Friday, November 30, 2007

For Sale: Glass Side Table



I've kept this side table in my study for some time but I haven't used it in the past 2 years, so I've decided to let it go. It's a good-looking ornamental piece, but as people who've been to my place know, I've loads of em already.

I'm selling it for RM20. Good gift for family, maybe? Do leave me a note if you want it.

Christmas wrappers

Christmas is less than a month away and I'm gearing up for lots of spending, lots of cheer and best of all, lots of Christmas music!

You might think that sounds crazy, but Christmas music just makes me feel so happy and peaceful inside. I love it!

I was hoping (and planning) to spend Christmas in England this year because it would feel so much more Christmassy there. Carols, lighting of trees, pantomimes, plays, all the shops with beautiful decor... but sadly (and irritatingly), work got in the way and I've had to postpone my trip. I wonder if I can talk my way into getting ang paus from Grandpa G's family.

Anyway, seeing as I'll be here, I may as well get into the mood and have fun. Every year, I have a different theme for wrapping presents. Although I'm excruciatingly broke this year, I've decided that the amazing wrapping papers I've seen are worth the money and I've chosen my theme for this year to be Cute Wrapping Papers. No more ribbons, just cute wrappers and plain-coloured nametags.

The standard of wrapper designs has really shot up. Here are two that I purchased recently. They're from a.e.i.o.u. studio. I've noticed that their stuff are really nice, so keep the good work up and keep the prices low, guys! (Wrappers are RM1.50 each)



Thursday, November 29, 2007

How to open a company current account

Here goes another life lesson that may be helpful to some of you...

I opened my company account at Public Bank cuz it's just round the corner from mine. However, I had some reservations because of previous experience opening a savings account (for my previous job), when I found out that they were super fussy about documents. I hate that.

There was actually one time the woman asked me to sign several thousand times on a form because my signature wasn't quite like what they had on file.

Anyway, I decided a bit of hassle was worth the convenience of them being right at my doorstep. So for what it's worth, here's how to open a company current account with Public Bank.


  1. Get an 'introducer' who has had a current account (personal or company) with PB for more than a year.
  2. Get a company stamp made. It doesn't have to have a signature line underneath. Mine's got my mascot and company name.
  3. Get a form to open a current account from the Customer Service person.
  4. Fill up the form with your company information (have your registration docs with you) and introducer details. If it's a partnership, you'll need a letter or agreement that it really is a legal partnership. Bring your IC too.
  5. After sending in your form and photocopied company documents, they'll tell you to wait a week while they check your company out at the Registrar. I don't know what the heck for since I had to show all my original company documents anyway.
  6. (As I'm writing this, I'm still waiting for them to get back to me - it's one day before they're supposed to call).
  7. Anyway, after they call confirming your company is indeed real and not pirated, you have to deposit a cheque of at least RM3000 (which, I was told, you can withdraw the next day).


That should be it! Let the money come rolling in!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Want my advice? Read a mag.

Seems someone's interested in my opinions! Hehe...

I was rudely awoken this morning by a phone call. Went through the usual round of test "hello"s (so I don't sound groggy or phlegmy in case it's a business call) before I answered.

Hello?
Hi, is that Catherine?
Yes....... ? (are you gonna offer me a boring logo job?)
I'm Sree from Personal Money - Joanne gave me your number. I'm writing an article about junkyard sales and how to make money from them, and she told me that you do this sort of thing.

Wow, I do?

I realised after the interview that... yes, I do. Lots.

I told her how I started out on KLue Classifieds selling my 6 ft Christmas tree and a rabbit with cage ("real rabbit?"), then moved to the Thursday flea market at Mont Kiara when they first started and weren't so damn snobby like they are now ("We have too many stalls selling books already"... "But I've sold here twice before... and is 20 accessories stalls not too many?"). I also told her about eBay but am not so keen on it because lots of locals don't know how to use it properly.

Anyway, you can find out more about selling your old junk or unwanted items in the Personal Money article... dunno which month it'll come out in, but I'll keep you peeps posted.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

My Past Week

I really should be more current with my blog posts on events. By the time I've written about an event I've been to, it would already be quite forgotten by the general public.

Anyway, most notable event I attended in the past week was the Lapsap Junkyard Sale at Palate Palette. Beach Babe Bea called me to bring some of my unwanted stuff to fill up her table, so I brought some ancient CDs, even some new(ish) books and... a birdcage.

Yes, those who've been reading my blog for about a year should know about my two pet budgies, Ron and Penny. I don't think I mentioned though, that Penny died in that cage (!!), and so I let Ron back into the 'wild' because I felt sorry for her being all alone. It wasn't the cage's fault Penny died, by the way.

Anyway, my birdcage wasn't sold, but there seemed to be quite a bit of interest in it. Probably artists trying to figure out how they can deconstruct it and compose an art piece entitled, 'I Used To Be A Birdcage'.

Here are some pics from the event.









***

Last Saturday, I went to Valentine Willie to check out the first day of Art ± rm1000. Wanted to see what kind of nice and affordable art I could purchase for my living room feature wall. None, apparently.

(And there was a really annoying piece of work that featured 2 plastic bags being blown at intervals by a small electric fan on the floor. The noise of the motor starting every few seconds was so damn irritating!)

The only notable work that I would feature was called 'Blue Monday' and 'Chilli Day', but unfortunately, I can't remember who the artist is. My apologies!

Valentine Willie was showcasing another exhibition in the main room though, by Kow Leong Kiang, called 'Other People'. These are portraits of people he met when he was in Vermont on a residency programme. I really loved it! The paintings had such soft and subtle strokes of colour that I couldn't help but stare at them. Wish I could afford THOSE. One day... one day...

The exhibition is on till 1 December, so drop by the gallery (Telawi 3, I think) if you're around the area.

***

I would have had one more event to write about had I not been let down by a no-show of people ☹. I had 4 invites to the Jonathan Cheng show at the KL Convention Centre, in conjunction with Malaysia International Fashion Week (at least that's what I think M-IFW stands for, don't you?) last Thursday, but everyone who was supposed to go dropped out last minute and I couldn't think of anyone else who could make it at 4pm on a weekday.

So I missed out.

What a bummer that was. And I saw photos in the newspaper of some other shows that were going on for the same event and they looked cool! I guess there's always next year.

Which reminds me, I caught the finale of Project Runway Malaysia a few weeks ago, and I just wanted to say that the models in that show suck. They have fat legs and they can't walk at all. Not exaggerating. ALL of them. One girl was swaying her backside so much I thought she'd fall off the runway. Damn!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Newbies

Christmas is coming to town!

Mumsy Bumsy bought a new tree at Metrojaya today. She's been quite impressed with fibre optic trees for a few weeks now, so when she saw a dazzling silver one, she couldn't resist! It's really quite pretty. Foxy can't stop visiting the tree in admiration. To her, it must be like that huge Christmas tree at Times Square. I wonder what she thought of our old 6 foot tree then?




We also bought an unbelievably cute giant Santa who stands up on his own. Maxi and Foxy thought we'd got them a new friend... seriously!! They couldn't stop wagging their tails and trying to get to his butt. I haven't taken pictures of it though. Forgot.

I'm also really excited cuz I collected my new specs yesterday! It's by Freudenhaus of Germany, and it's handmade! Didn't know it was so posh till I looked at it properly. No wonder it was so expensive. I thought the market price of specs had just gone up! After all, it has been 3 years since I bought my last one.

And, yeah, Carrot, I will take your advice, bite the bullet/wallet and try Florida's Natural! If it's not worth the price, I know who to blame! :P

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Revealed: Orange Juice

I'm no expert on juices, but I have tried a few in my time, so here goes. Keeping in mind that these are all carton juices and they're not gonna taste 100% fresh, this is my guide to Orange Juice.

Let me start with popular names.

Marigold. Just had some today, and contrary to what I thought before, it's not too bad. It might not have tasted all that great, but I was too busy discussing work to really take note. I did notice though, that it has a very strong (and artificial-looking) orange colour. For goodness' sake, we've all had freshly squeezed orange juice before and a juice that looks like it's been overly fake-tanned is not gonna make us drool with anticipation.

Peel Fresh. This is my least favourite among orange juice brands. It's so darn sweet that I have to wonder if the 'real orange pulp' inside really is authentic pulp, or "really orange" pulp. I don't know what else to say. This brand is just too sweet to be real orange juice, dude.

Ceres. Okay, this brand is really quite affordable even though it looks high-class. I had this quite some time ago so my memory of it has faded somewhat, but I don't remember enjoying it much. Where Peel Fresh is too sweet, I think Ceres is too sour. And I really hate orange juice that's too sour. Why not invest in some proper oranges that are friendly to the tastebuds?

Liqui-Fruit. This is my favourite brand. I only recently discovered it, and I'm lovin' it! It's from South Africa and is also quite affordable. I think it's under RM5 for a carton. Besides their orange juice, I've had other flavours and it still tastes real, authentic, juicy and just right on them good ol' tastebuds. It's also easy on the eyes. Meaning it's not too orange and not too yellow lah. I'm not sure if it's as widely stocked as the previous brands, but do look for it and try some! As far as I know, they're sold in Village Grocer @ Bangsar Village and Cold Storage @ BSC.

There are other brands I'd love to try, like Florida's Natural, but it's just too expensive (nearly RM20 for a carton, admittedly double the size of the brands above, but still!). I'm sure it tastes yummy though.

I hope this will help you save time during your next supermarket outing. Hehe.

Stay tuned for the next instalment of Revealed!

Friday, November 09, 2007

Trip to Singapore

Popped down to Singapore for a night yesterday.

Was planning not to spend any money at all to save up for my trip to see Grandpa G at the end of the year, but Singapore will be Singapore, and girls will be girls! Saw good discounts on winter coats so purchased a cool bomber jacket... just hope it keeps me warm enough in a north English winter! Bought some other clothes as well... and have sworn off shopping for the rest of the year. Fingers crossed.










Tuesday, November 06, 2007

My Funny Pix #1

When my dogs feel a bit peckish midday, they just look for something in the kitchen rubbish bin...

THAT'S NOT A REFRIGERATOR, KIDDOS!

Anyway, I was looking through old pictures, trying to get back some space on my iPod, and I found this really funny pic that got me giggling for a while. Check out Bin's hair!



That was taken during the production of Austeen Powers around 3 or 4 years ago. Bin was the cameraman and co-director. It was a brilliant production!

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Friday night dinner party

I hosted a nice private dinner party on Friday.

It was nice to have a small gathering to catch up with friends. Beach Babe Bea cooked for us; us being Sharry Berry, Dan The Drinker, Jon L and moi.



For starters, we had nice, warm bread rolls and butter, followed by our main, Lamb Shoulder with Apricot Sauce, and dessert brought by Jon L, Bulla chocolate ice cream! Yummy. Elleh Belleh's enjoying what's left of it right now, actually. So glad he brought chocolate and not any weird flavour! As for drinks, Sharry Berry and Dan The Drinker (true to his name) brought wine.

Dinner started a little late and Sharry Berry was so hungry I had to offer her boiled carrots to curb her appetite. Poor girl. Overall, the dinner was really enjoyable. Thanks to everyone who helped clean up after!