Work Update, Ulcer's a Bitch and my PopMart craze...

Work has been overwhelming the past 2 weeks.

After my boss made the decision to let some of us go due to financial constraints that the company is facing, we suddenly receive a bunch of new enquires from all over the place, this sudden surge has been extremely overwhelming for me because I am now a single designer expected to handle the design proposal of 12 different projects.

We went through something similar earlier this year when my boss kept throwing new enquiries at me, and it was really odd because back then, we had another designer as well but he just kept directing all of it to me, needless to say, I took way too long to get back to some of them because I literally do not have the time to handle them, and most of them ended up engaging another company.

That is definitely going to happen this time round as well.

Anyways, for the sake of my mental health, I have decided not to entertain any work related messages over the weekend because I really need a break.

Last Thursday, my boss and I did a site visit to one of our potential customer's new home, we have met this customer for the first time about 1 month back, and during this 1 month period, I have prepared 2 different layout plans and 3D Visuals for her, the first version was based on my proposal, the second was based on her feedback after seeing the first.

The 2nd proposal was a full proposal that included...

1. Space Planning Layout

2. False Ceiling Plan

3. Electrical Works

4. Lighting Plan

5. 3D Visuals

... it had enough information for the Project Manager to essentially start running the project. Everything had already been thought out, from the length of the carpentry, to how the lights would run, how they would be connected to the switches, the location of the switches, everything was already done. 

So we go to the site on Thursday  and I was expecting to maybe just do some site measurement, for us to mark out the location of the carpentry from the 2nd proposal so the client could have an idea of how everything would fit in the space.

However, before we could start taking the measurements, the client goes...

"I'm pretty happy with the current layout of the space, but I do have a few changes I would like to make...."

... and she proceeds to change EVERYTHING except the position of the loose items like TVs and Armchairs, she then informs me about how she has shortlisted another ID and us, and started to share with us what the other ID had proposed and wanted us to layout based on what the other ID did. 

At that moment whilst I was there, I still listened to what she wanted and told her I will propose a different layout and design based on her updated requirement, but when I actually went back to the office, sat down, looked at the plan, then looked at the whiteboard of all the projects I have yet to work on it, I digested what had happened and just dawned on me what a huge waste of time this project was going to be.

Her project is a relatively small one, and against all the projects that I have yet to work on that have the potential to be worth 4 - 5 times of hers, it just didn't seem like a project worth investing so much time in, especially because I had already invested so much time doing the 2nd proposal, only for her to essentially tell me ...

"Fuck your original proposal, here are the ideas from the other interior designer I met, propose what this person did and quote me based on that."

... I really don't want to. If you like what the other Interior Designer proposed, then engaged them instead, don't ask me to replicate their work.

The truth is I had overprepared for this project because at that time, the company wasn't really getting any new enquiries, and I had the time to work on this, that being said, to have spend so much time working on that, only for it to just go to shit does not feel good, and now I am required to do what is essentially a whole new proposal. 

It's a waste of time, my boss also feels like this client actually prefers the other Interior Designer over us, so if I were to actually spend all that time working on her project instead of focusing my energy on the others, and then she ends up engaging the other designer...

... I probably will have to come up with something, but maybe at a later stage when I have worked on my other enquiries, hopefully by then, she will have decided to engage the other designer and save me the trouble of having to give a fuck.

Speaking of fucks to give, my ulcer has been giving me a fucking bad time recently. This bitch of an ulcer just popped up at the back of my mouth right beside my molar and it has been making all my meals very painful.

I'm trying not to have the food that I am chewing go too far back because it will all start to rub against the fucking ulcer, so I have been chewing with my premolars instead, which feels weird because it just feels like I am not properly chewing my food.

One of the tooth at the back is also causing me a toothache that comes and goes every now and then, I'm not sure if the pain is radiating from the spot where the ulcer is or if I actually have a toothache.

If it's a toothache, then that is extremely concerning because the dentist had told me he couldn't spot any issue via X-Ray when I visited him a few weeks back for a similar issue, and that it could potentially be due to a hairline crack. I was advised previously not to eat too much hard food, but have been eating a lot of chocolate coated almonds and macadamia nuts recently, and with that fucking ulcer at the back, I had to chew on them with my premolars, which could have made the pain worst.

This consistent dental issue is one of those things that is coming back to haunt me as an adult because my younger self was a moron who felt like brushing was unnecessary because the teeth will just get clean after drinking a cup of water. 

Now on to another topic of vapid interest...

PopMart.. again

My PopMart loot that arrived yesterday all at one go...

Everything here was purchased at Retail Price via the PopMart Tik Tok Livestream because I found the proper technique to clinch all these items during the surprise drops. 

Total damage is $100, estimate, for 4 figurines and 2 plushies. 

Seeing them together, unopened, felt really exciting, because there is so much unknown, I didn't know what type of design I was going to get....

...but after I opened them all and started to display them on my shelves...

... and table, all that excitement went away and was just immediately replaced with me questioning my financial decisions.

The only reason I wanted the Labubus was purely out of FOMO, it does get cuter the more you look at it, but if the plushies had been a collection that was readily available in the PopMart store, I would have never bothered getting one at all because it was the Exciting Macaron plushies have really questionable quality. 

This was the Labubu I got from the reseller for $40...

bad fur day much...

I had to take a scissor to give it a trim because of how bad it looked.

I was questioning the authenticity of this doll, but the QR Code on the box my Labubu came in confirmed that this is an authentic PopMart item, so I ended up giving the reseller a 2 or 3 star rating.

I understand that is isn't technically the resellers responsibility to do quality control because they are only reselling a product they have no control over the manufacturing of, but because they are selling it at such a high profit margin, my expectation for the quality will also heighten. So it's not their fault that the quality is bad, but I blame them for inflating my expectation like they have done with the price. 

$25 for that built quality is kinda expensive, but $40 for built quality that is ridiculous.

Speaking of expensive shit, Labubu recently collaborated with a clothing brand and dropped this as part of their Milan Fashion Week release...

Labubu x Pronounce

... this is the bigger model that is retailing for $129.90

Honestly, it's not very nice and I personally wouldn't get it, but it is sold out everywhere because it is a Labubu Plushie afterall. 

The only place to get it is from resellers, and the TikTok Livestream Reseller that I got my very first Labubu from was selling it for $700. 

What the actual fuck, that is more than a 500% mark up.

I remember one time, someone in the comment was asking her if she could introduce more discount for the Labubu dolls, and she claimed that she can't because PopMart won't allow her, she claims she is an official reseller, which makes me believe that PopMart is directly working a few of these resellers in China because there is no way they are able to get their hands on dozens upon dozens of Labubu Plushies without any help from them. 

This is from the TikTok video of the reseller that I got my "bad fur day" Labubu from. The amount of Labubu boxes they have is insane.

Anyways, that is their business and marketing strategy, so props to them because it obviously worked, they created the illusion of the product having very limited stock and made people like me go crazy over them, the fact that I have gotten probably 10 different Labubu goes to show how effective it is.

Thankfully, because I know how to actually snatch the Labubu from the Livestream rather successfully, the whole FOMO effect has worn off for me and I think it will only be a matter of time before this Labubu trend finally dies down. 

Keibubu, my PopMart buyer has expressed interest in getting another rainbow plushie from me, so I will probably let my new CryBaby Cheer Up plush go, his friend also expressed interest in the Merbubu and Halloween Labubu as well and he told me that his friend is willing to pay $70 for each of them.

I didn't really like how his friend is "willing" to pay $70 for each of them, like his friend is doing my a favor, those Labubus are going for $200 - $300 in the reseller market, he should be asking me if I am willing to let them go for $70. 

The Halloween one is a definite no go, it's actually out of stock and I haven't seen it get dropped in the livestream, so I am definitely not letting it go for $70, even if his friend is "willing to".

The Merbubu on the other hand will be a weekly drop on Wednesday, so that might be easier to snag, but I don't feel like snagging one for his friend, so I will be meeting him again on Thursday to pass him just the rainbow plushie, and being the generous individual that I am, I have decided to sell it to him for $25, but no meal to follow along with the purcahse this time, just a quick pass and go because the last meal we had was too awkward and a bit vapid for us to have another together, plus my waning interest in PopMart will mean we will really having nothing much to talk about.