Wednesday, 21 December 2011

lost and feeling alone? turn to Jesus

I would feel alone plenty times in my life, even right now. After spending a wonderful time at a beautiful hotel and enjoying its spa facilities, I still feel lonely. And all this time I had company.

Truly there is no one else who love me like my Jesus does. I am never alone when I turn to Him. Even though physically I may be alone.

Every person on earth is bound to fail me, but only my Jesus is a guarantee. His word never fails, His promises He always delivers. I endeavor not to put my trust in man but in Christ.

Lord turn my eyes to you. Your Joy and Your Rest is what gives me peace.

I want to bask in Your love for me.

Thursday, 15 December 2011

His grace is sufficient

Lord, your grace is sufficient for me. More than sufficient. Every day I just want to enjoy your grace for me.

It is when I lack that you super abound grace in my life.

It is when I cannot do anything right , you come and correct everything to its path.

There is nothing that I can do and I don't even deserve it.

I trust you Jesus. Knowing that you have taken care of my tomorrows for me. That you already prepared for me.

Your goodness and your mercies follow me, the rest of my life.

This position you have already placed me in, I believe in you Jesus. And just cling on to Your faith. Your faith in Your finished work. That I can rest in it.

How awesome it is! Rejoice oh barren!

Resting well tonight and every night, knowing that it is done.

Thank you my Jesus, my big brother, my closest redeemer. My everything. Without you I can do nothing.

Thursday, 8 December 2011

distraction

roaring and distracting me.. extreme roaring so extreme listening now! Jesus gets double my attention now that this devil tries to distract me with small fires in my life..

because I'm affected my closest people around are affected.. damn this devil.. my Jesus is above you and He already protects me..

whatever you steal from me Jesus has already restored 7 times to me..

Monday, 5 December 2011

He finally found me

after going through so many months and 2 weeks of storm with my darling, Jesus finally found me. Or rather He was always here but I just didn't see Him.

Thankful and very thankful

Saturday, 19 November 2011

Now I know.. I'm the one stopping myself from receiving my blessings

Yes guilty, sinner, me. After accusing everyone around me even my friends, family and the ones closest to me. I blame everyone for my mistakes for the wrong paths that I take, for the wrong feelings and emotions that I feel. It's just me. So typical of my flesh to so easily blame others. But I am redeemed, I am made clean. I just need to know not to self condemn.

What i was conscious of was My wrong mind set and wrong believes were the cause of me not seeing my blessings that are already around me, orders that were supposed to come in months way before were hindered because I didn't even have faith in the God who loves me. I didn't have faith in His word, I took it as secondary.

But yet He still loves me. He still wants to remind me that He will not forsake me.

And He did. In my moment where I felt lost and afraid, He showed me. That was when I really gave up whatever I thought would work and just leave it to Him to handle it. All I have to do is enjoy what I enjoy doing. And orders after orders just came pouring in. Best was when I thought my site was ugly and the products I sold were not even worth looking it. The orders just came in on the site direct, not through another platform which is more popular with good traffic. Not once but many times. PTL!

Now I know.. it's not me who supplies but my supply is from heaven. My God supplies all my need. I just lean on His arm of strength.

I have no idea where these buyers come from but I know now that I'm already blessed and no one can take it away from me. Because my Jesus paid for it, so I'm gonna take it and claim and claim full restoration in 100 fold for those months that were stolen from me. And even more!

No longer will i condemn myself nor let others make me feel condemned.

My Jesus who doesn't even judge me and loved me so much He died for me at the cross. So that I could receive His abundance of grace and gift of righteousness. I don't even deserve it but I get it.

Lord I lean on your wisdom, show me how. Show me the things that I don't even know that I don't know. Show me the things that I thought I knew but actually don't know. I want to know You.

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

utterly saved

I'm so saved utterly saved.. even if I try to run away from it even if I try to deny it even if I try to deny my God exists. He never fails to find me, He never fails to perform, He never fails to love me, He never fails to bless me. And He never stops reminding me of His love for me.

I'm chosen, even in my mothers womb. He chose me. Just so loved that a sinner like me can receive all these because of Jesus perfect work at the cross.

No matter how depressed I was the past couple of days, no matter how my thoughts run about thinking that the whole world hates me. He chose to love me, to die for me. He wants me to know that He will protect me, that no weapon formed against me shall prosper.

Jesus is a real person.

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

not my kinda religious style

ok this kind of way of seeking the Lord Jesus doesn't suit me at all.. spend time in the word spend time in the word.. didn't bring me anything much for the past few months.

only when I decided to give up then things started moving for me.

why can't these people just understand that some people cannot be forced an not everyone suits their style of talking to Jesus.

every time he doubts me whether I spend time with Jesus, everytime he tries to correct me and tell me that I am wrong. my way of spending time with Jesus is wrong.

I will seek the lord when I want to seek the lord. the lord will never leave me anymore any way, he is here for me even when I watch my drama movies. why can't I just do things the way I want to do it. not everybody has to subscribe to the same method.

anyway I cannot stand these hypocrites, everytime comment about other peoples lives. we all need help we all need Jesus. he just cannot stand it when I'm stating what I see happening in front of me especially pertaining to that one person whom he completely worships the ground that he walks on and he is not even God!

these frustrating thoughts shall be gone soon.. after letting it go here I feel like I have unloaded

sometimes the one you love and the one closest to you is the one who will stab you from the back and attack you and worst still claim that they do it because they love you. they will say mean and nasty things in front of you face thinking that because we are close in relationship that it will not hurt. why am I always disappointed?

Monday, 14 November 2011

in my time of need He supplies

brought some of my old jewellery to the pawnshop today, didn't know that the stuff my exs gave me actually have some value to it. Anyways got about $630 from them. ptl

Thursday, 10 November 2011

Don't enjoy Friday gatherings

Every Friday there would be a certain group of people who meet at a cafe to talk for 5 hours at least, majority of the time casual idle talking which I personally would not like to be part of it.

Talking bad about other peoples mishaps and how they are not receiving their blessing. I don't enjoy such fellowship at all. Apart from the part that they do really discuss about verses in the bible. the rest of the evening's conversation does not attract me at all.

I can't wait for these meetings to dissolve and not happen anymore. Or perhaps they could just stick to shorter meetings. I completely cannot click with this group and feel much better alone or in small groups.

Sometimes I just wonder if this is what I really wanted and if this was what God really wanted for me.

I can't help but look back and think, was I being cheated into thinking that this was the right relationship for me. or did I just want a relationship so much that I just jumped into it.

Tonight I want to be selfish and just ask that from now onwards no more Friday meetings. You love me right God? You know what to do.

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Happier today.. you can't take it away!

Happy today with new website going up and more testings to better refine the site. Selling platforms are having transactions now everyday. So really enjoying the process.

I'm finally enjoying my work! used to think that I have to work hard to have money. But now money has no hold on me. Not that I don't need it but it feels good not having it to drive me. But what I do now seems more meaningful to me than what I used to do last time.

I do need to be more organized though but will trust that it will be imparted to me.

Realized one thing, in my effort to go astray, I cannot. Because my thoughts are still of Him. I'm irreversibly saved!

Tried to go back to drinking to drown out my heartache, poured myself my fav whiskey and it tasted bad in my mouth, decided to pour it away. Tried to go back to sleeping longer hours but found that despite that I had sales. in my efforts to go back to the bad girl I'm still being supplied grace. So how can I?

Tried my best not to read my daily devotion just so to rebel against my God, in the next moment I find myself opening up the app on my iPhone to read it and read it again during the day.

It's become a subconscious thought in my everyday life already. There's no running away from Grace. He will chase after me and come face to face with me. All I have to do is enjoy it!

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

Feel Loved

Don't know why but suddenly today I feel like as if my love has been renewed for him. A fresh desire to know him more, to see him from different sides.

But still it's hard to keep up with his pace, always walking 2 steps in front of me. Sometimes I find it hard to keep up. Getting breathless at times. I need strength for this, supernatural strength that I don't know where it will come from.

Had a good day today. :-)

Somehow I feel after that night, things have changed abit. It seems like he is slightly distant. perhaps its the work pressure. or the burden that he thinks he has to bear.

All will be well I believe. Good night!

Monday, 7 November 2011

big quarrel last night

after thinking and writing down so many reasons why he must go.. my final decision, I couldn't live without him.

I went back to him the next day. because I still loved him. even with his flaws I still love him.

this wretched person, me. is hopelessly in love with him that she cannot leave him.

Saturday, 5 November 2011

this really sucks

somehow I feel like I got cheated into a really bad deal. and now I'm just settling for someone because I think I'm not good enough. standard has lowered down so much that even now that someone I think I'm settling for seems to take advantage of me all the time. not only did I have to pay always, have to help him dress up giving him free advice on where to buy clothes and what to wear. the worst thing is that he thinks himself really great.

from shithole to shithole I think I have outdone myself this time. agreeing to get married just because I think im turning 30 next year and won't get married out.. it really sucks big time..

came back from a wedding shoot a week ago and didn't enjoy myself. do all brides to be go through this or is it just myself. :(

Thursday, 3 November 2011

Rain and floods in SG

It's been raining every day in Singapore. Floods in many places. Sigh, somehow feels like my life. The rain doesn't seem to go away.

I have tried to listen to His word but it seems nothing wants to be absorbed into this mind of mine. All the preaching can't seem to penetrate.

Every day there seems to be clouds hovering above me like the weather report. When will this darkness ever end to bring the new season that I long for.

Little dizzy from the days events. Time to get some rest.

bills bills and more bills

bills have been chalking up and I haven't been able to pay up yet.. orders come in but it's not the right ones that I want.. Lord if you really want to help me at least choose the right way.. don't send me in circles having to worry about it..

like seriously even if I want to sell my car it seems really "easy".. and the ad has to be renewed again.. sigh.. waste money again

it's like everything that can go "right will go "right" with me.. oh man I am really such a "success"!

how does a person handle 5 different credit card bills at a time.. you really need a Big God for this.. when is my Big Brother gonna appear and save me? perhaps He will see my teeny bit of faith tonight and open the windows of heaven upon me tonight..

Wednesday, 2 November 2011

yet I still hope

I said many things and was angry with God for not performing what He was supposed to do, for not coming to my defense.

I blamed Him for not protecting me because whatever it seems like is just not happening for me.

But yet this morning I woke up with little teeny bit of hope. Hoping that all will be well, that future seems so far away.

The year is coming to an end in 2 months. Thus far it seems like everything that can come against me is against me. How can it be said that i have met Jesus. I didn't think it would be this way. Always thought that after meeting Him I would be protected, all my worries would desolve. But it doesn't seem to be this way at all.

Have I been cheated? At the moment I feel as if I have been. By those lies I have been hearing. Want so much now to crush away the least bit of hope that I have now and not hope at all. So that I won't be disappointed.

feeling down

I'm feeling down again today.. my deliveries were delayed and it seems like the flow has stopped.

How I do change this? who will help me? I guess I don't want to receive help and I just prefer running away.. how about another country or another place.. can I start over again?

I've cried so many nights, cant help but feel emotional. Seems like my pain is back to haunt me again. Maybe it all ends here..

perhaps the hurt was so bad it didn't get healed at all.

didn't attend the meeting today, didn't feel like the mood to talk to anyone. I guess it's better this way. to slowly pull myself away. it was never meant to be anyway.

it's always been like that for every phase of my life.. it's becoming second nature to me already.. I would run away from things, people, work, places..

I'm silly I guess and foolish also. Refusing to be helped too. Such pride is useless.

Monday, 31 October 2011

Where is my abundance?

Suddenly feeling abit low.. been declaring and speaking and believing but nothing seems to be fantastically happening.. can I just say that the people around are blessed except me..

And it gets very frustrating when I hear their testimonies.. in fact it doesn't give me any hope at all..

I'm quite tired of this speaking thing, fighting off the devil.. so I'm told to do.. where is Jesus is all this? Can the big brother please stand up?!

It's just so overwhelming I can't even see my future.

Everything is about the Word I'm always told.. Jesus is a gentlemen and He will not force you they tell me.. I have to ask Him to come.. Spend time in the Word they would always say.. this year is coming to and end and I have not yet really seen my abundance yet.. my credit card bills keep amounting and the sales the come in don't even cover a fraction of it..

Suddenly my old life style didn't seem that bad anymore.. my friends from work have not been contacting me..now the people I hang out with is my bf and his friends who only happen to be just church goers..

What did I pray for exactly? I have no idea

NAZA Final Wedding Photoshoot Taipei Review

I just came back this week from Taipei. Landed in Singapore on Tuesday evening. Was there the previous week. Whole trip was 8 days 7 nights.

We arrived a day earlier before our scheduled appointment with the NAZA coordinator. Checked into Neijiang Hotel as recommended by the NAZA staff to book. It was a comfortable stay, clean hotel with basic toiletries. Rooms are quite spacious considering that budget hotels in Taipei rooms are relatively small. Convenient location, 3 mins walk to NAZA shop, 5 mins to Ximen MRT. Freego bus stops just outside the hotel from the airport. Round trip is NT$260 per pax. Alot of food stalls in Ximending area and convenience store just around the corner. You won't go hungry for sure.

Costs of Hotel room
Week days NT$1380 - after NAZA discount rate
Weekends NT$1580 - Friday is also a weekend
Comes with daily packed sandwich and packet juice for breakfast. Not too bad

Second Day went to NAZA shop, basically they own the whole shop-house with 5 levels. Our coordinator was not around that day so another assistant helped me with the selection of gowns. Because our shoot is mostly outdoors, the gowns for selection to bring out of the shop are very limited. I didn't really enjoy the selection processed as the gowns look really ugly and old and worn out. They keep all the nice gowns upstairs and you have to pay extra for wearing them. So out of the little selection I had to pick out 5 gowns, one white, 4 evening gowns.

I negotiated with them as I didn't like their selection and asked if they had other white gowns to had a mermaid tail. They did have something like that in my size. However after she made me try it, I was told to offer a price for wearing it for the photoshoot day if I wanted it. I didn't what to offer for it as the material for this gown is only soso but much better looking than the rest. She quoted a price to me at NT$6000! I really felt it ridiculous and decided to choose something else. Then the staff said how about I half the price for you to NT$3000. At that moment I felt there was something fishy about this staff, how can the price be halved in just 5mins??? So I still insisted on looking for something else, not wanting to pay for it. As I can easily buy a gown online and get it altered for the same price and similar material. In the end, she offered to let me wear it for free!!!

There was a second assistant though who was helping me to dress up and try the gowns, I can't remember her name but she's new and very helpful, not as scheming as her colleague who seems to have worked there for some time already.

Final selection was

1 white gown - indoor shoot - this was the one I initially had to pay for using it
1 white gown - outdoor
3 evening gown - outdoor
1 casual outfit - I brought myself

After the long selection process which took me almost 3 hours. We had to rush to C.K.S Memorial Hall where we had to go to this Men's Tailoring Shop called GEM to pick out the grooms tuxedo.From this place, they have a small selection of grooms tuxedo, 5 to choose from. There's the usual Black Suit, White Suit, a better looking Black Suit and a better looking White Suit and a Gray suit. If I can remember correctly.

Absolutely not much selection for guys. If you want to upgrade your suit, it's min NT$1500 and it's only an extra vest for the suit and a better material tie. Really a rip off place in my own personal view. The gray suit they offered included in the package was really ugly. We decided to take the better looking gray suit, however the upgrade was NT$5000! faintsss.. but because we were pressed for time as we still had to return to NAZA to discuss with the Makeup artist on the style for the bride and the locations for the shoot with the photographer, we hurriedly agreed to the payment. Taiwanese really good at upselling to you. I didn't really enjoy this part

In our package we have

2 Free Use of groom tuxedo

After rushing back to NAZA and having a super fast and quick dinner, we had a short discussion with the Makeup artist and the photographer. These 2 people are the most crucial to the wedding photoshoot. I give them 2 thumbs up for their excellent service and professionalism. This part of the wedding photo package I was willing to pay for. We went back to rest that evening and had to be at the shop by 7.30am the next morning.

Will continue story tmr...

Sunday, 16 October 2011

First Time using blogger for iPhone

so coolness how the iPhone has changed our way of living! now I can add posts to my blog anytime and anywhere! perfect!

test test

cheers

S

Saturday, 15 October 2011

eBay's Selling Manager Tool

I absolutely love this function...! It gets TWO Thumbs up from me! in FB it would get a LIKE from me!

I tried using the turbolister from ebay before, it's simple to use if you have to use it offline. But I personally prefer using eBay's web interface to upload my inventory instead. It's easier to include my photobucket pics to display enlarged pics in my listing.

I tried signing up for an eBay store as well, paid S$5.00 for the subscription. Didn't really work out well, because if I were to list in another eBay site, it probably will not display my listing in my eBay store because it's a Singapore eBay store. Eg if I list in eBay AU site, it won't show up in my SG eBay  store. Abit upsetting at first. As I wanted to avoid having to keep relisting and keep updating the info. Just wanted to do it once and have it automated. In the end, I cancelled my eBay store subscription after a couple of months and just kept my Selling Manager Tool instead.

The Selling Manager tool is FREE! yes likes this alot! All I have to do is just Assign Automation Rules to relist every time the auction ends and until it gets sold. So simple. Selling Manager Pro does have some extra features which are pretty cool but you have to pay $6.50 for the monthly subscription. Good thing about eBay is that they charge monthly and anytime you wish to cancel it just unsubscribe.

Hope this helps fellow ebayers or fellow entrepreneurs who want to start selling on eBay. I learnt it the hard way by trial and error. So I guess for me this is one of the best solutions yet.

Cheers!

Taipei Wedding Shoot

We are leaving for our wedding shoot at Taipei this coming Tuesday. The weather seems to have turned out pretty good for us since I last checked the weather forecast for Oct. It's autumn now in Taipei.

The pictures will turn out great I believe, and we will have an awesome memorable time together.Haven't decided on which locations to check out yet but will do a detailed write up for the places that we will visit. How nice to bring along an iPad if we have one. Believing for one and should materialize soon!

Can't wait to post up the pics taken!

Cheerios

S

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Gmarket Selling

Ok cool! I've moved some of my listing for my site on to Gmarket for selling in Singapore.

Traffic here is really good I would say. However, it can be quite confusing to use in comparison to eBay. I had a lot of difficulties navigating the site for GSM Seller Tools, the user guide wasn't really of much help. But I decided to just trial & error and see how it turns out. It was pretty good. Had a sale from testing one of the discount functions.

Now testing their pre order function for my next batch of items for sale.

The customers here though I would have to warn are those really looking for super good deals. Some of the discounts given I wonder how the seller even makes a profit from here. Or perhaps its low profit. High volume would make up for it I guess.

The next project for me I would like to try is how to create those flashing images that they have on Gmarket. Yeah I'm absolutely so new to all this and have really grown over the past few months. Such a steep learning curve I would say.

Pros I like about Gmarket :
  1. I can list my listing for a year 
  2. It's actually quite easy to navigate once you have good practice - took me a month to figure out - their customer service has slow replies
  3. I can put my site url on the listing - which I think is cool - helps to bring my site ranking up
  4. No limit to my listings unlike eBay which has restrictions
  5. I can sell to my local market and there is even a Q phone service which customers can contact me directly
Cons :
  1. Customer paying through Gmarket, I would have to give 12% to Gmarket and they would take about 2 weeks before depositing into my bank account the rest of the money. 
  2. The flashing images actually really do distract me alot - lol - no idea why I would still wanna learn this though
If you wanna know more you can leave me a message and I would be happy to share my info as much as I can with you. 

Cheerios!

S

Monday, 12 September 2011

Wedding Venue in Penang - Decided

Yippee! Our wedding venue for Penang has finally been decided! And our TOP Choice goes to Cititel Penang for our 2012 Wedding Dinner in Malaysia.
Hooray! LOL... well I guess it's more of my choice. hehe

Reasons for picking this hotel was simple :

  1. Price was reasonable : RM$688++
  2. Convenient Location as it's in the city - so everyone can be on time! 
  3. Great spread of food choices for the dinner banquet and does not look like it's cheap stuff but really quality food being served. This was one of our top priorities
  4. The Ballroom has a high ceiling and looks grand and majestic, carpets smell clean and the small function room for the tea ceremony is actually quite big
  5. They gave an extra room free for the parents - that was a kind gesture
  6. corkage waiver for all tables!
  7. I searched for Cititel Penang on Tripadvisor and found that the GM actually bothers to reply all feedback and comments for the hotel. It is commendable for such attention to details
  8. Which comes to my last point, their service was really impressive. I've been to Malaysia many times, and because of their laid back attitude I kinda got used to their ultra slow service everywhere I went to. But it was refreshing to find a different attitude towards guests here. 
I do hope that this is the best choice for our wedding and hope that it will be a memorable one with lasting memories forever.

Cheerios

Sarah :)

Thursday, 8 September 2011

Food in Penang

Hey Hey! Just got back to Singapore on Tuesday from Penang, Malaysia.

I'm such a food addict, been eating almost 4 meals a day. LOL

Here's some of my favourites and great food I had at Penang on this trip.


Penang Laksa! It's near the Kek Lok Si Temple, along the street beside the wet market. 
You can't miss this! It's super awesome. I had to have this! Number Must Try. 


Penang Fried Char Koay Teow from Gurney Drive Hawker Centre. 
It tastes abit salty but it's just a different flavor that they have there. :) 


Another different stall in Penang, near Komtar that sells Char Koay Teow.
The Prawns served here are BIGGER! 


They call this Hokkien Mee in Malaysia, it's actually our Prawn Noodle Soup. 
This one is good! YUM



Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Penang Hotels Wedding Dinner - the search begins

Was away for the weekend to attend a friend's wedding in Penang and at the same time search for hotels to hold our Wedding Dinner at next year Feb 2012.

Our short listed hotels were :

Evergreen Laurel Hotel
- My Comments & Opinion : the place has a old majestic feel at the hotel lobby, staff were helpful and price (RM688++ per table) is reasonable given that they are situated along Gurney Drive. However, to my dislike was the pillars in the Ballroom that blocked the stage which in my personal opinion were a little unsightly, they do compensate that with a large projector screen that displays the stage, I believe there should be about 10 of them, which goes to show how much blockage there is.

Perhaps this is the reason why the staff were so willing to give us alot of freebies to close our deal. Such as free 2 nights stay for couple in Bridal suite, Parents also get a nights stay free. Complimentary food tasting can be used even during CNY period next year. Complimentary refreshments for the tea ceremony. And complimentary usage of one of the executive rooms for the gate crashing session in the morning to receive the bride. Oh not to forget that they even have a discount for min 25 tables at minus RM20 per table. Seems really like a very good deal.

We were shown the supposed bridal suites and I thought it was pretty alright and comfortable to stay in. However the date that we wanted was booked by another person and there isn't any confirmation that we had the slot. Hence, we proceeded to check out other hotels instead.

Traders Hotel
- One of the recommendations by my fiance's good friend was to check out the Traders hotel, known to be by Shang gri la, so we expected that the level of service would be higher in comparison to Evergreen Laurel Hotel. But to our dismay, the staff who served us wasn't really given much authority to make decisions on behalf of his manager and seemed really much like a freshie. Despite that we still decided to give the person a try to do our business. We visited the ballroom and the bridal suites, ballroom was pretty decent given the reputation of the hotel. They can accommodate if I am correct 30 tables in the first partition of the ballroom, second partition if you wish to book 35 tables it would be blocked abit by 2 pillars. The ceiling for the ballroom is pretty high, and looks grand enough.

Bridal Suites was alright and livable. However, I thought it should be better since the price per table was much higher at RM888 Nett.

Staff was not able to give us a proper proposal as to what our request was. And up till today has not replied nor called nor sent an email to update us on whether we have our requested date and our other requests can be met.

A little disappointed with the service here as I really had high hopes and was ready to say yes and make the booking here. So we proceeded for our third choice on our list of hotels.

Cititel Penang
- Our last stop on our search for wedding banquet venues in Penang was Cititel Hotel Penang. We were supposed to meet the Banquet Manager who agreed to meet us on last minute basis. Upon arrival, as he was attending to another guest, he brought us to the lounge and offered us drinks from the bar menu whilst waiting for him. I was impressed! To get this kind of service in Penang, Malaysia is amazing!

Things to note, the quoted price for Cititel is the same as Evergreen Laurel at RM688++ per table. They were adamant about giving a discount but I thought it was alright as service is the most important thing to me.

The ballroom was grand and smelled and looked really clean & bright! Same goes for the function room which would be used for the Tea ceremony and is conveniently located just beside the Perdana Ballroom. If I'm correct it fits about 50 tables. But a good 35 tables would be comfortably placed. There are NO pillars! So that's the plus point for me. I would like every guest to be able to see us from even afar.

The Bridal Suite has a beautiful seaview and it's design is modern and very suited to my taste. Absolutely love it! Yes, I would say that this hotel, although I'm being told by htb that it's not situated in a popular district like the one at gurney drive, is wonderfully perfect for me.

The food menu for the guest is also a good spread and far beats Evergreen's by alot. Just looking at the menu itself brings Cititel a notch higher. Plus point, they will waive all corkage fee for any amount of bottles for alll tables.

Hopefully all our requests gets approved by the Banquet Manager and we can proceed with booking this hotel. I believe that the Lord brought us and showed us and lead us to this and it feels restful too. As in we don't have to haggle much about stuff like we did at the previous hotels.

Grateful and thankful for this blessed journey and hope to hear good news tomorrow for the confirmation.

:)

Thursday, 1 September 2011

Google Adwords Part 5

Alright my google adwords campaign has taken off and I find that it is really useful.

No.1 I'm completely new to this and it really does drive instant traffic to your site.
Site ranking on Alexa had increased and broke through its longest standing ranking for the past 6 months. I'm so happy with this.

No.2 Its really easy to use, just key in  your campaign promotion and link to the landing page that you want the CPC ad to direct to.
I have a few campaigns running at the moment.

No.3 I added the google analytics and it reallys helps to see where your traffic is coming from.
Of course for my business it's mostly Singapore based customers. However I can also inlcude Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Australia or other countries. I can see from the reports where my unique visitors come from. It's amazing.

I would recommend this to anyone who is starting out their blogshop or e-commerce website to use this. As almost 40% of my traffic comes from search engine results. Some of course are organic search engine results and this information is displayed on the google analytics reports. Remember to include the script for google analytics on your website's script code.

Hope this helps!

Resize images in Photoshop

Ok I had a dilemma as I have so many images to resize and All of them are in different sizes.

I came across this blog while doing a google search and found this. Here's the link

Resize Image in Photoshop


Hope it will help me in my work. :)

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Honeymoon Destination - Shall we go French Polynesian?

Was wondering and thinking where we should go for our Honeymoon in Feb 2011.

I've been to a couple of places already especially in Europe, the popular destinations for Honeymoon I've already been there while I was still single. Yes I know the feeling will be different if you are going as newly weds, but I just want to do something different.

Thought of going to a Beach Resort so that I won't be spending my time in Shopping Malls again. Yes! Self acclaimed Shopaholic! LOL.

Most Honeymoon destinations that are hear locals going to for Beach Romance is to Maldives. I did some research on it and found it not as luxurious, of course the price tag is alot cheaper for us to fly to Maldives than to Tahiti, Bora Bora.

Here's one of the reviews I found on this Resort in Maldives

Trip advisor : Adaaran Club Rannalhi

Official Site : Adaaran Club Rannalhi

Then I googled for Tahiti.. Just came to my mind that I should check that out. Here's what I found :

Tahiti Bora Bora Honeymoon Package

I love the Hilton and St Regis Resorts on Bora Bora! It's soooo pretty! and the Over water bungalows look really luxurious. And from the reviews I read on Tripadvisor for them it's pretty awesome and they provide good service!

Hilton Bora Bora

St Regis Bora Bora - This one's gotta have a huge budget! OMG

We can take a flight to Tokyo NRT and from there a flight on Tahiti Air to Bora Bora which will cost about SGD 3000. Or we could take a flight to Honolulu and from there a flight to Bora Bora will cost ard SGD 2500 return.

I'm still deciding and doing the research on it but the place really looks awesome!

Saturday, 20 August 2011

Google Adwords Part 4 and Site revamp

Alright... seems like the Google adwords is working! I just had an order hours ago.. amazing how the Lord Jesus leads and guides from within.

I'm now on my 2nd campaign using the same budget under the 1st campaign, basically just adding new keywords for the autumn winter collection for jackets & coats, with new titles and description.

It's supercool! why didn't I think of this in the first place when I started? well I guess it all works out for my good. And the Lord even makes all my mistakes to prosper! Amen.

I'm kinda really excited for this new campaign and new stuff! I'm amazed at how far I've gone. And now I edit all the photos on my site on my own. Including the banners and ads. How cool is that. From someone who was a zero when I first started, to now really having live transactions. Amazing!

All glory to Him, for He gave me the Spirit of Bezalal. And put the Wisdom and creativity in me. Thank you Lord!

Friday, 19 August 2011

Maaduu.com

OMG.. just finished watching a series of Korean Drama on maaduu.com. Was introduced to this site by my bro... understand that it is launched by a Malaysian company and hosted in Malaysia. Wow! Amazing! Such fast super fast streaming.. I used to watch on mysoju.com but have now changed to maaduu instead..

However the advertisements in between the episodes can be a teeny bit annoying but it's cool.. I'll just go for a toilet break.

The drama I was watching is My Fair Lady, quite an old one already but it was still very touching. My bf was hooked on to it too! hahahaha... and he's not even a Korean Drama fan.. haha! But this ones a bit of a comedy, so I guess it was funny watching it.

Thanks to the super fast streaming I could finish the whole series within the week. Praise Jesus!

Friday, 12 August 2011

Google Adwords Part 3 and Site revamp

Alright... So far the adwords has generated 114 impressions since last week. And total clicks was at $0.95. An average of About $0.16 cost per click. Not bad for a week of advertising.

Going to concurrently revamp the website. Getting ideas from everywhere. I think that youtube tutorials are great for learning. Especially for Photoshop tutorials on youtube. It's amazing what you can find for free! Free tutorials.
I like that!

Here's some that I found. For Cross Processing Technique and some other cool editing stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5maIdfttts




Hope it helps anyone who is looking to set up their own online store and wish to find out more on how to edit their pictures or photos to be more Fashion Magazine friendly.

Cheers!

This is my life

I'm gonna revamp the look of the online store that I have now.

Beautiful pictures and well edited pictures that showcase and focus on the items to be featured in a stylish way. That's my priority now.

No point doing advertising when your products don't look really that great online.

I do enjoy what I do now. Rather than what I did previously. Everyday I'm learning new stuff and I must say it is a huge learning curve but I guess what brings me joy is that I have a supportive fiance who helps and guides me everyday. He listens to me grumble and complain but he also points me back to Jesus. Especially at times when I feel very lost.

Last Wednesday I felt really confused and lost because I didn't know whether what I was doing was right or not. Was it really what I wanted. Until the Lord spoke to me, He reassured me. I was even about to leave Him and was super angry with Him. But when He spoke to me, it was just a voice in my head. I could hear Him.

He will never leave me nor forsake me.

And this is very true!

Hillsong - You Are More - with subtitles/lyrics


This new song from Hillsong really captured my heart. And I just love the way that it speaks to me. Knowing that My Lord is my everything.

Monday, 8 August 2011

Google Adwords Part 2

Lovely! My first campaign is up and running since last friday. So far pretty good and seems like my ad has shown a couple of times. I bid for the CPC at $0.20, but it seems like the CPC was only $0.11. strange but good, because it was cheaper than what I expected so it's pretty good after all.

I would say it's a better choice at this moment than selling on ebay as the cost and fess already eat into your profits. Hmm.. I might consider giving free shipping if that is the case. Or world wide flat fee shipping. Since I save at least about close to 10%. That should cover quite a fair bit as I would like to sell by volume. It does makes decision to buy alot easier to make for the customer. Also they wouldn't mind waiting if it's free in this case. Alright I'll consider this.

Found out that winter coats might be a good option to be selling stuff this autumn. Something I want to look into and run a campaign on it. Should be cool! And I'll launch the campaign in UK, US and AU. Just for starts. Sounds fun already to me. Now I've just got to find a supplier for this. :)

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Google Adwords

Alright, I'm going to start on my first Campaign for Google Adwords. It's actually my first time doing this for my website. Abit nervous on how it would turn out. But I'll do it scared. haha!

Well, it's because I do not have any experience doing this at all. And it's my first time running my fashion business online. I quit my job in banking and bummed around for a year not doing anything. It was too stressful an environment to be in and I was falling ill every month.

So back to the Adwords campaign. I read a few books on it. Can't remember the titles though, but most SEM (Search Engine Marketing )books at the library should have some good info for you to read up on.

What I liked about the Adwords campaign that I'm about to start is that it gives me instant traffic. I'm not sure how to turn that traffic into sales, however I'll just leave that part to the Lord. :)

I'm abit concerned about the cost of it though. But I trust that it will be good and cheap for me. As I have a low advertising budget.

I didn't know which keywords to use so I checked some of my competitors and on www.alexa.com you can check for a couple of the keywords that the competitors site uses for their search results, under Search Analytics you should be able to view a list of them. However should you want full information you would have to pay for it. I'm quite happy at yet that have these few that I can work on at the moment.

One of the videos I watched on youtube that helped me to understand better.Please note I do not earn from these people but just came across their videos which have helped me and I would like to share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFzoM59bIQ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeESjscUfmQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el3EzDn7s3g&feature=related 

If anyone who is reading that has any comments and other tools to share, please do so. Cheerios!

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Naza Taiwan Wedding Shoots - Follow ups

This afternoon I received an email from the Service Team at Naza Taipei. They informed me of the cost per night to stay at their recommended hotel called Nei Jiang Hotel. It's about 3 mins away from the bridal shop according to them and I can take a bus direct from the Airport that stops at the bus stop across the street from the shop.

Cost per night will be TWD 1680, estimated to be about SGD 70.00 per night. Seems kinda reasonable. I guess we will be staying here for the whole trip. And of course pop down to the Hot Spring Inn at Bei tou on the last day, which would cost us about SGD 146 per night.

I'm glad we took our wedding package from them and glad that we decided to do an overseas shoot for our wedding album.

Cost for the wedding photo shoot was only SGD 2200! Really a good deal considering all the free items they will be giving us and on top of that I get 6 outfit changes inclusive of a casual shoot. Really Awesome!

23 Aug 2011


Here's a follow up on more of my research for my wedding shoot in Oct 2011 this year!


I found this blog that has some of couples that have taken shoots with them, might be on of their photographers. Well I can't really read the chinese but its ok, just looking at the pics will do. Think they cover alot of places which I already intend to go to. Just have to meet them when I get to Taipei to discuss the locations and confirm them. 


Counting down to Oct! It's less than 2 months!


Anyways here's the link : 


http://www.wretch.cc/album/naza166&page=1

Thursday, 28 July 2011

Cash Converters Singapore

Yesterday I brought my used Music CDs that I wanted to get rid off to Cash Converters at Blk 710A Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, It's at Ang Mo Kio central near the Maybank Branch.  They have a section at the side of their store that is specific to them buying stuff from customers only.

However the prices that they take in are really super low.So it you don't really need to sell your items urgently, you would probably get a better price on eBay. But if you are selling on eBay, you might find some really cheap stuff there to get stock to sell.

Cash Convertors also has a home pick up service, especially if you have big items like Plasma TVs. You can call them to come to your home and give you a quote for the item. However it may not be high price though.

They have a price list for the items that they take in and for Music CDs it's $0.30 per piece. Regardless of what the album is or how famous the singer was. LOL.And has to be in working condition.

They are quite particular though. It has to have a certified for distribution in Singapore sticker. If not they will not accepted it. Especially for DVDs, as it's something to do about viewership.

I guess if I sold my Music CDs on Ebay I would have gotten more money for the Albums. However I needed to get rid of them urgently. Gonna move house soon and don't wish to be lugging so much useless stuff to the new place. Glad that the bulk load of them are gone now and there's a little more space in my room for stuff now. So I can continue with my packing.Right now I just need space in my room.

Cheers!

Terapeak eBay Statistics Research

I have to say that I absolutely love this function of using Terapeak's eBay Stats Research!

I can use this search function to help increase my sales, the search results actually shows me the Keywords that are most searched for in the particular item that I am selling. Which format best suits the item to be listed. Which day that has the most sales. It also displays the items that the Top Sellers are selling. Gives me an average price of the items sold. Also the Shipping price on an average.

I subscribed to it for USD 39.95 a month and added hot products for USD 6.95 per month.

It's so worth it! Now I know which are the products that buyers are looking for, I can look for the product and sell it on eBay. Amazing! So Blessed!

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Merchant Run Global Link

I tried setting up a Merchant Run Global Link account and tried posting up some of my products.

The templates that they offered were really awesome. However, the time taken to load the products description and clicking to the next pages were time consuming.

I've decided to stick to the turbo lister that ebay provides for free. It's much easier to use as most required fields can be located on ONE display page.

Hassle free.
Easy to relist.
Easy to use html functions.
I can copy and paste some html scripts for the templates and save it there to use in the future.

I was excited when I saw the tutorials for Merchant run Global Link and how I can easily connect my products to the 21 ebay sites. But the loading time takes so long that it gets frustrating and I would spend half a day to upload it. I gave up after a week.

Perhaps if they could put all the required fields including uploading of images on ONE page. That would be great. Just a thought.

Anyone know of any good listing services such as these. Please PM me.

Cheers!

Monday, 25 July 2011

Likas Papaya Soap Whitening Acne Blemish Remover

I've been using Likas Papaya Soap for whitening and acne & blemish removing purposes for the past few years. It really has a good whitening effect for me. Every I got a tan from sun bathing I would use this for about 2 weeks and I get fairer very fast! 

I used to have really bad back acne problems but after using this soap for a few years I realized that it's gone! I can now wear low back outfits without any worries. And got my confidence back!

I have no knowledge on how the enzyme in the product really works but for me personally, the soap does control oil on my oily skin. So I guess that helps alot and the whitening effect also lightens the marks and spots left behind from the blemish and acne.

I got to know about this brand of soap from a friend who bought it from Ebay for me. It's so good that I bought it as a gift for other friends who want to have fairer skin.

Plus point is that it's relatively cheap buying from Ebay. And really does work!

Weekdays at Johor Bahru

Taking a short drive up the causeway through Woodlands Checkpoint to Johor Bahru on a weekday is the best time during the week.

We would normally go there either on Mondays, Tuesday or Thursdays to avoid the peak period crowds. Shopping there is cheap at KSL City Mall. Last checked there's a new Tesco supermarket there, I believe that opened this month of July 2011.

Another one of our hang out places would be Jusco which is a drive further up north. about 20 mins from the customs checkpoint at JB. It's after the carrefour.

I've been to these 2 malls to catch movies and I would say that the quality of screening is pretty good. Considering the price that we pay is in RM ringgit.

I would highly recommend these 2 places if you want cheap shopping and cheap food but near to home for a super short break away from the city life in Singapore.

I'm heading over tonight to pump petrol and have dinner at our favourite LOK LOK stall in JB at along Jalan Keris. They have the best I've ever had in Malaysia till date. The deep fried pig's organs on skewers is the best, especially the pig's stomach is always super juicy. Also the chicken kidneys are a chewy bite.

I would normally order a main meal, which is Dry Lao Shu Fern in black sauce with a big bowl of soup from the hawker shop opposite.


If anyone has other recommendations especially for food in JB, please do leave your comments. I would love to know!

Cheers!

Saturday, 23 July 2011

Buy & Sell Used Books in Singapore

I was looking for a place or someone to sell my old used books to. Thank God I found this Second Hand Book store at Bras Basah Complex.

Many years ago, I started collecting Historical Romance Titles, such as Virginia Henley and Susan Johnson etc. However, I have grown tired of reading such heart breaking novels, so decided to get rid of my collection.

I thought of selling them on eBay Singapore but it was too much of a hassle for me. I wanted to get that box of used books out as soon as possible.

There were about 30+ books in all. We drove there and sold the whole lot for $20.00. Quite a good price as my books were really old and yellow. Their prices range from $0.20 to $1.00, $1.50 per book. I really wanted to get rid of them, so this was the best place for me.

There are four stores there that conduct such a business of Buy & Sell Used Second Hand Books.

Here's a link.

http://bras-basah-complex.com.sg/bbc/2_shops/en_category.asp?sel=02&mid=02-03&dsc=Buy/Sell%20Used%20Books

You may like to call them or just bring the books there like what I did. Do take note that they may not take all titles. They rejected one of the books I brought there. Said they didn't want it.

The shop I went to was the one on the ground floor.

Evernew Book Store
#01-07



The Lady there was really kind and helpful. I just carried my 2 bags of books, walked in and said " I want to sell my books here", she showed me to the corner of her shop where there was a guy who helped count the titles and picked those books that they would take in. And in less then 5 minutes I collected my money and left the shop happy!

I'm so blessed! :)