Going from strength to strength Big Apple Donuts opened their second branch of donut decadence in Kota Kinabalu’s Warisan Square. But what’s up the official website of Big Apple Donuts?

Rumour has it (and it is a rumour), that they were in such a hurry to copy J.Co Donuts that they clean forgot about setting up a website. I visited the domain name some time ago (when I realised it existed), but it had a ‘Under Construction’ thingum running - now I can’t even access it.

Anyway, the good news about Big Apple Donuts in Warisan Square is that it might has well be an entirely different business, judging by the service that is. When Julia and I stumbled into the queue, the line was snaking right around the little kiosk, from the pay point right back to the kitchen on the other side.

Short, slow-moving queues from Big Apple Donuts in City Mall flashed through our minds and we cringed at the prospect of having to wait so long to try the 6 donuts left on the menu, which we had yet to taste. But we nearly choked on our donut-flavour-enduced drool when whilst pondering the worth of waiting in the queue, one of the service staff came over to our far flung corner and took our order.

Gob smacked, we pointed out the ones we needed, was handed a box with them in, and we effortless flowed with the queue, which we now noticed was actually quite fast moving. At the till itself the process was quick and efficient and in no-time we were done. I was so inspired by this redeeming standard of service that I had to order a latte. Previously I haven’t given much respect to the Coffee part of Big Apple Donuts & Coffee, but because of the excellent service I thought I would try it.

This is where things hit a snag. Clearly they don’t make much coffee, although when I asked the girl at the cash register, she said they do - I’m not convinced she understood what I asked her. Her colleague first had to be reminded how to make the latte, then asked in which cup to put the latte, before eventually she gave me what looked like a Cappuccino in a very small cup. I cringed; RM7 for a sip of coffee.

However, if I was stunned by the efficiency of the Warisan Square branch of Big Apple Donuts, I was complete bowled over by the quality of the latte.

I wasn’t expecting much, to be fair, but on my latte scale where zero on the lowest end is represented by a Nescafe tube of 3-in-1 (the most horrendous coffee imitation ever to hit the market) and five on the high end is a Starbucks, no-frills latte - and a 3 is a cafe latte at The Pacific Sutera’s Cafe Boleh - the Big Apple Donuts latte scored a 4. It was in fact a very satisfying latte.

And because the latte was riding shotgun with our donut tasting, I didn’t even notice, or mind that much, the tiny size of the cup.

So, you’ve read much about Big Apple Donuts and you know there are 22 donuts on their menu board, and you also probably know that every now and again you find a donut which is not on the menu board, but do you know what you want before you go there? A major factor in slow moving queues, especially at the Big Apple Donuts in City Mall, is the fact that people can’t make up their minds about what they want to choose.

And it’s not like Big Apple Donuts make it any easier to decide before you go there, because only God knows what’s up with Big Apple Donuts’ official website (a hint: it’s not working).

But donut salvation is at hand, because Sabahbah.com came up with The Ultimate Guide to Big Apple Donuts’ donuts.

So if you’d like to know what’s actually included in their line-up (difficult to tell, especially at City Mall, when their trays are always empty), just refer to The Ultimate Guide to Big Apple Donuts’ donuts.

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Working on a blog is hard work. Working on two blogs is even harder work (duh!) But sabahbah.com is shaping up nicely with the content fleshing out.

My days are intertwining again and I seriously lose track. I write a post, and the next time I look up the calendar has moved on 3 days and I didn’t even know it. In the meantime I’m posting like crazy to keep add content, keep up with search engines and keep my content fresh for my readers.

1earth is obviously my person blog and I write about the little adventures that I’m having. At the moment a lot of those adventures include Ubuntu, a windows alternative that I’ve been trying out. I’ve almost not used my Windows installation at all, until today actually - Ubuntu struggles with video and graphics, but that’s a blog entry in itself.

My other adventures includes sabahbah.com, which is a blog specifically for the promotion of Kota Kinabalu and Sabah. At the moment it’s almost exclusively Kota Kinabalu, as I haven’t had a change, or have the time, to explore the rest of Sabah yet - but that too will come.

In the meantime, on Saturday, in the course of documenting Sabah’s treasures, I visited Chi The Spa at Shangri-la’s Tanjung Aru Resort. I’ve been following the progress of that spa for more than a year already, as the spa manager is a good friend of mine. It’s been running for a good month or two, and only now did I get an opportunity to visit it.

Without going into too much details (will be doing a proper article on sabahbah.com), the spa is stunning. Apparently it went over budget as far as time and money is concerned, but I look at it and I think it was all worth it.

It’s perched on a little peninsula within the resort and previously it was a fairly dilapidated little building which wasn’t used for what it was worth. So they tore it down and constructed this spa village which is close on heaven.

Anyway, would have loved a treatment, but they sell at RM600 for 2 and half hours, so it’s a little beyond my budget, but apparently they do brisk business, especially in the wake of KK’s recent mini-rainy season. Here’s a picture, a little bigger than usual, to whet your appetite, but do check out the detailed review soon on sabahbah.com.

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The Domain Transfer Companies Shuffle should be a dance of a few enjoyable, easy to learn steps. Sort of like line dancing. But it isn’t… line-dancing, or enjoyable and easy to learn.

I had (have) this Reseller Account through HostGator. I love it, because I can subdivide my domains and have extensive controls over things like the DNS records and technical things, which I love to be in my hands and not somebody elses.

However, on another, much cheaper hosting plan with Hostgator, I can get much more hosting space and much more bandwidth. The only downside, from my current point of view, is that I don’t get to have the Reseller perks - that includes tools to actually resell the space.

But, have I decided, I don’t really have time to set-up the whole thing, although I almost have, and I really don’t have time to provide the inevitable support that I would have to once I resell the accounts.

So I signed up for a Baby Croc Shared Hosting package which saves me a bundle of cash each month (in fact, I have paid it a year in advance) and now it’s happy days.

The last niggly bit is transferring my domain names away from the worst ever hosting company I’ve had to deal with. I signed up with that company years ago, because they had extremely cheap hosting plans. But, my momma used to say - you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Anyway, I discovered that one monkey runs the show there - he’s sales, support, customer care, everything. And because he does everything himself, he does it slow and half arsed and he’s rude like you wouldn’t believe somebody in business could be rude to their clients. I won’t mention the name of the hosting company just yet, because he’s not beyond being spiteful and doing something to my domains to prevent it from being transferred.

I scouted a few domain name registrars, because it really should be easy: find the guy who can do it cheapest and go with them. But there’s so many domain registration companies out there, it’s probably easy to get conned. For that reason I tend to stick to the names I know.

Registerfly.com

My first thought was Registerfly.com. I’ve used them before, long ago, but only briefly. They’re cheap’ish and provide Whois protection through privacyprotect.org, which is something I was looking for. I signed up for an account and started the whole process to transfer domains for something like $8.89. I was 1 click away from committing when they showed the charges one last time, and for the first time in the process, an additional fee of $0.43.

I mouse-overed the charge and it said something like ‘for years our prices have been cheap, but ICANN imposed a fee that we cannot absorb, and thus the fee’. Now 43 cents is nothing, however I remembered why I had a bad experience with registerfly.com in the past.

I signed up for a domain and was promised this free and that free, most notably web hosting space. However, I couldn’t get them to give that to me and I really can’t remember the reasons now, because they used to use India-based technical support and communication beyond the manual that they obviously referenced, was difficult.

I couldn’t help but wonder, why not show me the measly charge of 43 cents from the word go, why hide it right up until I’m about to click pay before you suddenly shove the charge in there? My suspicion and doubt of their business practice made me cancel the transfer right there.

Enom.com

They area actually the reason I gave up on Hostgator’s Reseller Account, because it comes with a free eNom Reseller Account. I’m based in Malaysia and Malaysia is the origin (or used to be, I believe we’ve been cleared) of lots of credit card fraud. For that reason, Enom says it doesn’t accept payment by credit card from my IP Address.

I tried to do the respectable thing and email them to ask for alternatives, like can I fax my card details, etc. They replied and basically said that sure, send through the card and copies of your ID and we’ll evaluate it. It will take a long time and we can’t guarantee that it will be accepted.

I can spoof the IP Address, of course, because last year I had to register something through them and I mom helped me do it, successfully, with my card details from South Africa. However, I can’t be spoofing IP Addresses everytime I want to register a domain.

So Enom was crossed off the list. Besides, if you don’t get it at reseller prices, their domain registrations are actually quite expensive.

GoDaddy.com

Possibly the cheapest, known name I came across, and I know gazillions of people use their services every day. The .com name would have cost me something stupid like $6.95.

However, and again, this was the reason I skipped on past godaddy.com, they want to charge another $6 or $7 per domain for the Whois Privacy Protection. I was once again left to feel like it’s something they could offer for free - why make a name for yourself offering the cheapest domains around, only to blow the price out of the water by charging it’s value in Whois protection?

Namecheap.com

Having Googled ‘domain transfer companies‘, I turned to several forums for advice. The guys above were mentioned, of course, but I’ve whittled them down for the reasons given. Another company, which came up often with mostly good references, were namecheap.com.

The domain names are not that cheap, in fact a .com will cost $9 something.

So what made me choose namecheap.com as my domain name registration company?

Well, first off all, they offer WhoisShield free of charge, which is great, because that means it will hide your street address, name and telephone number from a casual Whois search. Not sure why in this day and age, ICANN still insists that you display your private information like that.

Secondly, I found a discount code for namecheap.com, FEBLUV, which discounted each domain by $1, so that the total amounted to $8.41 per domain. This is still more expensive than godaddy.com, but remember you get the WhoisShield for free - which to me is valuable. Besides, I love discount, so just the mere fact that I got something for less was compelling enough.

Thirdly, the reviews said they have great support and easy to use systems. I agree with the easy to use system, however the Support is double-sided.

I wanted to transfer 3 domains and 2 worked beautifully. The second of the 3 actually had privacyprotect.org enabled, which I didn’t realise. The confirmation email which sets the transfers rolling inadvertently got sent to privacyprotect.org’s email address (which shreds it, I’m sure), and thus the transfer was never initiated.

I contacted namecheap.com’s live support and they said I should get the protection removed. I did that and contacted the live support again and spoke to one Svetlana H. Again, somebody with dubious English capabilities (pity I don’t speak… Russian?), referencing a manual. My repeated explanation of what happened, how I fixed it and how I needed the request resent, lead to nothing.

3 chats, one lasting 10 minutes, one lasting 12 minutes and the last lasting 18 minutes, left me with the answers that a) the current transfer can’t be cancelled (it was awaiting confirmation that would never come), and b) the confirmation email couldn’t be resent.

I knew that to be false, so I emailed the support address. I’ve learned over the years that the live chats are usually out-sourced to some god-forsaken-cheap-but-language-limited-overseas company, whilst support emails are usually handled by the company people themselves. This could be an illusion, I’m not sure.

Anyway, while I was working on this post, a good man name Jerry replied and said it was possible to redo the transfer request from scratch and he’ll do it. I’ve replied him the details he needed and now, as we speak, the transfer will be initiated.

Phew!

So, in about 5 days, this blog will reside under the same good host, HostGator, and under the same domain name, but will be ever so slightly different. I just hope I can effect the move without interruption, but it looks like that should be fairly painless.

And that was my little adventure into the world of domain name registration and domain name transfers. I hope that knowledge is useful to somebody other than me.

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Good service is hard to find in Kota Kinabalu, and as quick as I am to complain, as quick I am to commend. And this weekend I encountered two instances of above and beyond that I simply must share.

San Francisco Coffee, Warisan Square

I’m not a huge fan of San Francisco Coffee merely because I prefer the stronger taste of the competitor’s coffee.

However, in our quest to find the perfect western breakfast in Kota Kinabalu, Julia and myself thought it’s about time that we tried out San Francisco Coffee’s Big Breakfast, which is served until 11.30am.

So it happened then that on Saturday morning we walked into San Francisco Coffee in Warisan Square, well hungry and in the mood for breakfast. We walked up to the counter and ordered and was happily obliged, except, said the Barista taking our order, because it’s after 11.30am the bottomless coffee/tea is not included.

I looked at Julia, she looked at me, and together we turned to look at the clock on the wall. It was 11.38am. We looked back at the Barista in unison, with equal expressions of disbelief on our face. Without batting an eyelid he said “but no matter, for you we’ll still include the coffee”.

I was literally dumbstruck - not by having missed the cut-off by 8 minutes (it was 11.34am on my watch), but by the way he graciously granted us the benefit without argument or protest - which is usually what would happen in such cases. Both our faces lit up and we were supremely impressed.

Of course, we wanted to fill in a Customer Feedback card, but alas, they had no such tools, so we enjoyed our breakfast in bliss.

Starbucks Coffee, City Mall

Ever since Starbucks in KK introduced the Rooibos Tea Latte, it has been my favourite drink. I’ve had it every time on the several occasions that we’ve been to Starbucks over the months that they’ve introduced it, and it’s been a pleasant experience every time.

At about 10pm last night we found ourselves at the Starbuck Coffee in City Mall, and as usual I ordered the Rooibos Tea Latte. Both the Baristas behind the counter were very friendly and helpful and the order was quickly filled.

I was standing at the counter waiting for the other half of our order when I took a sip of the latte. It tasted odd, watery. I took another sip and realised that I would need sugar, the first time I’ve ever felt the need with a Rooibos Tea Latte.

After we sat down and I started sipping the latte, I realise that something was seriously amiss. It just didn’t taste the same, and it was watery. Markedly different to the many times I had it previously.

I went back to the Barista, after some coaxing from Julia, and asked him if this is the usual Rooibos Tea Latte and that I felt something was missing from it. He said that it was the same as always. I accepted it as such returned to my seat.

Another Barista, incidentally the one who made that very first Rooibos Tea Latte for me in the Starbucks in Warisan Square, appeared from the storeroom and had a chat with the one I spoke to earlier. Moments later he came over to ask if there was something wrong with the latte.

I was surprised and said that yes there was - does he remember the first time he made me the latte? He confirmed that he did remember, there’s not that many tall, bald-headed white-guys in KK. He said no matter, he’ll fix me another one.

I again found myself stunned by the gesture. I didn’t ask for a replacement when I went in, but he came out to check and wanted to give me a satisfying drink. I was pleasantly surprised.

He returned some minutes later with a good old cup of soothing Rooibos Tea Latte. We had a bit of a chat and introduced ourselves - his name is Peachi.

So, at the City Mall Starbucks, you can get the best Rooibos Tea Latte in KK from a guy called Peachi.

Big Apple Donuts, City Mall, KK

Here’s just a Big Apple Donut update, because there were no instances of exceptional service at Big Apple Donuts in City Mall. In fact, they still have 7 or 8 staff behind the glass panels churning out donuts, and only one in the front trying to service the line.

The first update is that there’s now a Big Apple Donuts in Warisan Square in Kota Kinabalu (in the mall part, near Roxy and Charles & Keith). The second update is that they’ve discovered the need for a website.

Yup, Big Apple Donut’s official website will be at bigappledonuts.com - will be, because there’s nothing at the moment, and they actually print on the box “under construction”.

Update 22 October 2008: 8 Months down the line Big Apple Donuts’ website is no more than it was 6 months ago.  Guess they didn’t need a website that much afterall.  And Peachi told me the correct spelling of his name and also said he’s now at City Mall on a permanent basis.  You go Peachi!

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The Chinese New Year celebrations in Kota Kinabalu (KK) continue with firework and Lion Dances in seemingly random locations. I had the good fortune of knowing the time and date of Lion Dance at the The Loft, in Kota Kinabalu’s Waterfront.

The Loft is an English themed pub located in KK’s Waterfront, a strip of bars and restaurants facing the sea, immediately in front of Warisan Square. The location is ideal for sunset cocktails, birthday parties, watching sports on the big screen, or just for a quiet drink. The Loft is one of Kota Kinabalu’s (KK) better known pubs and makes for a great night out.

Anyway, the Lion Dance Troupe arrived a little later than what we had expected, but sitting at one table, myself, Julia, Phyllis, Louren, Ollie and Erika found ways to amuse ourselves (refer to the pics for silly faced detail).

Eventually, and quite unexpectedly, the dancing started with a dragon that whirred through The Loft. By this time, packed with expectant onlookers, The Loft was quite busy and the screams and cheers attracted more passers-by.

Following the dragon and it’s accompanying dance, a few lions appeared and mulled through the crowd in flashes from cameras that lit up the dark outside of The Loft. I’m not sure if they all arrived at once an was just not visible through the crowd, or whether more and more lions joined perhaps one at a time, but eventually The Loft was overrun by at least 8 lions.

Lions, in Chinese Tradition, brings good luck to an establishment. The idea of fireworks during Chinese New Year is to chase away bad luck and ward off evil spirits, and having lions dance in your premises bring good luck and prosperity to your business, the premises and, by extension, your patrons. Loads of lions therefore offers loads of luck.

After the lions went upstairs, down stairs, behind the bar, in between patrons, outside, and everywhere, a structure appeared. A series of metal beams welded about 1m apart in varying height, could only mean one thing: a daring, breathtaking Lion Dance display. The excitement was palpable.

The drums started beating and on of the lions hopped onto the lowest beams and started to dance around effortlessly, light footed from beam to beam as if it was dancing on the floor.

The lions used in these dances consists of two people. The guy in the front holds the detailed and beautiful head, of which the eyes, ears and mouth can move, and the guy in the back, which is the hind-legs of the animal. The tail can also move, but in this display dance on the beams, it’s mostly not important. Both wear leggings decorated the same as the lion’s body and the best (and most expensive lions), also have specially made feet.

The lion we were witnessing was a top-class lion and was meticulously decorate from head to toe. Several times their daring manoeuvres had us think they were going to fall over, or off, or snap their legs, but every time it was exactly as planned. The crowd were on their feet and gasping with each dramatic over balance when they show to be still in control when we all thought they lost it.

After a daring display and jumping from one end of the beam-structure to the other, the lion was done, and the public had an opportunity to don the costumes and dance around to the kuching-tak-kuching rhythm of the drummers. I jumped at the opportunity and offered to be Erika’s behind - and so we danced (short video attached).

The after a few minutes both Erika and myself were already tired, testimony to the skill and effort of the lion who moments ago did daring tricks on the beam.

The Chinese New Year celebrations continue for 15 days after the day of Chinese New Year and culminates in Chap Goh Mei, which in South-East Asia is also known as Chinese Valentine’s day. In China, this festival is called Yuan Xiao Jie or Lantern Festival, but is also considered Chinese Valentine’s Day. Chap Goh Mei is a Hokkien term and literally translates to 15th Day of the Year. Chap Goh Mei also sees the first full moon of the Chinese New Year.

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