Vanity Fact #3 - Time and Life

On my way home, i heard this saying..

We have a general mindset of how life should be..
birth -> baby -> childhood -> teenage -> youth -> adult -> mid-life -> senior -> elderly -> death

At every stage, we can't wait to grow to the next stage
and we always tell ourselves "someday i will do this"
"hopefully, someday i will do that".. "someday~" "someday~"

Until a day, where sickness or unforeseen circumstances strikes...
we say "If only i had did this"
"i wish i have done that"

Most people will tell you that
"i want to live till 60, or some 70, 80"
but do the bees count their days?
do the fishes in the sea and birds in the air count their days?

"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity"
This just remind me of all that Pastor Tan shared in service today.
Vanity - for it is uncontrollable and uncertain

Who can be sure of what is going to happen tomorrow?
For the rain will fall when the clouds are heavy
To be alive is a miracle in itself
Will you be thankful in good times and in bad times?
Will you rejoice in them all, knowing that God is in control
He is the Creator of both Day and Night.

How will you live your life?
Counting your days? or
Trusting God that He is in control and that everything will fall into place according to His time.
There is no one template fits all, when it comes to our life.
one thing i know...
All things works together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose!

Dorra Slimming Experience Review

Class 95 have been giving out free 2x Dorra Slimming French treatment. I have always been curious about whether these companies are really giving them "FREE". So i decided to give it a try. After sending in the SMS, Dorra Slimming contacted me almost immediately. You won't have to worry that you are not the first to SMS in and you will not win it or etc.

After calling me, they arranged for me to go down to their nearest convenient outlet as soon as possible. No matter how busy you are, they will make sure they arrange a timing with you before you can hang up on them.

I went to the outlet at Kovan. I told them that i only had 1 and a half hours and they say that the treatment will only take an hour and asked me not to worry, then one lady brought me to a consultation room and asked me to wait for awhile. Handing me a form to fill in. The therapist came in and started to explain to me their treatment... then all the different products... then all the available packages and upgrades you can do... still not convinced?

and since you are the 'winner' of this Dorra Slimming from the radio station, you have even more privileges if you upgrade NOW~! Still not convinced? Another senior came in and started all over again... then they took out all the testimonies of the past customers and show them to me one by one... One hour had past from the time i entered the shop and i have not even started my treatment... I told them i am in a rush and had an appointment after this, they say that they will start the treatment.

Finally, i am brought into the treatment room. After taking all the measurements, i am laying on the bed waiting for the treatment to start. The therapist did not for any moment stop trying to convince me to sign up. Asking me why? Why i don't want to give it a try? The 2 treatment will not be enough and the 2 free treatment DOES NOT come with this serum and without the serum, you WILL NOT see results. So if you sign up now, they will upgrade your 2 sessions to have the serum as well.

I was wondering... then what am i doing here now? anyway, she went on and on and on... halfway through, the other senior came in AGAIN! The treatment was not enjoyable at all with them going on and on and on.... They started of with trying to sell me 30, then 20 then 10... going on and on for almost 2 hours now.....

I thought, finally my treatment is finishing and i can rush for my next appointment now... (it's already been 2 and a half hours by this time) After the treatment, i'm back in the consultation room. Then it starts AGAIN!!!!!!! This time the senior tries to make the junior look pitiful, saying that she needs to build her portfolio. Saying that the junior served me very well just now right? I can help her by signing up and becoming part of her portfolio etc. Pleased with me to help her etc.. I told them I AM IN A RUSH!!! but they say they understand... and went on... in the end, i gave in and signed for a 5 sessions. Even with that, i had to bargain with them so that they will give in and let me go...

Seriously, unless you are really willing to go and end up paying that kind of price for slimming treatments... i think the decision is up to you... After leaving, i did my research. I hope i did them earlier but i'm still thankful that i only signed for 5 sessions. I found people who signed for $50K worth of treatments and they still would not let them go during every single treatment sessions they attended.

At the end of the day, i wondered if i 'WON' or i actually 'LOST'... Was there results in the treatment? that did not matter to me anymore because the experience was just unpleasant. I this my worse hard selling experience ever. This is also the reason why i love and cherish those people do business with true sincerity and out of love. :)

Exploring Singapore? Part 1 - Haji Lane

Recently, someone asked me where are some nice places in Singapore. As a Singaporean, i took sometime to think through and since SG50 is coming.. I decided to do some short introduction to Singapore for the all the friends out there who would want to make a trip to this small little island filled with many surprises!

I will first start with the place closest to me! HAJI LANE! This lane has the name of being the hipster street! A few years back, when i first came to this lane, it's where local designers started out their own small boutiques and the things are really cool but expensive in those days.

Today, Haji Lane still kept to it's name for being Singapore hipster street! The colourful units sticks close to one another, and every shop has their own unique features! I love this street because... If you ask me... where can i find unique clothes? unique accessories? This is definitely the place! Many photographers like to take photos here too! because of the colors, the hippy and liveliness of this lane.

Personally, i am a lover of unique things! I buy unique things from all over the world whenever i travel and bring them back to this small island of mine! And of course, i am a cafe hopper too! Sitting down for a nice coffee of coffee or tea, with a magazine or iPad :x will make my afternoon!

2 months back, i decided to share my collections and bring these unique things i find together, i opened my retail shop here @ 21 Haji Lane!

Combining apparels, accessories, cafe and even beauty together all in one place!

If you follow my blog, present this post to my staff to receive 5% off apparels and accessories! You can also follow us on Facebook @thelastpiece and Instagram @thelastpiecesg for our latest promotion! We are also having weekly giveaways that you can take part in!

We open at 11am everyday and closes at 8pm. We close later on Fridays and Saturdays, at 9pm. If you are looking to have lunch or dinner around the area when you come by, do not worry! You will receive 10% off total bill at "I am" cafe, where they sells really really nice western food! when you purchase anything in my shop, and present the receipts upon ordering!

We have new stocks replenished every Mondays. Every piece is unique and only one piece available. Looking for dresses for events or parties where you don't wish to see another person wearing the same dress as you? We are confident to say that we only carry 1 piece of each design and per color. You will not find the same dress in the same color in our shop. We do not restock the same item :) So if you like something, grab them before they are gone! ;)

Facials are available too! come on down to see what are the promotions every month. We can also work around your budget so do not worry about having to pay what you are told to. We do our best to bring comfort and satisfaction to meet your needs. 

There are other shops around that sells cool things too. You can walk down the lane from where we are, and find interesting finds too!

The weather can sometimes be really warm. Wear light clothes, bring along an umbrella if you have to. As the weather may change and you will not want to be caught in the rain ;)

Planning a trip to Singapore? stay tuned for more introduction to other nice things in Singapore! <3 <3 <3

BEWARE!!! COMPANY REGISTER / DATA REGISTER PTE LTD

Business owners! Beware of this company! It's a scam! 

IF YOU ARE ONE OF THEM, pls DO NOT make any payment.

We are encouraging everyone who are scammed to make a police report. 

I am going to go to the police too.

This is the pro-forma invoice i just received demanding for payment.

Last June, i received a letter that looked like from ACRA. I lost that letter because I believed that it was from ACRA. Stating that, "This is the last chance to register your company" otherwise your company will not be recorded.

That letter was for my mother's company, i remember mentioning that it's strange how come my company did not receive the same letter even though my company is also registered with ACRA. However, there was a deadline on the letter so we registered for my mother's company anyway.

This is the current view of the website (i am not sure if it looked the same). There was no where on the website that says that there will be cost incurred or any particular services provided that need to make payment for. From last June, we heard nothing from them etc and we just thought ACRA wanted us to register our company onto some portal where its like a directory etc. 

Till yesterday, we received this letter pro-forma invoice 'demanding' for a payment of $490 with a 8% interest if amount is not paid.

When i called into their hotline number stated on the letter, staff was rude and unhelpful. 

Me: "i did not sign up for any services from their company"

staff: "we have evidence that you sign up so you will need to pay for the invoice"

Me: "if i did sign up for the services in June, why are you only sending out the invoice now?"

staff" "yes we have evident that you sign up so you need to pay"

Me: "but i did not use any of the services"

staff: "you can sign in and start using now"

Me: "i don't even have a username or password etc"

staff: "you just click on the forget password and they will send you a new password"

Me: "i don't need hosting or website services, can i terminate this?"

staff: "you still have to sign in to terminate, by clicking on the forget password. But pls note that you still need to pay for the outstanding"

Me: -.- "i did not use any services at all, can it be waived?"

staff: "sorry there's nothing i can do for you. Pls note you will still need to pay the outstanding"

Me: "can you get someone with authority to speck to me?"

staff: "there's no one with authority around now, i will get them to call you back by tmr"

Me: "ok make sure they call me by tmr. who am i speaking to?"

staff: "my name is Robert Jack. So are you going to make the payment?"

ME: -.-'''' "i'll see when the person call me"

Searching online for help and more background about this company, i realised that ACRA had filed 78 charges against this company on the 24th Jan 2014. After over two thousand companies complained about this "Company register / Data register pte ltd" since Nov 2013. Case is still under investigation in court. There no report of new cases between feb 2014 to nov 2014.

In between, they had changed their company logo and address. New cases have been reported since mid of dec 2014. More cases are still surfacing.

Let's work together to bring down these companies set up just to scam people!

Stay in Madrid (Part 4) - "You Tiao" and Jamon

Searching for some asian-like food?

This taste very similar to the "you tiao" in singapore. They serve a drink that taste like our soya bean milk too!

The difference is, they sell them in a beautiful cafe! and they have the conventional style "you tiao" and also a thinner one with a cross section that looks like a star, and it taste crispier than the conventional ones.

Next up is Jamon, ham ham and more ham!

Photographer: ME!

Namely there is the Jamon serrano which is the more common type and priced reasonable to the ham you will fine normally in our supermarket; and Jamon iberico which is ham from the black Iberian pig which can cost up to 20euro for just a few thinly sliced Jamon Iberico.

The flavour of the ham is very strong. If you are a ham lover, you will pay the price for the Jamon Iberico because they are like the luxury range of hams. High in quality and strong-flavoured.

Stay in Madrid (Part 3) - Novelist (Miguel de Cervantes) and Architectures

This is the statue of the famous novelist, Miguel de Cervantes.

Photographer: ME!

The 2 statues in front of him is the characters from his famous novel, the adventures of Don Quixote. Statuettes of Don Quixote (left) and Sancho Panza (right)

Heard that its a very good read but a very literature book. Not too sure if they have it in English though. You can search out the bookstores for it if you are interested.


Below are just some other architectures i came across on the road that i find that they look beautiful.

Photographer: ME!

Stay in Madrid (Part 2) - Plaza De Toros (Bullfighting Stadium)

So busy and had no time to post the photos till now.....
Hopefully i can still fill in the details to the places i have visited..

Photographer: ME!

This is the famous stadium where bullfighting takes place. Though it has been banned in many other cities, due to its cruelty and also the danger to the audience.. i guess this is one of Spain's rich culture and the reason for people's visit.

Would i ever watch a bullfight despite of the cruelty and danger?
I guess i would do it once in a lifetime just to see it for myself. I think to some extend, it is an art and it takes a master artist to be able do what he does and with such passion that he puts his life on the line.

Would i enjoy that kind of adrenaline rush in watching such match?
Not really, i'm not the kind of person who enjoys adrenaline rush. I might end up be praying for the bullfighter and the bull throughout the match.

P.S Don't ask me what the lady in the last photo is trying to do in her awkward position because i really don't know too! HAHA