Saturday, November 22, 2008

Thrifty Mode

I've been spending a lot in the past few months. Not only me, but the friends around me as well...heheh. Must start being thrifty liao.
But I couldn't resist this 50% discount at Popular...RM89.90 tagged on the book, but bought at RM44.95. I guess can make an exception for books since can claim tax relief.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Dirty Tactics

Last night, I was shopping around with my gf for some household items and we stopped by this shop at City Mall to check out some kitchen stuff. The name of the shop is Frico and they have a pretty interesting touch screen induction cooker.

After a few minutes of explaining their product, the salesgirl asked us to collect our free mug. So we obliged (free thing mar...don wan meh). After filling out our details in the form, she told us to check the mug for defects. We opened the box and saw the mug was ok...no problems at all. Then she took a look at the box and said 'Oh this box have been opened by another customer already...sorry, I'll get you a new one.'

We didn't see anything wrong with the box in the first place, but we let her change a new one for us. When she gave us a 'newer' box, we opened it up and discovered there was a voucher inside.

Salesgirl : Wah...you got voucher? See see see....
Me : Passing the voucher to her...
Salesgirl : Wahhh!!! Congratulations! You got a RM1000 voucher! There's only 5 of this in Borneo you know...i can't believe how lucky you are.
Me : Err...yea kah
Salesgirl : Yea, instead of RM2999 for this package, you can buy it now for RM1999 only! Wait I call my boss first to make sure if its still valid.
(Busy calling boss...)
Salesgirl : Yes boss! We have a winner! ...ah....yessss boss..(nods)..yes boss...(nods)..yes.

By this time all the other staff were getting in on the act too. They were telling my gf how this is the first time someone has hit RM1000 voucher and even showed her the other vouchers were only RM300.

Do you believe this? Hahah, frankly I don't. My neighboring shop used to be taken by Aowa and I see them pull this same stunt over and over for every single customer. You know what's the surprising thing? Aowa's 'package' costs nearly RM5k and there are many people who are willing to pay! Their daily sales is even more than my weekly sales.

Is it wrong? Maybe... Is it illegal? Definitely not. After all the transaction is that of a 'willing seller, willing buyer.' They made you feel like a winner...everyone likes to feel like one. So what should you do in situations like this? Just do what we did...take your free gift and thank them for their time. You know I may drop by this Sunday for another mug. Heheh...


Monday, November 17, 2008

SLAP like Louis

Last Saturday I took some time out to attend the 'Shoot Like a Pro' (SLAP) workshop conducted by Louis Pang in Kota Kinabalu. Met lots of great people, learnt a lot of new things and was inspired.

Louis explaining the details of a shot he had taken earlier

Behind the scenes

The model of the day, Hong Yi (sp?)

Sorry for the unflattering angle Melvin...

I didn't manage to get many shots during the outings that we went on (fighting for space with 24 other people is not easy, lol) but I did manage to take some pointers from Louis. Specifically
1) I will shoot in JPEG and get the shot right on camera (already have too many raw files on my HDD)
2) You don't need to have 5 star locations to get good pictures.
3) If a shot is not working, don't be afraid to move on.

Though its only a one day workshop, I highly recommend this workshop for people who want to take their photography to another level. It has certainly helped me lots.

Monday, November 3, 2008

New House

Just got the keys to my new house recently. Heheh... Here are some pics.
Front View

Side View (It is a corner lot...though not much space)

Living Room
Kitchen
Upstairs
Master Bedroom
One of the bedrooms
My future neighbors

I wish I had a wider lens to capture some of the shots but then again got to save money...seems like there will be many more sleepless nights ahead. Any advice to give to a new homeowner?