Saturday, January 30, 2010

Retail therapy. Not for me this time.

It's dark and rumbling outside. It's threatening to be a storm, but it feels like it's almost scared to even drizzle.

A bit like a dog who barks at everyone passing by but is wearing a cone on his head and is locked behind the gates :(

You feel kinda sorry for the dog but at the same time are glad that he's not on the loose to bite you.

Anyway, it was a really blazing hot day today. Went to Telawi with Sharry Berry cuz she needed some retail therapy after working 6 day weeks for the past few weeks. Poor her. And not being compensated by the company either. That's why working in Malaysia sucks.

And that's why I know I would be really really unhappy working here in a company.

One of the shops we went to was Zara. They're having a clearance sale and I wanted to check it out. The one in Bangsar Village isn't as well-stocked as the one in Mid Valley, but I decided to take a look anyway. It wasn't that great. Everything was really expensive, and there was nothing really fashion forward there. Just the usual 'Zara look'. Very classic, nice but almost boring.

The only interesting way they made their clothes would perhaps be the texture and material. I saw two black and white striped jackets, but decided that I didn't have the money to buy any of them. Because of all the maintenance on my car that I've had to fork out for.

(Yesterday I found out I had to fork out another RM600 for a major service on my car. Okay, Mumsy Bumsy offered to pay, but I think if I can afford to, I'll pay her back.)

I love jackets! Since I've nothing else to do before the delicious-smelling dinner of chicken and potato that Mumsy Bumsy has just made, I think I'll look for some nice jackets to post up here.

(Actually, I DO have work to do by Monday - geez, who asks someone to do work over the weekend? Maybe I should charge more - but that can wait till tomorrow.)


McQ By Alexander McQueen Tuxedo Blazer £395 on asos.com

Diesel Super Draped Parka £195 on asos.com



Knitted Textured Cardigan £35 on topshop.com

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Goodputty Design: updated!

I've finally updated Goodputty with the NS Try Out Festival krant. Also streamlined it a little to improve the whole 'look' of the site. Go visit and show support :)

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A series of unfortunate events.

What an unfortunately eventful day today!

For a couple weeks now, my car has been sputtering whenever I turn the ignition. I figured it's time to get the battery changed, and I arranged to have it done yesterday morning. However, I was too busy and couldn't make it.

So this morning, I woke up with a kind of nervous feeling. I had a meeting to go to at 2pm nearby at Mid Valley. I dunno why I felt nervous this morning, like I KNEW that today would be the day that my car decides not to start.

I get a phone call from Regs to say that she will be in Mid Valley shopping and I can join her if I like. So I tell her that I have a meeting there and will meet her after. Later, she calls and says that her car won't start! So if I would be so kind as to pick her up on my way to my meeting, that'd be great. So I said, sure.

I get ready for my meeting and walk to my car, channelling good vibes and energy towards it.

Didn't work. It sputtered and sputtered and this time, it never started. Panic!

Although it was already 1.30pm, the workshop guys were apparently still at lunch and besides, apparently, they couldn't come and get me as they were sooooo busy. So I hailed a taxi from in front of my place and paid RM5.20 to get to Mid Valley for my meeting. Which lasted only 10 minutes. Then I had to find a taxi back. What a bloody waste of time, really.

Thank goodness there were loads of taxis waiting. So I took one directly to the workshop, which cost me RM6.40. This is already costing me way more than driving myself and parking in Mid Valley.

I tell the guy there that I need this done asap and then he was like, oh they are sooooo busy today, maybe they can only come to your car at 3pm (it was 2.15pm). So I said, well, do whatever you want and do it quick, I'm parking myself here, right in front of you.

Five minutes later, he walks over to me and says, oh we have someone free to send you to your car and fix it. And if it's the battery, it costs RM220. And the labour is RM35.

Dagneggit, the battery is RM220??? Why do I remember only just over a year ago paying slightly over RM100 for the exact same battery? At a different place, sure, but are they excessively overcharging me here? Well, I really need my car to be fixed or I'll be in a fretful mood all day, so I said okay.

So the guy brings me back and fixes up little Bruno (yes, I rarely call my car by his name, but there ya go). Then I drive back to the workshop to pay RM260 for everything. So expensive! I was gonna send my car for servicing tomorrow, but after paying that amount, I think I might skip it for the moment. The guy did scare me a little by saying that I should send my car in for the major service soon as my timing belt will need to be replaced at 60,000 km (I'm at 52,000km).

Since my car is working again, I headed to the bank where I had to pick up a bank statement for my company account. I decided to park inside the compound because there is a 15-minute grace period when you don't have to pay for parking. Since I was just picking up the statement, I figured it wouldn't take me long.

Well, it didn't take too long, but it certainly took me about 10 minutes or so. I waited a minute at the ATM machine, wanting to withdraw some cash, but they were taking too long and I really didn't wanna pay for parking, so I went back to my car.

Lo and behold, what's new? There are 5 motorcycles parked behind my car, almost certainly all heading to the gambling shop I'm parked in front of. There were two motorcycles blocking my path, and one of them rode away while I was entering my car. So now I had one problem on hand. And no one in sight. A dude comes down from the gambling shop and goes to the cycle next to the problem one. I try angling my car to squeeze out, but to no avail, the damn cycle was just right in my way!

Now, why can't these stupid cyclists park the cycles at least in places where we cars can squeeze out? Why do they all have to park in a cluster behind my ONE car? Can't they just take an extra 10 steps and park in a more convenient spot for EVERYBODY? Damn them!

I had to get out of my car and ask the dude to help me move the idiot's cycle next to his. He could only budge it about a foot away (30cm for you Europeans), which was barely enough for me to squeeze out with about 10 cm between my car door and the bike handle. So pissing off!!

Then of course, by the time I reach the exit, which is only 10 seconds away, the guy tells me that I have to pay because I'm a damn ONE MINUTE past the grace period!

Everyone hands up who has NOT been a victim of the stupidity of a motorcyclist!

No hands? Not surprising.

Retail therapy always works

I've been feeling rather down since Schrobbenmaster left KL two weeks ago. It was the hardest the whole week after he left, because not only was I stressed about waiting for the inburgering results from the IND, but I had a lot of work piling up from over the holidays. And of course the fact that I was again alone, living half in Kuala Lumpur and half in Rotterdam. Or Amsterdam (when Schrobbenmaster is at work). Or Hoorn (when he's with his parents).

That's a lot of places to be splitting myself up into.

Anyway, for the first week after he left, I basically didn't do anything AT ALL. I felt really dry creatively and demotivated. It might also have been because of the stupid internet being cut off and making everything incredibly inconvenient.

I tried motivating and inspiring myself again by drawing, watching TV and picking up some old books to read. Didn't really work.

I then got even more down when I thought of how I disliked the clothes in my wardrobe. Probably a girl thing. But I felt like I really needed some new stuff. And instead of buying one item a month, I wanted to buy a whole bunch of stuff at one go, to feel like I was revamping my entire wardrobe.

I started by clearing out things I absolutely would not wear again, including bags, scarves and all sorts of nonsense that's been hiding in there. The motivator was to feel lighter and more refreshed, and also because I wouldn't be able to keep many things here once I move to NL.

That done, I went to Telawi but only restricted myself to trying things which I deemed "practical" - "warm stuff" is how I put it. Didn't get much, but it was a start.

And this week all of a sudden, everything starts pouring in... I had a few vouchers to use at Topshop and Miss Selfridge, and I bought quite a few things there. "Warm stuff". Including a really cute scarf that was RM99, then slashed by half to RM49.50, and by using my RM25 voucher, I ended up paying only RM24.50 for it. How awesome is that?

Tonight I just came back from Pavilion with two new tops. "Warm stuff" again. Well, kinda. They're things to layer over each other. Talking about "warm stuff", MNG is having a really good sale on sweaters. Anyone going for a holiday to cooler weather should go check it out.

Besides shopping, other things have lifted my dark mood - my neighbours responded to a little note slipped under their door 3 weeks ago and gave me their internet password - for free! They are SO nice. I'm definitely sending them a present before I leave for NL. So now I have internet! Wooohooo!

One things leads to another, and because my mood is improving, I feel better about doing my work, and I'm finally getting things moving... and getting paid, most importantly!

Now to wait for news from the IND that I've got my permit!

Friday, January 22, 2010

More Engrish!

I went to dinner last weekend to the Grand Imperial in USJ. It's in a brand new mall called the USJ 19 City Mall or something like that. The whole building interior wasn't even completed yet, but as usual, to minimise losses and to maximise profit, the grand Chinese restaurant has opened its doors at the very earliest possible.

The dinner itself was alright, the food was tasty enough. But, again, as usual, the normal servers were foreigners who don't speak any English/Cantonese. And that is really one of the basics you have to speak in KL. It's starting to really annoy me, not being able to communicate what I want in a restaurant/cafe/eating place.

Anyway, as we were leaving the place, we caught sight of the promotion banner outside. And, yes, as usual, there was a good example of Engrish on it.



Sorry for the dodgy arrow... some people don't have Wacom Intuos 4 tablets like some others do.

So, Monzalera Cheese... I'm assuming is Mozarella... or is it Mozzarela? Or Mozzarella? It sure as heck ain't Monzalera! Heehee.

Doing my best to write a fair opinion

I try my best not to be judgmental and I try to be fair and respectful at all times.

So my opinion as stated below, I hope, sounds fair and sensible. And if not, I would love to hear any arguments on why they're not.

Fat people - and I don't mean big-boned, but genuinely fatter-than-their-bodies-allow people - tend to generate disrespect from me. Yeah I can hear people starting to go "Ooh!" and already putting me on their hate lists.

But hear me out, when I say "fat people", I mean people who eat too much, who don't control what they consume, and who don't make the effort to be healthier by eating properly or working out. People who genuinely can't help their size because of a medical condition or their biological shape, or who are temporarily overweight because of some problems or setbacks in life... you get the picture... those people are not who I'm talking about.

So let me make it clear - this post is about people who consciously don't make the effort to live healthily, or who turn a blind eye and refuse to accept what they're turning into by their unhealthy living.

Okay, now to get down to it.

The reason I don't have respect for them is that it signifies to me a lack of discipline. If a normal person continues to eat and eat and ignores signs of getting unhealthily fat, does it not say that they are not brave enough to face reality and improve? Or maybe too lazy to want to do anything about it, and so just brush away these signs?

They are also waving away the responsibility for taking care of their bodies. There are people who are fat, and have their friends tell them that they're fat because they care about them, their friends tell them to cut back and control... but their choice is to ignore and refuse to take on the responsiblity for their health.

I think these are already warning signs. It won't only be eating that's a problem. It'll be junk food, it'll be smoking, it'll be addiction in general.

If someone doesn't have the discipline or responsilbility to take control of their addictions, it affects other parts of their life.

I do really have a lot of respect for fat people who decide to take charge and take the initiative to work out and eat healthily. I respect big-boned people who say, "I'm comfortable with my body!".

But when fat people who say, "I'm comfortable with my body and society can't make me feel bad about myself!", and then get cheers because they're supposedly big and proud... that annoys me because some of them are not big! They are not big, they are genuinely fat. And fat is a whole different story. Fat is unhealthy.

Fat is not something to be proud of, being comfortable in your REAL body is something to be proud of, whether it's small or big. We just have to find the right balance with everything.

All that said, I genuinely try to treat everyone the same way. And I genuinely hope to see the best in everyone I meet.

---

Interestingly, Schrobbenmaster has just told me that KLM now requires people over 120kg and/or cannot put the armrests down have to buy two seats on the plane. And that's fair, because currently, anyone who has to sit next to someone whose body spills over onto their seat is just spoiling their flight experience. The seats are small enough as it is, without having to have someone make it just that little bit worse.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Commercials are irritating, but this takes the cake for now

Is it just me, or are those damn Astro Byond ads on TV getting REALLY annoying?

In fact, I already got annoyed the third time I saw it. It's so bloody long, which makes it so obvious that they are practically shoving this new HD subscription down our throats. And did they cancel the BBC Entertainment channel with quality shows because they plan to sell that on Byond, and thus replace it with the crappy Granada channel which shows trash like Emmerdale and Coronation Street and The Paul O'Grady Show? I honestly wouldn't mind having the Granada channel if they'd only keep the BBC channel as well.

Oh man, I hate long commercials, especially when repeated once every 10 minutes.

The only thing I like about the commercial is the song. But I still think it's way too long, and way too pushy. Did they even announce that they were removing the BBC Entertainment channel and replacing it with a crappy Bio channel? I don't know because I was in NL. But my parents certainly seemed surprised at the change. And they watch Astro regularly enough, at least an hour a day.

Gosh darn it, Astro really ruffles my feathers!!!

I just wish a rival would come up and give them some competition, therefore giving us paying subscribers a better range of choices.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Sentralfon doesn't trust customers.

So... it has been a while because my internet account has been suspended. Due to my non-payment, which was caused by technical faults, therefore causing me to not pay for services not rendered... and prior to that, by incompetent technical staff who never recorded my problem when it happened, subsequently causing the management to effectively say that I was lying about not receiving promised service and refusing to reinstate my account.

I blame Sentralfon. Is it my fault that Janar came over to my apartment complex twice to check out the problem but never logged it? Is it my fault that I was only receiving 10kbps when I was paying for 2mbps? Should I therefore be paying the monthly service fee for 2mbps when I only receive 10kbps and frequent internet connection drops?

What the hell.

If this was in the food and beverage industry, the restaurant would apologise for their staff's incompetence and give complimentary dessert. They know to put customers first and they know that staff can sometimes be lazy and incompetent.

Does Sentralfon wanna lose my monthly business over a lousy RM240?

They said they do. And so they'll bloody well lose my business.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Happy 2010!

Happy new year everyone! Gelukkig nieuw jaar! Or should I say, "Gelukkig sneeuw jaar!" :)

I finally have a chance to sit calmly in front of my Mac in a reasonable state of mind. Reason being, I've been so darn busy since I last blogged that my neck is so stiff, my eyes are sore and I feel so drained, not to mention stressed thinking about work.

New year begins and so does the work. And yet I've had to play tour guide and chauffeur while Schrobbenmaster's parents were in KL. It was so nice of them to come and pay my family and I a visit, but a word of advice... next time you plan to have visitors, try not to plan it over the turning of a new year!

They arrived on January 1, which was fine as it was a holiday, but the following days have been a struggle, juggling long days out and about, with emails and designing work.

Today was finally the last day they are in Kuala Lumpur, and although I feel a little sad saying goodbye (Isn't it always sad? Except when you're bored shitless at a party and can't wait to leave...), but at the same time, I feel more relaxed as I can now stay in bed longer, and have time to get some work done that I'm being chased for.

It's a struuuuuggle!!

Anyway, really tired now, going to watch a show before bed. Watched half of The Big Fat Quiz Show (think that's what it's called) last night, not bad so far. British quiz show with celebrities answering questions about what went on during the year. I know Mumsy Bumsy will be asking me for it shortly after reading this post!

See you soon, folks!