~ t w i s t e d ~ a n g e l ~

I understand marketing is one important thing that keeps businesses going. But if we are not being careful, some marketing strategies are just dirty gimmicks. There was once me and my friend decided to attend a concert in the city which was organized by one private broadcasting media. There were about 10 artists would be performing, but the ones we wanted to see were only 2.

Inside the newspaper and TV stated that we didn’t need tickets. Just get the passes at the front counter at the concert venue. So on the day we went there to collect our passes, but to our surprise, the organizer said we need to buy an album of any artist performing and passes would be given in exchange.

I had no choice, and my friend came from somewhere as far as 100km to go to this concert. So we bought other artist’s album (totally crap songs). And I already had the album of the ones I like, I don’t think I need two of the same kind.

If only I knew the event marketing would come up with something totally misleading like that, I would wait til the concert came up on TV, which it did 2 weeks later. Gah.

This entry is written for http://www.regonline.com

I have no better explanation for the lack of updates lately other than the lazy bug has bitten into me. Or maybe the clean and tidy room, working into any kind of papercraft project will clutter everything again. I’m afraid I work better in the mess.

On another note, it’s another week to go but I’m already hyped with this:

It’s ACTORLYMPICS yeehaww!! For those who have not been to one I would really recommend this. Otherwise, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. You better walk around wearing mask for disguise if you haven’t been to ACTORLYMPICS in your life.

Disclaimer: I don’t receive any kind of compensation for this entry. Just sharing about an event I don’t want to miss like I did before.

Few people can manage their time effectively. Effective in my view is balanced goals are achieved. This includes personal, family and career goals. And how can you achieve only one without letting go the other goals? If you have excellent career, but your family is falling apart, or you hardly see your spouse and children, are you happy and content?

Time management plays an important role to improve your life quality. This includes planning, setting objectives and time target. If you have more than one task, it would help if you prioritize them. Personal goal setting will help one individual to recognize his/her target and set a clear path to achieve it.

Well, this is something I myself have to improve too. What I normally have right these days is short term goals, not long term. Gotta get my notebook to list down my goals now.

This entry is written for http://www.timethoughts.com

I normally arranged my books according to authors. One of the reason is because if I like one book from one particular author, most likely I’ll go out and buy his or her other book(s) too. Who doesn’t like things in complete set? I also know my friends who arranged their books by genre or title.

However, ever think of arranging your books according to colors?

How cool are those? That’s not cool. That’s wicked!!

I’ve been arranging my clothes according to colors since I don’t remember when. Now I’m itching to do the same to my books. But I’m afraid my OCD will get worse. But it looks so very freaking nice!

*Click on image for source.

Space is the most important element in creating storage and organizing furniture. Unorganized and cluttered work station can consume unnecessary space, and could lead to industrial hazard. People at formaspace.com can come out with custom assembly of furniture and accessories.

Each office or industrial conditions are unique. So it’s important to create a practical and safe working environment accordingly. Their solution includes workbench, lab furniture and LAN station. Visit formaspace.com to find out more about their products.

This entry is written for http://www.formaspace.com

Yesterday in yoga class we did one of the backbending pose, like the image. I don’t remember what was the specific name, I think it’s wheel pose (somebody please correct me). The instructor said this was suppose to help strenghten the arms and spine. I did it okay I suppose.

However, later when I went out for dinner with *The Boyfriend* at KLCC, guess what did I have? Hor Fun Dry Curry (from Ipoh Noodle), Fish and Chips (from London Fish Tale) and Sumo Waffle (from Cold Storage). Three meals back to back. I hardly finish one plate of Hor Fun Dry Curry before, and now I can eat another two meals?

Did I hear it right? Was it suppose to strenghten my arms and spine, or enlarge my abdomen?

*Click the image for source.

If there is one thing I don’t understand about the role of most parents these days is how the could go all the way to feed their children with the the best feeding bottle, the best educational toys and everything they could ever afford, but I hardly found any parents who wants to provide their children the best place to stay in the future.

I’m not talking about shelters, what I meant was, the earth. And if you haven’t realize, mother earth been giving more warning signals now.

I’m not an environmentalist, but I do separate my wastage and send them to recycle center. I think the most important one is the plastic especially HDPE(High Density Polyethylene). Reason being, the plastic component does not break down easily. In other words, they don’t decompose well. You can bury them and dig them out hundred years later and they will possibly look the same.

So gather up your scrap HDPE and send them for recycle. Before your kids blame you for leaving them to live with the rubbish. Find out more about HDPE scrap here.

This entry is written for http://www.hdpescrap.com

Today I’d like to share with you on how to make a simple paperbag. This kind of bag is really useful when the things you wanted to wrap came with uneven surfaces. It’s easy to wrap boxes right? But how about things that doesn’t come with box? The answer is paperbag.

I did this paperbag for doorgifts and birthday parties favor too. Really easy.

Things you need: Wrapping/printed/colored paper, glue, scissors and ruler.

1. The size depends on how big or small you want it. For this example I used 22cm x 12cm, including the glue allowance (I don’t know what it’s called in papercraft terms, but in sewing we call it ’seam allowance’ :P).

2. Fold both sides to the center, with 1 cm overlapping each other and glue them together.

3. Fold the bottom part. This will determine the ‘thickness’ of your paperbag. In this case I’m going to put few candies and toffees so I fold 4cm. If you want to put something bigger than fold further up.

4. Unfold, then fold both inner side like this:

5. Fold bottom and upper side halfway, but make sure they overlap each other. Otherwise your bag would ‘leak’ :D. Glue them together.

6. It should turn out into something like this. The ruler serves no purpose but I put it there so easier for you to see and not to confuse it with the paper behind.

7. Tadaa! You’re done.

To create the enclosure, you can bind the top with staples and ribbons. Or you can fan it out like these. Just flip and flap, flip and flap then staple the end together.

It’s quite simple, hence the name ’simple paperbags’. I made these two within 20 minutes, and taking picture of each steps while at that. Another version of paperbag is the one with folded sides. Involves few extra steps but easy nonetheless. I’ll share in another entry. Til then.

Throughout the year, there is always occasion to buy gifts for someone. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, Christmas and the one that is near is Easter. While giving and taking is a kind gesture, with so many families, relatives and friends to share the joy with, buying gifts could affect you financially. What if I tell you that you still can give presents and spend wisely at the same time?

I’m thinking of getting something for my mother from cooking.com, most likely Pyrex Glass Bakeware Set deals. And for my father, a discount coupon from ToolKing.com, a coupon code TKCOUPON10 would make him glee in delight. I’m not that well versed with hardware tools so I think why not let him choose the stuff he likes himself.

You can get many other coupons and special deals at CouponChief.com. Discounts and special prices are updated daily.

I never missed to visit Singapore Plaza during each of my trip to down south. I just had to go to Daiso, the Japanese origin all $2 shop. If you have time, go to Daiso at Jurong, that one definitely bigger.

But after joining craft forum, I was taken aback after knowing the bestest (if not one of the best) place to shop for craft is at the same building, just one floor up from Daiso, it’s called Spotlight. I didn’t ever bother to check Spotlight before because from the outside I thought they sell only curtains and bedsheets.

So early this month (I just had to go to Singapore again after knowing what I’ve been missing :P), after a brief stop at Daiso, the boys split to IT Show and me and Tini went up one floor to Spotlight.

I just can’t describe the excitement and euphoria in the air when we browsed the shop further in. They have extensive and beautiful patterns of 100% cottons. Overused word of the day was ‘OH-MY-GAWD’.

No Amy Butler though, but they have Michael Miller. We were so immersed in the cottony jakun-ness we forgot to take the pictures of the shop. Besides fabrics, they have loads of stuff for crafts. And they brought in tonnes of Fiskars! I hardly found Fiskars here.

We spent almost 3 hours there. Forgot to mention that we had to lug around our loot from Daiso. By the time we were out from Spotlight, we were already huffing and panting with the bags. But who said we didn’t save some space for piping hot Old Chang Kee’s snacks on sticks? Okay that’s another different story altogether.

During shopping there, my ground rules were only these 3:

1. If you can’t find item in Kuala Lumpur, no matter how much is the price (as long as it’s within your budget), BUY.

2. If the item is heavy or/and fragile AND cheaper than Kuala Lumpur, BUY.

3. If the item is light AND can be bought online, no matter what is the price, DON’T BUY. I can buy those using my paypal credit from PPP payments, so I don’t have to use my cash in hand.

Weight is another factor related to the handling and delivery charges.

Clockwise: Quilt ruler, a bag of button, chipboard flowers, embroidery scissors (I needed new scissors for cutting felt), Fiskars craft drill (been eyeing this for months! to drill hole onto chipboard or wood chip), buttons and brads in shapes of bags and shoes.

Ribbons.

Looking at the fabrics that I bought, I seriously regret I didn’t buy more. Their 100% cottons there were beautiful and they brought in hundreds of prints. You can even find skulls and pirate theme.

Have you ever seen printed felt? Me neither. Somehow I know I will not use these because I only bought one from each print. Pfft.

Many people I know are into computer games. It ranges from RPGs (role-playing games), card games, board games and others. There is certainly at least one game that one might like. The games normally need strategy planning, other maybe skills or chances. You can have them installed on your computer or you can play them online.

What if I tell you the games you might play not only help you ease you up, but could make you hundreds of bucks richer? Join online contest at breakthevault.com. You have countless chances to win the games they offered. The harder the games, the bigger the payouts. Play games with chances of winning some cash, and have fun while at that!

This entry is written for http://www.breakthevault.com

I think, I have the ability to talk with cat. I didn’t notice this until my sister pointed it out that it seems that I can hold a decent conversation with my cat, Zorro.

I know many others out there who talk to their cat like they are human too, and knows what kind of meow their cats made when they want to eat, poop, go out, to be followed, need some tummy rub and all.

But last night, I think Zorro confessed to me that he is gay and missing his partner. I know this sounds ridiculous but prior to that, I did ask him where was his good friend, whom we called Garfield, owned by our neighbour down the street, because he was nowhere to been seen from the last few weeks. They were always seen together.

I don’t know whether I should believe it but Zorro is almost 2 years, but I never seen him humping and woo-ing any female cats. Is this normal?