endroog

Every 9 out of 10 people have a pair of eyeglasses. Even kids as young as 2 years old now. It has become a necessity now and one has to be smart and cost-conscious. I myself have four pairs of spectacles. One for work, one for the weekend night out (because I have to look good), one sun glasses and another one for sports.

It was on January 23rd 2009 that Zenni Optical (zennioptical.com) was featured in the New York Times in the article entitled Seeing Straight Without Breaking the Bank.  For as low as $8, you can get a pair of glasses with generic frames and lenses with anti-scratch coating as opposed to spending sometimes up to $150 for a similar pair in other optical shops. You may ask “there much be a catch for such a low price?!”. Well, secret is that they manufacture their own spectacle frames and sell it directly to end-user customers with a virtually low advertising budget. No middlemen involved. As spectacles became a necessity and perhaps a fashion item, we all have a tendency to change it frequently (I change my spectacles every year) to keep up with the current fashion. As such, the price is a very important factor.

And so I browsed through the website and saw a wide selection. It had a range for women, men, stainless steel frames, titanium frames, shads etc. I particularly liked Stainless Steel Frame #4911 as it had a tinge of purple in it. And best thing was that it was priced at $29.95 only. The good thing about stainless steel is that they don’t rust and it can last for a very long time.

Yip was back for the CNY and well… we went to his place in BBS after our dinner with all the homies. His house is transformed into a mansion (the latest transformation)… equipped with facilities such as swimming pool, badminton court, basketball court (half court), gym and other stuffs all in the backyard overlooking down the hills of Selayang. A stretch of four semi dees all linked at the backyard.  It was like a holiday resort. We played mahjong and some of them played Big2 while the rest were drinking. Keith and his wife were there too. Ng came there immediately after he came back from Jakarta.

The backyard…. the swimming pool… very nice house mansion.

But i think it is a bit dangerous ….. some drunk fella might fall into the swimming pool.

Sunbathing…anyone? Well… hope its not here in Malaysia. But this is something you see in tv.. those houses own by filthy-rich rappers etc.

Elizabeth Wong… the elected assemblywoman of Bukit Lanjan…… we all support you and that is why we voted for you last March 8.

PLEASE  DON’T  RESIGN !!!

From,

endroog.com (Sri Damansara)

In some cases, a contract become unenforceable, impossible to perform, illegal or futile due to unexpected or unforeseen event that happened after the contract was made. This is known as a frustration. Frustration is an act outside the contract that makes it completion impossible, a good example of this is in marine contracts where a delivery is specified for a certain date and time but the crossing is so bad that the delivery cannot be made on time. This would be an example of frustration of that part of the contract and no breach would be held as long as the goods were delivered at the nearest possible time. Frustration of a contract and what it constitutes is usually seen via exclusion clauses, such as advising that liability will not be held for incomplete contracts or damage due to acts of God, nature etc. Other examples of what may frustrate a particular contract may also be present also, i.e. unforeseen acts, third parties etc.

The following are circumstances where contract can be ended by frustration:

• change in law or operation of law

In Avery v Bowden (1855), a good example of frustration followed by illegality. The outbreak of the Crimean war caused the agreement to charter a ship in the contract turned illegal, thus discharging the contract. On the other hand, the case Baily v. De Crespigny (1869), the defendant leased a land to the claimant and the adjoining land which he retained will not be built upon. Then, a railway company, which was to build a railway, compulsorily acquired the defendant’s land under a statute which was enacted after the contract was made. It was upheld in court that the defendant was dischaged of his obligation or promise to build upon the portion of land he owns that he retained from the lease to the claimant. Should the statute been enacted before the contract was made, the outcome of the case would’ve been in favour of the claimant.

• Destruction of thing essential for performance usually refer to the case of Taylor v. Caldwell (1863). In the case, the claimant had hired a hall for a series of concert for four named days. However before the concert could debut, the hall was accidentally burnt down. The claimant sued for damages for the expenses he incurred in advertising of the concerts but the court held that the contract was frustrated by the incident.

• Non-occurance of event which the contract depends will also frustrates a contract. Coronation cases are good example to illustrate this factor. In the case of Krell v. Henry (1903), the defendant hired a room to spectate the coronation of Edward VII but procession was postponed due to the King’s illness. The defendant had then refused to pay the rent as the purpose of renting the room in the first place is to watch the coronation procession. It was upheld in court that the cancellation of the procession had frustrated the contract.

In another case, the case of Herne Bay Steamboat Co. v. Hutton (1903) , that was also during the same coronation event of King Edward VII, the claimant was the boat operator and the defendant had hired that boat to take passenger from Herne Bay to see the naval review at Spithead. It was also for a cruise around the fleet. The coronation was cancelled but the cruise around the fleet could still have taken place. The court held that the defendant who did not use the boat, must pay the hiring fee as the cancellation did not frustrate or discharge the contract.

• Contract may be discharged when fundamental duties of the contract had changed apart from what was the intention or purpose the contract was set out for in the first place. Example can be found in the case of Metropolitan Water Board v. Dick, Kerr & Co (1918) where under the wartime powers, the Minister of Munition ordered the defendant to stop building and sell off the plant which they went into contract with the claimant to build a water reservoir. The uncertain duration of the interruption of war undermined the agreement as the commercial purpose of the contract is frustrated. However, a contract may not be frustrated just because it had become harder to perform the contractual obligation. In the case of Tsakiroglou & Co. Ltd v. Noblee Thorl (1962), the defendant did not ship the groundnuts which they were supposed to ship from Sudan to Hamburg, Germany via Suez Canal because the canal was closed. The court held that the canal is not the only way to Hamburg and that the defendant can ship the groundnuts via Cape of Good Hope, S. Africa although this will increase the shipping expenses. As such the contract cannot be frustrated just because it had become more difficult to perform the duties. If the only route is blocked, then the cantract can be frustrated.

• Where a person is required to render personal services, personal incapacity and or death will discharge the contract. This was held in the case of Condor v. The Barron Knights (1966) where the claimant who was employed as the drummer of the band, was certified by his doctor that he can play on no more than four nights a week while in contract he was supposed to play seven nights a week when necessary. Following this, the band terminated his contract. Court held that his illness had frustrated the agreement and his contract was thus, properly terminated.

So… Valentine’s over… luckily didn’t spend a bomb for food and stuffs that come with an inflated price tag. Dinner was just at the chinese restaurant. Oh yeah… watched Valkyrie. WWII buffs must watch it.

Alrite….

Good evening tansri-tansri, Tan Sri endroo G, puansri-puansri, datuk seri-datuk seri, datin seri-datin seri, datuk-datuk, datin-datin, ladies and gentlemen.. today my friend, Kok Ming a.k.a. Sean is finally married. Pheeww, what a long speech opener.

All the “heng-tai” (brothers) for the morning session. All together 19 of us. Soo Lan was the only lady. Who was the best man?

Arrived at Olympic Hotel where the bride and her family stayed for few days.

From their face expression, I think they are thinking this (from left):

Sue Sean: “Oh… there come the hunks.. I won’t let my darling eat those crap – lemon, chilies and bittergourds later”

Nicole: “Oh my god, so many hunks, who is more photogenic? My darling is surely the best one”

Sophia: “Oh fuck, so many of them. Wonder if there’s enough chilies and lemons for all of them. Luckily my darling is not part of the entourage but here with me as part of the chi mui (sisters)”

Lemon eaters.

I escaped the lemons… with a smile.

Then, the little bittergourds came. Even Kok Ming was not spared.

After that, chilies were distributed. I had a chili too. I got heartburn after that. Yea Chern and DanielF certainly were not happy at all.

I quickly walloped the watermelon to sooth the heartburn and my burning mouth.

After all the ordeal, Kok Ming finally got his wife into the car.

Leaving the hotel with the bride.

After the tea-drinking session at Kok Ming’s house. Brothers and sisters… say cheese.

Dinner ballroom at Renaissance Hotel, KL.

Look… Lingesh also was there.

Among the guests were R.Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez… the journalists from The Sun who brought us many eye-popping, jaw-dropping news such as the MPPJ billboard scandal and the now-dead little emperor of Klang who converted a few low cost houses into a big mansion among others.

Wong and I were on stage giving a speech. I dont know how I managed to do it but it was no fun at all standing there looking at the crowd of 800-900 people. We were reminicing the old days of the Cookie Monster.

After the wedding dinner, we went to Mist Club (previously C18) at Bangsar Avenue… they owned the club so everything was on the house. Beer, liquor etc.

Congrats bro.

So… birdday is over and I’m one year older. Thanks to those who sent me wishes. Ha. I haven’t been posting for sometime as I found a new pastime this CNY. Learned to play mahjong and been playing with friends during the new year holidays. Haha. I was dragged into learning it while in Ipoh. Szer’s mom gave me a crash course. Its easy to learn. Played at Yea Chern’s place and also at Yip’s grand mansion. Yeah,by the way, Yip is back for holidays. His house was transformed into a mansion like those you see in TV owned by filthy-rich rappers.

Granny bought a cake for me to blow the candle. Got angpau yesterday for my birdday too. So hopefully this year will be a better year ahead…. and start working like an ox/bull/cow. Dave got married a week ago. Congrats to him. I owe Kok Ming and Dave a post each for their wedding.

I still have photos of my Europe trip coming up. Lets get back to work. CNY is officially OVER.