In and around our house in the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle, it is next to impossible to make voice calls without suffering from numerous drop calls and having to repeatedly yell “Hello? Hello?” at the phone. Not too long ago, i was supposed to give a friend a ride to the airport. Apparently, prior to departing my house to pick him up, he called me on my iPhone. Since the AT&T reception in my house is horrendous, i could only make up part of what he told me and i missed the portion of the conversation where he told me the important detail like where to pick him up. I drove across the lake to Bellevue and waited outside his apartment not knowing that he had already moved out of it and was waiting for me at work in South Lake Union, 5 minutes away from my house!

AT&T’s voice coverage map for my area showing it has the “Best” coverage.

AT&T’s 3G coverage map for the same area. Again, the coverage appears to be great.

Looking at the coverage maps for both voice and 3G data provided by AT&T, one would think that i should have excellent coverage. If i can actually make/receive a voice call at home without the call being dropped or yelling “Hello? Hello?” repeatedly, i consider that a success. If my iPhone is not constantly connected to my own WiFi router at home, it is excruciatingly slow and painful to use AT&T 3G service. When i tested AT&T’s data rate using RootMetrics‘ CoverageMap app, i was getting about 10 kbps download and 4 kbps upload. That is a far cry from the average download speed of 812 kbps, a download speed that i can only dream of. In fact, my 3G download speed is even slower than EDGE’s average download speed of 75 – 135 kbps.

Root Metrics’ coverage, on the other hand, provides a more accurate representation of users’ experience as it “uses millions of real-world results from mobile users like you to deliver an accurate, unbiased view of each carrier’s performance.” The CoverageMap app by Root Metrics allows a user to collect and submit coverage data to Root Metrics’ servers for analysis. The app also shows the actual coverage map three ways: Overall, Voice and Data. I am not entirely sure what the Overall score demonstrates but both the Voice and Data scores are quite accurate in indicating the actual coverage (or the lack of) in my area.

AT&T’s voice coverage as shown by Root Metrics’ CoverageMap app.

AT&T’s data coverage as shown by Root Metrics’ CoverageMap app.

Well, why is there such a discrepancy between the actual coverage and the one provided by cellular carrier like AT&T? For once, no one is his or her right mind should expect a cellular carrier to honestly reveal the weak spots in its coverage. Would you have signed a two-year contract with AT&T if you knew it has terrible coverage in your neighborhood? Instead of relying on carriers’ provided inflated coverage map, it is more reliable to use one from an unbiased source like Root Metrics.

EVA Air online reservation system for multiple-city trip: massive FAIL.

So i thought i would have better luck by calling EVA Air’s toll free number at 1-800-695-1188. As a former frequent traveler, i had contacted phone reservation system for numerous airlines and most, if not all, placed reservation at either the first or the second choice, as in “press 1 for …”, “press 2 for …”. But not EVA Air. I had to sit through the following choices before i finally heard the one for reservation, at number 7:

1. Flight arrival and departure information
2. Airport information for US and Canada
3. Local ticketing office information for US and Canada
4. Members enrollment and application form (what membership? EVA Air’s Evergreen Club frequent flyer membership?)
5. Evergreen Club application form (how different is this from the previous option?)
6. Members information and inquiry (again, what membership?)

After selecting option 7 and waited for no less than 10 minutes, i was finally put through to a person. After collecting information about my trip, i was put on hold again. When the EVA Air reservation “specialist” finally came back, i was told my trip was “special” and her system could not handle it. She suggested calling the Seattle ticketing office. Now if she has access to the same reservation system as the Seattle ticketing office, how would me calling that office make any difference?

EVA Air’s online and phone reservation system: massive FAIL.

I still remember growing up, my parents were able to pack all five of us in their tiny two-door Datsun. My siblings and i grew up fine. None of us became serial mass murderers and blame the society for all our ills because our parents deprived us of the safety and comfort of a big ass minivan.

Nowadays, i can’t drive a few blocks without getting behind some minivan (or SUV) and unable to anticipate slowdowns or problems ahead because it is blocking my view. Thanks a lot!

Singapore has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, ranking #4 in the world at US$51,226 for 2008, topping all Asian countries. And yet, in the recent devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, the Singapore government donated an embarrassing US$50,000 to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). That meager amount comes out to be about one penny per Singaporean.

1. Open mouth and chew on food before swallowing.
2. Unzip pants and hold your wee wee before pissing. Nokia can have the “Piss in your pants” patent – i don’t give a rat’s ass about that one.
3. After taking a dump, wipe ass with toilet paper before putting pants back on. (@mrbrown is filing the “Taking off pants before shitting” patent).
4. Remove clothing before taking a shower.
5. And finally, sleep with eyes shut.

This morning, as i was walking Mango to the lawn in front of the Queen Anne Medical Associates building at the corner of W Mercer St and 2nd Ave W, i noticed another dog owner was already in the vicinity. Since i know how distracting it can be for some dogs to do their business when other dogs are nearby – Mango is one such dog – i decided to wait about 10 ft north of Mercer on 2nd Ave W. The black and tan dog was taking a dump when i looked round the corner to see if i should start taking Mango there.

To my utter disgust, the owner of the dog was walking away from the pile of fresh poo. I immediately walked around the corner toward them. When the asshole saw me, he immediately turned back and pretended like he was going to pick up that poo. I decided to let Mango on the patch of lawn about 20 ft away from them, all the while looking at the guy from the corner of my eye. Every so often, he would look in my direction, probably hoping that i would walk away so that he did not have to pick up his dog’s poo. But i refused to move. I was ready to confront him if he was going to take off without cleaning up. Eventually, after he fumbled around for 20 seconds or so, he realized that i was going nowhere. He had no choice but to pick up the poo.

Lower Queen Anne residents, if you see an Indian-looking male with a medium size black and tan dog, keep a close eye on him!

The use of the term “Chinese” in this post refers to Chinese from China.

Chinese asshole after clearing custom.

After getting off the flight from Singapore, i waited at the line for foreign passport holders at Narita airport. Each time the line moved forward, i felt someone behind nudging me forward by pushing the Timbuk2 Patrol backpack that i had on my back. So i turned around and noticed this six-foot-four Chinese guy in his 40s standing a little close for my comfort. I don’t know about you but i really do not appreciate a complete stranger sticking to me like glue. I let out a sigh of relief when he realized he did not have the necessary embarkation and custom declaration forms and had to break from the line to retrieve the form. I thought that was the end of it.

Oh no. Minutes later, i felt another bump. The same asshole not only physically pushed several other people waiting in line behind me, he ran right into me. Again, he made no apology. I kept my cool and did not say a word. As the line moved forward, he continued to bump into my backpack. Not too long later, he found out that he had not properly completed the forms so he went back to where he originally picked up the forms to use the pen. Yet again, instead of waiting at the end of the line like he should, he cut right back into the line and bumped into me again. This time, i had enough of it. I turned around, stared at him and told him “Hey, do you fucking mind?” He probably had no clue what i was telling him but my tone made it abundantly clear to him that his extraordinarily rude behavior was no longer tolerated by me. He gave me my space.

This incident reminded me of my first trip in China when i was waiting in line for an express train ticket to Beijing at a Shanghai train station and some jerk behind me simply would not give me my space. So i have a message for this Chinese asshole i met today:

I understand that you are used to lining up in the uncivilized manner that you did today. But you are no longer in China. Your inconsiderate behavior is only adding to the already soiled reputations of Chinese tourists all around the world. Do you have any fucking clue what it meant to be polite and considerate? Can you comprehend with the pea-sized brain in that giant noggin of yours that you do not gain any time or advantage by constantly pushing me forward? You DO NOT rush into a just-arrived train before letting the departing passengers off. You DO NOT spit and dig your fucking nose with reckless abandon in public. If you had given up your spot in a line, you DO NOT force your way back in the exact same spot without asking the permission of all those who are behind you. When you are waiting in line, you DO NOT nudge or push the person in front of you, and when you do, you fucking apologize. Are all these common sense behaviors too difficult for you to grasp?

I was able to do voice/SMS and data using a prepaid SIM from Maxis in Malaysia, granted it was not cheap to use the data plan. I also was able to achieve that while in Bali using a prepaid SIM from Indosat. It was incredibly cheap to use the data plan on Indosat’s prepaid SIM. I paid no more than $8 USD for the SIM and i was constantly checking my email and surfing web during the five days while i was in Bali.

So basically, Singtel requires me to get a separate SIM card if i wish to use their data network. And if heaven forbids i need to send a SMS or make a voice call, i will need to swap out the SIM card. This is so freaking uncivilized.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu, said the final status of the existing settlements would be determined in negotiations with the Palestinians. “In the interim, normal life should be allowed to continue in those communities,” Mr. Regev said.

Ah…pulling the same old “final status” trick again. The last time Palestinians were deceived into believing that everything would be resolved in the “final status” negotiations, the settler populations in the occupied West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, increased by more than 114,000 in the 10 years since Oslo (1994 – 2004) with more land being stolen for growth of existing settlements, construction of new settlements and Jews-only bypass roads.

In the same article:

In an interview with Army Radio on Monday, Ehud Barak, the defense minister and leader of the center-left Labor Party, gave a hypothetical example of a family of four that originally moved into a two-room home in a settlement. “Now there are six children,” he said. “Should they be allowed to build another room or not?”

He added, “Ninety-five percent of people will tell you it cannot be that someone in the world honestly thinks an agreement with the Palestinians will stand or fall over this.”

In the occupied East Jerusalem, where Israel has been making substantial changes in its demography by settling Jews in areas originally occupied by Palestinians, Palestinian homes have been demolished because they were “built without the required permits,” which were never granted to Palestinians as part of a deliberate Israeli policy to push them out of Jerusalem. Should the Palestinians in East Jerusalem be allowed to build another room or not? That is the question Ehud Barak should be asking himself. If Palestinians are not allowed to grow in areas they legally owned, do you think that Jews should be allowed to grow in settlements deemed completely illegal by the international community?

U.S. law specifically banned the use of any portion of the $3 billion dollars we give Israel each year for the illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank but why is no one making the same argument that the $3 billion dollars sent by us allowed Israel to divert money to settlement activities?

In a review of tax records conducted by Reuters last year, it was determined that “at least 13 American organizations have been claiming charitable status as they have pumped more than US$35 million into the settlement enterprise over the past five years.” These organizations have claimed the tax exempt status because they are “charitable” organizations and the IRS responded that the groups are qualified if the funds go to “charitable, religious and educational purposes”. But that’s the exact claim made by founders of Holy Land Foundation and look where they have ended up.