Its quite true that everything can be purchase online nowadays. In fact, it is a myth that credit card creation is a very controlled process. Some people still think it is very impossible to make fake cards, but take a look at these.
Bulk purchase of blank plastic:
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001910.html
And don't forget the hologram:
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001651.html
I know the article had "shown" too much information. Maybe they should tell where to go buy these stuff... Notice some of our fav banks are there too... Like those that never sleep, world's local bank, living, breathing asia etc...
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Polymorphic in PDF
While files can be polymorph to escape detection, it is also shown that PDF can be easily polymorphed to escape detection by AV. And the best of this doesn't involve complicated mathematics.
This article was based on:
http://blog.didierstevens.com/2008/04/29/pdf-let-me-count-the-ways/
OK, lets start with names. After PDF spec 1.2, basically we can encode all the names (which is followed after the "/") using hexadecimals. For example :
We want to open my blog using the /URI name:
/URI (http://nemesisv.blogspot.com)
But AV may be looking for "/URI", we can encode it into hex by doing this:
/#55#52#49
This is all in hex, but to create more choices, we can have :
/U#52I
/#55R#49
and so on. You get the picture. This will allow us to morph the name a bit.
Secondly, we can also morph the strings values. In this case, its the URL. We have several tricks that can be used here.
Firstly, the "escape new line" method:
/URI (http://nemesisv.blogspot.c\
om)
This can be use to break into new lines (for easy reading maybe). Also, just push this further, we can do this:
/URI (http://nem\
esis\
v.blog\
spot\
.com)
or even more extreme, we can break all the characters. Lets see AV write one rule that can detect that. (I am sure multiple rules can do it, but that's the challenge leave for the AV companies)
How about Hexadecimal? Yes, we can do that too:
/URI (687474703a2f2f6e656d65736973762e626c6f6773706f742e636f6d)
Or yes, even with some space :
/URI (687474 703a2f2f6e656d657369 73762e626c6f6773706f74 2e636f 6d)
Now, that's really going to piss the AV detection off. But hexadecimal is not the only thing we can use for encoding the values. We can use octal decimals as well:
/URI (\150\164\164\160\72\57\57\156\145\155\145\163\151\163\166\56\142\154\157\147\163\160\157\164\56\143\157\155)
To finish this off, PDF even suppose anonymous encryption which the user does not need to know the password to operate the PDF. Now, we are really using the other end of the blade back at the AV. So the whole string will look like some rubbish instead.
Of course, some of the above can be effectively mix and match to morph your PDF payload, but it is very unlikely the encryption can be detected by AV. Unless the AV ban all /URI tags, but until then, PDF is ideal for phishing and other very bad things.
This article was based on:
http://blog.didierstevens.com/2008/04/29/pdf-let-me-count-the-ways/
OK, lets start with names. After PDF spec 1.2, basically we can encode all the names (which is followed after the "/") using hexadecimals. For example :
We want to open my blog using the /URI name:
/URI (http://nemesisv.blogspot.com)
But AV may be looking for "/URI", we can encode it into hex by doing this:
/#55#52#49
This is all in hex, but to create more choices, we can have :
/U#52I
/#55R#49
and so on. You get the picture. This will allow us to morph the name a bit.
Secondly, we can also morph the strings values. In this case, its the URL. We have several tricks that can be used here.
Firstly, the "escape new line" method:
/URI (http://nemesisv.blogspot.c\
om)
This can be use to break into new lines (for easy reading maybe). Also, just push this further, we can do this:
/URI (http://nem\
esis\
v.blog\
spot\
.com)
or even more extreme, we can break all the characters. Lets see AV write one rule that can detect that. (I am sure multiple rules can do it, but that's the challenge leave for the AV companies)
How about Hexadecimal? Yes, we can do that too:
/URI (687474703a2f2f6e656d65736973762e626c6f6773706f742e636f6d)
Or yes, even with some space :
/URI (687474 703a2f2f6e656d657369 73762e626c6f6773706f74 2e636f 6d)
Now, that's really going to piss the AV detection off. But hexadecimal is not the only thing we can use for encoding the values. We can use octal decimals as well:
/URI (\150\164\164\160\72\57\57\156\145\155\145\163\151\163\166\56\142\154\157\147\163\160\157\164\56\143\157\155)
To finish this off, PDF even suppose anonymous encryption which the user does not need to know the password to operate the PDF. Now, we are really using the other end of the blade back at the AV. So the whole string will look like some rubbish instead.
Of course, some of the above can be effectively mix and match to morph your PDF payload, but it is very unlikely the encryption can be detected by AV. Unless the AV ban all /URI tags, but until then, PDF is ideal for phishing and other very bad things.
The more you patch, the more you (are suppose to fix)...
I try not to sound Adobe bashing, but the recent fix released by Adobe to address some "unknown" vulnerability had just opened up a bigger can of worms.
Read about it:
http://secunia.com/blog/76/
Basically, the fix to put in place for "something" from 9.3 to 9.3.1 of he Adobe Reader had introduced a TIFF library (which Adobe has control over the format). So, maybe we can say that 9.3.1 may be more vulnerable than 9.3 itself.
But, being said that, I would like to stress that 9.3 is currently very exploitable. Why so? There is a friendly metasploit library which targets basically almost all current version here:
http://packetstormsecurity.org/1003-exploits/adobe_libtiff.rb.txt
I am not saying you should give up using PDF and switch over to XPS, but at least use PDF with a cautious mind.
Read about it:
http://secunia.com/blog/76/
Basically, the fix to put in place for "something" from 9.3 to 9.3.1 of he Adobe Reader had introduced a TIFF library (which Adobe has control over the format). So, maybe we can say that 9.3.1 may be more vulnerable than 9.3 itself.
But, being said that, I would like to stress that 9.3 is currently very exploitable. Why so? There is a friendly metasploit library which targets basically almost all current version here:
http://packetstormsecurity.org/1003-exploits/adobe_libtiff.rb.txt
I am not saying you should give up using PDF and switch over to XPS, but at least use PDF with a cautious mind.
Tracking web malware
A good and short article points you in the right direction to use Malzilla, jsunpack and Wepawet for analysis of malware URL which can be found in online content such as flash, javascript etc. It's some good knowledge especially if you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about so far:
http://www.h-online.com/security/features/Tracking-down-malware-949079.html
http://www.h-online.com/security/features/Tracking-down-malware-949079.html
Blazing fast password recovery with new ATI cards
Source:
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=9021
Elmcosoft has once again demostrated how the GPU can be used to break incredible hard encryption such as WPA2-AES, ipod or iphone encrypted backup. They managed to archive 20x faster even when compare to i7-960, which is the state of the art 8-CPU from Intel. In fact, the result showns that it even beats the commerical super computer grid nVidia Tesla:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/tesla_computing_solutions.html
With GPU improving and new SDK opening up for sending computering to the GPU, it will only be a matter of time. But right now, breaking WPA2-AES within minutes is still a bit far fetch.
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=9021
Elmcosoft has once again demostrated how the GPU can be used to break incredible hard encryption such as WPA2-AES, ipod or iphone encrypted backup. They managed to archive 20x faster even when compare to i7-960, which is the state of the art 8-CPU from Intel. In fact, the result showns that it even beats the commerical super computer grid nVidia Tesla:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/tesla_computing_solutions.html
With GPU improving and new SDK opening up for sending computering to the GPU, it will only be a matter of time. But right now, breaking WPA2-AES within minutes is still a bit far fetch.
Monday, March 15, 2010
An interview with Bruce Schneier
http://www.simple-talk.com/opinion/geek-of-the-week/bruce-schneier-geek-of-the-week/
It is an interesting interview, but the words I would like to stress are:
RM: Do you think that two-factor authentication, or using methods in addition to passwords, could still be defeated by Trojan horses and phishing attacks?
BS: Of course; there isn’t even any debate. The debate is whether two-factor authentication will turn out to be useless in defending against identity theft because criminals will turn to Trojan horses and man-in-the-middle attacks.
It solves the security problems we had ten years ago, not the security problems we have today.
Despite all my involvement and effort in the past month studying and understanding 2FA, I have simply little or no faith in it. To me, it doesn't matter if it is 3FA or even 10FA. Once something get in between (MITM), that is the end. It is just a matter of more phishing attack to make the user enter or give up their inputs.
My primary concern is that people still does not see that the weakest link in a 2FA solution lies in the channel. And by channels, I do not mean the incoming channels (web + token, or web + handphone), this has to be applied to the outgoing channel as well. What type of security will we be talking about if you key in the multiple inputs all into the browser eventually and all we need is a poisoned proxy or a trojan BHO riding on the browser?
Does this mean I do not use internet banking? Probably not. However, it does help to minimize the risk of doing internet banking by taking more security measures.
It is an interesting interview, but the words I would like to stress are:
RM: Do you think that two-factor authentication, or using methods in addition to passwords, could still be defeated by Trojan horses and phishing attacks?
BS: Of course; there isn’t even any debate. The debate is whether two-factor authentication will turn out to be useless in defending against identity theft because criminals will turn to Trojan horses and man-in-the-middle attacks.
It solves the security problems we had ten years ago, not the security problems we have today.
Despite all my involvement and effort in the past month studying and understanding 2FA, I have simply little or no faith in it. To me, it doesn't matter if it is 3FA or even 10FA. Once something get in between (MITM), that is the end. It is just a matter of more phishing attack to make the user enter or give up their inputs.
My primary concern is that people still does not see that the weakest link in a 2FA solution lies in the channel. And by channels, I do not mean the incoming channels (web + token, or web + handphone), this has to be applied to the outgoing channel as well. What type of security will we be talking about if you key in the multiple inputs all into the browser eventually and all we need is a poisoned proxy or a trojan BHO riding on the browser?
Does this mean I do not use internet banking? Probably not. However, it does help to minimize the risk of doing internet banking by taking more security measures.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
無限の住人 OP - 赤井ウサギ (Red Rabbit) ~ Makura no Sōshi
The above is the opening in the anime. If you would love to heard the complete version, here it is:
Friday, March 12, 2010
Acronis should not be used to create and format drive for Windows Vista and Vista 7
I know this sound funny, lets go back to where it all begins.
First, I got hold of a vanilla machine which comes with the default vendors OS plus one HDD with 1 partition. OK, not entirely true, the OS was downgraded from Vista to XP and the vendor actually have a recovery partition in addition to the normal OS partition. So, if you know me enough, I would love to have Windows 7 on this. And I may not want to kill the original OS. And to make things worth, in this environment, its not OK to burn CD/DVD or use a USB device.
Firstly, we got to make another partition for the new OS. So a few tools comes into my mind. Hiren. Nope, its a boot disc. OK, so we need one that can either work inline or via a reboot shell. Acronis Disk Director 10 was available. So here we have. I reboot and resize the parition and make a new partition for the new OS. The critical mistake I made was I created and formatted the new partition in Acronis. Fatal.
But there were no tell tale sign that something was wrong. Windows 7 can be installed without extracting the files. Just mount the ISO with Alcohol or Daemon Tool, then install to the new partition. Everything went smoothly. Until I started to use Windows 7 and many application starts to give warning error about corruption. One such message came from Live Messenger "MSNMSGR.EXE - File Corrupt". Using chkdsk /f, I manage to find lots of MFT and BITMAP errors. I thought fixing it with solve all the problem. After some reboot, more usage, the error came back again and again. I just could figure out what went wrong.
Now, lets take a look at this thread:
http://board.iexbeta.com/lofiversion/index.php/t63381.html
It seems that such problem exist as far as 2006 and these folk found the answer in 2008. And after 2 years later, I splatter all over the wall with this issue. After some chkdsk /r and reinstall, repair startup option etc, I final found the problem. It is Acronis. Apparently, it create a non-standard partition which create problem for newer OS such as Vista and Windows 7. To fix this, I will have to lose my new partition by removing it, then delete the partition and have Windows Disk Manager to recreate the partition. Everything went smoothly after which.
Although Acronis Disk Director was released in 2007, I believe Microsoft and Acronis should issue a incompatibility warning for this. It could had save me lots of time. I guess both parties probably at some point of time point fingers and did not want to highlight this problem, but I just hope no one else have to hard the wall so I posted this here.
First, I got hold of a vanilla machine which comes with the default vendors OS plus one HDD with 1 partition. OK, not entirely true, the OS was downgraded from Vista to XP and the vendor actually have a recovery partition in addition to the normal OS partition. So, if you know me enough, I would love to have Windows 7 on this. And I may not want to kill the original OS. And to make things worth, in this environment, its not OK to burn CD/DVD or use a USB device.
Firstly, we got to make another partition for the new OS. So a few tools comes into my mind. Hiren. Nope, its a boot disc. OK, so we need one that can either work inline or via a reboot shell. Acronis Disk Director 10 was available. So here we have. I reboot and resize the parition and make a new partition for the new OS. The critical mistake I made was I created and formatted the new partition in Acronis. Fatal.
But there were no tell tale sign that something was wrong. Windows 7 can be installed without extracting the files. Just mount the ISO with Alcohol or Daemon Tool, then install to the new partition. Everything went smoothly. Until I started to use Windows 7 and many application starts to give warning error about corruption. One such message came from Live Messenger "MSNMSGR.EXE - File Corrupt". Using chkdsk /f, I manage to find lots of MFT and BITMAP errors. I thought fixing it with solve all the problem. After some reboot, more usage, the error came back again and again. I just could figure out what went wrong.
Now, lets take a look at this thread:
http://board.iexbeta.com/lofiversion/index.php/t63381.html
It seems that such problem exist as far as 2006 and these folk found the answer in 2008. And after 2 years later, I splatter all over the wall with this issue. After some chkdsk /r and reinstall, repair startup option etc, I final found the problem. It is Acronis. Apparently, it create a non-standard partition which create problem for newer OS such as Vista and Windows 7. To fix this, I will have to lose my new partition by removing it, then delete the partition and have Windows Disk Manager to recreate the partition. Everything went smoothly after which.
Although Acronis Disk Director was released in 2007, I believe Microsoft and Acronis should issue a incompatibility warning for this. It could had save me lots of time. I guess both parties probably at some point of time point fingers and did not want to highlight this problem, but I just hope no one else have to hard the wall so I posted this here.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Yet another way to break a Lenovo
Lenovo laptop and desktop may install a special driver (know as hot key driver) for controlling and using the special function keys (especially on the laptop). We all know that these are the things most people will never patch, unless you had been following and using the ThinkVantage System Update which I mentioned before in my blog:
http://nemesisv.blogspot.com/2009/03/lenovo-thinkvantage-system-update.html
However, if the target happens to be one of those unpatched one (usually corp laptops), then this is your lucky day. Apparently, the way this program is structure doesn't care too much for security. It relies on a flag in the registry to tell it what to run and this is conveniently available even prior to login. Yes, you probably guessed it, its as simple as changing it to run "cmd.exe" and you have a system shell. Cool? Yes, but you need to somehow still be able to press the buttons, which probably require some social engineering trick if you are attacking a laptop which you do not have physical access to. Otherwise, its just that and you have a system shell which allows you to create havoc and extract information (such as NTLM hashes). The best of all these is none of the known anti malware will actually prevent or even flag changing of the registry as dangerous.
Now, we all know other brands of computer have hot keys too... Think about it...
Below is the original exploit from packet storm:
http://packetstormsecurity.org/1003-exploits/lenovo-escalate.txt
Monday, March 08, 2010
Energizer USB Charger contains trojan!
In the most innocent places, we always find them. Trojans. Sometimes you start to wonder if it was intentional. First, they appears on Seagate, then in some other USB music players (more than 1 company) and now even in a innocent looking USB battery charger from Energizer.
The trojan is from in a file arucer.dll which is installed onto the system32 directory. It basically listens to port 7777 and performs information leakage, windows registry modification and download and execute files (sound like a liveupdate to me).
So, who planted it? This is a good question I suppose CERT and Symantec will be spending the next few sleep weeks on. In any case, the software had been pulled (the Windows version anyway. Who want to bet that there is a trojan in the mac version as well?) so if you had installed any of those software, I strongly suggest you uninstall them and look out for the arucer.dll in your system32 directory.
The full story:
The trojan is from in a file arucer.dll which is installed onto the system32 directory. It basically listens to port 7777 and performs information leakage, windows registry modification and download and execute files (sound like a liveupdate to me).
So, who planted it? This is a good question I suppose CERT and Symantec will be spending the next few sleep weeks on. In any case, the software had been pulled (the Windows version anyway. Who want to bet that there is a trojan in the mac version as well?) so if you had installed any of those software, I strongly suggest you uninstall them and look out for the arucer.dll in your system32 directory.
The full story:
Updated CERT Report:
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/154421
Friday, March 05, 2010
Visual Studio 2010 comes with spyware alike feature for FREE
The Dotfuscator included in Visual Studio 2010 will comes with capabilities to track feature usage and integrate evaluation usage into Microsoft Dynamics CRM to increase win rates, and enterprises will be able to integrate application runtime data into Microsoft Business Intelligence Solutions to improve business agility.
In addition, Dotfuscator Software Services CE also has enhanced capabilities to stream alerts and runtime data to one or more cloud-based services.
Does this sound like spyware capabilities to you?
Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2008/oct08/10-27PreEmptivePR.mspx
In addition, Dotfuscator Software Services CE also has enhanced capabilities to stream alerts and runtime data to one or more cloud-based services.
Does this sound like spyware capabilities to you?
Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2008/oct08/10-27PreEmptivePR.mspx
Western Digital RMA HDD Gone Bad
It's probably me, but a stroke of bad luck had hit a refurbished HDD which I had gotten back from Western Digital. The 2TB HDD had grown 289 bad sectors in just within 14 days. I wondered if they actually QA this HDD. From my experience with Seagate, at least Seagate had gone through with their SeaTool to get it Seagate Repaired Certified prior to sending the HDD back to customer. I just hope WD doesn't keep this up because this is like the 2nd HDD I had RMA in the past month which had errors and I need to actually RMA one of them twice in a row.
Anyway, here is how Hard Disk Sential found and show me the bad sectors:
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Xmas Getaway 09 Epilode - A really dishonest Singapore bus service - Alisan (S) Pte Ltd, Singapore
This is related to my bus trip which I mentioned in:
http://nemesisv.blogspot.com/2010/02/xmas-getaway-09-day-5-kl-to-home-on.html
Basically we had some issue with delayed bus in KL and was told to go for a coffee and make the claim when we are back in Singapore. So we did and this was what follows.
I called up the bus company a few days later and the staff told me that the boss's mom or mom-in-law (I cant quite remember, but right now I preferred mom if given a choice) has passed away and hte boss is at the funeral in Malaysia. I thought its a bad things to really push people when they are grieving and I said I will call back in a few days. I updated the otehr group making the claim too.
A few days later, I made the call again. Guess what? One of their staff (a guy this time) totally denied it. He said that their staff will never do such a thing suggesting peopel to go drink coffee and make claims. And he did that almost immediately without even checking which staff was on the call on Xmas day. It was as if he was prepared and isused to handling this day in day out. I wondered how many more people are affected. I tried to reason with him and say it is after all their staff who make the suggestion. I would have nothing to make up a story like this. By this time, I am pretty mad. Originally I never really thought I wanted to make the claim. RM20 is like a trip to Starbuck and it is nothing to me. But this is a matter of principle and I am no liar. So I told him I will be back. I contacted the other group and he suggest we make a trip to CASE to see what we can do.
I did my homework and found out that CASE actualyl is not very helpful (unless you are a member for $25 / year). So I guess it doesn't make sense in this case. How about sueing? I guess it is possible, but then the only thing I have was a phone call and I have no recording whatsoever that their staff told me to make the claim. So I figured I do not have much to go actually.
But that doesn't mean I have to take it silently and let others continue to suffer the same scam. Alisan is basically very dishonest and they seems to be doing this very regularly and then making deny which they know we can't do much about it. The bus services was very late (for about 3 hours) and I get nothing like even an apology. All they said was its bus, schedule cannot be helped. WTF? The bus might as well be late for a week then? And to my knowledge, no other bus company was late that day. So just WTF happened to them? Was there really a big jam or was it some excuse they made up? I can go on and on, but its just the very unsatisief and angry me. I want you to read this in the most neutral way possible and judge for yourself.
Now, you know why I wished it was the boss's mom now. I guess there is divine retribution. Not many people get to die on Xmas day and if they do, it has to be karma. For the sins and lies of their children, they have to pay the price dying like this. I guess this makes my feel a little bit better. Its just unfortunately its over that I cannot send my congratulation to the family of the boss of Alisan.
We want to travel with such a company, be my guest. I just pray you do not get involved in one of their divine retribution!
http://nemesisv.blogspot.com/2010/02/xmas-getaway-09-day-5-kl-to-home-on.html
Basically we had some issue with delayed bus in KL and was told to go for a coffee and make the claim when we are back in Singapore. So we did and this was what follows.
I called up the bus company a few days later and the staff told me that the boss's mom or mom-in-law (I cant quite remember, but right now I preferred mom if given a choice) has passed away and hte boss is at the funeral in Malaysia. I thought its a bad things to really push people when they are grieving and I said I will call back in a few days. I updated the otehr group making the claim too.
A few days later, I made the call again. Guess what? One of their staff (a guy this time) totally denied it. He said that their staff will never do such a thing suggesting peopel to go drink coffee and make claims. And he did that almost immediately without even checking which staff was on the call on Xmas day. It was as if he was prepared and isused to handling this day in day out. I wondered how many more people are affected. I tried to reason with him and say it is after all their staff who make the suggestion. I would have nothing to make up a story like this. By this time, I am pretty mad. Originally I never really thought I wanted to make the claim. RM20 is like a trip to Starbuck and it is nothing to me. But this is a matter of principle and I am no liar. So I told him I will be back. I contacted the other group and he suggest we make a trip to CASE to see what we can do.
I did my homework and found out that CASE actualyl is not very helpful (unless you are a member for $25 / year). So I guess it doesn't make sense in this case. How about sueing? I guess it is possible, but then the only thing I have was a phone call and I have no recording whatsoever that their staff told me to make the claim. So I figured I do not have much to go actually.
But that doesn't mean I have to take it silently and let others continue to suffer the same scam. Alisan is basically very dishonest and they seems to be doing this very regularly and then making deny which they know we can't do much about it. The bus services was very late (for about 3 hours) and I get nothing like even an apology. All they said was its bus, schedule cannot be helped. WTF? The bus might as well be late for a week then? And to my knowledge, no other bus company was late that day. So just WTF happened to them? Was there really a big jam or was it some excuse they made up? I can go on and on, but its just the very unsatisief and angry me. I want you to read this in the most neutral way possible and judge for yourself.
Now, you know why I wished it was the boss's mom now. I guess there is divine retribution. Not many people get to die on Xmas day and if they do, it has to be karma. For the sins and lies of their children, they have to pay the price dying like this. I guess this makes my feel a little bit better. Its just unfortunately its over that I cannot send my congratulation to the family of the boss of Alisan.
We want to travel with such a company, be my guest. I just pray you do not get involved in one of their divine retribution!
Xmas Getaway 09 Day 5 - KL to Home (on a very bad bus service - Alisan)
This is the last day of our vacation and we basically were a bit sad it had to end so fast. After another breakfast at Swiss Garden which was exactly the same as the day before, we spend the rest of the time looking at the small pool and deciding if we wanted to go. In the end, we decide we rather just relax and watch TV. So that's how we spend our morning packing and relaxing until its 12pm where we need to check out. Our bus we scheduled at 2:30pm at Renaissance Hotel KL. So we took a taxi there. We got a real bad price at first, but in the end we still got the same price from another taxi driver.
However, the taxi driver was not sure of the hotel and drove us to the wrong place at first. We insist that it was another hotel and he drove us there in the end. I would had paid him more for the extra effort actually, but he was very frustrated and was driving quite dangerously throughout the journey. So in order not the encourage this type of driving attitude, I just let it pass and kept my changes.
The hotel was beautiful and we kinda love it. Of course I did not mentioned to Jane that we could had stayed here actually. We tried to grab lunch here and the only thing available was the almost RM100 christmas buffet. In any case, I thought we jus tgot for it since normal food already cost half that price. The buffet was fantastic and we took our time to eat and relax because we had our luggage locked at the hotel and we wanted to let the time pass.
At 2:15pm we started waiting for our bus. However, it was until 2:45pm that I called and noted that it was delayed. The bus was stucked in the morning at the 2nd Link and was late so it will take time for it to pick us up on the way back. After another hour, they girl from Alisan (the bus company) called again and say that the bus is likely to be delayed for another hour. I am actually not quite happy by then, but she added that we can go for a cup of coffee or something and claim it from the company when we get back. I am sceptical, but I took Jane to the hotel cafe and had something. It was good hot chocolate, but kinda costly at RM9 each. So that adds up to about RM20 all in all. Actually I am not really expecting to claim it back from Alisan.
A little bit of background about how I ended up buying the ticket from Alisan Bus. I actually booked the tickets ahead while I was still in Singapore via http://www.easibook.com/ and there were not much good choices left. So I ended up with Alisan one which is not at Swiss Garden, but at Renaissance Hotel. Maybe I should avoid this website as well in the future.
The bus did arrived. It was not even the standard Alisan bus, but a bus from KKKL. There were a few ladies dropping off the bus but they insisted that they also booked via easibook and the bus was suppose to bring them to another hotel and not here. The bus driver just ignored them. I feel sorry for them and advise them maybe that they can call Alisan and check if they can take a cab to claim the fare instead. I really did hope they got their case settled. As you can imagine, either Easibook is totally screwed up in bring people around or Alisan is a really bad company that doesn't care where you book, but they just drop you where they prefer instead. OR more likely BOTH.
We boarded the bus and all went normal. We had a stop yet at another eating place where we had something because I already learned the lesson that we can end up in really bad jam etc and getting hungry in those cases is a really bad choice. I did not buy much at this rest stop because most things are expensive and old. I only added a packets of raw prawn crackers for my mum ( and indirectly myself :) ). The rest of the way was a simple bus ride with lousy screener like Ninja Assassin and 2012...
When we finally arrived back in Singapore at Golden Mile complex. I thought of going straight home, but since I am here, I might as well make the claim. So I did. And so did the other group of passenger who was actually driven to the wrong hotel as well and was also told to claim the coffee. Guess what? The clerk say she doesn't know of anything and the boss is not in. So we left each other's contact and photocopied the receipts for claims.
I send Jane on a taxi back and I hopped on to the next. It was way past 12am by the time all was ended today.
However, the taxi driver was not sure of the hotel and drove us to the wrong place at first. We insist that it was another hotel and he drove us there in the end. I would had paid him more for the extra effort actually, but he was very frustrated and was driving quite dangerously throughout the journey. So in order not the encourage this type of driving attitude, I just let it pass and kept my changes.
The hotel was beautiful and we kinda love it. Of course I did not mentioned to Jane that we could had stayed here actually. We tried to grab lunch here and the only thing available was the almost RM100 christmas buffet. In any case, I thought we jus tgot for it since normal food already cost half that price. The buffet was fantastic and we took our time to eat and relax because we had our luggage locked at the hotel and we wanted to let the time pass.
At 2:15pm we started waiting for our bus. However, it was until 2:45pm that I called and noted that it was delayed. The bus was stucked in the morning at the 2nd Link and was late so it will take time for it to pick us up on the way back. After another hour, they girl from Alisan (the bus company) called again and say that the bus is likely to be delayed for another hour. I am actually not quite happy by then, but she added that we can go for a cup of coffee or something and claim it from the company when we get back. I am sceptical, but I took Jane to the hotel cafe and had something. It was good hot chocolate, but kinda costly at RM9 each. So that adds up to about RM20 all in all. Actually I am not really expecting to claim it back from Alisan.
A little bit of background about how I ended up buying the ticket from Alisan Bus. I actually booked the tickets ahead while I was still in Singapore via http://www.easibook.com/ and there were not much good choices left. So I ended up with Alisan one which is not at Swiss Garden, but at Renaissance Hotel. Maybe I should avoid this website as well in the future.
The bus did arrived. It was not even the standard Alisan bus, but a bus from KKKL. There were a few ladies dropping off the bus but they insisted that they also booked via easibook and the bus was suppose to bring them to another hotel and not here. The bus driver just ignored them. I feel sorry for them and advise them maybe that they can call Alisan and check if they can take a cab to claim the fare instead. I really did hope they got their case settled. As you can imagine, either Easibook is totally screwed up in bring people around or Alisan is a really bad company that doesn't care where you book, but they just drop you where they prefer instead. OR more likely BOTH.
We boarded the bus and all went normal. We had a stop yet at another eating place where we had something because I already learned the lesson that we can end up in really bad jam etc and getting hungry in those cases is a really bad choice. I did not buy much at this rest stop because most things are expensive and old. I only added a packets of raw prawn crackers for my mum ( and indirectly myself :) ). The rest of the way was a simple bus ride with lousy screener like Ninja Assassin and 2012...
When we finally arrived back in Singapore at Golden Mile complex. I thought of going straight home, but since I am here, I might as well make the claim. So I did. And so did the other group of passenger who was actually driven to the wrong hotel as well and was also told to claim the coffee. Guess what? The clerk say she doesn't know of anything and the boss is not in. So we left each other's contact and photocopied the receipts for claims.
I send Jane on a taxi back and I hopped on to the next. It was way past 12am by the time all was ended today.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Xmas Getaway 09 Day 4 - Aquaria and KLCC
We started the second day in KL early. There is breakfast included with our room and we had a fantastic meal at the international buffet in Swiss Garden. I decided to take Jane on the LRT since its something cheap and we can reach the KLCC Aquara directly. We only needed a few stop and a short walk, so we were at KLCC quit early. There are signs of fatigue and illness then which I had ignore and only took more painkiller.
It took us a while to find Aquaria as it is connected but not actually KLCC itself. This is one of the attraction I did not visited in KL. So this is one place I guess I wished to go. The Aquaria is somewhat like a aquarium. There is the standard conveyor belt walkway that goes into the tank, but it is far from spectacular. I must say I am disappointed. Who wouldn't after visiting Sydney's Aquarium? The fishes are ok, but hardly enough to satisfy me. Although they had other attraction to add in such as the insect and reptiles exhibits, which is in a way the insectarium as well, but I find it out of place for fishes and insect to be together. All in all, I guess its not much cheaper to Singapore's Underworld World either. In short, its a one-off thing.
There is a booth inside which encourage people to stop eating shark and petition etc. I find that interesting although I did not commit on eating shark fin though. I avoid, but I find myself half to say no especially when there is so many weddings etc. I guess I needed more determination for this. Jane wanted to make a hand mould of our hands there, but it was costly. I also do not think it is a great idea to carry that back since it may break because it is make of wax. Fortunately in the end, we did not make that. Instead I got her a soft toy by Russ of a sea seal of the Yomiki series. Here is a photo of what it looked like:
It took us a while to find Aquaria as it is connected but not actually KLCC itself. This is one of the attraction I did not visited in KL. So this is one place I guess I wished to go. The Aquaria is somewhat like a aquarium. There is the standard conveyor belt walkway that goes into the tank, but it is far from spectacular. I must say I am disappointed. Who wouldn't after visiting Sydney's Aquarium? The fishes are ok, but hardly enough to satisfy me. Although they had other attraction to add in such as the insect and reptiles exhibits, which is in a way the insectarium as well, but I find it out of place for fishes and insect to be together. All in all, I guess its not much cheaper to Singapore's Underworld World either. In short, its a one-off thing.
There is a booth inside which encourage people to stop eating shark and petition etc. I find that interesting although I did not commit on eating shark fin though. I avoid, but I find myself half to say no especially when there is so many weddings etc. I guess I needed more determination for this. Jane wanted to make a hand mould of our hands there, but it was costly. I also do not think it is a great idea to carry that back since it may break because it is make of wax. Fortunately in the end, we did not make that. Instead I got her a soft toy by Russ of a sea seal of the Yomiki series. Here is a photo of what it looked like:
Next, we did some shopping at KLCC and this place is full of Xmas spirit then. There were lots of display and Xmas music going on. Jane visited her favorite brands and confirmed that things are pretty expensive in Malaysia, at least the branded stuff. As my headache and illness is starting to get worse, we had a simple lunch at Sushi King (which is now inside the food court) and headed back to hotel. We had a little more shopping at Kinokuniya bookstore where I bought the remaining magazines I wanted. It was then about 5pm. We hunted around for a taxi stand and did not really find one. We headed to a nearby hotel (I cannot remember which was it) and tried there instead. We had no luck either, so in the end we took their recommendation and took the hotel exclusive taxi which was metered. The metering system was a bit confusing as there is an amount on the top, followed by distance travelled and extra charge I think. I took a glance at the meter and my heart was pounding hard all the way while the taxi was stuck in the jam. It was a relief in the end it was just a little more expensive because I mistaken that distance travelled to be additional charges. But the taxi driver was friendly and everything, so in the end I can say I did not regret taking this taxi which was comfortable by the way, unlike the rest.
We basically spend the rest of the time in hotel relax and rest. I had a short sleep and felt much better (and hungrier) soon. We had to head out for food in the evening at around 7pm. Based on the map, we took our chances and walked to Time Square, where we had Secret Recipe for dinner. It was only then I realize Malaysia is where Secret Recipe started. The food was good, but unfortunately the staff were very junior and did not serve very well. I guess we can say that its a 8 for food and 2 for service type of experience. I took the chance to show Jane the indoor roller coaster which I will never get on. We also bought some magazine and books at Borders before leaving at 9pm. We were just in time to catch a movie "Horton Hears a Who!" on TV and that was how we spend silent night. One of the reason we did not join in any of the parties because simply there isn't any. At least not at Swiss Garden. We had a good rest and decided to wake up late next morning since its our last day in KL before we head home.
Xmas Getaway 09 Day 3 - From Malacca to KL
I woke up slightly early on the third day was managed to take a few morning photo of the rising sun. Then it was the same trip to Cowboy town for yet another breakfast. However, today was special as we did not have it in the restaurant, but in the Town Hall. The food was still the same though and we still stick to western. We wanted to buy some biscuit, but the stores were not open, so we headed back. We saw something that look like round balls of weeds and grass on the way and it took me a while before I figured it out. That is elephant poo. Well, I am glad we did not get too close to them.
We started to pack and keep everything. By 11:00am, we are comfortably waiting at the lobby, checked out and waiting for the taxi which we called in at the standard RM70 rate. In any case, since it was a published rate, I guess I did not feel too bad as if I was getting ripped off. The ride was fast and we passed by some stores selling floats and other water toys on the way. I guess it must be cheaper by a hell lot as compared to the ones in Water World which is expensive even for my standard. We arrived quickly at the Malacca Sentral and lucky for us, there is a bus going to KL at 12:30. The funny thing was it was the same bus company which we came to Malacca from Singapore. I barely have a chance to go to the toilet, so there were no time to buy anything at all from the Bus station and before we know it, we were on the bus to KL.
The ride was longer than I imagine due to the jam into the city (as usual). Lucky for us, our hotel is at Swiss Garden, which was a short walk to the Puduraya Bus Station. We had to walk along side the buses coming in because some part of the roads, there were no proper walkway. I had to also ensure that we do not become prime targets because pickpockets and other crime were common at the station and the surrounded areas. We managed to check in and got a room facing some constructions site. Well, I guess nobody can foresee that and I did not expect much of a scenery anyway. I was told there are shuttles going to some area and I booked the shuttle going to China Town that evening. We basically put down our stuff and locked the room before rushing out for our very late lunch.
We walked a bit back towards the bus station, but I eventually gave up the idea because there doesn't seems much of a eating place nearby. I do remember KFC and stuff, we then again we cannot take KFC due to our commitments to PETA. So, we headed in the other direction. Well, not before Jane saw something rather disgusting. A Indian teenager was jerking himself off behind a car and spraying the walk before running off. It sound kinda gross I am sure, but I did not see it, thanks goodness. We eventually found a food place opposite Swiss Garden which was a Vegetarian coffee shop. We had prawn noodles which is vegetarian and packed 2 packets of fried kway tiao (also vegetarian). I must say, even if it is really really cheap food. It taste fantastic. Even the packets of fried kway tiao which we keep until 5pm taste great.
After washig up and some TV, its time for us to go to Chinatown via the shuttle bus which was exactly a van. But I have no complains since we are the only 2 person going. Chinatown did not changed too much. Basically, what we have there is fake watches, fake bags, fake belts and fake other stuff. I did not know why I used to like this place, but this time round, the only thing we bought were from Watson. The cheap imitation stuff did not attract us at all because the quality wasbad and simply not even worth spending the amount on. We also had a chance to shop in a chinese book store and we bought some comics and stuff. The evening was not very fruitful, but I guess we did nto expected much anyway since we were here late and many shop had closed. Before we know it, we were back to the Swiss Inn where the bus will wait for us again. We sat for about 15 minutes and the bus drove us back to the hotel.
Finally we have the catalogue for the TV and managed to catch some programme before we went to sleep.
We started to pack and keep everything. By 11:00am, we are comfortably waiting at the lobby, checked out and waiting for the taxi which we called in at the standard RM70 rate. In any case, since it was a published rate, I guess I did not feel too bad as if I was getting ripped off. The ride was fast and we passed by some stores selling floats and other water toys on the way. I guess it must be cheaper by a hell lot as compared to the ones in Water World which is expensive even for my standard. We arrived quickly at the Malacca Sentral and lucky for us, there is a bus going to KL at 12:30. The funny thing was it was the same bus company which we came to Malacca from Singapore. I barely have a chance to go to the toilet, so there were no time to buy anything at all from the Bus station and before we know it, we were on the bus to KL.
The ride was longer than I imagine due to the jam into the city (as usual). Lucky for us, our hotel is at Swiss Garden, which was a short walk to the Puduraya Bus Station. We had to walk along side the buses coming in because some part of the roads, there were no proper walkway. I had to also ensure that we do not become prime targets because pickpockets and other crime were common at the station and the surrounded areas. We managed to check in and got a room facing some constructions site. Well, I guess nobody can foresee that and I did not expect much of a scenery anyway. I was told there are shuttles going to some area and I booked the shuttle going to China Town that evening. We basically put down our stuff and locked the room before rushing out for our very late lunch.
We walked a bit back towards the bus station, but I eventually gave up the idea because there doesn't seems much of a eating place nearby. I do remember KFC and stuff, we then again we cannot take KFC due to our commitments to PETA. So, we headed in the other direction. Well, not before Jane saw something rather disgusting. A Indian teenager was jerking himself off behind a car and spraying the walk before running off. It sound kinda gross I am sure, but I did not see it, thanks goodness. We eventually found a food place opposite Swiss Garden which was a Vegetarian coffee shop. We had prawn noodles which is vegetarian and packed 2 packets of fried kway tiao (also vegetarian). I must say, even if it is really really cheap food. It taste fantastic. Even the packets of fried kway tiao which we keep until 5pm taste great.
After washig up and some TV, its time for us to go to Chinatown via the shuttle bus which was exactly a van. But I have no complains since we are the only 2 person going. Chinatown did not changed too much. Basically, what we have there is fake watches, fake bags, fake belts and fake other stuff. I did not know why I used to like this place, but this time round, the only thing we bought were from Watson. The cheap imitation stuff did not attract us at all because the quality wasbad and simply not even worth spending the amount on. We also had a chance to shop in a chinese book store and we bought some comics and stuff. The evening was not very fruitful, but I guess we did nto expected much anyway since we were here late and many shop had closed. Before we know it, we were back to the Swiss Inn where the bus will wait for us again. We sat for about 15 minutes and the bus drove us back to the hotel.
Finally we have the catalogue for the TV and managed to catch some programme before we went to sleep.
Xmas Getaway 09 Day 2 - Animal World and Water World (Afternoon)
After lunch, we proceed to the last show (which we had not watched anyway) in Animal World. That is the Cowboy Show. Well, I still wondered why this is hosted in the animal world, since the only involvement of animals in the show is but horses only. But in any case, here we were. I think I would had enjoyed it a lot more if I could actually make out the English, but I guess I was too busy watching and taking photos altogether. The story was messy, but the actions was ok. We have some pyrotechnics and high jumping stunts (oops, I let the cat out of the bag). I would say its unique.
After the show, I headed out and we passed by a place where we can again buy animal food for feeding. We bought some carrots for the goats and the rabbits. Well, actually the goats, but since they rush at us and was actually standing on us with their hoof (which had mud), we ended up dropping quite some for the rabbits. Well, we are city folks after all and laundry is actual no joke. But this is probably the closest I had even been with goats in a enclose area. Since it is already afternoon, we decided that we wanted to speed through and go to Water World. We passed by the Chicken House again and well, we thought no harm looking at it one more thing. We were wrong.
There were children now playing inside the enclosed little chicken tank. But what we saw still haunts me today. Well, its not like I am a Vegetarian, but seeing children pick up chicks on their wings and dropping them from standing height is quite a cruel sight to behold. In fact, I even managed to capture some video and photo footage of chicks which were literally killed right before my eyes. I can't believe the person in charge is more interested in selling chicken feed and letting in children then to take note of what the children were doing. The parents were probably partly to blame too not educating their kids about taking good care and not to run about and storm on children while they were inside. Though not many were killed (we only saw a few), but this was almost as bad as the KFC farm chicken torturing incident. We basically walked off very upset about this. Perhaps we should post this on PETA or something at least to get some support to pressure the owners not to let in children who cannot be responsible for other lives. With a heavy heart, we left and went next door to the Water World.
The Water World is basically pools and slides. I actually regretted paying to go in here, but then what else would we have done if we did not go? There are some minor hidden cost of renting the lockers and floats similar to anywhere else and before we know it, we are in the water. I had been to many other places with similar set up in Singapore and Malaysia. And trust me, even if this was the biggest in Malaysia, it can hardly be the best. The water were murky and while submerged, I actually can't even see more than half a meter ahead. Not to mention that it probably taste funny too. Maybe its just me, I don't think the standard is anywhere close to even some of the neighbourhood swimming pools I had been in Singapore which were much cleaner. There is also a wave pool. which has exactly the same name and same set up. There will be whistle and a jet of water running through when the wave starts. The wave was less violent here I guess. So if you think some of the other pools had been too rough, this may be for you. The other attraction I tried is the lazy river, which also has the same name in the Singapore pools. Not as good.
There were other attractions like slides and all, but since I am not a fan, I skipped all these. This may also be the main reason why I did not enjoyed Water World as much as expected. Maybe if you are a big fan of slides, go try it and give a fair review of it. Anyway our stay was cut short when it started to rain and I figured that its time to leave. Even if the rain were to stop shortly (which it did), I probably did not want to swim in rain water anymore.
So, we proceed to wash up and it was crowded as ever. To make things worse. We forgot the most important thing to bring to a swimming pool. Yes, the towel. So I had to try to dry with whatever we can. Before we leave, we tried to hunt for some food, but was terribly disappointed because even the packed boxed food has a long queue and the restaurant were all closed. So, we have no choice but to leave and figure it out later. We took the Banana bus which drove us back to the D'Savoy Condo and I gladly paid the RM1 for the trip.
The night was long, but we were dead tired. WE simply had to try our luck and see if the room service actually works. Since I did not want to use my hand phone which is charged at IDD, I simply made a trip to the counter opposite our block again and ordered room services for some food at average prices. Well, its comparable high by Malaysia standard I guess, but a hungry man doesn't care. Meantime, we had some biscuit and other snacks to last us until the food arrived. I tried to watch TV, but simply could not because the cable catalogue is not present and I have no idea what is on. After enjoying the food, which was nicely packed and well heated when it arrived, we heard the fireworks goes off in the distant and headed to bed. I wanted to catch the next movie on TV7, but by the time it started at 12:30am, I was dead tired and simply passed. The next thing I know was morning...
After the show, I headed out and we passed by a place where we can again buy animal food for feeding. We bought some carrots for the goats and the rabbits. Well, actually the goats, but since they rush at us and was actually standing on us with their hoof (which had mud), we ended up dropping quite some for the rabbits. Well, we are city folks after all and laundry is actual no joke. But this is probably the closest I had even been with goats in a enclose area. Since it is already afternoon, we decided that we wanted to speed through and go to Water World. We passed by the Chicken House again and well, we thought no harm looking at it one more thing. We were wrong.
There were children now playing inside the enclosed little chicken tank. But what we saw still haunts me today. Well, its not like I am a Vegetarian, but seeing children pick up chicks on their wings and dropping them from standing height is quite a cruel sight to behold. In fact, I even managed to capture some video and photo footage of chicks which were literally killed right before my eyes. I can't believe the person in charge is more interested in selling chicken feed and letting in children then to take note of what the children were doing. The parents were probably partly to blame too not educating their kids about taking good care and not to run about and storm on children while they were inside. Though not many were killed (we only saw a few), but this was almost as bad as the KFC farm chicken torturing incident. We basically walked off very upset about this. Perhaps we should post this on PETA or something at least to get some support to pressure the owners not to let in children who cannot be responsible for other lives. With a heavy heart, we left and went next door to the Water World.
The Water World is basically pools and slides. I actually regretted paying to go in here, but then what else would we have done if we did not go? There are some minor hidden cost of renting the lockers and floats similar to anywhere else and before we know it, we are in the water. I had been to many other places with similar set up in Singapore and Malaysia. And trust me, even if this was the biggest in Malaysia, it can hardly be the best. The water were murky and while submerged, I actually can't even see more than half a meter ahead. Not to mention that it probably taste funny too. Maybe its just me, I don't think the standard is anywhere close to even some of the neighbourhood swimming pools I had been in Singapore which were much cleaner. There is also a wave pool. which has exactly the same name and same set up. There will be whistle and a jet of water running through when the wave starts. The wave was less violent here I guess. So if you think some of the other pools had been too rough, this may be for you. The other attraction I tried is the lazy river, which also has the same name in the Singapore pools. Not as good.
There were other attractions like slides and all, but since I am not a fan, I skipped all these. This may also be the main reason why I did not enjoyed Water World as much as expected. Maybe if you are a big fan of slides, go try it and give a fair review of it. Anyway our stay was cut short when it started to rain and I figured that its time to leave. Even if the rain were to stop shortly (which it did), I probably did not want to swim in rain water anymore.
So, we proceed to wash up and it was crowded as ever. To make things worse. We forgot the most important thing to bring to a swimming pool. Yes, the towel. So I had to try to dry with whatever we can. Before we leave, we tried to hunt for some food, but was terribly disappointed because even the packed boxed food has a long queue and the restaurant were all closed. So, we have no choice but to leave and figure it out later. We took the Banana bus which drove us back to the D'Savoy Condo and I gladly paid the RM1 for the trip.
The night was long, but we were dead tired. WE simply had to try our luck and see if the room service actually works. Since I did not want to use my hand phone which is charged at IDD, I simply made a trip to the counter opposite our block again and ordered room services for some food at average prices. Well, its comparable high by Malaysia standard I guess, but a hungry man doesn't care. Meantime, we had some biscuit and other snacks to last us until the food arrived. I tried to watch TV, but simply could not because the cable catalogue is not present and I have no idea what is on. After enjoying the food, which was nicely packed and well heated when it arrived, we heard the fireworks goes off in the distant and headed to bed. I wanted to catch the next movie on TV7, but by the time it started at 12:30am, I was dead tired and simply passed. The next thing I know was morning...
Monday, February 08, 2010
Bullguard 9.0 did not fix Homegroup or Windows sharing in Windows 7
Despite the release of Bullguard 9.0, the problem with Homegroup and Windows sharing is still not resolved. I wrote in to ask about the status and was confirmed by them via the following reply:
BullGuard Support Message
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear BullGuard User,
Thank you for contacting us.
Unfortunately the issue was not resolved yet. Part of it was solved but some work still needs to be done on the Firewall side. I am afraid you will need to wait a little longer for a resolution.
Please do not hesitate to contact us again if in need of further information or assistance.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Best regards,
BullGuard Support Team
support@bullguard.com
support_de@bullguard.com
www.bullguard.com
It seems that Bullguard will still take a while to get their firewall fixed so that Windows 7 users will be able to share files.
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