My Choice Asia

Facebook "The Fellowship" Games

2009-09-09T23:06:00.004+08:00

Play it here -Raja Hafify Zaed

The Fellowship is developer Apps-O-Rama latest masterpiece; a browser based game which let you to join the other fellowship in an epic adventure set in the mystical tolkien-esque fantasy land. You will find the usual elves and dwarfs and some other races, in which you can choose to create your character from.

The character creation is a breeze due to the excellent pop-up tutorial that doesn't feel too intrusive. After choosing your race and class (which will affect your stat or vitals); you would want to finish the meaty combat tutorial in order to get accustomed to The Fellowship unique combat mechanic. Its pretty much a traditional turn based strategy reminiscences of Final Fantasy and Pokemon.

Like most other games, The Fellowships allow you to invite friends to help you in your mission, though Apps-O-Rama take it one step further and introduce the 'Fellowship' mechanic (hence the title) in which you could create (up to 5) additional playable character for every friends invited to your fellowship. In fact, it is almost impossible for a solo character to reach higher level without help from other comrades.

Too get the most out of 'The Fellowship' experience, you'll need a full party at equal level (easily done by restarting the game once your party is filled). Quest is significantly easier to complete if the level gap between character is small and every little advantage is huge since quests became quite difficult as you progress; introducing stronger enemies, multi-battle and multi-tiered quests.

To cope with the increasing difficulty, players will have to upgrade their gears continually but must also be smart in choosing the right one since money is hard to come by in this monster infested land.

But if generic hats and pants didn't caught your fancy, Apps-O-Rama let you to tinker with the 'Workshop' feature, giving you the ability to produce your own fancy hat and pants using special part that you receive after completing mission. While the custom made weapon and armor is worth every effort put to build it, to get the right part will cost you your free time and (possibly) your money. But this is where Apps-O-Rama manage to pull it off perfectly; allowing player to trade parts with each other, flawlessly inviting people to bond together and create a community based on supply and demand mostly seen in big name MMOs.

The Fellowship is a joy ride combined perfectly with addictive grind. It is however not without any flaws and there are plenty of people hoping that the developers will continue providing more depth and more support to this easily loved games. It is always good to know that a game is worth to be loved. The Fellowship creative and innovative take on browser based games is worth playing over and over again and for that it awarded 5 star rating.

Your 'Ramadan Bazaar' Choice

2009-08-25T17:24:00.007+08:00

Help us nominate the ‘Malaysia’s Top Ten Ramadan Bazaar’– Raja Hafify Zaed

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Ramadan is the month where every Muslim all around the world will do the second pillar of Islam which is fasting, in which they abstain themselves from eating, drinking, smoking or anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dusk till dawn.

Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality while also teaches them to be compassionate towards the poor and the have-nots (read more on Ramadan and Fasting). In Malaysia interestingly, Ramadan also teaches the Muslim (mostly) to be an entrepreneur.

Would be entrepreneur appear like mushroom after the rain during the fasting season; the likes of biscuit and cookies mogul, ‘Baju Raya’ (traditional Malay dress for men and women) tycoon and ‘Ramadan Bazaar’ owner appears out of nowhere.

My Choice is trying to create a comprehensive list of must-try ‘Ramadan Bazaar ’ stalls and we hope that your reader can help us by submitting your favorites stall anywhere in Malaysia. Tell us which ‘Popia Basah’ or ‘Ayam Percik’ or ‘Nasi Kerabu’ is the best and where we could find it.

For every Ramadan Bazaar owner out there, this is your chance to advertise your business for free. All you have to do is tell us how your [ENTER YOUR SPECIAL RAMADAN CUISINE HERE] is the best and how we can find it. Who knows that your stall could be in the MY CHOICE ‘Malaysia’s Top Ten Ramadan Bazaar’.

Vote here.

1 Malaysia Song Choice

2009-08-20T14:37:00.003+08:00

Have you vote for your favorite songs yet? If the answer is no, then quickly go here and vote. You might win a BlackBerry smartphone for yourself – Raja Hafify Zaed

1Malaysia is a great concept in theory. A community that promotes equality among each and every citizen would only results in happiness, unity and development, right? Wrong.

There is plenty of things that requires attention when equality among citizen; especially in Malaysia, is a concern. Let’s face it, we are all racist; Malay, Chinese, Indian, Bumi, non-Bumi, the same. Our speech and our doings might not depicted our racism (at least not everyone); but deep inside we’re all guilty of falling onto the dark side a few times in the past.

It is a start nonetheless; a sign that the government has realized that racial unity is a problem that needs solving. Problems created by generation of the past; problems that stem from old hatred that has been passed down from generation to generation. Now the problem has falls to our hands and it is up for us to clean this mess, or we could also pass it down to our children as our predecessor has.

Alright, enough politics already; let us move on to this week topics – 1Malaysia songs. If you haven’t heard it already, there is a contest going on in search for 1Malaysia theme song. 10 songs have been shortlisted and it is for you to decide which one will be picked as the winner. Vote here.

Out of ten songs, only 2 captured My Choice attention the most; ‘Sehati Sejiwa’ sing and written by D. Gerard Singh and ‘Nyanyikan Lagu Mu’ from singer Maya Karin, written and composed by Ng Ching Ching and Wong Sheng Jinn.

The other eight is a combination of songs that we rate from mediocre to crap. It is interesting to note how big name composer seems to produce less entertaining songs compared to those with cheap budget and resources.

The song ‘Satu Malaysia’ is a song sung by the famous Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza and composed by Aubrey Suwito. Both are the greatest in the industry; the song however – isn’t. The song are both tedious and dull, very cliché (songs can be cliché? – ed) and doesn’t portrays any elements of 1Malaysia; except for the unconvincing voices that claims that they were part of 1 Malaysia in different languages.

On the other hand, ‘Sehati Sejiwa’ provides us with a very different of Nationalistic song. It feels fresh, quite catchy and most importantly, it make u want to sing along. The same qualities can also be said to be possessed by ‘Nyanyikan Lagu Mu’. We believe these set of qualities are the fundamental requirements for a song which goals is to unite people in a country like Malaysia; a song which everyone regardless of races would want to sing.

We predicted that it will be a huge battle between D. Gerard Singh’s ‘Sehati Sejiwa’ and Ng Ching Ching’s ‘Nyanyikan Lagu Mu’; we don’t want to choose one song over the other but we will be happy whichever one wins the RM25, 000 cash prizes.

Which songs do you think will win? Send us your comments.

Malaysia's Choice Took On Glocal Challenge

2009-08-10T08:49:00.006+08:00

"The Time Is Now" – My Choice Editor

When we first started this blog, our vision is to create a blog that can provide Malaysian information on various products and services that Malaysian use on daily basis. Malaysia's Choice has been online for about a month now and so far, it has been great fun. Even though this blog has taken massive amount of our free time, our commitment and lots of other things that we don't want to mention here, it was worth the effort.

One month is not a long time, at least when a blog is concern. But one month is enough time to make us realize that what we have been doing with Malaysia's Choice has some global value to it. Even though the site title screams MALAYSIA; we thought that we will get the most traffic from Malaysian Internet user; but somehow Malaysia's Choice get more viewer from other pocket of the world; especially from TAIWAN, CHINA, and the United States.

The above and some other reason is why we at Malaysia's Choice decided to change the blog title to My Choice Asia. My Choice Asia would be our statement to the world that consumer like us won't get fooled by pretty advertisements, by gorgeous looking babes doing promotions; we won't even fooled by special offer, no matter how tempting it is.

My Choice Asia stands for quality, value for money and ease of use. Pass all three and rejoice; fails one and we'll give some suggestions for improvement, fails all test and you might find your products end up with a 'Don't Buy' achievement. Yes, you heard it right; My Choice Asia will have a new feature called achievement where every product reviewed will be tagged with neat award like ‘Value For Money’, ‘Overpriced’, ‘Close But No Cigar’ and much more. It is too help viewer to determined qualities of a product.

My Choice Asia is still Malaysia’s Choice; the named has changed, the layout has changed but the core value, the spirit and the idea behind it is still the same. We are getting more matured, more sophisticated and more global; we are hoping that our viewer will understand and support our development.

Till the next time.

Google Chrome Browser

2009-08-05T18:02:00.007+08:00

If Google Chrome OS is anywhere near as promising as Google Chrome Browser, the only way Microsoft going to take our money is through XBOX 360 – By Raja Hafify Zaed.

Google has been a global phenomenon in modern world. Without Google, it’s hard for me to think that Internet would be as it is today. Google has introduced us to a whole new level of global connectivity and for that we have to admit that we admired Google greatly.

But when Google announced that they would want to develop a new operating system that based on Internet browser, we became skeptic. It’s unsurprising since all of us in Malaysia’s Choice are all skeptics. OS business is huge and will be more so in the future. The customers (read: you people) and the critique (read: Malaysia’s Choice Editor) are becoming more and more demanding; we want fast connection, we want hassle installation for both OS and the applications; we want this, we want that. There are plenty other (pessimistic) question that Malaysia’s Choice can bring up but ultimately we all want to know the one thing; can Google deliver the right product?

While it might still early to answers for the above questions, we might be able to conjure the image of the future for Google Chrome OS by evaluating Google latest addition; the Google Chrome Browser.

Cosmetically, Google Chrome works just like each and every other web browser; the address bar was there, the tabbed function is working, everything you would expect from a modern web browser is in place. Only neater, slicker and much cooler looking, just as you would expect from Google product.

I have been personally use it for about a week now, and we have browsed 1000+ website using it and it has been working flawlessly, so far. we love the ‘history thumbnails’ features in the new tab page; a clever feature where its search your history for most visited sites and present it in thumbnail view every time you start a new tab. It’s a great function and helps greatly in browsing the World Wide Web.

You can find out more about Google Chrome Browser through here, where Google Chrome team had translated their thought on Google Chrome in the form of comic book. You’d find more details that by reading the comic.

Google has pioneered a plenty of interesting development in the Internet industry over the years, some of which has made a difference to the whole world, and some has not made any difference at all. Would Google Chrome be listed among the former or the latter, it is for time to decide. Personally, Malaysia’s Choice wants Google Chrome to be a great success. We are hoping that Google Chrome will leads to plenty more new developments hence making the World Wide Web a better place to be.

Protect Yourself From Sweat with REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION

2009-07-30T08:25:00.011+08:00

"Why do we sweat?" - By Raja Hafify Zaed

Sweating is actually a process to regulate the temperature of our body. As the temperature risen, sweat glands were stimulated and releases fluid substance and forming the basis of sweat which would eventually released onto the skin. The sweat evaporates and doing so cools down the body.

There are 2 to 5 millions of sweat glands spread all over an average human body; denser in certain part of the body including hands, feet and forehead.

I don't sweat much - a metabolism thingamajig - but I still have to face the same problem many men and women have – body odor – originates from trapped sweat that came from underarm.

Our underarm only contain one percent of our sweat gland and therefore releasing comparatively smaller amount of sweat to other part of human body. But because the sweat isn’t as readily evaporated as other more exposed human body part, we might notice that our underarm sweat more often, often resulting in a chemical reaction that produce body odor.

Nowadays; where personal hygiene played an important aspect in human life, body odor is a problem that needs solving. For excessive underarm odor, try using a mild solution of hydrogen peroxide (3%) that is cheap and can be picked up at the pharmacy. Put a teaspoonful in a glass of water and wash the underarm. If that doesn't work, increase the amount of peroxide.

Some other traditional way may include:

Alcohol/witch hazel Wipe your armpits with alcohol, white vinegar or witch hazel instead of deodorant.
Alum Try using a crystal rock made from the mineral salt potassium alum instead of a deodorant. It won't keep you dry as an antiperspirant will, but they clog your sweat glands and contain aluminum chlorohydrate, which may lead to future health problems
Apple cider vinegar Apple cider vinegar eliminates under arm body odor when used in place of deodorant because it reduces the pH of the skin. Bacteria can't live in areas with low pH.
Baking soda Baking soda, the odor-eating standby, can be used. Just apply the powder to your dry armpits. It will kill bacteria and help absorb perspiration. Cornstarch can also be used instead or mixed with the baking soda.

Find more ways to fight body odor at http://www.health911.com/remedies/rem_bodyo.htm.

The easiest and possibly a more sensible solution to fight body odor in modern days is by using a deodorant and anti perspiration product.

One of Malaysia’s Choice favorite deodorants is REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION. REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION is equipped with:

New formula that releases more than 1 million molecules of underarm protection per second (One million mol of UP-265 per second? – Ed).
A revolutionary up-side down mechanism for easier and faster application.

REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION is a great product for many different reasons. First and foremost; the price – at up to MYR 6 a bottle – is a great value for money. A mere 40ml bottle will last for at least a month even if it were used more than twice a day.

The second perks REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION has over other competitors are the unique packaging. The up-side down mechanism is easy to use, the neat design were great for handling and travel; its fit even in the smallest compartment of an ordinary back pack.

REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION is available in three variants – Quantum, Ice Cool and Power – each catered for different type of people.

I myself have tried REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION – Quantum for about a month and so far I am more than satisfied. No need to be afraid to stand in a crowded bus no more. REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION – Quantum really made a difference to people life and I am greatly encourage people to try REXONA MEN ABSOLUTE PROTECTION.

Google Street View

2009-07-25T17:25:00.010+08:00

I can jump to anyplace, anytime. What i need to do is jump, jump and jump - Raja Hafify Zaed

I was strolling down the street of New York City the other day. It was crowded, as always; the roads were filled with New York trademark the 'Yellow Cab' taxis, and the roadside were filled with pedestrian, each minding their own business.

I was at 726 5th Ave to be exact, standing near the remarkable Trump Tower. I am an avid admirer of 'The Donald' works and to see his masterpiece up close is a dream of mine.

I have plenty of such dream, and another particular dream of mine requires me to be in France. I set my destination to France and jump. In less than 10 seconds, I was in Paris, the city of love, viewing the magnificent man-made structure called the Eiffel Tower.

I later went to Japan's Akihabara, Australia's Ayer Rock, UK's Old Trafford and plenty of other places, seeing things I've never seen before in my life and I'm doing all that in less than an hour.

Yes I heard that, sir, and the answer is "No, I am not a Jumper. Nor do I have crazy extrahuman power or a character in Heroes; with Google Street View, I don't need to.

Google Street View has been around for a while now, letting you to experience the High Definition 360 view of places around the globe.

At the moment, Google Street View has covered United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. In the future, the list might includes Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Malaysia so far has not been in the google list but considering the growing amount of internet user mostly in favour of Google, we might as well see the Google street cars roaming the Malaysian soil before long.

Google Street View is a fine addition to the myriad of great features by a great company like Google. (Malaysia Choice cannot wait for the launch of Google Chrome OS). It is a way for those who want to visit places outside of their own, without needing to invest their time and their money.

The ultimate social network - Facebook.

2009-07-22T13:00:00.003+08:00

Facebook is the grand daddy of social networking simply because it is the best - Raja Hafify Zaed

There are plenty of things in life that we can live without. Friends are not one of the things. The complex and fairly annoying organism we called human can never really accomplished anything by his own. A human without friends are often called a sociopath, a weirdo or a pscyho. Yes, I mean you, readers. If you have no friends, you are a psychofreak.

But not to worry, there is plenty of people who want to become your friends in this world and you can easily find them by joining the myriad of social networking sites. There are plenty of selection, plenty of clones but most of them is not worth your time. The one that is worth may as well be called Facebook.

Facebook is by far the best social networking sites in the world and is highy recommended by Malaysia Choice. It is easy for anyone to sign up and start looking for people with like mind through Facebook.

Facebook features plenty of neatly designed ideas such as 'status update', 'wall post', and plenty of user created groups. Photos application; where user can upload and share pictures and albums, is one of the most popular aplications on Facebook.

The most important aspect that, I believe, to be the reason why Facebook is so popular is its simple yet slick nature. No matter how you look at it, every part of Facebook is very polished, from the surface to the core.

For those who still haven't register an account with Facebook, I can only say that you are missing out, a lot. Stop being a psycho and register now.

BRYLCREEM X-TREME GEL

2009-07-18T13:14:00.001+08:00

BRYLCREEM XTREME HOLD by Raja Hafify Zaed

In all honesty, I am a guy who would not spend much time in front of a mirror. Not that I don't care for my appearences, I do, but I rather manage my looks on the run.

The above mentioned reason is why I am greatly impressed by product delivered by Brylcreem. And while there were plenty of products advertised by Brylcreem, it is BRYLCREEM XTREME HOLD captured my attention the most.

BRYLCREEM XTREME HOLD features easy and non-sticky purple colored gel, which would not flakes and most importantly contains no alcohol. It also introduce a new fresh hair technology supposely making your hair fresher for 6 hour long.

As for me, it is the much claimed 'extra holding power' that really hooks me up. My hair is legendary for its stuborness; no amount of gel can seem to hold it for long. It always give me a headache when choosing the right hairstyle for myself.

If BRYLCREEM XTREME HOLD even is half as good as it claims, "It'll be a bargain", I said to myself. So when I ask the price of the product from the shopkeeper, he said, "It will be MYR 8.70".

MYR 8.70 for 150ml of a suspiciously looking purple gel? "How can that be a bargain?", you asked. Okay, it might not be a bargain. But at least it doesn't cost a leg. And hopefully, it will be as good as was advertised. So at the end of the day, I am MYR 10 and 70 cent poorer ( i use the balanced to buy a Coke and a Pepsi.

That happen 2 weeks ago. I have been using it for half a month now. And my opinion? I have a rather split opinion.

I love the neat and stylish package; it fit in my backpack, fit in my trousers; I can bring it wherever I go easily. And the bottle is also leak free, and from observation, it is pretty durable.

I also love how it keeps my hair smells fresh, no matter where I go. I even went to a satay stall, stand near the fire and literally bath myself in the smoke; and hair still smells great. My cloth aren't as lucky.

On the other hand, despite all of the greatness mentioned, BRYLCREEM XTREME HOLD failed the most important test. The product doesn't seems to live up to its name. My hair still won't hold for longer than an hour, much less if I'm doing physical activities. I've tried to apply quite an amount of the gel yet I am still dissapointed with the result.

BRYLCREEM XTREME HOLD is a great product for those who wants their hair smells fresh. It is also a godsend, during a bad hairday as a quick fixer. But if what you want is holding power to maintain your favourite hairstlye for long, BRYLCREEM XTREME HOLD might not be the right product for you. There are plenty of other products that offer much better holding power, though maybe for a slightly higher price.

Malaysian Choice: The New Beginning

2009-07-15T12:25:00.000+08:00

One day, you sat in front of televison watching your favourite show. During the commercial break, you saw a product advertised on television and was impressed. You walk to 7-11 outlet and bought the product advertised, paid a high price for it too. With high expectation, you scrap the packaging and..... Dissapointed. The product quality doesn't even came close with the one advertised. You feel cheated. You solemnly swear that you never ever going to trust any product advertised on TV. The next day, you sat in front of television watching your fovourite show. During the comme..., wait a second. It's all happening again. Have above case scenario happened to you? Several times? Fed up? Most people are. The advertisement on televison is actually have an adverse effect on its viewer these days. The consumer can no longer trust commercials these days. Too much fabrication, too much lies. Malaysia Choice is a blogsite designed to solve that problem. WE ARE GOING TO PUT THE PRODUCT IN A TEST. Every week, Malaysia Choice will choose a product, put it in the ultimate test and decide wheter the product is worth buying or just worth watching. NEXT: We are going to put COCA COLA and PEPSI in an ultimate showdown to decide which one will be crowned ' The King of Cola'.