Ms RP's Blog

Going jogging again?

2009-04-18T22:55:00.006+08:00

I have been busy with work recently and finding less time to exercise at least twice a week. And by exercise I mean going for a jog.

After 3 months of hiatus it's going to be pretty hard obstacles to overcome for me, after all the eating and drinking and not taking care of myself. Sure, reward can come in the form of better shape and health later. But I am thinking of some motivation before the real reward can be seen for pushing me over the hardest part of getting started at all.

I am thinking of getting a pair of jogging shoes. I can see I am getting excited combining the idea of jogging again with new shoes. Ha ha!

Anyways, I found this well designed site with quite a lot of discount shoes while browsing online recently. I am a sucker for good design, and in a way I think sites that are well designed and user friendly do show more effort on the company’s part.

Their left navigation panel allowed me to narrow my search by brand, colour, style (type), size and width. Through this I found a suitable range of athletic shoes and I am quite taken with many adidas shoes fitting my choices for female joggers while being pretty & stylish at the same time.

I am very tempted and still thinking. It’s a bad economy now, and I may be lavish for buying a new pair of jogging shoes. Still, sometimes down times for some may mean better deals for others.

Our new store address

2008-08-31T23:57:00.005+08:00

We have moved our blogshop. At our new site we have a shopping cart platform and user created accounts, features in which we hope can help serve our customers in a more efficient way.

This blog will continue as it is, since it is my personal blog.

It's nice to say that things are moving forward for our shop after we have set up for less then a year. But I must say this: A year on the internet equals to 10 years in real life. Things move at breakneck speed online.

As a side note...it's a real pity that yahoo auction Singapore is closing down. I know, there are many other similar platforms that have sprung up for Singapore auctions but I dare say none as of now holds the authority and traffic that Yahoo enjoyed for a long time over here. It's silly to just up and go and leave what you have build just like that. Yahoo, I hope you continue to exist along side Google and others.

Anyways, please visit us at our new address http://rpfashionavenue.com

Internet Etiquette..what's so different then in real life?

2008-07-25T05:37:00.003+08:00

This is a rant post. There are some opinions expressed which are mine and from what I experienced.

It's been some time since I last blog here.

This time I like to blog about how my experience of interacting with people online and how some of them behaved.

Because of the anonymity of being online, many people show a different side (or maybe their seldom revealed carefully guarded side in real life).

Because we are running a business here, we have found that having a contact me form is very convenient for our customers as well as us. Overall, it was the right move to add a contact me form.

However, sometimes, some people will use our form and send us orders of purchase but never replied afterward.

What gives?

We take special care to reply to our customers and each email is not just an auto-responder, meaning it takes time for us to respond to their requests.

I believe there's a choice for us to behave as if there's a real person behind the site you see.

Update on Yahoo Auction SIngapore

2008-06-22T12:20:00.005+08:00

No items listed under categories and zero results for ipod search, enough said!

After 1 month of technical failure with search results resuming to normal only for a short time. Yahoo, how many Yahooligans do you need to fix your auction bulb?

Random Post: Cost Cutting and Sugared Square Crackers

2008-06-10T20:06:00.003+08:00

I haven't ate sugared square crackers from Khong Guan for quite some time and bought some for myself the other day. As I dug for one crackers after another, I realise the biscuits didn't satisfy me with their sugary sweetness like before.

So, I looked at the square crackers and thought, must be some black sheep hiding inside a full pack of honest sugared crackers.

Turns out most of them are sporting less sugar than before. Guess this is one way of cost cutting but they can't pass my auditing taste buds!

30 Wordpress Premium Themes to be Won!

2008-06-06T02:52:00.001+08:00

Earlier in my post, I have wondered about whether I should migrate to a dot com instead of continuing here on blogspot.

As you can see I am still here at the same address. Ha.

One of the reasons I have not moved is the question of where can I get my wordpress theme? (yes I am considering wordpress)

I discovered there are many free wordpress themes on the net and I have looked through some. Not bad...hmm..but since it's free lots of people are using them, I guess? But a unique theme which is your own? Answer I found: Either you can design one or you can buy one, which I am too cheapo for. Ha.

Anyhow, I have found a chance of getting a premium wordpress theme at the contest held here at wpthemedesigner.com and thought this is a good chance to share with all who wants their dream theme.

And if you don't feel like joining, there are free professional looking themes available for download, like this one here

(picture taken from wpthemedesigner.com)

Details for entering the contest are found at the site and do note closing date for the contest is 30th June 2008. And here below are the premium themes to be won.

It's worth it to give wpthemedesigner.com a visit, :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 Premium WordPress Themes Contest Prizes by WordPress Theme Designer

1 Single-use License of John Cow Milk It Theme by John Cow

Demo | Purchase | Price and Theme Info

2 Single-use Licenses of Elegants Blubs WordPress Theme by Blog Perfume

Demo | Purchase | Price and Theme Info

2 Single-use Licenses for The Revolution by Brian Gardner

Demo | Purchase | Price and Theme Info

Premium Themes by Magnus Jepson
- 1 Single-use License of Polaroid Press
- 1 single-use License of Grunge Press
- 1 Single-use License of Portfolio Press

Price and Theme Info

1 Single-user License of Money Blogger Theme by BlogOhBlog

Demo | Purchase | Price and Theme info

2 Single-use Licenses of the Elite Theme by ElitebyDesign

Demo | Purchase | Price and Theme Info

Premium Themes by MotionTheme

- 1 Single-use License of Pirate Theme - Demo | Purchase
- 1 Single-use License of News Friendly Theme - Demo | Purchase
- 1 Single-use License of Easy Portfolio Theme - Demo | Purchase

1 Single-use License of TV Elements Premium Theme by WPelements

Demo | Purchase | Price and Theme Info

Premium Themes by PowerTheme

- 1 Single-use License of MagPress Theme - Demo | Purchase | Price and Theme Info
- 1 Single-use License of VideoDen Theme - Demo | Purchase | Price and Theme Info

Winners Choice Theme from Blogalized

Products | Order

Premium Themes by GraphPaperPress

1 Single-use License of F8 Portfolio Theme - Price and Theme info
1 Single-use License of F8 Remixed - Price and Theme info
1 Single-use License of Monochrome - Price and Theme info

Bonus:

Themes by Premiumnewstheme

- 3 Single-use Licenses of Fresh News
- 3 Single-use Licenses of LiveWire
- 3 Single-use Licenses of Gazette

Blogshop Security: Updates on Alexa Wrong Info On Our Website

2008-06-04T06:08:00.005+08:00

As mentioned in a post earlier http://msrpblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-encountered-online-scam.html, we have emailed Alexa in regards to the wrong info under company details.

We are only a small fry site but it got us pretty worried for fear of the possibility of scam as we are running a blogshop here.

As such, we sent out our email on May 3rd and Alexa replied on May 29th, with the response as below

Thank you for contacting Alexa Internet.

We apologize for the delay in replying to your message. Unfortunately,
we are currently experiencing a backlog in our support capacity.

If you are still experiencing difficulties, please reply to this message
with the details and we will be happy to respond to your concerns as
quickly as we can.

We appreciate and thank you for your understanding as we get back up to
speed.

Best regards,
Alexa Internet Customer Service

Alexa has not replied to us as yet in regards to if they have taken action to our email. But I found they have changed the details quietly when I last check back.

Now

As compared to earlier on

So we are happy that they have responded to our request. But we are left wondering how the wrong information could have been included in the first place, by whom and how?

Yahoo! Auction Singapore in Trouble? Reasons to give Ebay another try

2008-05-30T04:47:00.018+08:00

Since we started up rp fashion avenue, we have tried various means of getting traffic to our blogshop as well as getting traffic elsewhere to increase sales.

That was when we discovered Yahoo!Auction Singapore and Ebay Singapore. We began listing our items in both portals, with varying results.

Firstly, a background introduction on the two
Ebay.com.sg started up shop in Singapore in 2006. A fairly new service compared to other Ebay portals . Yahoo! Auction Singapore started in around 1999.

Being a new player here, Ebay is trying to encourage more people to sell through their auction portal by offering promotions such as "new sellers get free gallery pack", but with conditions. Read more here if interested

It's obvious that Yahoo! and Ebay are rivals. It's more obvious that Ebay is more established in most countries, with Yahoo! Auction US retired in June 2007 as a major sign of defeat on Yahoo's side, in my opinion.

But Yahoo! Auction do have their supporters in countries like Taiwan and Japan. This maybe the reason why Ebay does not have auction portals in these countries (Ebay Japan having closed down in 2002).

A quote from website M/Cyclopedia of New Media

Despite its failures in Europe and Australia, Yahoo! Auctions continues to thrive in Asia. Along with its sites in the United States and Canada, Yahoo! boasts international sites in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan (http://auctions.yahoo.com). The Japanese site has proved to be so popular that in 2002, eBay was forced to shut down its own business ventures there (Anonymous, 2002).

As mentioned earlier, we had different results from the two auction portals. Guess which generated more sales for us?

.....I am a supporter of Yahoo! Auction Singapore
Yes, Yahoo!

Why?
There are more people using Yahoo Auction Singapore then Ebay. Based on our experience in selling at both portals, more people here use Yahoo! Auction then Ebay, judging by the pageviews per item.

And also......
Yahoo charges on their other auction sites but it's a FREE service here, for both sellers and buyers. And though they are a free service here, they DO have a customer service running and they're pretty efficient. I have emailed them in regards to problems with listing my items and they have replied to all queries and resolved the issues at hand most of the time.

However....
It's a common problem for us that after days of listing our items, we are unable to find them using the search function. The only solution is to keep re-listing until you find them in the search results.

But it has become worst recently as results reflected from searches are inaccurate. Meaning you can't find items using keywords!

As I googled on the web, I found similar user complaints like below: Read more here

And I also found good news on their homepage. Yahoo! Auction Singapore is trying to fix the problem

In the meantime, we are giving ebay another try, as an alternative, maybe...
We have started using Ebay to list our items again, after giving up on it as we have not had much luck selling at Ebay and also because they charge fees for listing pictures in search results (!), fees for listing bigger pictures (!), you get the idea...

In Conclusion
I am hoping Yahoo! Auction Singapore is able to fix their technical problems asap and keep their portal free for all!

** Somebody posted that the search function had recovered. We checked and yes things are coming up after we type in relevant keywords.

However, we are having problems with logging into our own accounts. (31/05/08)

** Still having logging in problem. Log in , log out again and again (04/06/08)

Sharon Stone and China's "Bad Karma"

2008-05-29T03:31:00.008+08:00

I am not one to blog about politics. But I will spread the word on senseless remarks such as made by Sharon Stone indicating China's earthquake is the result of bad karma which according to her, results from treating the Tibetans badly. read more here

Watch the video from Youtube

Random Post: All Ads are Equal aka I love Adsense.

2008-05-27T05:09:00.004+08:00

As I joined entrecard and started visiting fellow bloggers' blogs, I had made a mental note for little visiting projects each time I go on a visiting spree.

Today I shall visit all the pets blog. Or I shall visit all the newest blogs just to say hello (for some it's kind of exciting to have people visiting your blog at last).

For some bloggers, as a gesture of goodwill, may click on someone's adsense ad when they are there for a brief moment. I know some people clicked on mine today, :)

I know too that this is not a good practice, because I have used adwords and know that one small click from 1 person is gonna add up in the long run.

But I did it anyways. And on this brief ad clicking project I realise that adsense ads are all equal. Anybody can advertise on adsense. My ad may appear besides a big company's ad. There's no segregation at all.

Only on the cyberworld can things be so. Just like all blogs are equal.

Tech Question by The Blogshop Blogger: Domain Name Should I or Shouldn't I?

2008-05-26T07:51:00.011+08:00

I have read here that blogspot.com subdomains get deleted without any warning/reasons/time given to pack. And there's no way you can get them back, unless you have them backed up (which is possible for blogger blogs).

Supposedly this happens because of the phenomenon name "splogs" , blogs that get created for the sake of linking to the main blog to rank higher in page rank. Spam blogs in short.

What has this got to do with domain names? This below is my thought process..

Perhaps if I get my own domain through blogspot and host it free on blogspot I won't get deleted out of the blue without any warning?

But will I be able to bring my other subdomains (which I link to my homepage) along to my own domain? If not, they may get deleted anytime.

This may happen to me or anyone having a blogger blog. Google, parent company of blogger.com had deleted their own blog before. (Read more here)

My question to readers: Is blogger.com still deleting blogs without any reasons or warning?
Post a Comment

The Blogshop Blogger Posts: Should you trust Blogshops?

2008-05-24T08:13:00.006+08:00

For customers|

Frankly speaking, some of the blogshops I have been to does not seem reliable.

This feeling arises mainly from the design of the web. It just looks too amateurish for me, and the layout? Too messy, too many blinking gifs, too many cute cartoons and why are they using flowery/complicated/hard to see-wordings/slow-to-load backgrounds for their shop??

Are these owned by 12, 13 year olds? All these are major turn offs for me. It’s not so much that I won’t buy from them because I don’t see the actual merchandise. They need to pro-up their blog, seriously.

Am I a pot calling the kettle black? Since I too am a blogshop. Hmm, I tried pro-ing up my blog as much as I can, but will people find it an improvement like I do? Bottom-line is…..some people may never really buy from you even after you pro-up your blogshop. I have gotten feedback from people who say, “I won’t really consider buying from them, I am not the type who will buy from blogshops.”

I would like to know if that’s a common sentiment. Would you or would you not? Do give me a feedback! Post a Comment

Random Post: Atashin'Chi

2008-05-21T03:43:00.018+08:00

(do click on the photos as I have applied lightbox 2.04 to them)

This is the second time I am blogging about one of my favourite cartoon "Atashin'chi".

Whenever I watch this cartoon, I feel the world is a happier place, everything seems more full of hope. It has that kind of effect on me.

"AtaShin'chi" (meaning: My Family) is a simple Japanese cartoon about a small family with a father, mother, daughter and a son. Episodes revolves around their daily lives, their interactions with each other and their friends.

The cartoon series was broadcast in 2002 and is still going strong in Japan. It has also gained popularity in Taiwan and Hong Kong too.

The reason for their popularity? It must lie in the cartoon's ability to capture meaning in life's small ways...

An example of how the cartoon series captures the essence of life and family.

Most days, members of the family will go off to school, work or play and they will need to pass by a bridge to get to the train station. In the cartoon, we see the bridge depicted as a background to many scenes; the son and friend part their ways after school, mother spotting the daughter from far away and huffing and puffing away, manages to catch up with her daughter as she crosses the bridge.

Mother finally catches up with daughter
...to give her freshly baked croissants
...........they go off in the sunset

My own earliest memory of a bridge having significance in my life was when I was five, crossing the bridge alone to get to school, to go back home or simply waiting underneath it for my sister to alight from her school bus so we can go to our favourite sweets shop.

The bridge is used as a backdrop to events and is an important part of their lives. Isn't that the same in real life too?

Cats meet tragic ends (Warning! Gruesome pics ahead!)

2008-05-21T02:05:00.009+08:00

The poor cats in the pictures below had been tortured and killed by unknown person(s). Most often, there would be a spat of cat killings clustered in an area. After a while, the news fade away, the killings seems to stop. But only to return at another housing district.

These cat killers/animal torturers vent their anger and practice their perversity off on these helpless animals.

I am a cat lover. I don't own a cat, I just like them alot. I am a sort of familiar friend to a black and white cat living a few floors below me.

This is the reason why I felt the need to add this post to my blog. I really do hope good things happen to good people and ....vice versa....

There is no excuse for cruelty to animals/pets/anything helpless and smaller in size or in your mercy! Everyone around me asks "Why, why do they do such horrible acts?". I am not one of the torturer I can't never ever understand what is going on in their minds. Perhaps they derive pleasures from causing pain, from lording over the animals, from being in control, from venting their anger. I can never know.

Hope the cats had gone to cat heaven and are happy there.....

"The Stomper has posted these pictures from our website which we are grateful to them for taking the initiative in creating awareness for these cases, which to date remain unsolved.

"The pictures reflect a tragic loss of life, and we are offering a reward of $1,000 in each of these cases for information that leads to the arrest and prosecution of the abuser/s. " (quote from stomp.com.sg)

Read more about the cats tortured cases at this link http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=23370

"Someone had chained the dog to a tree, tortured him, doused him with gasoline, and set him on fire-leaving him to die."

Animal cruelty happens everywhere. More at this link
http://www.longislandpress.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&subsectionID=2&articleID=12699

Gruesome pictures ahead-------------------------------------------------------------------

BlogShop Tools (1) Free Picture Editing Software: Speed Racer Poster

2008-05-21T01:09:00.009+08:00

I did the graphics with a new found picture editing tool Paint.Net which is a great free picture editing software. I have tried using Irfanview, Gimp 2.0 as well for my picture editing but they required a steeper learning curve and the user interface was not as well designed and user friendly compared to Paint.Net (especially for us windows users).

In case you are wondering, you can use the software to modify the background by adding layers and merging them together. Then adding effects to them. That's what I did for the 3 posters above. I also downloaded new fonts from Urban Fonts, which is also free, to add variety to the same old fonts we have been using.

In case you are also wondering, yes I am poor that's why I search online for the best free software available. Perhaps I will post more such free stuffs leads here in future :)

Get Paint.NET
Get Urban Fonts

Feed this Fledgling Blogger

2008-05-20T17:23:00.000+08:00

...........with blogging opportunities. I am just an amateur blogger, very new to blogging. Ya you can write too so why bother to let me write for you?

Maybe just for fun? Because it's free (for now)? Because my unknown personal blog is linked to my main homepage which has a page rank of 1?

Maybe because you are interested, anything goes on the net....

Imagination and Online Shopping

2008-05-18T02:09:00.004+08:00

Hey, it's tough buying online.

You and I we share something in common. We buy stuffs online. Am I assuming something about you? Cos’ some people would never ever buy without feeling the glorious fabric in their hand. Hey, nothing wrong with not giving a flying duck about online blogshops.

Besides updating the website and beautifying it, there is also a lot of scrutinizing of photos and utilising my limited imagination to picture clothes as if they were right before my eyes, as if you were wearing it before me. Decisions as a buyer….Would you like it? Would you buy it?

Ya, I really do ask myself important questions. Like, how tall is the model? No it doesn’t look that long? Not that short?! Why must they always make them with hoods?! Hey, they smoothed out the lines in the fabric, those dishonest sellers!

And there’s a culture factor to take into consideration. Those sellers live in another country. They make clothes for their people. Layering looks really nice and hip but here….sigh. “Hot stuffs” over there means hot & stuffy here.

The trend now is little flowery patterns, checkered shirt & polka dots. Honestly, how many people do you see wearing clothes like that over here? But they sell like hot cakes on the supplier’s side. .

The girls I have surveyed (3 of them) invariably tells me “You must be careful when wearing flowery patterned clothes or they will make you look old”. I believe them.

Tell me if you believe it too. Just vote at my poll, ^^

Random Post: Blogshop = Shop house

2008-05-09T01:50:00.003+08:00

This blogshop shares a similar feature with a shop house. To get things clear, shop house is a shop with the front as a store and either the backrooms or upper storey as living quarters for the owner.

And there lies the analogy. Can’t you see? This blogshop has a front (homepage) store and back (personal blog) for all the relevant and irrelevant posts I manage to conjure.

So, welcome to this shop house, here is the private quarter. If you please, you may like to run around to the front and browse.

But I am not the only one. Take for example some of the major online sites, Blogger.com, Nuffnang.com etc. They too have a personal (kind of) blog space for them to communicate with their users whereas their homepage is where they conduct their serious business.

Nuffnang.com posts their extracurricular activities in their blog. Blogger.com provides details of their improvements on Blogger Beta and about their old-time staff leaving the company. Sponsoredreviews.com provides useful tips on their blog.

So enjoy yourself, it’s unlikely you will break anything except leave your footprints behind.

And here’s something my niece drew that I hung up on the wall where I rest…

My Idea of Sg Superhero

2008-05-04T16:07:00.005+08:00

My idea of a Singapore Superhero….. Someone who, when the economy is down and he/she kena(= got) retrenched/become jobless, still can survive by using his/her blood and sweat to earn a living online…by blogging.

Yes, blogging to earn enough to keep him/her alive, well-fed or even rich and famous. The last is not impossible as we all know!

I had appropriately chosen my superhero’s name as NEET 2.0 (NEET = Not in Education, Employment or Training). Though my superhero is a NEET who supposedly does not appear to be doing anything useful for society, Neet 2.0 is always faithfully and quietly blogging in the background and moving society by millimeters or punching its backside anonymously!

He/she is a version 2.0, a more bug free version, more versatile and can tahan(=endure) all kinds of online and real life disasters simply by blogging away his/her troubles and influencing people everywhere to celebrate his/her encounters by joining together in comments.

NEET 2.0 can be you, or me, or anybody who is a blogger. Thus, my superhero’s name is
(Insert Your Own Name Here)

Not surprisingly, my superhero is not very fashion/underwear conscious. He/she can be wearing nothing and still be able to rescue that pretty/handsome blogger in distress and imprint their names on the net for posterity.

The headquarter of NEET 2.0 is his/her small bedroom. NEET 2.0's superpowers lies in his/her ability to scrutinize and embellish the most mundane affairs/details and make it interesting.

But alas, every superhero has their nemesis, and NEET 2.0 is no exception. The thing that will make NEET 2.0 beg for mercy and pull their hairs out is……slow connection speed.

Neet 2.0 is thus nothing without their faithful sidekick I-S-P.

Lastly, what motivates our good hero NEET 2.0 to fight the fight and make their hands itch like mad? Is it absolute boredom? No social life? Greed/Desire for Fame?

......Whenever anything that is unjustifiable, insufferable or incredibly stupid happens, NEET 2.0 will jump in and blog the hell out of it. Yak Yak and away!

Blogshop Security: I encountered an Online Scam?!?!

2008-05-04T14:21:00.007+08:00

I am considered a newbie when it comes to blogging and I was curious to find out about my Alexa traffic rank from Alexa's website.

I was pleased to find I had improved in my ranking...but!!! I saw on the company contact information section a totally unfamiliar address, phone numbers and email!

I took a moment to think, and I immediately thought of changing the information as I was afraid of people using my website as a scam. So I clicked on edit information and found that after I had entered the details, I had to either verify using a email address ending with @rollypollyavenue.blogspot.com or I could paste an info.txt at the root of my web page.

I had to choose the second option as I didn't have that email address. However I couldn't understand the information provided on how to paste the info.txt onto my website to prove I was the owner. Sigh...

So what I did last was to fill in a contact form to request for their help. As directly quoted from Alexa's FAQ page http://www.alexa.com/site/help/?index=23

"Please note that it can take up to two weeks for these changes to take effect." ...ok

"If your site is designated as a personal page, you may use the link above to submit contact information. If it is not designated as a personal page, your contact information submission will not be accepted."

Well...so now I have to figure if my webpage is considered a personal page by Alexa.

It just doesn't seem to end!

In addition, I found that they had listed this below as a possible explanation. Is it really the case? How many of you had encountered the same thing before?

Thoughts on Blogshops and Sprees Part 2

2008-05-02T12:46:00.010+08:00

This is the second part of my blog on blogshops and sprees.

Like blogshops, spree organizers and joiners have sprung up all over the internet like wild fire. In our local context, a quite notable example would be ST 701 (a website owned by The Straits Times, our nation’s prominent newspaper) had jumped on the wagon in this spree madness. The website, which started as a portal for classified ads, has started only recently in providing a portal/mechanism for people who are interested in joining sprees, which consists mainly of American branded products. A few examples would be Victoria’s Secrets, Forever21, and Old Navy.

Online sprees can be found most commonly in blogs and forums. There are also many types of sprees. Examples: Children's clothing, Men's Clothing, Bags, Cosmetics, Bath products...lists is endless.

But the most popular definitely are sprees for ladies clothing and cosmetic/beauty products. Just type spree in Google and see which entries comes up on top and most often.

As a result, I am guessing majority of spree-ees (joiners of sprees) are female.

So ladies, what makes you join sprees?

The motivations behind joining sprees would be rather similar, whether you are an experienced spree-ee or newbie to spree. For most joiners, the main goal is to take advantage of the difference in exchange rates between countries in order to purchase otherwise more expensively priced items found in traditional retail shops.

In sprees, the extra cost you need to pay is mainly shipping costs, which is reduced by the bulk purchase. No exorbitant markup due to many changes of hand for the goods to reach our shores.

The second reason is finding more variety than is offered locally. Example would be products which are not carried by local retailers.

These two reasons are strong enough attractions that leads me to believe the trend of sprees would be up, not down. But sprees do have their Achilles heels, none other than the appreciation of foreign currencies. No fun if it's not cheap and good, isn't it?

Ok. The last reason is simple, curiosity. Yes, curiosity did not kill the cat, rather it made him/her a spree-ee. The hip trend now is to join sprees. Whether these curious cats will join again after an experience is not for certain.

However…..there is the rather awful downside to sprees. The long, long wait for goods to arrive. My own longest wait was 1.5months. My friend waited for almost 3months and to date is still waiting. I will not go into details about the reasons for the long wait in part as not to kill your interests in sprees. Most sprees make you wait for 3 weeks – 1.5months, which is considered the normal waiting period.

Still, sprees are worth the long wait for some. Join one, and you shall perhaps, learn why.

Thoughts on Blogshops and Sprees Part 1

2008-05-01T01:11:00.000+08:00

Just thought I would blog about the flourishing of blogshops all over the blog-o-sphere.

Why are they so popular? Are they popular with both sellers and buyers alike? I know my own reasons: chose to open a blogshop because I wanted to start my own business without having to incur great costs (I don't have much money in truth also, not unless you start buying from me, :) ). The risks and costs are so much smaller than if I opened a brick and mortar store.

I also like to see something mold in my hands (in this case my website) and I take pride in the site becoming better in design and having more people visiting. From a nobody to somebody knowing your shop is a great feeling. Really feels nice.....even if you don't buy from me, thanks for visiting!

But are they popular with buyers?

There are the common issues faced by customers when buying online. Example: without ever having seen the real stuff but just pictures over the Internet and transferring money to an unknown person can be rather risky. Will I get my goods? Will I get them in time? Will they be what I expected them to be? These are the questions.

But what's the mentality when someone decides that "Hey, I am going to make that buy!"?

There must be a certain trust that the item will resemble what appears in the pictures, of course. Even though we know these photos had been photo shopped to death and the models look pretty and the background had been staged for effects. But still we buy.

Then we take a leap of faith and trust that the seller will send our items in the proclaimed time. Hopefully.

It's obvious that we are in a way gambling or betting when we buy online. Let's hope I get lucky!

But sometimes we don't.

Not to name names but as an educational example, an infamous online store "Shopping lah" had been stoned many times by blogshoppers. And in line with the educational purpose, I can hazard some explanations as to why the items received fall greatly short of expectations.

Ready? The pictures you see are from an original overseas retailer, true. But the clothes are not from them. Sellers may sometimes take pictures of clothes and pass it onto manufacturers for copying.

But sometimes they are from the original overseas retailer. Yes. That's what we do over here, order from the original supplier instead of copy making ourselves.

Even so items may still come differently as they appear. Why? We may have been deceived by the pictures such that materials, colours etc don't appear as they really are. This however can be largely reduced by taking note of the materials and measurements.

Next, original overseas retailer may change materials or rush them out even with poor quality to meet demands.

Lastly, original overseas retailer may themselves not be the original makers of these clothes too!
This explains why when you order some items they come with different brands/tags.

However, I still think it's a great and exciting way to shop as there's so much variety and convenience offered to shoppers. It's also cheaper sometimes to shop online, if you know where to look, :P

P.S It's always good to have reasonable expectations and sense when it comes to shopping online. It's also possible to ask for photos of the real items if they are in stock, no harm trying. Lastly, we are sort of gambling when we buy online (even buying in real life it's the same), so expect to lose sometimes!

Educational Links
http://forum.asiajam.com/jammers-lounge/3608-shopping-shoplah.html
http://digital.asiaone.com/Digital/News/Story/A1Story20071110-35510.html
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v478/anoif/?action=view&current=WRONG.jpg

Own An Online P@per Doll

2008-03-27T01:12:00.019+08:00

Has anyone of you heard of a website call Poupee Girl?

Recently my friend sent me this interesting link, where you can create your doll and dress them up. There are even places for you to shop for new doll clothes and chat with other doll owners. Their currency is in ribbons.. and ribbons can be earned through dressing up your doll and then snapping a photo of it.

Tell me how you feel about this website ok? Have fun!! ^^

Play Word Game and Donate to the Hungry!

2008-03-19T17:04:00.006+08:00

There's a website where you can play word games and donate rice to the hungry at the same time. It sounds fun and useful at the same time, so why not give it a go?

Clothes you Wish to wear vs. Clothes you Can wear

2008-02-19T11:59:00.046+08:00

Ever gone shopping and spotted clothes which you would love to wear but the moment you put them on you know they don’t suit you. Or you don’t suit them.

One of my favorite cartoons "Atashinchi" (Wo Men Zhe Yi Jia) conceptualized the dilemma most of us had gone through; clothes you wish to wear vs. clothes you can wear!! This dilemma makes buying clothes a much harder task.

Clothes we wish to wear vs. Clothes we can wear

Add the element of fate/chance of encountering the clothes

Combining all 3 elements Ideal + Can Wear + Chance, the % is much lowered

Don't forget to add in the element of $$$

No money no talk…haha

Even if all three elements are present things can be complicated by...

Wrong timing

Suitable but no feel

Clothes don't fit you!

Don't forget our ongoing clothes spree for Feb 08!
You may meet the clothes that fulfills all these elements, :)

New ladies Choice?

2008-01-17T06:03:00.004+08:00

Love this poster's colours.

By the way ladies, will you try this out as your latest low carb healthy drink? This is the new diet coke plus which hasn't been launch in Spore yet. It's plus because of the added vitamins and minerals inside this beverage. Why not? Your friend just got friendlier, :)

More links:
Livin la vida lo carb
Wikipedia:Diet Coke Plus

Why are some skincare products sooooo expensive?

2008-01-12T09:49:00.003+08:00

(**Disclaimer: This article is a direct translation by me from this post. It talks about the seminar Niuer had in Singapore on skincare. Niuer is a celebrity skincare adviser from the popular television program 女人我最大. Interested in him? Please see the links below)

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Part One: Let me show you where the magic lies

Niuer showed his audience two photos of the world's most expensive skincare product. One, La Mer The Essence. Second, Revive Peau Magnifique. Both products are packaged in a way that implies next generation space-age technology were involved.

La Mer The Essence. Each set consists of 3 small ampoules, each 15ml Price? US$2100

Revive Peau Magnifique. Each set consists of 4 ampoules, each 1ml。Price? US$1500

How effective are these exorbitantly priced products?

According to Niuer, La Mer The Essence main ingredient is silicone, (fermented algae from the ocean off San Diego is heralded as it's miracle ingredient) which when applied on the face, creates a silky coat. Thus, it doesn't actually have any real effect on the skin.

He later produced an ingredients list of a Swiss skincare product (whose brand he won't reveal for fear of getting sued. Dear readers want to guess which brand it is?)) which is marketed as containing caviar extract and is thus highly priced.

Looking at that ingredients list, the main components are water (63%) followed by olive oil (10%). The much advertised caviar extract? Only 0.015%。

Another product of the same brand, Radiance Cream，water made up 52% and Vaseline 10% while the special component Retinyl Palmitate is 0.01% out of the ingredients.

Why won't the manufacturers put in more of these 'miracle ingredients'? He suggested there is the stability issue. Adding too much of these ingredients may shorten the storage period and things like caviar extract may affect the smell of these products.

Part Two: Myth Creation

Usually, these "miracle products" have a 'story' that accompanies the discovery and usefulness of the product to further create a myth.

To illustrate this point, Niuer weaved a story about how long long ago in Japan an empress tried to escape the palace and fell down while doing so and left behind an ugly scar. Nothing will cure her scar till the imperial doctor came up with xxxpotion. This xxxpotion was lost over time and found by a farmer from a deserted old grave etc etc. (This story illustrates more on his idea of humour, apparently.)

Part Three: Blowing one's own horn

Finally, we come to the part where Niuer revealed his true purpose in educating the foolish masses. He promoted his own brand BeautyDIY and said that since they are marketing to the do-it-yourself-ers, they will demand to know the ingredients. And what they had done was to reveal it all on their website. And to top it off, though his products uses your everyday ingredients, they work, and that's why there are so many supporters still.

The conclusion made by the original poster of this article? He/she believes the point Niuer was trying to make is not that there's no difference between low-priced and high-priced skincare products but their difference may not be that great. Also, the expensive products are priced highly as they have their markets.

Part Four: Moral of the Story

Not to be too snobbish about prices. The important thing is to find products which caters to your personal needs. After all, skincare products main sell is 'a dream'. Many people are led to believe expensive + beautiful packaging = effective. But, if you remove the original ingredient and replace it with another cheaper product, the user will still swear by it's wonderful effects.

See more links:

"Niuer's own brand and Webpage"
"Face Potions Break the Four-Figure Barrier" (An interesting article which includes details on how 5 women were exclusively chosen and invited to try La Mer's The Essence)

Name That Designer Bag! Quiz

2008-01-11T04:46:00.002+08:00

This luxury Italian label is best typified by the hand-woven leather (called Intreciatto) and the fact that the designer label is only on the inside. Think you know the brand?

Take this quiz and find out if you know the trademark styles of some big name designers. Have fun!

"Cashmere Mafia" in "Sex and The City"

2008-01-08T02:46:00.003+08:00

If the name of the show hasn't suggested it, the characters in the show wears trend setting clothes, apparently.

"Cashmere Mafia" is showing in the U.S now. It debuted on ABC on January 6, 2008.

The show resembles "Sex and the City". Setting is in New York City, all 4 main lead characters are female, "they are four ambitious, sexy women who have been best friends since business school, Mia, Zoe, Juliet and Caitlin".

The show revolves around the women's friendship and how they support each other "coping with rocky marriages, fending off scheming colleagues or just trying to find themselves in the midst of chaotic lives".

Chaotic lives? Storylines such as pitting against a fiancé for a key position, trying to balance work and family commitments or keeping up the appearances of having one and lastly, discovering who you are personally and sexually.

Lucy Liu plays Mia Mason, a top executive in the publishing field. Frances O'Connor is Zoe Burden, an investment banker. Miranda Otto plays Juliet Draper (she is of the Lord of the Rings trilogy fame) a Chief Operating Officer of a major hotel chain. Bonnie Somerville, a fresh face compared to the other actresses, plays Caitlin Dowd, a top marketing executive for a cosmetics firm.

This show sounds interesting (more so than "Sex and the City"). Now you will just have to watch the show to match the storylines with each of the character, :)

**quotes are from ABC website.

Pop Princess Jolin Tsai's brand of Nail Polish

2008-01-08T01:45:00.002+08:00

Jolin has a brand of nail polish (or rather she recommends it). Name? Oops! Jealous...on the poster at the website this nail polish is supposed to make other girls feel jealous of you when you are wearing it.

Pop princess has a lot going on...on her nails in the poster. How does she scratch her itches with those nails??