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)

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!

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.

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!

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

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!

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.

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!

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!

Registering a company in Malaysia

I finally registered my company two days ago!

I was quite clueless on how to go about it so I went with Mumsy. We reached The Mall and I was looking at the directory to see where to go when this guy approached us and offered his help to register the company for us for a sum of RM150. That's double the fee to start up your own company! Which is, by the way, RM70.

All I can say is, DON'T FALL FOR THEIR RUSE! Registering your own company is so easy... not quick, but easy... and those guys who tout their services aren't actually doing anything for you except filling up your forms because they can't line up and wait for you (it's illegal).

Handy tip: Don't hang out in front of a mall directory or McDonald's because they also hang out there. You don't want them hassling you telling you that it only takes one hour blablablablablabla. The registrar (SSM) by the way is on the 2nd floor above McDonald's.

In the interests of the public, I'm listing the steps to register a sole proprietorship (and keeping your money safe in your purse!):

1. Get a form to register for a company name and fill it up. It's free. End your company name with the type of work it does eg. Design, Plumbing, Concept etc to save you the hassle of going back and forth when your name is rejected.
   
2. Queue up at the counter in the reception area to get a number. This queue moves fairly quickly.
   
3. Wait for your number to submit your form. You can either wait inside or outside, as they have the numbers displayed all around the office.
   
4. Submit your form and get a number.
   
5. Wait.
   
6. Hopefully, your name is approved. Collect the paper which approves your name and another form to register the business.
   
7. Fill up the form - it's easy and you can do it yourself. Don't bother with those touting jokers.
   
8. Pick up another number from the first counter and wait for your number to be called.
   
9. Wait.
   
10. Submit the form and pay RM70. Receive a receipt with your number.
    
11. Wait. This is the longest wait. We had to wait about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
    
12. Collect your license (3 pieces of paper) and check all details. Et voila, you've got a company!
    

I must commend the women at the counters for being helpful and friendly even though we don't expect them to be. It makes the atmosphere in the waiting room much more relaxed. Kudos to the people responsible for it!

Living in Malaysia

They're finally fixing the road in front of my condo. At last!

Does anyone else get annoyed with Astro for their crappy service? I don't even have to talk about the service being unavailable message - which, incidentally, is in exactly the same league as the damn Windows blue screen - but what annoys me these days are all the repeats Astro keeps showing.

How many times have I watched Midsomer Murders: A Tale of Two Hamlets? How many times have I seen Asha Gill in Dublin, boating on the River Liffey? How many bloody times have I seen runs and reruns on BBC Entertainment? I admit I don't know if it's Astro's fault, but I can't help thinking it is. Fine, if you want to repeat the current season because there are no new seasons, but please don't keep repeating old seasons!

Midsomer Murders on Hallmark is a fine example. The old seasons had Sergeant Troy as Inspector Barnaby's sidekick. Then the new season came and Troy was replaced by a better looking Sergeant Scott. The next month, Troy is back in the two hamlets. Three weeks later, Scott is saving Barnaby's daughter from drowning. Again.

And now I see Astro adding new channels. I wish they would fix their existing channels before adding new ones. But this is so like Malaysia.

Speaking from the viewpoint of a twenty-something living in the city, two things that matter are: Traffic and TV. As anyone else living here knows, traffic sucks.

But my real complaint is the same as with Astro's. You keep building new roads, but you don't fix your existing ones of potholes, unevenness and ruts. And public transportation hasn't improved so much as to encourage me to use it. I would honestly love to take buses, trains and taxis, but - Buses are late and unreliable, train stations are in inconvenient locations, such that you have to drive there and drive back from there, so you may as well drive all the way to your destination... and I'm just scared of taking taxis alone.

Can't we slow down on the building of new things and pass some of that money on to improving existing services? And just maybe we'll be more willing to Cuti-Cuti Malaysia - because when public toilets are clean and roads are smooth, we don't mind driving around the country to visit our awesome islands and beaches.

***

I was actually gonna end there, but when the subject of public toilets came into my head, I just couldn't stop myself from adding another thought. I know highway rest stop toilets are being cleaned regularly these days, but there's only so much they can do until it becomes the public's responsibility to use the toilet nicely and with consideration. I've seen a mother wash her little kid's backside in the sink before, and I know some people wash their feet with the hoses in the cubicles. That just makes the toilet so disgusting to be in!

I heard an announcement today on Hitz FM telling people to brush their teeth. Crossing the road safely, I understand. Strap your motorcycle helmet securely, I understand. Teaching people to brush their teeth???? In that case, can we also have commercials teaching people how to use public toilets properly?

Time for a revamp!

Thought it was time to change my blog's clothes, and what better theme to use than Christmas!

Haven't had enough time (or geek ability) to give it a complete revamp, so I've just changed minor things. They still cheer up my blog quite a bit, I think.

***

I woke up this morning with aches all over. Even my fingers felt like they were swollen. Hopefully there isn't anything wrong and it's just old age. Haha. Do you realise that the only females who can joke about being old, AREN'T old? You can probably tell what age group a female is in if she can joke about her age.

My dogs are 6 years old this year. I just checked their birth certificates. I always thought they were 5. There's a big difference! It's funny, though... it seems that the older they are, the more energetic they become. I've never seen Foxy prance and bound about as much as she's done all year. Max still seems the same. Maybe Foxy's just having doggie menopause. Opposite of human menopause?

***

I hope the wildfires in California calm down really soon. It's really distressing for the people affected.

Whoa, I'm starting to feel whoozy. I'd better get ready for bed soon. And it's not even 1am yet! I AM getting old.

Full-time straitjacket?

Am having interesting progress work-wise this week.

I haven't mentioned this before, but I was given a job offer a few weeks back, which was pretty tempting in the usual ways (monthly salary, no sourcing for clients, using someone else's more powerful Mac etc!), but pretty discouraging in other ways (being tied to someone else's office, letting them have credit for my work, facing rush hour etc). But on the whole, I was tempted to accept the offer because of the learning experience it would give me. I still have much to learn about designing in print and coming up with creative concepts - and we never ever stop learning - so on that basis, I accepted the job offer soon after it was given to me.

For the past few weeks, there have been salary negotiations - yes, it's taken a while to get to an agreement - but it has been to my advantage in the end. Having spoken to my peers who have their own companies (like me), it's made me rethink my decision about going back to employment status. Plus, talking to them has helped me come up with some sort of strategy to keep a stable monthly income for GOOODPUTTY.

So with that, I'm giving my ex-potential employer a counter-offer that I hope she'll accept, and which is in line with my new strategy :P Am meeting her this weekend, so wish me luck!

Another interesting piece of news is that I'm gonna be offered partner status in another design company I've been attached to on a freelance basis! It seems weird, I know, to be offered a partnership when I have my own company, but we'll see how discussions go pertaining to this.

So that's my work news for now. I think this has been the most open I've been about my current work situation ever. I just wanted to share this experience with others who might be in a similar situation and unsure about how to progress.

My best advice would be to take your time to think EVERY single aspect out. When I first got the job offer, I just ignored the nagging feeling inside me that I would hate being tied to a 9-6 job (in my case, probably longer), and just thought about how it would be nice not to have to look for clients anymore. But now, I know that it's worth it, not only for creative, but for working independence as well.

Another idiot KL driver + Funny Things

Grandpa G's gone back to UK now so I'm pretty bummed out, but on the bright side, I've got time to update my blog (oh joy).

Grandpa G and I took a trip to Low Yat one day. It was super jammed cuz it was just before Raya. BUT it would have been LESS jammed if it weren't for some bloody idiot driver who happily stopped his car, blocking an ENTIRE LANE in front of the BB Plaza taxi stand.

Because of him, all of us who were on that lane had to wait for a kind driver on our right to let us in, so that we could continue on our journey. Seriously! There was no space to stop on that lane, yet he chose to just stop and block us all.

Therefore, I've decided to embarrass the idiot and take a picture of his car and number plate, so that if any of you see this car, just throw some eggs at him, will ya? The driver was an Indian man in shirt and trousers.

That's not all, though. He couldn't just sit and hide in his car... oh no, he had to show off his idiot face and get out of the black car to have a smoke! I was so hoping the cars would go so near his car that he couldn't open the door, but as if that would stop him anyway.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a shot of the driver, but here's the car anyway.



On a funny note, once we reached Low Yat and parked, there were advertisements on the lift doors and we saw some really weird and un-understandable sentences that were supposed to promote the product.

Check out the descriptions under the pictures. Does anyone know what romantic movement is? Or soft lighting in touch? What about sensitive cable management? Is that when you move the cables slightly and the power goes out? Cuz I used to have a table lamp like that. Frustrated the heck out of me!

Don't fly KLM!

We're off to Phuket tomorrow!

In fact, Grandpa G is on the plane right now to KL, and 5 hours after arriving, we're flying off to Phuket! Hope he won't be too tired.

Actually, Grandpa G would've been here one day earlier, except he got delayed at Birmigham Airport because the KLM plane he was supposed to board broke down last minute and everyone had to wait for the guy from Amsterdam to come fix it. By the time he fixed it, the passengers had missed their connecting flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur!

Grandpa G's arrival has been delayed 16 hours by KLM, and all the compensation he got was a night's stay in Amsterdam (which he darn well should have without asking anyway) and 20 euro vouchers to use in the bloody airport. Plus 50 euros off the next flight on KLM... as if he will take KLM again after being delayed a whopping 16 hours! Oh and measly £5 to spend in Birmingham Airport. Totally fine if you're delayed 5 hours. But 16 hours?

Anyway, we're all looking forward to Phuket tomorrow. Hoping and praying for good weather as well. Will definitely put up pictures when we're back!

Funny Things Seen #1

Found these in TMC. Eet Sum Mor, man... tastes so good...!


Best English ever - "Stimulating the styles and making carefully! Many colours a lot, selected freely by you." What do you think THAT means??


I like this! The tin being repeated over and over again. Just plain cute.

By the way, this is not what I referred to in the last post about bringing you guys something funny. That'll come a bit later on when I'm free.

Let's go to the Car Wash

Sorry for the bad quality picture! Had to adjust the black and white levels in order to make the words legible, and therefore, had to sacrifice on realistic colours :P I took this picture at the petrol station while waiting to fill my tyres with air.

Anyway, I just HAD to display this car wash coupon after I'd read it!

Tank You & Come Again: A misspelt word, or a pun intended to give out subliminal messages to make me fill my tank at BHP? (Didn't work anyway, since after my wash I drove down to Shell)

Wash At Ur Own Risk: Very modern spelling indeed. Also, quite an ominous sentence, don't you think?

And now you have another idea of gifts for Christmas! If you look at the date this coupon is valid until, you'll see that you can purchase coupons a month in advance, and you don't have to use it there and then. So go grab a bunch of these coupons, put them in an angpau and give them away for Christmas! Everyone needs a good car wash.

By the way, stay tuned for the next post, because I'll be bringing you some GREAT testimonials I read in a flyer I picked up that got me cracking up with laughter and has brought so much joy into my life!

Do I enjoy my work?

I sometimes get asked if I enjoy my work.

My answer is usually a simple "Yeah". But really, it does take some thinking about. Do I really enjoy it? I've experienced some bad times and there are also certain aspects of it I love.

Some people don't realise how much goes into running your own studio. See, I have to be everyone rolled into one. By everyone, I mean, everyone in your typical office. Being a designer is just slightly more than half of what I have to be. I gotta service clients, manage finances going in and out, sort out office appliances and check supplies as well. Oh, and be the canteen lady too. Luckily I don't have to clean the toilets. Got someone coming in for THAT hehe.

So when people ask if I enjoy doing what I do... yeah, I enjoy designing. That's the hard part, really. Aside from finding new clients, it's bloody difficult to come up with fresh ideas to use. And I find that working in an agency or design firm tends to make you comfortable and lazy. Well it does for me, anyway. In my own studio, everything comes back to me. Credit for my design and every single sen that comes along with it. And so that pushes me to be more creative, while also making my clients happy hopefully! Win-Win.

Bad clients? Not worth thinking about. Just makes my blood boil and I'd rather think of nicer things, like when I get a completely free hand to do what I like.

I don't understand... why do people think they can advise designers on their area of expertise when they wouldn't advise a lawyer, dentist, construction worker or WHOEVER on their respective fields? If you can bloody design, why don't you be a bloody designer yourself instead of hiring me?

I'm attaching a neat comic strip sent to me by a fellow designer which illustrates one of the things we have to face in daily life.

And yes, I do enjoy my work. But I don't care if you know that. Just give me some respect for doing this all on my own.

Merdeka

So we went to Marketplace on Thursday night to usher in Merdeka.

...cut to 5 hours later...hehe...

As I don't have a lot of time to write this, long story short, there were no fireworks at the Twin Towers!! What a huge disappointment to its many fans at Marketplace! So what was left to do but to drink?

And drink we did. 'Cept for me, cuz I'm not a fan of beer, and it seems there was an unending flow of Carlsberg at our table. I did have two glasses, though, cuz I WON'T BE LEFT OUT! But still didn't enjoy it.

Anyway, that's the update for Merdeka. I think Timstone was having a good time chatting (up?) with some girls there. Hehe. Sorry no pix...

Okay, off to Bangsar now. See y'all.