Almost kena conned…

During lunch yesterday, I received a call from NBYN Image Consultants informing me that I’ve been recommended by a friend to receive a free makeover session. I can “leave all my cash and credit cards at home and just go and enjoy, after which I can bring home two shots for free…” Sounds almost too good to be true right? So I asked her for the name of my friend who recommended me… she told me it was a list whereby the recommenders name need not be written down. Didn’t think too much of it, and she asked me to come down on Vesak Day for the shoot. Since she told me it was trial only basis and I was in a good mood, I decided to accept, but requested to shift the date to next Tuesday since I was on leave whole day but had nothing to do in the afternoon. Then my handphone went flat and I didn’t put in a spare battery until 1 hr later, during which I received abt 8 missed calls, cos she needed to get some details from me…

After about 2 hrs (I wasn’t around to pick up the phone) she called, then asked for more info… What I can remember of the conversation is below.

NBYN: What age group are you in? 25 – 29?
Me: No. 24.
NBYN: May I have your occupation?
Me: Executive
NBYN: Can I have your full name as in NRIC and fax number so I can fax you the invitation?
Me: (gives my full name). Can you just email me the details?
NBYN: Sorry we don’t do emails.
Me: All right then (gives fax number). Do you all do Resume-type photos? (I don’t have a professional one taken, thought since I was there, might as well do it)
NBYN: Oh you mean those passport size photos? Oh we don’t do those…
Me: Erm ok. What do I have to bring for this shoot?
NBYN: Oh we will do two styles: Casual and Fun, you can bring 2 sets of your own clothes, or we have costumes that you can wear…
Me: Huh? What kinda costumes?
NBYN: Oh we have Korean, Western etc etc costumes…
Me: Ok (totally not interested in those). Then I’ll see you then… Bye…

I received the fax, and found out that the company is called Naughty by Nature. Weird name I feel, so I went to google it. And found tons of bad reviews in forums, blogs etc. To summarise, many many people have been called by this company since 2004 cos they’ve “won some shopping centre lucky draw (when pressed they can’t name the shopping centre), or was recommended/referred by friends”. If they realize that you’re young, e.g. someone told them she was 21, she can’t go unless she brings her parents along (presumably so she can have cash to pay for the package). If you bring friends with you, they can’t wait there for you, unless they join you for the shoot (so you won’t have someone to drag you away). Though they say the shoot is only for 2 hrs, it takes up to 6 hrs and they don’t let you leave in between. And the standard of the makeup and photography is lousy, the photoshopping sucks and the printing is bad (photos with white background got stains at the back). They’ll hard-sell you and give a lot of pressure for you to sign a “lifetime membership” and to give you your photos (price varies, approx $2000) if not they’ll delete it on the spot (or they tell u tt they delete it). Some readers were asked to dress in skimpy/revealing outfits and give sexy poses. There was one who was even told to remove the top of the gown and even the bra (and pose behind a pillow). But who knows if they really delete the photos (or what they do with it after?)

I usually take forum postings with a pinch of salt, but if so many people are complaining then there really must be something wrong. To me, the “I don’t do passport photos” was weird, cos it’s additional income for them, especially if I don’t end up purchasing anything. Of course there’s no such thing as a free lunch, when you go for free facial/spa package of course they’ll promote their packages. Totally understandable, but there has to be a limit somewhere, and the more I read, the more I feel disgusted. So yes, though I have an appointment, I’m not gonna turn up, and I’m not even going to call them to cancel the appt, since as what I’ve read, there’ll be tons of people there (50+) getting conned at the same time, so I think they won’t miss me. And if my phone rings non-stop, I’ll just not pick up…

In the meantime, if you’re free on Jun 5 afternoon, let me know?

interesting wedding

Attended a very interesting wedding over the weekend. TJ’s cousin was getting married to a guy she met while studying in China. She’s been living there for ages so I’ve yet to meet her.

Since she’s marrying a foreigner, there were two separate wedding dinners, one in China, the other in S’pore. They held the China one first, so the pictures were on display as a slideshow during the dinner itself. The similarities were there, gathering of family members to congratulate the couple, decorating the house, taking of studio photos…

the interesting thing is this: in S’pore the couple offers tea as a sign of respect to their elders (and also for the elders to give them angbao to recuperate the “loss” associated with holding a wedding). In China however, they offer CIGARETTES instead. So there were a whole series of shots whereby the couple (more often than not the bride) would be placing a cigarette in the elder’s mouth, and she’ll be lighting it… tt kinda thing. The highlight of the pictures was that she did the exact same procedure (ciggie and all) for her mother, who totally doesn’t smoke. There was even a shot of her puffing (not sure the term, I just know tt she was blowing smoke out)…

TJ’s cousin definitely met with some resistance from her family (esp her parents) when she decided to marry this guy… but from the whole ciggie thing it is clear that her parents have given her support ultimately, which I felt v sweet.

But the wedding studio shots were still v tacky… (u shd see her hairdo in some of them. *cringes in horror*

Ouch!

Was doing some random stretching thing at office, then suddenly felt pain… oh shoots, turns out, I pulled some muscle in my upper back, when I look down and sideways my neck hurts, and my shoulder too… =( but rubbing deep heat does help a lot, but can’t they make deep heat tt doesn’t smell medicinal? Feels old to be bothered by aches and pain… like auntie liddat

One year down the road…

Exactly 1 year ago, I joined this company, a huge change from my basic degree and my previous job. I had to learn everything fast within the first three months, with practically nobody to guide me, and I was the floater without any friends too… Then my colleague AT joined the dept from the neighbouring dept, and it got better I learnt a lot abt the workings of this organization, not to mention making fast friends with my lunch kakis… that certainly helped to make time faster and more enjoyable too… My CCA also helped as I got to work with a bunch of crazy young ppl to plan fun activities…

After about half a year, I started getting used to the workings here, and learnt abt the long rivalry between a few bosses here, how they’ll make things difficult for each other, making it v difficult for us small fries. Not to mention it’s v difficult to work w my boss in the first place, a v petty guy who says one thing and preaches another, who goes arnd in circles and takes his time on things, then when it isn’t done at the end of the year, turns around and points his finger at his staff… my appraisal was totally unfair and a mess, and while at tt time of appraisal I was super motivated to prove him wrong, I’m not sure I wanna do that anymore…

Thankfully, the recent good news made it tt much easier to hang on (at least until july) but I’m starting to look out for the next better thing I wanna do with my life. With rumours of our dept expanding and AT’s coming maternity leave, it’ll certainly change the dynamics around here… Hopefully not for the worst, the period she’s gg away is the 2nd busiest time of the year…

Growing Up (and Old)

My lunch group decided to have fun during our otherwise boring lunch breaks, so we were tasked to find photos of us growing up at various stages of our lives… around 5, 10, 15 years old. So yes, I went flipping through my albums trying to find something tt looks presentable enough to show…

Through all my flipping, I realized a few things:
1) I look the cutest from age 0 – 7, and my mum really loved to dress chalene and I up…
2) My teenage years were awkward, plagued by acne and lousy haircuts, not to mention toot dress sense in a communist school
3) I looked best when I was 21 – 22, tt was when I was still slimmer and was growing my hair out. And non-humid weather (i.e. in Canada) really suits me…

We had such a laugh over the photos, it’s really quite amazing how much we have changed, and yes, how much we’ve grown…

Running

Major attitude change at work brought abt by some event, and not in a good way. Was pretty affected by it but after some reflection, I’m glad to say I’m over it… What won’t kill you will only make you stronger, right?

Finally dared to put myself on a weighing scale, and I didn’t like what I see… so the target now is to get myself more exercise, and eat better to try to shake off the weight. The reason is part vanity and mostly health. Cos like it or not we are getting older and metabolic rate is slowing down etc. Don’t wanna end up riddled with disease later on in my life… plus now tt I’m exercising more, I feel more fit and my skin seems to be improving too =)

Previous weekend was spent exercising and studying, this weekend was spent w friends, spidey (didn’t really like it), squash and tennis (ok my right arm is still aching but that was great fun, we shd do it again), wine, donuts and chit chat, shoe shopping at Queensway (bought my most expensive pair of running shoes to date, I’m so motivated to run more!), yummy dinner and tv sessions at home…