A Love That Will Last - Wai Mun & Sharon

Never a fan of reality tv shows! Maybe back in college time I was very excited about Survivor 1 - Sabah or maybe America Next Top Model Season 1, or maybe American Idol 1 (I watched it half way and didnt follow through Kelly Clarkson's crowning!) That's about it! In fact I never had affiliation towards TV! Everytime someone turns on the TV, I will be like oh well! I am going into the room! So practically the 50 inch at home here is just a redundant mighty piece of furniture until hubby turns it on! I don't watch every show but just two, Private Practice and Bones and now X-Factor USA 2. (Makes 3) 

1. Cook Spaghetti for 15 minutes add in some salt for taste (Through my experience that is the best time for bouncy crispy spaghetti any more than that time, it will be soggy and too soft any lesser will be too raw) 
2. Take out spaghetti from hot water and straight into normal water and set aside on colander
3. Heat up pan with butter and olive oil, put in garlic and stir until translucent, put in white squid, prawn, mussel and mushroom stir for 1 minute
4. After prawn shows sign of done (the color will turn reddish and the tail curl up) put in cherry tomatoes and stir fry for another 30 seconds
5. Mix in 3 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, some water, salt & sugar and "fine tune" the taste according to your taste
6. Pour in spaghetti and toss, drizzle some olive oil and serve on plate
7. Sprinkle onto each plates individually according to preference - garlic powder, oregano and red pepper flakes.
8. Top of with yummy Parmesan cheese and we have really yummy spaghetti ;) 

Christmas! Always the best time of the year ;) Its about family, close friends and of course PRESSIEs..... Love it! Especially if the Christmas Tree is up @home! 

This might be some song Kelly Clarkson make famous BUT these famous words does really has it punch to it! It really proven true..... I do not know about others BUT for me it is true! Life has been a learning experience and I truly felt that what we are is not define by the moments of hardship we been through but by how we take those moment and make our life better! 

Hubby and I both have been through hardships in life. For him, he grew up from a family who has not much, he doesn't have much toys and all the luxuries that I enjoyed when I was younger. I used to share with him about what I have and how this toys were played and how this stationery were the coolest in school at that time & his answer is always the same "I know they are the coolest at that time BUT my parents couldn't afford them when I was younger! I love to have them like other classmates and schoolmates but we just couldn't" That is the past for a man who has brought me around the world and back! Brought me luxury items and keep me grounded! ;) 

For myself when my parents went their separate ways, mommy, sister and I were left to fend for our lives and tomorrow seems to be like a storm that hits us and everything were so unclear. Remember those days when we would have to worry when tuition fee is due, what should we have for tomorrow as breakfast, lunch and dinner? We will survived, how are we going to? That was my past! Just like the song goes "That was then! This is my now!" Looking back - Each of those moments are the ones that mold me, shaped me to be the person I am today! Did I ever dream of today? NO! At that moment, a life like now is just a dream BUT keep holding on and never let go!  

What I wanted to say is the past doesn't define us, how we made of it and add to our life is the one that defines us! Don't ever give up! Don't hate those moments, if we did not go through those moment of molding how will the Lord knows that we are big enough to hold his blessing when He pours it out upon us? 

One person that I would like to thank is my Lord Jesus! He is the one that has brought me to this moment! If I don't have Him, I wouldn't have the things I have today! Never! But in the meantime, Marry a good husband, a Lord destined husband... It helps a lot to make life better ;) Trust me! 
So at the end of the day "What doesn't kills you only makes you stronger! And it is true!"

Facebook needs to stop suggesting "People you may know"! I do not know them, that is why they are NOT in my friend list! Stop suggesting because it is annoying to see their profile pictures plus you are not me!" 

If you are looking for a really interesting game to play, look no further! Trust me this is a really nice farming game! Alright don't put it off because its a farming game and the name Farmville brings back nightmare of endless clicking! Well I thought the same too until I give Farmville 2 a try! 

I wanted to say PRAISE GOD! With a heart filled with gratitude! As I am reading the book of Revelation - I realized just how great and awesome my Heavenly Father is yet He takes time to bless His child - ME! Being in business makes me held tightly to God like never before! It is a very unfamiliar, uncharted territory! Never been down this road so like a child I am following closely to my daddy in heaven! 

I have always prayed - Dear Lord, please continue to bring customers from all over Malaysia & His answer is simply just marvelous! "Malaysia only my child? Too small a dream! Let's just say........... WORLDWIDE" (I can imagine His loving tone) Thank You Lord for your blessing! He never fail to prove to me when we hold on to Him and only Him, He gives and He blesses us with things our heart could never contain and couldn't think off! Over and abundant! Amen! 

I was approached by my first overseas customer two weeks ago! He is from Germany! He wanted to buy not one bag BUT a lot of bags & a few wallets too! I am now waiting for his second payment as he in turn introduced me to his friends! I was a little worried about how to courier those items so far! Called up various courier companies as I wanted the most cost efficient one! DHL by far is the most expansive! I packed my items up in a box as light as possible and the weight : 1.25kgs! DHL offer me a price of MYR 522 (door to door) - the Customer Service personnel told me on the phone that it will be MYR 823 - I do not believe so I went to the psychical office to have them look through! Well MYR 522 is still that expansive though! The uncle in DHL even try to convience me that this is the best choice! He pulled out his files showing me people who courier CURRY POWDER to Italy! I mean Curry Powder that cost only MYR55 with the heavy courier fee of MYR 500! Sorry I am wiser than that! Doing business is all about cost efficiency! Even in life as well! What a wastage of money while three quarter of the world is in poverty rite! 

Followed by UPS - MYR 459 (door to door) while Kangaroo & Sky-net & Nationwide with such names does not serve vicinity outside Malaysia - talking about naming yourself Sky-net & Nationwide while Kangaroo's slogan is "Your Worldwide Partner" Thank God at that time my sister is around, so the both of us rounded up the courier companies here in Johor and at the end thank God, Pos Malaysia is still the best option available.... I strongly think that despite the complaints that I read online! Well everything and everywhere there sure be someone who complains! Pos Malaysia offer me MYR 173 to sent the item through! I still make some extra from it! Thank God! 

Once it was sent out with all the proper declaration done! I sigh with relieve BUT then it is always my way of doing business to check the tracking until it arrives at my customer's door! Suprisingly when the prayer goes up! Our worries come down! Papa said "He handle the rest!" The item arrived safely at my customer's door 5 days later! Amen! Wonderful! Praise be to God and by faith I claim "MORE TO COME PAPA" 

The more I see things are done in Groupon, the more disappointed I became! Check out how Groupon deal with the complaint I gave to them!!!

1. As if I do not know where the FORWARD button is in my email, I need to write an email to them and they hence FORWARD the mail to the merchant!
2. What is their action as GROUPON? At first they told me they will NOT be involved and that I should deal with the merchant myself! Now I get no respond & no apology from their MERCHANT and they are FORCED to handle my case and what do they do after a long phone call with me? They asked me to drop them an email in which they did nothing BUT forward the email to the merchant using the SAME EMAIL ADDRESS that I sent my complaints to, I thought you Groupon would have better contacts or even give your merchant a call!?! EMAIL! COME ON GUYS... YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! I WAS A CUSTOMER SERVICE BEFORE in freight forwarding company AND I DO NOT HANDLE MY CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS THAT WAY! 
3. Its 2 days now and the merchant DON'T even bother to reply my complaint! Lets see what is the next drama that follows!
4. If you read my complaint, you will know I did not asked for the item BUT I was questioning what are GROUPON actions to ensure quality towards the merchants they allowed on their weekly advertising? What are their assurance to their online customers?!  ANSWER: Groupon do not care about their customers! Wonder if they read the complaint even!! Do they check for quality merchant! NO!!!!!  And the language used is "PLEASE ANSWER TO THIS CUSTOMER" It is just another way of saying  the same thing they said to me on my first complaint to them : AFTER SALES SERVICE GROUPON NO PROVIDE! PLEASE GO AND CHASE FROM YOUR SELLER ONCE TRANSACTION IS ACTIVATED!  (I had refined the figure of speech!) 

I guess I will continue to grunt until I receive my items! I have wrote another email to GROUPON and this time a rather nasty one! Yeap its 2 and half months now and I am yet to receive a proper explanation to why this is happening! They kept blaming it to the custom saying that the new rules implemented and the custom have to go through one by one of the items that came in to Malaysian shores!!  Here is my rebuttal to them:

I am a small online business person too! I import heavily from various countries overseas! Namely China, Taiwan, Hong Kong & U.S. To be honest my items are taxable items and I so happened to order during the RAYA week! I received my parcels 3 days after RAYA break's over! Pay my duty to the custom guys and declare my items accordingly. So why is your merchant blaming the custom? Do some justice for these guys! Not everything has to do with the guys in uniform! Do you ever bothered to check the genuineness of your merchants before letting them advertise??!!?? 

Well then I took the fancy of going to their Groupon Facebook Malaysia and I read so many who is in the same plight as me! Some even worst BUT some I find it funny! After one bad experience with Groupon they still buy from them again and again and again! What is the point of all this stress?!? Some even worst than mine case! Check this one below :

One lesson I learned & will NOT forget - In the tone of Taylor Swift (in her song - We are never ever getting back together) "I am never ever ever ever going to buy one damn shit thing from Groupon! No matter how cheap it is" There! I got it out in one breath full! 

My item is still on the way! A MYR49.00 iPhone set! That was claimed to have been discounted by 60% - well its all load of lies that I fall for! Market Price is just MYR41.00 and I bet they could get it cheaper inspite them operating online or getting in bulk! Ok! Price aside, should be focusing on the item delivery! In the rules and regulation the seller promise a within 3 weeks delivery and I am ok with it! Now what?!? Its been almost 2 months and I get emails after emails regarding the delay. At first it was due to the Raya break! Then the second delay was due to over-demand (You call 70 items sold an over demand?!?)  Then came the third email due to custom giving them problem! (Well I deal with custom as well! In fact my items are taxable items while theirs are duty free! - I do not see custom giving them any problem at all! Through my experience of importing items from various countries like Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong & USA - I get very minimum problems as the custom would only requires you to pay the certain taxable amount (if your items are taxable) if not usually the release will be immediate! So custom giving you problem?! What problem? Then came this morning delay item notice without any reason - my item will only be delivered end of this month! What? that will be freaking 2 and half months to get a MYR49.00 stuff?!?  

I try writing to Groupon and the answer I get is "Once the deal is effective, chasing of goods or any inquiries should be between the buyer and seller! Groupon will not be involved in it" Well THANK YOU VERY MUCH! What is the use of using Groupon when you don't care whether the seller is authentic or not? What is the use of you when you didnt check properly whether they have the items and whether their inventory is available or not!!! BULLSHIT! 

Trust me! I am very devastated & I guess I have to give up hoping.. They should be thankful they have customers like me who doesnt give a hoot! I have a customer last week! Pos Malaysia delay her item for 1 day and she start jumping at me accusing me of cheating her money and asked me to make a report to Pos Malaysia for "Barang Hilang" (The value of her things ?!  MYR30.00) Well tell you there are all kinds of people out there and people that sell on Groupon are majority "Shupid" 

I love to cook and as much as that, I love to watch those cooking programs on the television! Off lately I got so inspired after watching this show and it makes me think about this! 

Western Cooking Show vs. Eastern Cooking Show

1. Western Cooking like Jamie Oliver or Martha Stewart and the list goes on is always that simple to follow! One thing I notice is that they are very casual! You end up getting really pumped up to cook after watching them, always thinking "Hey I can do that too" whereas for Chinese cooking show they are usually so dressy and the setting will always be at a studio instead of home based or simple kitchen, making us feel like we are just watching when we finished the whole 30 minutes cooking with who and who.
2. Chinese cooking show always have all the up to date weighing machines, baking, stirring equipment and the list goes on, making me feel like I need to shop more than I need to cook after watching but for those "ang-mohs" cooking shows, I always end up wanting to cook more and show hubby something that I have learn from it.
3. I love how simple the cutting the English cooking shows are! They don't mind about crude cutting of their potato or anything like that! We usually are never good cutters and my potatoes are cut this way and that way! Usually it is not so for the Chinese cooking series! Do you ever wonder how their potatoes, carrots and etc are all strip and cube in the same diameters? I wonder!
4. Tasting! Don't we do tasting when we cook? Well I love how the English cook usually just dip their spoon into the pot and done! The food is tasted! So here we go.... Now you know why I always feel really motivated when I finish watching a series! Plus with the knowledge you get from watching cooking shows are priceless! You learn new tricks and I just love them! So here we are doing extra cooking with newly acquire knowledge. 

Life little enjoyment is when you get surprises... Hubby bought me the latest Ultrabook by Dell to cheer me on for my little business 2 months anniversary! Well its really nice to have it.. Thanks hubby... Love Love Love! 

Maybe I am not supposed to mention the company's name as it is an established corporation BUT this is just my opinion and they are all true! (Not made up or pretense!) I never give two hoots about Groupon and its deals! Eventhough their updates illegally find their way into my mail box everyday! I deliberately click delete as they come in with a glance or sometimes without! I always believed that there is no good thing, in cheap thing & Groupon has to go and prove to me it is TRUE!!

From a Buyer's Point of View :

1. From my personal experience : There was this really good steamboat place we used to go before they discovered Groupon and its deals! The moment they started advertising on Groupon, the customers came in by truckload BUT the quality of their food and services dwindled by a 100%. To make up for the cheap price they are offering, the eat-all-you-can steamboat place cut their crabs, small lobsters prawn and white squid to name some! Their vegetables choices went down to a few cheap vegetables and the quality is just bad! We never went back ever since we "the normal price paying customers" were made to hear they got too many customers because a lot of donkeys from Groupon did not called up and make appointment before dropping in! "Do I care?!? Tell it to them!!! So Goodbye! We are not coming back"
2. From my own experience : Well out of the blue, I am feeling smurfified and went online and bought the iPhone set for what they claimed to be cheap! I later found out that it was just overprice! But I consoled myself that at least I get to choose the color! Because if I were to buy it from the mall at MYR9 cheaper I get only white color!  Before I bought the deal, I asked the seller when can I received the item? He replied that once the deal end, delivery will commenced! The deal ends before Raya which is at 17th August 2012. I should have received my item already BUT little did I know there is clause that says "If we ran out of stock, it will take another 2 more weeks to get our stocks and therefore your item will arrive 2 weeks later!"(Well fine! I add on the Raya week as free! And now I am still waiting for my goods! I checked only 50 people bought the deal! Does that means you do not have enough stock?!?)
3. From worldwide news : I wouldn't want to mention our well loved fast food chain! What happened when they advertised on Groupon? They learned their gravest lesson and set a head-start example to all fast food restaurants out there, to never ever ever spoilt their already established reputation by tarnishing them on Groupon!

1. People who advertise in Groupon are basically cutting profit to 0% when they do so! Why sell when you are not making?!? It might be easier to get customers this way BUT by selling your items close to cost price or at cost price is NOT the way to get customers! In such a way you would have kill other sellers who are "just doing our business" the normal way!
2. By selling at cheap cheap prices! One is actually doing a brand a big damage, including good brands! Last I checked when I was buying "my item" online! They are selling a TV at half price? Why would Samsung do that? (Ok maybe after losing its tele-communication patent law-suit to its competitor, they need to!)
3. By selling on Groupon as well one's company reputation may take a big hit, as you gain too many customers too soon! Although one of the clauses in advertising in Groupon requires us, sellers to get an extra employee to run the errand BUT how many of us will do? With profit cut up to half or more, is there an allocated budget for another employee? Think about it? 
4. Groupon requires a certain stock level before you start advertising with them! For small business, the amount is quite overwhelming! What if the sales vouchers total up to less than the stock amount? We are forced to swallow the remaining inventory ourselves when the deal ends! It will ran the business to ground if this is the case!
5. Plus keep in mind, deal hungry customers are all over the Internet! They will want the best of all quality and yet pay less so as a seller we couldn't actually satisfy that isnt it? So we are forced to shut most of the customers up and then what happened to our customers based? End up in nothing at all! Sad but true! 
6. The list goes on and one and I can think of them as we go... Just that now is dinner time so I shall stop!

I am proud to introduce the new division to Glamorously Instyle. It is the Tupperware Hampers division. Has gotten my mom to take charge of the Tupperware despatching, that I have a little bit more time to get creative about what I should do next. Although business is fairly good! I have customers every single day now! Praise be to God! I would like to innovate and to add in more variety to this complex & competitive Internet Fashion world, with Zalora going all out to garner business with their big giveaways and advertising, we need to innovate and improvise!

So here we are - I'm proud to announce that Glamorously Instyle has a new division - Tupperware Hampers for all occasion. In fact I already done my first customer and these are the result of it... Raya Gift... I have always love arts and craft but turning them into business, like I always said is "God-Possible" Now all I need to do is to wait for my new laptop to come onboard and we are rolling the new advertisement out! 

Anyone having company dinners, customers meet-up for festive seasons, birthday and anything that needed doorgifts can now contact me to get their quotation and further pictures.

This has got to be the most interesting topic in itself. God is indeed creative when it comes to creating characters in people and also to see how far people can transform based on the basic characteristic that was instill in them since birth. Being in this business has made me see so many different types of people. Some makes me laugh, some makes me smile but there are also others who makes me angry and frustrate me by their selfish motives and attitude.

I encountered some funny characters, one of them is I call "can't trust people" type. They wanted to purchase something online BUT once they transfer the payment (even though their amount is just MYR55) they will keep checking in and asking time and again "when will they be getting their item" I have had this a few times BUT I realize that dealing with this people needs a lot patience and all I need to do is to make sure they are at ease, these people need the seller presence at all time. 

There are also some that makes my stomach churned, they are called the "bargain hungry" type. Whatever prices that I put up, I have given great consideration to it and to ensure I have a profit margin and it is up to the market competitiveness YET this people (especially chinese auntie! Sorry to have said this) try to bargain with me pressing my price to as low as possible and if I couldn't do it, they abandon the item without any updates and then try again with some other products until they are satisfy! At the end they only purchase one Salt N Pepper holder from me worth MYR19. (Well positively better than nothing)

Then there is also those joy-askers / bidders type. I have encounter these more than any types of people add together. Maybe they think that doing trade through an Internet, they are somehow protected from any absurd reaction during any face to face transactions. I have people confirming and giving me their full details promising bank ins and it never happen. There are also those who agreed on buying and yet never get contacted! So many hope crushers! I am not some 'everyday-do-for-profit-sellers! That do not care about my customers and raise my price sky high! So I tend to get a little hurt from this kind of people BUT then like hubby always comforted me, just take it easy and do not let these things overwhelm me! Forgive these people and our life would be a lot easier! Well easy said than done when what I felt is hurt and not anger ;)

I know at times I tend to get ahead of myself, maybe because I put a lot of effort into it and would love to see it grow and flourish into something. There are a lot of things that I have learn from doing this business and I thank God for that, everything is immeasurable and it makes me a lot wiser than I could be! I thank God for his strength daily and I thank God for sending at least one customers each day to purchase Tupperware from me. I am glad to have His blessing and I do hope that sales with bags, wallets, accessories would be as good as well. Amen! 

A good computer / laptop is one that can startup, has a mouse, a keyboard and can play Cafe World.... The rest are just add ons......

Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains and nothing is impossible for you" That is His promise to all of us who believes in Him! I believe! Yes! With all my heart! So many times He has proven my dreams to be too small and I believe in too little! I want to stand as a living testimony to dare everyone to believe in Him! 

I started my little business as a hobby and of course deep down inside I wanted to do well, as I have said to myself I wanted to show to my hubby he had marry a great wife! & in order to be a Proverbs 31 wife, you not only must know how to cook and take care of the household but there is a part that says in verse 16 - "She considers a field and buys it, out of her earnings she plants a vineyard!" I used to read with distraught saying this is impossible to achieve especially sitting at home BUT yet I pray to God that I wanted to be that wife that is able to do all things through Christ who has given me strength! I have not yet achieve anything but I see my Heavenly Father is a fair God and He gives good things to His Children. When I do my business, getting everything into place, searching for suppliers and items to sell, setting up the website with my 'limited edition' HTML, getting advertisement and so on and so forth to kick start, I thought of it as a little hobby and I used to tell myself it is OK if I don't sell much! BUT God said "My child of little faith! Do you think I cannot do more than sell a little?!" He went and bring in buyers after buyers to purchase my items and I have been busy since! 

I pray to God with gratitude flowing through my heart after sending out all 3 parcels today & I have one pending customer yet to make payment! This week alone I have sent out 4 parcels with so many items inside! Impossible?!? God-possible! Praise Him Hallelujah! I'm indeed humbled by the wonders of His majesty! One thing I know! I found all that I need in His unending Love! My Jesus is the more than enough God and He listens and sticks closer than a brother even when my faith is nothing more than a mustard seed! So everyone out there waiting for your breakthrough never stop believing and don't doubt because doubt shakes your relationship with God, He never leave you nor forsake you but when you doubt you struggle to break-free from His will and thats the moment you blame Him - Why He wasn't there! Keep holding on to Him because He brings about blessing greater than our small minds could conceive because He said in Christ all our promises are Yes & Amen!

Facebook is for games and crappy pictures! If you are the "so-serious-as-though-you-got-some-world-saving-things-to-do-on-Facebook" type, please go and develop a website or start from the street! Why are you sitting on your fat ass and clicking here and clicking there on Facebook?!? 

I know its been 4 months since my trip to Europe and now only I am writing about it! Oops I wasn't actually busy saving the world but just still savoring over how great God's creations are! Its just wonderful. I was having breakfast this morning, I came to think of all the places we've (my husband and I) been! Indeed just like mom used to say "This world is just too big for her little girl" 

Used to think I know a little bit of everything but after stepping out, I realized I know nothing at all! In fact I believe that people who thinks and acts irrationally is because their world revolves around themselves and its very small! As a little girl everybody would have been exposed to the wonders of Eiffel, Champs-Elysees, The Louvre, Mona Lisa, Michelangelo, The Notre Dame and so on and so forth! I read of it, watched movies about it and wished someday I will live to see it! God is good! He always has been and will be! He made this little girl's dream came true! We arrived at Paris were welcomed by the Arc de Triomphe with French long elaborated history of Napolean and her over centuries of different kings! 

Over expecting can be a little too dangerous!  I was expecting Eiffel to be wonderful and romantic and all the wonderful feeling that you could get from watching a movie like "Midnight in Paris" and so on BUT standing underneath the wonderful Eiffel, one can sense the historical meaning of it, the awe of that high tower that was build centuries ago but trust me all romantic feelings that you thought it would emit wasn't really so! Eiffel is pretty & yes I would tell everyone to visit it if you haven't BUT once you do, I guess you will want to visit some other places instead!