Will Lie For Money

I'm telling you. Don't believe everything a blogger post on social network, especially when it's praising a product/ shop.

I take advertorials, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't go to the extent of lying about the product and services that I get. I was recently given an advertorial about a certain transportation related app which is honestly speaking, useless. Although the pay was not bad, I didn't take it. I don't want to lie for the money. 

Yes, advertorials aren't only limited to blogs anymore. They've invaded your common social media platforms, i.e. Facebook and Instagram, so beware when a blogger says: A taxi ride hasn't been so nice before until I met (insert taxi hailing app). The cab driver is super friendly & kind!!

I'd like to call bullshit here. 

Scenario 1: The taxi app
Taxi apps are for convenience, yes? (Yes.) When you need a taxi, it helps you get one easier, instead of standing by the road and waiting for one to pass by without knowing if one would EVER pass by. This particular app which I was given the chance to review doesn't (always) do that. The reason? My particular area is prone to traffic jams and taxi drivers don't like to pass this place. Well fuck me. That's why I'm using this app. To GET a taxi. If I'm living in or leaving a place where taxis pass by often, why would I need to use the app in the first place? I'll just fling out my arm (and maybe thumb).

In the end, the rude, lazy taxi drivers are still the rude, lazy taxi drivers. They won't be nicer just because you use that app. The app can't take actions against them. The various taxi apps out there DO NOT own the taxi drivers. Taxi drivers own taxi drivers. The nice ones will still be nice, even if you manually hail them. 


Most of the time, bloggers want to be in the good books of brands and companies, so even when the things and services they get are not great, they would make it sound like it's heaven on earth.

I always have this impression that it's a two way street when it comes to advertorials. If you give me good results, I'll give you a good post.

Scenario 2: The Lash Extension
I went to certain lash extension shop for a review about 9 months ago, and honestly, it was terrible. 

I made an appointment at 11am. I had to stand outside and wait while the "lash artist" waltzed down the corridor and "open shop" at exactly 11am. To me, that's unacceptable. If there's an appointment at 11am, the shop should be ready for the customer by 11am, not OPEN at 11am and let the customer wait. If that's how they usually work, they might as well say the first appointment starts at 11.30am. Common sense yes? 

The shop was closed the day before my appointment, and when I (finally) got into the shop, there was an overflowing garbage pile next to the counter, which is right in front of the door. Ethics people!! It's a beauty saloon, I think cleanliness SHOULD be important. The lashes that I got were really hard and before the end of the second week I personally plucked (And CUT) all of them out because it made my eyes really itchy and uncomfortable. I didn't go back to the shop to remove them because I had to go back penang during the weekend, and the shop closes before I finish work on weekdays. And no, I will not waste my leave on this. The review post turned out very cold. I just told the process of the extension. No praises. 

Most of the other bloggers made it sound like it was THE BEST lash extension experience EVAAAA!

Sure you can always refer to blogs when you need a second opinion, but don't trust them fully. Some bloggers are sincere and honest. They give praises only when the review is honestly good. A big group of bloggers, especially female bloggers, usually praise everything. And I mean EVERYTHING that they're asked to review. Beware of those. 

Aaaaand this is why I almost never take paid advertorials. I have to say nice things about the product/ service no matter what. It's great if what I get is good! I've gotten some that are really good. But when it comes to mediocre ones, it's an internal struggle. Lying for money makes me a crook, even if it's in a blog.

That's what J_Fish has to say~ Au Revoir~
P.s. What happened to sincere people who actually mean when they give out praises? I don't praise a lot, but when it does happen, it's real.

Pitchforks for a cert

The news is that University Malaya (UM) will be issuing e-certificates, and those who prefer to have that AND the conventional print-out degree would have to pay RM50.

Honestly, I don't see a problem with that. 

Among many, the argument include:

1. I've been studying so hard to graduate and all I'm getting is just an e-scroll?

-No. You've been studying so hard to graduate and you can get the scroll if you PAY for it. And, you've been studying to graduate, not just to get a print-out scroll. An e-scroll works just the same. 

2. I just want a piece to bring away after I leave UM.

-PAY for it.

3. What? Just an e-scroll? Please think about my parents' feelings.

-Urm... The graduation ceremony will still go on. The "scroll" which we receive during that is just an empty casing. No need to be all dramatic and bring in your parents' feelings. Also, fact check before you whine.

4. UM is bloodsucking.

-Yes. (No argument there, but we DID pay very little compared to private unis. So there's that.) 

My point is, if it really means that much to you, paying RM50 for it is close to nothing.

Dear all, getting your scroll/ degree probably is the most significant thing ever for your uni life, but trust me, after you start working, you won't even see the piece of paper any more, unless you decide to frame it up. Mine is lying in the "Interview Folder" with all my other certificates which is now figuratively covered in dust. It's in a box on top of my cupboard. If I stamped all my things, it would have the "not important but I might need it some day" stamp.

If it means that much, pay for it. You'll earn the money back in approximately 2 days when you start working.

That's what J_Fish has to say~ Au Revoir~

Like... a horror movie

"Sorry, we're already closed"
"But the website says you close at 9pm." I said under my breath. Thanks for the wrong info, random blog owner. (The time has been changed to 5.30pm last admission FYI). I was disappointed that I drove all the way along the winding coastline of Penang, until the end just to visit the Toy Museum and it was already closed.

The owner was cleaning the lawn when I drove in with Yat the co-pilot. He looked confused and I understood too little too late.

Fine. Time to head home.

I remembered dad once drove "the other way" back to the Georgetown part of the island when I was a kid, instead of all the way back where we came from. It was nearly nightfall, and a drive along the coastline just to see the sun set sounded like a good idea. In my head. Since I drove all the way here, I decided to take matter into my own hands, and have a new adventure. I decided to take... the road less traveled. Literally.

We passed by the Penang Escape Theme Park, a few kampung houses, and down the winding road just a little... too much. The further we went, the darker it became, and the deeper into the hills we ventured, until there was no signs of civilization other than the mortar roads we drove on. It was as though we drove into a different world as night crawled in.

The winding road went from 2 lanes to just 1 lane at a few hairpin curves. There were a few times we had to honk before taking the curve because we couldn't see what was coming at us. That was how bent the road was. After too many ghost stories, honking in the woods is a very good idea if you want to attract "attention". But it had to be done, or else it would be too dangerous.

It didn't take long before everything went completely dark, and the only light to shine us towards a peace of mind was the headlights of my baby car. The radio which was playing songs one moment ago just had sputters of music and voices, and then there was just that static noise left. Kshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I switched it off.

Having Yat by my side made this whole thing less scary, but scary nonetheless. The entire way we saw less than 5 cars in total behind us or from the opposite lane. The longer I drove, the creepier it felt. I don't remember dad taking so long to reach the other side. But there was only one road, so I'm not lost......?

We turned to our trusted phones for affirmation. Both our phone batteries were dying, and like all those horror movies where the girl makes a stupid decision and drags the guy right into the arms of serial killers, or worse, ghosts, there was no signal on either phones. So cliche. There was only one road, so all I can do was to drive on and see if we die in the hills after being hacked to death by a maniac.

As we were heading downwards on the hill, Yat suggested that I changed to second gear so that I didn't have to abuse the breaks. I took his advice and moved my gear, but instead of moving it 2 times down, I moved it upwards, throwing the gears into reverse, and BAM, the engine died. The second the engine died, the breaks followed.

Imagine going down hill on a very curvy road, with no breaks) P.A.N.I.C! Yat took hold of my steering wheel from his side. He turned it to avoid plunging down the crevice in the hills to our deaths, but of course the steering wheel didn't respond. I hit the breaks as hard as I can, but it was as if the hydraulics were gone. I kept stepping on the break pedal and eventually, the car stopped. I tried to restart my car. It gave a very weak whirrrrrr-rrrr. I turned the key to give it a rest. Another try, and the whirrrr was louder, but still no. It wasn't alive. One more try, holding on longer this time, it whirrrrred a little, and the engine was alive again!!!

After letting it warm up a little, I continued driving. This time, more cautious, and MY way. It still took a long, long drive to finally see some kampung houses, and then a mosque, and finally motorbikes. It was such a relief. I continued driving at a steady pace and everything was fine. We finally got signals on our phones and navigated our way towards the Penang Bridge. Half way there I realize that both my car and I were running on fumes. The further we drove on, the more houses we saw, and the more cars appeared too. I missed a turning even with the help of WAZE (story of my driving life), and eventually found a petrol station with McD. All 3 of us were refilled. And finally, I made it out. Thus, a chance to read this story.

I made a mental note to write this down, but procrastinated so much, you're reading about it half a year later. =X The mind played a very big role. It reminded me of all the horror stories and movies that I've read and heard and watched while we were "stuck" in the hills. It was seriously like a very cliched horror movie without any ghosts or serial killers. But #truestory bro.

That's what J_fish has to say~ Au Revoir~
p.s. Sorry for the anti-climax. If there was a climax, you wouldn't get to read this. =X

TIL over the weekend

Salut!
Think I should throw in my pic once in awhile in case people forget what the blog owner looks like. =/

TIL here stands for Things I've Learnt instead of the usual Today I Learnt.

-If you're renting a new place, make sure you go and take a look before moving your things in. Don't just listen to what others have to say. What they think is "wide and spacious" might not be good enough for you. Also, don't bring everything you have at once if you've never seen the place. What happens when there's not enough room for your junk and you're sharing the room?

-Some people see those that are socially active as attention whores; socially active people see those as antisocial. It's all about perspective yes? But sometimes no. Some people really are antisocial, and not just socially awkward at that. I'm socially awkward but with people that I know, I blend in really well.

-Non-bloggers think all bloggers are attention whores who love to take picture of food and themselves, and often take picture of food with themselves. Although I do think that it's really annoying when people pose with their food, it's sad that the word "blogger" now has a negative connotation. Take a look at Urban Dictionary. Though most of the time the people there are quite sour, I think they do have a point.

-There are actually people who are shameless enough to attend a Chinese wedding and not giving an angpao. If you're not familiar with the Chinese tradition, if you're invited to the dinner, prepare a red packet with money inside. How much would depend on the "market price". If you're chinese, attended a chinese wedding and didn't give an ang pao, that's really, really shameless. People are not providing you with free dinner! If you have financial problems, it would be understandable, but nope, the people I'm referring to dress up nicely and are nowhere near poor.

-People think that I look younger now. Those who haven't seen me in real life for awhile at least. I'm actually just getting better at editing my pictures. While I don't mind if you to follow me on Instagram, don't believe what you see. =X

I guess that's all. Wanted to write this post on Monday morning, but I got lazy. =X #sorrynotsorry

That's what J_Fish has to say~ Au Revoir~

The Penang version of THE wedding... that wasn't mine

The Penang phase of my sister's wedding is proof that you can prove yourself wrong.

After my sister's KL wedding, I thought, this isn't too bad, I got this.

The KL wedding was all planned and prepared by the in-laws, and I thought I was busy,

being the brides maid and having to take care of the bride and all,

but Penang was a whole new level.

I flew back with Jo on Thursday afternoon, and my flu, cough and fever decided to tag along. 

Flew Malindo to and from Penang, and no bad experience yet.

The clouds so pretty I feel like it's a bouncy castle instead.

I wanna take a walk among the clouds. 

"Fun" started on Friday. 

 I drove over to the island with Jo at around 11am,

went to collect the balloons and cake. 

The entire rear view mirror of the car was blocked by balloons,

because the entire back seat was blocked by balloons.

Had to drive depending on the side mirrors only.

Didn't cause an accident. #successfulfemaleasiandriver

Or maybe I just didn't see it. 

*dum dum dum*

There were 20 of these gassy babies. 

Didn't manage to take pictures of the hotel room because...

I was lazy and there were things lying around already.

I just wanted to rest.

But NOPE.

There's work to be done!!

I went around taking pics of the hotel instead yay.

Look at this beautiful garden!!!

Bollywood movies would love this place.

Look at that beautiful beach and sun and sea and trees and bikini clad people and I'm sick.

FML.

*sniffles while taking pic*

*wipes snort on shirt*

The canopy setting up in progress.

This was where the dinner magic happened.

After I got back to the room, we started making paper pom poms for the back drop of the stage.

Was curling up in bed with pom pom minions worshipping at my feet.

All hail smelly feet!

Where is the love?

Apparently in my sister's hotel room. 

Someone tell Black Eyed Peas

Was so sick I don't feel like going out for dinner with everyone.

So I had a scrumptious mushroom soup dinner.

The soup was so full of mushrooms I had to munch on every spoonful instead of just drinking it.

With a view of dusk setting in.

Dinner for 1 like a boss.

The mosquitoes were the ones who had a feast though. 

I was a reluctant blood donor. 

After the family came back from dinner, I went back to a town house we rented and stayed there with my family for the night.

Both sisters stayed in the hotel room.

Was suppose to sleep there with older sister but my cough was so bad I was "quarantined".

The next day, Saturday was the actual wedding day + dinner.

The pics are all from the morning by the official photographer. 

The bros.

So excited for the "gate-crashing" ceremony.

Little did they know...

They had to hang the cards and write their "goal".

Then with the paper bags on, go around the hotel and ask for signature of hotel guests.

The sister's bffs, explaining to the bros how they're going to be happily tortured. 

They had to tie the balloons on their waist at all times. Hehe.

Sister is a BIG fan of chick flicks so one of the games was a quiz for bro-in-law.

The bros will be punished if he answers wrongly, which is what he did.

Kinda think he did that on purpose.

*smug face*

This added so much entertainment. 

Then there was the heart-shaped Sudoku which my bro-in-law had to solve.

At the mean time, the bros need to dip one of their legs into icy cold water.

#somuchfun

I put my leg into one of the buckets just to test it out and I took it out when the water barely covered the tip of my toes.

Seen cheating. 

Being the nice people, of course we let them take their legs out.

Of course they had to pay a fee.

#nothingisfree

Negotiating

Hehehe. 

Of course there was flour involved.

Now for some pictures of the happy couple.

Love this pic to no end!!!

They're so in love.

Geddit? Hehe.

Now a few pics of the dinner venue before all the guest arrived.

No pics of the venue with the guests because I was stationed at the reception.

Couldn't leave until everyone was already there. 

*boohoooo*

See the pink bottles with flowers in front of the red heart?

My sister and BIL bought the bottles and stuck the pink (and silver) glitter on them. DIY.

We cut the flowers and stuck them inside DIY too!!

There were bottles with little candles inside on every one of the dinner tables

along with the pink bottles with flowers. 

The decorations on this table in the picture on top were all prepared by the couple,

except the flowers on the right.

They wanted a more personal wedding, 

and it turned out wonderful although there was a lot of work involved.

 So much nicer when the lights were on, but I didn't get the chance to take a picture of it. =(

And the tables weren't decorated yet.

The couple's entrance. 

I was (still) the maid of honour, which means I had to carry the sister's angpow bag and guard it with my life.

Then I had to follow them to the groom's side for the tea ceremony.

Then I had to wait for the photographer to take pics of the couple.

Then I get to go back to the buffet lunch and eat nothing.

Because I was still sick FML.

When I finally got to rest, it was just for 1 hour, didn't get to bathe again,

rushed over to the hotel again and only had time to touch-up my make up.

Didn't even have time to do my hair.

I had to be the first to get ready because I need to be at the reception table before any of the guests arrive.

People arrived on time. (surprisingly)

It was a nice time seeing my relatives and friend whom I only see once per year.

Some even once in a few years.

It was a magical night. The band was charming.

The weather was really nice. No rain, but breezy.

The garden wedding by the sea was so beautiful.

A lot of my relatives said they enjoyed a different setting for a wedding dinner.

I had to host a game session for the bride and groom, and the game was called

The Shoe Game.

Some relatives and friends were surprised that I could host the game well,

or as they put it "good at public speaking",

mainly because I don't talk much most of the time.

Surprise!

After that I was so hyped and confident I tried to initiate small talk with the bros of the groom.

Nope. Still suck at small talk.

*drifts away quietly after awkward moment*

I'm good at speaking, but just when it's with myself, or with people who are like me.

After the dinner, all I could think of was "I'M FINALLY FREE!!!"

"I can start spending money on myself again!!!"

"I can start spending time for myself again!!!"

"COUGH, cough cough cough snort!!!"

It was a risk to have an outdoor wedding, but luck was on the couple's side.

It didn't rain throughout the 2 days (setting up and actual dinner),

but the day after, Sunday, it rained when we were leaving.

A good start to the marriage indeed. =)

That's what J_Fish has to say~

P.S. I think anyone who was involved in a personalized wedding like this one wouldn't want a big wedding. I told my mom that I want a small wedding and she agreed whole-heartedly.