Know why I have so few photos up these days?
Cuz it's such a bugger to connect the camera to my computer, upload and save the pics (and let's face it, edit the colours because no camera is perfect) and upload them to Blogger again. If I had the money, I would buy a WiFi camera right now. But I'm using that money for a week in Melbourne instead. So maybe I shouldn't be complaining.
I don't know if anyone still reads my blog, but if anyone is interested, I'm working on a bunch of megaposters at the moment. They will be displayed on several (I don't remember now, 15? 20?) university campuses around KL. So that's cool. I'm definitely gonna visit at least one of em to see how they turn out. That's why I love print. It's so exciting to see the end result that you have very little control over.
It seems that the year 2014 is all about posters so far. I've also just delivered a poster design for an exhibition in Rotterdam. If you just happen to be in Rotterdam (or if you live there even) between 31 January and 8 March, there is an exhibition happening in Belvedere called Shanghai Tan. A poster of mine will be up on display there. Pretty fan-friggin-tastic!
Unfortunately, I won't be able to see it in person as I'm only back in NL in April, but I'll make sure to get photos of it and post em up here.
Till the next time...
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
Painting a Hari Raya greeting card
I hate greeting cards.
I was requested to make a Hari Raya greeting card for the company my mum works at, and at first I was very hesitant because I do hate greeting card designs. Meaning the cliché Hallmark, Memory Lane type greeting cards that companies send to clients and suppliers every festival. That's just not my cup of tea. And as I explained to a friend a few weeks ago, even cliché design is a style, and you need to be able to recreate that style as if it were an original style.
In case you haven't gotten it yet, I'm a bit of a snob when I think of cliché designs. But by golly, if I had a cliché style, I bet I could make a whole lot more money!
Anyway, as I was saying, corporate cards mean making standard designs, and I can't do that. Not I won't do that, but I really can't.
I decided to give it a go anyway, because beggars can't be choosers, and I could do with the money. I scoured the internet, and spoke to my Muslim friend over here (who buys cartoon greeting cards, so she was absolutely no help), and decided to go the calligraphy way and inject my own watercolour style.
Here's the process.
By the end of it, I loved it, but once I tried to give it the 'corporate' look, I failed miserably.
So it's back to square one.
I hate greeting cards.
I was requested to make a Hari Raya greeting card for the company my mum works at, and at first I was very hesitant because I do hate greeting card designs. Meaning the cliché Hallmark, Memory Lane type greeting cards that companies send to clients and suppliers every festival. That's just not my cup of tea. And as I explained to a friend a few weeks ago, even cliché design is a style, and you need to be able to recreate that style as if it were an original style.
In case you haven't gotten it yet, I'm a bit of a snob when I think of cliché designs. But by golly, if I had a cliché style, I bet I could make a whole lot more money!
Anyway, as I was saying, corporate cards mean making standard designs, and I can't do that. Not I won't do that, but I really can't.
I decided to give it a go anyway, because beggars can't be choosers, and I could do with the money. I scoured the internet, and spoke to my Muslim friend over here (who buys cartoon greeting cards, so she was absolutely no help), and decided to go the calligraphy way and inject my own watercolour style.
Here's the process.
By the end of it, I loved it, but once I tried to give it the 'corporate' look, I failed miserably.
So it's back to square one.
I hate greeting cards.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Registering a business at the KvK
This morning, I woke up early to finally register Goodputty as a business in The Netherlands. It's a super simple and painless process, and that's really impressive. When I registered Goodputty in Malaysia six years ago, there was a lot of waiting and scammers waiting at the offices to try to get you to pay them to register for you, but luckily there were also official signboards warning you about them. Still, I'm sure not everyone is as observant as I am when it comes to these things, so the scammers probably get a pretty decent wage from this.
Anyway, here's what you need to do to register at the KvK (Kamer van Koophandel).
What you need:
A valid identity document.
I would have used my Dutch ID, but as that got pickpocketed in Germany and I haven't received a replacement, I emailed the KvK in Rotterdam (you have to direct all your enquiries to your local KvK) to ask if I could use my Malaysian passport instead. They said yes. Basically, all you need is a valid passport or driving license, and you have to be registered with your local city hall and have your information listed in the GBA so that the KvK can refer to this. The KvK can retrieve this information through the system, so don't worry about getting a printed GBA from the city hall.
What you can do to save time:
Go online to kvk.nl and find the link to register as whatever you want to be. In my case, it was a one-person company (eenmanszaak). Once you're there, look for the digital form to register. This goes straight through to them, and then you don't have to sit at the desk at the KvK and fill it in in front of the staff. The digital form asks for all your personal and company details. It also allows you to register at the tax department immediately for a BTW number, which is very handy.
After you've finished filling in the form, depending on your location, you must either make an appointment at the KvK or you can just drop by. In my case, I'm super fortunate because the KvK branch at Rotterdam Blaak is the walk-in kind. It's even just around the corner from where I live! The office is the busiest between 12pm and 2pm, so if you can only make it at those times, do make an appointment. I decided to go first thing in the morning, so that I wouldn't have to wait long.
The process at KvK:
I arrived at KvK at 9.30am and felt a little lost at first because the reception area is circular and the sign which says "Receptie" is blocked by other little signs saying "alleen pinnen", "pinnen en contant", etc. So I initially thought that it was just the cashier's counter. Plus, the lady behind the counter was busily typing in her computer and I thought I just had to walk straight in. But she was actually the receptionist; and as with most businesses here, the receptionist is the biggest and most annoying obstacle to any visit. I had to wait while she finished typing, and then I received a cold and regal smile asking what my purpose there was. I only managed to say "I would like to register as..." before she went "Okay" and tapped on her keyboard. I received a waiting card and was asked to wait at the waiting area behind.
There were only two other men there, and about 6 counters open so far as I could see. So that was good news. I sat for about 3 minutes before a man came over to introduce himself. Very quick and efficient! So far so good.
I told the gentleman what I was registering as, and gave him my passport. He took it to scan and verify - they seem to have some software or machine that instantly retrieves all the information based on your scanned document, which I think is really cool - and everything checked out. Then, as I had already filled in the digital form the day before, all we had to do was double check the details and fill in a few more details like codes for the type of business, which is only available in the KvK system.
After just 15 minutes, more or less, he was sending all the information to print and I was registered at the tax department as well. Very, very impressed.
The tax department:
You receive a BTW number, but it's only temporary until you receive a letter of confirmation from the tax department in about a week. You can then officially invoice your customers with this BTW number.
Fees:
Per 1 January 2013, the KvK does not charge business owners an annual fee.
Bank account:
If you want to open a bank account specially for your business, you'll need to order an 'uittreksel' that declares you to be a legitimate business owner. This costs a whopping € 11. But worth it for your peace of mind and that of your bookkeeper ;)
And voila! You're registered! Congratulations!
Anyway, here's what you need to do to register at the KvK (Kamer van Koophandel).
What you need:
A valid identity document.
I would have used my Dutch ID, but as that got pickpocketed in Germany and I haven't received a replacement, I emailed the KvK in Rotterdam (you have to direct all your enquiries to your local KvK) to ask if I could use my Malaysian passport instead. They said yes. Basically, all you need is a valid passport or driving license, and you have to be registered with your local city hall and have your information listed in the GBA so that the KvK can refer to this. The KvK can retrieve this information through the system, so don't worry about getting a printed GBA from the city hall.
What you can do to save time:
Go online to kvk.nl and find the link to register as whatever you want to be. In my case, it was a one-person company (eenmanszaak). Once you're there, look for the digital form to register. This goes straight through to them, and then you don't have to sit at the desk at the KvK and fill it in in front of the staff. The digital form asks for all your personal and company details. It also allows you to register at the tax department immediately for a BTW number, which is very handy.
After you've finished filling in the form, depending on your location, you must either make an appointment at the KvK or you can just drop by. In my case, I'm super fortunate because the KvK branch at Rotterdam Blaak is the walk-in kind. It's even just around the corner from where I live! The office is the busiest between 12pm and 2pm, so if you can only make it at those times, do make an appointment. I decided to go first thing in the morning, so that I wouldn't have to wait long.
The process at KvK:
I arrived at KvK at 9.30am and felt a little lost at first because the reception area is circular and the sign which says "Receptie" is blocked by other little signs saying "alleen pinnen", "pinnen en contant", etc. So I initially thought that it was just the cashier's counter. Plus, the lady behind the counter was busily typing in her computer and I thought I just had to walk straight in. But she was actually the receptionist; and as with most businesses here, the receptionist is the biggest and most annoying obstacle to any visit. I had to wait while she finished typing, and then I received a cold and regal smile asking what my purpose there was. I only managed to say "I would like to register as..." before she went "Okay" and tapped on her keyboard. I received a waiting card and was asked to wait at the waiting area behind.
There were only two other men there, and about 6 counters open so far as I could see. So that was good news. I sat for about 3 minutes before a man came over to introduce himself. Very quick and efficient! So far so good.
I told the gentleman what I was registering as, and gave him my passport. He took it to scan and verify - they seem to have some software or machine that instantly retrieves all the information based on your scanned document, which I think is really cool - and everything checked out. Then, as I had already filled in the digital form the day before, all we had to do was double check the details and fill in a few more details like codes for the type of business, which is only available in the KvK system.
After just 15 minutes, more or less, he was sending all the information to print and I was registered at the tax department as well. Very, very impressed.
The tax department:
You receive a BTW number, but it's only temporary until you receive a letter of confirmation from the tax department in about a week. You can then officially invoice your customers with this BTW number.
Fees:
Per 1 January 2013, the KvK does not charge business owners an annual fee.
Bank account:
If you want to open a bank account specially for your business, you'll need to order an 'uittreksel' that declares you to be a legitimate business owner. This costs a whopping € 11. But worth it for your peace of mind and that of your bookkeeper ;)
And voila! You're registered! Congratulations!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Meeting other designers
Last Friday morning, I met up with one of the owners of a design studio in Rotterdam. It has been my goal for the past couple of months to get in touch with as many design studios I admire as possible, to expand my network and increase the possibility of getting a great job when I need it (or when it's available).
I was a little nervous because, well, you're showing your own work, your pride and joy and personal ability, to someone who should know better than you if it's good or not. I was just so thankful that it wasn't a job interview because I'd be ten times more nervous!
It went well, the guy was super friendly and he'd even been to Malaysia many times for diving, so there was some common ground. In the end, I'm relieved and happy everything worked out and I got positive feedback. I hope it gets easier the more people I see.
I was a little nervous because, well, you're showing your own work, your pride and joy and personal ability, to someone who should know better than you if it's good or not. I was just so thankful that it wasn't a job interview because I'd be ten times more nervous!
It went well, the guy was super friendly and he'd even been to Malaysia many times for diving, so there was some common ground. In the end, I'm relieved and happy everything worked out and I got positive feedback. I hope it gets easier the more people I see.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Goodputty portfolio 2011
I've recently redone my portfolio with really narrowed down selections of my work. After spending several days coming up with designs and trying to understand Stacey, installing it and altering it to suit my design, I decided to go with Cargo Collective instead. Hehe. I just love the ease of it and the network that comes with being a member.
View my updated, slimmed down porfolio: http://www.goodputty.com/
(Incidentally, I just discovered that I seem to redesign my portfolio every 2 years. Since the beginning of Goodputty in 2007, this is the 3rd look it's put on.)
View my updated, slimmed down porfolio: http://www.goodputty.com/
(Incidentally, I just discovered that I seem to redesign my portfolio every 2 years. Since the beginning of Goodputty in 2007, this is the 3rd look it's put on.)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
My week in photos - Cinderella at Nieuwe Luxor Theater, Motel Mozaïque Rotterdam
I had a pretty interesting week last week...
I've been working on my first ever book design at work. It's called De 5 Kindconclusies and it's about the 5 personality types of people based on 5 'child conclusions'. It's all in Dutch, but hopefully it will be so successful that it gets translated into English ;)
And hopefully it's so successful that my book cover and design becomes world-famous. Haha.
Anyway, last week I made a mock-up or dummy of the book for our acting editors in the office. It was pretty fun and nice to work with paper and my hands again. Kinda bored of doing websites all the time. Websites are so... intangible. Duh, right? But, yes, they are. Print is my baby.
I hereby copyright my book cover design. No derivatives or copycats allowed!
I think the book should be out somewhere in May or June. I can't wait!
Next, I went to watch Cinderella by Matthew Bourne (choreographer) at the Nieuwe Luxor Theater in Rotterdam. It's a ballet based on the Cinderella story set during World War II. Very interesting. I also had amazing seats. I love how I can afford to watch shows like this here when in Malaysia they'd be overpriced. Sure, it wasn't cheap here, but it's still manageable on a normal salary.
That's the net screen thing they place over the stage before the show starts. Schrobbenmaster has photos of the performers giving their exit bows but I'll put them up later as I don't have them with me yet.
The Nieuwe Luxor Theater is quite nice. What I like most about it is that you can take the underground metro (which is just 5 minutes walk from home), change lines once and you walk up literally to the doorstep of the theatre. Don't ask me why I find it cool, but I do. And from the upper floors of the theatre, you can look down to the metro entrance, which is basically just an arch and two escalators heading down. It's almost like someone just popped a hat on the ground, but you know that there's loads of things going on underneath. Yeah, it's hard to explain.
What I don't like about it is that it's on the other side of the bridge, which makes biking for me virtually impossible. I can't handle the bridge. Maybe after another year of living here I'll be fit enough for it.
One of the disappointments of the week was missing James Blake at Motel Mozaïque. Last month, I'd grabbed an Uit Agenda (magazine on happenings in the city) and seen that James Blake would be performing in Rotterdam. I like his music (check him out on Spotify) and felt that I should take this opportunity to watch such a unique up and coming artist.
Unfortunately I forgot all about it until Schrobbenmaster and I were one day biking back from Chinatown past Schouwburgplein, and we saw colourful lights and heard music playing. We stopped by the side, parked our bikes and walked around and realised we were actually in Motel Mozaïque's outdoor show.
It looked good!
It wasn't very busy when we were there (around 8pm) and there were only around 3 'attractions' like a soup kitchen (reuse everything and don't waste!) and a small housey thing with people trying to pull you in to wear green hats and eat snacks (don't ask me, man). Schrobbenmaster and I played with big cubes of colourful lights (pictures below and coming soon as well). And in the big church-looking makeshift building below was where the music performances were.
Later that night, I read someone tweeting that they had seen James Blake's performance at 22.30 :( Felt kinda disappointed, but it was my fault for not remembering! Anyway, the whole thing was rather wonderful and I really like Rotterdam for the ability to surprise me with arty events like these.
Last weekend was the awesomest though.
I had class on Saturday so I decided to wear something nice (yes, been browsing fashion blogs again and feeling inspired to make an effort). I wore my Maison Scotch white fitted collared shirt with a little blue handkerchief in the pocket with my blue pantalon leggings from Uniqlo. For some reason, the label of my Maison Scotch shirt was sewn upside down.
But anyway, I felt stylish enough to walk down Nieuwe Binnenweg and past Rotown and Stalles for coffee after with my Dutch teacher and a fellow classmate. I don't even know why I wanna look stylish for the people there, as they're so uppity and not very nice.
Both places were packed to the brim because it was a sunny day, but we saw a little bench free. This bench was connected to two long tables with about 7 women occupying it. My teacher went up to them to ask if we could just use the bench, but they just gave him a flat 'No' without even being polite (I could only see their faces, but they didn't look friendly at all). How arrogant!
We ended up further down the road at Coffee Company where we had a much nicer spot in the sun anyway, and away from the snooty noses and prying eyes of the middle-class wannabes.
And later at night, Schrobbenmaster and I went for drinks and played pool for the first time in Rotterdam with some friends. We ended the night at 'T Zwarte Schaap on Witte de Withstraat, which is fast becoming one of my favourite bars. It's not a bruincafe (old-fashioned brown Dutch pub) and it's not a Rotown. Everyone looks nice but sociable and the interior is modern yet small and cosy enough. If I had to compare it to somewhere in KL, I'd say it's like twentyone on Changkat, except less 'dressy sophisticated'. But still stylish enough!
On Sunday, it was another nice sunny day, so Schrobbenmaster headed to the beach with his friends, while I met Hanselem for drinks again at Coffee Company. We then moved to Bazar to have baklava.
It was my first time having baklava and I think I'll order it next time I go. It's kinda sweet but I like the pastry. That's the baklava with the white sugary beard above it. I couldn't resist having a chocolate truffle tart from Dudok.
Very nice afternoon discussing topics like underwear personality types and what colours are associated with what you wanna say about yourself :P I found a very informative website, but halfway through, I found out it was a website for gays. Well, they had the information I wanted anyway!
Am currently hooked onto the soundtrack of Sucker Punch. Look for it on Spotify as well ;)
I've been working on my first ever book design at work. It's called De 5 Kindconclusies and it's about the 5 personality types of people based on 5 'child conclusions'. It's all in Dutch, but hopefully it will be so successful that it gets translated into English ;)
And hopefully it's so successful that my book cover and design becomes world-famous. Haha.
Anyway, last week I made a mock-up or dummy of the book for our acting editors in the office. It was pretty fun and nice to work with paper and my hands again. Kinda bored of doing websites all the time. Websites are so... intangible. Duh, right? But, yes, they are. Print is my baby.
I hereby copyright my book cover design. No derivatives or copycats allowed!
I think the book should be out somewhere in May or June. I can't wait!
Next, I went to watch Cinderella by Matthew Bourne (choreographer) at the Nieuwe Luxor Theater in Rotterdam. It's a ballet based on the Cinderella story set during World War II. Very interesting. I also had amazing seats. I love how I can afford to watch shows like this here when in Malaysia they'd be overpriced. Sure, it wasn't cheap here, but it's still manageable on a normal salary.
That's the net screen thing they place over the stage before the show starts. Schrobbenmaster has photos of the performers giving their exit bows but I'll put them up later as I don't have them with me yet.
The Nieuwe Luxor Theater is quite nice. What I like most about it is that you can take the underground metro (which is just 5 minutes walk from home), change lines once and you walk up literally to the doorstep of the theatre. Don't ask me why I find it cool, but I do. And from the upper floors of the theatre, you can look down to the metro entrance, which is basically just an arch and two escalators heading down. It's almost like someone just popped a hat on the ground, but you know that there's loads of things going on underneath. Yeah, it's hard to explain.
What I don't like about it is that it's on the other side of the bridge, which makes biking for me virtually impossible. I can't handle the bridge. Maybe after another year of living here I'll be fit enough for it.
One of the disappointments of the week was missing James Blake at Motel Mozaïque. Last month, I'd grabbed an Uit Agenda (magazine on happenings in the city) and seen that James Blake would be performing in Rotterdam. I like his music (check him out on Spotify) and felt that I should take this opportunity to watch such a unique up and coming artist.
Unfortunately I forgot all about it until Schrobbenmaster and I were one day biking back from Chinatown past Schouwburgplein, and we saw colourful lights and heard music playing. We stopped by the side, parked our bikes and walked around and realised we were actually in Motel Mozaïque's outdoor show.
It looked good!
It wasn't very busy when we were there (around 8pm) and there were only around 3 'attractions' like a soup kitchen (reuse everything and don't waste!) and a small housey thing with people trying to pull you in to wear green hats and eat snacks (don't ask me, man). Schrobbenmaster and I played with big cubes of colourful lights (pictures below and coming soon as well). And in the big church-looking makeshift building below was where the music performances were.
Later that night, I read someone tweeting that they had seen James Blake's performance at 22.30 :( Felt kinda disappointed, but it was my fault for not remembering! Anyway, the whole thing was rather wonderful and I really like Rotterdam for the ability to surprise me with arty events like these.
Last weekend was the awesomest though.
I had class on Saturday so I decided to wear something nice (yes, been browsing fashion blogs again and feeling inspired to make an effort). I wore my Maison Scotch white fitted collared shirt with a little blue handkerchief in the pocket with my blue pantalon leggings from Uniqlo. For some reason, the label of my Maison Scotch shirt was sewn upside down.
But anyway, I felt stylish enough to walk down Nieuwe Binnenweg and past Rotown and Stalles for coffee after with my Dutch teacher and a fellow classmate. I don't even know why I wanna look stylish for the people there, as they're so uppity and not very nice.
Both places were packed to the brim because it was a sunny day, but we saw a little bench free. This bench was connected to two long tables with about 7 women occupying it. My teacher went up to them to ask if we could just use the bench, but they just gave him a flat 'No' without even being polite (I could only see their faces, but they didn't look friendly at all). How arrogant!
We ended up further down the road at Coffee Company where we had a much nicer spot in the sun anyway, and away from the snooty noses and prying eyes of the middle-class wannabes.
And later at night, Schrobbenmaster and I went for drinks and played pool for the first time in Rotterdam with some friends. We ended the night at 'T Zwarte Schaap on Witte de Withstraat, which is fast becoming one of my favourite bars. It's not a bruincafe (old-fashioned brown Dutch pub) and it's not a Rotown. Everyone looks nice but sociable and the interior is modern yet small and cosy enough. If I had to compare it to somewhere in KL, I'd say it's like twentyone on Changkat, except less 'dressy sophisticated'. But still stylish enough!
On Sunday, it was another nice sunny day, so Schrobbenmaster headed to the beach with his friends, while I met Hanselem for drinks again at Coffee Company. We then moved to Bazar to have baklava.
It was my first time having baklava and I think I'll order it next time I go. It's kinda sweet but I like the pastry. That's the baklava with the white sugary beard above it. I couldn't resist having a chocolate truffle tart from Dudok.
Very nice afternoon discussing topics like underwear personality types and what colours are associated with what you wanna say about yourself :P I found a very informative website, but halfway through, I found out it was a website for gays. Well, they had the information I wanted anyway!
Am currently hooked onto the soundtrack of Sucker Punch. Look for it on Spotify as well ;)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Some festival pics from 2010
Found a few pictures from last year's NS Try Out Festival season.
Although I wasn't working at the stations like my colleagues, I dropped by every Saturday to check out how my signages and other material were working out and to celebrate the end of the week with the rest of the team.
The after parties are always pretty wild with all the girls going mad with drink and happiness. No pictures of those, hehe. But the team does like starting the fun at the station.
There was a DJ stage in front of us and we were making the moves, yo.
When the whole festival was over, we were all invited for a big dinner as a thank you. In total, including our company, the theatre organising company and the team from the NS, there were around 30 of us. The 'big dinner' turned out to be a group activity where everyone splits into groups and is given a recipe and a cooking area, and we all cook each course of the dinner ourselves. Pretty fun!
I was in the same group as Schrobbenmaster and our videographer, Daan. We had the easiest thing - cookies!
Chocolate cookies with some orange essence.
What a nice kitchen area!
We formed our cookie dough into hearts, circles, triangles and initials. Can you see a few 'J's in there? :D
Wanted to try some macro shooting.
The cookies are ready!
The crowd.
Some of you may have already seen this on Facebook, but for cuteness' sake, here it is again!
I was roasting a red pepper for a lamb pasta dish that night that Hanselem was coming over to cook. And I was informed by the Interweb that it's possible to do it this way. Well, we didn't get any stomach upsets, so I'm sure it was fine.
Okie I'm leaving the office now... ciao!
Although I wasn't working at the stations like my colleagues, I dropped by every Saturday to check out how my signages and other material were working out and to celebrate the end of the week with the rest of the team.
The after parties are always pretty wild with all the girls going mad with drink and happiness. No pictures of those, hehe. But the team does like starting the fun at the station.
There was a DJ stage in front of us and we were making the moves, yo.
When the whole festival was over, we were all invited for a big dinner as a thank you. In total, including our company, the theatre organising company and the team from the NS, there were around 30 of us. The 'big dinner' turned out to be a group activity where everyone splits into groups and is given a recipe and a cooking area, and we all cook each course of the dinner ourselves. Pretty fun!
I was in the same group as Schrobbenmaster and our videographer, Daan. We had the easiest thing - cookies!
Chocolate cookies with some orange essence.
What a nice kitchen area!
We formed our cookie dough into hearts, circles, triangles and initials. Can you see a few 'J's in there? :D
Wanted to try some macro shooting.
The cookies are ready!
The crowd.
Some of you may have already seen this on Facebook, but for cuteness' sake, here it is again!
I was roasting a red pepper for a lamb pasta dish that night that Hanselem was coming over to cook. And I was informed by the Interweb that it's possible to do it this way. Well, we didn't get any stomach upsets, so I'm sure it was fine.
Okie I'm leaving the office now... ciao!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Netherlands vs Malaysia
Just a quick one while I can still remember what's in my head...
It's a colleague's birthday today, and as she was walking around giving muffins to everyone in the office, I couldn't help thinking of how it's completely the opposite in Malaysia.
In NL, when it's your birthday, you are the one who brings goodies for everyone and goes around getting wished "Gefeliciteerd!".
In Malaysia, you come into the office (or wherever), and people come to wish you "Happy Birthday!" instead, and probably bring you out to lunch that day, some closer colleagues even buying you a present.
In one situation, you are making everyone else happy, and in the other, everyone else is making you happy.
Got me wondering why the Dutch have to work so hard on their birthdays, when the rest of the year, they're pretty self-centred and individualistic.
And then I realised that perhaps that's how it works...
In NL, 364 days of the year, you are being self-centred and taking care of number one. So when it is your birthday, you give back and be a nice, giving person, making everyone around you feel special for once.
In Malaysia, however, you spend so much time belonging to the group and (usually) giving in to the group's majority decision, that when it's your birthday, the group gives back to you and makes you feel like the only one that counts.
I kinda like that everything balances out in the end :)
It's a colleague's birthday today, and as she was walking around giving muffins to everyone in the office, I couldn't help thinking of how it's completely the opposite in Malaysia.
In NL, when it's your birthday, you are the one who brings goodies for everyone and goes around getting wished "Gefeliciteerd!".
In Malaysia, you come into the office (or wherever), and people come to wish you "Happy Birthday!" instead, and probably bring you out to lunch that day, some closer colleagues even buying you a present.
In one situation, you are making everyone else happy, and in the other, everyone else is making you happy.
Got me wondering why the Dutch have to work so hard on their birthdays, when the rest of the year, they're pretty self-centred and individualistic.
And then I realised that perhaps that's how it works...
In NL, 364 days of the year, you are being self-centred and taking care of number one. So when it is your birthday, you give back and be a nice, giving person, making everyone around you feel special for once.
In Malaysia, however, you spend so much time belonging to the group and (usually) giving in to the group's majority decision, that when it's your birthday, the group gives back to you and makes you feel like the only one that counts.
I kinda like that everything balances out in the end :)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
In bed at 20.30? I'm a freak!
I'm sitting on the bed now in shorts and fuzzy socks, Schrobbenmaster chatting away in the background to his parents about money and savings, and two half-used tissues beside the laptop, ready to be used for either the annoying chin on my pimple or my occasionally runny nose.
Okay, that was too strange to erase... did any of you notice that I typed "chin on my pimple"? Geez, the pimple is not that big, JY!
I've been doing a bit of indulgent shopping these few days. Been looking at clothes websites like Mango and Topshop and even went to the final step of adding items to my shopping bag, then leaving the page. A bit of fake retail therapy. But it did make me clothes-hungry again, so on Saturday, I went out on my own to look for new clothes. It helped that I haven't spent much this month, so I felt kinda rich. I should really save, though. Really.
I just stumbled upon a new website today, which inspires me to make our home nicer. It's not really the items in the photos that I want, but more the 'feeling' that the pictures invoke. Check convoy out.
I can't wait till the NS Try Out Festival is over. Schrobbenmaster is already getting weaker and weaker by the day because of the long days and drinking at nights with the team. Seriously, how do these people do it? Waking up before 8am and then having drinks at the end of the day till 2am? To be honest, I find it kinda inconsiderate to expect everyone on the team to be able to keep up with that. And after the 3-day festival, they still expect everyone to be able to party it up till 6am. Wow. Maybe I'm just getting old. Or maybe they just don't have a happy life at home like I do.
Time to stop thinking about annoying things and going back to looking at pretty pictures, JY.
Nitey nites! xx.
Okay, that was too strange to erase... did any of you notice that I typed "chin on my pimple"? Geez, the pimple is not that big, JY!
I've been doing a bit of indulgent shopping these few days. Been looking at clothes websites like Mango and Topshop and even went to the final step of adding items to my shopping bag, then leaving the page. A bit of fake retail therapy. But it did make me clothes-hungry again, so on Saturday, I went out on my own to look for new clothes. It helped that I haven't spent much this month, so I felt kinda rich. I should really save, though. Really.
I just stumbled upon a new website today, which inspires me to make our home nicer. It's not really the items in the photos that I want, but more the 'feeling' that the pictures invoke. Check convoy out.
I can't wait till the NS Try Out Festival is over. Schrobbenmaster is already getting weaker and weaker by the day because of the long days and drinking at nights with the team. Seriously, how do these people do it? Waking up before 8am and then having drinks at the end of the day till 2am? To be honest, I find it kinda inconsiderate to expect everyone on the team to be able to keep up with that. And after the 3-day festival, they still expect everyone to be able to party it up till 6am. Wow. Maybe I'm just getting old. Or maybe they just don't have a happy life at home like I do.
Time to stop thinking about annoying things and going back to looking at pretty pictures, JY.
Nitey nites! xx.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Making my mark in Rotterdam
So here it is, I'm starting to make my mark on this little city of Rotterdam!
(I say 'little' because we checked the other day and Rotterdam has approximately 600,000 people, whereas KL has approximately 4 million. Everyone says it's only because all the other little towns and cities want to be independent and refuse to be sucked into one of the 4 randstad - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Rotterdam is the second most populated city in NL btw.)
Anyways, back from that little educational minute...
These are my boxes!
Well, they are following the KPN house style to a point, but the marketing material for the Pink Ribbon campaign by KPN has been pretty much done by us, ie. me. Can't be too crazy and I do get strict instructions on what to do, but it's still pretty exciting to see my stuff all printed out and in the shops!
And this is the shopfront with my boxes at the entrance. Niiiiiiiice. Now people will glance at these boxes and it won't even register in their little heads, but they will see MY WORK.
Toodaloo!
(I say 'little' because we checked the other day and Rotterdam has approximately 600,000 people, whereas KL has approximately 4 million. Everyone says it's only because all the other little towns and cities want to be independent and refuse to be sucked into one of the 4 randstad - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Rotterdam is the second most populated city in NL btw.)
Anyways, back from that little educational minute...
These are my boxes!
Well, they are following the KPN house style to a point, but the marketing material for the Pink Ribbon campaign by KPN has been pretty much done by us, ie. me. Can't be too crazy and I do get strict instructions on what to do, but it's still pretty exciting to see my stuff all printed out and in the shops!
And this is the shopfront with my boxes at the entrance. Niiiiiiiice. Now people will glance at these boxes and it won't even register in their little heads, but they will see MY WORK.
Toodaloo!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Update of the week (long overdue!)
Yes, I am becoming lazy to blog, but that's because I've been too busy at work that I'm too tired to think about writing!
The past two weeks have been really hectic, with the deadline of the festival magazine arriving. After several nights of leaving the office at 2am and sometimes 4am (and remember that I work in Amsterdam and have a 75-minute journey home to Rotterdam every day - thanks so much for driving, Schrobbenmaster!), I was just so drained and thick-headed by the time we wrapped up the magazine.
The printed product arrives on Monday at the office, and I'm half excited about seeing it, but at the same time, I don't want to even look at it anymore. I'm working from home that day anyway, so at least I'll be the last one in the office to see it, and I don't have to pretend to be excited when everyone else is.
One annoying thing that's been happening at home is that the internet keeps failing. And it usually fails in the evenings and weekends, which is exactly when we want it to work! It's an additional suckfest when all my games have to be played online. So during those evenings when we're "disconnected", Schrobbenmaster and I built a Lego house that was long overdue. I took some photos of the progress but they're not on my mac yet, so wait a bit, okay guys?
Oooohhh, exciting news for the week is that frachely has FINALLY confirmed and booked her flight to NL! Woooooo!! She'll be the first friend to come visit and that is a status that no one else will ever have. Hehe.
We've been spending the past few days looking at maps and prices and discussing where to go for a quick weekend away. On the top of her list were places like Vienna and Prague, but unfortunately they take too long to travel for a weekend trip. And as trains are so expensive, it's not very worth it to travel so far for a short time. And yes, we're taking the train because budget intercontinental airlines are so unreliable. I'd rather spend a little more money and save some time than spend 2 hours in an airport with no seats waiting for the plane. Plus, I hate check-in times and I hate weight and luggage content limits.
Anyway, after long discussions, we settled on Paris because it only takes 2.5 hours by train. It's freakishly expensive though, but there's no way around that. If I'd known that I was going to be buying these expensive tickets, I probably wouldn't have splurged on those 2 pairs of awesome, awesome shoes at Manfield last weekend. But then... they are really awesome, so who knows?
Talking about splurging, because I was such a good girl last month, not having shopped at all and saving lots of money, I went all out last weekend. And I know, it sort of defeats the purpose, but when you're feeling down and drained from work, retail therapy REALLY works. Besides those Manfield shoes, I got some items from Scotch & Soda (or Maison Scotch, I think the female version is called), a very cool boutique nearby, and as usual, my favourite haunt, Mango. I haven't worn all my new stuff yet though, because I didn't want to go to work every day in something new and spoil the "special"ness of it. Slow and steady!
Last piece of news is that I finally attended the new season of my ballet school. It was the second of the season, but I couldn't make it to the first class because of the dang magazine. It was really wonderful to go for ballet, but the teacher really makes me nervous and stressed about performing well! I guess that's a good thing. If you don't push yourself, you don't improve, right?
Next post will have photos, I promise!
xxx to all!
The past two weeks have been really hectic, with the deadline of the festival magazine arriving. After several nights of leaving the office at 2am and sometimes 4am (and remember that I work in Amsterdam and have a 75-minute journey home to Rotterdam every day - thanks so much for driving, Schrobbenmaster!), I was just so drained and thick-headed by the time we wrapped up the magazine.
The printed product arrives on Monday at the office, and I'm half excited about seeing it, but at the same time, I don't want to even look at it anymore. I'm working from home that day anyway, so at least I'll be the last one in the office to see it, and I don't have to pretend to be excited when everyone else is.
One annoying thing that's been happening at home is that the internet keeps failing. And it usually fails in the evenings and weekends, which is exactly when we want it to work! It's an additional suckfest when all my games have to be played online. So during those evenings when we're "disconnected", Schrobbenmaster and I built a Lego house that was long overdue. I took some photos of the progress but they're not on my mac yet, so wait a bit, okay guys?
Oooohhh, exciting news for the week is that frachely has FINALLY confirmed and booked her flight to NL! Woooooo!! She'll be the first friend to come visit and that is a status that no one else will ever have. Hehe.
We've been spending the past few days looking at maps and prices and discussing where to go for a quick weekend away. On the top of her list were places like Vienna and Prague, but unfortunately they take too long to travel for a weekend trip. And as trains are so expensive, it's not very worth it to travel so far for a short time. And yes, we're taking the train because budget intercontinental airlines are so unreliable. I'd rather spend a little more money and save some time than spend 2 hours in an airport with no seats waiting for the plane. Plus, I hate check-in times and I hate weight and luggage content limits.
Anyway, after long discussions, we settled on Paris because it only takes 2.5 hours by train. It's freakishly expensive though, but there's no way around that. If I'd known that I was going to be buying these expensive tickets, I probably wouldn't have splurged on those 2 pairs of awesome, awesome shoes at Manfield last weekend. But then... they are really awesome, so who knows?
Talking about splurging, because I was such a good girl last month, not having shopped at all and saving lots of money, I went all out last weekend. And I know, it sort of defeats the purpose, but when you're feeling down and drained from work, retail therapy REALLY works. Besides those Manfield shoes, I got some items from Scotch & Soda (or Maison Scotch, I think the female version is called), a very cool boutique nearby, and as usual, my favourite haunt, Mango. I haven't worn all my new stuff yet though, because I didn't want to go to work every day in something new and spoil the "special"ness of it. Slow and steady!
Last piece of news is that I finally attended the new season of my ballet school. It was the second of the season, but I couldn't make it to the first class because of the dang magazine. It was really wonderful to go for ballet, but the teacher really makes me nervous and stressed about performing well! I guess that's a good thing. If you don't push yourself, you don't improve, right?
Next post will have photos, I promise!
xxx to all!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
What happens before sleep?
I have to write a hurried post because I'm trying to sleep before midnight tonight. The tradition for Schrobbenmaster and I is to watch a light British comedy (currently That Mitchell and Web Look) or awesome motoring show (Top Gear) or sometimes even a mild action show (Human Target or Flash Point). We try to keep to half hour shows (The Simpsons, IT Crowd), but even then, after all the face-washing, teeth-brushing, water-drinking and cat-feeding, we end up sleeping past midnight. Which, of course, makes it hellish to get up for work the next day.
It's been extremely busy at work since last week. As I'm the only designer in the office, everything falls on my shoulders. Sometimes it's nice, as I pretty much control every design that goes out, but at the worst times, I have to slave away at Photoshop, putting a necklace and a phone together into one picture. True story. Happened for one necklace with many phones, took up the entire day.
Some good news is that Schrobbenmaster and I have been talking about our business plan for Goodputty. Haven't got a solid plan, but things are sounding good. I've even started a Twitter account for Goodputty, to 'force' myself to keep updating its portfolio and keep the business active. Please follow :)
I have some cool stuff for a bit later on in this blog. I've been working on, among other things, a poster for our current client at the ad agency I work at. This poster began all the way back in... was it May? Definitely by June. And 2 months later, if not more, it's not finalised yet. There are many versions of it, usually just by a few tweaks, and I would really like to display them as a kind of exhibition on how "particular" *ahem* clients can be.
In the meantime, I've just got my nose to the grind and now it's time for bed yet again.
It's been extremely busy at work since last week. As I'm the only designer in the office, everything falls on my shoulders. Sometimes it's nice, as I pretty much control every design that goes out, but at the worst times, I have to slave away at Photoshop, putting a necklace and a phone together into one picture. True story. Happened for one necklace with many phones, took up the entire day.
Some good news is that Schrobbenmaster and I have been talking about our business plan for Goodputty. Haven't got a solid plan, but things are sounding good. I've even started a Twitter account for Goodputty, to 'force' myself to keep updating its portfolio and keep the business active. Please follow :)
I have some cool stuff for a bit later on in this blog. I've been working on, among other things, a poster for our current client at the ad agency I work at. This poster began all the way back in... was it May? Definitely by June. And 2 months later, if not more, it's not finalised yet. There are many versions of it, usually just by a few tweaks, and I would really like to display them as a kind of exhibition on how "particular" *ahem* clients can be.
In the meantime, I've just got my nose to the grind and now it's time for bed yet again.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Magic Mouse, TomTom and old photos of work
Yo, peeps, my first blog post with my first wireless mouse attached... the Magic Mouse! Hehehe... I'm such a geek sometimes. I don't think I've ever bought an Apple mouse. Always used the ones provided with the desktop or given to me by others. So it's kind of an achievement for me. Just like I bought my first television last year with my own money :P only thing is, it's now back in KL and I only used it for around 5 months :(
Anyways, I planned for this Sunday to be a homey one, baking chocolate chip cookies and playing Red Alert 3 with Schrobbenmaster, but in the end, we woke up too late, and then I Skyped with Dad and the family, and later got invited out for coffee with Schrobbenmaster's friends. After coffee, we headed to Dixons, where I bought my Magic Mouse and Schrobbenmaster bought a TomTom. I'm still getting used to the movement and ergonomics of this mouse, but well, I spent a friggin €63 (after 10% discount) on it, so I'm bloody well gonna make myself feel comfortable using it!
Here are some pictures of my first day travelling to work. Had to take the train to Amsterdam in the morning, and after work, we took the company car home and we've been using it ever since. I don't miss using the train and walking in the cold every day.
Waiting for the metro to arrive at Sloterdijk, to take us to the stop closest to work.
And the following photos are my view from where I sit in the office.
I sit right next to the window, and when the sun streams in, it hits my back and my feet, which are awesome places to receive heat :P I can't imagine what it'll be like during winter, but thankfully, I see a heater there under the window, so I think I'll be alright.
Was cold in the afternoon so decided to have a bit of soup and some bread to warm me up. Was pretty yummy tomato soup too.
After work, we decided to swing by the Korean takeaway for a bit of a celebration meal.
My side mirror view while waiting in the car for Schrobbenmaster to get the food. Because we didn't have enough money on the card to pay for parking.
The Korean place is called Gamasot, right at the corner with the red things on the windows. It's absolutely delicious and I'm so happy it's walking distance from our place, plus really affordable for such good food.
And that's me, driving on the left side of the car, on the right side of the road. It's not so confusing inside the car itself, but taking intersections and crossings is extremely confusing when you're so used to driving on the other side of the road. Trust me.
We drive a little Toyota IQ which is really quite a nice car. It's as wide as a medium-sized car, but is almost as wide as it is long. Meaning it's a rather square car. Very weird but very cute. And a lot of fun to drive. Makes it easier to park in this country of little, narrow parking spaces too.
Now I gotta hang up the laundry, but stay tuned for the next post of a windmill tour!
Anyways, I planned for this Sunday to be a homey one, baking chocolate chip cookies and playing Red Alert 3 with Schrobbenmaster, but in the end, we woke up too late, and then I Skyped with Dad and the family, and later got invited out for coffee with Schrobbenmaster's friends. After coffee, we headed to Dixons, where I bought my Magic Mouse and Schrobbenmaster bought a TomTom. I'm still getting used to the movement and ergonomics of this mouse, but well, I spent a friggin €63 (after 10% discount) on it, so I'm bloody well gonna make myself feel comfortable using it!
Here are some pictures of my first day travelling to work. Had to take the train to Amsterdam in the morning, and after work, we took the company car home and we've been using it ever since. I don't miss using the train and walking in the cold every day.
Waiting for the metro to arrive at Sloterdijk, to take us to the stop closest to work.
And the following photos are my view from where I sit in the office.
I sit right next to the window, and when the sun streams in, it hits my back and my feet, which are awesome places to receive heat :P I can't imagine what it'll be like during winter, but thankfully, I see a heater there under the window, so I think I'll be alright.
Was cold in the afternoon so decided to have a bit of soup and some bread to warm me up. Was pretty yummy tomato soup too.
After work, we decided to swing by the Korean takeaway for a bit of a celebration meal.
My side mirror view while waiting in the car for Schrobbenmaster to get the food. Because we didn't have enough money on the card to pay for parking.
The Korean place is called Gamasot, right at the corner with the red things on the windows. It's absolutely delicious and I'm so happy it's walking distance from our place, plus really affordable for such good food.
And that's me, driving on the left side of the car, on the right side of the road. It's not so confusing inside the car itself, but taking intersections and crossings is extremely confusing when you're so used to driving on the other side of the road. Trust me.
We drive a little Toyota IQ which is really quite a nice car. It's as wide as a medium-sized car, but is almost as wide as it is long. Meaning it's a rather square car. Very weird but very cute. And a lot of fun to drive. Makes it easier to park in this country of little, narrow parking spaces too.
Now I gotta hang up the laundry, but stay tuned for the next post of a windmill tour!
Friday, May 07, 2010
The bitch strikes again.
Completely disrespectful of me and completely judgmental. Guess that is life, you never have a perfect circle of people surrounding you. Anyway, I gave her a second chance and that was blown right out of the window yesterday by complete bad and rude behaviour. I never call people bitches, so when I do, you know it's valid.
Gotta let my rants out sometimes, but it's always good to let go and do your best not to let the negative and "good riddance" people affect you more than they deserve.
On a happier note, here are some random photos taken over the past few days of my life.
Schrobbenmaster bought an espresso machine and here's my first attempt at making a mochaccino. Kinda put too much milk in it. And also forgot to put in my chocolate powder till after I'd made the whole drink, hence the powder spill among the milk spill.
This is a 24" (the size of my iMac back in KL for those who need a reference), touchscreen MSI machine. It's rather cool, as you can just touch whatever you want without moving a mouse. Typing would be difficult though. Schrobbenmaster was provided this as a product demo for a press event our company is organising.
Okay, because my blog posts have been so lagging and jumping from place to place, most of you probably don't know who this is.
May I introduce you to Pim.
He's the gentlest, silliest cat with the prettiest face I've ever seen. Schrobbenmaster's friend needed us to give him a place to stay for an indefinite period of time, so we took him in about 2 weeks ago. After hiding in various spots in the house from us, he's now very used to being around us and miaowing for strokes on his head and neck.
In fact, this morning, I woke up brushing away some insect on my forehead, only to open my eyes to see Pim staring down at me, asking my forehead for cuddles. He doesn't jump on the bed normally, but apparently this morning, he decided to do so.
The armrest of the sofa has also become one of his new favourite lounge spots. We had to cover the sofa in blankets because of him and his nails. At least yesterday he finally learnt that the scratching pole is his friend.
Ooh, I'm hungry. Brought leftover dinner from last night. I got my first salary yesterday and bought Korean takeaway for dinner. Decided to splurge and order a third dish of pancake with kimchi. Couldn't finish it, of course, so brought it in today.
Can't wait.
Gotta let my rants out sometimes, but it's always good to let go and do your best not to let the negative and "good riddance" people affect you more than they deserve.
On a happier note, here are some random photos taken over the past few days of my life.
Schrobbenmaster bought an espresso machine and here's my first attempt at making a mochaccino. Kinda put too much milk in it. And also forgot to put in my chocolate powder till after I'd made the whole drink, hence the powder spill among the milk spill.
This is a 24" (the size of my iMac back in KL for those who need a reference), touchscreen MSI machine. It's rather cool, as you can just touch whatever you want without moving a mouse. Typing would be difficult though. Schrobbenmaster was provided this as a product demo for a press event our company is organising.
Okay, because my blog posts have been so lagging and jumping from place to place, most of you probably don't know who this is.
May I introduce you to Pim.
He's the gentlest, silliest cat with the prettiest face I've ever seen. Schrobbenmaster's friend needed us to give him a place to stay for an indefinite period of time, so we took him in about 2 weeks ago. After hiding in various spots in the house from us, he's now very used to being around us and miaowing for strokes on his head and neck.
In fact, this morning, I woke up brushing away some insect on my forehead, only to open my eyes to see Pim staring down at me, asking my forehead for cuddles. He doesn't jump on the bed normally, but apparently this morning, he decided to do so.
The armrest of the sofa has also become one of his new favourite lounge spots. We had to cover the sofa in blankets because of him and his nails. At least yesterday he finally learnt that the scratching pole is his friend.
Ooh, I'm hungry. Brought leftover dinner from last night. I got my first salary yesterday and bought Korean takeaway for dinner. Decided to splurge and order a third dish of pancake with kimchi. Couldn't finish it, of course, so brought it in today.
Can't wait.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The 1-minute revelation
Just like the strategy of some toothpaste makers who make the holes where the toothpaste comes out from slightly bigger than normal so that people use up their tube faster, the makers of the toilet roll we use in the office have made each square piece slightly longer so that they can provide the same sized toilet roll, but which will be finished faster because there are less square pieces.
Guess where I got this revelation.
Guess where I got this revelation.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Battling work and colleagues
Just a quick one to update my thoughts, and so you guys don't think I've disappeared into a cloud.
It's my second week at work, and ups and downs are normal. Won't go into detail at the moment - suffice to say that I struggle with a particular person at work who seems bent on ignoring me and being rude. I was incredibly pissed the whole of last week, adding in the fact that Schrobbenmaster didn't seem to think anything of it... but yesterday that person seems to have changed her tactics. Won't change my mind about her until her behaviour becomes more consistent, though.
Anyways...
I finished two artwork proposals for a campaign for teens and sex. I'm pretty happy with the result, and hope that we get chosen for the campaign so that I can use those pieces :)
And now I'm working on creating a (brand new?) visual identity for the NS Tryout Festival. We did the first festival last year and I wasn't in charge of the branding (not that there was much anyway), but this year, we want to offer a solid identity and guidelines. I'm pondering between being ambitious and creating a whole new kit, which I can be potentially proud of, or refining and following on from last year's work.
It's making me nervous...
(Why did I bold those words? Cuz I wanna be able to scan through my posts in the future and see what projects I've worked on :P)
It's my second week at work, and ups and downs are normal. Won't go into detail at the moment - suffice to say that I struggle with a particular person at work who seems bent on ignoring me and being rude. I was incredibly pissed the whole of last week, adding in the fact that Schrobbenmaster didn't seem to think anything of it... but yesterday that person seems to have changed her tactics. Won't change my mind about her until her behaviour becomes more consistent, though.
Anyways...
I finished two artwork proposals for a campaign for teens and sex. I'm pretty happy with the result, and hope that we get chosen for the campaign so that I can use those pieces :)
And now I'm working on creating a (brand new?) visual identity for the NS Tryout Festival. We did the first festival last year and I wasn't in charge of the branding (not that there was much anyway), but this year, we want to offer a solid identity and guidelines. I'm pondering between being ambitious and creating a whole new kit, which I can be potentially proud of, or refining and following on from last year's work.
It's making me nervous...
(Why did I bold those words? Cuz I wanna be able to scan through my posts in the future and see what projects I've worked on :P)
Monday, April 12, 2010
New job! Making lemon tea, ordering pizza from Little Italy, buying a new sidetable, Burger King, and tour of our kitchen
Woke up pretty late today after a pretty late night. We decided to celebrate my new job by having some wine after dinner.
Oops, have I not mentioned I have a job?
Haha... that really slipped my mind until I typed it out. On Friday, Schrobbenmaster got the call that the NS (train company) had given the green light to the NS Festival in October. Last year's festival was the first ever, and I had designed the newspaper for it. So this year, Schrobbenmaster's boss wanted to hire me again for the project if it was approved. And on Friday, we found out that I got the contract!
Now I can spend some money without feeling too guilty. I ordered Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren a few days ago from the bookshop. Been thinking about it for a while but kept forgetting. I bought a copy years ago when I was still in Christian Fellowship with the Life Teens in SFX (my church), and it was so cheap then. Now, not so.
Anyway, as always, here are some photos to spice up your lives.
Schrobbenmaster makes fresh lemon tea when the weather gets warmer. He was inspired from staying with me when I always bought Pokka Ice Lemon Tea (which is really delicious) to cool down from the heat. Fresh lemon tea is better though. It tastes much healthier.
Taste-testing. Methinks the lemon in this first batch wasn't ripe yet. It ended up tasting a bit lemon skin-ny, although obviously there aren't any lemon skins in it. Today's batch is much nicer.
I met up with Schrobbenmaster in the city one afternoon after work. The sun was out in full force, beckoning all the European critters out from their homes and offices. Sitting in cafes and on the steps of the World Trade Center.
That is de Bijenkorf, an upscale department store. I like their food and stationery section. Made me wish I had someone to buy Easter chocolates for. I got myself a pack of sticky notes in the design of cupcakes though.
This is the 'shopping gutter' on the Hoogstraat.
That's me Foursquare-ing in front of the little Italian takeaway. We ordered two pizzas and hung around outside till it was done.
The shop next to Little Italy. Really nice exterior, right?
Schrobbenmaster took this photo. Not sure why exactly it interested him, but apparently this bike is higher than usual? Uh... I think he meant the horizontal bars between the steering and the saddle.
The call that told us I got the job!
The pizza is really cheap and quite tasty. Wouldn't say it's the best pizza ever, but still nice. Mine was €6 for a large size.
Yesterday, we went back to Alexandrium, the furniture mall, to take another look at the sidetable we spotted for the office. Decided to buy it because we'd seen hundreds and none were as ideally-sized and coloured as this.
We chose a different, more modern handle for the drawers. Sad thing is, we only get it in 3 months! :(
After looking in some sleep shops for pillows, we found one that seemed suitable. I don't know how to choose pillows, but I really needed a good one because my neck has been in torture for the past few months and I don't know how to cure it besides having nightly neck massages and getting a good pillow.
My pillow was a good bargain too, paid €75, down from €150 because the shop was closing and moving to another mall. Yay!
Before we headed home, we stopped by Burger King because I was craving proper fries. Proper, meaning, American 'french fries'.
Schrobbenmaster having chicken nuggets, which he described as 'potatoes with a taste of chicken on the outside'. Made him light-headed as well, but I told him it's probably because his body is not attuned to the bad stuff in fast food. I advised him to have fast food a bit more regularly :D
This is what they wanted me to sit on! How weird is that? It's like those bars they use in bus stops so that people can at least sit and wait, but uncomfortable enough so homeless people and hooligan youths don't hang out there for long hours. But I'm there to friggin eat, man! Why make it so awkward?
Took a picture of the poster for entertainment purposes. Oddly enough, the time when I was snapping this shot was the only time we didn't have weirdos standing or walking by the window.
We had a family of women just by the yellow bin on the left, finishing their smokes before coming to Burger King. The mother had purple hair and um... odd (to say the least) leopard/snake print boots, like we're still living in the 80s. The also smoking daughter was dressed okay, but she had the oddest body - I thought she might have been pregnant, but Schrobbenmaster said she just had a really weird body, Big, bigger, then big and then bigger. And the aunt, also smoking, had black AND white hair. Not streaked, but like a skunk sort of style.
Bet you wish I had waited to take that shot!
When we got home, Schrobbenmaster made brownies to celebrate my new job.
So I decided to take photos around the kitchen to show you what it looks like...
It kinda looks like curry, but it's pasta meat sauce :P
The brownies baking in the oven.
And to end the post, our handy portable radio/speaker next to Brad, our second basil plant (first one was called Mister B). Btw, if anyone's looking for a portable radio/speaker, this one from Tivoli Audio comes recommended as it's reasonably priced (we paid RM700 in KL for it, but it's slightly more expensive now with the newer models) and good quality sound for something so small.
Oops, have I not mentioned I have a job?
Haha... that really slipped my mind until I typed it out. On Friday, Schrobbenmaster got the call that the NS (train company) had given the green light to the NS Festival in October. Last year's festival was the first ever, and I had designed the newspaper for it. So this year, Schrobbenmaster's boss wanted to hire me again for the project if it was approved. And on Friday, we found out that I got the contract!
Now I can spend some money without feeling too guilty. I ordered Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren a few days ago from the bookshop. Been thinking about it for a while but kept forgetting. I bought a copy years ago when I was still in Christian Fellowship with the Life Teens in SFX (my church), and it was so cheap then. Now, not so.
Anyway, as always, here are some photos to spice up your lives.
Schrobbenmaster makes fresh lemon tea when the weather gets warmer. He was inspired from staying with me when I always bought Pokka Ice Lemon Tea (which is really delicious) to cool down from the heat. Fresh lemon tea is better though. It tastes much healthier.
Taste-testing. Methinks the lemon in this first batch wasn't ripe yet. It ended up tasting a bit lemon skin-ny, although obviously there aren't any lemon skins in it. Today's batch is much nicer.
I met up with Schrobbenmaster in the city one afternoon after work. The sun was out in full force, beckoning all the European critters out from their homes and offices. Sitting in cafes and on the steps of the World Trade Center.
That is de Bijenkorf, an upscale department store. I like their food and stationery section. Made me wish I had someone to buy Easter chocolates for. I got myself a pack of sticky notes in the design of cupcakes though.
This is the 'shopping gutter' on the Hoogstraat.
That's me Foursquare-ing in front of the little Italian takeaway. We ordered two pizzas and hung around outside till it was done.
The shop next to Little Italy. Really nice exterior, right?
Schrobbenmaster took this photo. Not sure why exactly it interested him, but apparently this bike is higher than usual? Uh... I think he meant the horizontal bars between the steering and the saddle.
The pizza is really cheap and quite tasty. Wouldn't say it's the best pizza ever, but still nice. Mine was €6 for a large size.
Yesterday, we went back to Alexandrium, the furniture mall, to take another look at the sidetable we spotted for the office. Decided to buy it because we'd seen hundreds and none were as ideally-sized and coloured as this.
We chose a different, more modern handle for the drawers. Sad thing is, we only get it in 3 months! :(
After looking in some sleep shops for pillows, we found one that seemed suitable. I don't know how to choose pillows, but I really needed a good one because my neck has been in torture for the past few months and I don't know how to cure it besides having nightly neck massages and getting a good pillow.
My pillow was a good bargain too, paid €75, down from €150 because the shop was closing and moving to another mall. Yay!
Before we headed home, we stopped by Burger King because I was craving proper fries. Proper, meaning, American 'french fries'.
Schrobbenmaster having chicken nuggets, which he described as 'potatoes with a taste of chicken on the outside'. Made him light-headed as well, but I told him it's probably because his body is not attuned to the bad stuff in fast food. I advised him to have fast food a bit more regularly :D
This is what they wanted me to sit on! How weird is that? It's like those bars they use in bus stops so that people can at least sit and wait, but uncomfortable enough so homeless people and hooligan youths don't hang out there for long hours. But I'm there to friggin eat, man! Why make it so awkward?
Took a picture of the poster for entertainment purposes. Oddly enough, the time when I was snapping this shot was the only time we didn't have weirdos standing or walking by the window.
We had a family of women just by the yellow bin on the left, finishing their smokes before coming to Burger King. The mother had purple hair and um... odd (to say the least) leopard/snake print boots, like we're still living in the 80s. The also smoking daughter was dressed okay, but she had the oddest body - I thought she might have been pregnant, but Schrobbenmaster said she just had a really weird body, Big, bigger, then big and then bigger. And the aunt, also smoking, had black AND white hair. Not streaked, but like a skunk sort of style.
Bet you wish I had waited to take that shot!
When we got home, Schrobbenmaster made brownies to celebrate my new job.
So I decided to take photos around the kitchen to show you what it looks like...
It kinda looks like curry, but it's pasta meat sauce :P
The brownies baking in the oven.
And to end the post, our handy portable radio/speaker next to Brad, our second basil plant (first one was called Mister B). Btw, if anyone's looking for a portable radio/speaker, this one from Tivoli Audio comes recommended as it's reasonably priced (we paid RM700 in KL for it, but it's slightly more expensive now with the newer models) and good quality sound for something so small.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)