Day 13 — A song that is a guilty pleasure
I was trying very hard to think of a song that would be deemed as a guilty pleasure. I guess it would be any Justin Bieber song? Maybe this one with Nicki Minaj?
Hmmmm…unless I think of something else, this will be it for now.
Welcome to the blogshop era where a new shop pops up online every few months…or even weeks. Well and good for people like me who enjoy shopping in the comfort of my home. Online shopping is so fast and easy. A few clicks of the mouse and I can get almost anything I want. Plenty of blogshops means more variety of clothing to choose from.
Aha! That’s where the trouble begins. Since there’s more demand than supply, blogshop owners start pricing their wares higher. A dress can easily cost $30-$50. That’s fine for something made of good quality material, but that’s not always the case. I have been blogshopping a lot and I seriously doubt the quality of half the stuff I have gotten. It’s obvious the clothing come from some wholesale factory in China so they probably cost a lot less than what they are priced for. Really, why should I be paying $30 for a dress made of filmsy material?
To make things worse, some of the items I get do not fit me well so I have to try to resell them. If you’ve been following my Carouhell Carousell posts, you’ll know that I cannot possibly resell the items at what I got them for. Not shifting the blame to blogshop owners but I really wish they would relook the prices of their items.
I was rather curious about the Black Paint pore care products when I received the notice from SampleStore.com, so I thought why not give it try.
Essential is a popular haircare brand from Japan and if you’re not aware of it, they have improved and extended their range of products! Many should recognise the older orange and pink variants, and maybe the newer yellow variant. But the new kid on the block is the blue variant. Well, the question is: how do you know which variant would suit you?
I’m back with another Carouhell Carousell story.
So, I was browsing the beauty products section and chanced upon this.
WAH! Like that also can sell for $3! I’ve seen people sell very lightly used palettes with hardly a dent at that price and this joker is selling her more-than-half-used eyeshadow/blusher palettes at $2-$3. This is absolutely ridiculous! Don’t even talk about the price, there’s hardly anything left to be used!
I told Sis about it and she pointed out something I didn’t even consider. It’s really unhygienic to sell used cosmetics. Even if the seller does not include the original applicator, just imagine how many times her applicator has swept across the palette. And what if she has say…bad acne? Erm…I don’t even want to think about it.
Reported her to the Carousell admin immediately.
So please, if you wish to purchase cheap cosmetics off other people, try to purchase brand new ones and always check with the seller on the expiry date. Yes, cosmetics do have expiry dates!
I recently satisfied my ktv craving when I met up with my ex-colleagues. Joel (hotpot) is back from his studies in UK!
Well, almost. Because I couldn’t find some of the songs I wanted to sing. I don’t really keep up with Chinese songs these days so I mostly sing Japanese songs at ktv.
Here’s my ideal ktv (Japanese) song list:
If I really had to, I’ll add these in too:
Looks like I have quite a list right? Except…the usual popular ktv hangouts don’t have most of these in their systems. Can’t blame them. Not many people sing Japanese songs and some of these are not main singles…more like B-sides. Of course, my list is not that long either compared to some other people, but that’s because I can’t read Japanese fast enough and can only manage simple and slower-paced songs. As said before, I don’t quite like relying on romanji. Used to do that, but it’s not good if you want to practice your Japanese reading skills. I rely a bit on memory from singing the song over and over again too. Yup, jpopasia is my good friend as they list the actual Japanese lyrics to songs and not just the romanji lyrics.
I probably could throw in a few more songs but I’ll either fumble through the lyrics or sound really bad. Sis and I have agreed that there are songs you like but you just can’t sing. That’s why if you’re taking part in a singing competition, you don’t just choose songs you like, you gotta choose songs you like that suit your singing style and pitch. Which is partly why I also end up singing the same Chinese songs because I know I sound good.
For years I have been dreaming of seeing Ayumi Hamasaki live in concert and I finally got my wish fulfilled. The last time she came to Singapore to perform was way back in 2002 during the MTV Asia Awards. I could only watch her from afar (on the red carpet) then as I did not have a ticket to the awards/performance. And now, on 18 October 2014, she performed as the top artiste for a-nation Singapore Premium Showcase.
It was a bit of a rush as I attended Jo’s wedding lunch just before the concert, but I reached the concert venue right on the dot. There were some fringe activities like an express manicure and hairstyling counter. Really wanted to do my hair for the specially printed ribbon, but there was no time for that. 🙁 Thank God, See Nga was there earlier to help me get the uchiwa. The rest of the concert goods were either too blah or too expensive.
The order of acts (with my comments for each) is as follows:
Her setlist:
– Step you
– XOXO
– A Song for XX
– Memorial Address
– Love song
– Lelio
– Surreal~Evolution~Surreal mix
– You & Me
– How beautiful you are
– Boys & Girls (encore song)
She did not follow her setlist for the Japan a-nation concert. Would have preferred that setlist as it had more older songs which I’m more familiar with. I used to follow her music quite closely but sort of dropped off after the My Story album. Had to concentrate on studies then. Anyway, I’m glad that she sang Evolution, which is my favourite Ayu song.
Gerald and I had a conversation about her just before the concert. He said that Ayu tend to go off-key in her recent concerts. (Gerald is a big Ayu fan who attends her concerts elsewhere in the world.) I told him that I would rather she go off-key than lip synch. I feel that for an artiste to sing live rather than lip synch is akin to sincerely wanting to connect with fans. Nobody is perfect, so even if the artiste goes off-key a little, it’s ok. Besides, we all know that Ayu has lost her hearing in one ear due to a health condition so it’s pretty awesome for her to sing live. We talked about her voice quality. It has changed significantly from being all shrill to a lower pitch. Some say it’s because of her health condition, I also think it’s just the maturing of her singing style as she ages. We also discussed the style of her songs. We agreed that we disliked her recent disco style craze for songs like XOXO and Lelio. In fact, Ayu reminded me of Madonna when she donned the leotard and danced around the pole. Erm…I kinda think it’s disgusting to try to act all sexy when you’re not a sweet young thing anymore. Not that I don’t think Ayu is fabulous and pretty, but I must say that she has matured a lot and therefore should be moving away from all the sexy/erotic dance moves. Oh well, that’s just my opinion.
Overall, I was impressed by all the artistes. They made an effort to speak English or Mandarin to connect with us, Singaporean fans.
As for the concert goods, didn’t find the stuff too fantastic so I only got myself the a-nation uchiwa which doubles up as a light stick. We only found out the next day that a light stick was included in the “goodie” bag that everyone had. Haha. I must say that I’m wow-ed by the light sticks of today. Battery operated so you can keep using it until it just conks out. So much more convenient than the disposable neon ones that last only for a day. The silver streamer is from the confetti pop at the end of the concert. It has the concert branding printed on it. So cool.
Besides the light stick in the goodie bag, there were a few flyers from the various sponsors. What caught my eye was this:
Omg! Ayu is following the footsteps of Perfume and having a global fanclub! So going to join it!
Now that I’ve seen Ayu live in concert, I would very much hope for AAA to come to Singapore. (It just might happen!)
If you haven’t seen this yet, you have to. It’s about Carouhell Carousell, a mobile app where Singaporeans can easily sell their stuff. It started off as a nifty idea, at least that’s what I thought so. Tired of uploading pictures to my computer, this app provided the ease to just click, snap and post whatever I needed to sell off, all with my mobile phone. Except, now it has become “Singapore’s #1 breeding ground for inarticulate cheapos”. I totally agree with that statement. In fact, it’s not only a breeding ground for cheapskates, there are also people with really bad manners hanging around.
First, let me address the cheapskate bit. I mainly put up brand new clothing — ones that unfortunately don’t fit me well — to sell. I was incredibly happy when I got a couple of “likes”. After all, I thought the “like” feature was bookmarking items you might consider purchasing. I was wrong. Perhaps the “like” button took on a different meaning, one that increased the visibility of a user. There is even a thing called “like for likes” in Carousell. (Imagine that!) So what you do is go around randomly liking people’s stuff and they’ll like your stuff back. I kinda understand the rationale behind this but I don’t think I really like this idea. I don’t want to bookmark a ton of useless items! Oh but I digressed. The way I priced my items was so I could get back more or less what I paid for for them. Nope. Not gonna happen. Nobody was buying my stuff. So I lowered the prices by a quarter. Some got sold off, but still not many. Then I noticed the trend. Things that are priced between $1-$15 get sold off pretty fast. Well, that price range is ok for some things, but some dresses are worth way more than that! So there you have it, Carousell, the breeding ground for cheapskates.
Another blogger’s opinion on the matter is that items should be priced low (even if they are brand new) as you’re trying to get rid of them fast. I don’t quite agree to that view. Yes, some items even if brand new can be priced low based on their quality. Gonna digress here…some blogshops do sell clothing at $25-$40 a piece when the quality is not that great. But, how about better quality items like a gown for example? You don’t expect me to price a gown at $8-$10 right? It’s insane! Besides, some bloggers do get sponsored items so they are already profiting from the sale. Unfortunately, I am not some famous blogger so I don’t get sponsored items always. Which also means that I’m already selling my brand new items at a loss.
Here comes my shaming post of undesirable characters lurking in the far corners of Carousell:
Seriously, what is wrong with these people? Can’t they have the decency to reply even if they are not interested to deal anymore?
My blog was down for a while due to the webhosting company having some server issues. Didn’t expect to get a rude shock this morning when I discovered I lost two of my latest entries including one with a comment. Thank God I managed to retrieve the two entries from Google’s cache, but I’m sad to say that I lost that comment. 🙁
Sorry Nancy!
Inspired to write this entry rant after I saw a friend’s post on Facebook about a guy who met up with all his Facebook friends and took a photo of each meet up…or so I think. (I admit that I didn’t read the article. Was judging by the title of the article.)
Talk about friends and meet ups. I wonder if all my friends would turn up if I asked them out. I seriously doubt it. I’ve seen people come and go. I’ve even given up on some of them. I’m resigned to the fact that some people are just meant to be acquaintances.
I do not mind that people occasionally say hello or want to catch up, but I really hate it when people approach me out of the blue to:
I do only frequently chat with a couple of people, which makes it all the more obvious when such people of the above scenarios approach me.
To prove my point, here are two scenarios that happened to me:
Scenario #1
This happened quite a long time ago when I still using MSN (an IM tool). I’m not using the exact words as I don’t really remember but it went something like this.
S: Hello.
Me: Hello. Yes, what do you want?
S: Why?
Me: You’re bored right? People who suddenly talk to me are either very bored or they want something from me.
S: Wah…don’t say until like that leh.
(I was obviously spot on in my guess.)
Scenario #2
This happened pretty recently on Facebook Messenger.
B: Hi. Do you know anyone from XX company? I am thinking of doing this event which requires approval for use of the XX venue.
(My parents used to work at XX company.)
Me: Meh…can ask my mum but my parents have retired from XX company for some time so not sure they can help. Do you have any contact from XX company?
(Conversation continues on for some time…)
B: I still remember the last time we met at XX venue.
Me: Haha…we should meet up…again.
B: Sure.
(Conversation continues on for some time…)
Me: Let me know when you’re free for lunch or dinner ok?
A few days later, I text B.
Me: 大老板，几时有空吃饭？(Big boss, when are you free to have a meal?)
B: Hi. Sorry…I’m not well these few days.
Me: Orh. Take care!
About a month later I text B again…
Me: 老板，when wanna meet up?
*silence*
I’m not saying that people should not approach me at all even after we haven’t talked in a long while or that people cannot ask me for help, but please do things with sincerity. I’m fully aware that I’m an introvert and am not the most sociable person to begin with. However, that does not mean that I don’t enjoy catching up with folks. If you really mean to catch up with me, then do so with sincerity and not leave me hanging high and dry until the next time you need my help.