Erm no... it wasnt my wedding but my mother's side cousin's wedding on sunday that i'd attended.

What can i say but sorry, the wedding dinner was really lousy. It was held at Yio Chu Kang Community Centre with no air-conditioning. Food wasnt that good. Imagine the dessert was a small cup of wall's ice-cream...

It was a shot-gun marriage by the way.. My cousin whom i dun really know well is 33 years old while the bride is only 21! Same age as me and pregnant for 4 months! Oh my... There was no professional photographer, no professional host or whatever, lousy music and a few 'cold' moments when i felt the bride and bridegroom must be quite embarrassed.

When the dinner was about to start, the person in charged of music asked everyone to rise for the arrival of the bride and bridegroom. But, no one stood up. That person asked the second time, then everyone stood up and welcomed the couple.

When it was time for toasting, the couple stood at the stage waiting for family to go up and that took really quite long. The three yum sengs lacked enthusiam. After that, one of my aunties took the microphone and said in chinese, "Please forgive if there is any lack in hospitality." Oh well... we could understand that.


And so i thought, would anyone actually have his/her wedding dinner held in a high class hotel and eating international buffet? Let's say $40 per person. It is good idea isnt it? No one can complain about having too much/little food. It's buffet! It's INTERNATIONAL! You wont waste money because it is counted by per guest who arrived. You wont be overcharged if u pay by per table and suddenly not all people arrived.

But, well, the tradition of a 10-course dinner is not there anymore.. People will probably still be binded by such stigma.. Perhaps..

Ha.... i've changed my blog style since the previous one was used for quite some time already. Quite like the blue though.

Anyway, went to NUS today for check-up and i realised travelling time didnt really take much time. I just need to take 2 buses in 1 transfer and will reach there from home direct to School of Engineering doorstep within 45mins. Well, i dunno how long will mrt take but if i take mrt, that means i have to take a bus from home to bus interchange, then take mrt to buona vista, then take another bus again into NUS.

This is so much better than going NTU. Last time i took bus from home to boon lay and then transferred to another bus to NTU and took 1hour 30 minutes. *faint* Well, maybe taking mrt there will be faster but i prefer to see the worst side of it.. HAHA.

Will be quite busy next week but not because of work but something exciting!

Stay tune...... =)

Great Singapore Sale service tactics

The Great Singapore Sale is here and has 1 month more to go. How could i miss it, right? So, today, after a tiring week of work, i was out shopping with Alan.

I have realised that shops have now employed new sales tactic to attract customers into buying their goods...

First, we have 'Answer-A-Question-Correctly-To-Get-Discount Tactic'. This was used by a shop selling bags in Far East Plaza, LevelOne. While waiting for Alan to browse at their sling bags, I was suddenly asked by one of the salesgirl, "You know how to spell 'vinegar'?" She was typing her sms apparently..

"Erm... V-I-N-E-G-A-R," I replied quickly.

"Hmmm... Wrong! No discount for you then." She must have heard me incorrectly.

"Huh..... V--I--N--E--G--A--R," I repeated but slowly.

"Ah.. Correct! Okay, 10 percent discount for you!" She said with gusto after typing the word into her handphone.

I found it to be so funny and so i urged Alan to buy his bag with 10% discount. But nope, we left the shop. 10% is too little lah....

Second, we have 'Oh-You-Came-Back Tactic'. This is also a shop selling bags at LevelOne. This time, this auntie approached us and asked us what type of bag we were looking for. Then suddenly(again!), she said to me, "Oh, just now you were here, looking for bags right? Ha, you came back again!"

Erm, she was wrong! It was the first time i stepped into her shop. Anyway, it wasnt me who wanted to buy a bag. So no point trying to feign some closeness with me. Failed. Too friendly also irks me.

Third, we have 'Ah-I-Know-You Tactic'. It was used by a shop in Cineleisure. We just stepped into this apparel shop and was quickly approached by the salesgirl. This time, it was used on Alan.

"Eh.. I know you, right?!" She asked Alan. But he denied smilingly and continued browsing through the shirts.

"I know you lah. You came here last time right? Yah, it's you!" She said excitedly. But Alan didnt say anything but looked so happy. HAHA. So i thought they knew each other. We left shortly, only to know Alan really didnt know her. Good try though.

Lastly, we have 'The Ultimate Full-Service-You-Cant-Reject Tactic. I must applaude this shop selling men's clothes at Far East Plaza second level. Their tactic was so powerful i simply succumbed.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~
20 Steps to The Ultimate Full-Service-You-Cant-Reject Tactic:

1. Greet customers the moment they stepped in.

2. Ask what do they want politely.

If the reply is 'Just looking around', step aside and wait for another chance to ask the same question again.

3. After 3 times of asking the same question and if customers have not left, immediately say, 'Come, I introduce a long sleeves shirt to you!"

4. Point at a salesgirl(preferably) and say, "She is very good. She has just graduated from La Salle!"

This ensures customers will trust her choice of shirts.

5. The salesgirl will pick a nice long sleeves shirt for the customer.

If customer doesnt really like long sleeves shirt, then tell him the sleeves can be folded up and it will become casual wear.

6. Quickly ask customer to try the shirt.

She will show him how the shirt can be folded up. Direct him to the changing room quickly before he rejected.

7. Then, the salesgirl will briefly show how the shirt can be rolled up and do it for the customer.

8. Tell customer it looked nice on him.

9. Tell customer the shirt is on sale and is very cheap.

10. Without delaying, tell customer she will get a new one for him and quickly
put it on the counter.

11. Next, ask customer if he wants a short sleeves shirt as well.

If he hesitated a moment, you don't hestitate. Quickly get one for him and ask him to try on.

12. Repeat steps 8 to 10.

13. However, if he doesnt like the one the La Salle graduate has picked, ask her to get another one quickly for him to try.

14. Repeat steps 8 to 10 again.

15. If the customer is with a friend and while waiting for his friend who is trying on some shirts, compliment him and chat with him to show your friendliness.

Say, "Hey, your hair looks nice. Where do you cut it?....... How do you tell the hairstylist to cut that style?...... Then how you gel your hair to that style?...... Those standing hair are natural or you make it that way?...... Ha, I have been thinking of getting the same hairstyle too!" By saying these, it will make him happy and he will buy your shirts.

16. If your shop doesnt accept NETS/credit cards yet due to being a new shop, ask customer to pay cash.

17. However, if customers do not have enough cash, direct them to the ATM.

DO NOT ask them to go themselves because they might not come back. Ask the salesgirl to accompany them all the way to the ATM which is located at first level.

18. At no time should the salesgirl leave them even if they say she can go back to her shop first because there is a long queue at the ATM.

19. After customers have paid with cash and if are still in the shop waiting for their friends to finish trying, ask them if they want to buy more clothes since they are on sale.

Ask them to look at T-shirts if they havent bought.

20. Lastly, remember to say 'Goodbye' to customers.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~


Yes I had fallen into their tactic and bought 1 long-sleeves and 1 short-sleeves shirt for $69.80 together while Alan bought 1 long-sleeves and 1 sleeveless T-shrit. But, i like the shirts though.. haha.

However, no such sales tactic was used when i bought a Philippe S+arck watch at Fossil shop. I was determined to buy the watch anyway despite someone *ahem* has been aiming for it too. My previous watch's strap has broken and i thought it was a good excuse for me to buy a new one though i could buy a new strap to replace it. But, im working and thought i will be using my pay in advanced to pay for it.

Nonetheless, it was a watch i have always wanted to get it since i saw it in year 2002. I didnt buy it because i've got new watch as a birthday gift from my sister in year 2002 already.

It has a nice exterior silver box...

and interior is a very nice clear plastic box with the watch nicely fixed...


Ok, im contented. Not forgetting a nice Philippe S+arck optical mouse i've received as birthday gift from Alan and Guanyu. HA, thanks!

After working for 2 days so far, i think i will probably stay on.. Yes, the job is not easy, i've got to face computer and work documents from 10am to 7pm and sometimes have to rush out a 5-page document in 1,2 hours to be used by them later..

But for the experience and ultimately the money, though not much, i will persevere..


Anyway, just last wednesday (8 Jun), went out to celebrate Lih's 21st birthday! It was a belated one though. And so I met KR and Leo at 12.30pm to buy his gift... Ha, way too early actually cuz we were only supposed to meet the rest at 7.30pm.

When buying his gift, we faced a lot of restrictions - No watch or jacket (gonna bought by Karen), no wallet (Karen said Lih asked not to buy one) and no bag (his cousin has got for him. So we left not much choice. In the end bought a Quiksilver shirt for him. Ha. Then it was only 4pm. So we decided on watching Mr. and Mrs Smith at Lido. It was quite a funny movie actually, but nonetheless, worth watching. And after movie, met May at Tangs and shopped around a bit.

And so we had our dinner at Pasta Mania. Then decided to go Kbox but not worth it. So in the end, went to the Preview Lounge at Cineleisure. It was quite a nice place with nice ambience and music. The drinks are not that expensive too. No additional service charge and GST. Service is not that bad too. Yah, quite a nice place to chill out.


More birthdays to come.... For now, Yvonne's one is confirmed in July and maybe Karen's too. And Zhichao's one is coming soon, on June 20 i think. So i dunno if he will have any celebrations though he said so at Elvin's birthday that time...

Ahh....

Civilian life is not that bad after all... Haha.. Yeah, definitely feel better than when in that dreaded place, seeing those distaseful faces and doing monotonous duties...

Anyway, right after my ORD, i was offered a flyer distributing job from david, my ex-section mate. Of cuz, i agreed to it immediately. Good money, and only for 2 days. But, on that same day, later, Yvonne (Yes, my primary school ex-classmate whom i havent met for 8 years already) introduced me to another job.. It is at Orchard Delfi. Well, i went for interview 2 days later and on the spot, i started working for half a day...

Hmmm... actually i expected not to get employed cuz when the boss looked at my A Level GP result and hestitated for quite a while.. yeah, i could tell. Nonetheless, she employed me. But now, i only start work this thursday cuz she went back Japan while Yvonne is on leave til thursday. So then, Yvonne can guide me since only she is doing the same job as me.

However, i still have that flyer job in hand! I have promised David not to pang seh him already.. Haha.. So now, will depend on my boss to give me off day already.. If she wont give, maybe i will quit.. Haha. Honestly, the pay isnt that good actually and has long working hours...

Yeah, so why am i still doing it? Oh well... I feel bad to quit since the boss is giving me a chance to work despite knowing i will quit when school starts and that is less than 2 months......

Sigh... Dilemma..

After 2 years and 2months, that is about 790days, I have finally ORD!!

Yah, it seems so fast.. But when i think back how my days were spent, i shuddered. Doing endless duties, standing a total of more than 350hrs for duties, checking tons of cars, identity cards, passports and so on... Ask me to do another 2years of these, i will definitely be going for counselling..

Here's something interesting or crazy u might say...

That is the calendar i put in my locker.. yah, u can see i started counting down my days to ORD rite at the beginning by shading off each day that past. I stopped at 24May cuz that was the day i took this pic.. And my ORD date was indicated clearly.. Haha..

Anway, I feel NS has made me wiser somehow. After observing countless people as my job, and the amount of interactions with people, i tend to be able to see through people's thoughts through their actions and behaviours... Perhaps that's how i see the hypocrites in my section....

And so for the two years of service in CMPB, this is what i've got in addition to a Certificate of Service...

Quite an useless certificate honestly...

Well, I have ORDed nonetheless... Im evil but i will still wish the best for my ex-section mates.. Heh heh... Reservist is next....


Last sunday was Elvin's 21st birthday party and that was my 5th this year so far.. and many more to come.. Haha.. Anyway, 4-10 had 11 people present.. Not that bad. Zhichao went too after 3,4 years of no-contact...


I found this picture to be quite interesting... Notice how the back row people's heads formed a nice, smooth curve... Haha.. while Elvin (in red) sitting at the center..