside, more freedom to explore things that you didn't came across before.

Living in Japan does have it's ups and downs. It cant be denied that home is still the best, with all the comfort and people around you. But then, a little hardship will build up a stronger character.

Well then no matter what..... gonna spend some more time here staying also.... Since it's my choice at the first place, so no regrets coming here to study eh? :)

Facebook TAG

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 100 Truths about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, copy and paste this note, erase my answers and enter your own, tag people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

WHAT WAS YOUR :
1. Last beverage : Mitsuya cider
2. Last phone call : to my classmate, asking want to play ping pong or not.
3. Last text message: some random answers to another friend.
4. Last song you listened to : Fallen Embers by Enya.
5. Last time you cried : can't remember.

HAVE YOU EVER :
6. Dated someone twice : nope
7. Been cheated on : nope
8. Kissed someone & regretted it : nope, but why regret?
9. Lost someone special : not for now.
10. Been depressed : once in awhile, but recover rather fast. :)
11. Been drunk and threw up : half-drunk, yes.

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLOURS :
12. Red
13. Black
14. Blue

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU : (2009)
15. Made a new friend : yeah
16. Fallen out of love : fallen out? huh?
17. Laughed until you cried : when I came across a laughter bomb.
18. Met someone who changed you : yep, learn from others to be a better person. :D
19. Found out who your true friends were : known~
20. Found out someone was talking about you : somehow heard of it, but I don't really mind it.
21. Kissed anyone on your friend's list : nope.
22. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life : countless lol.
23. How many kids do you want to have : no idea for now.
24. Do you have any pets : nope in real life, unless you count the one in Pet Society as well.
25. Do you want to change your name : no, it's perfect lol.
26. What did you do for your last birthday : had lunch at Kenny Roger's Roasters.
27. What time did you wake up today : 1030.
28. What were you doing at midnight last night : listening to Enya's angelic voice.
29. Name something you CANNOT wait for : hmm..... I can wait for most things.
30. Last time you saw your Mother : few weeks ago through Skype video chat.

31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life : don't need to worry bout finance?
32. What are you listening to right now : Enya "May It Be". classic! :D
33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom : Tom, yeap an Argentine net friend.
34. What's getting on your nerves right now : Uncertainties in decisions, something that is out of my control.
35. Most visited webpage : iGoogle, my homepage.
36. Whats your real name : Ling Fan.
37. Nicknames : CLF
38. Relationship Status : complicated
39. Zodiac sign : 2 fishes
40. Male or female? : Male
41. Elementary : SJK(C) Mun Yee
42. Middle School? : SMJK Chong Hwa
43. High school/college? : Tunku Abdul Rahman College
44. Hair colour : Black
45. Long or short : Currently kinda long to my liking, prefer shorter.
46. Height : Above average I guess? There's always someone taller than me.
47. Do you have a crush on someone? : Crush? traffic jam.....
48. What do you like about yourself? : Great thinker~ a wicked one. :P
49. Piercings : nil.
50. Tattoos : nil.
51. Righty or lefty : Right, but being left can be interesting as well.

FIRSTS :
52. First surgery: Year 2000, to remove a benign tumour on by back.
53. First piercing : I don't pierce.
54. First best friend : Kok Yi or Hong Inn eh? primary standard 1 friends til now~
55.First sport you joined : badminton I guess.
56. First vacation : Been to many places with family. one of the most memorable earliest would be going to Sabah in 1998.
58. First pair of trainers : sport shoes eh.... can't remember.

RIGHT NOW
59. Eating : nope, just ate like an hour or two ago.
60. Drinking : yep, tap water and Mitsuya cider.
61. I'm about to : Write blog
62. Listening to : "Exile" by Enya.
63. Waiting for : Evening, go out to get dinner and grocceries.
64. Want kids? : Yep, it's part of the human life cycle~
65. Get Married? : Not so soon, maybe before 30 if I can afford it?
66. Career? : Sound engineer. :)

WHICH IS BETTER :
67. Lips or eyes : O_o
68. Hugs or kisses : Hug then kiss, the universal law~
69. Shorter or taller : Neither.
70. Older or Younger : Same or younger perhaps.
71. Romantic or spontaneous : Practical would do.
72. Nice stomach or nice arms : Erm, anything to do with it?
73. Sensitive or loud : Both?
74. Hook-up or relationship : Relationship~
75. Trouble maker or hesitant : No idea lol, but don't want any unwanted troubles!

HAVE YOU EVER :
76. Kissed a stranger : No
77. Drank hard liquor : Yep, but just for the sake to test it.
78. Lost glasses/contacts : Nope.
79. Sex on first date : Hell no.
80. Broken someone's heart : So far nope.
82. Been arrested : Thankfully I'm a good boy. :P
83. Turned someone down : Turn down? I think nope.
84. Cried when someone died : yes
85. Fallen for a friend? : possible.


DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
86. Yourself : Yep, me myself and I~
87. Miracles : if I believe in miracle I would've hit the jackpot! :D
88. Love at first sight : hardly, not so practical.
89. Heaven : No idea. you will never know what's life after death~
90. Santa Claus : nope. don't really celebrate Xmas heh.
91. Kiss on the first date : nope
92. Angels : if there're angels, then there must be demons as well to balance out~

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
94. Had more than 1 girlfriend/boyfriend at a time : nope
95. Did you sing today? : yep, humming over the song's melody~
96. Ever cheated on somebody : cheated on small matter~
97. If you could go back in time, how far would you go? : hmm.... perhaps back to secondary school time? that's when I learn many things.
98. If you could pick a day from last year and relive it, what would it be? : hah, 23 Feb 08 I think.
99. Are you afraid of falling in love? : if you're afraid you might miss out the best part in life. :D
100. Posting this as 100 truths? : well amost.... lol.

The Birth of a "Baby"

Tuesday my class finished earlier at 2:30pm. A friend asked me to help with some photo-shootings of his just-delivered baby. Am glad and honoured that he asked me for the favour, happily agreed to help him.

It's a Canon!


EOS 50D.



The new born "baby" is a Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera.



The proud owner, Jian Shan looking happily at the newborn, which is held by another friend Kenji.


The body, with the lens cover take off.



Baby with the bundled lens.


EFS 18-200mm lens.


The lens comes with image stabilizer and auto/manual focus.


The little screen that shows some of the vital infos such as white balance, ISO, focus etc etc.


The complicated functions dial. Lots of unfamiliar options to me.


The rear body. Again, lots of buttons to play around.


The output. Besides th conventional USB, this camera comes with HDMI output as well, nice.


Some accessories bought together. Screen protector, Compact Flash card etc.


Posing.



That's all for the pics that I took with my Canon IXY. Didn't get to try play around with the DSLR as the battery is being charged.

From what I've seen from the sample pics taken later, the image quality impresses me. The black and white photos are especially amazing! Gonna ask the pics from Jian Shan next time eh....

I kinda like photography, but at this moment I'm doing fine with consumer level product. Am happy with my current Canon IXY 920 IS, ain't planning to change it any time soon definitely.

If I were to consider upgrading camera, I would try out prosumer level camera like this Canon PowerShot G10 which another friend owns.



Photography is not a cheap hobby.
Getting ready for everything, from the DSLR camera body, the lens, kits and accessories would easily cost more than RM 5k, much expensive than my current audiophile hobby.